S. D. Weaver

Volcanic and structural evolution of Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand: a review

The Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ) in the central North Island is the main focus of young volcanism in New Zealand. Andesitic activity started at c. 2 Ma, joined by voluminous rhyolitic (plus minor basaltic and dacitic) activity from c. 1.6 Ma. The TVZ is c. 300 km long (200 km on land) and up to 60 km wide, as defined by vent positions and caldera structural boundaries. The total volume of TVZ volcanic deposits is uncertain because a sub-volcanic basement has not been identified, but present data suggest bulk volumes of 15–20,000 km3, and that faulted metasediments form most of the immediate subvolcanic basement. Rhyolite (≥15,000 km3 bulk volume, typically 70–77% SiO2) is the dominant magma erupted in the TVZ (mostly as calderaforming ignimbrite eruptions), andesite is an order of magnitude less abundant, and basalt and dacite are minor in volume (< 100 km3 each). The history of the TVZ is here divided into ‘old TVZ’ from 2.0 Ma to 0.34 Ma, and ‘young TVZ’ from 0.34 Ma onwards, separated by the Whakamaru eruptions, which obscured much of the evidence for older activity within the zone. The TVZ shows a pronounced segmentation into northeastern and southwestern andesite-dominated extremities with composite cones and no calderas, and a central 125-km-long rhyolite-dominated segment. Eight rhyolitic caldera centres have so far been identified in the central segment, of which two (Mangakino and Kapenga) are composite features, and more centres will probably be delineated as further data accumulate. These centres account for 34 inferred caldera-forming ignimbrite eruptions, in the c. 1.6-Ma lifetime of the central TVZ. The modern central TVZ is the most frequently active and productive silicic volcanic system on Earth, erupting rhyolite at c. 0.28 m3 s−1, and available information suggests this has been so for at least the past 0.34 Ma. The rhyolites show no major compositional changes with time, though the extent of magma chamber zonation may have changed with the incoming of rifting and crustal extension in the past c. 0.9 Ma. Within the central TVZ, non-rhyolitic compositions have been erupted apparently irregularly in time and space; in particular there is no evidence for a geographic separation of basalts from andesites. Between 0.9 and 0.34 Ma, a major episode of uplift affected areas around the TVZ, while at the same time the main focus of activity may have migrated eastwards within the TVZ accompanying rifting along the axis of the zone. The modern TVZ is rifting at rates between 7 and 18 mm a−1 and restoration of the thin (15km) ‘crust’ (Vp ≤ 6.1 km s−1) beneath the central TVZ to its pre-rifting thickness (25 km) implies that rifting at such rates may have begun only at c. 0.9 Ma. The TVZ is a rifted arc, but its longitudinally segmented nature, high thermal flux and voluminous rhyolitic volcanism make it unique on Earth.

The Cretaceous Separation Point batholith, New Zealand: granitoid magmas formed by melting of mafic lithosphere

The Early Cretaceous Separation Point batholith of the South Island, New Zealand, represents the final magmatic stage of an extensive arc system located on the SW Pacific margin of Gondwana during the Mesozoic. The batholith consists of Na-rich, alkali-calcic diorite to biotite-hornblende monzogranite. The rocks are distinct from calc-alkaline subduction-related granitoids, but comparable with those of adakite and Archaean trondhjemite-tonalite-dacite suites. Primitive Sr and Nd isotopic ratios and the absence of inherited zircon, indicate that the granitoids experienced little, if any, interaction with felsic crust. Their geochemistry is consistent with melting of a basaltic protolith of amphibolite mineralogy, either young, hot, subducted oceanic crust or newly underplated material beneath a thickened continental arc. The latter model is preferred because Separation Point rocks do not posess MORB isotopic characteristics, and cannot be explained as mixtures of MORB-melt and continental crust. Most likely it involves melting of basal arc material in response to the collision and thrusting of the arc beneath the continental margin following subduction of a back-arc basin. On the basis of strong geochemical similarities, the Early Cretaceous Western Fiordland Orthogneiss of SW New Zealand is considered to be the lower crustal equivalent of the Separation Point batholith.

Chronology and dynamics of a large silicic magmatic system: Central Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand

The central Taupo Volcanic Zone in New Zealand is a region of intense Quaternary silicic volcanism accompanying rapid extension of continental crust. At least 34 caldera-forming ignimbrite eruptions have produced a complex sequence of relatively short-lived, nested, and/or overlapping volcanic centers over 1.6 m.y. Silicic volcanism at Taupo is similar to the Yellowstone system in size, longevity, thermal flux, and magma output rate. However, Taupo contrasts with Yellowstone in the exceptionally high frequency, but small size, of caldera-forming eruptions. This contrast reflects the thin, rifted nature of the crust, which precludes the development of long-term magmatic cycles at Taupo. 11 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab.

Antarctica-New Zealand rifting and Marie Byrd Land lithospheric magmatism linked to ridge subduction and mantle plume activity

Mid-Cretaceous igneous rocks of central Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica record a rapid change from subduction-related to rift-related magmatism. This correlates with the final stages of subduction of the Phoenix plate and the subsequent rifting of New Zealand from West Antarctica, prior to the opening of the Southern Ocean. Rift magmatism produced diverse A-type granitoids and mafic intrusive rocks of continental flood-basalt affinity that were derived ultimately from lithospheric mantle sources. Rifting was caused by changes in plate boundary forces; however, mantle plume activity may have begun in mid-Cretaceous time, triggering melting of the lithosphere and controlling the locus of rifting.

