Geology and age model of the Lower Pleistocene Nojima,Ofuna, and Koshiba Formations of the middle Kazusa Group,a forearc basin‐fill sequence on the Miura Peninsula,the Pacific side of central Japan

We present field and core observations, nannofossil biostratigraphy, and stable oxygen isotope fluctuations in foraminiferal tests to describe the geology and to construct an age model of the Lower Pleistocene Nojima, Ofuna, and Koshiba Formations (in ascending order) of the middle Kazusa Group, a forearc basin‐fill succession, exposed on the northern Miura Peninsula on the Pacific side of central Japan. In the study area, the Nojima Formation is composed of sandy mudstone and alternating sandy mudstone and mudstone, the Ofuna Formation of massive mudstone, and the Koshiba Formation of sandy mudstone, muddy sandstone, and sandstone. The Kazusa Group contains many tuff beds that are characteristic of forearc deposits. Thirty‐six of those tuff beds have characteristic lithologies and stratigraphic positions that allow them to be traced over considerable distances. Examination of calcareous nannofossils revealed three nannofossil datum planes in the sequences: datum 10 (first appearance of large Gephyrocapsa), datum 11 (first appearance of Gephyrocapsa oceanica), and datum 12 (first appearance of Gephyrocapsa caribbeanica). Stable oxygen isotope data from the tests of the planktonic foraminifer Globorotalia inflata extracted from cores were measured to identify the stratigraphic fluctuations of oxygen isotope ratios that are controlled by glacial–interglacial cycles. The observed fluctuations were assigned to marine isotope stages (MISs) 49–61 on the basis of correlations of the fluctuations with nannofossil datum planes. Using the age model obtained, we estimated the ages of 24 tuff beds. Among these, the SKT‐11 and SKT‐12 tuff beds have been correlated with the Kd25 and Kd24 tuff beds, respectively, of the Kiwada Formation on the Boso Peninsula. The Kd25 and Kd24 tuff beds are widely recognized in Pleistocene strata in Japan. We used our age model to date SKT‐11 at 1573 ka and SKT‐12 at 1543 ka.     

Forearc deformation and tectonic significance of the ultramafic Molucca central ridge, Talaud islands (Indonesia)

Abstract The Molucca Sea is a narrow basin located south of Mindanao (Philippines) and underlined by a north-south ophiolitic ridge. This ridge represents the outer ridge of the Sangihe subduction zone and emerges by uplift in the central part of the basin, in the Talaud Islands. Field studies indicate that forearc sediments rest uncomformably on (i) a dismembered ophiolitic series and (ii) thick melanges. Structural analysis indicates two deformation events, one of which is oriented east-west coaxial with the present state of strain. We interpret the earlier (N20°E) direction as a thrusting event that affected an ophiolitic basement associated with the edge of the Celebes Sea. Thrusting within the oceanic crust and sediments also generated olistostromes (melanges). The style of deformation is characterized by flattened rhombs of peridotites which exists in situ in the upper section of the crustal sequence and were also found inside the melange. Incipient Sangihe subduction around 15 Ma uplifted the deformed crust and buried the melanges beneath the forearc sediments. Recent east-west shortening during subduction of the Snellius Plateau reactivated the melanges within thrusts cutting the forearc series.     

日喀则弧前盆地碎屑铬尖晶石地球化学与物源判别

该工作在藏南日喀则弧前盆地砂岩中发现了大量碎屑铬尖晶石。电子探针化学成分分析显示这些铬尖晶石具有高铬(铬指数Cr#为0.52~0.89)、低Fe3+含量(Fe3+/ Fe2+<0.5)、低TiO2含量(多小于0.2%)的特征,指示这些铬尖晶石来源于与洋壳俯冲作用有关的橄榄岩和火成岩,因此弧火山岩和SSZ型蛇绿岩套是其最可能的物源。考虑到日喀则弧前盆地的碎屑物主要来源于拉萨地体,而拉萨地体北侧的班公-怒江缝合带的碎屑物质不可能穿过晚白垩世时期已经隆起的冈底斯岩浆弧。笔者推测,铬尖晶石可能来自于冈底斯弧和拉萨地体内部已经消失的古蛇绿岩套。     

