Plume-lithosphere interaction in the Comei Large Igneous Province: Evidence from two types of mafic dykes in Gyangze, south Tibet, China

Two suites of mafic dykes,T1193-A and T1194-A,outcrop in Gyangze area,southeast Tibet.They are in the area of Comei LIP and have indistinguishable field occurrences with two other dykes in Gyangze,T0902 dyke with 137.7±1.3 Ma zircon age and T0907 dyke with 142±1.4 Ma zircon age reported by Wang YY et al.(2016),indicating coeval formation time.Taking all the four diabase dykes into consideration,two different types,OIB-type and weak enriched-type,can be summarized.The“OIB-type”samples,including T1193-A and T0907 dykes,show OIB-like geochemical features and have initial Sr-Nd isotopic values similar with most mafic products in Comei Large Igneous Provinces(LIP),suggesting that they represent melts directly generated from the Kerguelen mantle plume.The“weak enriched-type”samples,including T1194-A and T0902 dykes,have REEs and trace element patterns showing withinplate affinity but have obvious Nb-Ta-Ti negative anomalies.They show uniform lowerεNd(t)values(−6‒−2)and higher 87Sr/86Sr(t)values(0.706‒0.709)independent of their MgO variation,indicating one enriched mantle source.Considering their closely spatial and temporal relationship with the widespread Comei LIP magmatic products in Tethyan Himalaya,these“weak enriched-type”samples are consistent with mixing of melts from mantle plume and the above ancient Tethyan Himalaya subcontinental lithospheric mantle(SCLM)in different proportions.These weak enriched mafic rocks in Comei LIP form one special rock group and most likely suggest large scale hot mantle plume-continental lithosphere interaction.This process may lead to strong modification of the Tethyan Himalaya lithosphere in the Early Cretaceous.

Experimental investigation of the inhibition of deep-sea mining sediment plumes by polyaluminum chloride

Deep-sea sediment disturbance may occur when collecting polymetallic nodules,resulting in the creation of plumes that could have a negative impact on the ecological environment.This study aims to investigate the potential solution of using polyaluminum chloride(PAC)in the water jet.The effects of PAC are examined through a self-designed simulation system for deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection and sediment samples from a potential deep-sea mining area.The experimental results showed that the optimal PAC dose was found to be 0.75 g/L.Compared with the test conditions without the addition of PAC,the presence of PAC leads to a reduction in volume,lower characteristic turbidity,smaller diffusion velocity,and shorter settling time of the plume.This indicates that PAC inhibits the entire development process of the plume.The addition of PAC leads to the flocculation of mm-sized particles,resulting in the formation of cm-sized flocs.The flocculation of particles decreases the rate of erosion on the seabed by around 30%.This reduction in erosion helps to decrease the formation of plumes.Additionally,when the size of suspended particles increases,it reduces the scale at which they diffuse.Furthermore,the settling velocity of flocs(around 10^(-2) m/s)is much higher that of compared to sediment particles(around 10^(-5) m/s),which effectively reduces the amount of time the plume remains in suspension.

Automatic segmentation of gas plumes from multibeam water column images using a U-shape network

Cold seeps are widely developed on the seabed of continental margins and can form gas plumes due to the upward migration of methane-rich fluids.The detection and automatic segmentation of gas plumes are of great significance in locating and studying the cold seep system that is usually accompanied by hydrate layers in the subsurface.A multibeam echo-sounder system(MBES)can record the complete backscatter intensity of the water column,and it is one of the most effective means for detecting cold seeps.However,the gas plumes recorded in multibeam water column images(WCI)are usually blurred due to the interference of the complicated water environment and the sidelobes of the MBES,making it difficult to obtain the effective segmentation.Therefore,based on the existing UNet semantic segmentation network,this paper proposes an AP-UNet network combining the convolutional block attention module and the pyramid pooling module for the automatic segmentation and extraction of gas plumes.Comparative experiments are conducted among three traditional segmentation methods and two deep learning methods.The results show that the AP-UNet segmentation model can effectively suppress complicated water column noise interference.The segmentation precision,the Dice coefficient,and the recall rate of this model are 92.09%,92.00%,and 92.49%,respectively,which are 1.17%,2.10%,and 2.07%higher than the results of the UNet.

