Volcanic pulses in the siberian traps as inferred from permo-triassic geomagnetic secular variations

International audienc

Volcanic pulses in the siberian traps as inferred from permo-triassic geomagnetic secular variations

International audienc

Volcanic pulses in the siberian traps as inferred from permo-triassic geomagnetic secular variations

International audienc

Unique PGE–Cu–Ni Noril’sk Deposits, Siberian Trap Province: Magmatic and Tectonic Factors in Their Origin

The unique and very large PGE⁻Cu⁻Ni Noril’sk deposits are located within the Siberian trap province, posing a number of questions about the relationship between the ore-forming process and the magmatism that produced the traps. A successful answer to these questions could greatly increase the possibility of discovering new deposits in flood basalt provinces elsewhere. In this contribution, we present new data on volcanic stratigraphy and geochemistry of the magmatic rocks in the key regions of the Siberian trap province (Noril’sk, Taimyr, Maymecha-Kotuy, Kulyumber, Lower Tunguska and Angara) and analyze the structure of the north part of the province. The magmatic rocks of the Arctic zone are characterized by variable MgO (3.6⁻37.2 wt %) and TiO2 (0.8⁻3.9 wt %) contents, Gd/Yb (1.4⁻6.3) and La/Sm (2.0⁻10.4) ratios, and a large range of isotopic compositions. The intrusions in the center of the Tunguska syneclise and Angara syncline have much less variable compositions and correspond to a “typical trap„ with MgO of 5.6⁻7.2 wt %, TiO2 of 1.0⁻1.6 wt %, Gd/Yb ratio of 1.4⁻1.6 and La/Sm ratio of 2.0⁻3.5. This compositional diversity of magmas in the Arctic zone is consistent with their emplacement within the paleo-rift zones. Ore-bearing intrusions (the Noril’sk 1, Talnakh, Kharaelakh) are deep-situated in the Igarka-Noril’sk rift zone, which has three branches, namely the Bolsheavamsky, Dyupkunsky, and Lower Tunguska, that are prospected for discovering new deposits. One possible explanation for the specific position of the PGE⁻Cu⁻Ni deposits is accumulation of sulfides in these long-lived zones from the Neoproterozoic to the Mesozoic era during magmatic and metamorphic processes. Thus, trap magmatism, itself, does not produce large deposits, but mobilizes earlier formed sulfide segregations in addition carrying metals in the original magmas. These deposits are the results of several successive magmatic events, in which emplacement of the traps was the final event

Linking mantle plumes, large igneous provinces and environmental catastrophes

International audienceLarge igneous provinces (LIPs) are known for their rapid production of enormous volumes of magma (up to several million cubic kilometres in less than a million years)1, for marked thinning of the lithosphere2,3, often ending with a continental break-up, and for their links to global environmental catastrophes4,5. Despite the importance of LIPs, controversy surrounds even the basic idea that they form through melting in the heads of thermal mantle plumes2,3,6,7,8,9,10. The Permo-Triassic Siberian Traps11--the type example and the largest continental LIP1,12--is located on thick cratonic lithosphere1,12 and was synchronous with the largest known mass-extinction event1. However, there is no evidence of pre-magmatic uplift or of a large lithospheric stretching7, as predicted above a plume head2,6,9. Moreover, estimates of magmatic CO2 degassing from the Siberian Traps are considered insufficient to trigger climatic crises13,14,15, leading to the hypothesis that the release of thermogenic gases from the sediment pile caused the mass extinction15,16. Here we present petrological evidence for a large amount (15 wt%) of dense recycled oceanic crust in the head of the plume and develop a thermomechanical model that predicts no pre-magmatic uplift and requires no lithospheric extension. The model implies extensive plume melting and heterogeneous erosion of the thick cratonic lithosphere over the course of a few hundred thousand years. The model suggests that massive degassing of CO2 and HCl, mostly from the recycled crust in the plume head, could alone trigger a mass extinction and predicts it happening before the main volcanic phase, in agreement with stratigraphic and geochronological data for the Siberian Traps and other LIPs5