R.J. Pankhurst

A geochemical study of island-arc and back-arc tholeiites from the Scotia Sea

87Sr/86Sr and143Nd/144Nd ratios, REE and selected minor and trace elements are presented and compared for present-day volcanic rocks in the Scotia Sea. Tholeiitic basalts from the South Sandwich Islands show widely ranging contents of some lithophile elements, e.g. K2O (0.09–0.55%) and Rb (1.55–14.2 ppm), but fairly constant Na2O and Sr. Total REE contents range from about 4–20 times chondritic abundances with significant light-REE depletion and both positive and negative Eu anomalies. The variations in minor and trace element abundances are consistent with low-pressure fractional crystallization of plagioclase and clinopyroxene but only minor amounts of olivine. The87Sr/86Sr and143Nd/144Nd ratios of the parental magmas are thought be 0.7038–0.7039 and 0.51301–0.51314 respectively, and indicate derivation of at least some87Sr from subducted ocean crust. The back-arc tholeiites in the Scotia Sea have lower87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.7028–0.7033), similar143Nd/144Nd ratios (0.51305) and are variably light-REE-enriched(CeN/YbN= 1.0–1.6). Total REE contents are comparable to those of the South Sandwich Islands tholeiites.

The Chon Aike province of Patagonia and related rocks in West Antarctica: A silicic large igneous province

The field occurrence, age, classification and geochemistry of the Mesozoic volcanic rocks of Patagonia and West Antarctica are reviewed, using published and new information. Dominated by rhyolitic ignimbrites, which form a bimodal association with minor mafic and intermediate lavas, these constitute one of the largest silicic igneous provinces known, equivalent in size to many mafic LIPs. Diachronism is recognized between the Early–Middle Jurassic volcanism of eastern Patagonia (Marifil and Chon Aike formations) and the Middle Jurassic–earliest Cretaceous volcanism of the Andean Cordillera (El Quemado, Ibanez and Tobifera formations). This is accompanied by a change in geochemical characteristics, from relatively high-Zr and -Nb types in the east to subalkaline arc-related rocks in the west, although the predominance of rhyolites remains a constant factor. All of the associated mafic rocks are well fractionated compared to direct mantle derivatives. Petrogenetic models favour partial melting of immature lower crust as a result of the intrusion of basaltic magmas, possibly with some hybridisation of the liquids and subsequent fractionation by crystal settling or solidification and remelting. The formation of large amounts of intracrustal silicic melt acted as a density barrier against the further rise of mafic magmas, which are thus rare in the province.

Age and origin of coeval TTG, I- and S-type granites in the Famatinian belt of NW Argentina

Three granitoid types are recognised in the Famatinian magmatic belt of NW Argentina, based on lithology and new geochemical data: (a) a minor trondhjemite–tonalite–granodiorite (TTG) group, (b) a metaluminous I-type gabbro-monzogranite suite, and (c) S-type granites. The latter occur as small cordieritic intrusions associated with 1-type granodiorites and as abundant cordierite-bearing facies in large batholithic masses. Twelve new SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages establish the contemporaneity of all three types in Early Ordovician times (mainly 470-490 Ma ago). Sr- and Nd-isotopic data suggest that, apart from some TTG plutons of asthenospheric origin, the remaining magmas were derived from a Proterozoic crust-lithospheric mantle section. Trace element modelling suggests that the TTG originated by variable melting of a depleted gabbroid source at 10-12kbar, and the I-type tonalite-granodiorite suite by melting of a more enriched lithospheric source at c. 5 kbar. The voluminous intermediate and acidic I-types involved hybridisation with lower and middle crustal melts. The highly peraluminous S-type granites have isotopic and inherited zircon patterns similar to those of Cambrian supracrustal metasedimentary rocks deposited in the Pampean cycle, and were derived from them by local anatexis. Other major components of the S-type batholiths involved melting of deep crust and mixing with the I-type magmas, leading to an isotopic and geochemical continuum.

Mesozoic-Cenozoic evolution of the North Patagonian Batholith in Aysen, southern Chile

A detailed Rb-Sr geochronological and geochemical study has been carried out on granitoids of the North Patagonian batholith in Aysén. The results for 25 plutonic bodies reveal a complex age pattern. The principal zones defined are, from west to east: Late Cretaceous (a single 76 Ma pluton), Early Cretaceous (c. 135 Ma), Eocene (c. 45 Ma), and Early Miocene (25-15 Ma), reverting to mid-Cretaceous (120-90 Ma) in the Main Cordillera. The igneous suite is typically metaluminous and calc-alkaline, with hornblende-biotite granodiorite and tonalite dominant, although small bodies of Late Miocene/Pliocene (c. 10-5 Ma) peraluminous leucogranite occur sporadically. Tertiary plutonism extends to gabbroic compositions and is concentrated in the vicinity of the dextral strike-slip Liquine-Ofqui fault zone. The highest initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios (c. 0.7050) occur in the Early Cretaceous group, with a sharp decrease to 0.7034–0.7045 that persists until a Late Miocene reversal to higher values (0.7040–0.7048). These variations are reflected by Nd isotopes, but trends in the ɛSr, v. ɛNd, diagram show that this is not due to contamination from the accretionary complex into which the batholith was emplaced. An origin by melting of mafic crustal underplate and lower crust is suggested for the main magma suite. The discrete episodes of magmatism correlate with significant changes in subduction kinematics.