Vestiges of the Kerguelen Mantle Plume in Southern Tibet:Evidence from 123-117 Ma Magmatism in the Dingri Area of the Central Tethys Himalaya

The widely distributed Early Cretaceous magmatism in the Tethys Himalaya(TH)of southern Tibet is related to the Kerguelen mantle plume.Associated magmatic activity products are distributed in the eastern TH,where the active age is earlier than the peak ages of the Kerguelen mantle plume.This study investigated magmatic activity of the Dingri area in the central TH which was coeval with the Kerguelen mantle plume.The intrusion in the Dingri area contains diabases and monzonites.The zircon age of diabase is 123±1 Ma,and that of monzonite is 117±1 Ma.Geochemistry and Sr-Nd isotopic analyses show that the mafic-intermediate dikes were formed in an intraplate extensional environment.The diabase is derived from the enriched lithospheric mantle and monzonite is derived from partial melting of the lower crust,with both magmatic evolutions being contaminated by crustal materials.These characteristics are similar to those of the Rajmahal-Sylhet basalt,a typical Kerguelen mantle plume product.The discovery of the Dingri mafic-intermediate dikes of the central TH suggests that the TH and Rajmahal-Sylhet Traps formed a continuous mantle plume overflow magmatic belt which was a product of the continuous eruption of the Kerguelen mantle plume.

Quaternary Intrusions from the Zhongjiannan Basin,South China Sea:Their Relationship with the Hainan Mantle Plume and Influence on Hydrocarbon Reservoirs

The transportation of magma in sedimentary basins often occurs through extensive dyke-sill networks.The role of sills on the plumbing system in rifted margins and the impact of sills on hydrocarbon reservoirs of prospective sedimentary basins has long been an area of great industrial interest and scientific debate.Based on 2D seismic reflection,we present data on how the sills emplaced to form a magmatic plumbing system of the volcanic system for the Zhongjiannan Basin(ZJNB).The results show that sixty-nine sills and fourteen forced folds have been identified.The distribution and geometry of the sills suggest that magma flowed from west to east and then ascended to near the surface.The onlap relationship of the forced folds indicates that the timing of magmatic activities can be constrained at ca.0.2 Ma.The spatial and temporal occurrences of intrusions imply that the strong post-rift magmatism in ZJNB was associated with the Hainan mantle plume arising from the core-mantle boundary.Furthermore,these forced folds could produce several types of hydrocarbon traps,due to accommodation through bending and uplift of the overlying rock and free surface,but it is critical to evaluate the effect of such emplacement when setting exploration targets.

Quantitative estimation of bubble volume fraction of submarine seep plumes by modeling seismic oceanography data

Submarine seep plumes are a natural phenomenon in which different types of gases migrate through deep or shallow subsurface sediments and leak into seawater in pressure gradient.When detected using acoustic data,the leaked gases frequently exhibit a flame-like structure.We numerically modelled the relationship between the seismic response characteristic and bubble volume fraction to establish the bubble volume fraction in the submarine seep plume.Results show that our models are able to invert and predict the bubble volume fraction from field seismic oceanography data,by which synthetic seismic sections in different dominant frequencies could be numerically simulated,seismic attribute sections(e.g.,instantaneous amplitude,instantaneous frequency,and instantaneous phase)extracted,and the correlation between the seismic attributes and bubble volume fraction be quantitatively determined with functional equations.The instantaneous amplitude is positively correlated with bubble volume fraction,while the instantaneous frequency and bubble volume fraction are negatively correlated.In addition,information entropy is introduced as a proxy to quantify the relationship between the instantaneous phase and bubble volume fraction.As the bubble volume fraction increases,the information entropy of the instantaneous phase increases rapidly at the beginning,followed by a slight upward trend,and finally stabilizes.Therefore,under optimal noise conditions,the bubble volume fraction of submarine seep plumes can be inverted and predicted based on seismic response characteristics in terms of seismic attributes.

