Insights into the complexity of crustal differentiation: K2O‐poor leucosomes within metasedimentary migmatites from the Southern Marginal Zone of the Limpopo Belt,South Africa

Differentiation of the continental crust is the result of complex interactions between a large number of processes, which govern partial melting of the deep crust, magma formation and segregation, and magma ascent to significantly higher crustal levels. The anatectic metasedimentary rocks exposed in the Southern Marginal Zone of the Limpopo Belt represent an unusually well‐exposed natural laboratory where the portion of these processes that operate in the deep crust can be directly investigated in the field. The formation of these migmatites occurred via absent incongruent melting reactions involving biotite, which produced cm‐ to m‐scale, K₂O‐poor garnet‐bearing stromatic leucosomes, with high Ca/Na ratios relative to their source rocks. Field investigation combined with geochemical analyses, and phase equilibrium modelling designed to investigate some aspects of disequilibrium partial melting show that the outcrop features and compositions of the leucosomes suggest several steps in their evolution: (1) Melting of a portion of the source, with restricted plagioclase availability due to kinetic controls, to produce a magma (melt + entrained peritectic minerals in variable proportions relative to melt); (2) Segregation of the magma at near peak metamorphic conditions into melt accumulation sites (MAS), also known as future leucosome; (3a) Re‐equilibration of the magma with a portion of the bounding mafic residuum via chemical diffusion (H₂O, K₂O), which triggers the co‐precipitation of quartz and plagioclase in the MAS; (3b) Extraction of melt‐dominated magma to higher crustal levels, leaving peritectic minerals entrained from the site of the melting reaction, and the minerals precipitated in the MASs to form the leucosome in the source. The key mechanism controlling this behaviour is the kinetically induced restriction of the amount of plagioclase available to the melting reaction. This results in elevated melt H₂O and K₂O and chemical potential gradient for these components across the leucosome/mafic residuum contact. The combination of all of these processes accurately explains the composition of the K₂O‐poor leucosomes. These findings have important implications for our understanding of melt segregation in the lower crust and minimum melt residency time which, according to the chemical modelling, is <5 years. We demonstrate that in some migmatitic granulites, the leucosomes constitute a type of felsic refractory residuum, rather than evidence of failed magma extraction. This provides a new insight into the ways that source heterogeneity may control anatexis.     

The Mesoarchean emergence of modern-style subduction

Well-preserved volcanic sequences span the Paleoarchean to Neoarchean evolution of the Pilbara Craton, in northwestern Australia. This region provides the best physical evidence bearing on the stage of Earth's history when modern-style tectonic processes began. Paleoarchean assemblages in the eastern nucleus of the craton (the 3.51–3.24 Ga Pilbara Supergroup) show few features that can reasonably be interpreted as evidence for modern-style subduction processes. Incompatible trace element-enriched felsic volcanic horizons show geochemical evidence for the interaction between mafic magmas and crust, but this evidence, on its own, can equally well be interpreted in terms of either a subduction-enriched mantle source or local and limited assimilation of felsic crust into the voluminous tholeiitic magmas that dominate the Pilbara Supergroup. Viewed in context within the thick autochthonous and consistently upward-younging Pilbara Supergroup, these felsic units are most likely related to the same plume-dominated processes that formed the basalts that dominate the supergroup. It is very unlikely that modern-style plate tectonic processes played any role in the Paleoarchean evolution of the Pilbara Craton, although some form of non-uniformitarian (e.g. flat) subduction process may have operated.In stark contrast, the Mesoarchean units of the West Pilbara Terrane and the late-tectonic basins that cover that boundary between the West and East Pilbara Terranes, show clear evidence for modern-style convergent margin processes. Igneous rocks in this belt, which flanks the old eastern cratonic nuclei, have enriched geochemical signatures that cannot be accounted for by crustal contamination. This region is also characterised by a linear magmatic and structural fabric, by the presence of lithologically and geochronologically exotic belts, and by the presence of a broad belt of isotopically more juvenile crust. The collective strength of these arguments provides compelling evidence that a modern-style oceanic arc fringed the East Pilbara Terrane at 3.12 Ga and accreted to that terrane by 2.97 Ga. These assemblages mark the minimum age for the birth of modern-style plate subduction process.     

