Search results for "LITHOSPHERE"
showing 10 items of 96 documents
Age and Origin of Paleogene Granitoids from Western Yunnan Province, China: Geochemistry, SHRIMP Zircon Ages, and Hf-in-Zircon Isotopic Compositions
2015
We report geochemical data, SHRIMP zircon ages and Hf-in-zircon isotopic compositions for Cenozoic granitoids from major fault systems in the Tethyan belt in western Yunnan Province, southwestern China. Four magmatic pulses occurred in the Paleogene, namely at ca. 57 Ma, ca. 50 Ma, 45–40 Ma, and 38–34 Ma. Early magmatism of this episode (57–50 Ma) produced S-type granites whose zircons yielded eHf(t) values of −5.0 to −0.3. In contrast, late magmatism of this episode reflects heterogeneous sources. Zircons from a granite porphyry along the Ailaoshan-Red River fault system have slightly positive eHf(t) values suggesting derivation from relatively young crust and/or a juvenile source. However…
Local Earthquake Tomography in the Southern Tyrrhenian Region of Italy: Geophysical and Petrological Inferences on the Subducting Lithosphere
2009
We obtained a high-resolution seismic tomography of the Ionian lithosphere subduction using a new approach based on: (a) the Double-Difference technique for inversions and (b) the statistical post-processing of a great number of preliminary models (Weighted Average Model, WAM method); the latter was used to increase reliability and resolution. In the tomographic model, the high-velocity portion of the steeply dipping Ionian slab is well imaged, as is an underlying low-Vp (≈7.0 km/s) aseismic region. We propose that the low-velocity region can be assigned to a partially hydrated (serpentinized) mantle of the subducting Ionian slab, which progressively dehydrates with depth in dense high-pres…
Variation of olivine composition in the volcanic rocks in the Songliao basin, NE China: lithosphere control on the origin of the K-rich intraplate ma…
2016
Abstract Lithospheric thickness and the heterogeneity of the mantle lithosphere are two major parameters that play a role in determining the final composition of the mafic melts and their minerals. The Songliao basin in northeast China represents an ideal natural laboratory to study the effect of these two parameters on early Pliocene to Holocene K-rich mafic lavas (K2O > 4 wt.%; K2O/Na2O > 1). A series of Cenozoic volcanic edifices (Erkeshan, Wudalianchi, Keluo and Xiaogulihe) are tentatively divided into three groups (Group 1 — thin, Group 2 — middle, and Group 3 — thick) according to the lithosphere thickness. They are located in the northern region of the Songliao basin extending in a n…
Lamproites as indicators of accretion and/or shallow subduction in the assembly of south-western Anatolia, Turkey
2010
IntroductionThe Western Anatolian region of Tur-key is tectonically one of the mostcomplex parts of the Alpine–Himala-yan orogenic belt (Fig. 1) because ofits long accretional palaeotectonicevolution. One of the major tectonicfeatures shaping the structure ofwestern Anatolia is the Menderesmetamorphic massif, which consistsof several assembled and imbricatedterranes exhumed during the exten-sion that affected the entire Aegeanprovince during the Late Miocene(Yilmaz et al., 2000; Okay, 2002).The Menderes Massif is usually inter-preted as a core complex delineated bylow-angle detachment faults (Bozkurtand Park, 1994; Hetzel et al., 1995;Ring et al., 2003). An alternativeexplanation associates …
The olivine macrocryst problem: New insights from minor and trace element compositions of olivine from Lac de Gras kimberlites, Canada
2015
This study presents detailed petrographical and geochemical investigations on remarkably fresh olivines in kimberlites from the EKATI Diamond Mine™ located in the Tertiary/Cretaceous Lac de Gras kimberlite field within the Slave craton of Canada. Olivine, constituting about 42 vol.% of the analyzed samples, can be divided into two textural groups: (i) macrocrystic olivines, > 100 μm sub-rounded crystals and (ii) groundmass olivines, < 100 μm subhedral crystals. Olivines from both populations define two distinct chemical trends; a “mantle trend” with angular cores, showing low Ca (< 0.1 wt.% CaO) and high Ni (0.3–0.4 wt.% NiO) at varying Mg# (0.86–0.93), contrasts with a “melt trend” typifie…