A Lagrangian Particle Random Walk Model for Simulating A Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Plume with both Buoyant and Non-Buoyant Features

This paper presents a computational model of simulating a deep-sea hydrothermal plume based on a Lagrangian particle random walk algorithm. This model achieves the efficient process to calculate a numerical plume developed in a fluid-advected environment with the characteristics such as significant filament intermittency and significant plume meander due to flow variation with both time and location. Especially, this model addresses both non-buoyant and buoyant features of a deep-sea hydrothermal plume in three dimensions, which significantly challenge a strategy for tracing the deep-sea hydrothermal plume and localizing its source. This paper also systematically discusses stochastic initial and boundary conditions that are critical to generate a proper numerical plume. The developed model is a powerful tool to evaluate and optimize strategies for the tracking of a deep-sea hydrothermal plume via an autonomous underwater vehicle （AUV）.

Deep mantle plumes and an increasing Earth radius

Recent space geodetic and gravimetric studies have given indications that the Earth’s radius is increasing at 0.1-0.4 mm yr-1 at present. Seismic studies have also shown that earthquakes alone could be causing the radius to increase at 0.011-0.06 mm yr-1. Deep mantle plumes provide a geophysical context within which such radial expansion, if confirmed, could possibly be explained. Both theory and observation suggest that these rising plumes more readily penetrate the 670 km barrier than do subducting slabs moving in the opposite direction towards the core-mantle boundary. If so, there would be a net flow of mass from the deep lower mantle into the upper mantle. Due to the lower pressures in the upper mantle,the excess mass of plume materials reaching there would transform to minerals with lower densities than they had at the mantle base. An increase in the mantle volume and the Earth’s radius would therefore be implied. Using previously published data for the African superplume. it is estimated that this mechanism could cause the Earth’s radius to increase at rates of 0.02-0.3 mm yr-1, similar to the rates possibly indicated in the present studies. This mechanism could also explain the very large range in current estimates of mantle plume heat and volume fluxes. A possible energy source for this plumedriven mode of expansion is discussed.

Spectrum Diagnosis for Fuchsia Plume of Hall Effect Thruster with Xenon as Propellant

The colour of the Hall effect thruster＇s plume is often light-green, and sometimes a fuchsia plume appears during experiments. Based on a spectrum and colour analysis, and a comparison with normal plumes, a conclusion is made that the density of the Xe ions and the temperature of electrons are low when the plume appears fuchsia. In this condition, most of the components of the plume are Xe atoms, and the ionization rate of the propellant is low.

East African topography and volcanism explained by a single,migrating plume

Anomalous topographic swells and Cenozoic volcanism in east Africa have been associated with mantle plumes.Several models involving one or more fixed plumes beneath the northeastward migrating African plate have been suggested to explain the space-time distribution of magmatism in east Africa.We devise paleogeographically constrained global models of mantle convection and,based on the evolution of flow in the deepest lower mantle,show that the Afar plume migrated southward throughout its lifetime.The models suggest that the mobile Afar plume provides a dynamically consistent explanation for the spatial extent of the southward propagation of the east African rift system(EARS),which is difficult to explain by the northeastward migration of Africa over one or more fixed plumes alone,over the last≈45 Myr.We further show that the age-progression of volcanism associated with the southward propagation of EARS is consistent with the apparent surface hotspot motion that results from southward motion of the modelled Afar plume beneath the northeastward migrating African plate.The models suggest that the Afar plume became weaker as it migrated southwards,consistent with trends observed in the geochemical record.

应用DNAPL plume快速评估场地DNAPL污染

地下水污染中DNAPL污染危害人体健康,且难以修复,所以对DNAPL污染的评估很重要。文章介绍了一种模拟DNAPL污染物运移的软件——DNAPL plume,并基于该软件快速评估场地DNAPL污染。针对长期污染泄漏场地的调查问题,本文简化了DNAPL plume模型,并用它快速评估燕子矶污染场地DNAPL污染,提出了修复建议。针对突发性污染泄漏场地的调查问题,本文模拟了一次假想的槽罐车泄漏事故,评估了这次事故对地下水的影响,并模拟了几种可行的修复方案,对比并选择了最优方案。

Geochemistry of Two Types of Basalts in the Emeishan Basaltic Province: Evidence for Mantle Plume-Lithosphere Interaction

