Rifted Continental Margin Research Articles

Ocean‐continent Transition to Suprasubduction Zone Origin of the Western Yarlung Zangbo Ophiolites in SW Tibet, China: Multi‐stage, Transient Evolution of the Neotethyan Oceanic Lithosphere

The ophiolites that crop out discontinuously along the ∼2000 km Yarlung Zangbo Suture zone (YZSZ) between the Nanga Parbat and Namche Barwa syntaxes in southern Tibet represent the remnants of Neotethyan oceanic lithosphere (Fig. 1a). We have investigated the internal structure and the geochemical makeup of mafic‐ultramafic rock assemblages that are exposed in the westernmost segment of the YZSZ where the suture zone architecture displays two distinct sub‐belts of ophiolitic and mélange units separated by a continental Zhongba terrane (Fig. 1b). These two sub‐belts include the Daba – Xiugugabu in the south (Southern sub‐belt, SSB) and the Dajiweng – Saga in the north (Northern sub‐belt, NSB). We present new structural, geochemical, geochronological data from upper mantle peridotites and mafic dike intrusions occurring in these two sub‐belts and discuss their tectonomagmatic origin.In‐situ analysis of zircon grains obtained from mafic dikes within the Baer, Cuobuzha and Jianabeng massifs in the NSB, and within the Dongbo, Purang, Xiugugabu, Zhaga and Zhongba in the SSB have yielded crystallization ages ranging between130 and 122 Ma. Dike rocks in both sub‐belts show N‐MORB REE patterns and negative Nb, Ta and Ti anomalies, reminiscent of those documented from SSZ ophiolites. Harzburgitic host rocks of the mafic dike intrusions mainly display geochemical compositions of abyssal peridotites (Fig. 2), with the exception of the Dajiweng harzburgites, which show the geochemical signatures of forearc peridotites (Lian et al., 2016). Extrusive rocks that are spatially associated with these peridotite massifs in both sub‐belts also have varying compositional and geochemical features. Tithonian to Valanginian (150 – 135 Ma) basaltic rocks in the Dongbo massif have OIB‐like geochemistry and 138 Ma basaltic lavas in the Purang massif have EMORB‐like geochemistry (Liu et al., 2015). Tuffaceous rocks in the Dajiweng massif are 140 Ma in age and show OIB‐like geochemistry. We interpret these age and geochemical data to reflect a rifted continental margin origin of the extrusive rock units in both sub‐belts.These data and structural observations show that the western Yarluang Zangbo ophiolites represent fragments of an Ocean‐Continent Transition (OCT) peridotites altered by fluids in an initial supersubduction setting. We infer that mafic‐ultramafic rock assemblages exposed in the SSB and NSB initially formed in an ocean – continent transition zone (OCTZ) during the late Jurassic, and that they were subsequently emplaced in the forearc setting of an intraoceanic subduction zone within a Neotethyan seaway during 130 to 122 Ma. The NSB and SSB are hence part of a single, S‐directed nappe sheet derived from a Neotethyan seaway located north of the Zhongba terrane.

Kinematic models for the opening of the South China Sea: An upwelling divergent flow origin

We investigate the kinematics of continent breakup and seafloor spreading in response to the upwelling divergent mantle flow using the optimal nearly-analytical discrete method. Modeling results show that a larger upwelling rate (Vz) in the upwelling divergent flow system favors the earlier development of continent breakup and seafloor spreading and the formation of narrow continental rifted margins and mantle exhumation; while a larger half divergent rate (Vx) favors the diffusive lithospheric thinning and the formation of wide continental rifted margins and mantle exhumation. The upwelling divergent flow-driven continent extension is strongly depth-dependent at the proximal margins, but it behaves approximately in a depth-uniform manner at the distal margins. Application of this model to the South China Sea (SCS) demonstrates that: (1) an upwelling flow operation with Vz=0.3cm/yr can explain the pre-spreading continent extension of the SCS between ca. 65Ma and ca. 33Ma; (2) the followed upwelling divergent flow with Vx=2.5cm/yr and Vz=0.3cm/yr can reproduce the seafloor spreading history at ca. 33–16Ma in the SCS central oceanic basin; and (3) the post-16Ma thermal cooling since the cessation of the SCS seafloor spreading contributed ∼1.2km to the present-day bathymetry at the relict spreading ridge. The upwelling divergent flow with a high ratio of Vx/Vz was also likely responsible for the occurrence of the very wide rifted continental margins bounded the SCS. We suggest that an upwelling divergent mantle flow played a leading role in the opening of the SCS.

