Neogene tectonic evolution of the Gibraltar Arc: New paleomagnetic constrains from the Betic chain

New paleomagnetic results from Neogene sedimentary sequences from the Betic chain (Spain) are here presented. Sedimentary basins located in different areas were selected in order to obtain paleomagnetic data from structural domains that experienced different tectonic evolution during the Neogene. Whereas no rotations have been evidenced in the Late Tortonian sediments in the Guadalquivir foreland basin, clockwise vertical axis rotations have been measured in sedimentary basins located in the central part of the Betics: the Aquitanian to Messinian sediments in the Alcalà la Real basin and the Tortonian and Messinian sediments in the Granada basin. Moreover, counterclockwise vertical axis rotations, associated to left lateral strike-slip faults have been locally measured from sedimetary basins in the eastern Betics: the Middle Miocene to Lower Pliocene sites from the Lorca and Vera basins and, locally, the Tortonian units of the Huercal-Overa basin. Our results show that, conversely from what was believed up to now, paleomagnetic rotations continued in the Betics after Late Miocene, enhancing the role of vertical axis rotations in the recent tectonic evolution of the Gibraltar Arc.     

Facies architecture and Late Pliocene – Pleistocene evolution of a felsic volcanic island, Milos, Greece

The volcanic island of Milos, Greece, comprises an Upper Pliocene –Pleistocene, thick (up to 700 m), compositionally and texturally diverse succession of calc-alkaline, volcanic, and sedimentary rocks that record a transition from a relatively shallow but dominantly below-wave-base submarine setting to a subaerial one. The volcanic activity began at 2.66±0.07 Ma and has been more or less continuous since then. Subaerial emergence probably occurred at 1.44±0.08 Ma, in response to a combination of volcanic constructional processes and fault-controlled volcano-tectonic uplift. The architecture of the dominantly felsic-intermediate volcanic succession reflects contrasts in eruption style, proximity to source, depositional environment and emplacement processes. The juxtaposition of submarine and subaerial facies indicates that for part of the volcanic history, below-wave base to above-wave base, and shoaling to subaerial depositional environments coexisted in most areas. The volcanic facies architecture comprises interfingering proximal (near vent), medial and distal facies associations related to five main volcano types: (1) submarine felsic cryptodome-pumice cone volcanoes; (2) submarine dacitic and andesitic lava domes; (3) submarine-to-subaerial scoria cones; (4) submarine-to-subaerial dacitic and andesitic lava domes and (5) subaerial lava-pumice cone volcanoes. The volcanic facies are interbedded with a sedimentary facies association comprising sandstone and/or fossiliferous mudstone mainly derived from erosion of pre-existing volcanic deposits. The main facies associations are interpreted to have conformable, disconformable, and interfingering contacts, and there are no mappable angular unconformities or disconformities within the volcanic succession.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at     

Postmagmatic cooling and late Cenozoic denudation of the North Patagonian Batholith in the Los Lagos region of Chile, 41°−42°15′S

Zircon and apatite fission track (FT) thermochronology was applied to investigate the history of cooling and denudation of the Southern Andes between 41° and 42°15′S in relation to the late Cenozoic activity of the Liquiñe-Ofqui fault zone (LOFZ) and the northward migration of the Chile Triple Junction (CTJ). Fifty-six zircon and 51 apatite FT ages, plus 37 apatite confined track-length distributions were obtained mainly from plutonic rocks of the North Patagonian Batholith (NPB) in the main Andean Cordillera. Apatite FT ages and track lengths indicate a stage of rapid cooling at ∼5--3 Ma along both sides of the LOFZ, whereas older Miocene ages with monotonous cooling histories were obtained further away from the fault. Zircon FT ages range from Cretaceous to Pliocene, with marked differences observed along and across the LOFZ. Three different types of temperature-time histories characterise the post-magmatic cooling of the NPB in the region: deep intrusions with moderate and steady cooling rates, intrusions in the upper crust with very slow cooling rates following a stage of initial rapid cooling, and rapidly cooled and exhumed shallow intrusions, the latter with younger ages towards the fault zone. The most prominent denudation episode along the LOFZ is late Miocene to Pliocene, coeval with plate tectonic reconstructions for the arrival and subduction of the Chile Rise beneath the Taitao Peninsula.     

