Basalt Province Research Articles

Extremely high-grade, lava-like rhyolitic ignimbrites at Osham Hill, Saurashtra, northwestern Deccan Traps: Stratigraphy, structures, textures, and physical volcanology

In many continental flood basalt (CFB) provinces of the world, widespread silicic lavas and ignimbrites overlie the mafic lavas. Our knowledge of this post-flood basalt silicic volcanism in the Deccan Traps CFB province of India remains limited. Here we describe the stratigraphy, structures, and textures of the rhyolites of Osham Hill in Saurashtra, in the northwestern Deccan Traps. Basaltic lavas forming the lower parts of the hill are overlain by the “Lower Rhyolite” (LR), which is tens of meters thick and shows intense rheomorphic deformation (flow banding and folding) at microscopic, outcrop, and tens of meters scales. The LR is overlain by a “Green Tuff and Pitchstone” (GTP) band 20–40 m thick, containing massive green tuff to strongly rheomorphic, commonly spherulitic pitchstone, both types showing sharp but irregular contacts. The GTP is overlain by the “Upper Rhyolite” (UR), with an ~100 m preserved thickness. This resembles the LR in many structural features, and also contains a thin (~1 m), laterally discontinuous basal layer of unbedded, nonwelded lapilli tuff. The LR and UR locally contain basal autobreccias which are unlike crumble breccias of rhyolitic lava flows. In thin section the LR and UR are microcrystalline and lava-like, though they contain many relict vitroclasts (glass shards and pumice fragments). The LR also shows rare millimeter-size basaltic lithic clasts. The GTP contains abundant vitroclasts. We interpret the LR and UR as extremely high-grade, intensely welded, lava-like ignimbrites, and the GTP as a low-grade ignimbrite with varying degrees of welding and rheomorphic deformation. The absence of sedimentary interbeds and soil horizons suggests that the whole Osham ignimbrite sequence was deposited subaerially and rapidly. The eruptive vent locations are unknown. However, a rhyolite dyke intruding basalts at the southeastern end of Osham Hill is pyroclastic, showing a eutaxitic to microcrystalline interior and margins of welded and rheomorphic tuff-pitchstone. Basaltic lithic fragments found in the dyke margins suggest that it may be the feeder of the LR. The LR and UR show many close similarities to “Snake River-type” ignimbrites (large-volume, metaluminous, high-temperature, lithic- and crystal-poor, intensely welded, rheomorphic and lava-like ignimbrites). These render Osham Hill a newly recognised and important locality of such ignimbrites.

Stratigraphic framework of the northeastern part of the Ethiopian flood basalt province

Stratigraphic framework of the northeastern part of the Ethiopian flood basalt province

Hidden but Ubiquitous: The Pre-Rift Continental Mantle in the Red Sea Region

Volcanism in the western part of the Arabian plate resulted in one of the largest alkali basalt provinces in the world, where lava fields with sub-alkaline to alkaline affinity are scattered from Syria and the Dead Sea Transform Zone through western Saudi Arabia to Yemen. After the Afar plume emplacement (∼30 Ma), volcanism took place in Yemen and progressively propagated northward due to Red Sea rifting-related lithospheric thinning (initiated ∼27–25 Ma). Few lava fields were emplaced during the Mesozoic, with the oldest 200 Ma volcanic activity recorded in northern Israel. We report results from volcanic pipes in the Marthoum area, east of Harrat Uwayrid, where over a hundred pipes occupy a stratigraphic level in the early Ordovician Saq sandstones. Most of them are circular or elliptical features marked by craters aligned along NW-SE fractures in the sandstone resulting from phreatomagmatic explosions that occurred when rising magma columns came in contact with the water table in the porous sandstone host. These lavas have Sr-Pb-Nd-Hf isotopic compositions far from the Cenozoic Arabian alkaline volcanism field, being considerably more enriched in Nd-Hf and Pb isotopes than any other Arabian Plate lava ever reported. New K-Ar dating constrains their age from Late Cretaceous to Early Eocene, thus anticipating the Afar plume emplacement and the Red Sea rift. Basalt geochemistry indicates that these volcanic eruptions formed from low-degree partial melting of an enriched lithospheric mantle source triggered by local variations in the asthenosphere-lithosphere boundary. This mantle source has a composition similar to the HIMU-like enriched isotopic component reported in the East African Rift and considered to represent the lowermost lithospheric mantle of the Nubian Shield. The generated melt, mixed in different proportions with melt derived from a depleted asthenosphere, produces the HIMU-like character throughout the Cenozoic Arabian alkaline volcanism. Although apparently hidden, this enriched lithospheric component is therefore ubiquitous and widespread in the cratonic roots of the African and Arabian subcontinental mantle.