The role of magmatic loads and rift jumps in generating seaward dipping reflectors on volcanic rifted margins

The largest volcanic constructs on Earth are the seismically imaged seaward dipping reflector (SDR) units found offshore of many rifted continental margins, including most that border the Atlantic Ocean. Whether their formation requires large magnitude (i.e. 10 s of km) of normal fault slip or results from the deflection of the lithosphere by the weight of volcanic flows is controversial. Though there is evidence for faulting associated with some SDRs, this paper considers the range of structures that can be produced by magmatic and volcanic loading alone. To do this an idealized mechanical model for the construction of rift-related volcanic flow structures is developed. Dikes open as plates move away from the center of a model rift and volcanic flows fill the depression produced by the load caused by dike solidification. The thin elastic plate flexure approximation allows a closed form description of the shape of both the contacts between flows and between the flows and underlying dikes. The model depends on two independent parameters: the flexure parameter, α, and the maximum isostatically supported extrusive layer thickness, w0. For reasonable values of these parameters the model reproduces the observed down-dip thickening of flows and the range of reflector dip angles. A numerical scheme using the analytic results allows simulation of the effect of temporal changes in the locus of magmatic spreading as well as changes in the amount of volcanic infill. Either jumps in the location of the center of diking or periods with no volcanism result in separate units or “packages” of model SDRs, in which the flow-dike contact dips landward, consistent with observations previously attributed only to listric normal fault offset. When jumps in the spreading center are small (i.e. less than α) they result in thicker, narrower volcanic units on one side of a rift compared to those on the other side. This is similar to the asymmetric distributions of volcanic packages seen across some conjugate margins.

Preserved organic matter in a fossil Ocean Continent Transition in the Alps: the example of Totalp, SE Switzerland

Evidence from ultraslow spreading mid-ocean ridges and both fossil and present-day Ocean–Continent Transitions (OCT) demonstrates that mantle serpentinization resulting from the interaction of mantle rock and water during tectonic exhumation is widespread. Observations at white smokers in modern ocean settings suggest that methane produced by serpentinization can support methanotrophic bio-systems, which use methane as the only source of carbon. An important question is whether such bio-systems are more generally pervasive in their association with serpentinized mantle in the subsurface. In this study, we examined whether there is evidence for such a methanotrophic system in exhumed serpentinized mantle at a magma-poor rifted continental margin, by probing for characteristic biological markers in these and associated sedimentary rocks in the Totalp unit of SE Switzerland. This unit represents a remnant of the former OCT of the southern Alpine Tethyan margin and was chosen because of its mild Alpine tectonic and low-grade metamorphic overprint during Alpine orogeny, hence giving potential for the preservation of indigenous organic matter (OM). Totalp samples are characterized by low organic carbon contents of 11–647 ppm. The majority of the samples contain hydrocarbons in the form of n-alkanes in the range C17–C36. Some sediments contain isoprenoids, for example pristane and phytane and a suite of steranes that are consistent with a marine origin for the OM preserved in the rocks. Traces of marine planktonic and bacterial OM are preserved in the serpentinized mantle and overlying sediments of this ancient Tethyan OCT, but there is no evidence that the OM has been generated from methanotrophic bio-systems.

Effects of geodynamic setting on the redox state of fluids released by subducted mantle lithosphere

