Insights into the Acadian orogeny, New England Appalachians: a provenance study of the Carrabassett and Kittery formations, Maine

The Central Maine Basin and Merrimack Trough are Silurian basins that formed adjacent to or were accreted to the Laurentian margin during the Acadian orogeny. The Early Devonian Carrabassett Formation of the Central Maine Basin and the Kittery Formation of the Merrimack Trough have major and trace element compositions indicative of a passive continental margin provenance, not unlike the older formations of the Central Maine Basin that are thought to have been derived from Laurentian sources. However, both the Carrabassett and Kittery formations have paleocurrent indicators of outboard sources. The Carrabassett Formation is one of the youngest formations of the Central Maine Basin and was deposited just prior to the Acadian orogeny. The Carrabassett and Kittery formations have major and trace element concentrations suggestive of passive margin turbidites derived from intermediate to felsic sources, inconsistent with a juvenile Avalonian provenance. The Carrabassett Formation contains detrital zircon grains that match the ages of peri-Gondwanan Ganderia. Unlike the dominance of positive bulk-rock εNd values that are characteristic of Avalonia, Ganderia has negative εNd values that are a better match for the negative εNd values of the Carrabassett and Kittery formations. However, Ganderia accreted to Laurentia during the Salinic orogeny, prior to the deposition of the Carrabassett Formation, and was basement to the sediments of the Central Maine Basin upon which the Carrabassett and other formations were deposited. Wedging of Ganderia by Avalonia during the initial stages of the Acadian orogeny may have uplifted Ganderia, forming highlands outboard of the Central Maine Basin that served as the source of the Carrabassett Formation sediments. RÉSUMÉ Le bassin central du Maine et la cuvette de Merrimack constituent des bassins siluriens s’étant formés le long de la marge laurentienne ou s’y étant accrétés au cours de l’orogenèse acadienne. La Formation du Dévonien précoce de Carrabassett, dans le bassin central du Maine, et la Formation de Kittery, de la cuvette de Merrimack, présentent des compositions en éléments majeurs et traces signalant une provenance d’une marge continentale passive, à l’instar des formations plus âgées du bassin central du Maine qu’on pense originaires de sources laurentiennes. Les formations de Carrabassett et de Kittery comportent toutefois des indicateurs de paléocourants de sources extérieures. La Formation de Carrabassett constitue l’une des formations les plus récentes du bassin central du Maine; elle s’est mise en place juste avant l’orogenèse acadienne. Les caractéristiques géochimiques et géochronologique des formations de Carrabassett et de Kittery pourraient par conséquent permettre l’identification du terrane de collision. Les formations de Carrabassett et de Kittery possèdent des concentrations d’éléments majeurs et traces évoquant les turbidites de marge passive en provenance de sources intermédiaires à felsiques, ce qui est contradictoire avec une origine avalonienne juvénile. La Formation de Carrabassett comporte des grains détritiques de zircon correspondant aux âges du Ganderia périgondwanien. Contrairement à la prédominance de concentrations εNd positives de roche en vrac caractéristiques d’Avalonia, Ganderia présentent des concentrations εNd négatives qui cadrent mieux avec les concentrations εNd négatives des formations de Carrabassett et de Kittery. Ganderia s’est toutefois accrété à Laurentia au cours de l’orogenèse salinique, avant le dépôt de la Formation de Carrabassett, et il a constitué le socle des sédiments du bassin central du Maine sur lesquels Carrabassett et d’autres formations se sont déposées. L’enfoncement d’Avalonia sous Ganderia au cours des stades initiaux de l’orogenèse acadienne pourrait avoir soulevé Ganderia, formant un massif à l’extérieur du bassin central du Maine qui a servi de source aux sédiments de la Formation de Carrabassett. [Traduit par la redaction

Geochemistry of Early Devonian calc-alkaline plutons in the Merrimack Belt: implications for mid-Paleozoic terrane relationships in the New England Appalachians

