Search results for "Mantle plume"

Strongly SiO2-undersaturated, CaO-rich kamafugitic Pleistocene magmatism in Central Italy (San Venanzo volcanic complex) and the role of shallow dept…

2020

The Pleistocene (~460–265 ka) San Venanzo volcanic complex belongs to the IAP (Intra-Apennine Province) in central Italy, which comprises at least four small Pleistocene monogenetic volcanoes plus several unrooted pyroclastic deposits with peculiar mineralogical and whole-rock chemical compositions. San Venanzo products are strongly SiO2-undersaturated, CaO- and MgO-rich and show ultrapotassic serial character. The relatively common occurrence of calcite in the pyroclastic rocks and the overall high CaO content are interpreted in literature as primary mineral. The main rock facies at San Venanzo are calcite-rich scoria and lapilli tuffs, with minor massive lava flows, and a rare pegma…

Petrogenetic evolution of metabasalts and metakomatiites of the lower Onverwacht Group, Barberton Greenstone Belt (South Africa)

2019

A well-preserved sequence, by Archean standards, of mantle-derived metabasalts and metakomatiites forms large parts of the lower Onverwacht Group of the Barberton Greenstone Belt (South Africa). To elucidate the origin of mafic and ultramafic rocks from this 3.55 to 3.45 Ga sequence, we present a comprehensive geochemical dataset including major and trace elements as well as Lu-Hf and Sm-Nd isotope compositions for a variety of metavolcanic rocks. These include metabasalts of the amphibolite-facies Sandspruit and Theespruit Formations as well as metabasalts and metakomatiites of the lower greenschist-facies Komati Formation. Based on their incompatible trace element patterns, the basalts of…

Petrology of mafic lavas within the Onega plateau, central Karelia: evidence for 2.0 Ga plume-related continental crustal growth in the Baltic Shield

1998

The Onega plateau constitutes part of a vast continental flood basalt province in the SE Baltic Shield. It consists of Jatulian-Ludikovian submarine volcanic, volcaniclastic and sedimentary sequences attaining in places 4.5 km in thickness. The parental magmas of the lavas contained ∼10% MgO and were derived from melts generated in the garnet stability field at depths 80–100 km. The Sm-Nd mineral and Pb-Pb whole-rock isochron ages of 1975 ± 24 and 1980 ± 57 Ma for the upper part of the plateau and a SHRIMP U-Pb zircon age of 1976 ± 9 Ma for its lower part imply the formation of the entire sequence within a short time span. These ages coincide with those of picrites in the Pechenga-Imandra b…

Sr-Nd-Pb isotope ratios, geochemical compositions, and40Ar/39Ar data of lavas from San Felix Island (Southeast Pacific): Implications for magma genes…

2000

We present the first trace element and age data combined with new Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope ratios on lavas from San Felix Island in the Southeast Pacific. A 40Ar/39Ar plateau age of 421 ± 18 ka implies young intraplate volcanic activity in this region relative to the ∼22 Ma old volcanism on the neighbouring Easter seamount chain (ESC). The incompatible element compositions of the San Felix magmas are similar to those of EM1-type basalts from Gough, although the isotopic compositions differ. San Felix formed some 20 Ma after the ESC plume affected the plate in this region but no chemical signature of the ESC material is observed in the young volcanic rocks. The composition of the San Felix bas…

Composition and provenance analysis of beach sands in an almost isolated sedimentary system – A field study of the Galápagos Archipelago

2021

The Galapagos Archipelago is the surface expression of an active hotspot or long-lived mantle plume. The Archipelago consists of a group of 13 main islands which are located in the eastern central Pacific Ocean about 1,000 km west of the northern edge of the South American continent, east of the East Pacific Rise and south of the Galapagos spreading center. Because of the large distance to the nearest continental land mass, Galapagos can be seen as an almost isolated sedimentary system. A provenance study conducted on samples collected from seventeen beaches on eleven islands, demonstrates that mineral grains and particles were derived from weathering of predominantly basaltic rocks and wer…

Petrological and structural significance of the Santa Elena-Nicoya ophiolitic complex in Costa Rica and geodynamic implications

1999

Detailed structural and petrological investigations were carried out on the Santa Elena-Nicoya ophiolitic complex in Costa Rica, which is represented by a classic association of mantle tectonites (Santa Elena Peninsula), a cumulitic gabbroic-plagiogranite sequence, and basaltic volcanics and sills (Matapalo and Esperanza Units of the Nicoya Peninsula), with discontinuous radiolarian covers. Despite biostratigraphically different ages (Late Jurassic for Matapalo and Mid-Late Cretaceous for Esperanza) in both units, the major and trace element data, Sr-Nd isotope systematics, and mineral phase crystallization order show identical tholeiitic fractionation trends, where the marked Fe-Ti enrichm…

Geochemical evolution of rift magmas by progressive tapping of a stratified mantle source beneath the Ross Sea Rift, Northern Victoria Land, Antarcti…

1995

Abstract Source compositions of Neogene-Quaternary volcanic rocks from the McMurdo Volcanic Group of the Ross Sea Rift in Northern Victoria Land, Antarctica are constrained by NdSrPb isotopes and trace element ratios in near-primary basalts. The rocks erupted along the western rift margin (Victoria Land Basin) and the western rift shoulder (Transantarctic Mountains). Near-primary basalts show no evidence of crustal contamination, suggesting that their initial NdSrPb isotopes reflect the composition of their mantle sources. The initial isotope ratios of near-primary basalts range from about 87 Sr 86 Sr = 0.70281 to 0.70504 and 143 Nd 144 Nd = 0.51269 to 0.51291 (ϵNd(t) = 1.3–5.5). The 20…

Coupled petrological-geodynamical modeling of a compositionally heterogeneous mantle plume

2018

Abstract Self-consistent geodynamic modeling that includes melting is challenging as the chemistry of the source rocks continuously changes as a result of melt extraction. Here, we describe a new method to study the interaction between physical and chemical processes in an uprising heterogeneous mantle plume by combining a geodynamic code with a thermodynamic modeling approach for magma generation and evolution. We pre-computed hundreds of phase diagrams, each of them for a different chemical system. After melt is extracted, the phase diagram with the closest bulk rock chemistry to the depleted source rock is updated locally. The petrological evolution of rocks is tracked via evolving chemi…

Mantle Plumes

2001

A magmatic failed rift beneath the Gongola arm of the upper Benue trough, Nigeria?

2001

Abstract A magnetic anomaly map of the Gongola arm of the upper Benue trough was compiled from existing half-degree sheets of the upper Benue trough. The map is dominated by an elongated NE–SW magnetic low anomaly that stretches over a 100 km distance and has an average width of about 20 km. A combination of Werner deconvolution and forward modeling techniques on selected profiles across the major NE–SW anomaly lead to the conclusion that the anomaly may be caused by predominantly mafic rocks at depths of between 6 and 10 km, well below the base of the sediments, which are generally not more than 4.5 km thick. The presence of large and continuous bodies of mafic rocks indicated by these res…