Diffusive fractionation of noble gases and helium isotopes during mantle melting

The large differences in He and Ar diffusivities in silicate minerals could result in fractionation of the He/Ar ratio during melting of the mantle, producing He/Ar ratios in the primary mantle melts that are higher than those of the bulk mantle. Modeling noble gas diffusion out of the bulk mantle into fast diffusion pathways (such as fractures or melt channels) suggests that significant (order of magnitude) He/Ar fractionation will occur if the fast diffusion channels are spaced several meters apart and the noble gas residence in these diffusion channels is of the order days to weeks. In addition, the 15% difference in ³He and ⁴He diffusivities could also produce isotopic fractionation between the melt and its solid source. Modeling the behavior of He and Ar during melting shows that small increases (few %) in ³He/⁴He should be correlated with larger variations (factor of 5) in ⁴He/⁴⁰Ar. However, in order to test this hypothesis the effects of subsequent He–Ar fractionation that occur during degassing have to be corrected. I describe a scheme that can separate He/Ar variations in the primary melt from overprinted fractionation during magmatic degassing. Using the degassing-corrected data, there is a correlation between the primary melt’s ⁴He/⁴⁰Ar and ³He/⁴He in mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs). The slope of the correlation is consistent with the models of preferential diffusion of ³He relative to ⁴He and of ⁴He relative to ⁴⁰Ar from the solid mantle into the melt. Diffusive fractionation of noble gases during melting of the mantle can also account for low ⁴He/⁴⁰Ar ratios commonly found in residual mantle xenoliths: preferential diffusion of He relative to Ar will produce some regions of the mantle with low ⁴He/⁴⁰Ar, the complement of the high ⁴He/⁴⁰Ar ratios in basalts. Diffusive fractionation cannot, however, account for differences between the He and Ne isotopic compositions of MORBs compared with ocean island basalts (OIBs); not only are the extremely high ³He/⁴He ratios of OIBs (up to 50 Ra) difficult to produce at reasonable mantle time and lengthscales, but also the Ne isotopic compositions of MORBs and OIBs do not lie on a single mass fractionation line, therefore cannot result from diffusive fractionation of a single mantle Ne source. If preferential diffusion of He from the solid mantle into primary melts is a significant process during generation of MORBs, then it is difficult to constrain the He concentration of the mantle: He concentrations in basalts and the He flux to the ocean essentially result from extraction of He from a larger (and unknown) volume of mantle than that that produced the basalts themselves. The He concentration of the mantle cannot be constrained until more accurate estimates of the diffusion contribution are available.     

青藏高原及邻区地幔对流应力场及地球动力学含义

基于改进的Runcorn模型 ,利用布格重力异常计算了青藏高原及邻区地幔对流应力场。数值结果显示 ,青藏高原中部、北部和天山为应力发散区 ,对应地幔上升流 ,而塔里木、柴达木、四川盆地等地区则为应力汇聚区 ,对应下降区。地幔对流形态与地表特征之间的相关性表明 ,青藏高原下小尺度地幔对流可能是控制该区区域性构造过程的重要因素之一     

Sounding of electrical structure of the crust and upper mantle along the eastern border of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its tectonic significance

Sounding and study on electrical structure of the crust and upper mantle within the eastern border region of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau by using the magnetotelluric sounding (simply MT) method permitted us to understand the characteristics of specific electrical structure in the region. The sounding result clearly revealed that: (1) The Xianshuihe fault zone represents a large-scale lithospheric fault and is an important boundary fault of the rhombic Sichuan-Yunnan block. (2) The sounded region is a strong earthquake-prone zone. The different crustal media of blocks on both sides of the fault became an important deep background for the strong seismo-active zone. (3) A large-scale low-resistivity layer is found to exist at a depth more than ten kilometers beneath the northern part of the rhombic Sichuan-Yunnan block. Its electrical resistivity is only several to tens Ω?m. The layer northeastward extends down at an angle of 45°. It is related to an obstacle to the lateral squeeze of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and eastward flow of mass by the rigid block. It is inferred from the characteristics of electrical property of deep media that the northern part of the recent rhombic Sichuan-Yunnan block is in a thermal state and is one of the recently fairly active blocks. (4) The lithosphere in the sounded region is gradually thickened from the western segment (northern Sichuan-Yunnan block) to east (Yangtze block).     

