Search Results (11)

The water contents and geochemical evidence of nominally anhydrous minerals in peridotite xenoliths provide critical insights into lithospheric mantle features, offering a deep understanding of cratonic destruction and mantle evolution processes. Damaping, located in the central part of the intra-North China Craton, hosts abundant mantle peridotite xenoliths’ samples, providing new constraints on lithospheric mantle evolution. In this study, spinel lherzolite samples from Damaping Cenozoic basalts were analyzed for major and trace elements, water content, and oxygen isotope to investigate the factors controlling mantle water distribution and lithospheric mantle modification. The olivines of Damaping spinel lherzolite have a range of Mg# values from 89.73 to 91.01, indicating moderately refractory mantle characteristics. Clinopyroxenes display an LREE-depleted pattern, suggesting a consistency with 1–6% of batch partial melting and 1–5% fractional partial melting. The high (La/Yb)_N (0.20–0.73) and low Ti/Eu (3546.98–5919.48) ratios of Damaping clinopyroxenes reveal that the lithosphere mantle beneath the Damaping has undergone silicate metasomatism. The water contents of Damaping clinopyroxenes and orthopyroxenes range from 13.39 to 19.46 ppm and 4.60 to 7.82 ppm, respectively. The water contents of the olivines are below the detection limit (<2 ppm). The whole-rock water contents can be estimated based on the mineral modes and partition coefficients, with values ranging from 3.21 to 5.44 ppm. Partial melting indicators (Mg# in Ol and Yb_n in Cpx) correlate with the water content in clinopyroxenes and orthopyroxenes but show no correlation with the redox state (Fe³⁺/∑Fe ratios in spinel) or metasomatism ((La/Yb)_N in clinopyroxene). These results suggest that the degree of partial melting primarily controls the heterogeneous water distribution in Damaping spinel lherzolite, rather than the redox state or metasomatism. The δ¹⁸O values of clinopyroxenes from Damaping spinel lherzolites (5.27–5.59‰) fall within the range of mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB), indicating a mantle source characterized by MORB-like isotopic signatures. The low whole-rock water contents are attributed to lithospheric reheating resulting from asthenospheric upwelling during the Late Mesozoic–Early Cenozoic. Therefore, the lithosphere is predominantly composed of ancient Proterozoic residues, with localized contributions of younger asthenospheric material near deep faults. Full article

New data obtained from core samples of two boreholes and dredged samples from the Alba Guyot in the Magellan Seamount Trail (MST), Western Pacific, including the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age determinations of basanite, and the mineralogy of basanite, tuff, tuffite, mantle-derived inclusions in basanite and tuff (lherzolite xenolith and Ol, Cpx, and Opx xenocrysts), and calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy, have implications for the guyot′s development and history. Volcanic units in the upper part of the Alba Guyot main edifice and its Oma Vlinder satellite, at sea depths between 3600 and 2200 m, were deposited during the Cretaceous 112 to 86 Ma interval. In the following ~60 myr, the Alba Guyot became partly submerged and denuded with the formation of a flat summit platform while the respective fragment of the Pacific Plate was moving to the Northern Hemisphere. Volcanic activity in the northeastern part of the guyot summit platform was rejuvenated in the Miocene (24–15 Ma) and produced onshore basanitic volcanoes and layers of tuff in subaerial and tuffite in shallow-water near-shore conditions. In the Middle-Late Miocene (10–6 Ma), after the guyot had submerged, carbonates containing calcareous nannofossils were deposited on the porous surfaces of tuff and tuffite. Precipitation of the Fe-Mn crust (Unit III) recommenced during the Pliocene–Pleistocene (<1.8 Ma) when the guyot summit reached favorable sea depths. The location of the MST guyots in the northwestern segment of the Pacific Plate near the Mariana Trench, along with the Miocene age and alkali-basaltic signatures of basanite, provide first evidence for petit-spot volcanism on the Alba Guyot. This inference agrees with the geochemistry of Cenozoic petit-spot basaltic rocks from the Pacific and Miocene basanite on the Alba Guyot. Petit-spot volcanics presumably originated from alkali-basaltic melts produced by decompression partial melting of carbonatized peridotite in the metasomatized oceanic lithosphere at the Lithosphere–Asthenosphere Boundary level. The numerous volcanic cones with elevations of up to 750 m high and 5.1 km in basal diameter, discovered on the Alba summit platform, provide the first evidence of voluminous Miocene petit-spot basanitic volcanism upon the Cretaceous guyots and seamounts of the Pacific. Full article

