Uplift, thermal unrest and magma intrusion at Yellowstone caldera

The Yellowstone caldera, in the western United States, formed approximately 640,000 years ago when an explosive eruption ejected approximately 1,000 km3 of material. It is the youngest of a series of large calderas that formed during sequential cataclysmic eruptions that began approximately 16 million years ago in eastern Oregon and northern Nevada. The Yellowstone caldera was largely buried by rhyolite lava flows during eruptions that occurred from approximately 150,000 to approximately 70,000 years ago. Since the last eruption, Yellowstone has remained restless, with high seismicity, continuing uplift/subsidence episodes with movements of approximately 70 cm historically to several metres since the Pleistocene epoch, and intense hydrothermal activity. Here we present observations of a new mode of surface deformation in Yellowstone, based on radar interferometry observations from the European Space Agency ERS-2 satellite. We infer that the observed pattern of uplift and subsidence results from variations in the movement of molten basalt into and out of the Yellowstone volcanic system.     

云南个旧东区印支期玄武岩的时空分布

个旧东区印支期玄武岩对个旧锡多金属矿床的形成有重要的作用.作者应用玄武岩系柱状对比图和内插法作等值线的方法,分析了个旧东区印支期玄武岩的时间和空间分布情况.结果表明,个旧东区安尼锡克期的火山活动的时间和空间的大体演化趋势是,随着时间的推移火山活动的空间由南往北演变.同时,在仙山坡一带-母鸡山一带-期北山一带可能是火山喷发中心.这对个旧锡矿深部和外围的进一步找矿勘探具有一定的指导意义.     

SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating for the dacite of the Sangxiu Formation in the central segment of Tethyan Himalaya and its implications

The Tethyan Himalaya is located between the In-dus-Yarlung Zangbo suture zone to the north and HigherHimalayan crystallines to the south, paleogeographicallybelonging to the northern margin of “Greater India”. TheSangxiu Formation is used to define a series of specialstrata with rich volcanic interbeds, and is only distributedto the southeast of Yangzuoyong Co within 200 km×50 km along the eastern part of central Tethyan Hima-laya[1]. Based on overlapped relationships of strata andfos…     

Deep roots of the Messinian salinity crisis

The Messinian salinity crisis--the desiccation of the Mediterranean Sea between 5.96 and 5.33 million years (Myr) ago--was one of the most dramatic events on Earth during the Cenozoic era. It resulted from the closure of marine gateways between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, the causes of which remain enigmatic. Here we use the age and composition of volcanic rocks to reconstruct the geodynamic evolution of the westernmost Mediterranean from the Middle Miocene epoch to the Pleistocene epoch (about 12.1-0.65 Myr ago). Our data show that a marked shift in the geochemistry of mantle-derived volcanic rocks, reflecting a change from subduction-related to intraplate-type volcanism, occurred between 6.3 and 4.8 Myr ago, largely synchronous with the Messinian salinity crisis. Using a thermomechanical model, we show that westward roll back of subducted Tethys oceanic lithosphere and associated asthenospheric upwelling provides a plausible mechanism for producing the shift in magma chemistry and the necessary uplift (approximately 1 km) along the African and Iberian continental margins to close the Miocene marine gateways, thereby causing the Messinian salinity crisis.     

Subduction dynamics and the origin of Andean orogeny and the Bolivian orocline

The building of the Andes results from the subduction of the oceanic Nazca plate underneath the South American continent. However, how and why the Andes and their curvature, the Bolivian orocline, formed in the Cenozoic era (65.5?million years (Myr) ago to present), despite subduction continuing since the Mesozoic era (251.0-65.5?Myr ago), is still unknown. Three-dimensional numerical subduction models demonstrate that variations in slab thickness, arising from the Nazca plate's age at the trench, produce a cordilleran morphology consistent with that observed. The age-dependent sinking of the slab in the mantle drives traction towards the trench at the base of the upper plate, causing it to thicken. Thus, subducting older Nazca plate below the Central Andes can explain the locally thickened crust and higher elevations. Here we demonstrate that resultant thickening of the South American plate modifies both shear force gradients and migration rates along the trench to produce a concave margin that matches the Bolivian orocline. Additionally, the varying forcing along the margin allows stress belts to form in the upper-plate interior, explaining the widening of the Central Andes and the different tectonic styles found on their margins, the Eastern and Western Cordilleras. The rise of the Central Andes and orocline formation are directly related to the local increase of Nazca plate age and an age distribution along the margin similar to that found today; the onset of these conditions only occurred in the Eocene epoch. This may explain the enigmatic delay of the Andean orogeny, that is, the formation of the modern Andes.     

