International Geology Review

Dong, Yu; He, Zhong-hua; Ren, Zi-hui; Ge, Wen-chun; Yang, Hao; Ji, Zheng; He, Yue

doi: 10.1080/00206814.2017.1378130pmid: N/A

Controversy has long surrounded the tectonic framework and evolution of the Mudanjiang Ocean between the Bureya–Jiamusi–Khanka Massif and Songnen–Zhangguangcai Range Massif, which are located in the easternmost segment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. To address these issues, we present zircon U-Pb ages, geochemical data, and zircon Hf isotopic compositions of the Taipinggou amphibolite and metagabbro exposed along the boundary area of Bureya–Jiamusi Massif and Songnen–Zhangguangcai Range Massif. Magmatic zircons from the amphibolite and metagabbro yield 206Pb/238U ages of 267 ± 2 Ma and 264 ± 2 Ma, respectively, which are interpreted as protolith ages. The geochemical data of the amphibolite samples show transitional characteristics of calcalkaline to tholeiitic series, with high MgO concentrations (9.44–10.48 wt.%) and Mg-numbers (73–75). These samples are enriched in large ion lithophile elements (e.g. Rb, Ba, and K) and light rare earth elements and are depleted in high-field-strength elements (e.g. Nb, Ta, and Ti) and heavy rare earth elements, with εHf(t) values of −6.63 to −3.26. It is inferred that the parental magma originated from an enriched lithospheric mantle that had been metasomatized by fluids derived from subducted oceanic slab. During magma evolution, the magma that formed the amphibolite mainly experienced accumulation with a shallow-level evolutionary process involving fractional crystallization. The Taipinggou metagabbro samples are subalkaline series and also characterized by enrichment in large ion lithophile elements (e.g. Rb, Ba, and K) and light rare earth elements and by depletion in Nb–Ta–P–Ti, with εHf(t) values of −3.09 to +1.16. The Taipinggou metagabbro and amphibolite have similar geochemical and Hf isotopic compositions, indicating a common parental magma source but with different degrees of magmatic differentiation. Based on the new geochronological and geochemical data presented in this study, we propose that both the Taipinggou metagabbro and amphibolite formed in a Middle Permian continental arc setting, closely related to eastward subduction beneath the Bureya–Jiamusi Massif. Combined with previous studies and regional geological observations, we suggest that a double-side subduction model is favoured for the Late Palaeozoic–Early Mesozoic geodynamic processes along the boundary area of Bureya–Jiamusi–Khanka Massif and Songnen–Zhangguangcai Range Massif.

Jiang, Zhenglong; Jiang, Shu; Lan, Xiaodong; Wang, Buqing; Huang, Shaoying; Zhang, He

doi: 10.1080/00206814.2017.1379365pmid: N/A

The Tarim Basin Craton is located in the center of the Tarim Basin. Since the beginning of the Miocene, the tectonic activity has been weaker in the Tarim Basin Craton than in the marginal depression and the peripheral orogenic belts. This study investigates the tectonic movements in the Tarim Basin Craton by calculating the sedimentation rates and constructing balanced cross-sections based on well, seismic and geologic data. The tectonic movements in the Tarim Basin Craton have mainly been revealed by geological processes such as sedimentation and subsidence, structural inversion, changes in the structural feature, migration of the structural highs, and faulting. The Neogene sedimentary strata were mainly deposited in two sedimentation centers, the southern and northern sedimentation centers, and the strata in the Central Uplift Zone are relatively thin. The different depressions in different geological periods experienced wide variations in tectonic activity. Tectonic subsidence was significant and the sedimentation rates were high in the Tarim Basin Craton during the Pliocene Period (phase II). During the Neotectonic period, the stresses in the South-North direction converged in the Central Uplift Zone (the Bachu uplift–Central Tarim uplift), and the tectonic activity in this region was more intense than that in the Northern Depression and the Maigaiti Slope in the southwest. In addition, the scale of the paleo-uplift, including paleo-North Tarim Uplift and paleo-Central Uplift Zone, gradually decreased. The faults and fault systems developed zonationally in Neotectonic formations in different structural units, and always distributed discontinuously in vertical direction in sections.

