Slow Spreading Systems Research Articles

The crust-mantle transition beneath the Azores region (central-north Atlantic Ocean)

The Azores region straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and comprises volcanic islands and seamounts interspersed with non-magmatic oceanic basins arranged along subparallel slow-spreading systems. The cross-check of CO2-rich fluid inclusions barometry from lavas and tephras erupted during the last 20 ka with the sources of seismicity of the last 22 years traced the deepest magma accumulation zone at a regional scale. These zones are considered to represent the boundary between the dense rocks of magma systems and the lithospheric mantle. This boundary is at a depth range of ~ 17 to 20 km beneath the islands close to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which are younger than 500 ka, and up to ~ 29.4 km beneath the eastern island of S. Miguel, younger than 800 ka and the nearby Dom João de Castro Seamount and the Hirondelle Basin. The same method has been applied to the ~ 2 Ma-old volcanic products of Flores, the ~ 1.9 Ma old S. Jorge and the 5 Ma-old lavas of Santa Maria. Results revealed a depth of ~ 30.5 km beneath the Flores and ~ 26 km beneath the ~ 1.9 Ma-old S. Jorge. These two islands are west and east of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, within 200 km. Finally, the crust-mantle transition has been found below Santa Maria, the easternmost island, ~ 500 km away from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at a depth of ~ 33 km. Overall, repeated mafic magma injections at the base of each magma system generated vertically stacked layered ultramafic mush bodies, which thickened the crust overtime.

Evolution of the Oceanic Lithosphere in the Equatorial Atlantic From Rayleigh Wave Tomography, Evidence for Small‐Scale Convection From the PI‐LAB Experiment

AbstractThe oceanic lithosphere is a primary component of the plate tectonic system, yet its evolution and its asthenospheric interaction have rarely been quantified by in situ imaging at slow spreading systems. We use Rayleigh wave tomography from noise and teleseismic surface waves to image the shear wave velocity structure of the oceanic lithosphere‐asthenosphere system from 0 to 80 My at the equatorial Mid‐Atlantic Ridge using data from the Passive Imaging of the Lithosphere‐Asthenosphere Boundary (PI‐LAB) experiment. We observe fast lithosphere (VSV > 4.4 km/s) that thickens from 20–30 km near the ridge axis to ~70 km at seafloor >60 My. We observe several punctuated slow velocity anomalies (VSV < 4.1 km/s) in the asthenosphere between 50 and 150 km depth, not necessarily focused beneath the ridge axis. Some of the slow velocity regions are located within 100 km of the ridge axis, but other slow velocity regions are observed at distances > 400 km from the ridge. We observe a high velocity lithospheric downwelling drip beneath 30 My seafloor that extends to 80–130 km depth. The asthenospheric slow velocities likely require partial melt. Although melt is present off axis, the lack of off‐axis volcanism suggests the lithosphere acts as a permeability boundary for deeper melts. The punctuated and off‐axis character of the asthenospheric anomalies and lithospheric drip suggests small‐scale convection is active at a range of seafloor ages. Small‐scale convection and/or more complex mantle flow may be aided by the presence of large offset fracture zones and/or the presence of melt and its associated low‐viscosities and enhanced buoyancies.

Evidence for ancient fractional melting, cryptic refertilization and rapid exhumation of Tethyan mantle (Civrari Ophiolite, NW Italy)

Western Tethyan peridotites exposed in the European Alps show limited amounts of partial melting and mostly fertile compositions. Here we investigate the Civrari Ophiolite (northwestern Italy), which is composed of depleted spinel-harzburgites and serpentinites associated with MOR-type gabbros and basalts. The ultramafic rocks are unique amongst western Tethyan peridotites, showing homogeneous residual compositions after ~ 15% near-fractional melting, lack of pervasive melt percolation and mineral compositions that indicate high-temperature equilibration ≥ 1200 °C. Clinopyroxene chemistry records some of the lowest abundances of Na2O, Ce, and Zr/Hf amongst abyssal peridotites worldwide, suggesting that most abyssal peridotites have been affected by variable degrees of melt retention upon melting or cryptic melt percolation. Locally, cryptic MORB-like melt migration in Civrari peridotites produced orthopyroxene + plagioclase intergrowth around reacted clinopyroxene. These clinopyroxene preserve micron-scale chemical zoning indicating rapid cooling after melt crystallization. 143Nd/144Nd isotopic data indicate that Civrari mantle rocks, gabbros, and basalts are not in isotopic equilibrium. Civrari spinel-peridotites represent a highly radiogenic endmember amongst Western Tethys depleted spinel-peridotites, which together form a partial melting errochron of 273 Ma ± 24 Ma. Ancient near-fractional melting and cryptic melt–rock reaction cause variations in radiogenic εNd and εHf, leading to isotopic heterogeneity of Western Tethys mantle rocks. Such inherited signatures in mantle rocks are most likely to be preserved along (ultra-)slow-spreading systems and ocean–continent transition zones.

Geophysical fingerprints of hyper-extended, exhumed and embryonic oceanic domains: the example from the Iberia–Newfoundland rifted margins

This study investigates the magnetic and gravity signatures and associated seismic character of hyper-extended, exhumed and embryonic oceanic domains along the conjugate Iberia–Newfoundland rifted margins. As these margins have been drilled down to basement along their distal parts, it is possible to explore and test different geophysical techniques and interpretations. The aims of this work are twofold: (1) to investigate the location and nature of the two main marginal boundaries—the necking zone and the J Anomaly, which define the limits of major domains; and (2) to map the lateral variations of gravity and magnetic signatures and their detailed correlation with seismic data, from the proximal margin until the first unequivocal oceanic magnetic anomaly (e.g. C34 Anomaly). The results point out that the J Anomaly corresponds to a first-order tectono-magmatic boundary, with a basement formed by polyphase magmatism. It marks the boundary between the exhumed mantle domain, with little magmatic additions, from a domain oceanwards that reveals comparable trends, frequencies and a general magnetic pattern at both sides of the Atlantic, suggesting a coeval evolution. We propose that the domain between the J and the C34 Anomalies was formed by an embryonic spreading system, with intermittent budgets of magma, similar to those observed at very slow spreading systems. The J Anomaly may thus correspond to the location of lithospheric breakup though its origin and the nature of the domain oceanwards remains to be constrained.

