Late Cretaceous oceanic plate reorganization and the breakup of Zealandia and Gondwana

New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of igneous rocks clarify the nature, timing and rates of movement of the oceanic Pacific, Phoenix, Farallon and Hikurangi plates against Gondwana and Zealandia in the Late Cretaceous. With some qualifications, cessation of spreading at the Osbourn Trough is dated c. 79 Ma, i.e. 30–20 m.y. later than 110–100 Ma Hikurangi Plateau-Gondwana collision. Oceanic crust of pre-84 Ma is confirmed to be present at the eastern end of the Chatham Rise, and a 99–78 Ma intraplate lava province erupted across juxtaposed Zealandia, Hikurangi Plateau and oceanic crust. We propose a new regional tectonic model in which a mechanically jammed Hikurangi Plateau resulted in the dynamic propagation of small, kinematically misaligned short-length 110–84 Ma spreading centres and long-offset fracture zones. It is only from c. 84 Ma that geometrically stable spreading became localized at what is now the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge, as Zealandia started to split from Gondwana.     

The cretaceous dynamics of the pacific plate and stages of magmatic activity in Northeastern Asia

The dynamics of the Pacific Plate is recorded in the systematic variation of location and the ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar age of seamounts in the western Pacific from 120 to 65 Ma ago. The seamounts are grouped into three linear zones as long as 5000 km. The seamounts become younger in the southeastern direction along the strike of these zones. Correlation between age and location of seamounts allows division of the history of their formation into three stages. The rate of seamount growth was relatively low (2–4 cm/yr) during the first and the third stages within the intervals of 120–90 and 85–65 Ma, whereas during the second stage (90–85 Ma), the seamounts were growing very fast (80–100 cm/yr). In the midst of this stage, at ～87 Ma ago, the magmatic activity increased abruptly. The dynamics of seamount building is in good agreement with (1) pulses in the development of the Ontong Java, Manihiki, and Caribbean-Colombian oceanic plateaus; (2) the age of spreading acceleration in the mid-Cretaceous; and (3) the short period when the Izanagi Plate ceased to exist and the Kula Plate was formed. The variation of the seamounts’ age and location is in consistence with the hypothesis of diffuse extension of the Pacific Plate in the course of its motion with formation of impaired zones of decompression melting. The direction of extension (325°–340° NW) calculated from the strike of seamount zones is consistent with the path of the Pacific Plate (330° NW) in the Late Cretaceous. The immense perioceanic volcanic belts were formed at that time along the margin of the Asian continent. The Okhotsk-Chukchi Peninsula Belt extends at a right angle to the compression vector. Three stages of this belt’s evolution are synchronous with the stages of seamount formation in the Pacific Plate. The delay in the origination of the East Sikhote-Alin Volcanic Belt and its different orientation were caused by counterclockwise rotation of the vector of convergence of oceanic and continental plates in the mid-Cretaceous. At the same time, i.e., 95–85 Ma ago, the volcanic activity embraced the entire continental margin and the tin granites were emplaced everywhere in eastern Asia. This short episode (90 ± 5 Ma) corresponds to the mid-Cretaceous maximum of compression of the continental margin, and its age fits a culmination in extension of the Pacific Plate well.     

