Rift Magmatism Research Articles

Geochemical Evidence for Hydration and Dehydration of Crustal Rocks During Continental Rifting

AbstractTo understand the temporal sequence of geological processes such as magmatism, water‐rock interaction, and metamorphism in fossil continental rifts, a combined study of petrography, mineral geochemistry, in situ garnet O isotopes, in situ zircon U‐Pb ages and O isotopes, and pseudosection calculations was conducted for metagranites from a Neoproterozoic continental rift generated during the Rodinia breakup. The results provide insights into the operation of hydration and dehydration during continental rifting. In the metagranites from the northern margin of South China, three types of garnet (Garnet‐I to ‐III) are distinguished. They were sequentially produced by hydrothermal alteration, metamorphic dehydration, and fluid metasomatism. All of these garnets show negative δ18O values of −19.3‰ to −14.5‰, in contrast to mantle‐like δ18O values for magmatic zircon. The extremely negative δ18O values of hydrothermal Garnet‐I require infiltration of the continental deglacial meltwater during the continental rifting, and before that zircon crystallized from normal δ18O magmas. Once the rocks were hydrothermally altered, the extreme 18O depletion was retained in all later products such as metamorphic Garnet‐II and metasomatic Garnet‐III. Pseudosection calculations indicate that the metamorphic dehydration occurred at 1.0–3.0 kbar and 630–690 °C during a reheating stage, corresponding to high thermal gradients of >60 °C/km. The high‐temperature/low‐pressure metamorphic rocks produced by such high thermal gradients are indicative of the continental rift setting. The mineral geochemistry records not only the temporal sequence of rift magmatism, water‐rock interaction, and rift metamorphism but also the evolution of temperature and water action in the crust during the continental rifting.

Seismic Evidence of Magmatic Rifting in the Offshore Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand

AbstractRelationships between extensional tectonics and magmatism are ubiquitous in continental rifts and oceanic spreading centers. Yet few studies document interactions between extensional faults and mantle melts in volcanic arcs. We constrain the crustal structure of the extensional offshore Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ) from a marine multichannel and wide‐angle seismic experiment. The TVZ crust thins from >26 km to ∼18–19 km across ∼50 km in the Bay of Plenty. Elevated P wave velocities in the lower crust indicate mafic additions. Magmatic sills between 4‐ and 15‐km depth lie beneath listric normal faults in a ∼40‐km‐wide active rift zone. P wave velocities in the middle and upper crust along the arc front are ∼0.3–0.5 km/s slower than in the adjacent crust, indicating a possible thermal anomaly imparted by heat from magmatic intrusions. We propose that rifting in the offshore TVZ is partially compensated by intrusions and assisted by thermal weakening of the lithosphere.

The Cenozoic magmatism of East Africa: Part II – Rifting of the mobile belt

Despite the foundational role East Africa has played in the advancement of our understanding of continental rifting, there remains substantial ambiguity as to how magmatism has evolved during progressive rift development. This contribution is a comparative study that explores the temporal development of magmatism in both rifts, and within the interposing Turkana Depression. Notwithstanding the independent evolution of the Main Ethiopian Rift and Kenya Rift prior to their Quaternary linkage, magmatic events within them show remarkable parallelism. Following an initial pulse of basaltic magmatism ca. 20 Ma, more evolved compositions (flood phonolites in Kenya, rhyolites in Ethiopia) dominated the landscape until ca. 12 Ma. From ca. 12 Ma to 9 Ma, a renewed phase of widespread basaltic volcanism (Mid-Miocene Resurgence Phase) impacted the entire region from the Afar margin to Kenya, though activity in the south slightly predates equivalent basaltic events to the north. Following this widespread basaltic event, silicic magmatism again dominated the now nascent rifts until a renewed phase of basaltic activity commenced ca. 4 to 1.6 Ma termed the ‘Stratoid Phase’. Following the termination of the Stratoid Phase, the modern expression of volcanism in both rifts has been dominated by central silicic volcanoes. Magmatic activity within the Turkana Depression broadly parallels that in both rifts – basaltic events are evident at ca. 20 Ma, 12 Ma, and 4 Ma, however the silicic interludes that are evident within the rifts, are generally absent. Moreover, from 4 Ma to present, there is a progressive decrease in magmatic activity from an initial fissural basalt, to a series of large shield volcanoes, to modern belts of cinder cones. The results of this synthesis suggest widespread pulsed basaltic events precede silicic flare-ups throughout the East African Rift System, and the lack of such flare-ups in Turkana may relate to the Mesozoic rifting that modified the continental lithosphere in that region.