The Jizerka Quaternary alluvial placer in the Czech Republic has been a well-known source of gemstones since the 16th century, and the only one in Europe that has yielded a significant amount of jewel-quality sapphire. Besides Mg-rich ilmenite (“iserine”), which is the most common heavy mineral at the locality, some other minerals have been mined for jewellery purposes. These are corundum (sapphire and ruby varieties), zircon (“hyacinth” gemstone variety) and spinel. Here, we present a detailed petrological and geochronological investigation of the enigmatic relationship between the sapphires and their supposed host rocks, supporting their xenogenetic link. Our hypothesis is based on thermal resetting of the U–Pb isotopic age of the zircon inclusion found inside Jizerka blue sapphire to the estimated time of the anticipated host alkaline basalt intrusion. The host rocks of the gemstones (sapphire and zircon) and Mg-rich ilmenite are not yet known, but could be related to the Cenozoic volcanism located near the Jizerka gem placer (Bukovec diatreme volcano, Pytlácká jáma Pit diatreme and Hruškovy skály basalt pipe). The transport of sapphire, zircon and Mg-rich ilmenite to the surface was connected with serial volcanic events, likely the fast ascent of alkali basalts and formation of multi-explosive diatreme maar structures with later deposition of volcanoclastic material in eluvial and alluvial sediments in nearby areas. All mineral xenocrysts usually show traces of magmatic corrosion textures, indicating disequilibrium with the transporting alkali basalt magma. In order to constrain the provenance and age of the Jizerka placer heavy mineral assemblage, zircon inclusion and associated phases (niobian rutile, baddeleyite and silicate melts) in the blue sapphire have been studied using LA–ICP–MS (laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry) geochemistry and U–Pb in situ dating. Modification of the zircon inclusion into baddeleyite by exposure to temperature above 1400 °C in a basaltic melt is accompanied by zircon U–Pb age resetting. A zircon inclusion in a Jizerka sapphire was dated at 31.2 ± 0.4 Ma, and its baddeleyite rim at 31 ± 16 Ma. The composition of the melt inclusions in sapphire and incorporated niobian rutile suggests that the parental rock of the sapphire was alkali syenite. The Eocene to late Miocene (Messinian) ages of Jizerka zircon are new findings within the Eger Graben structure, as well as among the other sapphire–zircon occurrences within the European Variscides. Jizerka blue sapphire mineral inclusions indicate a provenience of this gemstone mineral assemblage from different parental rocks of unknown age and unknown levels of the upper crust or lithospheric mantle. Full article

Sarıcakaya–Nallıhan Volcanism was generated within the Balkanatolia Magmatic Realm between 48 and 44 Ma (by ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar age determination) and is represented by three different volcanic units all displaying subduction-related geochemical signatures, such as depletion in HFSE and enrichment in LREE and LILE. The first unit (V1) consists of nepheline-normative, olivine basalts with OIB-like affinity. The second (V2) and third (V3) units are represented by more evolved compositions such as basaltic-andesitic, andesitic, and dacitic-rhyolitic lavas. Even the most basic lavas have elevated Mg# values (62–69), and they are far from representing the true mantle melts. Source characterization of Sarıcakaya–Nallıhan Volcanism reveals that there might be two possible mantle sources for the primary melts of the lavas: (i) metasomatized peridotitic mantle fluxed by sedimentary melts, or (ii) accreted mélange. The direct melting of the mélange-like lithologies is a more favorable mechanism for the Middle Eocene (44–40 Ma) magmatism in Balkanatolia since the Hf–Nd trace element, Nd isotopic systematics and petrological modelling efforts supported the latter. Overall, Early Cenozoic magmatism within this realm was characterized, first (58–44 Ma) by contractional and later (44–40 Ma) by extensional tectonics and the late-stage magmatic phase in the area was possibly controlled by melting of accreted mélange-like lithologies. The presented data indicate that mélange melting might be much more common than envisaged for the magmatism in the Alpine–Himalayan orogenic belt. Full article