Main Jurassic geological events along the eastern Paleo-Asian continental margin

The Jurassic is a period of intensive accretion along the eastern and southeastern margins of the Asian continent. The emphasis of the present study is the review of the Jurassic prism structure of the Russian Far Eastern Pacific Asian margin and comparison with its equivalent in the Japanese archipelago. The Jurassic accretion processes and geodynamic evolution of the Paleo-Asian continent eastern margins are outlined in the paper. During this period, the different ages and different facies fragments of the Paleo-Pacific, such as abyssal plain, intraoceanic volcanic seamountains and oceanic plateaux, were accreted onto the eastern margin of the Paleo-Asian continent as a result of step-wise subduction of oceanic lithosphere. Together with ocean-margin terrigenous deposits (trench-fill turbidites), these paleooceanic fragments formed a thick tectono-sedimentary complex of the Jurassic accretionary prism, causing the size of the continent to be expanded by an increase along its eastern margin.     

Main Jurassic geological events along the eastern Paleo-Asian continental margin

The Jurassic is a period of intensive accretion along the eastern and southeastern margins of the Asian continent. The emphasis of the present study is the review of the Jurassic prism structure of the Russian Far Eastern Pacific Asian margin and comparison with its equivalent in the Japanese archipelago. The Jurassic accretion processes and geodynamic evolution of the Paleo-Asian continent eastern margins are outlined in the paper. During this period, the different ages and different facies fragments of the Paleo-Pacific, such as abyssal plain, intraoceanic volcanic seamountains and oceanic plateaux, were accreted onto the eastern margin of the Paleo-Asian continent as a result of step-wise subduction of oceanic lithosphere. Together with ocean-margin terrigenous deposits (trench-fill turbidites), these paleooceanic fragments formed a thick tectono-sedimentary complex of the Jurassic accretionary prism, causing the size of the continent to be expanded by an increase along its eastern margin.     

A lithospheric instability origin for Columbia River flood basalts and Wallowa Mountains uplift in northeast Oregon

Flood basalts appear to form during the initiation of hotspot magmatism. The Columbia River basalts (CRB) represent the largest volume of flood basalts associated with the Yellowstone hotspot, yet their source appears to be in the vicinity of the Wallowa Mountains, about 500 km north of the projected hotspot track. These mountains are composed of a large granitic pluton intruded into a region of oceanic lithosphere affinity. The elevation of the interface between Columbia River basalts and other geological formations indicates that mild pre-eruptive subsidence took place in the Wallowa Mountains, followed by syn-eruptive uplift of several hundred metres and a long-term uplift of about 2 km. The mapped surface uplift mimics regional topography, with the Wallowa Mountains in the centre of a 'bull's eye' pattern of valleys and low-elevation mountains. Here we present the seismic velocity structure of the mantle underlying this region and erosion-corrected elevation maps of lava flows, and show that an area of reduced mantle melt content coincides with the 200-km-wide topographic uplift. We conclude that convective downwelling and detachment of a compositionally dense plutonic root can explain the timing and magnitude of Columbia River basalt magmatism, as well as the surface uplift and existence of the observed melt-depleted mantle.     

松辽盆地中、新生代构造特征及其演化

松辽盆地发育在大陆内部古生宙－元古宙基底之上，出现在中生代火山岩带的后缘，经历了晚侏罗世地幔上隆、陆壳坳陷，早白垩世大规模岩浆上涌、引张裂陷、晚白垩世盆地挤压、构造反转和新生代较小幅度伸展断陷多阶段的构造演化。研究表明，发生在松辽盆地的从岩石圈伸展减薄到挤压增厚再到拉伸的复杂动力学演化过程是中生代伊泽奈崎大洋岩石圈朝东亚陆缘俯冲－碰撞作用的结果，松辽盆地的形成演化与洋壳运动方向、俯冲角度、俯冲速率的变化、俯冲带位置的迁移、大陆内部对洋壳消减了作用的响应方式等因素密切相关。     

Discovery of Mg-righ volcanic rock series in western Altay area, Xinjiang and its geologic significance

