scholarly journals Recycling of depleted continental mantle by subduction and plumes at the Hikurangi Plateau large igneous province, southwestern Pacific Ocean

Geology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (8) ◽  
pp. 795-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Mochizuki ◽  
R. Sutherland ◽  
S. Henrys ◽  
D. Bassett ◽  
H. Van Avendonk ◽  
...  

Abstract Seismic reflection and refraction data from Hikurangi Plateau (southwestern Pacific Ocean) require a crustal thickness of 10 ± 1 km, seismic velocity of 7.25 ± 0.35 km/s at the base of the crust, and mantle velocity of 8.30 ± 0.25 km/s just beneath the Moho. Published models of gravity data that assume normal crust and mantle density predict 5–10-km-thicker crust than we observe, suggesting that the mantle beneath Hikurangi Plateau has anomalously low density, which is inconsistent with previous suggestions of eclogite to explain observations of high seismic velocity. The combination of high seismic velocity and low density requires the mantle to be highly depleted and not serpentinized. We propose that Hikurangi Plateau formed by decompression melting of buoyant mantle that was removed from a craton root by subduction, held beneath 660 km by viscous coupling to slabs, and then rose as a plume from the lower mantle. Ancient Re-Os ages from mantle xenoliths in nearby South Island, New Zealand, support this hypothesis. Erosion of buoyant depleted mantle from craton roots by subduction and then recycling in plumes to make new lithosphere may be an important global geochemical process.

2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gumilar Utamas Nugraha ◽  
Karit Lumban Goal ◽  
Lina Handayani ◽  
Rachmat Fajar Lubis

Lineament is one of the most important features showing subsurface elements or structural weakness such as faults. This study aims to identify subsurface lineament patterns using automatic lineament in Citarum watershed with gravity data. Satellite gravity data were used to generate a sub-surface lineament. Satellite gravity data corrected using Bouguer and terrain correction to obtain a complete Bouguer anomaly value. Butterworth filters were used to separate regional and residual anomaly from the complete Bouguer anomaly value. Residual anomaly gravity data used to analyze sub-surface lineament. Lineament generated using Line module in PCI Geomatica to obtain sub-surface lineament from gravity residual value. The orientations of lineaments and fault lines were created by using rose diagrams. The main trends observed in the lineament map could be recognized in these diagrams, showing a strongly major trend in NW-SE, and the subdominant directions were in N-S. Area with a high density of lineament located at the Southern part of the study area. High-density lineament might be correlated with fractured volcanic rock upstream of the Citarum watershed, meanwhile, low-density lineament is associated with low-density sediment. The high-density fracture might be associated with intensive tectonics and volcanism.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hélène Le Mével ◽  
Craig A. Miller ◽  
Yan Zhan

<p>In May 2018, a submarine eruption started offshore Mayotte (Comoros archipelago, Indian Ocean), and was first detected as a series of earthquake swarms. Since then, at least 6.4 km<sup>3</sup> of lava has erupted from a newly mapped volcanic edifice (MAYOBS campaigns), about 50 km east of Mayotte island. Since the onset of the eruption, GNSS stations on the island have recorded subsidence (up to 17 cm) and eastward displacement (up to 23 cm). We combine marine gravity data derived from satellite altimetry with finite element models to examine the magmatic system structure and its dynamics. First, we calculate the Mantle Bouguer Anomaly (MBA) by taking into account the gravitational effect of the bathymetry and the Moho interfaces, assuming a crust of constant thickness of 17.5 km and correction densities of 2.8 g/cm<sup>3</sup> and 3.3 g/cm<sup>3</sup> for the crust and mantle, respectively. We then invert the MBA to determine the anomalous density structures within the lithosphere, using the mixed Lp-norm inversion and Gauss-Newton optimization implemented in the SimPEG framework. The gravity inversion reveals two zones of low density, east of Mayotte island. The first is located NE of Petite Terre island between ~15 and 35 km depth, and the second is located further east, south of La Jumelle seamounts and extends from ~25 to 35 km depth. We interpret these low density regions as regions of partial melt stored in the lithosphere and estimate the volume of stored magma. Finally, we use the newly imaged low density bodies to constrain the magma reservoir geometry and simulate magma flow from this reservoir to the eruptive vent in a 3D, time-dependent, numerical model. The model parameters are adjusted by minimizing the misfit between the modeled surface displacement and that measured at the 6 GPS sites, between May 2018 and 2020. The deformation modeling reveals the temporal evolution of the magma flux during the eruption, and the resulting stress distribution in the crust explains the patterns of recorded seismicity. Together with the existing seismic and geodetic studies, the gravity data analysis and FEM models bring new constraints on the architecture of the magma plumbing system and the magmatic processes behind the largest submarine eruption ever documented.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Luca Rizzo ◽  
Barbara Faccini ◽  
Costanza Bonadiman ◽  
Theodoros Ntaflos ◽  
Ioan Seghedi ◽  
...  

