Rates of generation and growth of the continental crust

Models for when and how the continental crust was formed are constrained by estimates in the rates o crustal growth. The record of events preserved in the continental crust is heterogeneous in time with distinctive peaks and troughs of ages for igneous crystallisation, metamorphism, continental margin and mineralisation. For the most part these are global signatures, and the peaks of ages tend to b associated with periods of increased reworking of pre-existing crust, reflected in the Hf isotope ratios o zircons and their elevated oxygen isotope ratios. Increased crustal reworking is attributed to periods o crustal thickening associated with compressional tectonics and the development of supercontinents Magma types similar to those from recent within-plate and subduction related settings appear to hav been generated in different areas at broadly similar times before ~3.0 Ga. It can be difficult to put th results of such detailed case studies into a more global context, but one approach is to consider when plate tectonics became the dominant mechanism involved in the generation of juvenile continental crust The development of crustal growth models for the continental crust are discussed, and a number o models based on different data sets indicate that 65%-70% of the present volume of the continental crus was generated by 3 Ga. Such estimates may represent minimum values, but since ~3 Ga there has been reduction in the rates of growth of the continental crust. This reduction is linked to an increase in th rates at which continental crust is recycled back into the mantle, and not to a reduction in the rates a which continental crust was generated. Plate tectonics results in both the generation of new crust and it destruction along destructive plate margins. Thus, the reduction in the rate of continental crustal growth at ~3 Ga is taken to reflect the period in which plate tectonics became the dominant mechanism b which new continental crust was generated.

The East Anatolia-Lesser Caucasus ophiolite:An exceptional case of large-scale obduction,synthesis of data and numerical modelling

We present new,geological,metamorphic,geochemical and geochronological data on the East Anatolian-Lesser Caucasus ophiolites.These data are used in combination with a synthesis of previous data and numerical modelling to unravel the tectonic emplacement of ophiolites in this region.All these data allow the reconstruction of a large obducted ophiolite nappe,thrusted for>100 km and up to 250 km on the Anatolian-Armenian block.The ophiolite petrology shows three distinct magmatic series,highlighted by new isotopic and trace element data:(1)The main Early Jurassic Tholeiites(ophiolite s.s.)bear LILEenriched,subduction-modified,MORB chemical composition.Geology and petrology of the Tholeiite series substantiates a slow-spreading oceanic environment in a time spanning from the Late Triassic to the Middle-Late Jurassic.Serpentinites,gabbros and plagiogranites were exhumed by normal faults,and covered by radiolarites,while minor volumes of pillow-lava flows infilled the rift grabens.Tendency towards a subduction-modified geochemical signature suggests emplacement in a marginal basin above a subduction zone.(2)Late Early Cretaceous alkaline lavas conformably emplaced on top of the ophiolite.They have an OIB affinity.These lavas are featured by large pillow lavas interbedded a carbonate matrix.They show evidence for a large-scale OIB plume activity,which occurred prior to ophiolite obduction.(3)Early-Late Cretaceous calc-alkaline lavas and dykes.These magmatic rocks are found on top of the obducted nappe,above the post-obduction erosion level.This series shows similar Sr-Nd isotopic features as the Alkaline series,though having a clear supra-subduction affinity.They are thus interpreted to be the remelting product of a mantle previously contaminated by the OIB plume.Correlation of data from the Lesser Caucasus to western Anatolia shows a progression from back-arc to arc and fore-arc,which highlight a dissymmetry in the obducted oceanic lithosphere from East to West.The metamorphic P-T-t paths of the obduction sole lithologies define a southward propagation of the ophiolite:(1)P-T-t data from the northern Sevan-Akera suture zone(Armenia)highlight the presence and exhumation of eclogites(1.85±0.02 GPa and 590±5℃)and blueschists below the ophiolite,which are dated at ca.94 Ma by Ar-Ar on phengite.(2)Neighbouring Amasia(Armenia)garnet amphibolites indicate metamorphic peak conditions of 0.65±0.05 GPa and 600±20 C with a U-Pb on rutile age of 90.2±5.2 Ma and Ar-Ar on amphibole and phengite ages of 90.8±3.0 Ma and 90.8±1.2 Ma,respectively.These data are consistent with palaeontological dating of sediment deposits directly under(Cenomanian,i.e.>93.9 Ma)or sealing(Coniacian-Santonian,i.e.,≤89.8 Ma),the obduction.(3)At Hinis(NE Turkey)PT-t conditions on amphibolites(0.66±0.06 GPa and 660±20℃,with a U-Pb titanite age of80.0±3.2 Ma)agree with previous P-T-t data on granulites,and highlight a rapid exhumation below a top-to-the-North detachment sealed by the Early Maastrichtian unconformity(ca.70.6 Ma).Amphibolites are cross-cut by monzonites dated by U-Pb on titanite at 78.3±3.7 Ma.We propose that the HT-MP metamorphism was coeval with the monzonites,about 10 Ma after the obduction,and was triggered by the onset of subduction South of the Anatolides and by reactivation or acceleration of the subduction below the Pontides-Eurasian margin.Numerical modelling accounts for the obduction of an"old"~80 Myr oceanic lithosphere due to a significant heating of oceanic lithosphere through mantle upwelling,which increased the oceanic lithosphere buoyancy.The long-distance transport of a currently thin section of ophiolites(<1 km)onto the Anatolian continental margin is ascribed to a combination of northward mantle extensional thinning of the obducted oceanic lithosphere by the Hinis detachment at ca.80 Ma,and southward gravitational propagation of the ophiolite nappe onto its foreland basin.