In this study, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology and major and trace element data were presented for Paleogene basaltic rocks from the Jiangling Basin, China. The volcanic rocks erupted at ca. 53.19–60.78 Ma and belonged to the sub alkaline series. These basaltic rocks are generally characterized by enrichment in large-ion lithophile elements (LILEs) and light rare earth elements (LREEs) ((La/Yb)_cn = 6.14–11.72) and lack of Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 0.98–1.09), similar to ocean island basalts. The geochemical signatures of these rocks are similar to hotspot-related Paleogene volcanic rocks in the North China Block and late Cenozoic volcanic rocks in Southeast China. The Cenozoic lithospheric mantle, as well as the Mesozoic basalts that are beneath the northern Yangtze Blocks, might be inherited from the Mesozoic lithospheric mantle. The basaltic rocks from the Jiangling Basin in the northern Yangtze Block were generated from the partial melting of EMII (enrichedmantleII)-like lithospheric mantle due to the intracontinental extension. Full article

In order to further reveal the tectonic activity of the central and northern North China Craton (NCC) since late Paleozoic, the Datong coal-bearing basin was selected as the research object. The tectono-thermal events and uplifting cooling events of the basin were retrieved through zircon and apatite fission tracks and vitrinite reflectance measurements. The research shows that the Datong coal-bearing basin experienced three tectono-thermal events with ages of 245–207 Ma (middle–late Triassic), 179 ± 9 Ma (early Jurassic), and 140 Ma to 78 ± 11 Ma (middle–late Cretaceous), respectively. That just coincides with the lamprophyre activity, Kouquan fault activity, and Zuoyun basaltic andesite magmatic activity which surround the Datong coalfield. The basin also experienced three uplift events with the peak ages of 202 ± 18 Ma (late Triassic), 157 ± 7 Ma (late Jurassic), and 45 ± 3 Ma or 36 ± 3 Ma (middle Eocene), respectively. The Datong Permo-Carboniferous and Jurassic coal vitrinite reflectance proved that the average metamorphism temperature is 104–108 °C, even reaching 163–367 °C. The fission track results showed that the paleotemperature was even higher than 170–250 °C from 117 to 282 Ma and 80–120 °C from 20 to 68 Ma, in the Datong coal-bearing basin. The results show that the deep tectonic activities of the NCC were still active in the Mesozoic and even Cenozoic Paleogene. Full article

The NE–SW trending Tiddas Souk Es-Sebt des Ait Ikko (TSESDAI) basin, located at 110 km southeast of Rabat, in the region of Khmesset between the village of Tiddas and Souk Es-Sebt des Ait Ikko, is the third largest late Palaeozoic continental trough in the northern Central Moroccan Meseta. It is a ~20 km long and ~2–3 km wide basin, comprising mainly mixed volcano-sedimentary reddish-purple continental Permian rocks laying with an angular unconformity on Visean deep marine siliciclastic sediments and unconformably overlain by the Triassic and Cenozoic formations. In this study we aim to better determine the age of Permian volcanics and their chemical and mineralogical characteristics, as well as assess the provenance of inherited zircons, thus contributing to the understanding of the late stages of the Variscan orogeny in Morocco. The standard volcanic succession includes the following terms: (i) andesites, lapilli tuffs and andesitic ash deposits; (ii) accumulations of rhyolitic lavas; (iii) lapilli tuffs and rhyolitic ash (formation F1); (iv) flows and breccias of dacites; (v) andesite flows; and (vi) basaltic flows. The various volcanic and subvolcanic studied rocks display calc-alkaline-series characteristics with high contents of SiO₂, Al₂O₃, CaO, MgO, and relatively abundant alkalis, and low contents of MnO. In the classification diagram, the studied facies occupy the fields of andesites, trachy-basalts, dacites, trachydacites, and rhyolites and display a sub-alkaline behavior. These lavas would be derived from a parental mafic magma (basalts) produced by partial fusion of the upper mantle. Specific chemical analyses that were carried out on the mineralogical phases (biotite and pyroxene) revealed that the examined biotites can be classified as magnesian and share similarities with the calc-alkaline association-field, while the clinopyroxenes are mainly augites and plot on the calc-alkaline orogenic basalt field. Andesites and dacites of TSESDAI show similarities with the rocks of the calc-alkaline series not linked to active subduction and which involve a continental crust in their genesis. The existence of enclaves in the lavas of the TSESDAI massif; the abnormally high contents of Rb, Ba, Th, and La; and the systematic anomalies in TiO₂ and P₂O₅ indicate also a crustal contamination mechanism. Three magmatic episodes are distinguished with two episodes that correspond to an eruptive cycle of calc-alkaline andesites and rhyolites followed by a basaltic episode. The SHRIMP U–Pb geochronologic data of zircons recovered from the rhyolite dome of Ari El Mahsar in TSESDAI basin show a Concordia age of 286.4 ± 4.7 Ma interpreted to date the magmatic crystallization of this dome. Thus, the rhyolite likely belongs to the third magmatic episodes of TSESDAI. Full article