Magnetite breakdown during subduction of serpentinised ultramafic rocks may produce oxidised fluids that oxidise the deep Earth and/or the sub-arc mantle, either via direct transport of ferric iron, or via redox reactions between ferric iron and other elements, such as sulfur. However, so far, there is no consensus on the oxidation state of fluids released during subduction of ultramafic rocks, or the factors that control this oxidation state.Subducted samples from a magma-poor rifted margin and a supra-subduction zone geodynamic setting were compared to examine evidence of changes in opaque phase assemblage and ferric iron content as a consequence of subduction, and as a function of geodynamic setting. Thermodynamic calculations in the system Fe–Ni–O–H–S and Fe–Ni–O–S at the pressures and temperatures of interest were used to constrain oxygen activities and fluid compositions.Samples from New Caledonia, which exemplify supra-subduction zone mantle, contain awaruite (FeNi3) and equilibrated with hydrogen-bearing fluids at oxygen activity less than the FMQ (fayalite–magnetite–quartz) buffer. In contrast, samples from the Zermatt Saas Zone ophiolite, Western Alps, which are thought to represent mantle from a subducted magma-poor rifted margin, contain magnetite plus sulfur-rich phases such as pyrite (FeS2), and are inferred to have equilibrated with hydrogen-poor fluids at oxygen activity greater than FMQ. This major difference is independent of differences in subduction pressure–temperature conditions, variation in peridotite protolith composition, or the nature of adjacent units. We propose that the Zermatt Saas Zone samples would have undergone more complete serpentinisation prior to subduction than the supra-subduction zone (SSZ) New Caledonian samples. This difference explains the different fluid compositions, because incompletely serpentinised rocks containing olivine and brucite retain or evolve awaruite-bearing assemblages that buffer fluid compositions to high hydrogen activity (aH2).Ultramafic rocks are associated with two distinctly different fluid compositions during pre-subduction and subduction serpentinisation. Initially, while olivine is in equilibrium with infiltrating fluid, mineral assemblages that include awaruite in the rocks buffer fluids to H2-bearing, low aO2 compositions. Deserpentinisation of incompletely serpentinised rocks in which awaruite is present also produces H2-bearing fluids. Once awaruite is exhausted, H2-poor, high aO2 fluids co-exist with awaruite-absent assemblages, and deserpentinisation of such rocks would produce H2O-rich fluids.Thus, deserpentinisation of ultramafic rocks could produce either hydrogen-bearing fluids that could infiltrate and reduce the sub-arc mantle, or more oxidised fluids, which could transfer redox budget to other geochemical reservoirs such as the sub-arc mantle. Therefore, the redox contribution of subducted ultramafic rocks to the deep Earth and sub-arc mantle depends on the extent of protolith serpentinisation. Pre-subduction settings that promote extensive serpentinisation by oxidised fluids at high fluid:rock ratios in open systems, such as slow and ultraslow spreading ridges, transform faults, oceanic core complexes, and exhumed mantle at rifted continental margins, may produce more oxidised fluids than those associated with less pervasive serpentinisation and fluids that may be rock-buffered to a reduced state.

Numerical models for continental break-up: Implications for the South Atlantic

We propose a mechanism that explains in one unified framework the presence of continental break-up features such as failed rift arms and high-velocity and high-density bodies that occur along the South Atlantic rifted continental margins. We used 2D and 3D numerical models to investigate the impact of thermo-rheological structure of the continental lithosphere and initial plume position on continental rifting and break-up processes. 2D experiments show that break-up can be 1) “central”, mantle plume-induced and directly located above the centre of the mantle anomaly, 2) “shifted”, mantle plume-induced and 50 to 200 km shifted from the initial plume location or 3) “distant”, self-induced due to convection and/or slab-subduction/delamination and 300 to 800 km off-set from the original plume location. With a 3D, perfectly symmetrical and laterally homogeneous setup, the location of continental break-up can be shifted hundreds of kilometres from the initial position of the mantle anomaly. We demonstrate that in case of shifted or distant continental break-up with respect to the original plume location, multiple features can be explained. Its deep-seated source can remain below the continent at one or both sides of the newly-formed ocean. This mantle material, glued underneath the margins at lower crustal levels, resembles the geometry and location of high velocity/high density bodies observed along the South Atlantic conjugate margins. Impingement of vertically up-welled plume material on the base of the lithosphere results in pre-break-up topography variations that are located just above this initial anomaly impingement. This can be interpreted as aborted rift features that are also observed along the rifted margins. When extension continues after continental break-up, high strain rates can relocalize. This relocation has been so far attributed to rift jumps. Most importantly, this study shows that there is not one, single rift mode for plume-induced crustal break-up.

