Search results for "Mafic"
showing 10 items of 126 documents
Degassing of halogens from basaltic volcanism: Insights from volcanic gas observations
2009
Abstract The currently available data set of S–Cl–F abundances in volcanic gas plumes and high-temperature fumarolic gas samples from basaltic volcanism is reviewed here in the attempt to derive constraints on the modes of halogen degassing from mafic silicate melts. Apart from large volcano-to-volcano variations, reflecting remarkable differences in volatile abundances in the source magmas, each of the explored volcanoes displays large changes of SO2/HCl and SO2/HF ratios with the style of volcanic activity, with HCl/HF staying fairly constant. Halogen abundances are low and SO2/HCl and SO2/HF are high when fresh (volatile-rich) magmas sustain degassing, as during explosive eruptions, at t…
Excess volatiles supplied by mingling of mafic magma at an andesite arc volcano
2010
We present the results of a study of volcanic gases at Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat, which includes the first spectroscopic measurements of the major gas species CO2 and H2S at this volcano using a Multisensor Gas Analyzer System (MultiGAS) sensor. The fluxes of CO2 and H2S were 640.2750 t/d and 84.266 t/d, respectively, during July 2008, during a prolonged eruptive pause. The flux of CO2 is similar to estimates for the entire arc from previous geochemical studies, while the measured H2S flux significantly alters our interpretation of the sulphur budget for this volcano. The fluxes of both sulphur and carbon show considerable excesses over that which can be supplied by degassing of e…
Chronology of the oldest supracrustal sequences in the Palaeoarchaean Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa and Swaziland
2016
Abstract Zircon age data for felsic metavolcanic rocks of the Sandspruit and Theespruit formations, the two oldest supracrustal components in the Palaeoarchaean Barberton Greenstone Belt, show that these two successions are time-equivalent and constitute one single volcanic event at ca. 3530 Ma. The Sandspruit felsic rocks are ubiquitously metasomatized, intensely deformed and intruded by, and tectonically interlayered with, ca. 3450 Ma granitoid sills that are probably part of the Theespruit Pluton. One metasomatized Sandspruit sample contains abundant metamorphic zircons with a weighted mean 207Pb/206Pb age of 3220.1 ± 1.6 Ma, reflecting a widespread metamorphic event in parts of the east…
Single zircon ages for felsic to intermediate rocks from the Pietersburg and Giyani greenstone belts and bordering granitoid orthogneisses, northern …
2000
Abstract Previous models for the temporal evolution of greenstone belts and surrounding granitoid gneisses in the northern Kaapvaal Craton can be revised on the basis of new single zircon ages, obtained by conventional UPb dating and PbPb evaporation. In the Pietersburg greenstone belt, zircons from a metaquartz porphyry of the Ysterberg Formation yielded an age of 2949.7±0.2 Ma, while a granite intruding the greenstones, and deformed together with them, has an age of 2853 + 19/−18 Ma. These data show felsic volcanism in this belt to have been coeval with felsic volcanism in the Murchison belt farther east, and the date of ∼2853 Ma provides an older age limit for deformation in the region…
The Wadi Onib Mafic-Ultramafic Complex: A Neoproterozoic Supra-Subduction Zone Ophiolite in the Northern Red Sea Hills of the Sudan
2004
Publisher Summary The Wadi Onib mafic–ultramafic complex represents the best preserved, though tectonically dismembered, Neoproterozoic (Pan-African) ophiolite in the northern Red Sea Hills of the Sudan. Arabian–Nubian shield (ANS) is the northern continuation of the Mozambique belt and, together, they have been referred to as the East African Orogen (EAO). The Wadi Onib mafic—ultramafic complex constitutes one of the best preserved, though tectonically fragmented, ophiolitic sequence within the ANS and makes up the major part of the prominent, southwest to northeast oriented Onib–Sol Hamed suture. An improved understanding of the composition and history of this complex has important region…
Characterization, provenance, and tectonic setting of Fig Tree greywackes from the Archaean Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa
1999
Abstract In this study, mineralogical and geochemical data, as well as Sr and Nd isotopic compositions of early Archaean greywackes from the Fig Tree Group are presented to provide further information about the evolution of the Barberton Greenstone Belt (BGB) of the Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa. The chemical data on the collected greywackes from the BGB suggest limited chemical modification of the source rocks. The Eu/Eu * anomaly is negative with an average value of 0.76 which is slightly higher than that of Eu-depleted crustal rocks (0.65). High Cr and Ni concentrations and a Cr/Ni ratio of about 1.6 indicate derivation from ultramafic sources without fractionation. Although rounded zirc…
Triassic rift-related meta-granites in the Internal Hellenides, Greece
2009
AbstractThe Serbo-Macedonian Massif is a basement complex in the Internal Hellenides of northern Greece, situated between the Vardar Zone to the west and the Rhodope Massif to the east. The Serbo-Macedonian Massif comprises several distinct basement units interpreted as terranes, the largest of which is the Gondwana-derived Vertiskos Terrane in the northwestern and central parts of the massif. A series of leucocratic meta-granites intrude the Silurian orthogneiss basement of the Vertiskos Terrane. No similar granites are found in any of the other units of the Internal Hellenides. The meta-granites have a pronounced crustal within-plate signature which is visible in lithology, major- and tra…
High-temperature metamorphism and crustal melting at ca. 3.2 Ga in the eastern Kaapvaal craton, southern Africa
2018
Abstract The question of whether high-grade metamorphism and crustal melting in the early Archaean were associated with modern-style plate tectonics is a major issue in unravelling early Earth crustal evolution, and the eastern Kaapvaal craton has featured prominently in this debate. We discuss a major ca. 3.2 Ga tectono-magmatic-metamorphic event in the Ancient Gneiss Complex (AGC) of Swaziland, a multiply deformed medium- to high-grade terrane in the eastern Kaapvaal craton consisting of 3.66–3.20 Ga granitoid gneisses and infolded greenstone remnants, metasedimentary assemblages and mafic dykes. We report on a 3.2 Ga granulite-facies assemblage in a metagabbro of the AGC of central Swazi…
Two orogenic events separated by 2.6Ga mafic dykes in the Central Zone, Limpopo Belt, southern Africa
2017
Abstract The Limpopo Belt of southern Africa is a typical early Precambrian orogen that experienced two high-grade metamorphic events which are a key for understanding its tectonic evolution. There has been a long-standing debate on whether the Neoarchean (c. 2.65 Ga) or the Palaeoproterozoic (c. 2.0 Ga) tectono-thermal event records continental collision. The clear field relationship between deformed mafic dykes and the surrounding rocks is a powerful tool to help reconstructing the deformation history. Mafic dykes intruded the 3.3–3.1 Ga Sand River Gneiss Suite in the Central Zone of the Limpopo Belt near Musina, South Africa, and were classified in the past into older Causeway dykes and …