Volcanism in the Vitim Volcanic Field, Siberia: Geochemical Evidence for a Mantle Plume Beneath the Baikal Rift Zone

The Baikal Rift is a zone of active lithospheric extension adjacentto the Siberian Craton. The 6–16 Myr old Vitim VolcanicField (VVF) lies approximately 200 km east of the rift axisand consists of 5000 km³ of melanephelinites, basanites, alkaliand tholeiitic basalts, and minor nephelinites. In the volcanicpile, 142 drill core samples were used to study temporal andspatial variations. Variations in major element abundances (e.g.MgO = 3·3–14·6 wt %) reflect polybaric fractionalcrystallization of olivine, clinopyroxene and plagioclase. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_i(0·7039–0·7049), ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd_i (0·5127–0·5129)and ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf_i (0·2829–0·2830) ratiosare similar to those for ocean island basalts and suggest thatthe magmas have not assimilated significant amounts of continentalcrust. Variable degrees of partial melting appear to be responsiblefor differences in Na₂O, P₂O₅, K₂O and incompatible trace elementabundances in the most primitive (high-MgO) magmas. Fractionatedheavy rare earth element (HREE) ratios (e.g. [Gd/Lu]_n > 2·5)indicate that the parental magmas of the Vitim lavas were predominantlygenerated within the garnet stability field. Forward major elementand REE inversion models suggest that the tholeiitic and alkalibasalts were generated by decompression melting of a fertileperidotite source within the convecting mantle beneath Vitim.Ba/Sr ratios and negative K anomalies in normalized multi-elementplots suggest that phlogopite was a residual mantle phase duringthe genesis of the nephelinites and basanites. Relatively highlight REE (LREE) abundances in the silica-undersaturated meltsrequire a metasomatically enriched lithospheric mantle source.Results of forward major element modelling suggest that meltingof phlogopite-bearing pyroxenite veins could explain the majorelement composition of these melts. In support of this, pyroxenitexenoliths have been found in the VVF. High Cenozoic mantle potentialtemperatures (1450°C) predicted from geochemical modellingsuggest the presence of a mantle plume beneath the Baikal RiftZone. KEY WORDS: Baikal Rift; mafic magmatism; mantle plume; metasomatism; partial melting     

Relations entre production organique et apports terrigènes dans les sédiments fluviatiles holocènes : observations et conclusions hétérodoxes

Accumulation of organic matter in fens of fluvial valleys is often related to a low terrigenous matter delivery and to palaeoenvironmental conditions inducing low mechanical erosion. These assumptions come from the interpretation of contents in organic (MO) and mineral (MM) matters in sediments, expressed in percents, and then exactly anticorrelated. Calculation of mass accumulation rates of MO $(T_{{\mathrm{a}}_{\mathrm{MO}}})$ and MM $(T_{{\mathrm{a}}_{\mathrm{MM}}})$, expressed in g?m^?2?yr^?1, shows that $T_{{\mathrm{a}}_{\mathrm{MO}}}$ and $T_{{\mathrm{a}}_{\mathrm{MM}}}$ generally are not anticorrelated and that high values of $T_{{\mathrm{a}}_{\mathrm{MO}}}$ and $T_{{\mathrm{a}}_{\mathrm{MM}}}$ could appear simultaneously. That expression of MO and MM accumulation makes it possible to precise the climatic and human impact on sedimentation. To cite this article: J.-J. Macaire et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

Geochemical discriminations of sandstones from the Mohe Foreland basin,northeastern China: Tectonic setting and provenance

The Mohe region near the border area of China with Russia is in Heilongjiang Province. Topographically the area consists of lower mountains or hills situated at the northern end of the Da Hinggan Mountains. Struc-turally the Mohe basin rests on the north margin of the Ergun Block, and the Mongol-Okhotsk Orogen is lo-cated to the north of the basin. Due to poor access conditions and good vegetation coverage, previous researches on the basin are much weak with few spe-cial geological inves…     

Earthquake-controlled event deposits and its tectonic significance from the Middle Permian Wandrawandian Siltstone in the Sydney Basin,Australia

Earthquake is a disaster event resulting from rapid and intensive crustal vibration caused by fault activity, volcanic eruption, or block dilapidation. Heezen and Ewing[1] and Heezen and Dyke[2] were the first to note earthquake-related mass movement and associated deposits in connection to the turbidity currents and submarine slumps triggered by the Grand Bank Earthquake in 1929. Seilacher[3] defined redeposited sedimentary beds, disturbed and modified by earth- quakes, as seismite. Since t…     

Isotopic evidence of TSR origin for natural gas bearing high H<Subscript>2</Subscript>S contents within the Feixianguan Formation of the northeastern Sichuan Basin,southwestern China

