Underplating Of Basaltic Magma Research Articles

Post-orogenic bimodal volcanism along the Sulu orogenic belt in Eastern China

The early Cretaceous volcanism occurring along the Sulu orogenic belt, east Shandong Province, demonstrates a bimodal characteristic. The volcanic rocks belong to high-K alkaline series, dominated by alkali basalt, basaltic trachyandesite, latite and trachyte with LILE (e.g. K, Sr and Ba) and LREE enrichment but HFSE depletion (especially for Nb and P) in the primitive mantle-normalized spidergrams and steeply right-declined REE patterns. The enriched initial Sr-Nd isotopic ratios (87Sr/86Sr = 0.70724 to 0.70750 and εNd(t) = −17.0 to −15.9) of the basaltic samples suggest their origin from an enriched lithospheric mantle, which might had undergone a fluid metasomatism or source mixing by the continental crust during or shortly after the Triassic continental subduction. Significantly negative Nb anomalies observed in the spidergrams and other “crustal” signatures of these rocks suggest an important role of continental material in their petrogenesis. The felsic rocks demonstrate geochemical and Sr-Nd isotopic features (initial 87Sr/86Sr = 0.70814 to 0.70961 and εNd (t) = −18.9 to −17.0) similar to those of the post-collisional granitic plutons, probably derived from the anatexis of lower/middle crust in response to basaltic magma underplating. The widespread melting of the metasomatized mantle was probably attributed to the thermal perturbation or lithospheric extension induced by the mega-large displacement along the Tan-Lu wrench fault system when northward strike-slipping movement of the Izanagi Plate occurred during the late Mesozoic.

Cretaceous fractionated I-type granitoids and metaluminous A-type granites in SE China: the Late Yanshanian post-orogenic magmatism

The Late Yanshanian Orogeny (130-90 Ma) encompasses an important Mesozoic magmatic event in the crustal evolution of SE China. Products of post-orogenic magmatism, widely distributed in the eastern part of Zhejiang and Fujian provinces known as the Southeast Coast Magmatic Belt (SCMB), are dominated by large amounts of slightly Nb and Ta depleted, high-K calc-alkaline granites (I-type) and small amounts of strongly Ba, Sr, Eu, Ti and P depleted, metaluminous granites (A-type). 40Ar/39Ar dating from amphiboles suggests that emplacement of A-type granites mostly postdates (94-90 Ma) the intrusion of voluminous I-type granitoids (110-99 Ma). Using the Al-in-amphibole geobarometer, I-type suites were estimated to have been emplaced at shallow depths (5-7 km). Along with the fact that A-type granites are phyric or miarolitic in texture, it can be concluded that all these post-orogenic suites in the SCMB belong to shallow intrusives. They have also undergone a rapid cooling (higher than 100°C/Ma at T > 300 °C) as indicated by the thermochronology of hornblende, biotite and K-feldspar; therefore, generation of A-type granites from I-type magmas through fractional crystallisation would be a difficult process. Alternatively, their geochemical characteristics are attributed to partial melting in the residual lower crust under an elevated geothermal environment. On the other hand, I-type magmas are considered to be middle-crust-derived melts largely modified with mantle-derived melts that had been depleted with Nb and Ta by earlier tectonic processes. Such a tectonic environment is explained by the underplating of basaltic magmas, most probably due to lithospheric delamination taking place at c. 110 Ma, which marks the beginning of the postorogenic episode in this area. Numerical modelling for a heat source provided by the underplating of basaltic magma supports such a proposition.