Platform-basin transitions and their role in Alpine-style collision systems: a comparative approach

The structure of Alpine-type orogenic belts is widely assumed to have been strongly influenced by the inherited structure of the rifted continental margins from which they were formed. The challenge lies in deciphering these influences when orogenic contraction is strong. Contractional deformation in the Kamchia basin (SW Black Sea), caught between the Balkan orogenic belt and the stable Moesian block, has been arrested, preserving the early development of an Alpine-type orogen. We use 3D seismic and well-data to examine the tectonic and stratigraphic structure of this basin. Significant deformation has occurred underwater, through inversion tectonics within the basin itself. However, the basin margin structures have not reactivated. This margin is marked by a low-angle unconformity across which sediment was routed from the platform into the fledgling syn-orogenic basins. Such pathways may explain non-orogen-derived sediment within parts of the ancestral Apennine foredeep, for example. The role of platform margins to focus contractional deformation may have been over-emphasised elsewhere in the Alpine system. Further, the more strongly subsided portions of rifted margins may have accommodated significant contractional deformation through reactivation of basin faults. In the western Alps the complexity of structural juxapositions across thrust sheets in the Brianconnais may reflect these early-orogenic deformations rather than be the product of deformation that happened after tectonic burial. These early deformations are likely to be recorded in early syn-tectonic depositional sequences.

Provenance, tectonic setting and palaeoclimate of the Ridge Sandstone of Jumara Dome, Kachchh, Gujarat

This study deals with petrography, provenance, tectonic setting and palaeoclimate of the Ridge Sandstone Member encountered in the Jumara Dome, Kachchh, Gujarat. The sandstones in this member are medium to coarse grained, poorly to moderately sorted and sub angular to sub rounded. Framework grains are sand–sized to silt–sized particles of mainly detrital origin. Among the main detrital framework grains, quartz constitutes 55.42–96.09%, feldspar 4.9–27.76%, and lithic fragments 0–3.73%. These sandstones have been classified as sub–arkose to arkose in composition and were deposited in continental block provenance with stable craton in rifted continental margin basin setting in a humid climate with the source material from either the Aravalli or Nagar Parker massif.

Characterising extrusive and intrusive magmatism at the Kipper Field, Gippsland Basin, using 3D seismic data

Increased hydrocarbon exploration along rifted continental margins indicates the need of a better understanding of the impact and influence of igneous rocks on hydrocarbon systems as they are often present in these tectonic settings. The southern Australian margin contains several petroliferous sedimentary basins which contain Cretaceous-Cenozoic igneous rocks and is therefore an ideal study area to investigate both the positive and negative effects on hydrocarbon systems. In particular, the Kipper Field in the offshore Gippsland Basin forms an excellent example of a volcanic play, as it holds a 328 m gas column and 14 m oil leg sealed by a >100 m thick basaltic lava flow juxtaposed against a sealing fault. The basin also contains a number of cross-cutting and layer-parallel type intrusions, although their impact on the petroleum system is as-yet unclear. Seismic interpretation techniques such as spectral decomposition and opacity rendering combined with electrical log signatures allowed us to identify the lava flow and intrusions down dip from the fault. Whether this fault has acted as a conduit for the magma responsible for the lava flow is still unclear. Future work will aim to further delineate and constrain flow paths of the intrusive and extrusive rocks near the Kipper Field and their influence on the Kipper play. This study highlights the importance of volcanic rocks in hydrocarbon basins and the possible effect they can have on hydrocarbon systems.

Sedimentation and potential venting on the rifted continental margin of Dronning Maud Land

The relief of Dronning Maud Land (DML), formed by Middle and Late Mesozoic tectonic activity, had a strong spatial control on the early fluvial and subsequent glacial erosion and deposition. The sources, processes, and products of sedimentation along the DML margin and in the Lazarev Sea in front of the DML mountains have been barely studied. The onshore mountain belt parallel to the coast of the DML margin acts as a barrier to the transport of terrigenous sediments from the east Antarctic interior to the margin and into the Lazarev Sea. Only the Jutul–Penck Graben system allows a localized ice stream controlled transport of material from the interior of DML across its old mountain belt. Offshore, we attribute repeated large-scale debris flow deposits to instability of sediments deposited locally on the steep gradient of the DML margin by high sediment flux. Two types of canyons are defined based on their axial dimensions and originated from turbidity currents and slope failures during glacial/fluvial transport. For the first time, we report pipe-like seismic structures in this region and suggest that they occurred as consequences of volcanic processes. Sedimentary processes on the DML margin were studied using seismic reflection data and we restricted the seismic interpretation to the identification of major seismic sequences and their basal unconformities.