P-wave crustal velocity structure in western Sichuan and eastern Tibetan region

A deep seismic sounding profile located in the western Sichuan and eastern Tibetan region extends from Batang (Zhubalong) to Zizhong, Sichuan. It passes through the Songpan-Garzê Fold System and the Longmenshan Tectonic Zone, and ends in the Yangtze Craton. Based on the travel times of phases on the profile, incorporating information on the relevant amplitudes, we determined 2-D P-wave crustal velocity structure along the profile, analyzed the principle differences between the crustal and upper mantle structure in the Western Sichuan Plateau and Sichuan Basin, discussed the deep feature of the major faults on the profile, the tectonic relation between the Yangtze Craton and the Tibetan Plateau and the deep structural environment where strong earthquakes occurred.     

由甘肃宕昌好梯幔源包体推导的上地幔物质组成、热结构和流变学特征

新生代火山岩中的幔源包体可以提供有关上地幔的直接信息。通过对采自甘肃宕昌县好梯乡的幔源橄榄岩包体的详细研究 ,探讨该地区上地幔的热结构和流变学特征 ,并与华北地区进行对比。研究结果表明 ,该区自壳幔边界以下至 75km深处的上地幔主要由尖晶石二辉橄榄岩组成 ,75km以下则主要由石榴石二辉橄榄岩组成 ,方辉橄榄岩只占少数 ;与华北地区没有明显的差异。由包体平衡温度、压力建立的上地幔地温线低于华北地区地温线 ;确定的壳幔边界在 5 2km左右 ,莫霍界面附近为下地壳物质与尖晶石二辉橄榄岩的过渡带 ;岩石圈底界深度约为 12 0km左右。根据包体的研究结果建立了研究区上地幔的差异应力、应变速率和等效黏滞度剖面。结果表明 ,该区新生代时期存在软流层的底辟 ,以及相应的岩石圈的减薄 ,但其规模明显小于华北地区。这些结果表明该区处在中国东部大陆裂谷带和中国中部克拉通块体群的过渡带     

Crustal structure beneath the Songpan——Garze orogenic belt

AbstractThe Benzilan-Tangke deep seismic sounding profile in the western Sichuan region passes through the Song-pan-Garze orogenic belt with trend of NNE.Based on the travel times and the related amplitudes of phases in therecord sections,the 2-D P-wave crustal structure was ascertained in this paper. The velocity structure has quitestrong lateral variation along the profile.The crust is divided into 5 layers,where the first,second and third layerbelong to the upper crust,the forth and fifth layer belong to the lower crust.The low velocity anomaly zone gener-ally exists in the central part of the upper crust on the profile,and it integrates into the overlying low velocitybasement in the area to the north of Ma’erkang.The crustal structure in the section can be divided into 4 parts:inthe south of Garze-Litang fault,between Garze-Litang fault and Xiashuihe fault,between Xianshuihe fault andLongriba fault and in the north of Longriba fault,which are basically coincided with the regional tectonics division     

