Showing papers on "Basalt published in 2009"

Elemental Composition of the Martian Crust

Abstract: The composition of Mars' crust records the planet's integrated geologic history and provides clues to its differentiation. Spacecraft and meteorite data now provide a global view of the chemistry of the igneous crust that can be used to assess this history. Surface rocks on Mars are dominantly tholeiitic basalts formed by extensive partial melting and are not highly weathered. Siliceous or calc-alkaline rocks produced by melting and/or fractional crystallization of hydrated, recycled mantle sources, and silica-poor rocks produced by limited melting of alkali-rich mantle sources, are uncommon or absent. Spacecraft data suggest that martian meteorites are not representative of older, more voluminous crust and prompt questions about their use in defining diagnostic geochemical characteristics and in constraining mantle compositional models for Mars.

Cretaceous ridge subduction along the lower yangtze river belt, eastern china

Abstract: The Lower Yangtze river belt is one of the most important metallogenic belts in China. The mechanisms responsible for ore genesis and the formation of related Cretaceous igneous rocks, such as adakite, A-type granitoid, and Nb-enriched basalt, remain controversial. Mesozoic granitoids in the Lower Yangtze river belt were mostly formed in the Early Cretaceous (140–125 Ma), and three granitoid belts—the inner, the south, and the north—have been defined according to petrological and geochemical characteristics. Previously, based mainly on negative eNd and high initial Sr isotope values, the adakitic rocks were generally attributed to partial melting of thickened or delaminated lower crust, both of which require crustal thickening. Mesozoic crustal thickening, however, is not supported by the development of extensional basins in the region. From the Late Jurassic to Cretaceous, eastern China was closely associated with subduction of the Pacific plate in the south and the Izanagi plate in the north. The midocean ridge (MOR) between these two plates was drifting toward and likely subducting under the Lower Yangtze river belt. A ridge subduction model can therefore explain the distribution of different magmatic rocks and ore deposits in the belt. Partial melting of subducting young, hot oceanic slabs close to the ridge formed adakitic rocks. The negative eNd values of adakitic rocks can be plausibly interpreted by mixing between adakitic magmas and enriched components in the lithospheric mantle, and/or crustal materials through AFC process. A slab window opened during ridge subduction as indicated by A-type granitoids in the center of the inner belt. Nb-enriched basalt found in the belt was likely formed by partial melting of a mantle wedge metasomatized by fluids released from the subducting slab at shallow depths.

Recycling of orogenic arc crust triggers porphyry Cu mineralization in Kerman Cenozoic arc rocks, southeastern Iran

Abstract: Pre-collisional Eocene–Oligocene arc diorites, quartzdiorites, granodiorites, and volcanic equivalents in the Kerman arc segment in central Iran lack porphyry Cu mineralization and ore deposits, whereas collisional middle-late Miocene adakite-like porphyritic granodiorites without volcanic equivalents host some of the world’s largest Cu ore deposits. Petrological and structural constraints suggest a direct link between orogenic arc crust evolution and the presence of a fertile metallogenic environment. Ore-hosting Kuh Panj porphyry intrusions exhibit high Sr (>400 ppm), low Y ( 20), no negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* ≥ 1), and relatively non-radiogenic Sr isotope signatures (87Sr/86Sr = 0.7042–0.7047), relative to Eocene–Oligocene granitoids (mainly Sr 12; La/Yb < 15; Eu/Eu* < 1; 87Sr/86Sr = 0.7053–0.7068). Trace element modeling indicates peridotite melting for the barren Eocene–Oligocene intrusions and a hydrous garnet-bearing amphibolite source for middle-late Miocene ore-hosting intrusions. The presence of garnet implies collisional arc crustal thickening by shortening and basaltic underplating from about 30–35 to 40–45 km or 12 kbar. The changes in residual mineralogy in the source of Eocene to Miocene rocks in the Kerman arc segment reflect probing of a thickening arc crust by recycling melting of the arc crustal keel. Underplating of Cu and sulfur-rich melts from fertile peridotite generated a fertile metallogenic reservoir at or near the crust–mantle boundary, and dehydration melting under oxidizing conditions produced syn- and post-collisional ore-hosting intrusions, while the lack of post-collisional volcanism prevented the venting of volatiles to the atmosphere from sulfur-rich and oxidized adakitic magmas.