A geochemical study of magmatism associated with the initial stages of back-arc spreading

Bransfield Strait is a narrow basin separating the South Shetland Islands from the Antarctic Peninsula and is attributed to recent back-arc extension behind the South Shetland volcanic arc. The volcanic islands of Deception and Bridgeman are situated close to the axis of spreading, whereas Penguin Island lies slightly to the north of this axis. The mineralogy, petrology and geochemistry of the lavas of the three volcanoes have been studied in order to provide information on the nature of magmatism associated with the initial stages of back-arc spreading.Deception Island lavas range from olivine basalt to dacite, and all are highly sodic, with high Na/K, K/Rb, Ba/Rb and Zr/Nb ratios and with CeN/YbN = 2. Incompatible elements increase systematically between basalt and rhyodacite, while Sr decreases, suggesting that fractional crystallisation is the dominant process relating lava compositions. The rhyodacites have high concentrations of Zr, Y and the REE and negative Eu anomalies and are compositionally similar to oceanic plagiogranite. Bridgeman Island lavas are mostly basaltic andesites, but the levels of many incompatible elements, including REE, are significantly lower than those of Deception lavas, although CeN/YbN ratios and 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.7035) are the same. Penguin Island lavas are magnesian, mildly alkaline olivine basalts with a small range of composition that can be accommodated by fractional crystallisation of olivine, clinopyroxene and/or chromite. Penguin lavas have higher 87Sr/86Sr (0.7039) and CeN/ YbN (4) ratios than Deception and Bridgeman lavas. The Rb/Sr ratios of Deception and Penguin basalts (ca. 0.01) are much too low to account for their present 87Sr/86Sr ratios.Modelling suggests that the source regions of the lavas of the three volcanoes share many geochemical features, but there are also some significant differences, which probably reflects the complex nature of the mantle under an active island arc combined with complex melting relationships attending the initial stages of back-arc spreading. Favoured models suggest that Bridgeman lavas represent 10–20% melting and the more primitive Deception lavas 5–10% melting of spinel-peridotite, whereas Penguin lavas represent less then 5% melting of a garnet-peridotite source. The mantle source for Bridgeman lavas seems to have undergone short-term enrichment in K, Rb and Ba, possibly resulting from dewatering of the subducted slab. Hydrous melting conditions may also account for the more siliceous, high-alumina nature and low trace element contents of Bridgeman lavas.

Production of Jurassic rhyolite by anatexis of the lower crust of Patagonia

Abstract The mid-Jurassic Marifil and Chon-Aike volcanic rocks of eastern Patagonia are part of one of the largest silicic igneous provinces known. Rb Sr geochronology indicates eruptive ages of 175–190 Ma for the Marifil complex (mostly Toarcian-Aalenian). The majority of the rocks are isotopically uniform, with initial 87Sr/86Sr= 0.7067 ± 0.0003 and eNdt = −4 ± 2. Primary magmas of andesitic composition were generated by partial melting of mafic “Grenvillian” lower crust, indentified by depleted-mantle model ages of 1150–1600 Ma. Lower crustal pyroxene-granulite xenoliths can be modelled as residual Jurassic source, although they may alternatively be co-genetic cumulates. The dacite-rhyolite suite formed by crystal-liquid fractionation processes from the primary andesites: involving multistage crystallization and re-melting during magma ascent, with the later stages of evolution being explicable by fractional crystallization of plagioclase, amphibole and accessory minerals. The province represents large-scale lower crustal reworking associated with the unique tectonic and igneous environment of Gondwana break-up.

Terrane Processes at the Margins of Gondwana

The process of terrane accretion is vital to the understanding of the formation of continental crust. Accretionary orogens affect over half of the globe and have a distinctively different evolution to Wilson-type orogens. It is increasingly evident that accretionary orogenesis has played a significant role in the formation of the continents. The Pacific-margin of Gondwana preserves a major orogenic belt, termed here the ‘Australides’, which was an active site of terrane accretion from Neoproterozoic to Late Mesozoic times, and comparable in scale to the Rockies from Mexico to Alaska, or the Variscan-Appalachian orogeny. The New Zealand sector of this orogenic belt was one of the birthplaces of terrane theory and the Australide orogeny overall continues to be an important testing ground for terrane studies. This volume summarizes the history and principles of terrane theory and presents 16 new works that review and synthesize the current state of knowledge for the Gondwana margin, from Australia through New Zealand and Antarctica to South America, examining the evolution of the whole Gondwana margin through time.

