Significance of orthopyroxene and major element constraints on the petrogenesis of Ferrar tholeiites from southern Prince Albert Mountains, Victoria Land, Antarctica

The least evolved Jurassic Ferrar tholeiites from southern Prince Albert Mountains (Antarctica) are characterized by the occurrence of orthopyroxene (opx), a mineralogical feature virtually absent in the tholeiites from the large igneous provinces of Karoo (South Africa) and Paraná (Brazil). Petrography suggests that opx is the early phase in the sequence of crystallization and mineral chemistry indicates that it is in equilibrium with the host rock. In general, MELTS modeling predicts that opx is the liquidus phase in the Ferrar tholeiites with MgO higher than ~7 wt% at P=1.5-5 kbar, H₂O=0-1 wt% and % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+- % feaaeaart1ev0aaatCvAUfKttLearuavTnhis1MBaeXatLxBI9gBae % bbnrfifHhDYfgasaacH8YjY-vipgYlH8Gipec8Eeeu0xXdbba9frFj % 0-OqFfea0dXdd9vqaq-JfrVkFHe9pgea0dXdar-Jb9hs0dXdbPYxe9 % vr0-vr0-vqpWqaaeaabiGaaiaacaqabeaabaqaamaaaOqaaiabdAga % MTWaaSbaaeaacqqGpbWtaeqaaWWaaSbaaeaadaWgaaqaaiabikdaYa % qabaaabeaakiabg2da9iabbgfarjabbAeagjabb2eanjabgkHiTiab % igdaXiaaysW7cyGGSbaBcqGGVbWBcqGGNbWzaaa!381A! = QFM - 1 f_{\rm O} _{_2 } = {\rm QFM} - 1\;\log unit conditions. MELTS results also show that the early crystallization of opx is primarily controlled by high SiO₂ and high SiO₂/CaO, chemical characteristics typical of the Ferrar tholeiites, but not shown by the Karoo and Paraná analogs with similar MgO content. Major element geochemistry of the least evolved Ferrar tholeiite has been modeled through fractional crystallization and fractional crystallization coupled with crustal assimilation processes, starting from natural peridotite-derived experimental melts. Mass balance and MELTS modeling support the argument that theoretical magma compositions suitable to be primary to the least evolved Ferrar tholeiites are compatible with hydrous (H₂O=0.3-0.5 wt%) and anhydrous melts obtained at 10-15 kbar by high melting degrees (>25%) of fertile and depleted spinel lherzolites, respectively, and later contaminated by the high-grade metamorphic rocks from the Victoria Land crystalline basement. The genesis of primary Ferrar tholeiites does not necessarily reflect the generally assumed depleted source mantle being also compatible with a fertile one.     

Mantle source heterogeneity in the Campanian Region (South Italy) as inferred from geochemical and isotopic features of mafic volcanic rocks with shoshonitic affinity

Summary Major, trace element and Sr-Nd-isotopic data on mafic volcanic rocks with shoshonitic affinity from the islands of Procida and Ventotene (Campanian Region, South Italy) are reported. Within-suite chemical and isotopic variations are interpreted in terms of open system differentiation processes held responsible for enrichment in a number of trace elements and for radiogenic Sr observed in both Procida and Ventotene volcanic sequences. Conversely, trace element contents and Sr-Nd-isotopic compositions of the least-evolved among the investigated samples are thought to reflect source region characteristics with only negligible crustal contamination of the primary magmas.The data support an origin from distinct source regions for the primary magmas. In the case of Ventotene, the source would have been asthenospheric and/or lithospheric mantle with features similar to transitional mid-ocean ridge basalts (T-MORB), modified by enriching agents made up mainly of subducted slab-released components coming from marly sediments (about 7%) similar to cherts from Tuscan Apennines plus a limestone contribution. In the case of Procida, the source would have been asthenospheric and/or lithospheric mantle with a slightly more enriched T-MORB-like feature with respect to Ventotene, modified by slab-derived enriching agents, likely represented by a small amount of sediments (about 2.5%) of oceanic nature (mostly terrigenous/pelagic). These differences are constrained by lower Zr/Nb, Y/Nb, Sc/Nb, V/Nb, LILE/HFSE, LREE/HFSE and⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, higher Ba/La and¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios, as well as by the lack of a detectable negative Eu anomaly, in the least-evolved volcanic rocks of Procida, with respect to those of Ventotene, which show conversely a significant negative Eu anomaly. Thus, a sharp heterogeneity exists in the mantle beneath the Campanian Region. It is thought to be the consequence of two different slabs which are in contact along the Volturno River Plain tectonic line: a continental slab, seismically inactive, descending beneath the Latium Region, and an oceanic slab, seismically active, descending beneath the Calabria, up to the Campanian Region.

