Abstract: Paleozoic Stratigraphy and Hydrocarbon Habitat of the Arabian Plate

Formation of new subduction zones represents one of the cornerstones of plate tectonics, yet both the kinematics and geodynamics governing this process remain enigmatic. A major subduction initiation event occurred in the Late Cretaceous, within the Neo-Tethys Ocean between Gondwana and Eurasia. Suprasubduction zone ophiolites (i.e., emerged fragments of ancient oceanic lithosphere formed at suprasubduction spreading centers) were generated during this subduction event and are today distributed in the eastern Mediterranean region along three ~E-W trending ophiolitic belts. Several models have been proposed to explain the formation of these ophiolites and the evolution of the associated intra-Neo-Tethyan subduction zone. Here we present new paleospreading directions from six Upper Cretaceous ophiolites of Turkey, Cyprus, and Syria, calculated by using new and published paleomagnetic data from sheeted dyke complexes. Our results show that ~NNE-SSW subduction zones were formed within the Neo-Tethys during the Late Cretaceous, which we propose were part of a major step-shaped subduction system composed of ~NNE-SSW and ~WNW-ESE segments. We infer that this subduction system developed within old (Triassic?) lithosphere, along fracture zones and perpendicular weakness zones, since the Neo-Tethyan spreading ridge formed during Gondwana fragmentation would have already been subducted at the Pontides subduction zone by the Late Cretaceous. Our new results provide an alternative kinematic model of Cretaceous Neo-Tethyan subduction initiation and call for future research on the mechanisms of subduction inception within old (and cold) lithosphere and the formation of metamorphic soles below suprasubduction zone ophiolites in the absence of nearby spreading ridges.

Kinematics of Late Cretaceous subduction initiation in the Neo-Tethys Ocean reconstructed from ophiolites of Turkey, Cyprus, and Syria

Long-term evolution of a plume-induced subduction in the Neotethys realm

Structure of the Offshore Obducted Oman Margin: Emplacement of Semail Ophiolite and Role of Tectonic Inheritance

Orogens that form at convergent plate boundaries typically consist of accreted rock units that form an incomplete archive of subducted oceanic and continental lithosphere, as well as of deformed crust of the former upper plate. Reading the construction of orogenic architecture forms the key to decipher the paleogeographic distribution of oceans and continents, as well as bathymetric and topographic features that existed thereon such as igneous plateaus, seamounts, microcontinents, or magmatic arcs. Current classification schemes of orogens divide between settings associated with termination of subduction (continent-continent collision, continent-ocean collision (obduction)) and with ongoing subduction (accretionary orogenesis), alongside intraplate orogens. Perceived diagnostic features for such classifications, particularly of collisional orogenesis, hinge on dynamic interpretations linking downgoing plate paleogeography to upper plate deformation, plate motion changes, or magmatism. Here, we show, however, that Mesozoic-Cenozoic orogens that undergo collision almost all defy these proposed diagnostic features and behave like accretionary orogens instead. To reconstruct paleogeography of subducted and upper plates, we therefore propose an alternative approach to navigating through orogenic architecture: subducted plate units comprise nappes (or melanges) with Ocean Plate Stratigraphy (OPS) and Continental Plate Stratigraphy (CPS) stripped from their now-subducted or otherwise underthrust lower crustal and mantle lithospheric underpinnings. Upper plate deformation and paleogeography respond to the competition between absolute motion of the upper plate and the subducting slab. Our navigation approach through orogenic architecture aims to avoid a priori dynamic interpretations that link downgoing plate paleogeography to deformation or magmatic responses in the upper plate, to provide an independent basis for geodynamic analysis. From our analysis we identify ‘rules of orogenesis’ that link the rules of rigid plate tectonics with the reality of plate deformation. We use these rules for a thought experiment, in which we predict orogenic architecture that will result from subducting the present-day Indian ocean and colliding the Somali, Madagascar, and Indian margins using a published continental drift scenario for a future supercontinent as basis. We illustrate that our inferred rules (of thumb) generate orogenic architecture that is analogous to elements of modern orogens, unlocking the well-known modern geography as inspiration for developing testable hypotheses that aid interpreting paleogeography from orogens that formed since the birth of plate tectonics.

https://eartharxiv.org/repository/object/2005/download/4179/

Deciphering paleogeography from orogenic architecture: constructing orogens in a future supercontinent as thought experiment

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02451430/document

Successive shifts of the India-Africa transform plate boundary during the Late Cretaceous-Paleogene interval: Implications for ophiolite emplacement along transforms

Fragments of former oceans are commonly observed in mountain belts: blueschists and eclogites, on the one hand, and ophiolites, on the other hand, are all that remains of ancient oceanic lithosphere. Though volumetrically subordinate, they provide essential insights into past geodynamics and into the processes involved in the formation and destruction of oceanic lithosphere. This contribution apprehends these two types of oceanic fragments jointly and shows the advantage of doing so for understanding the dynamics of oceanic convergence, i.e. subduction and obduction. We examine the intimate relationships between blueschists/eclogites and ophiolites, as well as the similarities and differences in the mechanisms leading to their preservation. While the extensive, unmetamorphosed true ophiolites markedly differ from fragments of oceanic lithosphere offscraped from the slab during subduction, at shallow or great depths, both types record the mechanical behavior and ‘hiccups’ of the subduction plate boundary. Their preservation also highlights the importance of the evolution of the subduction regime through time, from the onset of intra-oceanic subduction to the cessation of continental subduction. 

/pdf/subduction-and-obduction-processes-the-fate-of-oceanic-11uu83be.pdf

Dia Ninkabou

Papers

Structure of the Offshore Obducted Oman Margin: Emplacement of Semail Ophiolite and Role of Tectonic Inheritance

Successive shifts of the India-Africa transform plate boundary during the Late Cretaceous-Paleogene interval: Implications for ophiolite emplacement along transforms

Subduction and obduction processes: the fate of oceanic lithosphere revealed by blueschists, eclogites and ophiolites