Chemical Composition and Mechanical Properties of Basalt and Glass Fibers: A Comparison:

Abstract: The geometrical and mechanical properties and chemical composition of different basalt and glass fibers have been investigated. Tensile tests were performed on short basalt fiber made by melt blowi...

Petrological evidence for secular cooling in mantle plumes

Abstract: Geological mapping and geochronological studies have shown much lower eruption rates for ocean island basalts (OIBs) in comparison with those of lavas from large igneous provinces (LIPs) such as oceanic plateaux and continental flood provinces. However, a quantitative petrological comparison has never been made between mantle source temperature and the extent of melting for OIB and LIP sources. Here we show that the MgO and FeO contents of Galapagos-related lavas and their primary magmas have decreased since the Cretaceous period. From petrological modelling, we infer that these changes reflect a cooling of the Galapagos mantle plume from a potential temperature of 1,560-1,620 degrees C in the Cretaceous to 1,500 degrees C at present. Iceland also exhibits secular cooling, in agreement with previous studies. Our work provides quantitative petrological evidence that, in general, mantle plumes for LIPs with Palaeocene-Permian ages were hotter and melted more extensively than plumes of more modern ocean islands. We interpret this to reflect episodic flow from lower-mantle domains that are lithologically and geochemically heterogeneous.

Determination of rapid Deccan eruptions across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary using paleomagnetic secular variation: 2. Constraints from analysis of eight new sections and synthesis for a 3500-m-thick composite section

Abstract: [1] The present paper completes a restudy of the main lava pile in the Deccan flood basalt province (trap) of India. Chenet et al. (2008) reported results from the upper third, and this paper reports the lower two thirds of the 3500-m-thick composite section. The methods employed are the same, i.e., combined use of petrology, volcanology, chemostratigraphy, morphology, K-Ar absolute dating, study of sedimentary alteration horizons, and as the main correlation tool, analysis of detailed paleomagnetic remanence directions. The thickness and volume of the flood basalt province studied in this way are therefore tripled. A total of 169 sites from eight new sections are reported in this paper. Together with the results of Chenet et al. (2008), these data represent in total 70% of the 3500-m combined section of the main Deccan traps province. This lava pile was erupted in some 30 major eruptive periods or single eruptive events (SEE), each with volumes ranging from 1000 to 20,000 km3 and 41 individual lava units with a typical volume of 1300 km3. Paleomagnetic analysis shows that some SEEs with thicknesses attaining 200 m were emplaced over distances in excess of 100 km (both likely underestimates, due to outcrop conditions) and up to 800 km. The total time of emission of all combined SEEs could have been (much) less than 10 ka, with most of the time recorded in a very small number of intervening alteration levels marking periods of volcanic quiescence (so-called “big red boles”). The number of boles, thickness of the pulses, and morphology of the traps suggest that eruptive fluxes and volumes were larger in the older formations and slowed down with more and longer quiescence periods in the end. On the basis of geochronologic results published by Chenet et al. (2007) and paleontological results from Keller et al. (2008), we propose that volcanism occurred in three rather short, discrete phases or megapulses, an early one at ∼67.5 ± 1 Ma near the C30r/C30n transition and the two largest around 65 ± 1 Ma, one entirely within C29r just before the K-T boundary, the other shortly afterward spanning the C29r/C29n reversal. We next estimate sulfur dioxide (likely a major agent of environmental stress) amounts and fluxes released by SEEs: they would have ranged from 5 to 100 Gt and 0.1 to 1 Gt/a, respectively, over durations possibly as short as 100 years for each SEE. The chemical input of the Chicxulub impact would have been on the same order as that of a very large single pulse. The impact, therefore, appears as important but incremental, neither the sole nor main cause of the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinctions.

