Velocity-Interface Structure of the Southwestern Ryukyu Subduction Zone from EW9509-1 OBS/MCS Data

A wide-angle seismic survey, combining ocean-bottom seismometers (OBS) and multi-channel seismic (MCS) profiling, was implemented in the southwestern Ryukyu subduction zone during August and September 1995. In this paper, we present the data analysis of eight OBSs and the corresponding MCS line along profile EW9509-1 from this experiment. Seismic data modeling includes identification of refracted and reflected arrivals, initial model building from velocity analysis of the MCS data, and simultaneous and layer-stripping inversions of the OBS and MCS arrivals. The velocity-interface structure constructed along profile EW9509-1 shows that the northward subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate has resulted in a northward thickening of the sediments of the Ryukyu Trench and the Yaeyama accretionary wedge north of the trench. The boundary between the subducting oceanic crust and the overriding continental crust (represented by a velocity contour of 6.75 km/s) and a sudden increase of the subducting angle (from 5 degrees to 25 degrees) are well imaged below the Nanao Basin. Furthermore, velocity undulation and interface variation are found within the upper crust of the Ryukyu Arc. Therefore, the strongest compression due to subduction and a break-off of the slab may have occurred and induced the high seismicity in the forearc region. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Evolution from Oceanic Subduction to Continental Collision: a Case Study from the Northern Tibetan Plateau Based on Geochemical and Geochronological Data

Two apparently distinct, sub-parallel, paleo-subduction zonescan be recognized along the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau:the North Qilian Suture Zone (oceanic-type) with ophioliticmélanges and high-pressure eclogites and blueschistsin the north, and the North Qaidam Belt (continental-type) inthe south, an ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic terrane comprisingpelitic and granitic gneisses, eclogites and garnet peridotites.Eclogites from both belts have protoliths broadly similar tomid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) or oceanic island basalts (OIB)in composition with overlapping metamorphic ages (480–440Ma, with weighted mean ages of 464 ± 6 Ma for North Qilianand 457 ± 7 Ma for North Qaidam), determined by zirconU–Pb sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe dating.Coesite-bearing zircon grains in pelitic gneisses from the NorthQaidam UHP Belt yield a peak metamorphic age of 423 ±6 Ma, 40 Myr younger than the age of eclogite formation, anda retrograde age of 403 ± 9 Ma. These data, combinedwith regional relationships, allow us to infer that these twoparallel belts may represent an evolutionary sequence from oceanicsubduction to continental collision, and continental underthrusting,to final exhumation. The Qilian–Qaidam Craton was probablya fragment of the Rodinia supercontinent with a passive marginand extended oceanic lithosphere in the north, which was subductedbeneath the North China Craton to depths >100 km at c. 423Ma and exhumed at c. 403 Ma (zircon rim ages in pelitic gneiss). KEY WORDS: HP and UHP rocks; subduction belts; zircon SHRIMP ages; Northern Tibetan Plateau     

Geochemistry of Early Cretaceous volcanic rocks in the Northeastern Great Xing’an Range,northeast China and implication for geodynamic setting

ABSTRACT

The mechanism that triggered large-scale Late Mesozoic magmatism in the northeastern Great Xing’an Range (NE GXAR) is strongly controversial. In this paper, we present whole rock geochemistry and zircon trace element, U-Pb and Hf isotopic data on the volcanic rocks in the Longjiang and Guanghua formations in the northeastern Xing’an Block. Zircons with ages of 120–119 Ma indicate that these volcanic rocks were formed in the Early Cretaceous. Combined with previous data, it is clear that volcanic rocks in the NE GXAR erupted between 128 and 108 Ma. The andesite samples of the Longjiang Formation show high contents of Al₂O₃, CaO, and MgO, significant negative Nb, Ta, and Ti anomalies; ε_Hf (t) values of zircons from the andesite sample vary from +4.13 to +7.67, indicating an enriched mantle source. The rhyolites of the Guanghua Formation show high SiO₂ and K₂O concentrations, low P₂O₅, MgO, Cr, and Ni contents and Mg# values. The positive ε_Hf (t) values (+5.72 to +10.58) with two-stage Hf model ages ranging from 939 to 701 Ma indicate that the rhyolites are derived from the partial melting of basaltic lower crust. Combined with the regional geological evolution, we conclude that the generation of the Early Cretaceous volcanic rocks in the NE GXAR might be triggered by the dehydration, disintegration, and foundering of the Mongol-Okhotsk Oceanic flat-slab and the subsequent upwelling of the asthenosphere.     