The paper presents new data on mineralogy, geochemistry, and Sr-Nd-Pb isotope systematics of Late Cenozoic eruption products of Uguumur and Bod-Uul volcanoes in the Tesiingol field of Northern Mongolia, with implications for the magma generation conditions, magma sources, and geodynamic causes of volcanism. The lavas and pyroclastics of the two volcanic centers are composed of basanite, phonotephrite, basaltic trachyandesite, and trachyandesite, which enclose spinel and garnet peridotite and garnet-bearing pyroxenite xenoliths; megacrysts of Na-sanidine, Ca-Na pyroxene, ilmenite, and almandine-grossular-pyrope garnets; and carbonate phases. The rocks are enriched in LILE and HFSE, show strongly fractioned REE spectra, and are relatively depleted in U and Th. The low contents of U and Th in Late Cenozoic volcanics from Northern and Central Mongolia represent the composition of a magma source. The presence of carbonate phases in subliquidus minerals and mantle rocks indicates that carbon-bearing fluids were important agents in metasomatism of subcontinental lithospheric mantle. The silicate-carbonate melts were apparently released from eclogitizied slabs during the Paleo-Asian and Mongol-Okhotsk subduction. The parent alkali-basaltic magma may be derived as a result from partial melting of Grt-bearing pyroxenite or eclogite-like material or carobantized peridotite. The sources of alkali-basaltic magmas from the Northern and Central Mongolia plot different isotope trends corresponding to two different provinces. The isotope signatures of megacrysts are similar to those of studied volcanic centers rocks. The P-T conditions inferred for the crystallization of pyroxene and garnet megacrysts correspond to a depth range from the Grt-Sp phase transition to the lower crust. Late Cenozoic volcanism in Northern and Central Mongolia may be a response to stress propagation and gravity instability in the mantle associated with the India-Asia collision. Full article