新疆东准噶尔花岗岩类岩石高温高压弹性波速度及其对地壳结构的约束

应用超声波反射-透射法,在最高压力为1.0 GPa（室温）,最高温度为700℃（1.0 GPa）的条件下对新疆东准噶尔地区的卡拉麦里花岗岩带和野马泉岩体的典型花岗岩类岩石（碱长花岗岩、碱性花岗岩、花岗闪长岩、二长花岗岩和石英闪长岩）的纵波速度（VP）和横波速度（VS）进行了测量.结果显示,在常温、压力0.4~1.0 GPa条件下,东准噶尔地区花岗岩类岩石的VP和VS均随压力呈线性增加,说明在这个压力段岩石中的微裂隙已基本闭合.室温、1.0 GPa时花岗岩类岩石的VP是5.79~6.84 km·s-1,VS是3.26~3.85 km·s-1.依据压力与VP及压力与VS的线性关系,拟合得到常温常压下花岗岩类岩石的纵波和横波压力系数分别是0.1568~0.4078 km/（s·GPa）和0.0722~0.3271 km/（s·GPa）,VP0和VS0分别是5.62~6.47 km·s-1和3.15~3.75 km·s-1.恒压1.0 GPa、室温到700℃条件下,花岗岩类岩石的VP和VS均随温度的升高呈线性降低,温度系数分别为（-3.41~-4.96）×10-4 km/（s·℃）和（-0.88~-3.22）×10-4 km/（s·℃）.利用实验获得的花岗岩类岩石的VP0、VS0及温度系数和压力系数,结合东准噶尔地区的地热资料,建立了VP和VS随深度变化的剖面.将获得的VP和VS-深度剖面与该区地球物理探测结果对比,发现东准噶尔地区的碱长花岗岩、碱性花岗岩、二长花岗岩和部分花岗闪长岩的VP和VS与该区上地壳速度吻合很好,同时这几种岩石的平均泊松比也与上地壳泊松比一致,因此我们认为这几种类型的岩石是该区上地壳的重要组成部分.另外,石英闪长岩的VP和VS均符合中地壳的速度,可能为中地壳中的一种岩石.     

天山北部石炭纪埃达克岩-高镁安山岩-富Nb岛弧玄武质岩：对中亚造山带显生宙地壳增生与铜金成矿的意义

新疆天山北部地区存在有石炭纪的埃达克岩-高镁安山岩-富Nb玄武质岩组合，并且其中许多岩石与铜（金）矿床伴生（如达巴特、阿希、土屋-延东、赤湖，等等）。埃达克岩富钠、高Sr但亏损Y与Yb，无明显Eu-正Eu异常以及正Sr异常与Nb、Ti亏损。高镁安山（闪长）岩是本次研究首次报道的，这些岩石无明显Eu-正Eu异常以及Nb、Ti亏损，普遍具有高的MgO和Cr、Ni含量，其中阿希金矿区一些样品类似于日本西南新生代Setouchi弧火山岩带中的赞岐岩类。富Nb玄武质岩富钠贫钾，具有微弱负．正Ba、Nb和Ti异常以及高的Nb／La比值，不同于大多数正常岛弧玄武岩。天山北部地区石炭纪埃达克岩具有高的8Nd（t）（＋3．4-＋9．0）和低的（^87Sr／^86Sr）i（0．7032—0．7043）。富Nb玄武质岩具有变化的εNd（t）（＋3．6-＋11．6）和（^87Sr／^86Sr）；（0．7007—0．7067）。我们的研究表明，天山北部地区石炭纪埃达克岩-高镁安山岩-富Nb玄武质岩组合可能是“埃达克岩交代的岛弧岩浆岩系列”。埃达克岩最有可能由石炭纪北天山洋的年轻洋壳在俯冲过程中熔融形成。另外，俯冲板片产生的熔体以及所释放的少量流体在上升过程中可能交代地幔楔橄榄岩或与其发生反应：一方面，触发地幔楔橄榄岩发生熔融形成富Nb岛弧玄武质岩；另一方面，地幔组分迅速进入到板片熔体中，导致其地幔组分增加，乃至形成高镁安山岩。因此，天山北部地区石炭纪埃达克岩-高镁安山岩-富Nb玄武质岩组合表明：（1）天山北部地区石炭纪可能为岛弧环境而非裂谷环境；（2）天山地区石炭纪的地壳生长可能以侧向增生为主；（3）除了亏损地幔之外，俯冲洋壳的熔融可能也在地壳的生长中发挥了重要的作用；（4）俯冲板片产生的埃达克质岩浆具有高的氧逸度，而其与地幔楔橄榄岩的强烈相互作用将导致地幔中的金属硫化物分解，成矿金属元素进入到岩浆中。这可能是新疆北部铜金矿化与一些埃达克岩、高镁安山（闪长）岩或富Nb岛弧玄武质岩密切共生的基本原因。     

