Neogene volcanic activity of western Syria and its relationship with Arabian plate kinematics

The Cenozoic (mostly Neogene) volcanic activity in Syria is part of the extensive magmatism that took place in the Mashrek Region, Middle East, from upper Eocene to Holocene (40–0.0005 Ma). Samples in western Syria are mostly high TiO₂ (TiO₂ 1.8–3.7 wt.%) alkaline mafic rocks (basanites, hawaiites and alkali basalts) plus rare transitional/tholeiitic basalts and basaltic andesites) with within-plate-like trace element signature.On the basis of incompatible trace element content, the volcanic activity in Syria has been divided into two stages: the first lasting from 25 to 5 Ma and the second from 5 to recent times. Indeed, the Syrian lavas show incompatible trace element content increasing with decreasing age from 25 to 5 Ma, followed by an abrupt decrease to low values roughly at the Miocene–Pliocene boundary. This temporal shift in composition is related to major tectonic re-organization occurred during upper Miocene.The proposed petrogenetic model invokes three steps: (a) passive upwelling of the shallow asthenosphere during the development of the Dead Sea transform fault system. Different degrees of partial melting were followed by variable extents of fractional crystallization and limited upper crustal contamination; (b) the Miocene–Pliocene boundary tectonic change enhanced passive decompression of the same sources and a consequent increase in degree of partial melting resulting in low incompatible trace element content of the relatively high-volume liquids; (c) after this phase, the incompatible trace element content in the basaltic magmas increased as consequence of fractional crystallization processes.Major and trace element content similarities with the rest of the circum-Mediterranean igneous rocks are consistent with a common relatively shallow origin for the Cenozoic anorogenic magmatism of the entire circum-Mediterranean area (the so-called Common Magmatic Reservoir). Because much of the igneous activity in the studied area is concentrated near the Dead Sea fault, the origin of Cenozoic magmatism in Syria (and in the rest of the circum-Mediterranean area) reflects a strong lithospheric control on the loci of partial melting. Mantle plumes from lower mantle and/or north-westward channelling of the Afar mantle plume is not needed to explain volcanic activity in Syria and the Mashrek area.     

U–Pb Dating,Oxygen and Hafnium Isotope Ratios of Zircon from Rocks of Oceanic Core Complexes at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Evidence for the Interaction of Contemporary and Ancient Crusts in the Spreading Center of the Ocean Floor

Doklady Earth Sciences - The U–Pb age and oxygen and hafnium isotope ratios of zircon from rocks of oceanic core complexes along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge have been studied using SHRIMP and...     

Irreversible evolution of tectono-magmatic processes at the Earth and Moon: Petrological data

The tectono-magmatic evolution of the Earth and Moon started after the solidification of their magmatic “oceans”, whose in-situ crystallization produced the primordial crusts of the planets, with the composition of these crusts depending on the depths of the “oceans”. A principally important feature of the irreversible evolution of the planetary bodies, regardless of their sizes and proportions of their metallic cores and silicate shells, was a fundamental change in the course of their tectono-magmatic processes during intermediate evolutionary stages. Early in the geological evolution of the Earth and Moon, their magmatic melts were highly magnesian and were derived from mantle sources depleted during the solidification of the magmatic “oceans”; this situation can be described in terms of plume tectonics. Later, geochemically enriched basalts with high concentrations of Fe, Ti, and incompatible elements became widespread. These rocks were typical of Phanerozoic within-plate magmatism. The style of tectonic activity has also changed: plate tectonics became widespread at the Earth, and large depressions (maria) started to develop at the Moon. The latter were characterized by a significantly thinned crust and basaltic magmatism. These events are thought to have been related to mantle superplumes of the second generation (thermochemical), which are produced (Dobretsov et al., 2001) at the boundary between the liquid core and silicate mantle owing to the accumulation of fluid at this interface. Because of their lower density, these superplumes ascended higher than their precursors did, and the spreading of their head parts resulted in active interaction with the superjacent thinned lithosphere and a change in the tectonic regime, with the replacement of the primordial crust by the secondary basaltic one. This change took place at 2.3–2.0 Ga on the Earth and at 4.2–3.9 Ga on the Moon. Analogous scenarios (with small differences) were also likely typical of Mars and Venus, whose vast basaltic plains developed during their second evolutionary stages. The change in the style of tectonic-magmatic activity was associated with important environmental changes on the surfaces of the planets, which gave rise to their secondary atmospheres. The occurrence of a fundamental change in the tectono-magmatic evolution of the planetary bodies with the transition from depleted to geochemically enriched melts implies that these planets were originally heterogeneous and had metal cores and silicate shells enriched in the material of carbonaceous chondrites. The involvement of principally different material (that had never before participated in these processes) in tectono-magmatic processes was possible only if these bodies were heated from their outer to inner levels via the passage of a heating wave (zone) with the associated cooling of the outermost shells. The early evolutionary stages of the planets, when the waves passed through their silicate mantles, were characterized by the of development of super-plumes of the first generation. The metallic cores were the last to melt, and this processes brought about the development of thermochemical super-plumes.     

