Marc Tardy

Offscraping and underthrusting of sediment at the deformation front of the Barbados Ridge: Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 78A

On Leg 78A we drilled Sites 541 and 542 into the seaward edge of the Barbados Ridge complex, and Site 543 into the adjacent oceanic crust. The calcareous ooze, marls, and muds at Sites 541 and 542 are lithologically and paleontologically similar to the upper strata at Site 543 and are apparently offscraped from the down-going plate. A repetition of Miocene over Pliocene sediments at Site 541 documents major thrust or reverse faulting during offscraping. The hemipelagic to pelagic deposits offscraped in the Leg 78A area include no terrigenous sand beds, but they contain numerous Neogene ash layers derived from the Lesser Antilles Arc. Hence, this sequence is quite unlike the siliciclastic-dominated terranes on land that are inferred to be accretionary complexes. The structural fabric of the offscraped deposits at Sites 541 and 542 is disharmonic, probably along a decollement, with an underlying acoustically layered sequence, suggesting selective underthrusting of the latter. The acoustically layered sequence correlates seismically with pelagic strata cored at Site 543 on the incoming oceanic plate. Cores recovered from the possible decollement surface at both Sites 541 and 542 show scaly foliation and stratal disruption. Approximately lithostatic fluid pressure measured in the possible decollement zone probably facilitates the underthrusting of the pelagic sediments beneath the offscraped deposits. In the incoming section, a transition from smectitic to radiolarian mud with associated increases in density and strength probably controls the structural break between offscraped and underthrust strata. In the Leg 78A area, the underthrust pelagic section can be traced seismically at least 30 km arcward of the deformation front beneath the Barbados Ridge complex.

Multiple plume events in the genesis of the peri‐Caribbean Cretaceous oceanic plateau province

The oceanic crust fragments exposed in central America, in north-western South America, and in the Caribbean islands have been considered to represent accreted remnants of the Caribbean-Colombian Oceanic Plateau (CCOP). On the basis of trace element and Nd, Sr, and Pb isotopic compositions we infer that cumulate rocks, basalts, and diabases from coastal Ecuador have a different source than the basalts from the Dominican Republic. The latter suite includes the 86 Ma basalts of the Duarte Complex which are light rare earth element (REE) -enriched and display (relative to normal mid-ocean ridge basalts, NMORB) moderate enrichments in large ion lithophile elements, together with high Nb, Ta, Pb, and low Th contents. Moreover, they exhibit a rather restricted range of Nd and Pb isotopic ratios consistent with their derivation from an ocean island-type mantle source, the composition of which includes the HIMU (high 238U/204Pb) component characteristic of the Galapagos hotspot. In contrast, the 123 Ma Ecuadorian oceanic rocks have flat REE patterns and (relative to NMORB) are depleted in Zr, Hf, Th, and U. Moreover, they show a wide range of Nd and Pb isotopic ratios intermediate between those of ocean island basalts and NMORB. It is unlikely, on geochemical grounds, that the plume source of the Ecuadorian fragments was similar to that of the Galapagos. In addition, because of the NNE motion of the Farallon plate during the Early Cretaceous, the Ecuadorian oceanic plateau fragments could not have been derived from the Galapagos hotspot but were likely formed at a ridge-centered or near-ridge hotspot somewhere in the SE Pacific.

The Guerrero suspect terrane (western Mexico) and coeval arc terranes (the Greater Antilles and the Western Cordillera of Colombia): a late Mesozoic intra-oceanic arc accreted to cratonal America during the Cretaceous

The Guerrero suspect terrane, composed of Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous sequences, extends from Baja California to Acapulco and is considered to be coeval with the late Mesozoic igneous and sedimentary arc sequences of the Greater Antilles, the West Indies, Venezuela and the Western Cordillera of Colombia. These sequences represent the remnants of an arc which accreted to the North American and northern South American cratons at the end of the Cretaceous. In western Mexico, the arc sequences built on continental crust consist of high-K calc-alkaline basalts, andesites and rhyolites enriched in LREE with abundant siliceous pyroclastic rocks interbedded either with Aptian-Albian reefal limestones or red beds. They do not show magmatic changes during the arc development. In contrast, the arc sequences built on oceanic crust show an evolution with time. Arc activity began with the development of depleted low K-tholeiitic mafic suite (Guanajuato igneous sequence), followed first by mature tholeiitic basalts and then by calc-alkaline olivine basalts interbedded with micritic limestones and radiolarian oozes of Early Cretaceous age. At the end of the arc growth, during Aptian-Albian times, calc-alkaline pillow basalts and and esites poured out in the volcanic front while shoshonitic olivine basalts extruded in the back arc. The tholeiitic and shoshonitic mafic rocks as well as the calc-alkaline lavas are mildly enriched in LREE, Y and Nb and show high ϵNd ratios, typical of oceanic arcs. In contrast, the calc-alkaline mafic suite enriched in LREE, Y and Nb exhibits lower ϵNd ratios suggesting that it was derived by the partial melting of a mantle source contaminated either by Paleozoic subducted sediments or old source enrichments (OIB). The Cretaceous arc rocks of the Greater Antilles, interbedded with and/or capped by Aptian-Albian limestones, the Cretaceous andesites of northern Colombia, the Cretaceous tholeiitic and calc-alkaline volcanic rocks of Venezuela, and the Cretaceous volcano-plutonic arc assemblage of Tobago share a similar magmatic evolution with the western Mexican oceanic arc. The tholeiitic plutono-volcanic assemblage of Tobago, depleted in LREE and characterized by high ϵNd values is similar to the Guanajuato volcano-plutonic sequence of Mexico, considered to represent the pristine stage of the arc. The mature tholeiitic sequences exposed in the proto-Caribbean arc show flat to moderately enriched LREE patterns like those of the Guerrero terrane. However, felsic plutonic and volcanic rocks prevail in the Caribbean. Calc-alkaline suites, accompanied locally by shoshonitic lavas, characterize the end of arc magmatic activity in both places. Thus, the geochemical features of the Late Jurassic-Cretaceous arc series of the Guerrero terrane and the proto-Caribbean are consistent with the following plate tectonic model. The Guerrero terrane and the proto-Caribbean probably belonged to the same intra-paleo-Pacific arc system the development of which was related to the subduction of oceanic basins fringing the North and northern South American cratons. This subduction zone was WSW dipping. While subduction was going on, these magmatic arcs drifted, moved closer to the North and South American cratons, and finally collided with the American borderlands at different periods during the Cretaceous. The late Mesozoic Guerrero and proto-Caribbean arc sequences show striking similarities with the Miocene calc-alkaline lavas dredged from the Banda Ridges, the North Marianas Seamount Province, and the Halmahera and Philippine arcs. We suggest that the diverse but mostly submarine segments of this late Mesozoic intra-Pacific arc rimmed the North and South American cratons as much as these Tertiary arcs rim Southeast Asia.