江苏东海芝麻房预先导孔（CCSD-PPl）橄榄岩及其反映的上地幔亏损和交代事件

芝麻房预先导孔橄榄岩岩石类型有二辉橄榄岩、方辉橄榄岩、单辉橄榄岩和纯橄榄岩，其中前3种多数含有石榴子石。这些岩石在垂向上显示成层性，没有某种方向的韵律变化，它们之间呈渐变过渡关系。对样品进行主量元素、微量元素、稀土元素和Sr、Nd、O同位素分析表明，随着样品MgO含量的增高，Al2O3、CaO逐渐降低，呈良好的相关关系，并且大致上从石榴橄榄岩类到不含石榴子石的橄榄岩类主量元素的亏损程度增高，两者一般均比原始地幔主量元素亏损。稀土元素配分型式表现为右倾的轻稀土富集型，在微量元素蛛网图上，也表现为强不相容元素和微量元素到适度不相容元素的总体右倾型，与原始地幔相比，均富集强不相容元素。富集程度的不同与主量元素的亏损无对应关系，说明主量元素和微量元素各自的特点不是同一种事件造成的，而是先前地幔部分熔融作用之后又发生了富含不相容元素流体的交代作用。Sr、Nd同位素具有富集特点，变化范围较大，而且主量元素较亏损的岩石更富集Sr同位素，显示了交代富集的特点。稀土元素(Ce／Yb)x比值和εNd之间的负相关关系和Rb丰度与Sr同位素之间的正相关关系表明，富集Sr、Nd同位素的流体和富集不相容微量元素的流体均来自地幔。     

地球深部碱性元素地球化学行为:来自陨石高压矿物的证据

近年来在球粒陨石冲击脉体中陆续发现了一些天然高压新矿物和矿物组合，这些发现为地球深部碱性元素的地球化学行为的研究提供了重要依据。在地幔过渡带温度和压力条件下，钠和钙离子优先结合到镁铁－镁铝榴石固溶体和长石高压多形之中，钾离子则选择性地进入到长石高压多形中，副矿物涂氏磷钙石是Na、Ba、Sr和轻稀土等元素的潜在载体相。天然冲击变质球粒陨石为我们提供了探索过渡带和下地幔温度、压力条件下碱性元素载体相特征的重要自然界样品。     

吉林省敦化地区晚三叠世碱性-亚碱性侵入杂岩体的地质特征及构造背景分析

吉林省敦化地区以碱厂沟、三岔子、青林子岩体为代表的碱性-偏碱性侵入杂岩体,主要由碱性辉长岩、角闪碱长正长岩、石英正长岩和角闪碱长花岗岩等组成,具复合环状深成杂岩之特征。辉长岩KAr同位素年龄为224Ma①,角闪碱长正长岩UPb同位素年龄为(223±1)Ma,表明岩体形成时代为晚三叠世。岩石化学、地球化学特征表明岩浆源于上地幔物质的部分融熔,但并非典型大陆裂谷性质的碱性岩,其形成标志着区域上南北向古亚洲构造域碰撞造山已结束,开始进入稳定大陆裂谷的发展阶段,并预示着北东向滨太平洋构造域的开始。     

Reconstructing the ancestral Yellowstone plume from accreted seamounts and its relationship to flat-slab subduction

Recent geodynamic analyses have emphasized the relationship between modern flat-slab subduction zones and the overriding of buoyant oceanic crust. Although most models for the evolution of the Late Mesozoic–Cenozoic Laramide orogeny in the southwestern United States involve flat-slab subduction, the mechanisms proposed are controversial. An examination of the geological evolution of the 60–50-Ma Crescent terrane of the Coast Ranges indicates that it was formed in a shallowing-upward Loihi-type oceanic setting culminating in the eruption of subaerial lavas. Plate reconstructions indicate that the Crescent terrane was emplaced into ca. 20-Ma crust, and the presence of subaerial lavas implies an uplift due to the plume of ca. 4.2 km, which we use to calculate a minimum buoyancy flux of 1.1 Mg s⁻¹, similar to that of the modern Yellowstone plume.Published paleomagnetic data indicate that the Crescent terrane was formed at a paleolatitude similar to that of the Yellowstone plume. The Crescent seamount was accreted within 5 My of the cessation of plume magmatism. Plate reconstructions indicate that it would have originated about 750 km to the west of the North American plate margin if it developed above a fixed Yellowstone plume, and are therefore consistent with the recorded very short interval between its formation and tectonic emplacement.We interpret the Crescent terrane as due to the ancestral Yellowstone plume. Such a plume would have generated an elongate swell and related plateau that would have been overridden by the North American margin. Taken together, the relationship between flat-slab and overriding of oceanic plateau in Laramide times would have been analogous to the relationship between modern Andean flat-slab subduction zones and the Juan Fernandez and Nazca oceanic plateaus.