Olivine in picrites from continental flood basalt provinces classified using machine learning

Abstract Picrites, dominantly composed of highly forsteritic olivine, can serve as important constraints on primary magma composition and eruption dynamic processes in global continental flood basalt (CFB) provinces. Picrites are commonly divided into high-Ti and low-Ti groups based on whole-rock TiO2 content or Ti/Y ratio. Here, we use an artificial neural network (ANN) to classify the individual olivine in picrites from global CFB provinces according to whether their parental magma is high-Ti or low-Ti to better understand the primary origin and magmatic processes. After training the ANN on 1000 olivine major element compositions data points, the network was able to differentiate chemical patterns for high-Ti and low-Ti olivine and classify olivine into correct types with an accuracy of >95%. Moreover, we find that two types of olivine mix in some single samples from Etendeka, Emeishan, and Karoo CFB provinces. Combining the results with chemical markers of source lithology, we suggest that the two types of olivine originate from two different sources and their olivine populations mixed during the ascent. This mixing then makes the spatial and temporal variation of picrites types in some CFB provinces unclear.

Sand and mud generation from continental flood basalts in contrasting landscapes and climatic conditions (Paraná–Etendeka conjugate igneous provinces, Uruguay and Namibia)

AbstractThis article presents a detailed petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical study of clay, silt, sand and fine gravel generated in the Paraná–Etendeka large igneous province, once united and today exposed in contrasting climatic and orographic conditions on conjugate sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The comparison between low‐relief wetter Uruguay and steeper hyper‐dry Namibia allows to investigate the influence of weathering on basalt‐derived sediments spanning in grain size from <2 μm to >2000 μm. In Namibia, as in Uruguay, X‐ray diffraction analyses of mud samples from streams draining basaltic lavas show only smectitic clay minerals. Macroscopic and microscopic observations indicate that sand is composed in variable proportions of glassy to lathwork volcanic rock fragments, plagioclase and augitic clinopyroxene with minor pigeonite, and gravel dominantly consists of volcanic clasts with chalcedony or quartz geodes occurring locally. Geochemical data highlight the strong grain‐size dependence of weathering intensity. Whereas fine gravel closely reflects source‐rock composition in both Namibia and Uruguay, and mobile elements in sand are moderately depleted, αAlE indices increase notably in silt and reach maximum in clay, with mobility sequence Na >> Ca ≥ Mg > Sr > K. Differences in sand versus mud generation potential in the two regions are prominent. Namibian rivers draining the dry Etendeka Plateau carry purely volcaniclastic sand, whereas streams draining even exclusively the Paraná lava field carry sediments containing invariably significant and even overwhelming amounts of recycled quartz, testifying to the much greater sand‐generation potential of the very‐locally‐exposed underlying, interbedded or overlying quartz‐rich sandstones and loess deposits. Smectite is dominant throughout the Uruguay River catchment, even in the lower course where sand is pure quartzose and pyroxene negligible. A comparison with basaltic provinces worldwide indicates that, especially in low‐relief wet regions where weathering is intense, basalt generates gravel, very minor sand and abundant smectite. Kaolinite forms where chemical leaching is extreme.

Geochemical, petrographic, and stratigraphic analyses of the Portage Lake Volcanics of the Keweenawan CFBP: implications for the evolution of main stage volcanism in continental flood basalt provinces

Abstract Continental flood basalt provinces (CFBPs) are large igneous features formed by the extrusion of massive amounts of lavas that require significant evolution within the lithosphere. Although sequential lava flows are effective probes of magmatic systems, CFBPs are typically poorly preserved. We focus on lava flows from the well-preserved 1.1 Ga Keweenawan CFBP that erupted within the Midcontinent Rift System. We present a new geochemical, petrographic, and stratigraphic synthesis from the Main stage Portage Lake Volcanics (PLV). Flow-by-flow analysis of the PLV reveals that major element behaviour is decoupled from trace element behaviour; MgO exhibits limited variability, while compatible and incompatible trace elements deviate from high to low concentrations throughout the sequence. The concentrations of incompatible trace elements slightly decrease from the base of the sequence to the top. We investigate these observations by applying a recharge, evacuation, assimilation and fractional crystallization model to geochemical and petrographic data. Our modelling demonstrates a magmatic system experiencing increased evacuation rates while fractionation and assimilation rates decrease, indicating an increase in magmatic flux. The outcome of this modelling is a progressively more efficient magma system within the PLV. This study highlights the utility of joint petrographic and geochemical interpretation in constraining CFBP magma evolution.