Zircon evidence for the Eoarchean (~3.7 Ga) crustal remnant in the Sulu Orogen, eastern China

Zircon provides one of the best records of the formation and reworking of continental crust in the early Earth. However, Hadean to Eoarchean zircons are relatively scarce worldwide. Here we present the first report of relict Eoarchean magmatic zircons in granitic gneisses from the Sulu Orogen, eastern China. Based on internal structures, trace element contents, and U–Pb ages, we identified four groups of zircon domains with U–Pb ages of ~ 3.7 Ga (Group I), ~2.1 Ga (Group II), ~790 Ma (Group III), and ~720 Ma (Group IV). Group I domains exhibit variable Th/U ratios, steep HREE patterns, and negative Eu anomalies. They yield lower intercept U–Pb ages of 1.82–1.95 Ga and discordia upper intercept ages of 3.65–3.69 Ga that are similar to the oldest concordant spot age of 3680 ± 29 Ma. This indicates their growth from an Eoarchean magma and reworking during the Paleoproterozoic. The oldest Eoarchean domains with U–Pb ages of 3606 ± 28 to 3680 ± 29 Ma have low P contents of 216–563 ppm and high (Y + REE)/P molar ratios of 1.13–3.34, consistent with an igneous source. They show εHf(t) values of –2.8 to –0.9 at 3.67 Ga and TCHUR2 ages of 3.7–4.0 Ga, suggesting the growth of juvenile crust during the early Eoarchean. Group II to IV domains have consistent TDM2 ages of 2.6–3.0 Ga, suggesting that they grew during multiple reworkings of the Archean crust. Group II domains have variable Th/U ratios and steep to flattened HREE patterns that suggest growth during Paleoproterozoic crustal anatexis. Groups III and IV zircon domains have Th/U ratios and trace element contents that indicate growth from magmas that formed during Neoproterozoic continental rifting. In view of the unique feature of Neoproterozoic rifting magmatism in South China, the relict Eoarchean magmatic zircons would have originated in the Yangtze Craton and then undergone multiple phases of reworking during the Paleoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic. The results indicate the presence of ~3.7 Ga relict magmatic zircons in the Sulu Orogen, and they represent the oldest remnants of crustal material in the Yangtze Craton.

Refining the timing and mechanism of the Triassic partial melting in the Sulu UHP orogen, China: Zircon and garnet evidence from a felsic vein and its host granitic gneiss

