Magma Transfer and Evolution in Channels within the Arc Crust: the Pyroxenitic Feeder Pipes of Sapat (Kohistan, Pakistan)

Our understanding of the mode of transfer and evolution of arc magmas in the lower arc crust is limited by the accessibility of arc roots, which are mainly documented by remote geophysical methods. At the same time, the fractionation processes of primitive parental melts defining a liquid line of descent from basalt to dacite are well defined by experimental petrology. However, the structural evidence for transfer of magmas evolving during their ascent remains basically uncharacterized. The Sapat Complex represents a lower crust segment of the exhumed Kohistan paleo-island arc and exposes kilometer-sized pyroxenite bodies that grew at the expense of host metagabbroic sill sequences. The largest of these pyroxenite bodies are mainly composed of wehrlite to olivine-clinopyroxenite, whereas the smaller bodies show a sequence of cumulative rocks, from ol-clinopyroxenite through various gabbros to tonalite. Inside the bodies, vertical magmatic and reactional structures indicate magma ascent accompanied by cumulate formation. Altogether, cumulates document the evolution of an initially primitive basaltic melt (at ∼7 kbar) that contained ≥5 wt % H2O. After cotectic olivine and clinopyroxene fractionation, the appearance of hornblende at the expense of clinopyroxene marks a stepping stone in the melt evolution. From this point, the appearance of orthopyroxene and hornblende at the expense of olivine drives the magma towards an andesitic composition, from which the crystallization of An-rich plagioclase and hornblende drives the melt to evolve further. During peritectic hornblende crystallization fluid-precipitated assemblages occur showing that the melts have reached water-saturation while they were crystallizing and percolating, thus degassing H2O-rich fluids. Structural observations, mineral and bulk-rock compositions, and calculated seismic P-wave velocities identify the ultramafic pipe-shaped bodies as magmatic conduits in which melt ascended from the mantle through the lower crust to feed upper crustal magma chambers and volcanic system

Relamination of mafic subducting crust throughout Earth’s history

Earth has likely cooled by several hundred degrees over its history, which has probably affected subduction dynamics and associated magmatism. Today, the process of compositional buoyancy driven upwelling, and subsequent underplating, of subducted materials (commonly referred to as “relamination”) is thought to play a role in the formation of continental crust. Given that Archean continental crust formation is best explained by the involvement of mafic material, we investigate the feasibility of mafic crust relamination under a wide range of conditions applicable to modern and early Earth subduction zones, to assess if such a process might have been viable in an early Earth setting. Our numerical parametric study illustrates that the hotter, thicker-crust conditions of the early Earth favour the upward relamination of mafic subducting crust. The amount of relaminating subducting crust is observed to vary significantly, with subduction convergence rate having the strongest control on the volume of relaminated material. Indeed, removal of the entire mafic crust from the subducting slab is possible for slow subduction (∼2 cm/yr) under Archean conditions. We also observe great variability in the depth at which this separation occurs (80–120 km), with events corresponding to shallower detachment being more voluminous, and that relaminating material has to remain metastably buoyant until this separation depth, which is supported by geological, geophysical and geodynamical observations. Furthermore, this relamination behaviour is commonly episodic with a typical repeat time of approximately 10 Myrs, similar to timescales of episodicity observed in the Archean rock record. We demonstrate that this relamination process can result in the heating of considerable quantities of mafic material (to temperatures in excess of 900 °C), which is then emplaced below the over-riding lithosphere. As such, our results have implications for Archean subduction zone magmatism, for continental crust formation in the early Earth, and provide a novel explanation for the secular evolution of continental crust

Isotopic evidence for iron mobility during subduction

Subduction zones are one of the most important sites of chemical interchange between the Earth's surface and interior. One means of explaining the high Fe3+/ΣFe ratios and oxidized nature of primary arc magmas is the transfer of sulfate (SOX), carbonate (CO3 -), and/or iron (Fe3+) bearing fluids from the slab to the overlying mantle. Iron mobility and Fe stable isotope fractionation in fluids are influenced by Fe redox state and the presence of chlorine and/or sulfur anions. Here we use Fe stable isotopes (δ56Fe) as a tracer of iron mobility in serpentinites from Western Alps metaophiolites, which represent remnants of oceanic lithosphere that have undergone subduction-related metamorphism and devolatilization. A negative correlation (R2 = 0.72) is observed between serpentinite bulk δ56Fe and Fe3+/ΣFe that provides the first direct evidence for the release of Fe-bearing fluids during serpentinite devolatilization in subduction zones. The progressive loss of isotopically light Fe from the slab with increasing degree of prograde metamorphism is consistent with the release of sulfate-rich and/or hypersaline fluids, which preferentially complex isotopically light Fe in the form of Fe(II)-SOX or Fe(II)- Cl2 species. Fe isotopes can therefore be used as a tracer of the nature of slab-derived fluids. © 2016 Geological Society of America

Mantle Flow and Deforming Continents: From India-Asia Convergence to Pacific Subduction