Constraints on duration, age and migration of the feeder systems of the Madagascan Flood Basalt Province from high-precision 40 Ar/ 39 Ar chronology

Abstract The Late Cretaceous magmatism in Madagascar is correlated with the break-up between Madagascar and Greater India, with a presumed track of a hotspot from Madagascar towards the Marion Island and with an anoxic event in the Late Cretaceous. The lava succession and associated dyke swarms and sills of western Madagascar (Mailaka area) represent a volumetrically important area of the igneous province, where dykes with random orientation, several igneous intrusions and a flood basalt to rhyodacite sequence do occur. The magmas have a tholeiitic and weakly alkaline affinity. Using plagioclase separates, we obtained two plateau 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages, and an inverse isochron age statistically indistinguishable, ranging from 92.9 ± 3.8 to 91.2 ± 1.3 Ma (2 σ ). These ages indicate that tholeiitic and alkaline rocks were erupted in the same age span. In addition, these ages are close to the Cenomanian–Turonian (C–T; 93.9 ± 0.2 Ma) boundary and are indistinguishable from the U–Pb ages available for the capping rhyodacitic unit of the Mailaka lava succession. A filtered compilation of eight ages for northern and central-western Madagascar rocks suggests a duration for the magmatic activity in this part of Madagascar province of the order of c. 3 Ma. If the western Madagascar magmatism is plume related, the plume head would need to have been located near the Mailaka area at c. 93 Ma. The geochemistry of the mafic lavas and dykes of western Madagascar is barely distinguishable from mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB), with an increasing crustal contamination towards the evolved rocks, and does not constrain input of typical components derived by plume magmatism.

Evidence for highly refractory, heat producing element-depleted lower continental crust: Some implications for the formation and evolution of the continents

The composition of the lower continental crust is estimated via the analysis of granulite xenoliths, granulite terrains and geophysical properties. All three proxies generally agree on the lower crust's refractory nature, dominated by mafic granulites. Estimates weighted using seismic velocity reference models yield lower Th and U concentrations and higher K/U ratios than granulite xenolith averages, while terrain granulites are often much less refractory than xenoliths.Here we present new data for lower crustal xenoliths from central Queensland, an understudied part of the xenolith-bearing eastern Australian basalt provinces. The granulite chemistry was estimated using the reconstitution approach in which the modal mineralogy and in situ chemical analyses are combined. High-resolution energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy mapping revealed that K is enriched in anastomosing grain boundary networks and fractures in granulite and co-occurring mantle peridotite xenoliths. Laser-ablation inductively-coupled-plasma mass-spectrometry 2-D traverses show that the same networks are also significantly enriched in many highly incompatible elements. There are sharp concentration contrasts with neighbouring phases for elements with very different diffusivities (Li and U), suggesting that the networks formed during entrainment, decompression and heating within the host basalt. We propose that undetected inclusion of such late enrichment skews xenolith chemistry estimates to non-representative, overly fertile compositions. In the case of the studied xenoliths, the carrier basalts are not very strongly enriched in highly incompatible elements, and even when the K-rich networks are included in the reconstitution, the resulting granulite chemistry is very refractory with 0.52 wt% K2O, 0.07 ppm Th and 0.03 ppm U.The locally dominant lithology of lower crustal xenoliths is simple two-pyroxene, plagioclase, ilmenite granulite with few accessory phases. The granulite mineralogy and chemistry were compared with results from thermodynamic models of prograde anatexis of different metabasites, variably hydrated. The comparison shows that the granulites could be restitic calc-alkaline basalts or diorites that experienced episodic melt extraction accumulating up to 50–60% total melt loss at very high temperatures (950–1050 °C), implying that the temperatures recorded by two-pyroxene thermometry (750–830 °C) do not capture the thermal maximum. The corresponding upper crustal section of the northern New England Orogen exposes a range of Devonian to Cretaceous granitoids, some of which have complementary features to the granulites, including the low modal abundance of plagioclase; low relative abundance of Ti, very high Rb/Ba ratios, and high Th/U ratios. Together, the data suggest extensive and protracted melting of the original lower crust upon lithospheric thinning and concomitant magmatic underplating. The required high temperatures favour picritic over basaltic underplates. In such a setting, the gravity-driven delamination of more mafic garnet-rich restites and olivine-rich mafic-ultramafic underplating material is physically plausible. This delamination could help explain the long-established mass balance issue for the formation of continental crust in general.

The Influence of Trap Magmatism on the Geochemical Composition of Brines of Petroliferous Deposits in the Western Areas of the Kureika Syneclise (Siberian Platform)