Reactive flow as dominant evolution process in the lowermost oceanic crust: evidence from olivine of the Pineto ophiolite (Corsica)

The Jurassic Pineto ophiolite from Corsica exposes a ~1-km-thick troctolite–olivine-gabbro sequence, interpreted to represent a lowermost sector of the gabbroic oceanic crust from a (ultra-)slow spreading system. To constrain the petrogenesis of the olivine-gabbros, minor and trace element analyses of olivine (forsterite = 84–82 mol%) were carried out. Olivine from the olivine-gabbros is depleted in incompatible trace elements (Sc, V, Ti, Y, Zr and heavy rare earth elements) with respect to olivines from associated troctolites. Depleted incompatible element compositions are also shown by olivine (forsterite = 86 mol%) from a clinopyroxene-rich troctolite. The incompatible element compositions of olivine argue against a petrogenetic process entirely driven by fractional crystallization. We propose that melts migrating through an olivine–plagioclase crystal mush chemically evolved by reaction with the existing minerals, changing in composition as it flowed upward. The melt residual from these interactions led to partial dissolution of preexisting olivine and to crystallization of clinopyroxene, generating olivine-gabbro bodies within a troctolite matrix. Reactive flow was the major evolution process active in the ~1-km crustal transect exposed at the Pineto ophiolite, producing lithological variations classically attributed to fractional crystallization processes.

ALPINE-APENNINE OPHIOLITIC PERIDOTITES: NEW CONCEPTS ON THEIR COMPOSITION AND EVOLUTION

Ophiolites exposed in the Alpine-Apennine mountain range represent the oceanic lithosphere of the Ligurian Tethys, a small oceanic basin separating the Europe and Adria plates in Mesozoic times. Most of the peridotites represent former subcontinental mantle which was: (i) isolated from the convective mantle at different times (from Proterozoic to Permian); (ii) accreted to the thermal lithosphere, where it cooled along a conductive geothermal gradient under spinel peridotite facies conditions. Our investigations reveal important records of melt/peridotite interaction and melt impregnation (i.e. formation of plagioclase peridotites), which were related to asthenosphere/lithosphere interaction occurred during lithospheric extension leading to rifting and drifting of the Jurassic Ligurian Tethys. The early asthenosphere/ lithosphere interaction was caused by the reactive percolation of asthenospheric melts, which induced significant depletion, refertilization and heating of the lithospheric mantle peridotites. The plagioclase peridotites of the Alpine-Apennine ophiolites mostly derive from melt impregnation, whereas part of the depleted spinel peridotites result from reactive percolation of depleted MORB-type melts, rather than being solely refractory residua after nearfractional melting. The presence of large areas of impregnated peridotites indicates that significant volumes of melts were trapped in the lithospheric mantle. Subsequently, the asthenospheric melts reached the surface, both intruding as MORB gabbroic bodies or extruding as MORB lava flows. These peridotites record two magmatic cycles: (1) An early magmatic, non-volcanic stage: the early diffuse porous flow percolation and impregnation by single melt increments, focused percolation in dunite channels and intrusion of MORB-type melts; (2) A late magmatic, volcanic stage: the late intrusion and extrusion of magmas deriving from aggregated MORB liquids. The sequence of periods characterized by absence (non-volcanic or a-magmatic or magma-starved stages) and presence (volcanic or magmatic stages) of volcanism represents one of the most peculiar feature of slow and very-slow spreading ridges. Melt stagnation in the oceanic lithospheric mantle has been proposed as the dominant mechanism of peridotite impregnation and plagioclase peridotite formation along slow spreading systems. It could be that amagmatic periods of (ultra-) slow spreading ridges are characterized by melt stagnation in the thermal lithosphere, leading to plagioclase peridotite formation. Our results evidence the great variability in terms of melt composition and regime of melt percolation during the rift evolution. They provide, moreover, a mechanism to explain non-volcanic and volcanic stages during the rift evolution of the Ligurian Tethys and might be equally applicable to modern slow spreading ridges, which are characterized by variable magmatic (volcanic) and amagmatic (non-volcanic) stages.

Continental breakup and the onset of ultraslow seafloor spreading off Flemish Cap on the Newfoundland rifted margin

Prestack depth-migrated seismic reflection data collected off Flemish Cap on the Newfoundland margin show a structure of abruptly thinning continental crust that leads into an oceanic accretion system. Within continental crust, there is no clear evidence for detachment surfaces analogous to the S reflection off the conjugate Galicia Bank margin, demonstrating a first-order asymmetry in final rift development. Anomalously thin (3–4 km), magmatically produced oceanic crust abuts very thin continental crust and is highly tectonized. This indicates that initial accretion of the oceanic crust was in a magma-limited setting similar to present-day ultraslow spreading environments. Seaward, oceanic crust thins to <1.3 km and exhibits an unusual, highly reflective layering. We propose that a period of magma starvation led to exhumation of mantle in an oceanic core complex that was subsequently buried by deep-marine sheet flows to form this layering. Subsequent seafloor spreading formed normal, ∼6-km-thick oceanic crust. This interpretation implies large fluctuations in the available melt supply during the early stages of seafloor spreading before a more typical slow-spreading system was established.