New Caledonia Ophiolite, Marginal Rifting to Fore-arc Evolution

The New Caledonia Ophiolite(Peridotite Nappe), represents about one third of the island’s surface(i.e. 5 500 km2). The ophiolite is composed of harzburgites, dunites, lherzolites, minor mafic-ultramafic cumulates, and various dykes and sills. The mantle section underwent a polyphase evolution, which involved prominent depletion and re-fertilization. The oldest events are probably recorded by abyssal-type lherzolites of the northern massifs, which bear traces of moderate partial melting. Plagioclase lherzolites were formed by shallow entrapment of highly depleted MORB melt in residual spinel lherzolites. Nd isotope compositions are consistent with derivation from an asthenospheric mantle source that experienced a recent MORB-producing depletion. This evolution was most likely accomplished during the late Cretaceous breakup of the eastern Australian margin. The harzburgite-dunite association, which forms the bulk of Peridotite Nappe was probably formed through a multistage magma-producing process. Harzburgites composition may have be obtained by a first phase of ~15% dry fractional melting, followed by 15%–18% hydrous melting in a supra-subduction zone setting. Variable εNd negatively correlate with 87Sr/86Sr, while Pb isotopes cover a wide range, trending from depleted mantle towards enriched, sediment-like, compositions. Such signatures likely reflect the evolution of a highly depleted forearc mantle wedge variably modified by different fluid and melt inputs during Eocene subduction. The harzburgite-dunite set is overlain by a dunite transition zone ~300 m thick, in turn discontinuously covered by cumulate lenses consisting of layered pyroxenites, dunites, and wherlites at the base and gabbronorites/websterites on top. The mafic cumulates crystallized from primitive, ultra-depleted melts in the nascent lower fore-arc crust. In particular, FME enrichments and Nd-Pb isotopes support an origin from a refractory mantle source modified by slab fluids for the gabbronorite-forming melts. The Peridotite Nappe has been extensively serpentinized(40% to 100%) with extremely scarce occurrences of unserpentinized rocks. Lizardite, brucite, magnetite and minor chrysotile developed from joints and intra-granular cooling cracks in a near-static environment. Serpentine-coated joints and peridotite foliation have been thereafter reopened and injected by various felsic, mafic and ultramafic supra-subduction melts emplaced within a narrow time interval(55–50 Ma), immediately after subduction inception at 56 Ma, i.e. the age of granulite-facies metamorphic sole. The youngest magmatic event is represented by island-arc tholeiite dykes dated at 50 Ma. A widespread set of antigorite and tremolite-bearing veins crosscut all previous structures in a progressively cooling forearc environment. The former are synkinematic crack seals, which display highly radiogenic, sediment-like 87Sr/86Sr ratios suggesting direct derivation of fluids from the subduction zone, while the latter bear mantle-like isotopic signatures and probably originated from the interaction of wall rocks with Ca-rich fluids released by Eocene dykes or fluids that leached them. Finally, continental subduction and obduction occurred during the 44–34 Ma interval and were accompanied by the development of the HP-LT metamorphic belt of northern New Caledonia, which constrains the polarity of subduction.