Abstract —We present the results of study of the influence of trap magmatism on the geochemical composition of brines and on the geothermal regime of the Earth’s interior in the western areas of the Kureika syneclise. The Siberian trap province, which unites all cutting and layered tholeiite–basic magmatic intrusions and erupted basaltic lava, is the world’s largest Phanerozoic continental basalt province. Brines, hydrocarbon deposits, and organic matter of the sedimentary cover were subjected to a significant thermal impact as a result of the Permo-Triassic trap magmatism. During the trap intrusion, the maximum paleotemperatures in major Silurian (D’yavolskii), Ordovician (Baikit), and Cambrian (Deltula–Tanachi, Abakun, and Moktakon) productive horizons reached 650 °C. The Paleozoic and Proterozoic deposits of the study area contain brines with TDS = 50–470 g/dm3. By chemical composition, they are of Na, Na–Ca, Ca–Na, Ca–Mg, and Ca chloride types (according to the classification by S.A. Shchukarev), with mixed Ca–Na and Na–Ca chloride brines dominating. The studied brines can be divided into three groups according to the degree of metamorphism: low (S1), medium (S2), and high (S3). The first group includes mainly sodium chloride brines with TDS = 50–370 g/dm3 (rNa/rCl = 0.60–0.95; S ≤ 100). The second (dominating) group comprises Na–Ca, Ca–Na, Ca, and Ca–Mg chloride brines with TDS = 150–470 g/dm3 (rNa/rCl = 0.10–0.87; 100 ≤ S ≤ 300). The third group is Ca–Na and Ca chloride brines with TDS = 223–381 g/dm3 (rNa/rCl = 0.12–0.45; S ≥ 300). We have first established changes in the hydrogeochemical field (major- and trace-component and gas compositions) with distance from the contacts of intruded dolerite sills and dikes. Hydrocarbons (CH4, C2H6, C3H8, i-C4H10, n-C4H10, i-C5H12, n-C5H12, and C6H14) and water-soluble components I, B, and NH4 were most actively subjected to destruction. For example, at a distance of 100 m from the intrusion zone, the water-dissolved gases are dominated by CO2 (>90 vol.%), and CH4 amounts to 5 vol.%, whereas at a distance of 250 m, the concentration of CO2 decreases to 30 vol.%, and that of CH4 increases to 60–70 vol.%. In addition to the negative effect on the hydrocarbon preservation in the contact zone (≤400 m), the intrusive trap magmatism favored the formation of hydrocarbons in remote horizons. The reaction of intruding traps with brines of the sedimentary cover led to the saturation of the latter with iron, aluminum, and silica, which suggests extraction of metals in the form of salts from magmatic melts into an ore-bearing fluid.

Constraints on duration, age and migration of the feeder systems of the Madagascan Flood Basalt Province from high-precision 40Ar/39Ar chronology

Constraints on duration, age and migration of the feeder systems of the Madagascan Flood Basalt Province from high-precision 40Ar/39Ar chronology

Origin of the primitive, strongly SiO2-undersaturated alkalic rocks from the Deccan Traps by low-degree mantle melting and high-pressure fractional crystallization

Strongly SiO2-undersaturated alkalic rocks (Mg# > 50, SiO2 ≤ 45 wt%, Na2O + K2O ≥ 3 wt%) occur in three early-stage (Sarnu-Dandali, Mundwara, Bhuj) and one late-stage (Murud-Janjira) rift-associated volcanic complexes in the Cretaceous-Paleogene Deccan Traps flood basalt province of India. Thermobarometry based on clinopyroxene-liquid equilibrium suggests that they mostly crystallized beneath the Moho at ~ 15 kbar/1270 °C to ~ 11–12 kbar/1115–1156 °C pressures and temperatures. Primary magma compositions in equilibrium with lherzolite were estimated through reverse fractionation calculations by incrementally adding equilibrium phases to the rocks in olivine:clinopyroxene:spinel:phlogopite = 12:68:20:15 proportions at low temperatures followed by olivine:clinopyroxene:spinel = 12:68:20 proportions at higher temperatures. A comparison of the primary magmas with experimentally generated melts shows that their compositions are consistent with an origin from garnet lherzolite sources with < 1 wt% H2O and CO2. Hornblendite, pyroxenite (except for some Bhuj rocks) and carbonated eclogite are unlikely sources for the Deccan alkalic rocks. The Sarnu-Dandali and Bhuj alkalic rocks and the Murud-Janjira lamprophyres probably originated by < 5% melting of ~ 1.3 times Ti-enriched lherzolitic sources compared to primitive mantle. The primary magmas of the Murud-Janjira basanites calculated through reverse assimilation-fractional crystallization by assimilating lower crustal and mantle xenoliths found in younger lamprophyre dikes of the same area indicate that contamination by the Indian lithosphere was unlikely during their ascent. The basanites evolved by mixing with phonotephritic melts, and they probably originated from a Ti-poor (0.7 times) lherzolite source. The temperature of the melts at the base of the lithosphere was ~ 1325 °C beneath Sarnu-Dandali and ~ 1285 °C beneath Bhuj and Murud-Janjira.

Tectonostratigraphic evolution, palaeogeography and main petroleum plays of the Nuussuaq Basin: An outcrop analogue for the Cretaceous–Palaeogene rift basins offshore West Greenland