Floral changes across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary linked to flood basalt volcanism

Abstract: One of the five largest mass extinctions of the past 600 million years occurred at the boundary of the Triassic and Jurassic periods, 201.6 million years ago. The loss of marine biodiversity at the time has been linked to extreme greenhouse warming, triggered by the release of carbon dioxide from flood basalt volcanism in the central Atlantic Ocean. In contrast, the biotic turnover in terrestrial ecosystems is not well understood, and cannot be readily reconciled with the effects of massive volcanism. Here we present pollen, spore and geochemical analyses across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary from three drill cores from Germany and Sweden. We show that gymnosperm forests in northwest Europe were transiently replaced by fern and fern-associated vegetation, a pioneer assemblage commonly found in disturbed ecosystems. The Triassic/Jurassic boundary is also marked by an enrichment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which, in the absence of charcoal peaks, we interpret as an indication of incomplete combustion of organic matter by ascending flood basalt lava. We conclude that the terrestrial vegetation shift is so severe and wide ranging that it is unlikely to have been triggered by greenhouse warming alone. Instead, we suggest that the release of pollutants such as sulphur dioxide and toxic compounds such as the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons may have contributed to the extinction.

The 132 Ma Comei-Bunbury large igneous province: Remnants identified in present-day southeastern Tibet and southwestern Australia

Abstract: We report 11 new U-Pb zircon ages obtained by sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) and laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP–MS) for a large province of Early Cretaceous Comei igneous rocks consisting of basaltic lavas, mafi c sills and dikes, and gabbroic intrusions together with subordinate layered ultramafi c intrusions and silicic volcanic rocks exposed in the Tethyan Himalaya, southeastern Tibet. Available zircon U-Pb ages obtained from various rocks in this province, which has an areal extent of ~40,000 km 2 (~270 km × 150 km), indicate that the magmatism occurred ca. 132 Ma ago, coeval with the Bunbury Basalt in southwestern Australia. Such a striking similarity in emplacement age, in combination with the tectonic reconstruction of eastern Gondwana ca. 132 Ma ago, allows us to propose that the extensive Comei igneous rocks in southeastern Tibet and the Bunbury Basalts in southwestern Australia may represent the erosional and/or deformational remnants of a large igneous province, which we call the Comei-Bunbury LIP. We argue that this newly identifi ed LIP was likely caused by the Kerguelen mantle plume, which started in the Early Cretaceous and may have played a role in the breakup of eastern Gondwana and the development of the 132 Ma old Weissert oceanic anoxic event.

Early Paleozoic ridge subduction in the Chinese Altai: Insight from the abrupt change in zircon Hf isotopic compositions

Abstract: Zircons were separated from granitoids, gneisses, and sedimentary rocks of the Chinese Altai. Those with igneous characteristics yielded U-Pb ages of 280–2800 Ma, recording a long history of magmatic activity in the region. Zircon Hf isotopic compositions show an abrupt change at ∼420 Ma, indicating that prior to that time the magmas came from both ancient and juvenile sources, whereas younger magmas were derived mainly from juvenile material. This may imply that the lithosphere was significantly modified in composition by a rapid addition of melt from the mantle. We suggest that this dramatic change was due to the onset of ridge subduction, which can account not only for the formation of voluminous granitoids, mafic rocks with complex compositions, and the association of adakite + high-Mg andesite + boninite + Nb-enriched basalt, but also for the coeval high-T, low-P metamorphism.

Hf-Nd input flux in the Izu-Mariana subduction zone and recycling of subducted material in the mantle

Abstract: In subduction zones, two major mass fluxes compete: the input flux of altered oceanic crust and sediments subducted into the mantle and the output flux of magma that forms the volcanic arc. While the composition and the amount of material erupted along volcanic arcs are relatively well known, the chemical and isotopic composition of the subducted material (altered oceanic crust and sediments) is poorly constrained and is an important factor in the mass balance calculation. Ocean Drilling Program Leg 185 in the Western Pacific used systematic sampling of the altered basaltic basement and sediment pile and the creation of composite mixtures to quantify the total chemical flux subducted at the Izu-Mariana margin. Here, we report Hf and Nd isotopic compositions of materials recovered from this Leg. The Hf and Nd isotopic compositions of altered basalts from Hole 801C are indistinguishable from those of recent unaltered Pacific mid-ocean ridge basalt, suggesting that hydrothermal alteration had no effect on either isotopic systems. The complete Site 1149 sedimentary pile has a weighted average ɛNd of −5.9 and ɛHf of +4.4, values similar to those of Fe-Mn crusts and nodules. Therefore, the Hf and Nd isotopic compositions of the sediments collected at Site 1149 indicate minimal contributions from continental detrital material to the rare earth elements and high field strength elements. However, the Hf isotopic budget of the oldest sediments is more influenced by continental material than the younger sediments, despite the large distances to continental masses 130 Ma ago. In the Izu subduction zone, we calculate a sedimentary input of less than about 2% in the volcanic lava source. In contrast, at least 85% of the sedimentary Nd and Hf are recycled into the mantle to affect its general composition. Assuming that sediments have been recycled in a similar manner into the mantle for millions of years, large chemical heterogeneities must be produced in the mantle. In addition, the depletion of the mantle due to the extraction of continental crust must be partly counterbalanced by the injection of vast quantities of enriched sedimentary material.