Unusual PGE distribution in the mafic-ultramafic rocks of the Early Paleoproterozoic (2.5–2.35 Ga) drusite (coronite) complex of the Belomorian region,northern Karelia,Russia

The PGE pattern and PGM was studied in the rocks of numerous small mafic-ultramafic intrusions of the Early Paleoproterozoic (2.46–2.35 Ga) drusite complex of the Belomorian mobile belt, eastern Baltic Shield, Russia. The chondrite-normalized PGE pattern in the studied rocks (gabbronorites, pyroxenites, and plagioclase lherzolites) is similar to that of the primitive mantle, regardless of the composition of these rocks. It was shown for the first time that different rock types of the drusite complex contain minerals of all six PGE, which makes these rocks principally different from the coeval large layered mafic-ultramafic intrusions with Pd-Pt mineralization at the adjacent Kola and Karelian cratons. This is presumably related to the generation conditions of the parental magmas of the siliceous high-magnesian series (SHMS) and to the practically complete absence of differentiation during the emplacement of the intrusions. Owing to this, the drusite intrusions retained the primary PGE distribution, which is presumably typical of the parental melts of SHMS and was only partially modified by allochemical metamorphism.     

Pillow lavas of the Sierra Leone test site,Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 5°–7°N: Sr-Nd isotope systematics,geochemistry, and petrology

Based on detailed petrological, geochemical, and isotope-geochemical study, fragments of fresh pillow lavas with chilled glass margins dredged at the Sierra-Leone test site in the axial MAR rift zone between 5° and 7°N correspond to MORB tholeiites, which are not primitive mantle melts but were differentiated in intermediate magmatic (intrusive) chambers. Small-scale geochemical and Sr-Nd isotope heterogeneities were established for the first time in the basalts and their glasses. It was shown that some samples show significant nonsystematic differences in the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio between the basalts and their chilled glasses and less significant difference in ?_Nd; higher Sr ratios can be observed both in the glasses and basalts of the same lava fragments. No significant correlation is observed between the isotope characteristics of the samples and their geochemistry; it was also shown that seawater did not affect the Sr and Nd isotope composition of the chilled glasses of the studied pillow lavas. It is suggested that such differences in isotope ratios are related to a small-scale heterogeneity of the melts owing to incomplete homogenization during their rapid ascent to the surface. The heterogeneity of the basaltic melts is explained by their partial contamination by the older plutonic rocks (especially gabbroids) of the lower oceanic crust, through which they ascended to the ocean floor surface. The wider scatter of the Sr isotopic ratios relative to Nd is related to the presence of xenocrysts of calcic plagioclase; correspondingly, the absence of a Nd mineral carrier in the rocks results in less distinct Nd isotope variations. It was shown that all of the studied basalts define a single trend along the mantle correlation array in the Sr-Nd isotope diagram. The causes of this phenomenon remain unclear.     

Integrative algorithm of determining ice conditions in Polar Regions by data of satellite microwave radiometry (VASIA2)

In this paper, a new algorithm for determining the concentration of the ice cover in Polar Regions by data of satellite microwave radiometry is considered. The technique of its construction is described in detail; it cardinally differs from the technique of creating present-day algorithms. The new algorithm demonstrates good results in determining the concentration of the ice cover in Polar Regions. The algorithm permits one not only to obtain maps of ice concentration, but also to determine areas of puddles covering the ice-cover surface in summer months. The algorithm is easy-to-use and requires no additional or fitting parameters. At the end of the work, advantages and disadvantages of the new algorithm are discussed.     

Geochronology of Late Cenozoic volcanism in the area of Van Lake,Turkey: An example of development dynamics for magmatic processes

An isotope-geochronological study has been performed to examine the products of Late Cenozoic collision volcanism on the northern coast of Van Lake, Turkey. We obtained 45 new K-Ar dates, based on which the principal time characteristics of volcanic activity in the region have been determined. The total duration of magmatic activity in the area of the northern coast of Van Lake has lasted ∼15 myr; it has had an expressed discrete nature, when periods of intense volcanic activity alternated with lasting breaks in eruptions. Four stages of Neogene-Quaternary volcanism have been identified: Middle Miocene (15.0–13.5 myr), Late Miocene (10–9 myr), Pliocene (5.8–3.7 myr), and Quaternary (1.0–0.4 Ma). The average duration of the stages has been 1–2 myr; the stages were separated from each other with periods of inactivity of approximately equal lengths (∼3 myr). For each of the Pliocene and Quaternary stages, three additional phases of volcanism have been identified, which were separated from each other with short time intervals (a few hundred thousand years). The last burst of volcanic activity in the area in question took place ∼400 ka; similar to Quaternary volcanism in general, it was not characterized by a high intensity. An important result of the studies performed was to confirm the existence of a separate Middle Miocene stage of collision volcanism for the Caucasian-Anatolian Segment of the Alpine Fold Belt. The data generated allow concluding that Neogene-Quaternary volcanism in this portion of the belt started much earlier (∼15 Ma) than assumed by the majority of the previous researchers.     

Remote investigations of atmospheric catastrophes

The generation and evolution of atmospheric catastrophes (tropical cyclones) represents a very serious and still unresolved problem for mankind. The existing physical hypotheses and theoretical approaches which form the basis for a number of space programs on the investigation of physical conditions for the genesis and evolution of tropical cyclones are critically analyzed. The most significant stages of the history of development of the scientific aspects and concepts about tropical cyclones, which are reflected in the pages of the Investigation of the Earth from the Space journal, are observed. The significance and role of remote (optical, infrared, and microwave) sensing in the evolution of scientific views are analyzed. The fundamental contribution which Russian researchers and, first of all, specialists of the Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as Russian developers of space missions and remote instrumentation, have made to the present-day understanding of the problem and to the formation of the present-day image of microwave remote sensing (RS) of the excited atmosphere is emphasized.