Two contrasting magmatic types coexist after the cessation of back-arc spreading

Amongst island arcs, Izu–Bonin is remarkable as it has widespread, voluminous and long-lived volcanism behind the volcanic front. In the central part of the arc this volcanism is represented by a series of seamount chains which extend nearly 300 km into the back-arc from the volcanic front. These back-arc seamount chains were active between 17 and 3 Ma, which is the period between the cessation of spreading in the Shikoku Basin and the initiation of currently active rifting just behind the Quaternary volcanic front. In this paper we present new age, chemical and isotopic data from the hitherto unexplored seamounts which formed furthest from the active volcanic front. Some of the samples come from volcanoes at the western limit of the back-arc seamount chains. Others are collected from seamounts of various sizes which lie on the Shikoku Basin crust (East Shikoku Basin seamounts). The westernmost magmatism we have sampled is manifested as a series of volcanic edifices that trace the extinct spreading centre of the Shikoku Basin known as the Kinan Seamount Chain (KSC).Chemically, enrichment in fluid-mobile elements and depletion in HFSE relative to MORB indicates that the back-arc seamount chains and the East Shikoku Basin seamounts have a significant contribution of slab-derived material. In this context these volcanoes can be regarded as a manifestation of arc magmatism and distinct from the MORB-like lavas of the Shikoku back-arc basin. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages range from 15.7 to 9.6 Ma for the East Shikoku Basin seamounts, indicating this arc magmatism started immediately after the Shikoku Basin stopped spreading.Although the KSC volcanoes are found to be contemporaneous with the seamount chains and East Shikoku Basin seamounts, their chemical characteristics are very different. Unlike the calc-alkaline seamount chains, the KSC lavas range from medium-K to shoshonitic alkaline basalt. Their trace element characteristics indicate the absence of a subduction influence and their radiogenic isotope systematics reflect a mantle source combining a Philippine Sea MORB composition and an enriched mantle component (EM-1). One of the most remarkable features of the KSC is that their geochemistry has a distinct temporal variation. Element ratios such as Nb/Zr and concentrations of incompatible elements such as K₂O increase with decreasing age and reach a maximum at ca. 7 Ma when the KSC ceased activity.Based on the chemical and temporal information from all the data across the back-arc region, we have identified two contrasting yet contemporaneous magmatic provinces. These share a tectonic platform, but have separate magmatic roots; one stemming from subduction flux and the other from post-spreading asthenospheric melting.     

Sequence stratigraphy, structural style, and age of deformation of the Malaita accretionary prism (Solomon arc–Ontong Java Plateau convergent zone)

Possibilities for the fate of oceanic plateaus at subduction zones range from complete subduction of the plateau beneath the arc to complete plateau–arc accretion and resulting collisional orogenesis. Deep penetration, multi-channel seismic reflection (MCS) data from the northern flank of the Solomon Islands reveal the sequence stratigraphy, structural style, and age of deformation of an accretionary prism formed during late Neogene (5–0 Ma) convergence between the 33-km-thick crust of the Ontong Java oceanic plateau and the 15-km-thick Solomon island arc. Correlation of MCS data with the satellite-derived, free-air gravity field defines the tectonic boundaries and internal structure of the 800-km-long, 140-km-wide accretionary prism. We name this prism the “Malaita accretionary prism” or “MAP” after Malaita, the largest and best-studied island exposure of the accretionary prism in the Solomon Islands. MCS data, gravity data, and stratigraphic correlations to islands and ODP sites on the Ontong Java Plateau (OJP) reveal that the offshore MAP is composed of folded and thrust faulted sedimentary rocks and upper crystalline crust offscraped from the Solomon the subducting Ontong Java Plateau (Pacific plate) and transferred to the Solomon arc. With the exception of an upper, sequence of Quaternary? island-derived terrigenous sediments, the deformed stratigraphy of the MAP is identical to that of the incoming Ontong Java Plateau in the North Solomon trench.We divide the MAP into four distinct, folded and thrust fault-bounded structural domains interpreted to have formed by diachronous, southeast-to-northwest, and highly oblique entry of the Ontong Java Plateau into a former trench now marked by the Kia–Kaipito–Korigole (KKK) left-lateral strike-slip fault zone along the suture between the Solomon arc and the MAP. The structural style within each of the four structural domains consists of a parallel series of three to four fault propagation folds formed by the seaward propagation of thrust faults roughly parallel to sub-horizontal layering in the upper crystalline part of the OJP. Thrust fault offsets, spacing between thrusts, and the amplitude of related fault propagation folds progressively decrease to the west in the youngest zone of active MAP accretion (Choiseul structural domain). Surficial faulting and folding in the most recently deformed, northwestern domain show active accretion of greater than 1 km of sedimentary rock and 6 km, or about 20%, of the upper crystalline part of the OJP. The eastern MAP (Malaita and Ulawa domains) underwent an earlier, similar style of partial plateau accretion. A pre-late Pliocene age of accretion (3.4 Ma) is constrained by an onshore and offshore major angular unconformity separating Pliocene reefal limestone and conglomerate from folded and faulted pelagic limestone of Cretaceous to Miocene age. The lower 80% of the Ontong Java Plateau crust beneath the MAP thrust decollement appears unfaulted and unfolded and is continuous with a southwestward-dipping subducted slab of presumably denser plateau material beneath most of the MAP, and is traceable to depths >200 km in the mantle beneath the Solomon Islands.     