Structure and development of the lower crust and upper mantle of Southwestern Japan: Evidence from petrology of deep‐seated xenoliths

Abstract Basic and ultrabasic xenoliths included in Cenozoic alkali basalts from the Kibi and Sera plateaus, Southwest Japan, can be classified into five groups on the basis of mineral association and texture. Their equilibration P‐T conditions estimated from paragenesis and mineral chemistry indicate that the dominant rock type from the lower crust to upper mantle changes with increasing depth as follows: (i) pyroxene granulite (Group V) and meta‐sediments; (ii) garnet gabbro (Group 111) and corundum anorthosite (Group IV); (iii) spinel pyroxenite (Group 11); and (iv) spinel peridotite and pyroxenite (Group I). Groups I1 and I11 show a lower degree of recrystallization than Groups I and V, and have similarities in composition and mineral chemistry to host basalts. Based on these facts along with the P‐T conditions of equilibration, Groups I1 and I11 are interpreted as formed from basaltic magma that intruded beneath the crust‐mantle boundary at an early stage of the magmatism of the alkali basalts, where the lower crust and uppermost mantle had consisted of Group V and metasediments, and Group I, respectively. It follows that the crust has grown downward due to underplating of basaltic magma beneath the bottom of pre‐existing crust. Group IV has commonly the same mineral assemblage, corundum + calcic plagioclase + aluminous spinel, and shows locally, nearby kyanite crystals, almost the same texture as fine‐grained aggregates in a quartzite xenolith. The aggregates appear to have been formed by reaction between kyanite and host basalt, and accordingly Group IV is interpreted as formed by reaction between metasediments and basaltic magma at the time of the underplating. The Kibi, Sera and Tsuyama areas are distinguished from the areas nearby the Sea of Japan by the occurrence of the garnet gabbro and corundum anorthosite xenoliths, by the absence of the association of olivine + plagioclase in basic and ultrabasic xenoliths, and by the lower temperature of equilibration of basic xenoliths. From these facts it is stressed that in general the crust becomes thinner and geothermal gradient becomes higher towards the back‐arc side. Such a regional variation in crustal structure must reflect the tectonic situation of Southwest Japan at the time of the magmatism of the alkali basalts, namely rifting and shallow‐level magmatism at the back‐arc side.

Petrology of the Chilliwack batholith, North Cascades, Washington: generation of calc-alkaline granitoids by melting of mafic lower crust with variable water fugacity

Calc-alkaline granitoid rocks of the Oligocene-Pliocene Chilliwack batholith, North Cascades, range from quartz diorites to granites (57–78% SiO2), and are coeval with small gabbroic stocks. Modeling of major element, trace element, and isotopic data for granitoid and mafic rocks suggests that: (1) the granitoids were derived from amphibolitic lower crust having REE (rare-earth-element) and Sr-Nd isotopic characteristics of the exposed gabbros; (2) lithologic diversity among the granitoids is primarily the result of variable water fugacity during melting. The main effect of fH 2 O variation is to change the relative proportions of plagioclase and amphibole in the residuum. The REE data for intermediate granitoids (quartz diorite-granodiorite; Eu/Eu*=0.84–0.50) are modeled by melting with fH 2 O<1 kbar, leaving a plagioclase + pyroxene residuum. In contrast, data for leucocratic granitoids (leuco-granodiorites and granites; Eu/Eu* =1.0–0.54) require residual amphibole in the source and are modeled by melting with fH 2 O=2–3 kbar. Consistent with this model, isotopic data for the granitoids show no systematic variation with rock type (87Sr/86Sri =0.7033–0.7043; eNd(0)=+3.3 to +5.5) and overlap significantly with data for the gabbroic rocks (87Sr/86Sri =0.7034–0.7040; eNd(0)=+3.3 to +6.9). The fH 2 O variations during melting may reflect additions of H2O to the lower crust from crystallizing basaltic magmas having a range of H2O contents; Chillwack gabbros document the existence of such basalts. One-dimensional conductive heat transfer calculations indicate that underplating of basaltic magmas can provide the heat required for large-scale melting of amphibolitic lower crust, provided that ambient wallrock temperatures exceed 800°C. Based on lithologic and geochemical similarities, this model may be applicable to other Cordilleran batholiths.