Based on the temporal-spatial distribution and geochemical characteristics,the Emeishan basalts can be divided into two types: high-P_2O-TiO_2 basalt (HPT) andlow-P_2O_5-TiO_2 basalt (LPT), which differ distinctly in geochemistry: the LPTs are characterizedby relatively high abundances of MgO, total FeO and P_2O_5 and compatible elements (Cr, Ni, Sc), andrelatively low contents of moderately compatible elements (V, Y, Yb, Co), LREE and otherincompatible elements compared with the HPT. On the diagrams of trace element ratios, they areplotted on an approximately linear mixing line between depleted and enriched mantle sources,suggesting that these two types of basalts resulted from interactions of varying degrees betweenmantle plume and lithospheric mantle containing such volatile-rich minerals as amphibole andapatite. The source region of the LPT involves a smaller proportion of lithospheric components,while that of the HTP has a larger proportion of lithospheric components. Trachyte is generated bypartial melting of the basic igneous rocks at the base of the lower continental crust. Both the twotypes of magmas underwent certain crystal fractionation and contamination of the lower crest athigh-level magma chambers and en route to the surface.

Cascaded Evolution of Mantle Plumes and Metallogenesis of Core- and Mantle-derived Elements

Mineral deposits are unevenly distributed in the Earth's crust, which is closely related to the formation and evolution of the Earth. In the early history of the Earth, controlled by the gravitational contraction and thermal expansion, lighter elements, such as radioactive, halogen-family, rare and rare earth elements and alkali metals, migrated upwards; whereas heavier elements, such as iron-family and platinum-family elements, base metals and noble metals, had a tendency of sinking to the Earth's core, so that the elements iron, nickel, gold and silver are mainly concentrated in the Earth's core. However, during the formation of the stratified structure of the Earth, the existence of temperature, pressure and viscosity differences inside and outside the Earth resulted in vertical material movement manifested mainly by cascaded evolution of mantle plumes in the Earth. The stratifications and vertical movement of the Earth were interdependent and constituted the motive force of the mantle-core movement. The cascaded evolution of mantle plumes opens the passageways for the migration of deep-seated ore-forming material, and thus elements such as gold and silver concentrated in the core and on the core-mantle boundary migrate as the gaseous state together with the hot material flow of mantle plumes against the gravitational force through the passageways to the lithosphere, then migrate as the mixed gas-liquid state to the near-surface level and finally are concentrated in favorable structural expansion zones, forming mineral deposits. This is possibly the important metallogenic mechanism for gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper and other many elements. Take for example the NE-plunging crown of the Fuping mantle-branch structure, the paper analyzes ductile-brittle shear zone-type gold fields (Weijiayu) at the core of the magmatic-metamorphic complex, principal detachment-type gold fields (Shangmingyu) and hanging-wall cover fissure-vein-type lead-zinc polymetallic ore fields (Lianbaling) and further briefly analyzes the source of ore-forming material and constructs an ore-forming and -controlling model.

Eastern Dharwar Craton,India:Continental lithosphere growth by accretion of diverse plume and arc terranes

Abstract Greenstone belts of the eastern Dharwar Craton, India are reinterpreted as composite tecto- nostratigraphic terranes of accreted plume-derived and convergent margin-derived magmatic sequences based on new high-precision elemental data. The former are dominated by a komatiite plus Mg-tholeiitic basalt volcanic association, with deep water siliciclastic and banded iron formation （BIF） sedimentary rocks. Plumes melted at 〈90 km under thin rifted continental lithosphere to preserve intrao- ceanic and continental margin aspects. Associated alkaline basalts record subduction-recycling of Me- soarchean oceanic crust, incubated in the asthenosphere, and erupted coevally with Mg basalts from a heterogeneous mantle plume. Together, komatiites-Mg basalts-alkaline basalts plot along the Phanero- zoic mantle array in Th/Yb versus Nb/Yb coordinate space, representing zoned plumes, establishing that these reservoirs were present in the Neoarchean mantle. Convergent margin magmatic associations are dominated by tholeiitic to calc-alkaline basalts compo- sitionally similar to recent intraoceanic arcs. As well, boninitic flows sourced in extremely depleted mantle are present, and the association of arc basalts with Mg-andesites-Nb enriched basalts-adakites documented from Cenozoic arcs characterized by subduction of young （〈20 Ma）, hot, oceanic litho- sphere. Consequently, Cenozoic style ＂hot＂ subduction was operating in the Neoarchean. These diverse volcanic associations were assembled to give composite terranes in a subduction-accretion orogen at -2.7 Ga, coevally with a global accretionary orogen at -2.7 Ga, and associated orogenic gold mineralization.