Global tectonic significance of the Solomon Islands and Ontong Java Plateau convergent zone

Oceanic plateaus, areas of anomalously thick oceanic crust, cover about 3% of the Earth's seafloor and are thought to mark the surface location of mantle plume “heads”. Hotspot tracks represent continuing magmatism associated with the remaining plume conduit or “tail”. It is presently controversial whether voluminous and mafic oceanic plateau lithosphere is eventually accreted at subduction zones, and, therefore: (1) influences the eventual composition of continental crust and; (2) is responsible for significantly higher rates of continental growth than growth only by accretion of island arcs. The Ontong Java Plateau (OJP) of the southwestern Pacific Ocean is the largest and thickest oceanic plateau on Earth and the largest plateau currently converging on an island arc (Solomon Islands). For this reason, this convergent zone is a key area for understanding the fate of large and thick plateaus on reaching subduction zones.This volume consists of a series of four papers that summarize the results of joint US–Japan marine geophysical studies in 1995 and 1998 of the Solomon Islands–Ontong Java Plateau convergent zone. Marine geophysical data include single and multi-channel seismic reflection, ocean-bottom seismometer (OBS) refraction, gravity, magnetic, sidescan sonar, and earthquake studies. Objectives of this introductory paper include: (1) review of the significance of oceanic plateaus as potential contributors to continental crust; (2) review of the current theories on the fate of oceanic plateaus at subduction zones; (3) establish the present-day and Neogene tectonic setting of the Solomon Islands–Ontong Java Plateau convergent zone; (4) discuss the controversial sequence and timing of tectonic events surrounding Ontong Java Plateau–Solomon arc convergence; (5) present a series of tectonic reconstructions for the period 20 Ma (early Miocene) to the present-day in support of our proposed timing of major tectonic events affecting the Ontong Java Plateau–Solomon Islands convergent zone; and (6) compare the structural and deformational pattern observed in the Solomon Islands to ancient oceanic plateaus preserved in Precambrian and Phanerozoic orogenic belts. Our main conclusion of this study is that 80% of the crustal thickness of the Ontong Java Plateau is subducted beneath the Solomon island arc; only the uppermost basaltic and sedimentary part of the crust (7 km) is preserved on the overriding plate by subduction–accretion processes. This observation is consistent with the observed imbricate structural style of plateaus and seamount chains preserved in both Precambrian and Phanerozoic orogenic belts.     

Tholeiitic and alkalic basalts of the oldest Pacific Ocean crust

Approximately 160 Ma old basaltic lavas obtained from ODP Site 801 in the Pigafetta Basin represent the first Jurassic oceanic crust recovered in the Pacific Ocean and the oldest in situ oceanic crust discovered anywhere. The basement consists of an upper alkali olivine basalt sequence and a lower tholeiitic sequence separated by a yellow Fe-rich hydrothermal sedimentary deposit. The aphyric and sparsely plagiodase-olivine±spinel phyric tholeiites exhibit depleted, open–system fractionated characteristics with trace element abundances and Pb–Nd isotopic compositions similar to normal mid-ocean ridge basalts (N-MORB). The aphyric alkali basalts, although showing some overlap in isotopic composition with MORB, exhibit strong similarities in terms of incompatible element abundances to ocean island basalts (OIB). They could represent either OIB-type off-axis volcanism or an alkalic event possibly associated with the waning stages of spreading axis volcanism in the Pigafetta Basin. All lavas have undergone low-grade anoxic smectite–carbonate alteration, although flows underlying the Fe-rich sediments have suffered hydrothermal alteration and fracturing.     