Atmospheric noble gases in volcanic glasses from the southern Lau Basin: origin from the subducting slab?

Noble gas concentrations and isotopic compositions have been determined for four submarine volcanic glasses from the Valu Fa Ridge (VFR) in the southern Lau Basin. The samples are the least differentiated ones from this area, and they display enrichments in fluid-mobile elements similar to the nearby island arc. ³He/⁴He ratios are slightly below average MORB (6.8–7.8 times atmospheric), whereas Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe have isotopic compositions very similar to air. Together with previously published data from the Valu Fa Ridge and other spreading segments in the Lau Basin, our data show a systematic latitudinal variation of increasing Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe abundances from north to south as well as Ne and Ar isotopic compositions changing from MORB-like to atmosphere-like in the same direction. Moreover, isotopic compositions and noble gas abundances of the lavas correlate strongly with Ba/Nb ratios and H₂O concentrations. Based on these observations and mass balance arguments, we propose that the atmospheric noble gases come from the subducting oceanic crust and are not due to shallow contamination with air dissolved in seawater or assimilation of old crust. Our data suggest that the noble gases released from the subducting slab are atmospheric and thus contain little or no solar He and Ne. In addition to the fact that ratios of He to heavy noble gases are small in aged ocean crust, He has possibly fractionated from the other noble gases due to its higher diffusivity, and thus He transport from the subducting slab into the mantle wedge is probably insignificant. We propose that the ³He/⁴He ratios lower than MORB observed in the VFR lavas result from radiogenic ingrowth of He in a highly depleted, and hence degassed, mantle wedge after the enrichment of U and Th released from the downgoing slab.     

藏南冈底斯岩基晚白垩世构造岩浆作用:以拉萨白堆复合岩体中-基性岩脉群为例

拉萨白堆复合岩体寄主为含包体的花岗闪长岩,并被一系列平行-近平行东西走向中-基性岩脉群穿插,总体形成类似"条纹码"般的构造形式。锆石U-Pb定年表明,这些基性岩脉主要形成于85~68Ma。同期中性和基性脉岩都表现出富集大离子亲石元素和LREE,亏损高场强元素,Sr同位素初始比值较低,但Nd同位素比值(εNd(t)+3.1)和锆石Hf同位素组成(εHf(t)+10.7)较高,都不具有Eu异常。与中性脉岩相比,基性脉岩具有(1)Mg O含量较高和较高的Mg#(50.6);(2)较高的Cr、Ni、Co含量;(3)较富集HREE且平坦分布。但中性脉岩Y含量较低,Sr/Y比值(38~72)较高,具有高Sr-低Y的特征;这些特征表明:这些岩浆岩的源区可能为受流体交代的岩石圈地幔。中-基性脉岩之间具有岩浆演化关系,在岩浆演化过程中以角闪石的分离结晶为主。结合文献数据,这些新数据表明冈底斯岩基的在晚白垩世(85~68Ma)经历了弧上伸展构造作用,岩浆作用持续活动,可能与新特提斯洋板片的北向斜俯冲相关。     

加利福尼亚弧-盆-沟体系的地质特征

加利福尼亚中生代弧-盆-沟系的构造和演化模式一向为世人所重视。作者应邀有机会对加州内华达岛弧地块、弗兰西斯科杂岩和大谷弧前盆地进行了实地地质考察。本文仅就这3个岩性-构造单元的一些独特地质特征和地质景观作一简介。     