Sato, Yuki; Hirano, Naoto; Machida, Shiki; Yamamoto, Junji; Nakanishi, Masao; Ishii, Teruaki; Taki, Arashi; Yasukawa, Kazutaka; Kato, Yasuhiro

doi: 10.1080/00206814.2017.1379912pmid: N/A

The stress field of oceanic lithosphere controls the distribution of submarine petit-spot volcanoes. However, the eruption sites of these petit-spot volcanoes are considered to be limited to concavely flexed regions of lithosphere off the outer rise. Here, we present new data for a recently identified petit-spot lava field on a convexly flexed section of the lithosphere adjacent to the subduction zone offshore of northeast Japan in an area containing more than 80 volcanoes. This area is marked by strongly alkaline lavas that were erupted on the convexly flexed region. As for the concavely flexed region where the petit-spots previously reported, the base of the lithosphere beneath the eruption sites is under extension, whereas the upper part of the lithosphere is under compression. This change in the stress field, from the lower to upper lithosphere, causes ascending dikes to stall in the mid-lithosphere, leading to metasomatic interaction with the surrounding peridotite. The new geochemical data of rocks and xenocrysts presented in this study indicate that strongly alkaline magmas erupted on the convexly flexed region would have ascended more rapidly through the mid-depth of lithosphere because of the extensional regime of the upper lithosphere and decreasing the degree of metasomatic reaction with the surrounding mantle peridotite. The results indicate that the degree of metasomatism and the compositional variations of petit-spot magmas are controlled mainly by the stress field of the lithosphere.

Zhong, Yun; Hu, Xi-Chong; Liu, Wei-Liang; Xia, Bin; Zhang, Xiao; Huang, Wei; Fu, Yuan-Bin; Wang, Yu-Guang

doi: 10.1080/00206814.2017.1385033pmid: N/A

The Jurassic–Early Cretaceous Yilashan mafic–ultramafic complex is located in the middle part of the Bangong–Nujiang suture zone, central Tibet. It features a mantle sequence composed of peridotites and a crustal sequence composed of cumulate peridotites and gabbros that are intruded by diabases with some basalts. This article presents new whole-rock geochemical and geochronological data for peridotites, gabbros, diabases and basalts to revisit the petrogenesis and tectonic setting of the Yilashan mafic–ultramafic complex. Zircon laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (LA-ICP-MS) U–Pb ages of three diabase samples are 169.6 ± 3.3 Ma, 132.5 ± 2.5 Ma, and 133.6 ± 4.9 Ma, respectively. These ages together with previous studies indicate that the Yilashan mafic–ultramafic complex probably formed during the Jurassic–Early Cretaceous. The peridotites exhibit nearly U-shaped REE patterns and are distinct from abyssal peridotites. The diabase and basalt samples show arc features with selective enrichment in light rare earth elements (LREE) and large ion lithophile elements (LILEs; e.g. Rb, U, and Sr) and depletion in high field strength elements (HFSEs; e.g. Nb, Ta, and Ti). The gabbro samples display cumulate features with selective enrichment in LILEs (e.g. Rb, Ba, and Sr) but depletion in LREEs and HFSEs (e.g. Nb, Zr, and Ti). Combing the positive εNd(t) values (+6.1 to +10.0) and negative zircon εHf(t) values (–16.5 to –11.7 and –13.6 to –0.4) with older Hf model ages for the mafic rocks, these signatures suggest that the Yilashan mafic and ultramafic rocks likely originated from an ancient lithospheric mantle source with the addition of asthenospheric mantle materials and subducted fluids coupled with limited crustal contamination in a continental arc setting as a result of the southward subduction of the Bangong–Nujiang Tethys Ocean beneath the Lhasa terrane during the Jurassic–Early Cretaceous.