Morphological characteristics and emplacement mechanism of the seamounts in the Central Indian Ocean Basin

The morphotectonic features of the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) provide information regarding the development of the basin. Multibeam mapping of the CIOB reveals presence of abundant isolated seamounts and seamount chains sub-parallel to each other and major fracture zones along 73° E, 79° E and 75°45′ E. Morphological analyses were carried out for 200 seamounts that occur either as isolated edifies or along eight sub-parallel chains. The identified eight parallel seamount chains that trend almost north–south and reflecting the absolute motion of the Indian plate, probably originated from the ancient propagative fractures. Inspite of the differences in their height, the seamounts of these eight chains are morphologically correlatable. In the study area the seamounts are clustered north and south of 12° S latitude. Interestingly, in the area north of 12° S (area II: 9°–12° S) the seamounts are distinctly smaller (≤ 400 m height) whereas, the area south of 12° S (area I: 12°–15° S) has a mixed population of seamounts. The normalized abundance of the CIOB seamount is 976 seamounts/10⁶ km² but on a finer scale this value varies from 500 to 1600 seamounts/10⁶ km², which is less than the seamount concentrations of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans (9000 to 16,000 seamounts/10⁶ km²). Three categories of seamounts are present in the CIOB e.g. (1) single-peaked (2) multi-peaked and (3) composite. The study indicate that single-peaked seamounts are dominant (89%) while multi-peaked is less (8%) and composite ones are rare (3%) in the CIOB.The progressive northward movement of the Indian continent caused collision between India and Asia at around 62 Ma ago. A majority of the near-axis originated seamounts in the CIOB seemed to have formed as a consequence of the temporally widespread (Cretaceous  65 Ma to late Eocene < 49 Ma) collision between India and Eurasia. The regional stress patterns in the Indian plate vary N to NE in the continent and N to NW in Indian Ocean areas. The combined effect of the regional stress patterns maintained the orientation of the seamount chains and the local stress regime helped in the upwelling of magma and formation of seamounts. The low heat flow, morphological features and geochemical signature indicate that the morphotectonic structures formed contemporaneously with the oceanic crust.     

Volcanism of the Kerguelen Plateau (Indian Ocean): Composition,Evolution, and Sources

Petrographic and geochemical study of basalts in the Kerguelen Plateau basement revealed changes in the composition and character of volcanism during the development of this tectonovolcanic structure. The Kerguelen Plateau is one of the largest intraplate rises in the World Ocean. It started to form about 120 Ma ago. The age of basalts and overlying sediments shows that the plateau formation succeeded in the northwestern direction. Basalts of the Kerguelen Plateau basement are products of tholeiitic melts in terms of geochemistry, but differ from the mid-oceanic ridge basalt (MORB). They are enriched in incompatible trace elements and rare earth elements (REE) relative to MORB, and the degree of enrichment varies in basalts from different segments of the plateau. The composition of basalts does not directly depend on their age. Specific features of the plateau magmatism are commonly explained in terms of a long-living deep magma plume, which variously interacted with a depleted upper mantle source at different stages of the plateau formation. However, taking into account block morphology and deep structure of the plateau, one can suggest that the plateau volcanism was initiated by a large fault. As the volcanism prograded to the northwest, the depth of fault penetration into the mantle changed. The composition of basalts in the plateau basement was also governed by the formation depth of primary melts.     

Sr-Nd-Pb isotope ratios, geochemical compositions, and 40Ar/39Ar data of lavas from San Felix Island (Southeast Pacific): Implications for magma genesis and sources

We present the first trace element and age data combined with new Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope ratios on lavas from San Felix Island in the Southeast Pacific. A ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau age of 421 ± 18 ka implies young intraplate volcanic activity in this region relative to the ∼22 Ma old volcanism on the neighbouring Easter seamount chain (ESC). The incompatible element compositions of the San Felix magmas are similar to those of EM1-type basalts from Gough, although the isotopic compositions differ. San Felix formed some 20 Ma after the ESC plume affected the plate in this region but no chemical signature of the ESC material is observed in the young volcanic rocks. The composition of the San Felix basalts indicates a mantle source containing old continental lithospheric material from either metasomatized mantle or recycled sediments, which ascends in a weak mantle plume.     

Diverse Origins of Xenoliths from Seamounts at the Continental Margin, Offshore Central California