The Mamonia Complex (SW Cyprus) revisited: remnant of Late Triassic intra-oceanic volcanism along the Tethyan southwestern passive margin

Upper Triassic volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Mamonia Complex in southwestern Cyprus are exposed in erosional windows through the post-Cretaceous cover, where the Mamonia Complex is tectonically imbricated with the Troodos and Akamas ophiolitic suites. Most of these Upper Triassic volcanic rocks have been considered to represent remnants of Triassic oceanic crust and its associated seamounts. New Nd and Pb isotopic data show that the whole Mamonia volcanic suite exhibits features of oceanic island basalts (OIB). Four rock types have been distinguished on the basis of the petrology and chemistry of the rocks. Volcanism began with the eruption of depleted olivine tholeiites (Type 1) and oceanic island tholeiites (Type 2) associated with deep basin siliceous and/or calcareous sediments. The tholeiites were followed by highly phyric alkali basalts (Type 3) interbedded with pelagic Halobia-bearing limestones or white reefal limestones. Strongly LREE-enriched trachytes (Type 4) were emplaced during the final stage of volcanic activity. Nd and Pb isotopic ratios suggest that tholeiites and mildly alkali basalts derived from partial melting of heterogeneous enriched mantle sources. Fractional crystallization alone cannot account for the derivation of trachytes from alkaline basalts. The trachytes could have been derived from the partial melting at depth of mafic material which shares with the alkali basalts similar trace element and isotopic compositions. This is corroborated by the rather similar isotopic compositions of the alkali basalts and trachytes. The correlations observed between incompatible elements (Nb, Th) and {varepsilon}Nd and Pb isotopic initial ratios suggest that the Mamonia suite was derived from the mixing of a depleted mantle (DMM) and an enriched component of High µ (µ = 238U/204Pb, HIMU) type. Models using both Nd and Pb isotopic initial ratios suggest that the depleted tholeiites (Type 1) derived from a DMM source contaminated by an Enriched Mantle Type 2 component (EM2), and that the oceanic tholeiites (Type 2), alkali basalts (Type 3) and trachytes (Type 4) were derived from the mixing of the enriched mantle source of the depleted tholeiites with a HIMU component. None of the Mamonia volcanic rocks show evidence of crustal contamination. The Upper Triassic within-plate volcanism likely erupted in a small southerly Neotethyan basin, located north of the Eratosthenes seamount and likely floored by oceanic crust.

Is the Lower Duarte Igneous Complex (Hispaniola) a Remnant of the Caribbean Plume-Generated Oceanic Plateau?

Eleven samples of metapicrites, metaankaramites, diabases, and cumulates of the lower Duarte Complex in central Hispaniola were analyzed for major, trace element, and Nd-Sr isotopic compositions. The picrites are plagioclase-free and rich in phenocrysts of clinopyroxene and olivine pseudomorphs. The ankaramites differ from the picrites by the presence of abundant and large clinopyroxene phenocrysts. The diabases consist of plagioclase laths embedded with clinopyroxene. These rocks show E-MORB affinities. Relative to N-MORB, they exhibit high concentrations in Nb, Ta, Th, Ti, light and medium rare earth elements, and low Y contents. They are associated with olivine-clinopyroxene cumulates and gabbros. The olivine-clinopyroxene cumulates differ from the lavas by lower trace element contents and a lesser LREE enrichment. The gabbros exhibit flat REE patterns. All these clinopyroxene-rich rocks show homogeneous

Volcaniclastic Sequences With Continental Affinities Within the Late Jurassic‐Early Cretaceous Guerrero Intra‐Oceanic Arc Terrane (Western Mexico)

\epsilon_{Nd(T = 150 Ma)}

Nature des sources des composants andesitiques des Gres du Champsaur et des Gres de Taveyannaz; implications dans l'evolution des Alpes occidentales au Paleogene

ratios ( + 5.3 to +7.1), which plot within the range of Ocean Island basalts. Their