Seismic stratigraphy and structural characteristics of back-arc rifts on the Izu-Ogasawara Arc

Abstract Seven back-arc rifts are recognized in the Izu-Ogasawara Arc, namely, the Hachijo, the Aogashima, the Myojin, the Sumisu, the Torishima, the Sofu and the Nishinoshima Rifts from north to south. The acoustic stratigraphy is divided into three units (Units A, B and C) based on the seismic reflection profiles crossing the rifts. The structure of the rifts systematically changes from a half-graben type to a full graben type in the back-arc rifts from the Hachijo Rift to the Torishima Rift. The Hachijo and the Aogashima Rifts have a structure of half-graben, and the Myojin Rift has both structural characteristics of a half-graben and a full graben. The Sumisu and the Torishima Rifts are an asymmetric full graben. The Sofu and the Nishinoshima Rifts have different structural characteristics from the remaining rifts, from the Hachijo Rift to the Torishima Rift. The boundary faults in the back-arc rifts from the Hachijo to the Torishima Rifts cut to Unit B. Unit B correlates with volcaniclastic sediments during pre-rift volcanism between 4 and 2 Ma. The pre-rift volcanism was probably widespread on the northern Izu-Ogasawara Arc as is the present arc volcanism. These factors suggest that the beginning of rifting is dated at some time after 2 Ma. The developing process of the rift consists of three stages; (i) a sag stage in the crust at the location of the large offset boundary fault; (ii) a stage of half-graben formation; (iii) a stage of full graben formation. The offset of the boundary faults becomes larger from the Hachijo Rift to the Torishima Rift and the east-west width of the rifts also widens to the south. This is presumably because the Hachijo Rift is an earlier rifting stage than the Sumisu and the Torishima Rifts. The more primitive structure in the rifting stage from the Torishima Rift to the Hachijo Rift is probably caused by the propagation of rifting from south to north. The structural difference between the rifts in the northern part and the Sofu and the Nishinoshima Rifts seems to be due to structural differences in the crust between the northern and the southern parts from the tectonic gap.     

基于Arc/Info的地形图数据转换方法

通过对Arc/Info转入dxf格式的某校园地形图数据的实验,提出了一些切实可行的空间数据的转换方法,并针对实体还没有属性联接,提出了属性数据转换办法,解决了在Arc/Info中中文字不能正确显示的问题。     

Isotopic evidence for the magmatic and tectonic histories of the Carolina terrane: implications for stratigraphy and terrane affiliation

Establishing the age and crustal nature of exotic terranes and their underlying basements helps to determine their paleogeographic origin and tectonic histories. We present U–Pb ages of zircons and Sm–Nd whole rock isotopic data for volcanic and plutonic rocks of the Carolina terrane, one of several peri-Gondwanan terranes that were accreted to the margins of the circum-Atlantic continents during the Paleozoic. Volcanism in this subduction-related arc culminated in the eruption of the Morrow Mountain rhyolite, at ca. 540 Ma; thus, magmatism in the Carolina terrane ceased at the beginning of the Cambrian. The presence of inherited zircons and non-juvenile depleted mantle model ages of Carolina slate belt rocks favor a basement that is, at least in part, composed of evolved continental crust. Ages of inherited xenocrystic zircons cluster at ca. 1000, 2100 and 2500 Ma. These ages, in addition to volcanism at ca. 618–540 Ma, correlate best with well-known tectonic events in present-day northern South America. Specifically, the Orinoquian-Sunsas, the Trans-Amazonian and the Central Amazonian orogenic zones are likely candidates for potential basement correlatives to the Carolina terrane. Sm–Nd isotopic signatures vary significantly, but permit assimilation of Orinoquian age (1000 Ma) crust by magmas derived from the depleted mantle in a subduction (arc-related) setting. Our findings are also consistent with proposed correlations between the Carolina terrane and Avalonia which is likewise believed to have formed along the northern margin of present-day South America.     

Geochemical and Nd, Sr Isotopic Study of the Post-Orogenic Granites in the Yidun Arc Belt of Northern Sanjiang Region, Southwestern China