Initial Opening of the Eurasian Basin, Arctic Ocean

Analysis of the transition from the NE Yermak Plateau into the oceanic Eurasian Basin sheds light on the Paleocene formation of this Arctic basin. Newly acquired multichannel seismic data with a 3600 m long streamer shot during ice-free conditions enables the interpretation of crustal structures. Evidence is provided that no major compressional deformation affected the NE Yermak Plateau. The seismic data reveal that the margin is around 80 km wide and consists of rotated fault blocks, major listric normal faults, and half-grabens filled with syn-rift sediments. Taking into account published magnetic and gravimetric data, this setting is interpreted as a rifted continental margin, implying that the NE Yermak Plateau is of continental origin. The transition from the Yermak Plateau to the oceanic Eurasian Basin might be located at a prominent basement high, probably formed by exhumed mantle. In contrast to the Yermak Plateau margin, the North Barents Sea continental margin shows a steep continental slope with a relatively abrupt transition to the oceanic domain. Based on one composite seismic line, it is speculated that the initial opening direction of the Eurasian Basin in the Arctic Ocean was highly oblique to the present day seafloor spreading direction.

Eastern Indian Ocean microcontinent formation driven by plate motion changes

The roles of plate tectonic or mantle dynamic forces in rupturing continental lithosphere remain controversial. Particularly enigmatic is the rifting of microcontinents from mature continental rifted margins, with plume-driven thermal weakening commonly inferred to facilitate calving. However, a role for plate tectonic reorganisations has also been suggested. Here, we show that a combination of plate tectonic reorganisation and plume-driven thermal weakening were required to calve the Batavia and Gulden Draak microcontinents in the Cretaceous Indian Ocean. We reconstruct the evolution of these two microcontinents using constraints from new paleontological samples, 40Ar/39Ar ages, and geophysical data. Calving from India occurred at 101–104 Ma, coinciding with the onset of a dramatic change in Indian plate motion. Critically, Kerguelen plume volcanism does not appear to have directly triggered calving. Rather, it is likely that plume-related thermal weakening of the Indian passive margin preconditioned it for microcontinent formation but calving was triggered by changes in plate tectonic boundary forces.

Identification of mantle peridotite as a possible Iapetan ophiolite sliver in south Shetland, Scottish Caledonides

The Neoproterozoic Dunrossness Spilite Subgroup of south Shetland, Scotland, has been interpreted as a series of komatiitic and mafic lava flows formed in a marginal basin in response to Laurentian continental margin rifting. We show that ultramafic rocks previously identified as komatiites are depleted mantle peridotites that experienced seafloor hydrothermal alteration. The presence of positive Bouguer gravity and aeromagnetic anomalies extending from the Dunrossness Spilite Subgroup northward to the Shetland Ophiolite Complex suggests instead that these rocks may form part of an extensive ophiolite sliver, obducted during Iapetus Ocean closure in a forearc setting. Supplementary material : Supplementary information, including methods, supplementary figures and tabulated data, is available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3469161 .

Abrupt plate accelerations shape rifted continental margins.

Rifted margins are formed by persistent stretching of continental lithosphere until breakup is achieved. It is well known that strain-rate-dependent processes control rift evolution, yet quantified extension histories of Earth's major passive margins have become available only recently. Here we investigate rift kinematics globally by applying a new geotectonic analysis technique to revised global plate reconstructions. We find that rifted margins feature an initial, slow rift phase (less than ten millimetres per year, full rate) and that an abrupt increase of plate divergence introduces a fast rift phase. Plate acceleration takes place before continental rupture and considerable margin area is created during each phase. We reproduce the rapid transition from slow to fast extension using analytical and numerical modelling with constant force boundary conditions. The extension models suggest that the two-phase velocity behaviour is caused by a rift-intrinsic strength--velocity feedback, which can be robustly inferred for diverse lithosphere configurations and rheologies. Our results explain differences between proximal and distal margin areas and demonstrate that abrupt plate acceleration during continental rifting is controlled by the nonlinear decay of the resistive rift strength force. This mechanism provides an explanation for several previously unexplained rapid absolute plate motion changes, offering new insights into the balance of plate driving forces through time.