Partial melting of high-pressure (HP) to ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic rocks in subduction zones has great influence on both the chemical and physical properties of deeply subducted continental crust. Felsic veins in HP-UHP metamorphic rocks are products of partial melting and thus would be a key target to trace partial melting in HP-UHP terranes. This contribution is an integrated study of petrology, zircon and titanite U-Pb ages, as well as zircon Hf-O and major minerals O isotope compositions for a felsic vein and its host granitic gneiss in the Sulu UHP terrane to decipher the timing and mechanism of partial melting. Zircon U-Pb dating for the inherited magmatic zircon cores of the granitic gneiss constrains the protolith age at ca. 750 Ma. The inherited zircons had an average δ18O value of 0.03 ± 0.15‰ and yielded a weighted mean εHf(t) value of −1.16 ± 0.54 and two-stage Hf model ages of 1707 ± 65 Ma. These results suggest that the protolith was derived from reworking of Paleoproterozoic crust in a Neoproterozoic rift. In the two samples, broad garnet core/mantle domains are of metamorphic origin and narrow garnet rims of peritectic origin. There are large differences in δ18O values between the protolith magmatic zircon (δ18O = 0.03 ± 0.15‰) and metamorphic garnet (−4.14 ± 0.21‰ for the felsic vein and −4.13 ± 0.11‰ for the host granitic gneiss), suggesting that the negative δ18O fingerprints might result from hydrothermal alteration or multi-episodes of rift magmatism after the formation of the protolith. Zircon from the felsic vein yielded a U-Pb age of 212 ± 3 Ma. Titanites from the two studied samples show undistinguishable U-Pb ages of 227 ± 14 Ma and 212 ± 6 Ma within the analytical uncertainties. These ages register the timings of the partial melting. The approximately consistent δ18O values of the metamorphic zircon (−4.78 ± 0.15‰) and metamorphic garnet indicate that the melt was sourced from the surrounded gneiss in a closed system, which might be triggered by breakdown of phengite. According to a compilation of partial melting in the Sulu UHP terrane, there exists a clear spatio-temporal variation. The ca. 237-224 Ma partial melting in the northern UHP zone might be due to its relatively high temperature metamorphism; the most extensive partial melting occurred at ca. 220-215 Ma in both the southern and northern UHP zones, which might be triggered by the detachment of the preceding subducted slab; and partial melting of the northern UHP zone continued to ca. 210 Ma due to heat supply from the underneath mantle. Such a variation might be dictated by the tectonic evolution of the different UHP slices. Accordingly, the whole partial melting process of UHP rocks in the Sulu UHP terrane might have lasted for about 27 Myr with two major episodes at ca. 230–224 and 220-215 Ma.

Mapping Stress and Structure From Subducting Slab to Magmatic Rift: Crustal Seismic Anisotropy of the North Island, New Zealand

AbstractWe use crustal seismic anisotropy measurements in the North Island, New Zealand, to examine structures and stress within the Taupō Volcanic Zone, the Taranaki Volcanic Lineament, the subducting Hikurangi slab, and the Hikurangi forearc. Results in the Taranaki region are consistent with NW‐SE oriented extension yet suggest that the Taranaki volcanic lineament may be controlled by a deep‐rooted, inherited crustal structure. In the central Taupō Volcanic Zone anisotropy fast orientations are predominantly controlled by continental rifting. However at Taupō and Okataina volcanoes, fast orientations are highly variable and radial to the calderas suggesting the influence of magma reservoirs in the seismogenic crust (≤15 km depth). The subducting Hikurangi slab has a predominant trench‐parallel fast orientation, reflecting the pervasive presence of plate‐bending faults, yet changing orientations at depths ≥120 km beneath the central North Island may be relics from previous subduction configurations. Finally, results from the southern Hikurangi forearc show that the orientation of stresses there is consistent with those in the underlying subducting slab. In contrast, the northern Hikurangi forearc is pervasively fractured and is undergoing E‐W compression, oblique to the stress field in the subducting slab. The north‐south variation in fore‐arc stress is likely related to differing subduction‐interface coupling. Across the varying tectonic regimes of the North Island our study highlights that large‐scale tectonic forces tend to dictate the orientation of stress and structures within the crust, although more localized features (plate coupling, magma reservoirs, and inherited crustal structures) can strongly influence surface magmatism and the crustal stress field.

Rises of the Amerasia Basin, Arctic Ocean, and Possible Equivalents in the Atlantic Ocean

Main positive morphostructures of the Amerasia Basin, the Lomonosov Ridge, Alpha Ridge, Mendeleev Rise, Chukchi Plateau and Northwind Ridge, have been considered from geomorphological, geological and geophysical aspects. Time and Depth seismic sections have been provided up to the Moho discontinuity from the Lomonosov Ridge and its junction with the Greenland and East-Siberian shelves. Time and Depth seismic sections of the Mendeleev-Alpha rises and Chukchi Plateau are presented too. The sections were set up based on seismic surveys: deep seismic sounding and multichannel seismic reflection. Some similarities have been reflected for the foregoing land structure depth sections and typical sections of the continental crust. Brief geological and geophysical data have been presented for the positive morphostructures of the Atlantic Ocean such as the Rockall and Voring plateaus, the continental nature of which is established beyond all doubt. Genesis of positive morphostructures in the northern Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean has been connected with processes of continental rifting and concomitant intraplate magmatism.