<p>The investigation of noble gases (He, Ne, Ar) and CO<sub>2</sub> in fluid inclusions (FI) of mantle-derived rocks from the Sub Continental Lithospheric Mantle (SCLM) is crucial for constraining its geochemical features and evolution as well as the volatiles cycle, and for better evaluating the information arising from the study and monitoring of volcanic and geothermal gases. Eastern Transylvanian Basin in Romania is one of the places in Central-Eastern Europe where mantle xenoliths are brought to the surface by alkaline magmatism, offering the opportunity for applying the above-mentioned approach. Moreover, this locality is one of the few places on Earth where alkaline eruptions occurred contemporaneously with calc-alkaline activity, thus being a promising area for the investigation of subduction influence on the magma sources and volatiles composition.</p><p>In this work, we studied petrography, mineral chemistry and noble gases in FI of mantle xenoliths found in Perşani Mts. alkaline volcanic products. Our findings reveal that the local mantle recorded two main events. The first was a pervasive, complete re-fertilization of a previously depleted mantle by a calc-alkaline subduction-related melt, causing the formation of very fertile, amphibole-bearing lithotypes. Fluids involved in this process and trapped in olivine, opx and cpx, show <sup>4</sup>He/<sup>40</sup>Ar* ratios up to 1.2 and among the most radiogenic <sup>3</sup>He/<sup>4</sup>He values of the European mantle (5.8 ± 0.2 Ra), reflecting the recycling of crustal material in the local lithosphere. The second event is related to a later interaction with an alkaline metasomatic agent similar to the host basalts, that caused slight LREE enrichment in pyroxenes and crystallization of disseminated amphiboles, with FI showing <sup>4</sup>He/<sup>40</sup>Ar* and <sup>3</sup>He/<sup>4</sup>He values up to 2.5 and 6.6 Ra, respectively, more typical of magmatic fluids.</p><p>Although volcanic activity in the Perşani Mts. is now extinct, strong CO<sub>2</sub> degassing (8.7 × 10<sup>3</sup> t/y) in the neighbouring Ciomadul volcanic area may indicate that magma is still present at depth (Kis et al., 2017; Laumonier et al., 2019). The gas manifestations present from Ciomadul area are the closest to the outcrops containing mantle xenoliths for comparison of the noble gas composition in FI. <sup>3</sup>He/<sup>4</sup>He values from Stinky Cave (Puturosul), Doboşeni and Balvanyos are up to 3.2, 4.4 and 4.5 Ra, respectively, indicating the presence of a cooling magma (Vaselli et al., 2002 and references therein). In the same area and more recently, Kis et al. (2019) measured <sup>3</sup>He/<sup>4</sup>He ratios up to 3.1 Ra, arguing that these values indicate a mantle lithosphere strongly contaminated by subduction-related fluids and post-metasomatic ingrowth of radiogenic <sup>4</sup>He. Our findings consider more likely that magmatic gases from Ciomadul volcano are not representative of the local mantle but are being released from a cooling and aging magma that resides within the crust. Alternatively, crustal fluids contaminate magmatic gases while they are rising to the surface.</p><p> </p><p>Kis et al. (2017). Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 341, 119–130.</p><p>Kis et al. (2019) Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 20, 3019-3043.</p><p>Laumonier et al. (2019) Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 521, 79-90.</p><p>Vaselli et al. (2002) Chemical Geology 182, 637–654.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charitra Jain ◽  
Antoine Rozel ◽  
Emily Chin ◽  
Jeroen van Hunen