Unraveling one billion years of geological evolution of the southeastern Amazonia Craton from detrital zircon analyses

Despite representing one of the largest cratons on Earth,the early geological evolution of the Amazonia Craton remains poorly known due to relatively poor exposure and because younger metamorphic and tectonic events have obscured initial information.In this study,we investigated the sedimentary archives of the Carajás Basin to unravel the early geological evolution of the southeastern Amazonia Craton.The Carajás Basin contains sedimentary rocks that were deposited throughout a long period spanning more than one billion years from the Mesoarchean to the Paleoproterozoic.The oldest archives preserved in this basin consist of a few ca.3.6 Ga detrital zircon grains showing that the geological roots of the Amazonia Craton were already formed by the Eoarchean.During the Paleoarchean or the early Mesoarchean(<3.1 Ga),the Carajás Basin was large and rigid enough to sustain the formation and preservation of the Rio Novo Group greenstone belt.Later,during the Neoarchean,at ca.2.7 Ga,the southeastern Amazonia Craton witnessed the emplacement of the Parauapebas Large Igneous Province(LIP)that probably covered a large part of the craton and was associated with the deposition of some of the world largest iron formations.The emplacement of this LIP immediately preceded a period of continental extension that formed a rift infilled first by iron formations followed by terrigenous sediments.This major change of sedimentary regime might have been controlled by the regional tectonic evolution of the Amazonia Craton and its emergence above sea-level.During the Paleoproterozoic,at ca.2.1 Ga,the Rio Fresco Group,consisting of terrigenous sediments from the interior of the Amazonia Craton,was deposited in the Carajás Basin.At that time,the Amazonian lithosphere could have either underwent thermal subsidence forming a large intracratonic basin or could have been deformed by long wavelength flexures that induced the formation of basins and swells throughout the craton under the influence of the growing Transamazonian mountain belt.

通向地幔之旅

在人类首次尝试地幔钻探50周年之际,Damon Teagle和Benoit Ildefonse表示,曾经的科幻现在有可能变成现实。

Neoarchean atmospheric chemistry and the preservation of S-MIF in sediments from the São Francisco Craton