Mantle plumes and Antarctica-New Zealand rifting: evidence from mid-Cretaceous mafic dykes

Ocean floor magnetic anomalies show that New Zealand was the last continental fragment to separate from Antarctica during Gondwana break-up, drifting from Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, about 84 Ma ago. Prior to continental drift, a voluminous suite of mafic dykes (dated by Ar–Ar laser stepped heating at 107 ± 5 Ma) and anorogenic silicic rocks, including syenites and peralkaline granitoids (95–102 Ma), were emplaced in Marie Byrd Land during a rifting event. The mafic dyke suite includes both high- and low-Ti basalts. Trace element and Sr and Nd isotope compositions of the mafic dykes may be modelled by mixing between tholeiitic OIB (asthenosphere-derived) and alkaline high- to low-Ti alkaline magmas (lithospheric mantle derived). Pb isotopes indicate that the OIB component had a HIMU composition. We suggest that the rift-related magmatism was generated in the vicinity of a mantle plume. The plume helped to control the position of continental separation within the very wide region of continental extension that developed when the Pacific–Phoenix spreading ridge approached the subduction zone. Separation of New Zealand from Antarctica occurred when the Pacific–Phoenix spreading centre propagated into the Antarctic continent. Sea floor spreading in the region of the mantle plume may have caused an outburst of volcanism along the spreading ridge generating an oceanic plateau, now represented by the 10–15 km thick Hikurangi Plateau situated alongside the Chatham Rise, New Zealand. The plateau consists of tholeiitic OIB-MORB basalt, regarded as Cretaceous in age, and similar in composition to the putative tholeiitic end-member in the Marie Byrd Land dykes. The mantle plume is proposed to now underlie the western Ross Sea, centred beneath Mount Erebus, where it was largely responsible for the very voluminous, intraplate, alkaline McMurdo Volcanic Group. A second mantle plume beneath Marie Byrd Land formed the Cenozoic alkaline volcanic province.

Detrital zircon age patterns and provenance of the metamorphic complexes of southern Chile

Abstract Zircon SHRIMP U–Pb age patterns are reported for 13 metasedimentary rocks from the low grade metamorphic complexes of the Patagonian Andes. Combined with four recently published patterns, these provide the first detailed survey of the provenance of these complexes. The youngest dated zircons, corresponding to maximum sedimentation ages, are Devonian-Late Triassic in the eastern Andes metamorphic complex, Carboniferous in the main range metamorphic complex, Permian in the Duque de York complex, and Late Triassic in the Chonos metamorphic complex. In the last two cases, these ages are in agreement with their respective fossil ages. Older components in the eastern Andes metamorphic complex include a large proportion of Proterozoic (predominantly 1000–1200 Ma) zircons, which may indicate distribution, probably by rivers, of detrital material from regions currently in northern South America, Africa, or east Antarctica. The abundance of Proterozoic zircons is very much less in the Duque de York complex, possibly because of the rise of an inferred Permian magmatic arc related to the Gondwanan orogeny and consequent westward migration of the watershed. A Late Triassic magmatic episode is registered in the Chonos metamorphic complex, where reappearance of significant Proterozoic zircons indicates exhumation of the cratonic areas or of recycled sedimentary material.

Involvement of the Argentine Precordillera terrane in the Famatinian mobile belt: U-Pb SHRIMP and metamorphic evidence from the Sierra de Pie de Palo

New data suggest that the eastern margin of the Argentine Precordillera terrane comprises Grenvillian basement and a sedimentary cover derived from it that were together affected by Middle Ordovician deformation and metamorphism during accretion to the Gondwana margin. The basement first underwent low pressure/temperature ( P/T ) type metamorphism, reaching high-grade migmatitic conditions in places (686 ± 40 MPa, 790 ± 17 °C), comparable to the Grenvillian M2 metamorphism of the supposed Laurentian counterpart of the terrane. The second metamorphism, recognized in the cover sequence, is of Famatinian age and took place under higher P/T conditions, following a clockwise P-T path (baric peak: 1300 ± 100 Mpa, 600 ± 50 °C). Low-U zircon overgrew detrital Grenvillian cores as pressure fell from its peak, and yields U-Pb SHRIMP ages of ca. 460 Ma. This is interpreted as the age of ductile thrusting coincident with early uplift; initial accretion to Gondwana must have occurred before this. The absence of late Neoproterozoic detrital zircons is consistent with a Laurentian origin of the Argentine Precordillera terrane.