Abstract: In the arc (basin)–back area of the Yidun arc belt in the north segment of the Sanjiang tectonic zone, southwestern China, there occurs a post‐orogenic granite belt extending for more than 300 km in NNW direction. It strides across two different tectonic units of the arc (basin)–back area and the subduction area, and is accompanied by extensive Ag‐Sn polymetal–lic mineralizations. More than ten granite bodies have very similar geochemical characteristics: high SiO₂ (73.8–76.3 wt%) and K₂O+Na₂O (7.16‐8.41 %), and low Al₂O₃ (11.9–13.6 %), CaO (0.46‐1.54 %) and MgO (0.16‐0.61 %), as well as high enrichment of Nb, Ta, Ga and Y, and strong depletion of Sr and Eu. Most of these features are peculiar to A‐type granite. Rb‐Sr and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar isotopic dating results indicate that the formation ages of the granites decrease from 103.7 Ma of the north end to 75.2 Ma near the south end, and that the magmatism became younger from north to south. The tectonic environment analysis clearly reveals that they were formed in post‐orogenic within–plate extension settings. The magma genesis was controlled by a united crustal extension regime after the arc‐continent collision. The granites have low _Nd values ranging from –4.96 to –8.40, whereas the _Sr values vary greatly ranging from –31.7 to 296, reflecting that the source composition transited from mantle – differentiated igneous rocks in the north to basement – dominated metamorphosed sedimentary rocks in the south. Under high temperature and water‐absent conditions, the anatexes of the crustal rocks made a great amount of plagioclase separated from melts and left in magma sources. Through this mechanism, the post‐orogenic granites took geo‐chemical characteristics such as low Al₂O₃ and CaO, and strong depletion of Sr and Eu.     

Seismological and SAR signature of unrest at Nisyros caldera, Greece

Nisyros island, a Quaternary volcanic center located at the SE of the Aegean Volcanic Arc, has been in the past characterized by periods of intense seismic activity accompanied sometimes by hydrothermal explosions, the last one being in 1887. The recent long lasting episode of unrest (1995–1998) in the area is the first instrumentally documented providing information on the behavior of the volcano. Evidence from seismicity and SAR interferometry suggests that the presently active part of the Kos–Nisyros volcano-tectonic complex is located at the NW coast of Nisyros island defining an area much smaller than the whole volcano-tectonic area. Seismicity patterns vary both temporally and spatially consistently with different rates of vertical ground deformation inferred from SAR interferometry. These observations help us to discuss the different elements controlling the behavior of the volcanic system such as: the existence, location and timing of magma chamber inflation, the occurrence of tensile failure at the boundaries of the chamber and the possibility of magmatic fluids being expelled to form a shallow magmatic intrusion, the seismic failure and migration of hypocenters indicating shallow magma transport.     

松潘-甘孜造山带义敦岛弧中段三叠纪 火山-沉积盆地的演化

通过对三叠纪义敦岛弧中段83条剖面和沉积等厚线的综合分析研究,将其划分为义敦弧后前陆盆地、义敦火山弧、昌台-禾尼弧间盆地群、沙鲁里火山岩浆弧、雄龙西-金厂沟弧前盆地群5个次级的构造古地理单元.其中弧后盆地主要有上麻绒和义敦2个沉积中心,义敦火山弧可进一步细分出果德、根隆、郎格、哈逮4个次级火山穹隆,弧间盆地群有拿它盆地、曲登盆地、夏塞盆地、哈日盆地,沙鲁里火山岩浆弧可进一步细分为木合沟和口娘公玛2个次级火山穹隆,弧前盆地有雄龙西盆地、莫坝盆地、金厂沟盆地等8个次级火山-沉积盆地.认为义敦岛弧的演化主要受理塘缝合带演化的控制,也受金沙江缝合带演化的影响,总体上在三叠纪经历了夭折裂陷槽→不成熟岛弧→成熟岛弧→残余盆地的演化历程.     

Origin of high field strength element enrichment in volcanic arcs: Geochemical evidence from the Sulu Arc, southern Philippines

Lavas from the Sulu Arc, southern Philippines, exhibit an enrichment in high field strength elements (HFSE) that represents a departure from the typical volcanic arc geochemical signature. It has been postulated that this relative enrichment arises from metasomatism of mantle wedge peridotites by melts derived from the subducting oceanic lithosphere, through formation of amphibole which subsequently breaks down and enriches the mantle source of parental arc magmas in HFSE. Divergent chemical and isotopic characteristics between Sulu Arc HFSE-enriched lavas and the Sulu Sea crust being subducted—the presumed source of slab-derived melts—render it unlikely, however, that HFSE enrichment arises from the influence of such melts. New geochemical data suggest that the varying degrees of HFSE enrichment in Sulu Arc lavas are instead the result of variable amounts of mixing between enriched and depleted mantle end-components—the sources of South China Sea intraplate lavas and Sulu seafloor basalts, respectively—within a compositionally heterogeneous mantle wedge.