Shortly after the cessation of seafloor spreading, intraplate magmatism affected large areas in the South China Sea (SCS) region. The origin and geodynamic setting of the post-spreading volcanism is still in debate, for many previous studies have focused on petrogenesis and mantle source of the late Cenozoic basalts from the SCS region. In this study, we obtained in situ major element compositions (by using Electron microprobe analysis—EMPA) and trace element compositions (by using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry— LA-ICP-MS) for minerals (clinopyroxenes (Cpx), plagioclases (Pl), and olivines (Ol)) hosted by late Cenozoic basaltic rocks from Thailand. The results showed that the olivines had forsterite contents between 60.12% and 84.74%. Clinopyroxene were diopside and augite, and they were enriched in light rare earth elements (LREEs) (La_N/Yb_N = 1.93–4.27) and depleted in large-ion lithophile elements (LILEs). Mineral compositions (mainly based on clinopyroxene) confirmed that these late Cenozoic basaltic rocks were of an intraplate affinity and were similar to contemporaneous basaltic fields in the SCS region (Southern Vietnam, Northern Hainan, and SCS seamounts). Plagioclases were predominantly labradorite, with a few andesine and bytownite, and they were enriched in LREEs and Ba, Sr, and Pb, and most of them exhibited strong positive Eu anomalies. The source lithology of Thailand basaltic rocks could be garnet pyroxenite. The mantle potential temperature beneath Thailand is in the range of 1448–1467 °C, which can be comparable to those beneath Southern Vietnam and Northern Hainan, indicating the Thailand basaltic rocks could be produced by the Hainan mantle plume. In addition, the crystallization temperature of clinopyroxenes (1145–1214 °C) and plagioclase (1067–1133 °C) and their composition characteristics indicate that the magmatic processes have a conspicuous characteristic of fast rate of magma upwelling. Thus, we proposed that the deep geodynamic setting of Thailand late Cenozoic basaltic rocks is similar to those of the whole SCS region, and Hainan mantle plume plays a significant role in the petrogenesis of these basaltic rocks. Full article

Fresh samples of basalts were collected by dredging from the Nanyue intraplate seamount in the Southwest sub-basin of the South China Sea (SCS). These are alkali basalts displaying right-sloping, chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) profiles. The investigated basalts are characterized by low Os content (60.37–85.13 ppt) and radiogenic ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratios (~0.19 to 0.21). Furthermore, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of the Nanyue basalts showed they formed during the Tortonian (~8.3 Ma) and, thus, are products of (Late Cenozoic) post-spreading volcanism. The Sr–Nd–Pb–Hf isotopic compositions of the Nanyue basalts indicate that their parental melts were derived from an upper mantle reservoir possessing the so-called Dupal isotopic anomaly. Semiquantitative isotopic modeling demonstrates that the isotopic compositions of the Nanyue basalts can be reproduced by mixing three components: the average Pacific midocean ridge basalt (MORB), the lower continental crust (LCC), and the average Hainan ocean island basalt (OIB). Our preferred hypothesis for the genesis of the Nanyue basalts is that their parental magmas were produced from an originally depleted mantle (DM) source that was much affected by the activity of the Hainan plume. Initially, the Hainan diapir caused a thermal perturbation in the upper mantle under the present-day Southwest sub-basin of the SCS that led to erosion of the overlying LCC. Eventually, the resultant suboceanic lithospheric mantle (SOLM) interacted with OIB-type components derived from the nearby Hainan plume. Collectively, these processes contributed crustal- and plume-type components to the upper mantle underlying the Southwest sub-basin of the SCS. This implies that the Dupal isotopic signature in the upper mantle beneath the SCS was an artifact of in situ geological processes rather than a feature inherited from a Southern Hemispheric, upper mantle source. Full article

The lack of preserved Mesozoic–Cenozoic sediments and structures in central Dronning Maud Land has so far limited our understanding of the post-Pan-African evolution of this important part of East Antarctica. In order to investigate the thermal evolution of the basement rocks and place constraints on landscape evolution, we present new low-temperature thermochronological data from 34 samples. Apatite fission track ages range from 280–85 Ma, while single-grain (U-Th)/He ages from apatite and zircon range from 305–15 and 420–340 Ma, respectively. Our preferred thermal history models suggest late Paleozoic–early Mesozoic peneplanation and subsequent burial by 3–6 km of Beacon sediments. The samples experienced no additional burial in the Jurassic, thus the once voluminous continental flood basalts of western Dronning Maud Land did not reach central Dronning Maud Land. Mesozoic–early Cenozoic cooling of the samples was slow. Contrary to western Dronning Maud Land, central Dronning Maud Land lacks a mid-Cretaceous cooling phase. We therefore suggest that the mid-Cretaceous cooling of western Dronning Maud Land should be attributed to the proximity to the collapse of the orogenic plateau at the Panthalassic margin of Gondwana. Cooling rates accelerated considerably with the onset of glaciation at 34 Ma, due to climate deterioration and glacial denudation of up to 2 km. Full article