Extension-related origin of magmas from a garnet-bearing source in the Los Tuxtlas volcanic field, Mexico

The Los Tuxtlas volcanic field (LTVF) of late Miocene to Recent age is a key area to understand the consequences of the current subduction of the Cocos plate beneath the North American plate, as well as the competing effects of the ongoing extension along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Geochemical and radiogenic (Sr, Nd, and Pb) isotope data are used to constrain the origin of these 7 Ma to Recent magmas in this area. The basanitic and alkaline basaltic rocks show highly steep light rare-earth element-enriched patterns implying residual garnet in their mantle source, whereas the evolved alkaline and sub-alkaline rocks have less steep rare-earth element patterns consistent with a contribution from the continental crust. Geochemical and isotope data from the LTVF are compared with those from continental rifts, extension-related areas, continental break-up regions, and island and continental arcs, including the Central American volcanic arc related to the subduction of the same oceanic plate (Cocos plate), as well as with those from the two nearby Mexican provinces [the Eastern Alkaline Province (EAP) and the eastern part of the Mexican Volcanic Belt (E-MVB)]. These data for the LTVF primitive rocks are similar to rifts, extension-related areas and continental break-up regions, including the two Mexican provinces, but different from island and continental arcs, including the northern part of the Central American Volcanic Arc (CAVA). The LTVF rocks show an unusual Th and U enrichment with respect to Ba and Rb, which also renders a distinct negative Nb anomaly (with respect to Th and K) in them. These rocks also show a negative Nb anomaly (with respect to Ba and La) that is similar to numerous rift, extension-related areas, and continental break-up regions, but distinct from all arcs around the world, indicating that the magma genesis processes in the LTVF are similar to those in rifts. The “Sr-shift”, shown to be a typical feature of most, if not all, island and continental arcs including the CAVA, is not present in the LTVF rocks. Numerous discrimination diagrams, including the new discriminant function diagrams, suggest a rift setting for the LTVF. An essentially extension-related origin of the LTVF is, therefore, inferred in this study. Furthermore, in the light of major and trace element data for LTVF primitive rocks and their modelling an incompatible element-enriched garnet-bearing source seems plausible. The LTVF source is likely to reside in the lithosphere rather than the asthenosphere although the asthenospheric contribution cannot be completely ruled out. The evolved alkaline and sub-alkaline rocks might have a lower crustal component. Finally, it appears that the LTVF shows more affinity to the EAP rather than to the Mexican Volcanic Belt (MVB), implying that the LTVF should probably be considered as a part of the EAP.     

Whole-rock Geochemistry of Basic Schists from the Besshi Area, Central Shikoku: Implications for the Tectonic Setting of the Besshi Sulfide Deposit

Abstract. Whole-rock chemical compositions of the Besshi basic schist closely associated with the Besshi massive sulfide deposit from the Sanbagawa Belt are reported. Studied samples were collected from four outcrops around the Dozan-goe, central Shikoku. Common metamorphic mineral assemblage of the basic schist is albite + epidote + actinolite + chlorite ± muscovite ± quartz. Major element contents are similar to those of typical tholeiitic basalts. Trace element patterns of the basic schist normalized to normal mid-ocean ridge basalt (N-MORB) are generally flat, although concentrations of highly mobile large-ion lithophile elements are quite variable. Chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) patterns are flat to slightly light REE-depleted patterns. In the Hf-Th-Ta and Nb-Zr-Y discrimination diagrams, basic schist samples closely associated with the sulfide deposit are plotted within the N-MORB field. The Th/Nb ratios of the basic schist are also comparable to those of N-MORB. These geo-chemical lines of evidence indicate that the protolith of the Besshi basic schist is N-MORB and the Besshi sulfide deposit was formed by hydrothermal activity in conjunction with MOR volcanism.     