Wang, Xi-chen; Liu, Wei-liang; Zhong, Yun; Hu, Xi-chong; Xia, Bin; Huang, Wei

doi: 10.1080/00206814.2017.1385034pmid: N/A

The Mesozoic Xigaze ophiolite is a key to understanding the tectonic evolution of the Yarlung Zangbo suture zone. Although many studies have been reported, the formation age and petrogenesis of the Xigaze ophiolite remain controversial. In this paper, new geochronological and geochemical data for mafic dikes (diabase, dolerite), lavas, and gabbros of the Xigaze ophiolite are provided to constrain the origin of the Xigaze ophiolite. Combined with previous studies, three new zircon U–Pb ages of samples from two gabbro and one dolerite samples show that the Xigaze ophiolite was produced at two distinct stages of 174–149 Ma and 137–123 Ma. Whole-rock geochemical data indicate that these rocks exhibit N-MORB-like features, but the gabbros are more depleted in trace elements and belong to cumulates. Geochemical characters, combined with their positive εNd(t) values (+3.2 to +9.6), suggest that these samples originated from depleted mantle sources with minor influence of slab-derived fluids. Considering the previous studies on the Yarlung Zangbo suture zone, the Xigaze ophiolite was likely generated in an active continental margin fore-arc basin with a multistage model associated with the northward subduction of the Yarlung Zangbo Neo-Tethys Ocean beneath the Lhasa terrane. The Middle–Late Jurassic ophiolitic massifs (174–149 Ma) were produced as the result of slab rollback and were followed by subsequent slab break-off at ~ 150 Ma. The fore-arc lithosphere may be frozen at ~150–137 Ma, consistent with the termination of the Gangdese arc magmatism during this period. The Early Cretaceous ophiolitic massifs (137–123 Ma) were developed in relation to the reinitiation of the Neo-Tethyan oceanic lithosphere subduction, the retreat of the subduction zone, and the creation of a fore-arc basin with strong hyperextension in a new cycle.

Kozdrój, Wiesław; Kennedy, Allen K.; Johnson, Peter R.; Ziółkowska-Kozdrój, Małgorzata; Kadi, Khalid

doi: 10.1080/00206814.2017.1385425pmid: N/A

The southern Midyan terrane is a composite Tonian to Ediacaran tectonostratigraphic crustal block in the northern Arabian Shield that prior to Red Sea opening was contiguous with coeval rocks in the Eastern Desert of Egypt and Sinai. Ion microprobe (sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe [SHRIMP]) dating of 12 rock samples described here and the results of other dating programmes establish a clear timeframe for depositional, intrusive, and structural events in the region and provide a chronology of tectonism in this part of the Arabian-Nubian Shield. Deposition of Zaam and Bayda group volcanosedimentary rocks and emplacement of mafic-ultramafic complexes and TTG-type diorite, tonalite, and granodiorite denote formation of the Tonian (780–715 Ma) Zaam arc and fore-arc ophiolite above a possible west-dipping subduction system in the southern part of the Midyan terrane. Convergence with the Hijaz terrane farther south and obduction of ophiolite nappes resulted by ~700 Ma in development of the Yanbu suture. Ongoing or a new subduction system led to a ~705–660 Ma Cryogenian pulse of magmatism represented by I-type calc-alkaline diorite, granodiorite, and granite that have volcanic-arc and syn-collisional granite affinities. This was followed, after a brief end-Cryogenian hiatus, by a 635–~570 Ma period of Ediacaran magmatism marked by monzogranite, syenogranite, and minor gabbro and diorite. These rocks are reported to have within-plate to volcanic-arc and syncollision chemical characteristics but their precise tectonic setting is uncertain. Structurally, the intrusions are diapiric and were evidently emplaced in an extensional regime consistent with an overlap between intrusion and Najd faulting associated, at this time, with transpressional collision and northward extension through much of the ANS. Terminal magmatism in the southern Midyan terrane postdated cessation of Najd faulting at ~575 Ma and resulted in the emplacement of undeformed within-plate A-type alkali-feldspar granites and mafic (lamprophyre) and felsic dikes.