<div>Geophysical, geochemical, and geological investigations have attributed the stable behaviour of Earth's continents to the presence of strong and viscous cratons underlying the continental crust. The cratons are underlain by thick and cold mantle keels, which are composed of melt-depleted and low density peridotite residues [1]. Progressive melt extraction increases the magnesium number Mg# in the residual peridotite, thereby making the roots of cratons chemically buoyant [2, 3] and counteracting their negative thermal buoyancy. Recent global models have shown the production of Archean continental crust by two-step mantle differentiation, however this primordial crust gets recycled and no stable continents form [4]. This points to the missing ingredient of cratonic lithosphere in these models, which could act as a stable basement for the crustal material to accumulate on and may also help with the transition of global regime from "vertical tectonics'' to "horizontal tectonics''. Based on the bulk FeO and MgO content of the residual peridotites, it has been proposed that cratonic mantle formed by hot shallow melting with mantle potential temperature, which was higher by 200-300 °C than present-day [5]. We introduce Fe-Mg partitioning between mantle peridotite and melt to track the Mg# variation through melting, and parametrise craton formation using the corresponding P-T formation conditions. Using self-consistent global convection models, we show the dynamic formation of cratons as a result of naturally occurring lateral compression and thickening of the lithosphere, which has been suggested by geochemical and petrological data. To allow for the material to compact and thicken, but prevent it from collapsing under its own weight, a combination of lithospheric strength, plastic yielding, dehydration strengthening, and depletion-induced density reduction of the depleted mantle material is necessary.</div><div> </div><div> [1] Boyd, F. R. High-and low-temperature garnet peridotite xenoliths and their possible relation to the lithosphere- asthenosphere boundary beneath Africa. In Nixon, P. H. (ed.) <em>Mantle Xenolith</em>, 403–412 (John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 1987).</div><div>[2] Jordan, T. H. Mineralogies, densities and seismic velocities of garnet lherzolites and their geophysical implications. In <em>The Mantle Sample: Inclusion in Kimberlites and Other Volcanics</em>, 1–14 (American Geophysical Union, Washington, D. C., 1979).</div><div>[3] Schutt, D. L. & Lesher, C. E. Effects of melt depletion on the density and seismic velocity of garnet and spinel lherzolite. <em>Journal of Geophysical Research </em><strong>111</strong> (2006).</div><div>[4] Jain, C., Rozel, A. B., Tackley, P. J., Sanan, P. & Gerya, T. V. Growing primordial continental crust self-consistently in global mantle convection models. <em>Gondwana Research</em> <strong>73</strong>, 96–122 (2019).</div><div>[5] Lee, C.-T. A. & Chin, E. J. Calculating melting temperatures and pressures of peridotite protoliths: Implications for the origin of cratonic mantle. <em>Earth and Planetary Science Letters</em> <strong>403</strong>, 273–286 (2014)</div>


Geology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (8) ◽  
pp. 695-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor E. Camp

AbstractBimodal volcanism and rhyolite migration along the High Lava Plains in central Oregon (United States) lie above a broader feature defined by low seismic velocity in the upper mantle that emanates from the Yellowstone hotspot (northwest United States) and extends westward across the northern Basin and Range. It was emplaced by a westward current, driven in part by rapid buoyancy-driven flow across the east-west cratonic boundary of North America. Geothermometry studies and geochemical considerations suggest that the low-velocity feature may be composed of moderately hot, low-density mantle derived from the Yellowstone plume but diluted by thermomechanical erosion and entrainment of colder mantle lithosphere. Finger-like conduits of plume-modified mantle beneath Quaternary eruption sites delineate flow-line channels that have developed across the broader mantle structure since 2 Ma. These channels have allowed low-density mantle to accumulate against the Cascades arc, thus providing a heated mantle source for mafic magmatism in the Newberry (Oregon) and Medicine Lake (California) volcanic fields.


2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 869-882 ◽  
Author(s):  
Régis Roy ◽  
Antonio Benedicto ◽  
Alexis Grare ◽  
Mickaël Béhaegel ◽  
Yoann Richard ◽  
...  

