scholarly journals Rapid eruption of the Emeishan continental flood basalts: New paleomagnetic and geochronologic constraints

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingchao Xu ◽  
Liandi Zheng ◽  
Zhenyu Yang ◽  
Ya-Bo Tong ◽  
Bin Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Total Duration ◽  
Central Zone ◽  
Large Igneous Province ◽  
Reverse Polarity ◽  
Flood Basalts ◽  
Continental Flood Basalts ◽  
Emeishan Large Igneous Province ◽  
Igneous Province ◽  
Normal Polarity

The duration of the eruption of the Emeishan large igneous province is hotly debated. We conducted a magnetostratigraphic and geochronological study of the core area of the large igneous province in the Binchuan area of Yunnan Province, southwestern China, in order to constrain the duration of the eruption. The results of detailed thermal demagnetization experiments revealed two remanent magnetic components from the volcanic rocks of 11 composite sections. A low-temperature component separated below 300 °C is interpreted as a recent viscous remanence. Additionally, reliable characteristic remanent magnetizations were revealed above 400 °C, with unblocking temperatures up to 580−680 °C, which passed the fold test and record three magnetozones. Zircons from the felsic ignimbrites exposed in the final stage of the mafic volcanism are dated to 258.2 ± 0.7 Ma (n = 15; mean square of weighted deviates = 1.3) by sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe. Stratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic correlations of the Emeishan basalts in the Binchuan sections indicate that the eruption of the mafic rocks of the Emeishan large igneous province can be clearly divided into early (reverse polarity subzone), middle (normal polarity subzone), and late (reverse polarity subzone) stages, with a total duration of less than 1.7 m.y. (260.8−259.1 Ma). However, by combining this chronology with previously reported conodont biostratigraphic results from locations around the Emeishan large igneous province, and comparing the dominant normal-reverse polarity sequence in the Emeishan large igneous province with the geomagnetic polarity time scale, we obtain a much shorter duration of the main eruptive stage of <0.8 m.y. (260.4−259.6 Ma). About three quarters of the basalts of the Emeishan large igneous province record have a normal polarity and erupted within 0.4 m.y., while the other quarter, mainly distributed in the central zone, shows a reverse polarity and much shorter duration. Given the short duration of the eruption, gas volatiles would have been released into the atmosphere at high rates, which might provide a causal link between the rapid eruption and the end-Guadalupian mass extinction. Before the mantle plume eruption, localized eruptions probably occurred. After eruption of the mafic Emeishan flood basalts, an acid volcanic eruption occurred in the early Wuchiapingian, which was sporadically distributed in the Emeishan large igneous province.

scholarly journals Late Permian High-Ti Basalt in Western Guangxi, SW China and Its Link With the Emeishan Large Igneous Province: Geochronological and Geochemical Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chenguang Zhang ◽  
Renyu Zeng ◽  
Changming Li ◽  
Jian Jiang ◽  
Tianguo Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Weighted Average ◽  
Large Igneous Province ◽  
Late Permian ◽  
Flood Basalts ◽  
Sw China ◽  
Continental Flood Basalts ◽  
Emeishan Large Igneous Province ◽  
Igneous Province ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Emeishan Lip

High-Ti (Ti/Y) flood basalts are widely distributed in the Late Permian Emeishan large igneous province (LIP), SW China, and their spatial distribution and genetic mechanism are important to reveal the role of plume-lithosphere interactions in the LIP origin. Western Guangxi is located on the eastern edge of Emeishan LIP. To explore the genesis of the high-Ti basalt in western Guangxi and any genetic link with the Emeishan LIP, we performed whole-rock geochemical and Sr-Nd isotope and zircon U-Pb-Hf isotope analyses on the Longlin basalts from western Guangxi. The results indicate that the Longlin basalt from Tongdeng area has relatively high SiO2 but low MgO and TFe2O3 contents. The rocks have zircon εHf(t) = −0.42 to 6.41, whole-rock (87Sr/86Sr)i = 0.707167–0.707345, and εNd(t) = −2.5 to −2.14. In contrast, the Longlin basalt from Zhoudong area has relatively low SiO2 but high MgO and TFe2O3 contents. The rocks have whole-rock (87Sr/86Sr)i = 0.706181–0.706191 and εNd(t) = −0.57 to 0.69. Four Longlin basalt samples display LREE enrichments and HREE depletions, and with indistinct δEu and δCe anomalies. LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb dating on three Longlin basalt samples (from different localities) yielded consistent weighted average age of 257.9 ± 2.6 Ma (MSWD = 0.55), 259.5 ± 0.75 Ma (MSWD = 3.0), and 256.7 ± 2.0 Ma (MSWD = 0.68), indicating a Late Permian emplacement. Considering the similar age and geochemical features between the Longlin basalt and Emeishan flood basalts, we interpret that the former is spatially, and temporally associated with the Emeishan LIP. Geochemical features show that the high-Ti basalts in western Guangxi resemble Deccan-type continental flood basalts (CFBs), which were derived by decompression melting of the mantle plume. Combined with previous geochemical studies, we suggest that the difference in Ti content and Ti/Y ratio in CFBs are related to the depth and melting degree of mantle source, in which high-Ti features may have been linked to low degree of partial melting in the deep mantle.

