Mid-Late Neoproterozoic rift-related volcanic rocks in China: Geological records of rifting and break-up of Rodinia

Early Cambrian and Mid-Late Neoproterozoic volcanic rocks in China are widespread on several Precambrian continental blocks,which had aggregated to form part of the Rodinia supercontinent by ca.900 Ma....     

中国东北地区中生代构造体制的转变:来自火山岩时空分布与岩石组合的制约

东北地区中生代经历了蒙古-鄂霍茨克构造体系向太平洋构造体系的转换,形成了不同期次火山活动。本文归纳总结了露头区与覆盖区中生代火山岩的年代学、空间分布、岩石组合以及地球化学特征,揭示了两个构造域的时空分布范围。该区火山岩锆石U-Pb年龄统计结果表明中生代存在五期火山活动:早-中侏罗世(190~160Ma)、晚侏罗世(160~145Ma)、早白垩世早期(145~120Ma)、早白垩世晚期(120~100Ma)、晚白垩世早期(100~90Ma)。早-中侏罗世火山岩分布较少,火山岩仅分布在大兴安岭西部满洲里地区和东部张广才岭以及南侧辽宁北票-朝阳地区,火山岩属于高钾钙碱性系列,为蒙古-鄂霍茨克海闭合和法拉隆板块双俯冲作用的产物。晚侏罗世东北地区火山活动明显增强,主要分布在大兴安岭地区,张广才岭以及小兴安岭也有少量分布。西部大兴安岭地区以粗面安山岩、粗面岩为主,属于同碰撞造山成因,为蒙古-鄂霍茨克海闭合造山环境产物。东部以中酸性、酸性岩为主,为法拉隆板块背离欧亚大陆,岩石圈伸展引起的壳源物质熔融产物。早白垩世早期火山活动最为强烈,火山岩主要分布在大兴安岭地区。岩性以高钾钙碱性系列的粗面玄武安山岩、粗面安山岩、安山岩、粗面岩为主,为蒙古-鄂霍茨克海闭合造山后伸展环境产物。早白垩世晚期火山岩主要分布在松辽盆地内部。火山岩以中酸性岩为主,属于中钾-高钾钙碱性系列,为伊泽奈崎板块俯冲引起的弧后拉张,软流圈上涌导致年轻地壳熔融的产物。晚白垩世早期火山岩仅分布在小兴安岭及吉林、黑龙江省东部地区。火山岩为一套玄武岩、玄武安山岩、安山岩和英安岩组合,属于中钾钙碱性系列,是伊泽奈崎-库拉板块高角度俯冲的大陆边缘岩浆活动产物。东北地区中生代不同期次火山岩记录了蒙古-鄂霍茨克构造域向太平洋构造域转换过程及其时空影响范围。     

大兴安岭南段晚中生代双峰式火山作用

大兴安岭南段晚中生代克头鄂博组山岩表现出双峰式特征，主要由玄武质安山岩、英安岩和流纹岩组成。基性火山岩属于代钾拉斑系列，轻微富集LREE，Eu异常不明显（Eu/Eu=0.99-1.04)和HREE无明显分馏的特征（Dy/YbcN=1.030-1.089);富集大离子亲石元素（LILE）而亏损高场强元素（HFSE），尤其是强烈亏损Nb,Ta。英安岩和流纹岩为钙碱性系列，在REE配分模式上为LREE富集型，其中英安岩为Eu弱负异常（Eu/Eu=0.81-1.01)，流纹岩的Eu负异常明显（Eu^*/Eu=0.65-0.76)；在微量元素蛛网图上，英安岩类似于基性火山岩，流纹岩除了具LILE富集和HFSE亏损特征外，还显示出Sr,P,Ti等元素的强烈亏损，可能与岩浆演化过程中斜长石、磷灰石的分离结晶作用相关。晚中生代双峰式火山岩分离结晶的结果。流纹岩表现出较高的La/Sm比值和很高的K／P、K／Ti比值，其成因可能与地壳混染作用或与大陆中、下地壳重熔作用有关。结合区域晚中生代盆岭构造格局特征、大兴安岭南段晚中生代双峰式火山岩形成于造山后阶段，是岩石圈快速伸展体制下导致受早期流体交代的岩石圈地幔发生减压部分熔融作用的产物。     