Early central American forearc follows the subduction initiation rule

The “subduction initiation rule” (SIR) (Whattam and Stern, 2011) advocates that proto-arc and forearc complexes preserved in ophiolites and forearcs follow a predictable chemotemporal and/or chemostratigraphic vertical progression. This chemotemporal evolution is defined by a progression from bottom to top, from less to more depleted and slab-metasomatized sources. This progression has been recently documented for other igneous suites associated with subduction initiation. The Sona-Azuero forearc complex of southern Panama represents the earliest magmatic arc activity at the Central American Volcanic Arc system. Comparison of new and existing geochemical data for the circa 82-40 Ma Sona-Azuero Proto-Arc/Arc, its underlying 89-85 Ma “oceanic plateau” of SW Panama and the 72-69 Ma Golfito Proto-Arc of southern Costa Rica with the 70-39 Ma Chagres-Bayano Arc of eastern Panama exhibits a chemotemporal progression as described above and which follows the SIR. Sona-Azuero lavas are predominantly MORB-like, whereas those of the younger Chagres-Bayano complex are mostly VAB-like; lavas of the Golfito Proto-Arc typically show characteristics intermediate to that of the Sona-Azuero and Chagres-Bayano proto-arc/arc complexes. On the basis of isotope evidence as shown in other studies, lava types of all three complexes are clearly derived from a source contaminated by the Caribbean Large Igneous Province plume; we term these “plume-contaminated” forearc basalts and volcanic arc basalts, respectively. Apart from a plume-induced subduction initiation origin for the Panamanian forearc, these insights suggest otherwise similar petrogenetic origins and tectonic setting to lavas comprising earliest-formed forearc crust, and most ophiolites, which follow the SIR.     

Vitrinite reflectance and consolidation characteristics of the post‐middle Miocene Forearc Basin in central and eastern Boso Peninsula,central Japan: Implications for basin subsidence

To understand the sedimentary development of the Boso Forearc Basin, central Japan, since ~ 3 Ma, we investigated paleothermal structure and consolidation trends in the central and eastern parts of the forearc basin through vitrinite reflectance measurements and consolidation tests. Vitrinite reflectance (R_m) was in the range 0.33 % to 0.61 % for the Miura Group in the central part of the forearc basin and 0.34 % to 0.41 % for the Miura and Kazusa Groups in the eastern. These values suggest a roughly uniform vitrinite reflectance for the Miura Group from the central to eastern parts. No significant vitrinite reflectance difference is observed across the ~ 3 Ma Kurotaki Unconformity in the eastern part of the basin. The consolidation yield stress (p_c) was calculated as 27.5 MPa and 32.2 MPa for the Kiyosumi and Amatsu Formations of the Miura Group in the eastern part, respectively. Both the p_c values are consistent quantitatively with represent the trend of the maximum overburden pressure estimated from the thickness and density of overlying sediments, and the difference in p_c is expected by the maximum burial depths of the strata at the sampling localities. Values of p_c in the eastern part of the basin increase with thickness of overlying sediment, showing no break across the Kurotaki Unconformity. Considering the eroded thickness of the Miura Group, the continuous trends in vitrinite reflectance and consolidation between the Miura and Kazusa Groups in the eastern part reflect the greater deposition of the eastern part of the Boso Forearc Basin since ~ 2.3 Ma.     

西秦岭关家沟组物源分析

西南秦岭摩天岭地区关家沟组的时代、沉积环境及构造背景一直是争论的焦点。对关家沟组粉砂岩、板岩进行了常量、微量及稀土元素地球化学分析表明关家沟组物源主要来自活动大陆边缘的岛弧环境。以本区地层斜层理产状及砾石优选方位为依据,对关家沟组岩层古水流方向综合分析,推测其古水流方向为230°~356°,以北西向为主;砾石的优选方位在228°~338°之间,以北北西向为主;砾石分布特征由南向北颗粒由大逐渐变小、磨圆度由差至较好、优选方位由杂乱到较好的变化趋势。结合前人成果,关家沟组应属于碧口弧前盆地系统内,推测关家沟组内的沉积物主要来自南东向的岛弧。     

Did boninite originate from the heterogeneous mantle with recycled ancient slab?

Boninites are widely distributed along the western margin of the Pacific Plate extruded during the incipient stage of the subduction zone development in the early Paleogene period. This paper discusses the genetic relationships of boninite and antecedent protoarc basalt magmas and demonstrates their recycled ancient slab origin based on the T–P conditions and Pb–Hf–Nd–Os isotopic modeling. Primitive melt inclusions in chrome spinel from Ogasawara and Guam islands show severely depleted high‐SiO₂, MgO (high‐silica) and less depleted low‐SiO₂, MgO (low‐silica and ultralow‐silica) boninitic compositions. The genetic conditions of 1 346 °C at 0.58 GPa and 1 292 °C at 0.69 GPa for the low‐ and ultralow‐silica boninite magmas lie on adiabatic melting paths of depleted mid‐ocean ridge basalt mantle with a potential temperature of 1 430 °C in Ogasawara and of 1 370 °C in Guam, respectively. This is consistent with the model that the low‐ and ultralow‐silica boninites were produced by remelting of the residue of the protoarc basalt during the forearc spreading immediately following the subduction initiation. In contrast, the genetic conditions of 1 428 °C and 0.96 GPa for the high‐silica boninite magma is reconciled with the ascent of more depleted harzburgitic source which pre‐existed below the Izu–Ogasawara–Mariana forearc region before the subduction started. Mixing calculations based on the Pb–Nd–Hf isotopic data for the Mariana protoarc basalt and boninites support the above remelting model for the (ultra)low‐silica boninite and the discrete harzburgite source for the high‐silica boninite. Yb–Os isotopic modeling of the high‐Si boninite source indicates 18–30 wt% melting of the primitive upper mantle at 1.5–1.7 Ga, whereas the source mantle of the protoarc basalt, the residue of which became the source of the (ultra)low‐Si boninite, experienced only 3.5–4.0 wt% melt depletion at 3.6–3.1 Ga, much earlier than the average depleted mid‐ocean ridge basalt mantle with similar degrees of melt depletion at 2.6–2.2 Ga.     