A diverse assemblage of small mafic and ultramafic xenolithsoccurs in alkalic lava from Davidson and Pioneer seamounts locatedat the continental margin of central California. Based on mineralcompositions and textures, they form three groups: (1) mantlexenoliths of lherzolite, pyroxenite, and dunite with olivineof >Fo₉₀; (2) ocean crust xenoliths of dunite with olivine<Fo₉₀, troctolite, pyroxene-gabbro, and anorthosite withlow-K₂O plagioclase; (3) cumulates of seamount magmas of alkalicgabbro with primary amphibole and biotite and anorthosites withhigh-K₂O plagioclase. The alkalic cumulates are geneticallyrelated to, but more evolved than, their host lavas and probablycrystallized at the margins of magma reservoirs. Modeling andcomparison with experimentally derived phases suggest an originat moderate pressures (0·5–0·9 GPa). Thehigh volatile contents of the alkalic host lavas may have pressurizedthe magma chambers and helped to propel the xenolith-bearinglavas directly from deep storage at the base of the lithosphereto the eruption site on the ocean floor, entraining fragmentsof the upper mantle and ocean crust cumulates from the underlyingabandoned spreading center. KEY WORDS: basaltic magmatism; continental margin seamounts; geothermobarometry; mineral chemistry; xenoliths     

The tholeiite to alkalic basalt transition at Haleakala Volcano,Maui, Hawaii

Previous studies of alkalic lavas erupted during the waning growth stages (<0.9 Ma to present) of Haleakala volcano identified systematic temporal changes in isotopic and incompatible element abundance ratios. These geochemical trends reflect a mantle mixing process with a systematic change in the proportions of mixing components. We studied lavas from a 250-m-thick stratigraphic sequence in Honomanu Gulch that includes the oldest (1.1 Ma) subaerial basalts exposed at Haleakaka. The lower 200 m of section is intercalated tholeiitic and alkalic basalt with similar isotopic (Sr, Nd, Pb) and incompatible element abundance ratios (e.g., Nb/La, La/Ce, La/Sr, Hf/Sm, Ti/Eu). These lava compositions are consistent with derivation of alkalic and tholeiitic basalt by partial melting of a compositionally homogeneous, clinopyroxene-rich, garnet lherzolite source. The intercalated tholeiitic and alkalic Honomanu lavas may reflect a process which tapped melts generated in different portions of a rising plume, and we infer that the tholeiitic lavas reflect a melting range of 10% to 15%, while the intercalated alkalic lavas reflect a range of 6.5% to 8% melting. However, within the uppermost 50 m of section. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr decreases from 0.70371 to 0.70328 as eruption age decreased from 0.97 Ma to 0.78 Ma. We infer that as lava compositions changed from intercalated tholeiitic and alkalic lavas to only alkalic lavas at 0.93 Ma, the mixing proportions of source components changed with a MORB-related mantle component becoming increasingly important as eruption age decreased.     

Cretaceous seamounts along the continent-ocean transition of the Iberian margin: U-Pb ages and Pb-Sr-Hf isotopes

To elucidate the age and origin of seamounts in the eastern North Atlantic, 54 titanite and 10 zircon fractions were dated by the U-Pb chronometer, and initial Pb, Sr, and Hf isotope ratios were measured in feldspars and zircon, respectively. Rocks analyzed are essentially trachy-andesites and trachytes dredged during the “Tore Madeira” cruise of the Atalante in 2001. The ages reveal different pulses of alkaline magmatism occurring at 104.4 ± 1.4 (2σ) Ma and 102.8 ± 0.7 Ma on the Sponge Bob seamount, at 96.3 ± 1.0 Ma on Ashton seamount, at 92.3 ± 3.8 Ma on the Gago Coutinho seamount, at 89.3 ± 2.3 Ma and 86.5 ± 3.4 Ma on the Jo Sister volcanic complex, and at 88.3 ± 3.3 Ma, 88.2 ± 3.9, and 80.5 ± 0.9 Ma on the Tore locality. No space-time correlation is observed for alkaline volcanism in the northern section of the Tore-Madeira Rise, which occurred 20-30 m.y. after opening of the eastern North Atlantic. Initial isotope signatures are: 19.139-19.620 for ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, 15.544-15.828 for ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, 38.750-39.936 for ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, 0.70231-0.70340 for ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, and +6.9 to +12.9 for initial epsilon Hf. These signatures are different from Atlantic MORB, the Madeira Archipelago and the Azores, but they lie in the field of worldwide OIB. The Cretaceous seamounts therefore seem to be generated by melts from a OIB-type source that interact with continental lithospheric mantle lying formerly beneath Iberia and presently within the ocean-continent transition zone. Inheritance in zircon and high ²⁰⁷Pb of initial Pb substantiate the presence of very minor amounts of continental material in the lithospheric mantle. A long-lived thermal anomaly is the most plausible explanation for alkaline magmatism since 104 Ma and it could well be that the same anomaly is still the driving force for tertiary and quaternary alkaline magmatism in the eastern North Atlantic region. This hypothesis is agreement with the plate-tectonic position of the region since Cretaceous time, including an about 30° anti-clockwise rotation of Iberia.     