A series of Mg-rich volcanic rocks, including rare Mg-rich dacites in the Asherle copper mine, western Altay Area, has been found. This suite of Mg-rich volcanic rocks is characterized by high SiO2, MgO and low Ti contents. Compared with the island arc tholeiite and MORB, these rocks are depleted in HFSE and are therefore similar to boninite. The dacites show V-shaped distribution REE patterns whereas the basalts display flat or LREE-depletion patterns. Based on their geochemical features and occurrence, it is suggested that they were formed in oceanic island arc setting. Its petrogenesis is related to the slab movement. At the early stage, the peridotite of the ocean upper mantle diapirically uprised to the shallow level and started to melt owing to subduction of the ocean slab, forming the island arc tholeiite with pillow structure. At the late stage, the residual refractory peridotites melted again, giving rise to the formation of the parent magma of Mg-rich basalt.     

Low electrical resistivity associated with plunging of the Nazca flat slab beneath Argentina

Beneath much of the Andes, oceanic lithosphere descends eastward into the mantle at an angle of about 30 degrees (ref. 1). A partially molten region is thought to form in a wedge between this descending slab and the overlying continental lithosphere as volatiles given off by the slab lower the melting temperature of mantle material. This wedge is the ultimate source for magma erupted at the active volcanoes that characterize the Andean margin. But between 28 degrees and 33 degrees S the subducted Nazca plate appears to be anomalously buoyant, as it levels out at about 100 km depth and extends nearly horizontally under the continent. Above this 'flat slab', volcanic activity in the main Andean Cordillera terminated about 9 million years ago as the flattening slab presumably squeezed out the mantle wedge. But it is unknown where slab volatiles go once this happens, and why the flat slab finally rolls over to descend steeply into the mantle 600 km further eastward. Here we present results from a magnetotelluric profile in central Argentina, from which we infer enhanced electrical conductivity along the eastern side of the plunging slab, indicative of the presence of partial melt. This conductivity structure may imply that partial melting occurs to at least 250 km and perhaps to more than 400 km depth, or that melt is supplied from the 410 km discontinuity, consistent with the transition-zone 'water-filter' model of Bercovici and Karato.     

A young source for the Hawaiian plume

Recycling of oceanic crust through subduction, mantle upwelling, and remelting in mantle plumes is a widely accepted mechanism to explain ocean island volcanism. The timescale of this recycling is important to our understanding of mantle circulation rates. Correlations of uranogenic lead isotopes in lavas from ocean islands such as Hawaii or Iceland, when interpreted as model isochrons, have yielded source differentiation ages between 1 and 2.5?billion years (Gyr). However, if such correlations are produced by mixing of unrelated mantle components they will have no direct age significance. Re-Os decay model ages take into account the mixing of sources with different histories, but they depend on the assumed initial Re/Os ratio of the subducted crust, which is poorly constrained because of the high mobility of rhenium during subduction. Here we report the first data on (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios for 138 melt inclusions in olivine phenocrysts from lavas of Mauna Loa shield volcano, Hawaii, indicating enormous mantle source heterogeneity. We show that highly radiogenic strontium in severely rubidium-depleted melt inclusions matches the isotopic composition of 200-650-Myr-old sea water. We infer that such sea water must have contaminated the Mauna Loa source rock, before subduction, imparting a unique 'time stamp' on this source. Small amounts of seawater-derived strontium in plume sources may be common but can be identified clearly only in ultra-depleted melts originating from generally highly (incompatible-element) depleted source components. The presence of 200-650-Myr-old oceanic crust in the source of Hawaiian lavas implies a timescale of general mantle circulation with an average rate of about 2 (±1)?cm?yr(-1), much faster than previously thought.     

Deposition of 1.88-billion-year-old iron formations as a consequence of rapid crustal growth