Magmatic duration of the Emeishan large igneous province: Insight from northern Vietnam

Geology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 457-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Gregory Shellnutt ◽  
Thuy Thanh Pham ◽  
Steven W. Denyszyn ◽  
Meng-Wan Yeh ◽  
Tuan-Anh Tran
Keyword(s):  
High Precision ◽  
Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Large Igneous Province ◽  
Ionization Mass ◽  
Emeishan Large Igneous Province ◽  
Northern Vietnam ◽  
Global Cooling ◽  
Igneous Province ◽  
Distinct Period

Abstract The eruption of Emeishan lava in southwestern China and northern Vietnam is considered to be a contributing factor to the Capitanian mass extinction and subsequent global cooling event, but the duration of volcanism is uncertain. The difficulty in assessing the termination age is, in part, due to the lack of high-precision age data for late-stage volcanic rocks. The Tu Le rhyolite of northern Vietnam is the most voluminous silicic unit of the Emeishan large igneous province (ELIP) and is spatially associated with the Muong Hum and Phan Si Pan hypabyssal plutons. Chemical abrasion–isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometry U-Pb dating of zircons from the Tu Le rhyolite (257.1 ± 0.6 Ma to 257.9 ± 0.3 Ma) and Muong Hum (257.3 ± 0.2 Ma) and Phan Si Pan (256.3 ± 0.4 Ma) plutons yielded the youngest high-precision ages of the ELIP yet determined. The results demonstrate that Emeishan lavas erupted over a period of ∼6 m.y,. with plutonism ending shortly thereafter. Thus, it is possible that Emeishan volcanism contributed to global cooling into the middle Wuchiapingian. It appears that these rocks represent a distinct period of ELIP magmatism, as they are young and were emplaced oblique to the main north-south–trending Panxi rift.

What triggered the early-stage eruption of the Emeishan large igneous province?

2019 ◽  
Vol 131 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 1837-1856 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bei Zhu ◽  
Zhaojie Guo ◽  
Shaonan Zhang ◽  
Ingrid Ukstins ◽  
Wei Du ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mantle Plume ◽  
Plate Tectonics ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Large Igneous Province ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Gradual Transition ◽  
Emeishan Large Igneous Province ◽  
Igneous Province ◽  
Back Arc

Abstract The formation of the Emeishan large igneous province is widely regarded as being related to a mantle plume, but plate tectonics may also have played an important role. We analyzed the regional facies architecture of the early-stage subaqueous volcanic rocks of the central Emeishan large igneous province. The results suggest that these rocks were emplaced in a N-S–striking subaqueous rift, which existed immediately before the onset of volcanism and was persistently maintained during the early eruption stage. By linking this conclusion with the background information indicating that (1) the basaltic geochemistry in this section is indicative of a subcontinental lithospheric mantle source rather than a mantle plume source, and (2) the western Yangtze plate, where the Emeishan large igneous province was developed, was located in the back-arc region of the Permian Paleo-Tethys subduction system, we propose a new view that the early-stage eruptions of the Emeishan large igneous province were triggered by back-arc extension. The dominant functioning of the mantle plume occurred shortly after this process and inherited it, as evidenced by the following: (1) The subaqueous volcanic architecture showing back-arc geochemical affinity is laterally restricted in the presumed rift, but the overlying subaerial lavas showing plume-related geochemical features overwhelmingly flooded the whole province; (2) vertically, the source of the basaltic component in these intrarift sequences underwent a gradual transition from lithospheric origin to mantle plume origin along the stratigraphic order, as evidenced by an intercalated basaltic succession showing mixed geochemical features from the two contextual origins.