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Résumé De nouvelles analyses géochimiques d'éléments majeurs et en traces ainsi que des rapports isotopiques du Sr et du Nd sont été obtenues sur des roches volcaniques mafiques à affinité shoshonitiques provenant des îles de Procida et Ventotene (Région Campanienne, Italie du Sud). Les variations géochimiques et isotopiques observées au sein des séries volcaniques de ces deux îles sont interprétées en terme de processus de différenciation en système ouvert, tenu pour responsable d'un enrichissement d'un certain nombre d'éléments en traces et de leur composition en Sr radiogénique. Cependant, les teneurs en éléments traces et les compositions isotopiques en Sr et Nd des échantillons les moins évolués parmi ceux étudiés reflètent les caractéristiques de leur source, avec une contamination crustale très négligeable des magmas primitifs.Ces données démontrent que des sources distinctes sont à l'origine des magmas primitifs. Pour Ventotene, cette source doit être un manteau asthénosphérique et/ou lithosphérique dont la signature est similaire à celle de basaltes transitionnels de dorsale océanique (T MORB), légèrement enrichie en éléments dérivants d'une croûte plongeant dans une subduction comme des sédiments mameux (pour environ 7%) analogues aux cherts des Appenins de Toscane et comportant un apport en calcaire. Dans le cas de Procida, cette source doit être un manteau asthénosphérique et/ou lithosphérique montrant une signature de type T-MORB légèrement plus enrichie qu' à Ventotene, également modifiée par un apport venant d'une croûte en subduction, probablement une faible quantité (environ 2.5%) de sédiments de nature océanique (principalement terrigène/pélagique). Ces différences sont attestées par des rapports Zr/Nb, Y/Nb, Sc/Nb, V/Nb, LILE/HFSE, LREE/HSFE and⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr plus bas et des rapports Ba/La et¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd plus harts, ainsi que par l'absence d'une anomalie en Eu dans les compositions des roches volcaniques les moins évoluées de Procida par rapport à celles de Ventotene, qui elles, au contraire, montrent une anomalie en Eu significative.Ainsi, une importante hétérogénéité du manteau existe sous la Campanie. Cette hétérogénéité doit être la conséquence de la nature différente des croûtes en subduction et qui sont en contact le long de la ligne tectonique de la plaine de la rivière Volturno: an Nord-Ouest, une croûte continentale, sismiquement inactive, plonge sous le Latium alors qu'au Sud-Est, une croûte océanique, sismiquement active, plonge sous la Calabre et jusque sous la Campanie.

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With 9 Figures     

Enriched mantle – Dupal signature in the genesis of the Jurassic Ferrar tholeiites from Prince Albert Mountains (Victoria Land, Antarctica)

The major, trace (including rare earth) element abundances, and Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic compositions, have been analysed for andesitic basalt and andesitic sills and lavas of the Jurassic Ferrar Magmatic Province, Prince Albert Mountains, Antarctica. The typical “crustal signature” of the Ferrar magmatism, characterized by relatively high SiO₂, LREE and LILE contents in these samples, is associated with high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and low ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd. Systematic correlations of major and trace elements indicate that fractional crystallization was important. However, increases in incompatible elements are positively correlated with initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, suggestive of crustal assimilation processes. The observed correlations between initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and LREE enrichments have been modelled by an AFC process, starting from the least evolved sample and assuming the compositions of the orthogranulites of Victoria Land as contaminants. The REE patterns of the least evolved Ferrar rocks approach those of E-type MORB, differing only by higher LREE/IREE. The enrichment in LREE, accompanying high initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and low ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd compared with E-type MORB, can be explained by interaction of “primary Ferrar basalt” with crystalline basement. We propose a petrological model whereby Ferrar magmas were generated through high degrees of melting of an E-type MORB mantle source, and subsequently these “primary” melts underwent AFC processes inheriting a crustal signature. The Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic compositions required by the AFC model for the primary Ferrar basalt are similar to those of the Dupal signature of the oceanic basalts of the Southern Hemisphere (Hart 1984). Transantarctic Mountains would have been located inside the Dupal anomaly in pre-Gondwana dispersion times. Received: 21 April 1998 / Accepted: 25 January 1999     

