A Platinum Group Element and Re-Os Isotope Investigation of Siderophile Element Recycling in Subduction Zones: Comparison of Grenada, Lesser Antilles Arc, and the Izu-Bonin Arc

The picritic (MgO >13·5%) lavas of Grenada providea unique opportunity to evaluate the platinum group elements(PGE) and Os isotope compositions of primitive subduction-generatedmelts. Compared with other arc lavas they have undergone verylimited crustal contamination (     

Origin of Geochemical Variability by Arc-Continent Collision in the Biru Area, Southern Sulawesi (Indonesia)

Analyses of igneous rocks from the Eocene calc-alkaline andMiocene potassic volcanic arc in southwest Sulawesi indicatethat magmas became more heterogeneous in their trace elementand Pb–Sr–Nd isotopic signature following the collisionof the Buton microcontinent with the arc at     

The Fish Canyon Magma Body, San Juan Volcanic Field, Colorado: Rejuvenation and Eruption of an Upper-Crustal Batholith

More than 5000 km³ of nearly compositionally homogeneous crystal-richdacite (     

A consideration of the dune:antidune transition in fine gravel

Hydraulic data defining the dune:antidune transition in fine gravel are compared with potential flow theory, and information is drawn from published experiments and field‐based studies. Attention is given to both transitional bedforms and the development of downstream‐migrating antidunes. In the latter case, most data pertain to sand beds and not to gravel. Empirical data provide some weak support for the theoretical notion that the transition occurs at progressively lower Froude numbers at greater relative depths. Although a critical Froude number of 0·84 may reasonably be applied for the beginning of the dune to antidune transformation, lag effects (and a possible depth limitation) ensure that transitional bedforms may persist across a broad range of Froude numbers from 0·5 to 1·8. This latter observation has great relevance for palaeohydraulic estimates derived from outcrop data. Whereas the application of theoretical bedform existence fields, based upon potential flow theory, to fine gravel was previously purely speculative, the addition of experimental and field data to these plots provides a degree of confidence in applying stability theory to practical geological problems. For the first time, laboratory data pertaining to downstream‐migrating gravel antidunes are compared with theory. These bedforms have been reported from certain experimental near‐critical flows above sand or gravel beds, but have been observed infrequently in natural streams. However, there are no detailed studies from natural rivers and only a few contentious identifications from outcrops. Nevertheless, the limited hydraulic data conform to theoretical expectations.     

High-T, low-P metamorphism in the Palaeoproterozoic Halls Creek Orogen, northern Australia: the middle crustal response to a mantle-related transient thermal pulse

High‐T, low‐P metamorphic rocks of the Palaeoproterozoic central Halls Creek Orogen in northern Australia are characterised by low radiogenic heat production, high upper crustal thermal gradients (locally exceeding 40 °C km^?1) sustained for over 30 Myr, and a large number of layered mafic‐ultramafic intrusions with mantle‐related geochemical signatures. In order to account for this combination of geological and thermal characteristics, we model the middle crustal response to a transient mantle‐related heat pulse resulting from a temporary reduction in the thickness of the mantle lithosphere. This mechanism has the potential to raise mid‐crustal temperatures by 150–400 °C within 10–20 Myr following initiation of the mantle temperature anomaly, via conductive dissipation through the crust. The magnitude and timing of maximum temperatures attained depend strongly on the proximity, duration and lateral extent of the thermal anomaly in the mantle lithosphere, and decrease sharply in response to anomalies that are seated deeper than 50–60 km, maintained for <5 Myr in duration and/or have half‐widths <100 km. Maximum temperatures are also intimately linked to the thermal properties of the model crust, primarily due to their influence on the steady‐state (background) thermal gradient. The amplitudes of temperature increases in the crust are principally a function of depth, and are broadly independent of crustal thermal parameters. Mid‐crustal felsic and mafic plutonism is a predictable consequence of perturbed thermal regimes in the mantle and the lowermost crust, and the advection of voluminous magmas has the potential to raise temperatures in the middle crust very quickly. Although pluton‐related thermal signatures significantly dissipate within <10 Myr (even for very large, high‐temperature intrusive bodies), the interaction of pluton‐ and mantle‐related thermal effects has the potential to maintain host rock temperatures in excess of 400–450 °C for up to 30 Myr in some parts of the mid‐crust. The numerical models presented here support the notion that transient mantle‐related heat sources have the capacity to contribute significantly to the thermal budget of metamorphism in high‐T, low‐P metamorphic belts, especially in those characterised by low surface heat flow, very high peak metamorphic geothermal gradients and abundant mafic intrusions.     

An automated strategy for calculation of phase diagram sections and retrieval of rock properties as a function of physical conditions

We formulate an algorithm for the calculation of stable phase relations of a system with constrained bulk composition as a function of its environmental variables. The basis of this algorithm is the approximate representation of the free energy composition surfaces of solution phases by inscribed polyhedra. This representation leads to discretization of high variance phase fields into a continuous mesh of smaller polygonal fields within which the composition and physical properties of the phases are uniquely determined. The resulting phase diagram sections are useful for understanding the phase relations of complex metamorphic systems and for applications in which it is necessary to establish the variations in rock properties such as density, seismic velocities and volatile‐content through a metamorphic cycle. The algorithm has been implemented within a computer program that is general with respect to both the choice of variables and the number of components and phases possible in a system, and is independent of the structure of the equations of state used to describe the phases of the system.     

Geochronological constraints on the evolution of the Embu Complex, São Paulo, Brazil

Petrologic and geochronological work was carried out on a roadside outcrop of amphibolite facies orthogneisses near São Lourenço da Serra, about 50 km southwest of São Paulo City. These orthogneisses belong to the Embu Complex, within the Neoproterozoic Brasiliano Orogenic Cycle mobile belts of SE Brazil. The outcrop consists of predominantly foliated biotite tonalites and granodiorites, which were cut by granitic veins and pegmatites prior to final deformation. SHRIMP U/Pb measurements on zircons from one granodioritic–tonalitic gneiss indicate magmatic crystallization of the protolith at 811±13 Ma (MSWD=1.0). Zircons with dates of ca. 2000 and ca. 1000 Ma in this rock are interpreted as inherited from older crust. One zircon analyzed from the gneiss and three zircons from a discordant pegmatitic vein indicate an event at 650–700 Ma, perhaps related to the intrusion of the pegmatites. A regression of Rb–Sr whole rock data for four biotite gneisses yielded an imperfect isochron, giving an apparent age of 821±68 Ma and an elevated initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.719±0.005. The elevated initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio and the inherited zircons indicate involvement of older crust in the genesis of the gneisses. Rb–Sr feldspar and whole rock pairs yield ca. 560 Ma tielines, giving the time of final cooling below 300–350 °C, and the cessation of medium-grade metamorphism and ductile deformation. These results document a series of tectono-thermal events spanning 250 million years during the Brasiliano Orogenic Cycle. They relate to ca. 800 Ma magmatic arc activity and later allochthonous terrane assembly during closure of the Adamastor Ocean, resulting in the accretion of Western Gondwana.