Iron formations are chemical sedimentary rocks comprising layers of iron-rich and silica-rich minerals whose deposition requires anoxic and iron-rich (ferruginous) sea water. Their demise after the rise in atmospheric oxygen by 2.32?billion years (Gyr) ago has been attributed to the removal of dissolved iron through progressive oxidation or sulphidation of the deep ocean. Therefore, a sudden return of voluminous iron formations nearly 500?million years later poses an apparent conundrum. Most late Palaeoproterozoic iron formations are about 1.88?Gyr old and occur in the Superior region of North America. Major iron formations are also preserved in Australia, but these were apparently deposited after the transition to a sulphidic ocean at 1.84?Gyr ago that should have terminated iron formation deposition, implying that they reflect local marine conditions. Here we date zircons in tuff layers to show that iron formations in the Frere Formation of Western Australia are about 1.88?Gyr old, indicating that the deposition of iron formations from two disparate cratons was coeval and probably reflects global ocean chemistry. The sudden reappearance of major iron formations at 1.88?Gyr ago--contemporaneous with peaks in global mafic-ultramafic magmatism, juvenile continental and oceanic crust formation, mantle depletion and volcanogenic massive sulphide formation--suggests deposition of iron formations as a consequence of major mantle activity and rapid crustal growth. Our findings support the idea that enhanced submarine volcanism and hydrothermal activity linked to a peak in mantle melting released large volumes of ferrous iron and other reductants that overwhelmed the sulphate and oxygen reservoirs of the ocean, decoupling atmospheric and seawater redox states, and causing the return of widespread ferruginous conditions. Iron formations formed on clastic-starved coastal shelves where dissolved iron upwelled and mixed with oxygenated surface water. The disappearance of iron formations after this event may reflect waning mafic-ultramafic magmatism and a diminished flux of hydrothermal iron relative to seawater oxidants.     

The Siberian Traps and the End-Permian mass extinction: a critical review

The association between the Siberian Traps, the largest continental flood basalt province, and the largest-known mass extinction event at the end of the Permian period, has been strengthened by recently-published high-precision ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dates from widespread localities across the Siberian province^[1]. We argue that the impact of the volcanism was amplified by the prevailing late Permian environmental conditions―in particular, the hothouse climate, with sluggish oceanic circulation, that was leading to widespread oceanic anoxia. Volcanism released large masses of sulphate aerosols and carbon dioxide, the former triggering short-duration volcanic winters, the latter leading to long-term warming. Whilst the mass of CO₂ released from individual eruptions was small compared with the total mass of carbon in the atmosphere-ocean system, the long ‘mean lifetime’ of atmospheric CO₂, compared with the eruption flux and duration, meant that significant accumulation could occur over periods of 105 years. Compromise of the carbon sequestration systems (by curtailment of photosynthesis, destruction of biomass, and warming and acidification of the oceans) probably led to rapid atmospheric CO₂ build-up, warming, and shallow-water anoxia, leading ultimately to mass extinction.     

Messinian salinity crisis regulated by competing tectonics and erosion at the Gibraltar arc

The Messinian salinity crisis (5.96 to 5.33 million years ago) was caused by reduced water inflow from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea resulting in widespread salt precipitation and a decrease in Mediterranean sea level of about 1.5 kilometres due to evaporation. The reduced connectivity between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean at the time of the salinity crisis is thought to have resulted from tectonic uplift of the Gibraltar arc seaway and global sea-level changes, both of which control the inflow of water required to compensate for the hydrological deficit of the Mediterranean. However, the different timescales on which tectonic uplift and changes in sea level occur are difficult to reconcile with the long duration of the shallow connection between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic needed to explain the large amount of salt precipitated. Here we use numerical modelling to show that seaway erosion caused by the Atlantic inflow could sustain such a shallow connection between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean by counteracting tectonic uplift. The erosion and uplift rates required are consistent with previous mountain erosion studies, with the present altitude of marine sediments in the Gibraltar arc and with geodynamic models suggesting a lithospheric slab tear underneath the region. The moderate Mediterranean sea-level drawdown during the early stages of the Messinian salinity crisis can be explained by an uplift of a few millimetres per year counteracted by similar rates of erosion due to Atlantic inflow. Our findings suggest that the competition between uplift and erosion can result in harmonic coupling between erosion and the Mediterranean sea level, providing an alternative mechanism for the cyclicity observed in early salt precipitation deposits and calling into question previous ideas regarding the timing of the events that occurred during the Messinian salinity crisis.     

Rejuvenation of the lithosphere by the Hawaiian plume

The volcanism responsible for creating the chain of the Hawaiian islands and seamounts is believed to mark the passage of the oceanic lithosphere over a mantle plume. In this picture hot material rises from great depth within a fixed narrow conduit to the surface, penetrating the moving lithosphere. Although a number of models describe possible plume-lithosphere interactions, seismic imaging techniques have not had sufficient resolution to distinguish between them. Here we apply the S-wave 'receiver function' technique to data of three permanent seismic broadband stations on the Hawaiian islands, to map the thickness of the underlying lithosphere. We find that under Big Island the lithosphere is 100-110 km thick, as expected for an oceanic plate 90-100 million years old that is not modified by a plume. But the lithosphere thins gradually along the island chain to about 50-60 km below Kauai. The width of the thinning is about 300 km. In this zone, well within the larger-scale topographic swell, we infer that the rejuvenation model (where the plume thins the lithosphere) is operative; however, the larger-scale topographic swell is probably supported dynamically.     