Temporal evolution of the kerguelen plume: Geochemical evidence from 38 to 82 ma lavas forming the Ninetyeast ridge

Abstract Basaltic basement has been recovered by deep-sea drilling at seven sites on the linear Ninetyeast Ridge in the eastern Indian Ocean. Studies of the recovered lavas show that this ridge formed from ~ 82 to 38 Ma as a series of subaerial volcanoes that were created by the northward migration of the Indian Plate over a fixed magma source in the mantle. The Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic ratios of lavas from the Ninetyeast Ridge range widely, but they largely overlap with those of lavas from the Kerguelen Archipelago, thereby confirming previous inferences that the Kerguelen plume was an important magma source for the Ninetyeast Ridge. Particularly important are the ~ 81 Ma Ninetyeast Ridge lavas from DSDP Site 216 which has an anomalous subsidence history (Coffin 1992). These lavas are FeTi-rich tholeiitic basalts with isotopic ratios that overlap with those of highly alkalic, Upper Miocene lavas in the Kerguelen Archipelago. The isotopic characteristics of the latter which erupted in an intraplate setting have been proposed to be the purest expression of the Kerguelen plume (Weis et al. 1993a,b). Despite the overlap in isotopic ratios, there are important compositional differences between lavas erupted on the Ninetyeast Ridge and in the Kerguelen Archipelago. The Ninetyeast Ridge lavas are dominantly tholeiitic basalts with incompatible element abundance ratios, such as La/Yb and Zr/Nb, which are intermediate between those of Indian Ocean MORB (mid-ocean ridge basalt) and the transitional to alkalic basalts erupted in the Kerguelen Archipelago. These compositional differences reflect a much larger extent of melting for the Ninetyeast Ridge lavas, and the proximity of the plume to a spreading ridge axis. This tectonic setting contrasts with that of the recent alkalic lavas in the Kerguelen Archipelago which formed beneath the thick lithosphere of the Kerguelen Plateau. From ~ 82 to 38 Ma there was no simple, systematic temporal variation of Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic ratios in Ninetyeast Ridge lavas. Therefore all of the isotopic variability cannot be explained by aging of a compositionally uniform plume. Although Class et al. (1993) propose that some of the isotopic variations reflect such aging, we infer that most of the isotopic heterogeneity in lavas from the Ninetyeast Ridge and Kerguelen Archipelago can be explained by mixing of the Kerguelen plume with a depleted MORB-like mantle component. However, with this interpretation some of the youngest, 42–44 Ma, lavas from the southern Ninetyeast Ridge which have²⁰⁶pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratios exceeding those in Indian Ocean MORB and Kerguelen Archipelago lavas require a component with higher²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, such as that expressed in lavas from St. Paul Island.     

Physico-chemical parameters of Neoproterozoic and Early Cambrian plume magmatism in the Paleo-Asian ocean (data on melt inclusions)

The paper presents new data on physico-chemical parameters of the Neoproterozoic–Early Cambrian plume magmatism in the Paleo-Asian Ocean. The data on clinopyroxenes show the plume-related plateaubasalt magmatic systems of the Katun’ paleoseamounts, which interacted with mid-ocean ridge (MOR) magmas. The Kurai paleoseamount consists mainly of plateaubasalt systems, and the Agardag ophiolites represent products of OIB–type “hot-spot” within-plate magmatism. Our study of inclusions showed that the melts of the Katun’ and Kurai paleoseamounts crystallized at lower temperatures (1130–1190 °C) compared to the Agardag ophiolites (1210–1255 °C). The petrochemical analysis of the melt inclusions showed that the Katun’ and Kurai magmatic systems are different from the Mg- and Ti-richer melts of the Agardag ophiolites: the former are similar to the magmas of the Nauru Basin and Ontong Java Plateau (western Pacific), whereas the latter possess geochemical affinities to OIB-type magmatism. The rare-element compositions of the melts of the Katun’ and Kurai paleoseamounts correspond to those of the Ontong Java Plateau and Nauru Basin lavas. The numerically simulated parameters of the Katun’ paleoseamount primary magmas agree with the data on the magmatic systems of the Siberian Platform and Ontong Java Plateau. For the Kurai paleoseamount, the simulated results suggest interaction of deep-seated OIB-type magmatic systems with MOR ones. The Agardag ophiolites were formed in relation to mantle plume activity at the initial stages of paleo-oceanic complexes formation.     