华北克拉通南缘小秦岭地区花岗质浅色脉体锆石U-Pb年龄、稀土元素特征及其地质意义

小秦岭地区发育有大量古元古代晚期的花岗质浅色脉体, 这为理解同时期华北克拉通南缘的深熔作用和构造演化提供了重要的窗口。本文对小秦岭地区三条花岗质浅色脉体中的锆石开展了CL图像、LA-ICP-MS U-Pb年代学及稀土元素的研究。浅色脉体中的锆石具有深熔成因锆石的斑杂状、平面状或弱振荡环带的内部结构及较为自形的外部形态特征, 测得的锆石207Pb/206Pb年龄分别为(1867±13) Ma (MSWD=0.22, n=21)、(1849±17) Ma (MSWD=0.79)和(1828±15) Ma (MSWD=0.33, n=20), 代表了该区深熔作用发生的时间。与上述三组年龄相对应, 其锆石稀土元素配分曲线由具较弱负Eu异常(Eu/Eu*=0.12~0.81)的重稀土相对富集型, 转变为中等负Eu异常(Eu/Eu*=0.29~0.61)的近平坦重稀土型、再到显著负Eu异常(Eu/Eu*=0.15~0.54)的重稀土富集型, 结合锆石Ti温度计获取其结晶温度为574~708 °C, 表明地壳深熔作用的发生可能与高角闪岩相-麻粒岩相的退变质作用有关。结合前人的变质年代学数据可知, 小秦岭地区1.87~1.82 Ga的深熔作用应与~1.95 Ga时东、西部陆块碰撞造山所致增厚地壳的长期抬升和冷却过程有关。     

角闪石成分对东天山铜镍矿床岩浆过程的指示意义

图拉尔根、香山和天宇、白石泉岩浆铜镍硫化物矿床分别位于新疆东天山的觉罗塔格构造带和中天山地块,角闪石在这些矿床中均以贯通矿物产出。本研究通过这些矿床角闪石的主量和微量元素含量,讨论两个构造单元成矿岩浆的性质和演化过程。四个矿床的角闪石种属主要为韭闪石、镁绿钙闪石、浅闪石、钛闪石、钙镁闪石和镁闪石,结晶温度区间为940～1080℃,压力区间为250～450MPa,相当于11～15km的深度。图拉尔根和香山矿床的角闪石结晶温度和压力均相对较低(平均分别为1027℃、318MPa和1013℃、313MPa),可能与其所处的觉罗塔格构造带断裂发育,成矿母岩浆易于侵位到较浅处结晶有关。四个矿床角闪石结晶时岩浆的含水量均较高(4%左右),可能是俯冲交代作用导致的地幔源区本身水含量较高以及角闪石结晶较晚共同作用的结果。相较于觉罗塔格构造带的图拉尔根和香山矿床(0 ΔNNO 1. 7),角闪石氧逸度计指示中天山地块天宇和白石泉矿床的氧逸度变化范围大且偏低(分别是-0. 6 ΔNNO 1. 7和-0. 4 ΔNNO 1. 8)。中天山铜镍矿床的氧逸度特征及相对觉罗塔格构造带较低的微量元素Ce/Pb比值指示其岩浆侵位过程中受到的古老地块的混染作用较强。以上研究表明角闪石虽是玄武质岩浆中较晚结晶的矿物,但能为示踪铜镍矿床岩浆演化提供重要线索。     

The Quaternary evolution of the Gulf of Corinth, central Greece: coupling between surface processes and flow in the lower continental crust

The Gulf of Corinth in central Greece is an active normal fault zone with particularly clear evidence of isostatic footwall uplift, constrained by Quaternary marine terraces, and hanging-wall subsidence and sedimentation. It is bounded to the south by a Pliocene to Early Pleistocene sedimentary basin, which is now eroding into the Gulf. Previous work has suggested that the relief across this region has increased dramatically since the Early Pleistocene, due to the isostatic response to increased rates of footwall erosion and hanging-wall sedimentation. It is indeed assumed here that incision accompanying the draw-down of global sea-level at 0.9 Ma, during the first major Pleistocene glaciation, initiated the erosion of the basin south of the Gulf of Corinth and so abruptly increased the sedimentation rate in the Gulf. The resulting transient thermal and isostatic response to these changes is modelled, with the subsiding depocentre and eroding sediment source coupled by flow in the lower continental crust. The subsequent enhancement of relief, involving an increase in bathymetry from near zero to 900 m and 500 m of uplift of the eroding land surface in the sediment source, is shown to be a direct consequence of this change. The model is sensitive to the effective viscosity of the lower crust, and can thus resolve this parameter by matching observations. A value of 6×10¹⁹ Pa s is indicated, suggesting a viscosity at the Moho no greater than 10¹⁸ Pa s. Similar transient topographic effects caused by increased rates of sedimentation and erosion are likely to be widespread within the geological record, suggesting that this coupling process involving flow in the weak lower crust may be of major geological and geomorphological importance.     