Delineation of a large ultramafic massif embedded within a major SW Pacific suture using gravity methods

Gravity studies have delineated the largest ultramafic massif in New Zealand, embedded within a buried major SW Pacific crustal suture zone. This suture records terrane collision onto the Gondwana margin during the Mesozoic and separates a forearc terrane from an outboard accretionary prism terrane. It can be traced throughout the length of New Zealand as the Junction Magnetic Anomaly and contains the Permian Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt, which in the South Island of New Zealand is characterized by a string of isolated ultramafic massifs in a sheared matrix of serpentinite and sediment. Our analysis reveals a steep gravity gradient at the suture boundary which is attributed to a newly recognised density contrast (0.1 Mg m^− 3) between terranes of the forearc and the accretionary prism. The massif itself is marked by the occurrence of a strong, elongate residual gravity anomaly (+ 120 g.u.) extending 50 km along the suture and coincident with the Junction Magnetic Anomaly. It is modelled, at its southern end, as a dense, 15 km wide source body, extending to at least 6 km in depth. In conjunction with detailed aeromagnetic data, this modeling indicates the presence of a spindle-shaped ultramafic massif, analogous to, but larger than similar bodies found within the Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt elsewhere. This fabric of sheared serpentinites enclosing ultramafic massifs therefore extends at least the length of New Zealand and probably beyond. In part it may result from accretion of asperities in the subducting plate, but it is also due to disruption of larger ultramafic bodies during subsequent strike-slip motion, which caused the remarkable linearity of the Dun Mountain Belt. Given the common occurrence of the plate tectonic processes involved, it is likely that such structures can be found in other regions around the world using similar geophysical potential field methods.     

新疆后造山碱性花岗岩的地质特征

新疆地区碱性花岗岩分布很广泛,可以划分出十条岩带,它们主要分布在古生代岛弧、弧后盆地及隆起区,与板块缝合线、深断裂密切相关,并与蛇绿岩和陆相火山岩相伴生。同位素年代测定表明,本区碱性花岗岩的形成是紧随造山运动之后发生的,属于后造山花岗岩。因此,它们形成时的构造环境、岩石化学成分、矿物组成及微量元素特征等均与非造山花岗岩(A 型花岗岩)有一定的区别。在一个地区有这么多后造山碱性花岗岩分布,国内外并不多见,这是新疆地质的一个特色。     

Sensitivity of shear zones in orogenic wedges to surface processes and strain softening

We investigate the internal deformation of orogenic wedges growing by frontal accretion with a two-dimensional numerical model. Our models are limited to crustal deformation and assume a horizontal detachment as observed for various natural orogens (e.g. Alaska and Costa Rica). The model wedges develop as a result of convergence of a brittle sediment layer in front of a strong backstop. We find that our reference model develops in-sequence forward-thrusts which propagate upward from the basal detachment. For this reference model we investigate the sensitivity of shear zone activity to surface processes and strain softening. Model results show that diffusive or slope dependent erosion enhances material transport across the wedge and slows down forward propagation of the deformation front. Frictional strain softening focuses deformation into narrow shear zones and enhances displacement along them. This has also been postulated for natural thrusts such as the Glarus thrust in the Swiss Alps and the Moine thrust in the Scottish Caledonides. A second series of models investigates the effects of regularly spaced weak inclusions within the sediment layer which simulate remnants of previous deformation phases. These inclusions facilitate and focus internal deformation, influence the thrust dip and thrust vergence and enable thrust reactivation in the internal part of the wedge. Our results show that inactive thrusts in the internal part of the wedges may be reactivated in models with diffusive surface processes, strain softening or weak inclusions. Thrust reactivation occurs as models seek to maintain their critical taper angle. First order characteristics of our numerical models agree well with natural orogenic wedges and results from other numerical and analogue models.     

The structural controls of gold mineralisation within the Bardoc Tectonic Zone,Eastern Goldfields Province,Western Australia: implications for gold endowment in shear systems

The Bardoc Tectonic Zone (BTZ) of the late Archaean Eastern Goldfields Province, Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia, is physically linked along strike to the Boulder-Lefroy Shear Zone (BLSZ), one of the richest orogenic gold shear systems in the world. However, gold production in the BTZ has only been one order of magnitude smaller than that of the BLSZ (∼100 t Au vs >1,500 t Au). The reasons for this difference can be found in the relative timing, distribution and style(s) of deformation that controlled gold deposition in the two shear systems. Deformation within the BTZ was relatively simple and is associated with tight to iso-clinal folding and reverse to transpressive shear zones over a <12-km-wide area of high straining, where lithological contacts have been rotated towards the plane of maximum shortening. These structures control gold mineralisation and also correspond to the second major shortening phase of the province (D₂). In contrast, shearing within the BLSZ is concentrated to narrow shear zones (<2 km wide) cutting through rocks at a range of orientations that underwent more complex dip- and strike-slip deformation, possibly developed throughout the different deformation phases recorded in the region (D₁–D₄). Independent of other physico-chemical factors, these differences provided for effective fluid localisation to host units with greater competency contrasts during a prolonged mineralisation process in the BLSZ as compared to the more simple structural history of the BTZ.     