SHRIMP Zircon U-Pb Dating of Alkaline Dykes in the Pobei Area,Beishan Rift,Xinjiang Autonomous Region,China:Implications for Tectonic Setting and Mantle Plume Events

In the Beishan rift in the eastern Tianshan orogen, Xinjiang Province, a N-S-trending dyke swarm is present in the Pobei area. The swarm cuts through the 270-290 Ma mafic-ultramafic intrusions associated with Ni-Cu sulphide mineralization. These mafic-ultramafic intrusions are typically found along E-W major faults in the Tianshan orogenic belts. We report SHRIMP U-Pb dating of zircons from a dyke of alkaline composition, which yielded a mean age of 252~9 Ma. Alkaline dykes of the same age are found in the Altay region of Siberia. This age is younger than the 270-290 Ma intraplate magmatic events that produced the mafic-ultramafic intrusions in the region, but in general agreement with the 250-260 Ma Permian plume event that gave rise to the Siberian traps and the Emeishan flood basalts in SW China. We suggest that there is a link between the Emeishan event and the dyke swarm in the Beishan rift and that the intraplate magmatism at 270-290 Ma reflects an early stage of mantle plume activity. The N-S trending dyke swarm in the Beishan rift may represent a later stage in the evolution of mantle plume activity in the NW and SW of China. We also speculate that in Beishan rift and possibly elsewhere in the Tianshan region, the dykes fed basaltic volcanism, whose products have since been eroded due to the strong uplift of the Tianshan orogen as a result of the IndiaEurasia collision in the Cenozoic.

The dominant driving force for supercontinent breakup: Plume push or subduction retreat?

Understanding the dominant force responsible for supercontinent breakup is crucial for establishing Earth＇s geodynamic evolution that includes supercontinent cycles and plate tectonics. Conventionally,two forces have been considered： the push by mantle plumes from the sub-continental mantle which is called the active force for breakup, and the dragging force from oceanic subduction retreat which is called the passive force for breakup. However, the relative importance of these two forces is unclear. Here we model the supercontinent breakup coupled with global mantle convection in order to address this question. Our global model features a spherical harmonic degree-2 structure, which includes a major subduction girdle and two large upwelling（superplume） systems. Based on this global mantle structure,we examine the distribution of extensional stress applied to the supercontinent by both subsupercontinent mantle upwellings and subduction retreat at the supercontinent peripheral. Our results show that：（1） at the center half of the supercontinent, plume push stress is ～3 times larger than the stress induced by subduction retreat;（2） an average hot anomaly of no higher than 50 K beneath the supercontinent can produce a push force strong enough to cause the initialization of supercontinent breakup;（3） the extensional stress induced by subduction retreat concentrates on a ～600 km wide zone on the boundary of the supercontinent, but has far less impact to the interior of the supercontinent. We therefore conclude that although circum-supercontinent subduction retreat assists supercontinent breakup, sub-supercontinent mantle upwelling is the essential force.

Further studies on the numerical simulation of bubble plumes in the cold seepage active region

Using the occurrence characteristics of bubble plumes in the South China Sea as a reference, this paper continues to study the seismic responses produced by bubble plumes in the cold seepage active region. To make the plume modelling scheme more reasonable, we modified the original modelling scheme and reconstructed a plume water body model based on the variation of its radius as bubbles rise in seawater. The plume seismic records of shot gathers were obtained by forward simulation. The seismic records of single shot show obvious characteristics of a scattering wave field and the periodic characteristics of the model. Seismic records of shot gathers were processed using prestack depth migration. The boundary of its imaging section has a good convergence effect. The migration sections can be imaged distinctly with higher accuracy. The aforementioned studies once again laid a foundation for the further study of the seismic responses produced by plumes. They also gradually probed a more suitable seismic data processing method for plumes and provided a theoretical guidance for the identification of plumes.