The onshore Nuussuaq Basin in central West Greenland comprises a complete Albian–Paleocene succession and as such represents the only complete rift succession outcrop analogue for the Cretaceous–Palaeogene offshore frontier basins in West Greenland. The basin fill reflects five tectonostratigraphic phases: 1) Pre-rift, 2) Albian – Early Cenomanian Early Rift, 3) Early Cenomanian – Early Campanian Thermal Subsidence, 4) Early Campanian – Early Paleocene Late Rift, and 5) Early Paleocene – Late Eocene Break-up and Drift. In addition, the succession is divided into nine tectonostratigraphic sequences (TSSs), each representing a specific configuration of depositional elements resulting mainly from tectonic events, which caused major palaeogeographic reconstruction of the basin and therefore critical to the petroleum systems. The sequences are bounded by unconformities or, in one case, by a major flooding phase. The Early Rift Phase in the Nuussuaq Basin was initiated in the Albian with development of half-grabens along N–S directed extensional faults. This phase was characterised by continued growth along extensional faults and embraces three TSSs (TSS1–3). They are characterised by alluvial fan, fan-delta and lacustrine sedimentation, wave- and tidal-dominated deltaic deposition, followed by a major fall in relative sea level and canyon incision. Oil seeps indicate presence of a lacustrine/brackish-water source rock at depth. During the following Late Cenomanian – Early Campanian Thermal Subsidence Phase a regional marine drowning of the basin took place with deposition of organic-rich mudstones, followed by re-establishment of deltaic deposition in the Coniacian–Santonian (TSS4). The Early Campanian – Early Paleocene Late Rift Phase was associated with a change in stress regime, formation of NW–SE directed extensional faults, uplift of highs and a major change in depositional environments from deltaic deposition to deposition from gravity flows in a confined system of slope channels and canyons. During the initial phase, structurally-controlled turbidite channels were established in a NW–SE trending graben-like structure that acted as conduits for sediment transport into the offshore areas (TSS5). This was followed by several phases of major uplift resulting from the rise of the Proto-Icelandic Mantle Plume prior to continental break-up eventually leading to the deposition of two structurally controlled TSSs (TSS6–7) characterised by the formation of submarine and subaerial canyons that acted as conduits for huge amounts of sediments transported into the offshore areas. The Nuussuaq Basin experienced significant subsidence during the initial phase of break-up volcanism with deposition of organic-rich Lower Paleocene marine mudstones blanketing the basin followed by a thick succession of Paleocene–Eocene volcanic rocks referred to as the West Greenland Basalt Province (TSS8–9). Volcanism gradually spread eastwards eventually blocking the connection to the sea stemming up a large lake between the prograding volcanic front and the cratonic mainland to the east. Finally, when the volcanic rocks covered the entire basin, rivers were redirected, and sediments were deposited in the offshore Sisimiut Basin to the south and the Melville Bay Basin to the north. During this latest rifting and break-up phase, the Nuussuaq Basin was aborted and terminated as a failed rift basin.Four main plays have been defined based on the tectonostratigraphic subdivision: An Early Rift Play, a Thermal Subsidence Play, a Late Rift Play and a Break-up and Drift Play. The Early Rift Play has alluvial and estuarine sandstones as reservoir, Albian lacustrine/brackish-water mudstones as source rock and Cenomanian–Turonian mudstones as seal. The Thermal Subsidence Play has deltaic and shallow marine sandstones as reservoirs, Cenomanian–Turonian mudstones as source and Campanian mudstones as seal. The Late Rift Play has incised valley, submarine canyon and turbidite sandstones as reservoirs, and Campanian and Paleocene mudstones as seal and source. The Break-up and Drift Play is subdivided into three sub-plays, including: a Lacustrine Sub-play, an Intra-basaltic Siliciclastic Sub-play and a Fractured Volcanic Sub-play. The Lacustrine Sub-play has fluvio-deltaic sandstones as reservoir and intra-formational lacustrine and delta-plain mudstones as seal. The Intra-basaltic Siliciclastic Sub-play comprise fluvial and lacustrine sandstones as reservoir and volcaniclastic or siliciclastic mudstones as seal. The Fractured Volcanic Sub-play comprises fractured, porous volcanic rocks as reservoir and intra-basaltic mudstones or tight fine-grained volcanic rocks as seal. All three sub-plays require vertical or long-distance migration of hydrocarbons from deeper-seated Cretaceous – Lower Paleocene kitchens. Because the tectonostratigraphic phases recognised in the Nuussuaq Basin can also be applied to the regional seismic mapping offshore Greenland the implications of the Nuussuaq Basin plays can be applied to the frontier offshore basins.

Thickness Characteristics of Pāhoehoe Lavas in the Deccan Province, Western Ghats, India, and in Continental Flood Basalt Provinces Elsewhere