An overview of adakite petrogenesis

ADAKITE IS A PETROLOGIC TERM THAT DEFANT AND DRUM-MOND[1] FIRST INTRODUCED ~ 15 YEARS AGO TO REFER TO “VOL- CANIC OR INTRUSIVE ROCKS IN CENOZOIC ARCS ASSOCIATED WITH SUBDUCTION OF YOUNG (≤25 MA) OCEANIC LITHO- SPHERE”; THESE ROCKS ARE “CHARACTERIZED B…     

Evolution of the Archaean crust by delamination and shallow subduction

The Archaean oceanic crust was probably thicker than present-day oceanic crust owing to higher heat flow and thus higher degrees of melting at mid-ocean ridges. These conditions would also have led to a different bulk composition of oceanic crust in the early Archaean, that would probably have consisted of magnesium-rich picrite (with variably differentiated portions made up of basalt, gabbro, ultramafic cumulates and picrite). It is unclear whether these differences would have influenced crustal subduction and recycling processes, as experiments that have investigated the metamorphic reactions that take place during subduction have to date considered only modern mid-ocean-ridge basalts. Here we present data from high-pressure experiments that show that metamorphism of ultramafic cumulates and picrites produces pyroxenites, which we infer would have delaminated and melted to produce basaltic rocks, rather than continental crust as has previously been thought. Instead, the formation of continental crust requires subduction and melting of garnet-amphibolite--formed only in the upper regions of oceanic crust--which is thought to have first occurred on a large scale during subduction in the late Archaean. We deduce from this that shallow subduction and recycling of oceanic crust took place in the early Archaean, and that this would have resulted in strong depletion of only a thin layer of the uppermost mantle.The misfit between geochemical depletion models and geophysical models for mantle convection (which include deep subduction) might therefore be explained by continuous deepening of this depleted layer through geological time.     

Cryptomare magmatism 4.35 Gyr ago recorded in lunar meteorite Kalahari 009

The origin and evolution of the Moon remain controversial, with one of the most important questions for lunar evolution being the timing and duration of basaltic (mare) magmatism. Here we report the result of ion microprobe U-Pb dating of phosphates in a lunar meteorite, Kalahari 009, which is classified as a very-low-Ti mare-basalt breccia. In situ analyses of five phosphate grains, associated with basaltic clasts, give an age of 4.35 +/- 0.15 billion years. These ancient phosphate ages are thought to represent the crystallization ages of parental basalt magma, making Kalahari 009 one of the oldest known mare basalts. We suggest that mare basalt volcanism on the Moon started as early as 4.35 Gyr ago, relatively soon after its formation and differentiation, and preceding the bulk of lunar volcanism which ensued after the late heavy bombardment around 3.8-3.9 Gyr (refs 7 and 8). Considering the extremely low abundances of incompatible elements such as thorium and the rare earth elements in Kalahari 009 (ref. 9) and recent remote-sensing observations illustrating that the cryptomaria tend to be of very-low-Ti basalt type, we conclude that Kalahari 009 is our first sample of a very-low-Ti cryptomare from the Moon.     

Mesozoic plate-motion history below the northeast Pacific Ocean from seismic images of the subducted Farallon slab

The high-resolution seismic imaging of subducted oceanic slabs has become a powerful tool for reconstructing palaeogeography. The images can now be interpreted quantitatively by comparison with models of the general circulation of the Earth's mantle. Here we use a three-dimensional spherical computer model of mantle convection to show that seismic images of the subducted Farallon plate provide strong evidence for a Mesozoic period of low-angle subduction under North America. Such a period of low-angle subduction has been invoked independently to explain Rocky Mountain uplift far inland from the plate boundary during the Laramide orogeny. The computer simulations also allow us to locate the largely unknown Kula-Farallon spreading plate boundary, the location of which is important for inferring the trajectories of 'suspect' terrain across the Pacific basin.