Geochemistry of subducted metabasites exhumed from the Mariana forearc: Implications for Pacific seamount subduction

Seamounts on the drifting oceanic crust are inevitably carried by plate motions and eventually accreted or subducted. However, the geochemical signatures of the subducted seamounts and the significance of seamount subduction are not well constrained. Hundreds of seamounts have subducted beneath the Philippine Sea Plate following the westward subduction of the Pacific Plate since the Eocene (~52 Ma). The subducted oceanic crust and seamount materials can be exhumed from the mantle depth to the seafloor in the Mariana forearc region by serpentinite mud volcanoes, providing exceptional opportunities to directly study the subducted oceanic crust and seamounts. The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) expedition 366 has recovered a few metamorphosed mafic clasts exhumed from the Mariana forearc serpentinite mud volcanoes, e.g., the Fantangisña and Asùt Tesoru seamounts. These mafic clasts have tholeiitic to alkaline affinities with distinct trace elements and Nd-Hf isotopes characteristics, suggesting different provenances and mantle sources. The tholeiites from the Fantangisña Seamount have trace element characteristics typical of mid-ocean ridge basalt. The Pacific-type Hf-Nd isotopic compositions, combined with the greenschist metamorphism of these tholeiites further suggest that they came from the subducted Pacific oceanic crust. The alkali basalts-dolerites from the Fantangisña and Asùt Tesoru seamounts show ocean island basalt (OIB)-like geochemical characteristics. The OIB-like geochemical signatures and the low-grade metamorphism of these alkali basalts-dolerites suggest they came from subducted seamounts that originally formed in an intraplate setting on the Pacific Plate. The Pacific Plate origin of these metabasites suggests they were formed in the Early Cretaceous or earlier.Two types of OIBs have been recognized from alkali metabasites, one of which is geochemically similar to the HIMU-EMI-type OIBs from the West Pacific Seamount Province, and another is similar to the EMII-type OIBs from the Samoa Island in southern Pacific, with negative Nb-Ta-Ti anomalies and enriched Nd-Hf isotopes. Generally, these alkali metabasites are sourced from the heterogeneous mantle sources that are similar to the present South Pacific Isotopic and Thermal Anomaly. This study provides direct evidence for seamount subduction in the Mariana convergent margins. We suggest seamount subduction is significant to element cycling, mantle heterogeneity, and mantle oxidation in subduction zones.     

Seismological structure and implications of collision between the Ontong Java Plateau and Solomon Island Arc from ocean bottom seismometer–airgun data

A seismic refraction–reflection experiment using ocean bottom seismometers and a tuned airgun array was conducted around the Solomon Island Arc to investigate the fate of an oceanic plateau adjacent to a subduction zone. Here, the Ontong Java Plateau is converging from north with the Solomon Island Arc as part of the Pacific Plate. According to our two-dimensional P-wave velocity structure modeling, the thickness of the Ontong Java Plateau is about 33 km including a thick (15 km) high-velocity layer (7.2 km/s). The thick crust of the Ontong Java Plateau still persists below the Malaita Accreted Province. We interpreted that the shallow part of the Ontong Java Plateau is accreted in front of the Solomon Island Arc as the Malaita Accreted Province and the North Solomon Trench are not a subduction zone but a deformation front of accreted materials. The subduction of the India–Australia Plate from the south at the San Cristobal Trench is confirmed to a depth of about 20 km below sea level. Seismicity around our survey area shows shallow (about 50 km) hypocenters from the San Cristobal Trench and deep (about 200 km) hypocenters from the other side of the Solomon Island Arc. No earthquakes occurred around the North Solomon Trench. The deep seismicity and our velocity model suggest that the lower part of the Ontong Java Plateau is subducting. After the oceanic plateau closes in on the arc, the upper part of the oceanic plateau is accreted with the arc and the lower part is subducted below the arc. The estimation of crustal bulk composition from the velocity model indicates that the upper portion and the total of the Solomon Island Arc are SiO₂ 58% and 53%, respectively, which is almost same as that of the Izu–Bonin Arc. This means that the Solomon Island Arc can be a contributor to growing continental crust. The bulk composition of the Ontong Java Plateau is SiO₂ 49–50%, which is meaningfully lower than those of continents. The accreted province in front of the arc is growing with the convergence of the two plates, and this accretion of the upper part of the oceanic plateau may be another process of crustal growth, although the proportion of such contribution is not clear.     