Constraining the eruption rates of flood basalt lava flows remains a significant challenge despite decades of work. One potential observable proxy for eruption rates is flood basalt lava-flow lobe thicknesses, a topic that we tackle here quantitatively. In this study, we provide the first global compilation of pāhoehoe lava-lobe thicknesses from various continental flood basalt provinces (∼ 3,800 measurements) to compare characteristic thicknesses within and between provinces. We refer to thin lobes (∼ ≤5 m), characteristic of “compound” lavas, as hummocky pāhoehoe lava flows or flow-fields. Conversely, we term thicker lobes, characteristic of “simple” flows, as coming from sheet-lobe-dominated flows. Data from the Deccan Traps and Columbia River flood-basalt provinces are archetypal since they have the most consistent datasets as well as established chemo- and litho-stratigraphies. Examining Deccan lobe thicknesses, we find that previously suggested (and disputed) distinct temporal and regional distributions of hummocky pāhoehoe and sheet-lobe-dominated flow fields are not strongly supported by the data and that each geochemically defined formation displays both lobe types in varying amounts. Thin flow-lobes do not appear to indicate proximity to source. The modal lobe thickness of Deccan formations with abundant “thin” lava-lobes is 8 m, while the mode for sheet-lobe-dominated formations is only 17 m. Sheet-lobes up to 75–80 m are rare in the Deccan and Columbia River Provinces, and ones &amp;gt;100 m are exceptional globally. For other flood basalt provinces, modal thickness plots show a prevalence toward similar lobe thicknesses to Deccan, with many provinces having some or most lobes in the 5–8 m modal range. However, median values are generally thicker, in the 8–12 m range, suggesting that sheet-lobes dominate. By contrast, lobes from non-flood basalt flow-fields (e.g., Hawai’i, Snake River Plain) show distinctly thinner modes, sub-5 m. Our results provide a quantitative basis to ascertain variations in gross lava morphology and, perhaps, this will in future be related to emplacement dynamics of different flood basalt provinces, or parts thereof. We can also systematically distinguish outlier lobes (or regions) from typical lobes in a province, e.g., North American Central Atlantic Magmatic Province lava-lobes are anomalously thick and are closely related to feeder-intrusions, thus enabling a better understanding of conditions required to produce large-volume, thick, flood basalt lava-lobes and flows.

Windowing petrogenesis of continental flood basalts through mineralogical investigations: a case study from the Eastern Deccan Volcanic Province

Evaluation of the petrogenetic history of continental flood basalt using mineral–chemical data has been sparingly used for several flood basalt provinces of the world. For the Deccan flood basalts, such attempts are still rudimentary. The present contribution highlights several facets of petrogenesis of the Eastern Deccan Volcanic Province using details of constituent phases including glass. The present-study area around Khandwa (21°49′N, 76°21′E) indicates the presence of three distinct lava flows, which were identified on the basis of physical volcanological features based on a three-tier classification. Moreover, the occasional presence of chilled dykes and feeder dykes has been documented. The lava succession rests above (apparent) cumulate gabbro basement. The lava flows, in general, are characterized by dominant pyroxene (mostly augite, locally pigeonite) and plagioclase, opaque (magnetite and ilmenite) and glass, whereas olivine is rare. Both of these principal mineral phases (namely, plagioclase and pyroxene) occur both as phenocrysts and groundmass, while opaque phases occur only as groundmass. Pyroxene and plagioclase are generally zoned due to the changing milieu of crystallization conditions. Pyroxene thermometry data show the equilibration temperature range of 1050–1300 °C. Except for two samples of Flow II and one sample of chilled zone, the pyroxene thermometry data are broadly similar to that obtained from magnetite–ilmenite thermometry. As expected, deduced glass thermometric data reveal a relatively higher temperature. Crystallization history of parental magma was quantitatively modeled using Petrolog 3 software. The results indicate that the parental magma underwent both equilibrium and fractional crystallization (for example initially crystallized olivine reacted with ambient liquid to give rise to pyroxene). Phenocrystal and groundmass plagioclase and pyroxene show distinct patterns of compositional zoning corresponding to fluctuating physical parameters within the magma. Some of the glass [especially from the chilled dyke, feeder dyke, and Upper Colonnade Zone (UCZ) of flow II and flow III] represents ‘higher magnitude pressure ambience’ (fossilized glass) which is distinct from ‘surficial glass’ caused by equilibrium quenching. The glass and pyroxene compositions (using tectonic discrimination diagrams) suggest a non-orogenic continental setting of the parent magma. It is concluded that the studied Deccan volcanism shows a complex interplay of repeated pulses of magma ascent, fluctuation of crystallization condition, effervescence, and local magma mixing.

Lithostratigraphy of the Serra Geral Formation in the northern portion of the Paraná-Etendeka Igneous Province: A tool for tracking Early Cretaceous paleoenvironmental changes

A detailed lithofacies analysis in Continental Flood Basalt Provinces allows the comprehension of their evolution and paleoenvironmental significance. In the northern portion of the Paraná-Etendeka Igneous Province (PEIP), in Brazil (Uberlândia-Araguari area), a volcanological and stratigraphic approach provided evidence that the basaltic volcanic succession is not monotonous, involving different lava flow morphologies and architecture. The volcanic succession reaches a thickness of ca. 300 m and includes four lithofacies associations: pillow lavas, compound pahoehoe, simple pahoehoe, and sediment-matrix basalt breccia. Pillow lavas, simple pahoehoe, and compound pahoehoe characterize the onset of volcanic activity in the area. Sediment-matrix basalt breccia and thick simple pahoehoe lavas occur in upper stratigraphic levels. Some of these thick igneous bodies can represent invasive lavas or shallow intrusions. In the study area, the common presence of volcanic deposits and structures formed in wet conditions is evidenced by the occurrence of pillow lavas, undulatory columns, and interleaved lacustrine and fluvial sedimentary rocks. These deposits reflect different environmental conditions from those previously described as arid in other portions of the PEIP. Low-temperature post-depositional alteration has affected the volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the study area, obliterating many of the primary sedimentary structures. The subaerial and subaqueous lavas are chemically similar, and compatible with high-TiO2 Pitanga magma type. The Uberlândia-Araguari area and the southern part of the PEIP have a similar stratigraphic style both characterized by the dominance of compound pahoehoe lavas at the base and by an intermittent volcanism, which is evidenced by the intercalation of sedimentary deposits with lavas.