闽西武夷山建宁—泰宁地区白垩纪火山-沉积序列:对华南东部晚中生代构造演化的制约

闽西武夷山建宁—泰宁地区发育2套白垩纪火山-沉积序列,构成2个火山-沉积旋回,每套序列由下部火山岩和上部沉积岩地层组成。锆石U-Pb年代学和地球化学分析显示,早期中酸性火山岩喷发时代为早白垩世141～135 Ma,具有陆缘火山弧的地球化学亲缘性,并富集Hf同位素(-20.2～1.9);而晚期火山岩活动集中在早、晚白垩世之交(105～97 Ma),呈现弧后伸展特征并相对亏损Hf同位素(-16.1～10.2)。通过这两套白垩纪火山-沉积序列区域对比,发现早、晚两套火山活动之间的岩浆活动宁静期呈现自南西向北东逐渐消减的趋势,于120 Ma前后基本结束,这个时期在华南东部陆缘加积了一套河湖相沉积地层,并遭受不同程度的挤压变形。晚期火山-沉积序列受到伸展断陷盆地的控制,其中加积了一套含膏盐红层沉积。研究认为,华南东部陆缘白垩纪2套火山-沉积序列记录了该陆缘2个显著不同的构造演化阶段,从早期陆缘火山弧及其挤压变形到晚期的弧后伸展和断陷湖盆的发展历程。     

琉球群岛以东海区沉积物重矿物分布及来源

琉球群岛东部海区沉积物中富含大量火山碎屑矿物、岛屿岩石遭受风化蚀变形成的普通角闪石以及水生的铁锰微结核,其重矿物种类、特征、组合分区等与火山作用、沉积环境、地形、物质来源等内外生因素密切相关。通过对本区重矿物的种类、特征及组合分区的研究,初步判断位于研究区北部、菲律宾板块向欧亚大陆俯冲而导致的正在活动的的琉球岛弧区为火山碎屑的主要源区,重矿物成分主要为水携成因来源,受同期火山作用控制;少量紫苏辉石来自先期形成的海岭或海底高原(如冲大东海岭、奄美海岭及九州海岭等)上的火山岩系,是经过剥蚀、搬运再沉积的产物;琉球群岛、九州等火山活动产物受海底高地等阻隔而在本区表现为向南或东南影响力逐渐减小;本区地质历史上的及正在进行的岩浆活动主要以基性及中性岩浆为主。此外,流经本区的黑潮对自生铁锰微结核的富集具有重要影响。     

Bimodal volcanism in northeast Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (Greater Antilles Island Arc): Genetic links with Cretaceous subduction of the mid-Atlantic ridge Caribbean spur

Bimodal extrusive volcanic rocks in the northeast Greater Antilles Arc consist of two interlayered suites, including (1) a predominantly basaltic suite, dominated by island arc basalts with small proportions of andesite, and (2) a silicic suite, similar in composition to small volume intrusive veins of oceanic plagiogranite commonly recognized in oceanic crustal sequences. The basaltic suite is geochemically characterized by variable enrichment in the more incompatible elements and negative chondrite-normalized HFSE anomalies. Trace element melting and mixing models indicate the magnitude of the subducted sediment component in Antilles arc basalts is highly variable and decreases dramatically from east to west along the arc. In the Virgin Islands, the sediment component ranges between< 0.5 to  1% in Albian rocks, and between  1 and 2% in succeeding Cenomanian to Campanian strata. In comparison, sediment proportions in central Puerto Rico range between 0.5 to 1.5% in the Albian to 2 to > 4% during the Cenomanian-Campanian interval. The silicic suite, consisting predominantly of rhyolites, is characterized by depleted Al₂O₃ (average < 16%), low Mg-number (molar Mg/Mg + Fe < 0.5), TiO₂ (< 1.0%), and Sr/Y (< 10), oceanic or arc-like Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope signatures, and by the presence of plagioclase. All of these features are consistent with an anatexic origin in gabbroic sources, of both oceanic and arc-related origin, within the sub-arc basement. The abundance of silicic lavas varies widely along the length of the arc platform. In the Virgin Islands on the east, rhyolites comprise up to 80% of Lower Albian strata (112 to 105 Ma), and about 20% in post-Albian strata (105 to 100 Ma). Farther west, in Puerto Rico, more limited proportions (< 20%) of silicic lavas were erupted. The systematic variation of both sediment flux and abundance of crustally derived silicic lavas are consistent with current tectonic models of Caribbean evolution involving approximately perpendicular subduction of the Caribbean spur of the mid-Atlantic Ridge, which was located approximately midway between North and South America until Campanian times. Within this hypothetical setting the centrally positioned Virgin Islands terrain remained approximately fixed above the subducting ridge as the Antilles arc platform swept northeastward into the slot between the Americas. Accordingly, heat flow in the Virgin Islands was elevated throughout the Cretaceous, giving rise to widespread crustal melting, whereas the subducted sediment flux was limited. Conversely, toward the west in central Puerto Rico, which was consistently more remote from the subducting ridge, heat flow was relatively low and produced limited crustal melting, while the sediment flux was comparatively elevated.     