scholarly journals Magma Plumbing System of Emeishan Large Igneous Province at the End-Permian: Insights from Clinopyroxene Compositional Zoning and Thermobarometry

Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 979
Author(s):  
Jun-Hao Hu ◽  
Jing-Wen Liu ◽  
Tao Song ◽  
Bai-Shun Shi
Keyword(s):  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Large Igneous Province ◽  
Magma Ascent ◽  
Magma Chambers ◽  
Flood Basalts ◽  
Compositional Zoning ◽  
Magma Plumbing System ◽  
Emeishan Large Igneous Province ◽  
Mafic Intrusions ◽  
Igneous Province

The end-Permian Emeishan Large Igneous Province (ELIP) in SW China is widely accepted to have formed by mantle plume activities, forming voluminous flood basalts and rare picrites. Although many studies were performed on the petrogenesis and tectonic setting, the detailed conditions and processes within the magma chamber(s) remain unsolved. In this study, we studied the sector-/oscillatory-zoned clinopyroxene (Cpx) phenocrysts and performed Cpx-liquid thermobarometric calculation to constrain the physicochemical processes within the magma chambers. The results show that Cpx phenocrysts from the high-Mg basalts were crystallized at 4–27 (average 17) km, whilst those from the low-Mg basalt were crystallized at 0–23 (average 9) km depth. The sector and oscillatory Cpx zoning in the high-Mg basalts show that the magma had experienced undercooling and multistage recharge events in the deep-staging chamber(s). The magma replenishments may have eventually led to the eruption of high-Mg basalts, and magma ascent to the upper crust for further fractionation to form the low-Mg basalts and mafic intrusions.

scholarly journals Low titanium magmatism in northwest region of Paraná continental flood basalts (Brazil): volcanological aspects

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 2215-2259 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. B. Machado ◽  
E. R. Viana Rocha-Júnior ◽  
A. J. Ranalli Nardy ◽  
L. Soares Marques
Keyword(s):  
Basaltic Magma ◽  
Large Igneous Province ◽  
Flood Basalts ◽  
Continental Flood Basalts ◽  
Geological Unit ◽  
Igneous Province ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Compound Type ◽  
Incompatible Trace Elements ◽  
Northwest Region

Abstract. The early Cretaceous Paraná Continental Flood Basalts (PCFB) is considered as one of the largest volcanic provinces in the world. In Brazil, it completes the last sequence of the sedimentary Paraná Basin (Serra Geral Fm.). The geological unit is contemporary to desert sandstones of Botucatu Fm. and precedes the continental sediments of the Bauru Basin. This Large Igneous Province (LIP) is divided into different types of geochemical magmas which basically are based on TiO2 content (higher – HTi or lower LTi than 2 wt.% in TiO2) and incompatible trace elements ratio. Therefore, we studied the magma LTi (TiO2 < 2.0 wt.%), denominated Ribeira which occurs in the northwestern portion of PCFP which is poorly researched mainly in volcanological and geochemical aspects. This basaltic magma, a short expression in PCFB, occurs in the form of multiple pahoehoe flows with thicknesses ranging from 1.5 to 30 m in compound type flows under low surface slope. Peperites zones are common when associated with the first flows, and sand-filled cracks in the lower and upper edges at all pahoehoe levels when in contact with the sediment. Upward these first sequences of interactions with sediment, on the inside direction basin, simple pahoehoe flows occur being associated with Pitanga magma type (HTi, with TiO2 > 2.0 wt.%). Based on rheology data considering anhydrous environment and the composition of plagioclase (An(42–67)) and clinopyroxene (Wo(30–40)En(34–46)Fs(17–32)) showed that the LTi magma is hotter than HTi, with temperatures that range from 1069 °C to 1248 °C while for the second range from 1020 °C to 1201 °C.

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