A series of northeast-trending plutons extending from northeastern Massachusetts to southeastern Maine intruded the metasedimenlary rocks of the Merrimack belt. The Early Devonian Dracut, Sweepstakes, Island Pond. Exeter, and Webhannet plutons are metaluminous and, with the exception of the granitie Webhannet pluton, are dominantly mafic to intermediate in composition. The plutons are calc-alkaline in character and have major, minor, and trace clement compositions typical of magmas generated at destructive plate margins. These characteristics include mid- to high-K contents, enrichment of LII.E, LREE, Ba. and Sr. and negative Nb and Ta anomalies. Whole-rock chemical data indicate that the plutons of the Merrimack belt arc similar in every measured geochemical parameter to ca. 400 Ma mafic to intermediate rocks of the New Hampshire Plutonic Suite. These similarities suggest that both groups of plutons were emplaced within the same magmatic arc and belong to the same magmatic suite. A magmatic suite common to both the Merrimack belt and Central Maine terrane suggests that the two lithotectonic zones were proximal to each other at ca. 400 Ma. Trace element differences between Merrimack belt and Sharpners Pond rocks suggest (hat the Putnam-Nashoba terrane represents a separate arc. Located in the Central Maine terrane of New Hampshire, the Rochester pluton is geochemically distinct from the Siluro-Devonian plutons of the Merrimack belt and New Hampshire Plutonic Suite. The Rochester pluton has alkaline affinities but retains overall calc-alkaline features. High concentrations of incompatible elements (K, Ti, P, Ba, Rb, Zr) in the Rochester pluton are markedly similar to those observed in the 360 Ma Hardwick Tonalite of Massachusetts. The strong geochemical correlation between the Rochester and Hardwick plutons implies derivation from the same magmatic event and a common, Late Devonian origin. We suggest that these plutons may have originated in response to pull-apart rifting related to late-stage Acadian transpression. RÉSUMÉ Une série de plutons orientée vers Ie nord-est s'élendant du nord-est du Massachusetts au sud-est du Maine, fait intrusion dans les roches métasédimentaires de la ceinture de Merrimack. Les plutons du Devonien inférieur Dracut Sweepstakes. Island Pond. Exeter et Webhannet constituent des intrusions métalumincuses et, mis à part le pluton granitique Webhannet, ils ont une composition en prédominance mafique à intermédiare. Les plutons ont une conformation calco-alcalinc et leur composition du point de vue des principaux éléments présents, de ceux présents en quantité restreinie et des éléments traces est représentative des magmas produits aux frontièrs de plaques destructives. Leurs caractéristiques component nolamment une teneur movenne à élevée en potassium, un enrichissement en LILEen éléments de terres rares légères. en BA et en SR. de mème que des anomalies négatives de Nb et Ta. Les données de la roche totale révèlent que les plutons de la ceinture de Merrimack sont semblables. sous le rapport de chacun des paramètres géochimiques mesurés. aux magmas mafiques à intermédiaires d'il y a environ 400 Ma du cortège plutonique du New Hampshire. Ces similarités permeltent de supposer que les deux groupes de plutons ont été insérès à l’intérieur du mème arc magmatique et qu'ils appartienment au mème cortège magmatique. L'existence d'un cortège magmatique commun à la ceinture de Merrimack et au terrane de Central Maine permet de supposer que les deux zones lithotectoniques étaient proximales I'une de 1'autre il y a environ 400 Ma. Les différences par rapport aux éléments traces entre les magmas de la ceinture de Merrimack et ccux de Sharpners Pond laissent supposer que le terrane de Putnam-Nashoba rcprisenie un arc distinct Le pluton Rochester, situé dans le terrane de Central Maine du New Hampshire, est géochimiquement distinct des plutons siluro-dévoniens de la ceinture de Merrimack et du cortège plutonique du New Hampshire. Le pluton Rochester présente des affinités alcalines tout en conservant ses carectéristiques calco-alcalines générales. Les concentrations élevées d'éléments incompatibles (K, Ti, P, Ba, Rb, Zr) dans le pluton Rochester sont manifestement semblables à celles observers dans la tonalite d'il y a 360 Ma de Hardwick, au Massachusetts. La correlation géochimique prononcée entre les plutons Rochester et Hardwick suppose qu'ils découlent du mème phénoméne magmatique et qu'ils ont une origine commune remontant au Dévonien supérieur. Nous pensons que ces plutons tirent probablement leur origine d'une réaction a une distension d'écartemcnt apparentée à une transpression acadienne tardive. Traduit par la rédactio

Mineralogical characterization of rejuvenated magmatism at Burton Guyot, Louisville Seamount trail