Surface expression of eastern Mediterranean slab dynamics: Neogene topographic and structural evolution of the southwest margin of the Central Anatol…
2012
[1] The southwest margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau has experienced multiple phases of topographic growth, including the formation of localized highs prior to the Late Miocene that were later affected by wholesale uplift of the plateau margin. Our new biostratigraphic data limit the age of uplifted marine sediments at the southwest plateau margin at 1.5 km elevation to <7.17 Ma, and regional lithostratigraphic correlations imply that the age is <6.7 Ma. Single-grain CA-TIMS U-Pb zircon analyses from a reworked ash within the marine sediments yield dates as young as 10.6 Ma, indicating a maximum age that is consistent with the biostratigraphy. Our structural measurements within the upl…
Craton reactivation on the Labrador Sea margins: 40Ar/39Ar age and Sr–Nd–Hf–Pb isotope constraints from alkaline and carbonatite intrusives
2007
Abstract The once-contiguous North Atlantic craton (NAC) is crosscut by the Labrador Sea that opened during the Early Cenozoic after extensive Mesozoic continental rifting and removal of cratonic mantle. This large-scale structural change within the cratonic lithosphere was followed at about 150 Ma by the cessation of ultrapotassic and potassic-to-carbonatitic magma production, which had prevailed throughout much of the NAC history. At Aillik Bay, a sequence of olivine lamproites (1374.2 ± 4.2 Ma, 2σ), aillikites/carbonatites (590–555 Ma), and nephelinites (141.6 ± 1.0 Ma, 2σ) erupted through the southern NAC edge on the present-day Labrador Sea margin. Links between these alkaline magma ty…
Tectonothermal Evolution of the Broadly Rifted Zone, Ethiopian Rift
2019
The Broadly Rifted Zone (BRZ) of southern Ethiopia is a long-lived and structurally complex segment of the East African Rift System. However, due to poor surface exposure of early synrift strata and a dearth of subsurface data, the evolution of the BRZ remains poorly understood. We present new apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He and augmented apatite fission track low-temperature thermochronology data from the Beto and Galana basin boundary fault systems to constrain the tectonothermal evolution of the western and eastern BRZ, respectively. Time-temperature reconstructions suggest that East African Rift System-related extension began concurrently across the BRZ in the early Miocene (20–17 Ma), at least 6 …
Rift nucleation, rift propagation and the creation of basement micro-plates within active rifts
2008
Abstract In this contribution we study the dynamics of rift nucleation and the interaction of propagating rift segments. We use the East African Rift System (EARS) as a case study with special emphasis on the Albertine rift system situated within the western branch of the EARS with the 5000 m high Rwenzori horst, a basement block that was captured by two rift segments. Fieldwork in the Rwenzori mountains shows that the range is not only affected by range parallel faults but that major fault sets cut across the Rwenzoris. In order to understand these complex fault patterns and the dynamics of the process that leads to the capturing of basement blocks within the extending rift system we devel…
Melt infiltration of the lower lithosphere beneath the Tanzania craton and the Albertine rift inferred from S receiver functions
2012
[1] The transition between the lithosphere and the asthenosphere is subject to numerous contemporary studies as its nature is still poorly understood. The thickest lithosphere is associated with old cratons and platforms and it has been shown that seismic investigations may fail to image the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary in these areas. Instead, several recent studies have proposed a mid-lithospheric discontinuity of unknown origin existing under several cratons. In this study we investigate the Tanzania craton in East Africa which is enclosed by the eastern and western branches of the East African Rift System. We present evidence from S receiver functions for two consecutive discontin…