The formation of mountain belts or rift zones is commonly attributed to interactions between plates along their boundaries, but the widely distributed deformation of Asia from Himalaya to the Japan Sea and other back-arc basins is difficult to reconcile with this notion. Through comparison of the tectonic and kinematic records of the last 50 Ma with seismic tomography and anisotropy models, we show that the closure of the former Tethys Ocean and the extensional deformation of East Asia can be best explained if the asthenospheric mantle transporting India northward, forming the Himalaya and the Tibetan Plateau, reaches East Asia where it overrides the westward flowing Pacific mantle and contributes to subduction dynamics, distributing extensional deformation over a 3,000-km wide region. This deep asthenospheric flow partly controls the compressional stresses transmitted through the continent-continent collision, driving crustal thickening below the Himalayas and Tibet and the propagation of strike-slip faults across Asian lithosphere further north and east, as well as with the lithospheric and crustal flow powered by slab retreat east of the collision zone below East and SE Asia. The main shortening direction in the deforming continent between the collision zone and the Pacific subduction zones may in this case be a proxy for the direction of flow in the asthenosphere underneath, which may become a useful tool for studying mantle flow in the distant past. Our model of the India-Asia collision emphasizes the role of asthenospheric flow underneath continents and may offer alternative ways of understanding tectonic processes

The topographic evolution of the Tibetan Region as revealed by palaeontology

The Tibetan Plateau was built through a succession of Gondwanan terranes colliding with Asia during the Mesozoic. These accretions produced a complex Paleogene topography of several predominantly east–west trending mountain ranges separated by deep valleys. Despite this piecemeal assembly and resultant complex relief, Tibet has traditionally been thought of as a coherent entity rising as one unit. This has led to the widely used phrase ‘the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau’, which is a false concept borne of simplistic modelling and confounds understanding the complex interactions between topography climate and biodiversity. Here, using the rich palaeontological record of the Tibetan region, we review what is known about the past topography of the Tibetan region using a combination of quantitative isotope and fossil palaeoaltimetric proxies, and present a new synthesis of the orography of Tibet throughout the Paleogene. We show why ‘the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau’ never occurred, and quantify a new pattern of topographic and landscape evolution that contributed to the development of today’s extraordinary Asian biodiversity

Modeling Slab Temperature: a Reevaluation of the Thermal Parameter

We re‐evaluate the effects of slab age, speed and dip on slab temperature with numerical models. The Thermal Parameter Φ =t v sin θ, where t is age, v is speed, and θ is angle, is traditionally used as an indicator of slab temperature. However, we find that an empirically derived quantity, in which slab temperature T ∝ log (t−av−b) , is more accurate at depths <120 km, with the constants a and b depending on position within the slab. Shallower than the decoupling depth (~70‐80 km), a~1; b~0, i.e. temperature is dependent on slab age alone. This has important implications for the early devolatisation of slabs in the hottest (youngest) cases and for shallow slab seismicity. At sub‐arc depths (~100 km), within the slab mantle, a~1; b~0 again. However, for the slab crust, now a~0.5; b~1 i.e. speed has the dominant effect. This is important when considering the generation of arc magmatism, and in particular, slab melting and the generation of slab‐derived melange diapirs. Moving deeper into the Earth, the original thermal parameter performs well as a temperature indicator, initially in the core of the slab (the region of interest for deep water cycling). Finally, varying the decoupling depth between 40 – 100 km has a dominant effect on slab temperatures down to 140 km depth, but only within the slab crust. Slab mantle temperature remains primarily dependent on age

Jurassic rifting at the Eurasian Tethys margin: Geochemical and geochronological constraints from granitoids of North Makran, southeastern Iran

This study focuses on an east-west trending belt of granitic to intermediate intrusions and their volcanic cover in the northern Dur Kan Complex, a continental slice outcropping to the north of the exposed Makran accretionary wedge in southeastern Iran. Field observations, petrographic descriptions, trace element, and isotope analyses combined with U-Pb zircon geochronology are presented to determine the time frame of magmatism and tectonic setting during the formation of these rocks. Results document three magmatic episodes with different melt sources for (1) granites, (2) a diorite-trondhjemite-plagiogranite sequence, and (3) diabases and lavas. Granites, dated at 170–175 Ma, represent crystallized melt with a strong continental isotopic contribution. The diorite-trondhjemite-plagiogranite sequence is 165–153 Ma old and derives from a mantle magma source with minor continental contribution. East-west trending diabase dikes and bodies intruded the granitoids, which were eroded and then covered by Valanginian (140–133 Ma) alkaline lavas and sediments. Alkaline dikes and lavas have a mantle isotopic composition. Temporal correlation with plutonites of the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone to the northwest defines a narrow, NW-SE striking and nearly 2000 km long belt of Jurassic intrusions. The increasing mantle influence in the magma sources is explained by thinning of continental lithosphere and related mantle upwelling/decompression melting. Accordingly, the formation of the studied igneous rocks is related to the extension of the Iranian continental margin, which ultimately led to the formation of the Tethys-related North Makran Ophiolites