Crustal structure of the Ruby Mountains and southern Carlin Trend region, Nevada, from magnetotelluric data

We have collected about 150 magnetotelluric (MT) soundings in northeastern Nevada in the region of the Ruby Mountains metamorphic core complex uplift and southern Carlin mineral trend, in an effort to illuminate controls on core complex evolution and deposition of world-class gold deposits. The region has experienced a broad range of tectonic events including several periods of compressional and extensional deformation, which have contributed to the total expression of electrical resistivity. Most of the soundings reside in three east–west profiles across increasing degrees of core uplift to the north (Bald Mountain, Harrison Pass, and Secret Pass latitudes). One short cross-line was also taken to assess an east–west structure to the north of the northern profile. Model resistivity cross-sections were derived from the MT data using a 2-D inversion algorithm, which damps departures of model parameters from an a priori structure. Geological interpretation of the resistivity combines previous seismic, potential field and isotope models, structural and petrological models for regional compression and extension, and detailed structural/stratigraphic interpretations incorporating drilling for petroleum and mineral exploration. To first order, the resistivity structure is one of a moderately conductive, Phanerozoic sedimentary section fundamentally disrupted by intrusion and uplift of resistive crystalline rocks. Late Devonian and early Mississippian shales of the Pilot and Chainman Formations together form an important conductive marker sequence in the stratigraphy and show pronounced increases in conductance (conductivity–thickness product) from east to west. These increases are attributed to graphitization caused by Elko–Sevier era compressional shear deformation and possibly by intrusive heating. The resistive crystalline central massifs adjoin the host stratigraphy across crustal-scale, steeply dipping fault zones. The zones provide pathways to the lower crust for heterogeneous, upper crustal induced, electric current flow. Resistive core complex crust appears steeply bounded under the middle of the neighboring grabens and not to deepen at a shallow angle to arbitrary distances to the west. The numerous crustal breaks imaged with MT may contribute to the low effective elastic thickness (T_e) estimated regionally for the Great Basin and exemplify the mid-crustal, steeply dipping slip zones in which major earthquakes nucleate. An east–west oriented conductor in the crystalline upper crust spans the East Humboldt Range and northern Ruby Mountains. The conductor may be related to nearby graphitic metasediments, with possible alteration by middle Tertiary magmatism. Lower crustal resistivity everywhere under the profiles is low and appears quasi one-dimensional. It is consistent with a low rock porosity (<1 vol.%) containing hypersaline brines and possible water-undersaturated crustal melts, residual to the mostly Miocene regional extension. The resistivity expression of the southern Carlin Trend (CT) in the Pinon Range is not a simple lineament but rather a family of structures attributed to Eocene intrusion, stratal deformation, and alteration/graphitization. Substantial reactivation or overprinting by core complex uplift or Basin–Range extensional events seems likely. We concur with others that the Carlin Trend may result in part from overlap of the large Eocene Northeast Nevada Volcanic Field with Precambrian–Paleozoic deep-water clastic source rocks thickening abruptly to the west of the Pinon Range, and projecting to the north–northwest.     

Crustal structure of Iraq from receiver functions and surface wave dispersion: implications for understanding the deformation history of the Arabian–Eurasian collision

We report the crustal structure for two locations in Iraq estimated by joint inversion of P -wave receiver functions (RFs) and surface (Rayleigh) wave group velocity dispersion. RFs were computed from teleseismic recordings at two temporary broad-band seismic stations located in Mosul (MSL) in the Zagros Fold Belt and Baghdad (BHD) in the Mesopotamian Foredeep. Group velocity dispersion curves at the sites were derived from continental-scale tomography. The inversion results show that the crustal thicknesses are 39 km at MSL and 43 km at BHD. We observe a strong Ps _Moho at BHD consistent with a sharp Moho discontinuity. However, at MSL we observe a weak Ps _Moho suggesting a transitional Moho where crustal thickening is likely to be occurring in the deep crust. Both sites reveal low velocity surface layers consistent with sedimentary thickness of about 3 km at station MSL and 7 km at BHD and agreeing well with the previous reports. Ignoring the sediments, the crystalline crustal velocities and thicknesses are remarkably similar at both stations. The similarity of crustal structure suggests that the crust of the northeastern proto-Arabian Platform was uniform before subsidence and deposition of the sediments in the Cenozoic. If crystalline crustal structure is uniform across the northern Arabian Platform then crustal thickness variations in the Zagros Fold Belt and Thrust Zone should reveal the history of deformation and crustal shortening in the Arabian–Eurasian collision zone and not reflect pre-existing crustal thickness variations in the Arabian Plate.