Zircon SHRIMP U–Pb age of Late Jurassic OIB-type volcanic rocks from the Tethyan Himalaya: constraints on the initial activity time of the Kerguelen mantle plume

This work presents zircon U–Pb age and wholerock geochemical data for the volcanic rocks from the Lakang Formation in the southeastern Tethyan Himalaya and represents the initial activity of the Kerguelen mantle plume. SHRIMP U–Pb dating of zircons from the volcanic rocks yielded a ^(206) Pb/^(238) U age of 147 ± 2 Ma that reflects the time of Late Jurassic magmatism. Whole rock analyses of major and trace elements show that the volcanic rocks are characterized by high content of Ti O_2(2.62 wt%–4.25 wt%) and P_2O_5(0.38 wt%–0.68 wt%), highly fractionated in LREE/HREE [(La/Yb)N= 5.35–8.31] with no obvious anomaly of Eu, and HFSE enrichment with no obvious anomaly of Nb and Ta, which are similar to those of ocean island basalts and tholeiitic basaltic andesites indicating a mantle plume origin. The Kerguelen mantle plume produced a massive amount of magmatic rocks from Early Cretaceous to the present, which widely dispersed from their original localities of emplacement due to the changing motions of the Antarctic, Australian, and Indian plates. However, our new geochronological and geochemical results indicate that the Kerguelen mantle plume started from the Late Jurassic. Furthermore, we suggest that the Kerguelen mantle plume may played a significant role in the breakup of eastern Gondwanaland according to the available geochronological, geochemical and paleomagnetic data.

Numerical Simulation of Bubble Plumes and an Analysis of Their Seismic Attributes

To study the bubble plume's seismic response characteristics,the model of a plume water body has been built in this article using the bubble-contained medium acoustic velocity model and the stochastic medium theory based on an analysis of both the acoustic characteristics of a bubble-contained water body and the actual features of a plume.The finite difference method is used for forward modelling,and the single-shot seismic record exhibits the characteristics of a scattered wave field generated by a plume.A meaningful conclusion is obtained by extracting seismic attributes from the pre-stack shot gather record of a plume.The values of the amplitude-related seismic attributes increase greatly as the bubble content goes up,and changes in bubble radius will not cause seismic attributes to change,which is primarily observed because the bubble content has a strong impact on the plume's acoustic velocity,while the bubble radius has a weak impact on the acoustic velocity.The above conclusion provides a theoretical reference for identifying hydrate plumes using seismic methods and contributes to further study on hydrate decomposition and migration,as well as on distribution of the methane bubble in seawater.

Geochemistry and petrogenesis of Quaternary volcanism from the islets in the eastern Beibu Gulf: evidence for Hainan plume

Some of the islets in the eastern Beibu Gulf are covered by Quaternary volcano strata. The rock samples from these islets mainly consist of quartz tholeiites （at Shenjiandao）, olivine tholeiites （at Linshidao and Xieyang- dao） and alkali basalts （at Yangpubi and Jianshidao）, and basically represent four periods of the Quaternary volcanism of Hainan Island and its adjacent regions. Except for the samples from Shenjiandao, most of the Quaternary volcanics of these islets belong to alkali magma series. The trace element characteristics of all of these samples show they are OIB （oceanic island basalt） -like, which implies that their deep geodynamic setting may be related to a mantle plume. The Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic compositions show that the mantle source beneath the Quaternary strata can be regarded as a result of binary mixing between a depleted, DMM （de- pleted MORB mantle）-like source and an enriched mantle type 2 （EM2）. The EM2 may be originated from the Hainan mantle plume, and has been metasomatized by carbonaceous fluids released from ancient re- cycled oceanic crust at an asthenospheric mantle level. These features, together with typical trace element ratios, reflect that the parent magma was not subjected to crustal contamination during its ascent to the surface. This study provides further petrological and geochemical evidence for the existence of the Hainan mantle plume.