Initiation and evolution of intra-oceanic subduction in the Uralides: Geochemical and isotopic constraints from Devonian oceanic rocks of the Southern Urals, Russia

Abstract The Southern Uralides are a collisional orogen generated in the Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous by the collision of the Magnitogorsk island arc (MA) generated in the Early to Middle Devonian by intra‐oceanic convergence opposite to the continental margin, and the continental margin of the East European craton. A suture zone of the arc to the continental margin, the Main Uralian Fault (MUF), is marked by ophiolites and exhumed high‐pressure–low‐temperature metamorphic rocks of continental origin. The pre‐orogenic events of the Southern Urals and their geodynamic setting are traced by means of fluid‐immobile incompatible trace elements (rare earth elements and high field strength elements) and Sr–Nd–Pb isotope geochemistry of the MA suites, in particular the protoarc suite with boninites and probably ankaramites, and the mature arc comprised of island arc tholeiitic (IAT) suites, transitional IAT to calc‐alkaline (CA), and CA suites. The MA volcanics result in genetically distinct magmatic source components. In particular, depleted normal‐mid‐oceanic ridge basalt‐type mantle sources with various enrichments in a slab‐derived aqueous fluid component are evident. The enriched component is not involved in significant amounts, as testified by the rather radiogenic Nd isotopes and unradiogenic Pb isotopes. Further information on the pre‐orogenic events is provided by the Mindyak Massif metagabbros derived from diverse gabbroic protoliths that were affected by oceanic rodingitization, and subsequently by a high‐temperature (HT) metamorphism related to the development of a metamorphic sole. The HT metamorphism has the same age as the protoarc volcanism, and constrains the initiation of subduction at approximately 410 Ma. Consequently, the maximum timespan between initial intra‐oceanic convergence and final collision is approximately 31 my, a duration consistent with that of present‐day ongoing collisions in the western Pacific. The characteristics of early volcanism and the traces of a metamorphic sole provide useful criteria to attribute most MUF ophiolites to the Tethyan type with a complex pre‐orogenic evolution.     

Effects of fire and environmental variables on plant structure and composition in grazed salt desert shrublands of the Great Basin (USA)

Fire in shrub-dominated portions of the Great Basin, largely fueled by non-native annuals such as Bromus tectorum, has become an important structuring force altering vegetation composition and soil characteristics. The extent to which fire affects native species in drier portions of the Great Basin, termed salt desert, is poorly documented. We conducted a survey of grazed salt desert habitat in northwestern Nevada 5 years after wildfires burned 650,000 ha, with the goal of investigating community response to fire and factors correlating with post-fire recovery. We found that recruitment of a dominant shrub, Artemisia spinescens, is severely restricted following fire: it occurred in only 2 of the 24 burned sites. The co-dominant shrub, Atriplex confertifolia, occurred in most burned sites although on average its percent cover was one-third lower than adjacent unburned sites. Biotic soil crust cover was four times lower, and non-native species cover 5 times higher, in burned sites compared to unburned. Ordination analyses confirmed differences among plant communities in burned versus unburned sites, with environmental variables soil conductivity, plant litter, soil potassium (K⁺) and pH explaining 38% of the variance in community composition. However, we found no environmental predictors of recovery for native species in burned sites. Future recruitment is likely to be further limited, as fire frequency in the salt desert is expected to increase with invasion by non-native annual grasses and with global climate change.