Terrestrial heat flow in the Malawi Rifted Zone, East Africa: Implications for tectono-thermal inheritance in continental rift basins

Rift basins show the widest range of heat flow values compared to passive continental margins and intracratonic sag basins. Elevated heat flow is often used to infer asthenospheric upwelling or subsurface magmatic activity for magma-assisted rifts. Despite the lack of surface volcanism for magma-poor rifts, it is possible that magmatic bodies will be present at lower and mid crustal levels but yet to breach the surface, thus necessitating consideration of heat flow from tectono-thermal inheritance in addition to more recent magmatism. We use aeromagnetic data to investigate the terrestrial heat flow distribution in the Malawi Rifted Zone (MRZ) in East Africa defined as the Neogene Malawi Rift and surrounding Permo-Triassic Karoo rift basins. We use the two-dimensional power-density spectrum technique to estimate the Curie point depth (CPD), geothermal gradient, and heat flow beneath the MRZ. Our results reveal predominance of shallow CPDs (18–20 km), high geothermal gradients (29–32 °C/km) and elevated heat flow (70–82 mW m−2) within the Karoo rift basins. Along the Malawi Rift, geothermal gradient (25–27 °C/km) and heat flow (60–66 mW m−2) are generally lower except pronounced high heat flow (70–82 mW m−2) at the Rungwe Volcanic Province (RVP) in the north, and at the central rift-segment where the rift overprints Karoo rift basins. The surrounding cratonic blocks show deeper CPDs (24–27 km), lower geothermal gradients (22–24 °C/km) and lower heat flow (53–63 mW m−2). We interpret that the elevated heat flow in the Karoo rift basins are related to residual heat flow from the Permo-Triassic rifting-phase, replenished by later Jurassic-Cretaceous diking events. Apart from the thermal anomaly beneath the RVP, which is due to Neogene magmatism, other important targets for geothermal explorations in the MRZ are the residual thermal anomalies in the Karoo rift basins. We infer that in areas of active magma-poor rifting, pronounced heat flow may not only occur in regions of asthenospheric upwelling, but may concentrate in the ancient magmatic rift segments. Our findings have implications for crustal stretching, tectono-thermal inheritance, and geothermal energy potentials in East Africa and other segments of magma-poor rifting.

The First U–Pb (SHRIMP II) Evidence of the Franklin Tectonic Event at the Western Margin of the Siberian Craton

Geochemical and isotope–geochronological evidence of Late Riphean intraplate magmatism within the Chernorechenskii massif at the western margin of the Siberian Craton has been obtained. These rocks crystallized from high-temperature and water-unsaturated magmas with a high content of alkalis, iron, and most noncoherent elements, which is typical of anorogenic A-type granites of intraplate settings. Their U–Pb age is 723 ± 6 Ma, coeval to the Franklin rifting event widespread in the north of Laurentia, which is associated with the break-up of Rodinia. The simultaneity of the magmatic activity and concomitant rifting, as well as a similar sequence of analogous tectonothermal events at the Arctic margin of Rodinia, confirms modern paleoreconstructions, suggesting the territorial proximity of Siberia and the cratons of the North Atlantic at that time.

Insights Into Fault‐Magma Interactions in an Early‐Stage Continental Rift From Source Mechanisms and Correlated Volcano‐Tectonic Earthquakes

AbstractStrain in magmatic rifts is accommodated by both faulting and dike intrusion, but little is known of the frequency of dike intrusions in early‐stage rifts. We use a new earthquake data set from a dense temporary seismic array (2013–2014) in the ~7‐Myr‐old Magadi‐Natron‐Manyara section of the East African Rift, which includes the carbonatitic Oldoinyo Lengai volcano that erupted explosively in 2007–2008. Full moment tensor analyses were performed on M > 3.4 earthquakes (0.03‐ to 0.10‐Hz band) that occurred during the intereruptive cycle. We find two opening crack‐type and various non‐double‐couple earthquake source mechanisms and interpret these as fluid‐involved fault rupture. From waveform analysis on the nearest permanent seismic station, we conclude that similar rupture processes probably occur over eruptive and intereruptive cycles. The repeated and dynamically similar fluid‐involved seismicity, along with intrabasinal localization of active deformation, suggests that significant and persistent strain is accommodated by magmatic processes, modulated by tectonic cycles.