青海省布青山早古生代末期埃达克岩的发现及其构造意义

在青藏高原北部阿尼玛卿蛇绿岩带布青山段首次发现了埃达克岩,它们多呈不规则岩脉状侵入于布青山地区北部早古生代蛇绿混杂岩中。其岩性为花岗-英云闪长岩,主矿物有斜长石、石英、黑云母、角闪石、少量钾长石和辉石;副矿物有榍石、磷灰石、锆石和磁铁矿等。属钙碱系列,具典型(Ⅰ类、O型、HSA)埃达克岩的地球化学特征,表现为:高SiO_2(63. 65%～71.59%),高Al_2O_3(14.81%～16.11%),高Na_2O(4.68%～5.33%)和Na_2O/K_2O(1.48～3.08,平均2.39),高Sr (444.08×10~(-6)～560.41×10~(-6))和Sr/Y(50.8～105.3),HREE强烈亏损,低Yb(0.38×10~(-6)～0.74×10~(-6)),高La/Yb(44.93～90.97),弱负Eu异常(δEu=0.74～0.90),富集大离子亲石元素(LILE),亏损高场强元素(HFSE),Ba、Pb正异常而Nb、P负异常。获得布青山埃达克岩的锆石TIMS U-Pb年龄为402±24Ma。布青山埃达克岩熔体来自俯冲的昆祁秦洋壳(含海洋沉积物)在石榴石角闪岩相条件下部分熔融,主要残留相为石榴石(±角闪石)。布青山埃达克岩的发现指示早古生代末期洋壳(昆祁秦多岛洋的一部分)俯冲作用的存在,俯冲方向朝北(现在方位),此前,俯冲带发生长时间的向洋迁移,早古生代末期俯冲带已后退到阿尼玛卿蛇绿混杂岩带以南;暗示典型埃达克岩也可以形成于洋壳俯冲晚期;提示阿尼玛卿蛇绿岩带可能有与典型埃达克岩有关的Au、Ag、Cu、Mo等热液和斑岩矿床。     

Sapphirine + quartz assemblage in contrasting textural modes from the Eastern Ghats Belt, India: Implications for stability relations in UHT metamorphism and retrograde processes

Stability of the assemblage sapphirine + quartz in Mg–Al-rich granulites implies ultrahigh temperature (UHT) condition of metamorphism but their direct contact is rarely preserved in natural rocks. The present study shows contrasting textural relations between sapphirine and quartz in different parts of the same occurrence of a Mg–Al-rich granulite, Eastern Ghats Belt, India. Textural data suggest stabilization of the assemblage sapphirine + quartz with orthopyroxene and cordierite during the metamorphic peak. Thermometric estimates yield temperature exceeding 950 °C for the stability of this assemblage. Most of such sapphirine grains (Spr₁) are texturally separated from quartz and cordierite grains by double corona of sillimanite + orthopyroxene that results due to isobaric cooling during the post-peak stage. Sapphirine (Spr₂) also forms a symplectic intergrowth with quartz and orthopyroxene at the fringe of coarse orthopyroxene. This textural feature can be explained by the breakdown of (Fe, Mg)-Tschermak components of orthopyroxene during the same isobaric cooling episode from UHT peak condition. The preservation of grain contact of this intergrown sapphirine and quartz can be attributed to a problem in reaction kinetics. In the other mode, sapphirine (Spr₃) occurs with quartz with a thin skin of cordierite near a quartz vein. Such texture could result from isothermal decompression of the cooled crust. Alternatively and more possibly, cordierite could form from ingress of CO₂–H₂O rich fluid during terminal stage of cooling. Finally, sapphirine (Spr₄) and quartz show direct contact close to the quartz vein. Direct contact of such sapphirine and quartz represents textural disequilibrium as this particular quartz is introduced as a vein much later than the peak metamorphism but prior to the major foliation-forming deformation. Coarse sapphirine and vein quartz, therefore, accidentally came in contact with each other and persisted metastably. Therefore, though coexistence of sapphirine and quartz is considered to be a strong evidence for ultrahigh temperature condition, care should be taken to decipher their stable coexistence. Different types of textural relations involving this mineral pair could originate in a single rock, probably in different stages of its metamorphic history.     