Volcaniclastic sequences drilled during IODP Expedition 330 on top of Burton Guyot preserve a unique record of rejuvenated magmatic activity along the Louisville Seamount trail. Geochemical analysis of clinopyroxenes in primary volcaniclastic deposits of this rejuvenated phase allows the reconstruction of magmatic evolution from the shield to post-erosional phases of a Louisville seamount, and to compare this evolution to that of Hawaiian volcanoes. Our results reveal the occurrence of three main types of clinopyroxenes in the rejuvenated volcaniclastic deposits at Burton Guyot, with a Na (and Al)-poor phenocrystic clinopyroxene and two types of Na-rich clinopyroxenes from disaggregated ultramafic xenoliths. The rejuvenated Na-poor phenocrysts have the same compositional range as clinopyroxenes associated with the shield stage of the volcano, indicating an overlap in shield and rejuvenated magma compositions. The dominant type of Na-rich clinopyroxene (Type 1) is very similar to clinopyroxenes in Hawaiian pyroxenitic xenoliths thought to represent high pressure cumulates. Their relatively low Mg/(Mg + Fe), Cr, and Sc contents, similar trace element abundances and high Al(vi):Al(iv) to Hawaiian cumulates indicates that they too are cumulates. This contrasts with lower Al(vi):Al(iv) of the Na-poor phenocrysts that crystallized between 6–7 kbars and 1150–1200 °C. Type 2 clinopyroxenes are Mg-rich, and have major and trace element compositions very similar to clinopyroxenes in Hawaiian peridotites. These clinopyroxenes are interpreted as fragments of mantle xenoliths. They show intermediate amounts of incompatible element depletion, between more enriched Hawaiian peridotites and strongly depleted abyssal peridotites. Some grains exhibit the effects of mantle metasomatism, having spoon-shaped, chondrite-normalized REE patterns like those of Hawaiian peridotite xenoliths. The occurrence of disaggregated pyroxenitic cumulates and metasomatized mantle xenoliths in rejuvenated magmas of both Burton Guyot and Hawaiian islands suggests that the plumbing system of these volcanic systems share significant similarities. However, consistently with previous geochemical studies of the Louisville seamounts, geochemical consistency of shield and rejuvenated clinopyroxenes at Burton Guyot show that this volcano experienced similar alkaline magmatism from shield to rejuvenated stages. This is an important difference with the evolution of Hawaiian volcanoes that includes a dominantly tholeiitic shield stages and alkaline post-shield and rejuvenated stages, which suggests that the model of Hawaiian island formation may not be fully applicable to Louisville seamounts

The metamorphism and exhumation of the Himalayan metamorphic core, eastern Garhwal region, India

[1] Geothermobarometric together with micro- and macro-structural data indicate ductile flow in the metamorphic core of the Himalaya in the Garhwal region of India. Peak metamorphic pressure and temperature increase dramatically across the Main Central Thrust (MCT) from ~5 kbar and ~550°C in the Lesser Himalayan Crystalline Sequence (LHCS) to ~14 kbar and ~850°C at ~3 km above the MCT in the Greater Himalayan Sequence (GHS). Pressures within the GHS then decrease upsection to ~8 kbar while temperatures remain nearly constant at ~850°C up to the structurally overlying South Tibetan Detachment (STD). The GHS exhibits sheath fold geometries are indicative of high degrees of ductile flow. Overprinting ductile structures are two populations of extensional conjugate fractures and normal faults oriented both parallel and perpendicular to the orogen. These fractures crosscut major tectonic boundaries in the region such as the MCT and STD, and are found throughout the LHCS, GHS, and Tethyan Sedimentary Sequence (TSS). The thermobarometric and metamorphic observations are consistent with a form of channel flow. However, channel flow does not account for exhumational structures that formed above the brittle-ductile transition. To explain all of the features seen in the metamorphic core of the Garhwal region of the Himalaya, both the theories of channel flow and critical taper must be taken into account. Channel flow can explain the exhumation of the GHS from the middle crust to the brittle-ductile transition. The most recent extensional deformation is consistent with a supercritical wedge

Influence of F(OH)(-1) Substitution on the Relative Mechanical Strength of Rock-Forming Micas

Microtextural and experimental studies have yielded conflicting data on the relative mechanical strengths of muscovite and biotite [Wilson and Bell, 1979; Kronenberg et al., 1990; Mares and Kronenberg, 1993]. We propose a crystal-chemical resolution to this conflict, namely, that (001) dislocation glide in biotite is rate-limited by its fluorine content. Significant F(OH)−1 substitution, and concomitant removal of hydroxyl H+ directed into the interlayer cavity, potentially increases mechanical strength of biotite in two ways: (1) it eliminates K+-H+repulsion, thereby strengthening the interlayer bonds, and (2) it allows K+ to “sink” deeper into the interlayer cavity, the resultant geometry being less favorable to basal slip. In testing this hypothesis we analyzed the naturally deformed biotite studied by Wilson and Bell [1979] and documented its very low F content (XF ≤ 0.02) compared to that of the biotite experimentally deformed by Kronenberg et al. [1990]. Our model and the comparative XF data explain why the biotite of Wilson and Bell [1979] deformed more easily in nature than its coexisting muscovite, whereas the biotite of Kronenberg et al. [1990] was mechanically stronger than muscovite similarly deformed by Mares and Kronenberg [1993]. Our reconciliation of these otherwise conflicting results provides a framework for predicting mechanical strength of natural micas based upon the extent of their F(OH)−1 substitution. Our synthesis highlights the potential role of crystal chemistry in determining mechanical behavior in multicomponent mineral families. Further testing of crystal-chemical effects on rheology will require mineral specimens of both appropriate composition and sufficient size.</p