Rift‐Parallel Strike‐Slip Faulting Near the Iceland Plate Boundary Zone: Implications for Propagating Rifts

AbstractStrongly lineated terrain outside of Iceland's active plate boundary zones is created by faults and dikes aligned with the rift zones where they formed, similar to the spreading fabric defined by abyssal hills generated at mid‐ocean ridge spreading centers. As expected, rift‐parallel normal faults and fissures dominate in the active rift zones, but in older crust to the east and west, faults with strike‐slip and oblique‐slip displacements dominate. Some areas have widespread, small‐scale, strike‐slip, and oblique‐slip faults, while others have more widely spaced, larger, strike‐slip fault zones. In most cases, the strike‐slip and oblique‐slip faults strike subparallel to nearby older dikes and normal faults assumed to indicate the orientation of the rift zones where they formed. Strike‐slip displacements overprinting normal faults and along dike margins suggest reactivation of spreading‐related zones of weakness. More complicated fault geometries and kinematics occur near the oblique rifts and the major transform fault zones. The sense of movement on the strike‐slip and oblique‐slip faults is broadly systematic with respect to the active Northern and Eastern Rift Zones supporting the interpretation that they are the result of crustal block rotations on either side of rift zones that propagate to the north and south away from the center of the Iceland hot spot. Similar fault kinematics may occur along mid‐ocean ridges and other magmatic rifts where rift propagation occurs on a range of scales.

Carboniferous 40Ar/39Ar Age of Rare-Metal Enriched Rhyolites and Ignimbrites in the Sakmara Allochthon (Southern Urals)

The Sakmara Allochthon (Southern Urals) comprises a widely distributed folded stratum of rhyolites and ignimbrites, which are characterized by Nb–Zr–REE geochemical specification. This stratum overlies unconformably folded Paleozoic complexes, including Devonian ones. Rhyolites contain potassium feldspar and quartz phenocrysts, as well as granite xenoliths. According to geochemical features, volcaniс rocks were formed under the intraplate setting; in terms of the chemical composition, they belong to the A-type granites. The 40Ar/39Ar age of the felsic rock groundmass of rhyolites is 303 ± 2 Ma. The feldspar phenocrysts yielded ages of 306 ± 3 and 337 ± 3 Ma. The first estimate, as well as the matrix age, is associated with the formation of the volcanic complex, while the second value is probably associated with the age of xenogenic material. The complex of rare-metal enriched rhyolites characterizes the stage of the terminal Late Carboniferous rift magmatism in the rear part of the active continental margin. This complex formed prior to collision and thrusting of ophiolitic allochthons.

Early Cretaceous trachybasalt-trachyte-trachyrhyolitic volcanism in the Nyalga basin (Central Mongolia): sources and evolution of continental rift magmas

As shown by geological, mineralogical, and isotope geochemical data, trachybasaltic-trachytic-trachyrhyolitic (TTT) rocks from the Nyalga basin in Central Mongolia result from several eruptions of fractionated magmas within a short time span at about 120 Ma. Their parental basaltic melts formed by partial melting of mantle peridotite which was metasomatized and hydrated during previous subduction events. Basaltic trachyandesites have high TiO2 and K2O, relatively high P2O5, and low MgO contents, medium 87Sr/86Sr(0) ratios (0.70526-0.70567), and almost zero or slightly negative εNd(T) values. The isotope geochemical signatures of TTT rocks are typical of Late Mesozoic basaltic rocks from rift zones of Mongolia and Transbaikalia. The sources of basaltic magma at volcanic centers of Northern and Central Asia apparently moved from a shallower and more hydrous region to deeper and less hydrated lithospheric mantle (from spinel to garnet-bearing peridotite) between the Late Paleozoic and the latest Mesozoic. The geochemistry and mineralogy of TTT rocks fit the best models implying fractional crystallization of basaltic trachyandesitic, trachytic, and trachyrhyodacitic magmas. Mass balance calculations indicate that trachytic and trachydacitic magmas formed after crystallization of labradorite-andesine, Ti-augite, Sr-apatite, Ti-magnetite, and ilmenite from basaltic trachyandesitic melts. The melts evolved from trachytic to trachyrhyodacitic and trachyrhyolitic compositions as a result of prevalent crystallization of K-Na feldspar, with zircon, chevkinite-Ce, and LREE-enriched apatite involved in fractionation. Trachytic, trachyrhyodacitic, and trachyrhyolitic residual melts were produced by the evolution of compositionally different parental melts (basaltic trachyandesitic, trachytic, and trachyrhyodacitic, respectively), which moved to shallower continental crust and accumulated in isolated chambers. Judging by their isotopic signatures, the melts assimilated some crustal material, according to the assimilation and fractional crystallization (AFC) model.