Basement Geochemistry and Geochronology of Central Malaita, Solomon Islands, with Implications for the Origin and Evolution of the Ontong Java Plateau

Sections of Ontong Java Plateau basalt basement in central Malaita(Solomon Islands) are 0·5–3·5 km thick andresemble a much-expanded version of that recovered at OceanDrilling Program Site 807. ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar ages (121–125Ma) are identical to those for Site 807, southern Malaita, RamosIsland, parts of the island of Santa Isabel, and Deep Sea DrillingProject Site 289; the     

南海盆海山火山碎屑岩的发现及其地质意义

海山火山碎屑岩是水下爆发性火山作用的产物.南海盆两座海山上发现火山碎屑岩表明海山顶部曾经一度高于PCL(压力补偿深度).岩相学特征显示这些火山碎屑岩的胶结物主要为一混合相,包括粘土矿物和黑色铁质矿物等,这从一个侧面反映海山的正地形限制了粗粒外生碎屑到达海山顶部.岩石的单矿物组分、主量元素化学特征与同海山玄武质熔岩具有可比性,属碱性岩浆系列.计算获得海山平均最小下沉速率为0.06mm/年,最大可能达0.30mm/年.海山岩石的机械风化产物对周围海盆的沉积作用作出重要贡献.     

Melanesian back-arc basin and arc development: Constraints from the eastern Coral Sea

The eastern Coral Sea is a poorly explored area at the north-eastern corner of the Australian Tectonic Plate, where interaction between the Pacific and Australian plate boundaries, and accretion of the world's largest submarine plateau – the Ontong Java Plateau – has resulted in a complex assemblage of back-arc basins, island arcs, continental plateaus and volcanic products. This study combines new and existing magnetic anomaly profiles, seafloor fabric from swath bathymetry data, Ar–Ar dating of E-MORB basalts, palaeontological dating of carbonate sediments, and plate modelling from the eastern Coral Sea. Our results constrain commencement of the opening of the Santa Cruz Basin and South Rennell Trough to c. 48 Ma and termination at 25–28 Ma. Simultaneous opening of the Melanesian Basin/Solomon Sea further north suggests that a single > 2000 km long back-arc basin, with at least one triple junction existed landward of the Melanesian subduction zone from Eocene–Oligocene times. The cessation of spreading corresponds with a reorganisation of the plate boundaries in the area and the proposed initial soft collision of the Ontong Java Plateau. The correlation between back-arc basin cessation and a widespread plate reorganisation event suggests that back-arc basins may be used as markers for both local and global plate boundary changes.     

Geochronology of the Tore-Madeira Rise seamounts and surrounding areas: a review

We present new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data for two of the Tore-Madeira Rise (TMR) volcanic seamounts. A sample from Tore East seamount on the northern part of the TMR yielded an ultra-precise age of 80.50 ± 0.13 Ma (2σ) that is similar within uncertainties to a published age obtained by U–Pb TIMS technique on titanites and zircons extracted from Tore NW seamount. Another sample from Isabelle seamount, located on the southern part of the TMR failed to produce a plateau age but yielded a minimum age estimate of >85 Ma. We filtered the published ages available on the TMR, the surrounding seamounts and the massifs of southwest Portugal to better understand the origin of this magmatic province. Together with this dataset, our new data suggest that: (1) a hypothetical Madeira hot-spot track spanning from Serra de Monchique on the continent to Madeira Archipelago is difficult to reconcile with the occurrence of several seamounts geographically located within or very close to this alleged hot-spot track yet being much older than the age predicted by the age trend.

(2) The geographical distribution and age pattern of the TMR and surrounding areas magmatism are still best explained by the interaction of a mantle melting anomaly emitting magma pulses and the different motion phases of the Iberia plate since 103 Ma.