Deep mantle structure and origin of Cenozoic intraplate volcanoes in Indochina, Hainan and South China Sea

SUMMARYCenozoic basalts with ages ranging from 28.5 to &amp;lt; 0.1 Ma are widely distributed in the Indochina block, the South China Sea basin and the Leiqiong area in South China including the Leizhou Peninsula and the northern Hainan Island, which form the southeastern Asian basalt province (SABP). These Cenozoic basalts share common petrological and geochemical characteristics. However, the origin of the Cenozoic intraplate volcanism in the SABP is still a controversial issue. In this work, we apply a novel technique of multiscale global tomography to study the whole-mantle 3-D P-wave velocity (Vp) structure beneath the SABP. Our results show that low-Vp anomalies prevail in the whole mantle beneath the SABP. Although the strongest low-Vp zones exist beneath Hainan, significant low-Vp anomalies are also visible in the mantle beneath other parts of the SABP. These low-Vp anomalies appear somehow independent, rather than deriving from a single plume. We deem that a cluster of plumes rather than a single plume existed in the Cenozoic and may still exist now in the mantle beneath the SABP, though the Hainan plume may be the strongest one. A geochemical study suggested that the Hainan plume upwelling might be slowing down and close to exhausting its source zone. This geochemical inference is supported by our tomographic images showing that the low-Vp zones under Hainan are weak and intermittent in the lower mantle (∼700–2889 km depths). The low-Vp zones in the mantle beneath other SABP Cenozoic volcanoes are also weak, suggesting that those mantle plumes, if any, are also dying or already dead. As compared with a strong single plume, each member in a plume cluster should be small and weak, and so hard to exist long. The SABP is surrounded by subduction zones. The hot mantle upwelling beneath the SABP might be caused by collapsing of subducted slabs down to the lowermost mantle.

A PHOTOGRAPHIC ATLAS OF THE ARCHITECTURE, FLOW GEOMETRY AND MORPHOLOGY, AND FACIES OF SERRA GERAL GROUP (PARANÁ IGNEOUS PROVINCE) IN THE STATE OF PARANÁ, BRAZIL

The rocks that make up the Serra Geral Group spread over approximately 100,000 km2 of the State of Parana, which represent about 10% of the Parana Igneous Province. The geologic mapping of the Serra Geral Group in the State of Parana was carried on from 2003 to 2018, and revealed a great diversity of features and facies of basic and acidic lava lows, as well as the presence of interbedded volcaniclastic deposits. This paper presents an inventory of this geodiversity along with brief descriptions, a wealth of photographic documentation, and the georeferenced location of each outcrop, making it easy to access the documented sites, in order to assist the development of scientiic research in this geologic compartment, which occupies nearly half of the Parana territory. The processes responsible for the lithologic features are interpreted in compliance to the knowledge accumulated on the various continental basaltic provinces by many researchers, including the authors of this paper, so to build up a genetic system for the Serra Geral Group more complete and coherent with the paleogeography of Gondwana in its initial breakup stage. In the early Cretaceous, during ca. 1.2 Ma with the paroxysm at 134.7 Ma, a huge magma amount, which is estimated at least in 600,000 km3, lowed over the thick sedimentary Paleozoic sequence of the Parana Basin, stacking up a volcanic sequence. The interaction between the rising magma with the sedimentary sequence up to 7,000 m thick, gave rise also to thousands of intrusive bodies, such as sills and dikes, almost all of a basic nature. Furthermore, the ascending magma interacting with aquifer systems gave rise to explosive volcanism – hydrovolcanism – which produced many maic volcaniclastic deposits MVDs, interbedded to the basic lows. Thus, in South America, during this relatively short lapse of time, basic and acidic lows covered the Parana Basin, being reported in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay under diverse names. In the present article, it will be simply referred as Serra Geral Group (SGG). The lithological inventory represented by the present photographic atlas comprises diagnostic features of basalt, andesi-basalt, rhyolite and dacite lava lows, maic volcaniclastic deposits MVDs, and dykes of basic composition.

ГЛУБИННЫЕ МЕХАНИЗМЫ ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ ТРАППОВЫХ ПРОВИНЦИЙ: ТРАДИЦИОННЫЕ И АЛЬТЕРНАТИВНЫЕ ВЗГЛЯДЫ

Different geotectonic hypotheses with respect to flood basalt provinces formation interpretation were analysed. Geotectonic models are proposed to unite in two groups: II. Traditional: plume-tectonic interpretation; I. Alternative models: delamination hypothesis and others.The flood basalt provinces properties (geological structure, history of development) study permits finding the best mantle-lithosphere interaction model.Keywords: flood basalt provinces, plume-tectonics, magmatism.