Strike-slip tectonics during rift linkage

The kinematics of rift segment linkage in magmatic rifts remain debated. Strain patterns from Afar provide tests of current models of how segmented rifts grow in areas of incipient oceanic spreading. Here, we present a combined analysis of seismicity, interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), and GPS–derived strain rate maps to reveal that the plate-boundary linkage between the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden rifts of Afar is accommodated primarily by distributed extensional faulting. Large rotations about vertical axes predicted by bookshelf faulting models are not detected. Additionally, models of stress changes and seismicity induced by recent dikes provide poor fits to the observed time-space patterns of strike-slip earthquakes. Instead, we explain these features as resulting from rift-perpendicular shearing at the tips of spreading rifts where extension terminates against less stretched lithosphere. Our results demonstrate that distributed extension drives rift-perpendicular shearing, achieving plate-boundary linkage during incipient seafloor spreading.

Seismic Anisotropy Reveals a Dynamic Link Between Adjacent Magmatic Segments Prior to Dyke Intrusion

AbstractSeismic anisotropy has increasingly been proposed as a tool in the monitoring of magmatic systems and potential forecasting of volcanic eruptions. We present a detailed study of how seismic anisotropy evolves in an active magmatic rift segment before, during, and after a dyke intrusion in the Afar depression, Ethiopia. Results show that seismic anisotropy prior to the dyke intrusion is controlled by a complex and deforming magma plumbing system beneath the adjacent Dabbahu and Manda‐Hararo magmatic segments. Approximately eight days prior to the dyke intrusion in the Dabbahu segment, the pattern of anisotropy, coupled with lower crustal seismicity, is best explained by the inflation of a lower crustal magma reservoir in the Manda‐Hararo segment. This is the only clearly observed precursory change in seismic anisotropy. During the dyke intrusion, the magnitude of seismic anisotropy increases twofold, before rapidly returning to predyke values once the intrusion has ended. Combining our observations with models of magmatically induced crustal stress, we propose that when the deep magma reservoir beneath the Dabbahu segment becomes overpressured, inflation is triggered in the magma reservoir of the neighboring Manda‐Hararo segment. This provides strong evidence for a hydraulic link between the deep magma systems of the neighboring rift segments and that magma reservoirs beneath the Dabbahu segment can be fed by the lateral flow of magma from an adjacent segment. Our results demonstrate that seismic anisotropy has the potential to be a powerful tool for monitoring deformation in the magma plumbing systems of active volcanoes.

Calcium and neodymium radiogenic isotopes of igneous rocks: Tracing crustal contributions in felsic magmas related to super-eruptions and continental rifting