In unconformity-related uranium deposits, mineralization is associated with hydrothermal clay-rich alteration haloes that decrease the density of the host rock. In the Kiggavik uranium project, located in the eastern Thelon Basin, Nunavut (Canada), basement-hosted shallow deposits were discovered by drilling geophysical anomalies in the 1970s. In 2014, gravity data were inverted for the first time using the Geosoft VOXI Earth ModellingTM system to generate three-dimensional (3D) models to assist exploration in the Contact prospect, the most recent discovery at Kiggavik. A 3D unconstrained inversion model was calculated before drilling, and a model constrained by petrophysical data was computed after drilling. The unconstrained inversion provided a first approximation of the geometry and depth of a low-density body and helped to collar the discovery holes of the Contact mineralization. The constrained inversion was computed using density values measured on 315 core samples collected from 21 drill holes completed between 2014 and 2015. The constrained modelling highlights three shallower and smaller low-density bodies that match the geological interpretation and refines the footprint of the gravity anomalies in relation to the current understanding of the deposit. The 3D inversion of gravity data is a valuable tool to guide geologists in exploration of shallow basement-hosted uranium deposits associated with alteration haloes and to assess the deposit gravity geometry.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdala Tesauro ◽  
Mikhail Kaban ◽  
Alexey Petrunin ◽  
Alan Aitken

<p>The Australian plate is composed of tectonic features showing progression of the age from dominantly Phanerozoic in the east, Proterozoic in the centre, and Archean in the west. These tectonic structures have been investigated in the last three decades using a variety of geophysical methods, but it is still a matter of debates of how temperature and strength are distributed within the lithosphere. We construct a thermal crustal model assuming steady state variations and using surface heat flow data, provided by regional and global database, and heat generation values, calculated from existing empirical relations with seismic velocity variations, which are provided by AusREM seismic tomography model. The lowest crustal temperatures are observed in the eastern part of the WAC and the Officer basin, while Central and South Australia are regions with anomalously elevated heat flow values and temperatures caused by high heat production in the crustal rocks. On the other hand, the mantle temperatures, estimated in a previous study, applying a joint interpretation of the seismic tomography and gravity data, show that the Precambrian West and North Australian Craton (WAC and NAC) are characterized by thick and relatively cold lithosphere that has depleted composition (Mg# > 90). The depletion is stronger in the older WAC than the younger NAC. Substantially hotter and less dense lithosphere is seen fringing the eastern and southeastern margin of the continent. Both crustal and mantle thermal models are used as input for the lithospheric strength calculation. Another input parameter is the crustal rheology, which has been determined based on the seismic velocity distribution, assuming that low (high) velocities reflect more sialic (mafic) compositions and thus weaker (stiffer) rheologies. Furthermore, we use strain rate values obtained from a global mantle flow model constrained by seismic and gravity data. The combination of the values of the different parameters produce a large variability of the rigidity of the plate within the cratonic areas, reflecting the long tectonic history of the Australian plate. The sharp lateral strength variations are coincident with intraplate earthquakes location. The strength variations in the crust and upper mantle is also not uniformly distributed: In the Archean WAC most of the strength is concentrated in the mantle, while the Proterozoic Officer basin shows the largest values of the crustal strength. On the other hand, the younger eastern terranes are uniformly weak, due to the high temperatures.</p>


1999 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 615-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. R. Riley ◽  
D. K. Bailey ◽  
R. E. Harmer ◽  
H. Liebsch ◽  
F. E. Lloyd ◽  
...  

AbstractThe Rockeskyll complex in the north, central part of the Quaternary West Eifel volcanic field encapsulates an association of carbonatite, nephelinite and phonolite. The volcanic complex is dominated by three eruptive centres, which are distinct in their magma chemistry and their mode of emplacement. The Auf Dickel diatreme forms one centre and has erupted the only known carbonatite in the West Eifel, along with a broad range of alkaline rock types. Extrusive carbonatitic volcanism is represented by spheroidal autoliths, which preserve an equilibrium assemblage. The diatreme has also erupted xenoliths of calcite-bearing feldspathoidal syenite, phonolite and sanidine and clinopyroxene megacrysts, which are interpreted as fragments of a sub-volcanic complex. The carbonate phase of volcanism has several manifestations; extrusive lapilli, recrystallized ashes and calcite-bearing syenites, fragmented during diatreme emplacement.A petrogenetic link between carbonatites and alkali mafic magmas is confirmed from Sr and Nd isotope systematics, and an upper mantle origin for the felsic rocks is suggested. The chemistry and mineralogy of mantle xenoliths erupted throughout the West Eifel indicate enrichment in those elements incompatible in the mantle. In addition, the evidence from trace element signatures and melts trapped as glasses support interaction between depleted mantle and small volume carbonate and felsic melts. This close association between carbonate and felsic melts in the mantle is mirrored in the surface eruptives of Auf Dickel and at numerous alkaline-carbonatite provinces worldwide.


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