Low paleosecular variation at the equator: a paleomagnetic pilgrimage from Galapagos to Esterel with Allan Cox and Hans Zijderveld

McFadden and Merrill (1995) suggested that the paleosecular variation (PSV) measured by the angular scatter of the virtual geomagnetic pole is minimal at the equator and should be smaller during a superchron than during the last 5 Myr. We revisited a key site of the 0–5 Ma database, the Galapagos archipelago, studied by Allan Cox in the early sixties. We obtained 79 sites with reliable mean directions on four islands (San Cristobal, Floreana, Santa Cruz and Pinzon), showing a larger proportion of transitional data than Cox (16 instead of 6%), because the sampling was concentrated on the Brunhes-Matuyama transition as delimited by Cox. This dataset allowed us to test the statistical method of Vandamme (1994) to separate PSV from transitional data. We obtained an angular scatter value of 11.2° (9.9–12.9°), instead of 16.8° for an a-priori rejection angle of 40°, compared with the 12.7° predicted from the global compilation (McFadden et al. 1991). Studies of sequences of lava flows are quite scarce in the Permian Kiaman Superchron, and the Esterel volcanics with their subequatorial paleolatitude are a good candidate to test the above prediction. We confirm the quality of the original data of Zijderveld (1975) and we improved the mean direction from one site. We also used new geological and geochronological data: Ar/Ar ages point to the period 264–278 Ma for a totally reversed volcanic sequence, in agreement with an ending of the Kiaman Superchron at 262–268 Ma. The extremely low angular scatter obtained (4 to 8°, depending on data selection) confirms the prediction, but an alternative interpretation invoking a post-volcanic Permian remagnetization is discussed.     

Effects of eruption history and cooling rate on lava dome growth

To better understand the factors controlling the shapes of lava domes, laboratory simulations, measurements from active and prehistoric flows and dimensional analysis were used to explore how effusion history and cooling rate affect the final geometry of a dome. Fifty experiments were conducted in which a fixed volume of polyethylene glycol wax was injected into a tank of cold sucrose solution, either as one continuous event or as a series of shorter pulses separated by repose periods. When the wax cooling rates exceeded a critical minimum value, the dome aspect ratios (height/diameter) increased steadily with erupted volume over the course of a single experiment and the rate at which height increased with volume depended linearly on the time-averaged effusion rate. Thus the average effusion rate could be estimated from observations of how the dome shape changed with time. Our experimental results and dimensional analyses were compared with several groups of natural lava flows: the recently emplaced Mount St Helens and Soufrière domes, which had been carefully monitored while active; three sets of prehistoric rhyolite domes that varied in eruptive style and shape; and two sets of Holocene domes with similar shapes, but different compositions. Geometric measurements suggest that dome morphology can be directly correlated with effusion rate for domes of similar composition from the same locality, and that shape alone can be related to a dimensionless number comparing effusion rate and cooling rate. Extrapolation to the venusian pancake domes suggests that they formed from relatively viscous lavas extruded either episodically or at average effusion rates low enough to allow solidified surface crust to exert a dominating influence on the final morphology.     

Volcanism and archipelagic aprons in the Marquesas and Hawaiian Islands

Geophysical observations demonstrate that the archipelagic apron surrounding the Marquesan hot-spot volcanoes is derived almost entirely from mass wasting processes. Seismic reflection and refraction data constrain the volume of the apron sediments to approximately 200,000 km³, with thicknesses reaching over 2 km in the deep portions of the moat near the edge of the volcanic edifice. Seismic velocities average 4 to 5 km s^–1 in the sediments, and 6 km s^–1 at the top of the underlying basement. Single channel seismic profiles show acoustically chaotic cores in the sediments of the apron, which are interpreted as debris flows from mass wasting events. We deduce that the apron is formed by catastrophic collapses that may involve volumes over 100 km³ tens to hundreds of times during the lifetime of a volcano. Comparison with similar data from the Hawaiian Islands yields the result that the total volume of volcanics and their derived sediments along the strike of the chains is only slightly smaller for the Marquesas, implying comparable eruption rates. However, the ratio of sediment to surface volcanic load is much larger for the latter, leading to an overfilled moat in the Marquesas and an underfilled moat at Hawaii. The much larger size of the Hawaiian islands can be explained as the combined effects of a higher thermal swell, loading a stiffer elastic plate, and proportionately less mass wasting.