Radioactive decay of 40K within the continental crust produces a unique Ca isotopic reservoir, with measurable radiogenic 40Ca excesses compared to Earth's mantle (εCa = 0). Thus, igneous rocks with values of εCa > 1 unambiguously indicate a significant old, crustal contribution to their source magma. At our current level of analytical precision, values of εCa < 0.5 are indistinguishable from mantle-like Ca isotope compositions. So, whereas 40Ca excesses clearly define crustal contributions, the source contributions of igneous rocks with mantle-like Ca isotopic composition are less certain. The calcium in these rocks could be derived from partial melting of: young crust, crust with mantle-like K/Ca compositions, or the mantle itself. Here we present Ca isotopic measurements of intermediate to felsic igneous rocks from the western United States, and two crustal xenoliths found within the Fish Canyon Tuff (FCT) of the southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field (SRMVF), USA. Their isotope geochemistry is used to explore their source compositions and to help distinguish new mantle-derived additions to the crust from reworked older crust.Irrespective of age or tectonic setting a majority of the intermediate to silicic igneous rocks studied exhibit mantle-like Ca isotope compositions. Mantle-like Ca isotopic data for leucogranites associated with the beginning of Rio Grande rifting in Colorado indicate that felsic melts were generated from newly formed lower crust related to earlier calc-alkaline magmatism. These data also indicate that the Nd isotopic signature in early rift magmas is controlled by the lithospheric mantle, even if the major mantle source reservoir is the asthenospheric mantle.The two crustal xenoliths found within the 28.2 Ma FCT yield εCa values of 3.6 and 7.0, respectively. The 40Ca excesses of these Precambrian source rocks are supported by K–Ca geochronology. However, like several other ignimbrites from the SRMVF and from Yellowstone, USA, the FCT (εCa ∼ 0.3) has a Ca isotope composition that is indistinguishable from the mantle. Nd isotopic analyses of the FCT imply that it was generated from 10–75% of an enriched component, and so the Ca isotopic data appear to restrict that component to newly formed lower crust, low K/Ca crust, or enriched mantle. Contrary to these findings, several large ignimbrites and one granitoid from the SRMVF show significant 40Ca excesses. These tuffs (Wall Mountain, Blue Mesa, and Grizzly Peak) and one granitoid (Mt. Princeton) are sourced from near, or within the Colorado Mineral Belt. Collectively, these data indicate that felsic, Precambrian crust likely contributed less than 50% of the material to the petrogenesis of many of the large ignimbrites that have erupted across the western United States. However, the crustal components that contributed to magmas in the Colorado Mineral Belt have 40Ca excesses; consistent with felsic, Precambrian crust.

Timing and tectonic settings of the Late Paleozoic intrusions in the Zhusileng, northern Alxa: implication for the metallogeny

The Zhusileng–Hangwula tectonic zone, located in the northern Alxa area, is a key site for understanding the evolution of the Paleo-Asian Ocean (PAO) and related mineral formation. We report the major and trace elements and zircon U-Pb ages of newly discovered mafic and intermediate to felsic intrusive rocks in the Zhusileng area. LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb analyses of the Echenghei diabase and Haierhan and Heipingshan granites yielded crystallization ages of 305 Ma, 284 Ma, and 271 Ma, respectively. The Late Carboniferous mafic rocks have high MgO and Fe2O3T contents and low K2O and TiO2 contents, and are characterized by depletion of HREEs and notably negative Nb-Ta anomalies, with enrichment of Rb, Ba, and U, which indicate an enriched mantle source. The Early Permian granites of the Zhusileng area are highly differentiated I-type granitoids sourced from mixing of mantle and crust, are high-K calc-alkaline and enriched in LREEs, and exhibit moderately to strongly negative Eu anomalies. All the intrusive rocks formed in a post-collisional extensional environment, which indicates that the branch of the PAO in the northern Alxa area had closed before the Early Permian. The Cu-Mo/Au mineralization in the Zhusileng area formed in the Middle to Late Permian and is genetically linked to the Late Paleozoic post-collisional rifting magmatism from after the closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean.