The timing of sub-solidus hydrothermal alteration in the Central Zone, Limpopo Belt (South Africa): Constraints from titanite U–Pb geochronology and REE partitioning

In the Central Zone of the Limpopo Belt (South Africa), Palaeoproterozoic granulite-facies metamorphism was superimposed on an earlier Archaean orogenic history. Previously determined ages of  2030–2020 Ma obtained from high-temperature chronometers (zircon, garnet, monazite) are generally thought to provide the best estimate of the peak of Palaeoproterozoic granulite-facies metamorphism in the Central Zone, whereas ages as young as  2006 Ma from late melt patches suggest that temperatures remained above the wet solidus for an extended period. We present a new MC-ICP-MS ²⁰⁷Pb–²⁰⁶Pb age of 2030.9 ± 1.5 Ma for titanite found in amphibolite- to greenschist-facies alteration zones developed adjacent to quartz vein systems and related pegmatites that cut a strongly deformed Central Zone metabasite. This age could potentially date cooling of rocks at this locality to temperatures below the wet solidus. Alternatively, the titanite could be inherited from the metabasite host, and the age determined from it date the peak of metamorphism. Integration of the geochronology with LA-ICP-MS trace element data for minerals from the metabasite, the hydrothermal vein systems and comparable rocks elsewhere shows that the titanite formed during the amphibolite-facies hydrothermal alteration, not at the metamorphic peak or during the greenschist-facies phase of veining. This suggests that high-grade rocks in the Central Zone have cooled differentially through the wet solidus, and provides timing constraints on when Palaeoproterozoic reworking in the Central Zone began. This study illustrates the potential of combined geochronological and high-resolution geochemical studies to accurately match mineral ages to distinct crustal processes.     

Pseudosection analysis for talc-Na pyroxene-bearing piemontite-quartz schist in the Sanbagawa Belt, Japan

Abstract Various modes of occurrence of talc were identified in piemontite‐quartz schists collected from schist and eclogite units in the Kotsu area of the Sanbagawa Belt, eastern Shikoku, Japan. They can be classified into the following types: (A) matrix and (B) pull‐apart talc. The matrix talc is associated with aegirineaugite or glaucophane in the eclogite unit and with albite or chlorite in the schist unit. The pull‐apart talc is developed at the pull‐apart of microboudin structures of Na‐amphibole, along with albite or chlorite in samples from both units, suggesting that the pull‐apart talc was formed by Na‐amphibole consuming reactions in both units. The talc–aegirineaugite–phengite association is found in a thin layer (a few millimetres thick), with higher Na₂O/(Na₂O + Al₂O₃ + MgO) ratio in the ANM (Al₂O₃–Na₂O–MgO) diagram projected from phengite, epidote and other minerals, in the eclogite unit. Crystals of aegirineaugite have decreased jadeite content [= 100 × Al/(Na + Ca)] and increased aegirine content [= 100 × (Na – Al)/(Na + Ca)] from the core (ca Jd₄₀Aeg₄₀Di₂₀) to the rim (ca Jd₂₃Aeg₅₃Di₂₄), and are replaced by winchite and albite in varying degrees at the crystal margins. Na‐amphibole is glaucophane/crossite, commonly rimmed by Al‐poor crossite or winchite at the margin in the eclogite unit, although it is relatively homogeneous crossite in the schist unit. These textures suggest that the talc‐phengite‐(aegirineaugite or glaucophane) assemblage equilibrated during an early stage of metamorphism and the pull‐apart talc was formed at a later stage in the eclogite unit. A plausible petrogenetic grid in the NCKFe³⁺MASH system with excess piemontite (regarded as epidote), hematite, quartz and water, pseudosection analysis for the aegirineaugite‐bearing layer and the observed mineral assemblages suggest that the talc‐aegirineaugite‐phengite assemblage is stable under high pressure conditions (ca 560–580°C and 18–20 kbar). The pull‐apart talc was formed at ca 565–580°C and 9.5–10.5 kbar by the reaction of glaucophane/crossite + paragonite = talc + albite during the decompression stage, suggesting that the piemontite‐quartz schist in the eclogite unit experienced high‐pressure metamorphism at ca 50–60 km depth and was then exhumed to ca 30 km depth under nearly adiabatic conditions.