Deformation mechanisms in a continental rift up to mantle exhumation. Field evidence from the western Betics, Spain

The identification of the structures and deformation patterns in magma-poor continental rifted margins is essential to characterize the processes of continental lithosphere necking. Brittle faults, often termed mantle detachments, are believed to play an essential role in the rifting processes that lead to mantle exhumation. However, ductile shear zones in the deep crust and mantle are rarely identified and their mechanical role remains to be established. The western Betics (Southern Spain) provide an exceptional exposure of a strongly thinned continental lithosphere, formed in a supra-subduction setting during Oligocene-Lower Miocene. A full section of the entire crust and the upper part of the mantle is investigated. Variations in crustal thickness are used to quantify crustal stretching that may reach values larger than 2000% where the ductile crust almost disappears, defining a stage of hyper-stretching. Opposite senses of shear top-to-W and top-to-E are observed in two extensional shear zones located close to the crust-mantle boundary and along the brittle-ductile transition in the crust, respectively. Where the ductile crust almost disappears, concordant top-to-E-NE senses of shear are observed in both upper crust and serpentinized mantle. Late high-angle normal faults with ages of ca. 21 Ma or older (40Ar/39Ar on white mica) crosscut the previously hyper-stretched domain, involving both crust and mantle in tilted blocks. The western Betics exemplify, probably better than any previous field example, the changes in deformation processes that accommodate the progressive necking of a continental lithosphere. Three successive steps can be identified: i/a mid-crustal shear zone and a crust-mantle shear zone, acting synchronously but with opposite senses of shear, accommodate ductile crust thinning and ascent of subcontinental mantle; ii/hyper-stretching localizes in the neck, leading to an almost disappearance of the ductile crust and bringing the upper crust in contact with the subcontinental mantle, each of them with their already acquired opposite senses of shear; and iii/high-angle normal faulting, cutting through the Moho, with related block tilting, ends the full exhumation of the mantle in the zone of localized stretching. The presence of a high strength sub-Moho mantle is responsible for the change in sense of shear with depth. Whereas mantle exhumation in the western Betics occurred in a backarc setting, this deformation pattern controlled by a high-strength layer at the top of the lithosphere mantle makes it directly comparable to most passive margins whose formation lead to mantle exhumation. This unique field analogue has therefore a strong potential for the seismic interpretation of the so-called “hyper-extended margins”.

Fault-controlled hydration of the upper mantle during continental rifting

Water and carbon are transferred from the ocean to the mantle in a process that alters mantle peridotite to create serpentinite and supports diverse ecosystems1. Serpentinized mantle rocks are found beneath the sea floor at slow- to ultraslow-spreading mid-ocean ridges1 and are thought to be present at about half the world’s rifted margins2, 3. Serpentinite is also inferred to exist in the downgoing plate at subduction zones4, where it may trigger arc magmatism or hydrate the deep Earth. Water is thought to reach the mantle via active faults3, 4. Here we show that serpentinization at the rifted continental margin offshore from western Spain was probably initiated when the whole crust cooled to become brittle and deformation was focused along large normal faults. We use seismic tomography to image the three-dimensional distribution of serpentinization in the mantle and find that the local volume of serpentinite beneath thinned, brittle crust is related to the amount of displacement along each fault. This implies that sea water reaches the mantle only when the faults are active. We estimate the fluid flux along the faults and find it is comparable to that inferred for mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal systems. We conclude that brittle processes in the crust may ultimately control the global flux of sea water into the Earth.

The Ezhimala Igneous Complex, southern India: Possible imprint of Late Cretaceous magmatism within rift setting associated with India–Madagascar separation

The gabbro–granophyre–granite complex of Ezhimala emplaced along the western rifted continental margin of India preserves evidence for bimodal magmatism, with related magma mixing and mingling processes. Here we report petrological, geochemical, zircon U–Pb geochronological and Lu–Hf isotopic data from the Ezhimala Igneous Complex (EIC) that provide insights into the Late Cretaceous magmatic activity. Field investigations and petrographic observations in Zircon U–Pb data from the granophyres show emplacement ages of 93.21±0.6Ma and 94.26±0.92Ma. The evolved Lu–Hf isotopic systematics for these rocks are indicative of the involvement of older crustal material during magma genesis. The geochemical systematics together with isotopic data suggest magma generation in a rift-related setting, and interaction with or melting of Neoproterozoic basement rocks. The timing of magmatism broadly correlates with the Late Cretaceous Marion hotspot activity which is considered to be responsible for the break-up of India and Madagascar. We thus interpret the EIC to be one of the rare signatures in southern India for the final phase of rifting of Gondwana.