Sulfur mass-independent fractionation(S-MIF)preserved in Archean sedimentary pyrite is interpreted to reflect atmospheric chemistry.Small ranges in Δ^(33)S that expanded into larger fractionations leading up to the Great Oxygenation Event(GOE;2.45–2.2 Ga)are disproportionately represented by sequences from the Kaapvaal and Pilbara Cratons.These patterns of S-MIF attenuation and enhancement may differ from the timing and magnitude of minor sulfur isotope fractionations reported from other cratons,thus obscuring local for global sulfur cycling dynamics.By expanding the Δ^(33)S record to include the relatively underrepresented São Francisco Craton in Brazil,we suggest that marine biogeochemistry affected S-MIF preservation prior to the GOE.In an early Neoarchean sequence(2763–2730 Ma)from the Rio das Velhas Greenstone Belt,we propose that low δ^(13)Corg(<-30‰)and dampened Δ^(33)S(-0.4‰to-0.7‰)in banded iron formation reflect the marine diagenetic process of anaerobic methane oxidation.The overlying black shale(TOC up to 7.8%)with higher δ^(13)Corg(-33.4‰to-19.2‰)and expanded Δ^(33)S(2.3‰±0.8‰),recorded oxidative sulfur cycling that resulted in enhance preservation of S-MIF input from atmospheric sources of elemental sulfur.The sequence culminates in a metasandstone,where concomitant changes to more uniform δCorg(-30‰to--25‰),potentially associated with the RuBisCO I enzyme,and near-zero Δ^(33)S(-0.04‰to 0.38‰)is mainly interpreted as evidence for local oxygen production.When placed in the context of other sequences worldwide,the Rio das Velhas helps differentiate the influences of global atmospheric chemistry and local marine diagenesis in Archean biogeochemical processes.Our data suggest that prokaryotic sulfur,iron,and methane cycles might have an underestimated role in pre-GOE sulfur minor isotope records.

The dynamic Archean to Paleoproterozoic crustal evolution of Brazil:Preface

Brazil is the largest country in South America and contains the majority of the exposed Archean and Paleoproterozoic crust on the continent. As such, Brazil provides a natural laboratory for studies of the ancient Earth. In this Special Issue, contributions reflect the dynamic and protracted growth and reworking of former continents during a time frame of over a billion years, and depict how changes across the evolution of plate tectonics may have influenced the evolution of the interlinked crust-ocean-atmospheric Earth cycles over this period.

Carbonated Big Mantle Wedge Extending to the NE Edge of the Stagnant Pacific Slab:Constraints from Late Mesozoic-Cenozoic Basalts from Far Eastern Russia

It has been suggested that the carbonated mantle reflected by Mg-Zn isotopic anomalies of Cenozoic intraplate basalts from East Asia coincides with the stagnant West Pacific slab in the mantle transition zone.However,the northern boundary of such carbonated domain beneath East Asia is uncertain.Late Mesozoic-Cenozoic intraplate basalts are widespread in far eastern Russia and thus provide an opportunity to examine this issue.Here we report major-trace element contents and Sr-NdMg-Zn isotopic compositions for 9 Late Mesozoic-Cenozoic basaltic samples from the Khanka Block and Sikhote-Alin accretionary complex.They are characterized by large variations in SiO_(2)contents(41 wt.%to 50 wt.%)and CaO/Al_(2)O_(3)(0.50 to 0.97),enrichments of large-ion lithophile elements(LILE),positive Nb-Ta anomalies and strongly negative K,Pb,Zr,Hf,Ti,Y anomalies in primitive mantle-normalized trace element spider diagram.Furthermore,the rocks show good correlations of Ti/Ti^(*)with Hf/Hf^(*),La/Yb,Fe/Mn and trace element contents(e.g.,Nb).In addition,they have lighter Mg and heavier Zn isotope compositions than the BSE estimates,coupled with depleted Sr-Nd isotope compositions.These elemental and isotopic characteristics cannot be explained by alteration,magma differentiation or diffusion,but are consistent with the partial melting of carbonated peridotite.By and large,the Late Mesozoic-Cenozoic basalts from far eastern Russia bear very similar geochemical characteristics as those Na-series Cenozoic basalts from eastern China.The extended region of Mg-Zn isotopic anomalies is roughly coincident with the stagnant West Pacific slab beneath East Asia,and all of these alkali basalts can be generated from mantle sources hybridized by recycled Mg-carbonates from the Pacific slab stagnant in the mantle transition zone.We infer that(1)the carbonated big mantle wedge extends to the NE edge of the West Pacific slab and may have also appeared in the Late Mesozoic due to the effect of the Paleo-Pacific slab beneath this region,and(2)decarbonation of stagnant slabs in the mantle transition zone is a key mechanism for carbon outgassing from deep mantle to surface via intraplate alkali melts.