Immiscible sulfide melts in primitive oceanic magmas: Evidence and implications from picrite lavas (Eastern Kamchatka, Russia)

Silicate-sulfide liquid immiscibility in mantle-derived magmas has important control on the budget of siderophile and chalcophile metals, and is considered to be instrumental in the origin orthomagmatic sulfide deposits. Data on primitive sulfide melts in natural samples, even those representing most voluminous magmatism in oceanic rifts, are very scarce due to the small size and poor preservation of incipient sulfide melt globules. Here we present the first detailed report of the crystallized sulfides melts in the oceanic picrites of the (presumably) Cretaceous age Kamchatsky Mys ophiolite complex in Eastern Kamchatka (Far East Russia). Sulfide melts are present in three forms; (1) as inclusions in olivine (87.1–89.6 mol% Fo), (2) interstitial to the groundmass minerals (clinopyroxene, plagioclase, and Ti-magnetite) of studied picrites, and (3) as daughter phases in silicate melt inclusions hosted by olivine and Cr-spinel phenocrysts. The sulfide melt inclusions in olivine and the groundmass of studied rocks are composed of several sulfide phases that correspond to the monosulfide (Fe–Ni; Mss) and intermediate (Fe–Cu–Ni; Iss) solid solutions. Several 0.5], continuously evolve with crystallization of (e.g., increasing Cu/Ni and Au/PGE) and demonstrate metal fractionation between Mss and Iss. Although the compositional systematics found in this study are consistent with those previously recorded, the compositions of individual sulfide phases are strongly affected by the noble metal (PGE, Au) “nuggets” that exsolve at subsolidus temperatures and form during serpentinization of the rocks. We conclude that the budget of noble metals in the studied picrites is controlled by sulfides, but the abundances of Pt and Au are influenced by mobility in post-magmatic alteration. Our data can be also used for modeling sulfide saturation at crustal pressures and understanding behavior of the noble metals in primitive oceanic magmas.

Neoproterozoic Rare-Metal Subalkali Leucogranite from the Northern Yenisei Ridge

Petrochemical study and U–Pb SIMS (SHRIMP–II) zircon analyses of subalkaline leucogranite of the Khariusikha Massif have been carried out. They have revealed for the first time a rare-metal mineralization. The elevated concentrations of rare elements (wt %) are Nb (0.5–0.7), Ta (0.12–0.16), REEs (0.08–0.24), Y (0.06–0, 1), Zr (2.3–2.6), Hf (0.1–0.12), U (0.05–0.1), and Th (0.08–0.1) and are confined to albitized granites. The main mineral phases concentrating the rare elements, U and Th, are tantalo–niobates: fergusonite, euxenite, U–pyrochlore, tantalite, as well as thorite, monazite, zircon, and sphene. These minerals associate with cassiterite, sulfides, and gold. The simultaneity of the intraplate granitoid magmatism (753 ± 4 Ma) and bimodal rhyolite–basalt volcanism (753 ± 6 Ma) in the neighboring rift structure has been demonstrated. Presumably, the Neoproterozoic rifting and intraplate magmatism relate to the plume activity that caused the supercontinent Rodinia to break up.

U–Pb baddeleyite crystallization age for a Corson diabase intrusion: possible Midcontinent Rift magmatism in eastern South Dakota

The largely buried basement of the northern Great Plains includes suture zones and terrane boundaries that represent a significant part of the growth of Laurentia in the Proterozoic. Basement exposures in this region east of the Black Hills are rare. In southeastern South Dakota, southwestern Minnesota, northeastern Nebraska, and northwestern Iowa, small outcrops of the Proterozoic Sioux Quartzite occur. In southeastern South Dakota, Corson diabase sills or dykes have intruded the quartzite. U–Pb ID–TIMS baddeleyite data from a Corson diabase sample yield an upper intercept date of 1149.4 ± 7.3 Ma, suggesting the diabase is related temporally to the Midcontinent Rift (MCR). The similarity in age of this diabase to the Inspiration sill, Pigeon River, Kipling, and Abitibi dykes suggests that early Midcontinent Rift development was not localized within the Nipigon Embayment, but extended along a roughly east–northeast zone from the Abitibi dykes to the Corson diabase. The presence of the Corson intrusions 250 km west of the MCR is hypothesized to represent a failed rift arm within the Superior craton. The greater strength of the Superior craton relative to lithosphere south of the Spirit Lake tectonic zone resulted in a shift of the southwestern rift arm in southern Minnesota along the Belle Plaine fault southeastward to the Iowa border. Alternatively, the apparent northeast trend of known occurrences of the Corson diabase is also consistent with a mantle plume centre explanation for early Midcontinent rifting.