西昆仑库地蛇绿岩地质、地球化学及其成因研究

西昆仑库地蛇绿混杂岩由方辉橄榄岩和纯橄榄岩等地幔变质橄榄岩、豆荚状铬铁矿、堆晶橄榄岩、堆晶辉石岩和辉长岩、辉绿岩墙、块状和枕状玄武岩等组成。强亏损方辉橄榄岩为主的地幔岩组合,二辉石的低Al含量和铬尖晶石的高Cr#,以及岩石的富Mg、Ni和贫Al、Ca特征一致表明地幔橄榄岩类是经较高程度部分熔融后的地幔残余,与消减带之上蛇绿岩中的同类岩石相近。岩石富Rb、Ba、U、Th、LREE,说明地幔残余岩石受到了来自消减带的洋壳重熔组分的混染。堆晶岩以辉石岩和辉长岩为主,可能属PPG系列,指示岩浆是在消减带环境和含水条件下熔融的。辉长岩为低Ti蛇绿岩型,代表洋内弧后盆地早期环境或弧前环境。辉绿岩和玄武岩为洋中脊拉斑玄武岩和岛弧拉斑玄武岩的过渡类型;玄武岩和辉绿岩相比富Ba、Th、LREE,贫Ta,指示玄武岩较辉绿岩更多地受到来自消减带洋壳重熔组分的影响。库地蛇绿岩形成时的古构造环境是消减带之上的弧间或弧后盆地。     

Caledonian high-pressure metamorphism in the Strona-Ceneri Zone (Southern Alps of southern Switzerland and northern Italy)

The Strona-Ceneri Zone comprises a succession of polymetamorphic, pre-Alpidic basement rocks including ortho- and paragneisses, metasedimentary schists, amphibolites, and eclogites. The rock pile represents a Late Proterozoic or Palaeozoic subduction accretion complex that was intruded by Ordovician granitoids. Eclogites, which occur as lenses within the ortho-paragneiss succession and as xenoliths within the granitoids record a subduction related high-pressure event (D1) with peak metamorphic conditions of 710 ± 30 °C at 21.0 ± 2.5 kbar. After isothermal uplift, the eclogites experienced a Barrowtype (D2) tectonometamorphic overprint under amphibolite facies conditions (570-630 °C, 7-9 kbar). U-Pb dating on zircon of the eclogites gives a metamorphic age of 457 ± 5 Ma, and syn-eclogite facies rutile gives a ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 443 ± 19 Ma classifying the subduction as a Caledonian event. These data show that the main tectonometamorphic evolution of the Strona-Ceneri Zone most probably took place in a convergent margin scenario, in which accretion, eclogitization of MOR-basalt, polyphase (D1 and D2) deformation, anatexis and magmatism all occurred during the Ordovician. Caledonian high-pressure metamorphism, subsequent magmatism and Barrow-type metamorphism are believed to be related to subduction and collision within the northern margin of Gondwana. Editorial handling: Edwin Gnos     

冈底斯地区林子宗群火山岩岩石地球化学特征及地球动力学意义

错卧莫-惩香错火山-沉积盆地位于西藏冈底斯陆块中部南缘。盆地内火山-沉积地层称古新世-渐新世林子宗群，岩石地球化学数据分析表明：这套火山岩系属钙碱性系列，轻稀土富集，不同程度表现出负Eu、负Ce、负Nb异常。微量元素K、Rb、Th、Ce富集，Sr、Ba，尤其是Nb、P、Ti亏损。初步认为这套火山-沉积岩系形成于俯冲造弧的构造背景中，是来自于俯冲带的地幔源区基性分异岩浆与陆壳重熔的酸性岩浆在不同的时间段内，按不同的比例混合形成的。同时，俯冲板块上深海沉积物与基性岩浆混合作用也是不容忽视的因素。在综合分析基础上，笔者认为印度板块与欧亚板块的碰撞启动时间在45Ma以后。