The northeastern area of Sichuan Basin, southwestern China, is the area with the maximal reserve of natural gas containing higher hydrogen sulphide (H₂S) that has been found among the petroliferous basins of China, with the proven and controlled gas reserve of more than 200 billion cubic meters. These gas pools, with higher H₂S contents averaging 9%, some 17%, are mainly distributed on structural belts of Dukouhe, Tieshanpo, Luojiazhai, Puguang, etc., while the oolitic-shoal dolomite of the Triassic Feixianguan Fm. (T₁f) is the reservoir. Although many scholars regard the plentiful accumulation of H₂S within the deep carbonate reservoir as the result of Thermochemical Sulfate Reduction (TSR), however, the process of TSR as well as its residual geological and geochemical evidence is still not quite clear. Based on the carbon isotopic analysis of carbonate strata and secondary calcite, etc., together with the analysis of sulfur isotopes within H₂S, sulphur, gypsum, iron pyrites, etc., as well as other aspects including the natural gas composition, carbon isotopes of hydrocarbons reservoir petrology, etc., it has been proved that the above natural gas is a product of TSR. The H₂S, sulphur and calcite result from the participation of TSR reactions by hydrocarbon gas. During the process for hydrocarbons being consumed due to TSR, the carbons within the hydrocarbon gas participate in the reactions and finally are transferred into the secondary calcite, and become the carbon source of secondary calcite, consequently causing the carbon isotopes of the secondary calcite to be lower (−18.2‰). As for both the intermediate product of TSR, i.e. sulfur, and its final products, i.e. H₂S and iron pyrites, their sulfur elements are all sourced from the sulfate within the Feixianguan Fm. During the fractional processes of sulfur isotopes, the bond energy leads to the ³²S being released firstly, and the earlier it is released, the lower δ ³⁴S values for the generated sulphide (H₂S) or sulfur will be. However, for the anhydrite that participates in reactions, the higher the reaction degree, the more ³²S is released, while the less ³²S remains and the more δ ³⁴S is increased. The testing results have proved the process of the dynamic fractionation of sulfur isotopes.     

Foraminifera from the Irish Sea glacigenic deposits at Aberdaron,western Lleyn,North Wales: Palaeoenvironmental implications

In a sequence of glacigenic sediments at Aberdaron, Foraminifera were obtained from samples located specifically in order to differentiate between opposing models of depositional environment. All the diamict samples yielded remarkably uniform assemblages, with similar numbers of benthic specimens and benthic species per unit weight of sediment, similar planktic : benthic ratios, and similar ratios of clearly allochthonous to possibly autochthonous elements. This is precisely as predicted by the terrestrial model of sedimentation, where all of the sediments are interpreted as being derived from the melting of glacier ice rich in marine debris entrained during passage along the Irish Sea Basin. The results lend no support to a glacial marine model, since no faunal responses to increasingly distal sedimentary environments are observed. However, the fauna is dominated by the Foraminifera Elphidium excavatum (Terquem) forma clavata Cushman, which is commonly assumed to indicate glacial marine conditions. The modern distribution of similar assemblages suggests that it is just as likely to represent the cold, reduced salinity conditions that would have prevailed in the northern Irish Sea Basin for much of the Quaternary.     

海拉尔盆地贝尔凹陷布达特群水力破裂的岩石学特征及其成因探讨

海拉尔盆地贝尔凹陷布达特群凝灰质泥岩中发育大量凝灰质泥岩角砾。岩芯及透射光显微镜观察发现,这是一种水力破裂体系中流体和岩石作用的产物一水压碎屑岩。水压碎屑岩的岩石学特征表现为：角砾之间具有可拼合性、岩芯横切面上发育大量“T”型垂直裂缝、微细纤维状铁白云石脉对壁生长。水力破裂作用的成因主要与布达特群岩性组合特征、构造-流体作用有关。     

冈底斯山脉中段麦嘎古湖的形成演化发展与消亡

麦嘎盆地属典型的山间断陷盆地,其形成演化发展又受制于盆周的断层构造活动。麦嘎古湖的形成演化发展及消亡与麦嘎盆地的发展演化紧密相连。笔者从构造和湖积物特征人手,对麦嘎古湖的形成演化发展消亡作了深入探讨,认为其受到新构造活动、古气候、河流侵蚀等自然外力的综合作用,麦嘎盆地先后经历了河流→湖沼→河流→湖沼→湖泊→湖沼→湖泊→河流的演化过程。     

Late Paleozoic volcanic rocks of the Intra-Sudetic Basin, Bohemian Massif: petrological and geochemical characteristics

Late Paleozoic volcanic rocks in the Intra-Sudetic Basin of the Bohemian Massif in the Czech Republic can be subdivided into two series: (I) a minor bimodal trachyandesite-rhyolite series of Upper Carboniferous age with initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr of ca. 0.710 and ε_Nd values of −6.1 also characteristic of volcanics of the near Krkonoše Piedmont Basin (0.707 and −6.0, Ulrych et al., 2003) and (II) a major differentiated basaltic trachyandesite-trachyandesite-trachyte-rhyolite series of Lower Permian age with lower initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr of ca. 0.705-0.708 and ε_Nd values ranging from −2.7 to −3.4/−4.1/. The newly recognized volcanic rocks of trachytic composition indicate that the rocks were formed by magmatic differentiation of similar parental melts rather than constituting a bimodal mafic-felsic sequence from different sources. Both series are generally of subalkaline affinity and calc-alkaline character with some tholeiitic tint (FeO/MgO vs. SiO₂, presence of orthopyroxene). The magmatic activity occurred in cycles in a layered chamber, each starting primarily with felsic volcanics and ending with mafic ones. The mafic rocks represent mantle-melt(s) overprinted by crust during assimilation-fractional crystallization. The Sr-Nd isotopic data confirm a significant crustal component in the volcanic rocks that may have been inherited from the upper mantle source and/or from assimilation of older crust during magmatic underplating and shallow-level melt fractionation.