Mineralogy and crystal chemistry of micas from the A-type El Portezuelo Granite and related pegmatites, Catamarca (NW Argentina)

The A-type El Portezuelo Pluton (Catamarca, NW Argentina) is parental to an intragranitic suite of pegmatites of NYF-type affiliation (miarolitic class, miarolitic-rare earth element subclass, with features more similar to those reported for the gadolinite-fergusonite type). This study was performed on samples from the host granite and several zones of pegmatites, including crystals growing in miarolitic cavities and fine-grained overgrowths. Micas from the granite and massive pegmatites are rather homogeneous, but crystals coming from miarolitic cavities are usually sharply zoned with monocrystalline trioctahedral inner zones overgrown by polycrystalline dioctahedral rims. Dioctahedral micas are always paragenetically later. Micas from the granite are intermediate members of the annite-siderophyllite series. From the outer pegmatite zones inwards the substitution (SiLi)([4]AlFe)-1 in trioctahedral micas leads to compositions intermediate between siderophyllite and polylithionite, up to the composition KLiFe2+Al(AlSi3)O10(F,OH)2 (formerly called zinnwaldite). Dioctahedral micas also show a trend from near end-member muscovite to (Fe, Mg, Li)-rich muscovite (phengite), according to the substitution (R2+Si)([4]Al[6]Al)-1, where R2+ = Fe, Mg, Mn; there is a compositional gap between dioctahedral and trioctahedral micas. Zoned individual crystals have trioctahedral cores enriched in Fe, Mn and F; Na, Li and Ti are usually also enriched in the cores, whereas Mg is usually depleted compared with the dioctahedral rims. Micas in El Portezuelo are the most important F-bearing species (for their elevated F contents and their modal abundance) and they also have a major role in the distribution of Li and Rb. The overall evolutionary trend is very similar to that found at the Pikes Peak Batholith (Colorado USA) and is characteristic of NYF-type granite-miarolitic pegmatite systems.Fil: Colombo, Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra; ArgentinaFil: Lira, Raul. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Museo de Paleontología; ArgentinaFil: Dorais, Michael J.. University Brigham Young; Estados Unido

Plagioclase zonation styles in hornblende gabbro inclusions from Little Glass Mountain, Medicine Lake volcano, California: implications for fractionation mechanisms and the formation of composition gaps

The rhyolite of Little Glass Mountain (73–74% SiO₂) is a single eruptive unit that contains inclusions of quenched andesite liquid (54–61% SiO₂) and partially crystalline cumulate hornblende gabbro (53–55% SiO₂). Based on previous studies, the quenched andesite inclusions and host rhyolite lava are related to one another through fractional crystallization and represent an example of a fractionation-generated composition gap. The hornblende gabbros represent the cumulate residue associated with the rhyolite-producing and composition gap-forming fractionation event. This study combines textural (Nomarski Differential Interference Contrast, NDIC, imaging), major element (An content) and trace element (Mg, Fe, Sr, K, Ti, Ba) data on the style of zonation of plagioclase crystals from representative andesite and gabbro inclusions, to assess the physical environment in which the fractionation event and composition gap formation took place. The andesite inclusions (54–61% SiO₂) are sparsely phyric with phenocrysts of plagioclase, augite and Fe-oxide±olivine, +/–orthopyroxene, +/–hornblende set within a glassy to crystalline matrix. The gabbro cumulates (53–55% SiO₂) consist of an interconnected framework of plagioclase, augite, olivine, orthopyroxene, hornblende and Fe-oxide along with highly vesicular interstitial glass (70–74% SiO₂). The gabbros record a two-stage crystallization history of plagioclase+olivine+augite (Stage I) followed by plagioclase+orthopyroxene+ hornblende+Fe-oxide (Stage II). Texturally, the plagioclase crystals in the andesite inclusions are characterized by complex, fine-scale oscillatory zonation and abundant dissolution surfaces. Compositionally (An content) the crystals are essentially unzoned from core-to-rim. These features indicate growth within a dynamic (convecting?), reservoir of andesite magma. In contrast, the plagioclase crystals in the gabbros are texturally smooth and featureless with strong normal zonation from An₇₄ at the core to around An₃₀. K, and Ba abundances increase and Mg abundances decrease steadily towards the rim. Ti, Fe, and Sr abundances increase and then decrease towards the rim. The trace element variations are fully consistent with the two-stage crystallization sequence inferred from the gabbro mineralogy. These results indicate progressive closed-system in situ crystallization in a quiescent magmatic boundary layer environment located along the margins of the andesite magma body. The fractional crystallization that generated the host rhyolite lava is one of inward solidification of a crystallizing boundary layer followed by melt extraction and accumulation of highly evolved interstitial liquid. This mechanism explains the formation of the composition gap between parental andesite and rhyolite magma compositions