Late Cretaceous uplift history of the Cretaceous volcanic arc in Southwest Japan: Provenance analysis of the Yuasa–Aridagawa basin based on U–Pb zircon ages

The Ryoke Metamorphic complex has undergone low‐P/T metamorphism and was intruded by granitic magmas around 100 Ma. Subsequently, the belt was uplifted and exposed by the time deposition of the Izumi Group began. The tectonic history of uplift, such as the timing and processes, are poorly known despite being important for understanding the spatiotemporal evolution of the Ryoke Metamorphic Belt. U–Pb zircon ages from sedimentary rocks in the forearc and backarc basins are useful for constraining uplift and magmatism in the provenance. U–Pb dating of detrital zircons from 12 samples (four sandstones and eight granitic clasts) in the Yuasa–Aridagawa basin, a Cretaceous forearc basin in the Chichibu Belt of Southwest Japan, gave mostly ages of 60–110 Ma. Granitic clasts contained in conglomerate suggest that granitic intrusions predate the formation of Coniacian and Maastrichtian conglomerate. Emplacement ages of granitic bodies originated from granitic clasts in Coniacian conglomerate are (110.2 ±1.3) Ma, (106.1 ±1.8) Ma, (101.8+5.8–3.8) Ma, and (95.3 ±1.4) Ma; for granitic clasts in Maastrichtian conglomerate, (89.6 ±1.8) Ma, (87.3+2.4–1.8) Ma, (85.7 ±1.2) Ma, and (82.7 ±1.2) Ma. The results suggest that detrital zircons in the sandstones were mainly derived from volcanic eruptions contemporaneous with depositional age, and plutonic rocks of the Ryoke Metamorphic Belt. Zircon ages of the granitic clast samples also indicate that uplift in the provenance began after Albian and occurred at least during the Coniacian to Maastrichtian. Our results, together with the difference of provenance between backarc and forearc basins suggest that the southern marginal zone of the Ryoke Metamorphic Belt was uplifted and supplied a large amount of clastic materials to the forearc basins during the Late Cretaceous.     

Glimpses of oceanic lithosphere of the Challenger Deep forearc segment in the southernmost Marianas: The 143°E transect, 5800–4200 m

We studied nine samples of igneous rocks from the inner wall of the Mariana Trench above the Challenger Deep from 4150 to 6100 m depth recovered by manned submersible and ROV. Samples from two regions that bracket the Moho were studied: (i) 7 samples from a N‐S transect a few km to the west of the Shinkai Seep Field; and (ii) 2 samples from the Shinkai Seep Field. Transect samples include olivine‐2 pyroxene hornblendites, amphibole basalts, basaltic andesite, and hornblende andesite. We analyzed three transect samples for ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages; two yielded good plateau ages of 46.5 ±0.5 Ma (hornblendite) and 46.60 ±0.15 Ma (hornblende andesite). These results combined with previously published results, indicate that this crust formed during an intense 46–47 Ma magmatic episode that occurred 5–6 my after subduction initiation. Hornblendites and hornblende basalts formed from primitive magmas, as shown by high MgO (11–21 wt%), Ni (222–885 ppm) and Cr (412–1145 ppm) contents. Electron microprobe analyses indicate that hornblende is Na‐rich (up to 3.0 wt% Na₂O) and that many samples have an atypically large range in plagioclase composition (i.e. individual samples have An < 10 to An 90 plagioclase). Two subgroups can be identified: a mostly deeper depleted suite and a mostly shallower enriched suite. These results indicate that (i) the crust–mantle boundary in this region is transitional, occurring over a ~ 1.5 km interval, with interlayered peridotite and hornblendites between 5800 and 4300 m; and (b) extension to form the Challenger Deep forearc segment occurred by combined stretching of old crust and injection of young basaltic magmas. In contrast to the mostly fresh nature of transect samples, the two samples from the Shinaki Seep Field are intensely altered peridotite and basalt.