Devonian magmatism in the Timan Range, Arctic Russia — subduction, post-orogenic extension, or rifting?

Devonian mafic magmatism of the northern East European Craton (EEC) has been variously linked to Uralian subduction, post-orogenic extension associated with Caledonian collision, and rifting. New elemental and isotopic analyses of Devonian basalts from the Timan Range and Kanin Peninsula, Russia, in the northern EEC constrain magma genesis, mantle source(s) and the tectonic process(es) associated with this Devonian volcanism to a rift-related context. Two compositional groups of low-K2O tholeiitic basalts are recognized. On the basis of Th concentrations, LREE concentrations, and (LREE/HREE)N, the data suggest two distinct magma batches. Incompatible trace elements ratios (e.g., Th/Yb, Nb/Th, Nb/La) together with Nd and Pb isotopes indicate involvement of an NMORB to EMORB ‘transitional’ mantle component mixed with variable amounts of a continental component. The magmas were derived from a source that developed high (U,Th)/Pb, U/Th and Sm/Nd over time. The geochemistry of Timan–Kanin basalts supports the hypothesis that the genesis of Devonian basaltic magmatism in the region resulted from local melting of transitional mantle and lower crust during rifting of a mainly non-volcanic continental rifted margin.

The tectonic setting of early Permian bimodal volcanism in central Inner Mongolia: continental rift, post-collisional extension, or active continental margin?

ABSTRACTThe petrology, geochronology, and geochemistry of the early Permian volcanic rocks from Houtoumiao area, south Xiwuqi County in central Inner Mongolia of China, are studied to elucidate the early Permian tectonic setting of the region. The volcanic rocks, which are interbedded with sandstone, feature both mafic and felsic compositions and show a bimodal nature. Zircon U–Pb dating reveals that the volcanic rocks formed at 274–278 Ma, similar to the ages of bimodal magmatism in neighbouring areas. The mafic rocks are composed of tholeiitic basalt, basaltic andesite, basaltic trachyandesite, and trachyandesite. They are rich in Th, U, and LILEs, depleted in HFSEs Nb, Ta, and Ti, and have positive εNd(t) values (+3.6 to +7.9). Geochemical analyses indicate that the mafic rocks originated from metasomatized lithospheric mantle. The felsic volcanic rocks are mainly rhyolite, with minor trachyte and dacite. They have different evolutionary tendencies of major elements, chondrite-normalized REE patterns, and isotopic compositions from the mafic volcanic rocks, which preclude formation by fractional crystallization of mafic melts. The εNd(t) values of the felsic rocks are similar to those of the Carboniferous Baolidao arc rocks in the region. It is suggested that Permian felsic melts originated from the partial melting of Carboniferous juvenile arc-related rocks. By comparison with typical Cenozoic bimodal volcanism associated with several tectonic settings, including rift, post-collisional setting, back-arc basin, and the Basin and Range, USA, the bimodal volcanic rocks in central Inner Mongolia display similar petrological and geochemical characteristics to the rocks from back-arc basin and the Basin and Range, USA. Based on the analysis of regional geological data, it is inferred that the early Permian bimodal volcanic rocks in the study area formed on an extensional continental margin of the Siberian palaeoplate after late Carboniferous subduction–accretion.

Geophysical and geochemical constraints on Cretaceous-Cenozoic magmatism along the southern Australian margin

Increasing levels of exploration along rifted continental margins, such as the southern Australian margin, has led to growing recognition of the detrimental impacts of magmatic activity on hydrocarbon prospectivity. Key exploration risks include the impact of intrusions on seal integrity, reservoir quality, source rock maturation and migration pathways. However, the extent and distribution of volcanic rocks along continental margins, such as the Australian southern margin, and the processes by which magma is transported through sedimentary basins are still poorly understood despite the wealth of available seismic datasets. Although classified as a 'non-volcanic' rifted margin, our analysis shows that an extensive and largely undescribed record of Cretaceous-Cenozoic magmatic activity is preserved within the sedimentary successions of the rift basins located along the southern Australian margin. The combination of seismic reflection data and geochronological and geochemical data shows that this magmatic activity cannot be solely attributed to continental break-up and related decompressional melting processes or the presence of a hotspot or plume.