Upper-mantle volatile chemistry at Oldoinyo Lengai volcano and the origin of carbonatites

Abstract: Oldoinyo Lengai in northern Tanzania is the world's only active volcano producing carbonatite lavas. These exotic lavas are unusual in they contain more than 50% carbonate minerals and almost no silicate. Fischer et al. show that volcanic gases captured during an eruptive episode at Oldoinyo Lengai are surprisingly indistinguishable from those emitted along mid-ocean ridges, despite the fact that these carbonatites occur in a setting far removed from oceanic spreading centres. This argues against an unusually carbon-rich mantle as the source of carbonatite magma at Oldoinyo Lengai. Instead, these carbonatites seem to be formed in the shallow crust by immiscibility from silicate magmas and are stable under eruption conditions due to their high sodium contents. Carbonatite lavas are unusual because they contain over 50%carbonate minerals and almost no silicate. Volcanic gases captured from Oldoinyo Lengai in northern Tanzania, which is the only currently active volcano to produce such lavas, are shown to be indistinguishable from those emitted along mid-ocean ridges. Oldoinyo Lengai is far removed from oceanic spreading centres, so this suggests that a globally homogeneous reservoir exists in the upper mantle and supplies volatiles to both mid-ocean ridges and continental rifts. Carbonatite lavas are highly unusual in that they contain almost no SiO2 and are >50 per cent carbonate minerals. Although carbonatite magmatism has occurred throughout Earth’s history, Oldoinyo Lengai, in Tanzania, is the only currently active volcano producing these exotic rocks1. Here we show that volcanic gases captured during an eruptive episode at Oldoinyo Lengai are indistinguishable from those emitted along mid-ocean ridges, despite the fact that Oldoinyo Lengai carbonatites occur in a setting far removed from oceanic spreading centres. In contrast to lithophile trace elements, which are highly fractionated by the immiscible phase separation that produces these carbonatites, volatiles (CO2, He, N2 and Ar) are little affected by this process. Our results demonstrate that a globally homogenous reservoir exists in the upper mantle and supplies volatiles to both mid-ocean ridges and continental rifts. This argues against an unusually C-rich mantle being responsible for the genesis of Na-rich carbonatite and its nephelinite source magma at Oldoinyo Lengai. Rather, these carbonatites are formed in the shallow crust by immiscibility from silicate magmas (nephelinite), and are stable under eruption conditions as a result of their high Na contents.

An assessment of upper mantle heterogeneity based on abyssal peridotite isotopic compositions

Abstract: [1] Abyssal peridotites, the depleted solid residues of ocean ridge melting, are the most direct samples available to assess upper oceanic mantle composition. We present detailed isotope and trace element analyses of pyroxene mineral separates from Southwest Indian Ridge abyssal peridotites and pyroxenites in order to constrain the size and length scale of mantle heterogeneity. Our results demonstrate that the mantle can be highly heterogeneous to <1 km and even <0.1 m length scales. Examination of Nd isotopes in relation to modal, trace, and major element compositions indicate that the length scales and amplitudes of heterogeneities in abyssal peridotites reflect both ancient mantle heterogeneity and recent modification by melting, melt-rock reaction and melt crystallization. The isotopic and trace element compositions of pyroxenite veins in this study indicate that they are not direct remnants of recycled oceanic crust, but instead are formed by recent melt crystallization. Combined with existing data sets, the results show that the average global isotopic composition of peridotites is similar to that of mid-ocean ridge basalts, though peridotites extend to significantly more depleted 143Nd/144Nd and 87Sr/86Sr. Standard isotope evolution models of upper mantle composition do not predict the full isotopic range observed among abyssal peridotites, as they do not account adequately for the complexities of ancient and recent melting processes.