Petrology and geochemistry of the Deccan basalts from the KBH-7 borehole, Koyna Seismic Zone (Western Ghats, India): Implications for nature of crustal contamination and sulfide saturation of magma

The Deccan basalt erupted at the K-T boundary and comprises multiple flow units with spatial variations in physiography and geochemistry. The Koyna borehole-7 (KBH-7 of MoES-BGRL) of the Koyna Seismic Zone is situated in the western part of the Deccan continental flood basalt province, where the lava pile is 1251 m thick. Thirty-one samples of four flow units (named FA, FB, FC, FD; 1248.20–1110.78 m) from the lower part and another four flow units (named FV, FW, FX, FY; 202.79–42.85 m) from the upper part of the KBH-7 borehole show significant petrographic, mineral chemical and bulk-rock geochemical variations. Individual flows are characterized by higher abundances of plagioclase and clinopyroxene phenocrysts in their lower than upper parts; conversely, their upper parts are relatively enriched in magnetite and ilmenite. In addition, the flows become amygduloidal near their tops. Seven samples from the lower part of the FB flow unit have relatively higher MgO (≈ 8.94–12.9 wt%) and lower TiO2 (≈ 1.43–1.67 wt%) contents compared to samples from other flow units and are identified as low-Ti high-Mg basalt. Clinopyroxene phenocrysts from low-Ti high-Mg basalts are more magnesian (Mg-number ≈ 62.4 to 82.3) and chromium-rich, and not in equilibrium with plagioclase phenocrysts in the rocks. The magnesian-rich clinopyroxene phenocrysts were probably concentrated in the flow by flow differentiation. The trace element geochemistry indicates that the flows in the KBH-7 borehole are crustally contaminated. Extremely low Nb/Ta (<10) values of a few basaltic samples indicate contamination by the Gondwana sediments (e.g., Gondwana greywacke Nb/Ta ≈ 3.8–12.8) along with the tonalitic crust (Nb/Ta ≈ 5.59–10.2). The major and trace element geochemical character of the KBH-7 basalts can be explained by assimilation and fractional crystallization (AFC) modeling using Archean tonalitic crust and Gondwana sediments as major contaminants. AFC modeling reveals that 6.5–14.5% partial melting of the primitive mantle followed by 64–85% AFC in the crustal magma chamber accounts for the variable geochemical character of the KBH-7 basalts. Despite assimilation by crustal components, the basalts do not show any signs of sulfide supersaturation or segregation of an immiscible sulfide liquid, unlike the Nadezhdinsky formation of the Siberian trap flood basalt that produced the Noril'sk Ni-sulfide deposits. The variable concentration of chalcophile elements (Ni ≈ 11–858 ppm, Cu ≈ 32–342 ppm) or ratios like Cu/Zr (> 1) and Ni/MgO (≈ 1.9–163) of the KBH-7 basalts also indicate the absence of an earlier sulfide liquation of the magma. This may be related to the absence of crustal sulfur from the tonalitic basement rocks or the Gondwana sediments (greywacke) in conjunction with high iron content (FeO(T) ≈ 11.9–15.9 wt%) of the basaltic magma.

Lithospheric Boundaries and Upper Mantle Structure Beneath Southern Africa Imaged by P and S Wave Velocity Models

AbstractWe report new P and S wave velocity models of the upper mantle beneath southern Africa using data recorded on seismic stations spanning the entire subcontinent. Beneath most of the Damara Belt, including the Okavango Rift, our models show lower than average velocities (−0.8% Vp; −1.2% Vs) with an abrupt increase in velocities along the terrane's southern margin. We attribute the lower than average velocities to thinner lithosphere (~130 km thick) compared to thicker lithosphere (~200 km thick) immediately to the south under the Kalahari Craton. Beneath the Etendeka Flood Basalt Province, higher than average velocities (0.25% Vp; 0.75% Vs) indicate thicker and/or compositionally distinct lithosphere compared to other parts of the Damara Belt. In the Rehoboth Province, higher than average velocities (0.3% Vp; 0.5% Vs) suggest the presence of a microcraton, as do higher than average velocities (1.0% Vp; 1.5% Vs) under the Southern Irumide Belt. Lower than average velocities (−0.4% Vp; −0.7% Vs) beneath the Bushveld Complex and parts of the Mgondi and Okwa terranes are consistent with previous studies, which attributed them to compositionally modified lithosphere resulting from Precambrian magmatic events. There is little evidence for thermally modified upper mantle beneath any of these terranes which could provide a source of uplift for the Southern African Plateau. In contrast, beneath parts of the Irumide Belt in southern and central Zambia and the Mozambique Belt in central Mozambique, deep‐seated low velocity anomalies (−0.7% Vp; −0.8% Vs) can be attributed to upper mantle extensions of the African superplume structure.