ION MICROPROBE DATING OF PALEOZOIC GRANITOIDS : DEVONIAN MAGMATISM IN NEW ZEALAND AND CORRELATIONS WITH AUSTRALIA AND ANTARCTICA

Abstract Precise ion microprobe UPb zircon ages have been obtained from a representative set of Paleozoic igneous rocks from the Western Province of the South Island, New Zealand. Granitoid rocks forming the Karamea Batholith and related plutons in the Buller terrane all yield crystallisation ages that are indistinguishable within a ± 5 Ma uncertainty at 375 Ma (Middle-Late Devonian). Previous workers have suggested that the batholith was emplaced over a long time interval and comprises rocks ranging in age from 370 to 310 Ma, with the bulk in the Early Carboniferous. Granitoid rocks with Carboniferous ages (∼ 330 Ma) do occur further to the west and younger Cretaceous granitoids occur within the Karamea Batholith, but these are not volumetrically significant. A sample from the ultramafic-mafic Riwaka Complex in the adjacent Takaka terrane gave a crystallisation age of 376.9 ± 5.6 Ma (2σ), indicating emplacement coeval with the Karamea Batholith. The Paleozoic granitoids contain a large amount of inherited zircon, with distinct 390-, 500–600- and 1000-Ma components. The 390-Ma age corresponds to widespread plutonism in the Lachlan Fold Belt in SE Australia. The 500–600-Ma (Ross-Delamerian age) and 1000-Ma (Grenville age) age components have also been observed in granitoids from the Lachlan Fold Belt and in Ordovician metasedimentary rocks from SE Australia and New Zealand. The inherited zircons in the Karamea Batholith could be derived from continental basement at depth, from the incorporation of upper-crustal material in the granitoid magmas or both. The Devonian granitoids in New Zealand can now be correlated with rocks of similar age in northern Victoria Land (Admiralty Intrusives) and Marie Byrd Land (Ford Granodiorite) in West Antarctica, in NE Tasmania, and in the central part of the Lachlan Fold Belt in SE Australia. On a reconstruction of the SW Pacific margin of Gondwana, prior to later break-up, it is possible to trace out a semi-continuous magmatic belt in excess of 2000 km in length.

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.

SHRIMP U-Pb geochronology of Cretaceous magmatism in northwest Nelson-Westland, South Island, New Zealand

Abstract Ion microprobe U‐Pb zircon ages have been obtained from four samples of Cretaceous granitoid and two samples of volcanogenic sediment from the northwest Nelson‐Westland region of the South Island of New Zealand. Crow Granite, which intrudes lower Paleozoic metasedi‐mentary rocks in the Buller Terrane on the eastern side of the Karamea Batholith, has given a crystallisation age of 137 ± 3 Ma (2a). This age is typical of the Jurassic‐Early Cretaceous plutonic rocks that dominate the Median Tectonic Zone, and raises the possibility that the Western Province and the Median Tectonic Zone were linked some 20 m.y. earlier than previously proposed. The “Gouland granod‐iorite”, which forms a large pluton at the northeastern margin of the Karamea Batholith, has a crystallisation age of 119 ± 2 Ma (2a). This age is similar to the Separation Point Batholith (118 Ma), and the distinctive chemistry of the batholith (high Na, Al, Sr, and low Y) is also displayed by the Gouland granodiorite. The “Big Deep granit...

Mid-Cretaceous granitic magmatism during the transition from subduction to extension in southern New Zealand: a chemical and tectonic synthesis

Abstract Regional geochronological studies indicate that mid-Cretaceous plutonism (the Hohonu Suite at ∼110 Ma) in the Hohonu Batholith, Western Province of New Zealand, occurred during a period of rapid tectonic change in the SW Pacific portion of Gondwana. The 30–40 m.y. preceding Hohonu Suite magmatism were dominated by the subduction-related plutonism of the Median Tectonic Zone volcanic arc. Between 125–118 Ma there was a major collisional event, inferred to be the result of collision between the Median Tectonic Zone and the Western Province. This collision resulted in melting of the Median Tectonic Zone arc underplate and generation of a distinctive suite of alkali-calcic granitoids, termed the Separation Point Suite. At ∼110 Ma there was another pulse of magmatism, restricted to the Buller terrane of the Western Province, and including the Hohonu Suite granitoids. This was followed almost immediately by extension, culminating in the opening of the Tasman Sea some 30 m.y. later. The Hohonu Suite granitoids overlap temporally with the last vestiges of collisional Separation Point magmas and the onset of crustal extension in the Western Province, and thus represent magmatism in a post-collisional setting. Hohonu Suite magmas are typically calc-alkaline, but retain a chemical signature which suggests that the earlier Separation Point Suite magmas and/or sources were involved in Hohonu Suite petrogenesis. A model is proposed in which rapid isothermal uplift, resulting from the post-collisional collapse of continental crust previously thickened during the Median Tectonic Zone collision, caused melting of lower continental crust to generate the Hohonu Suite granitoids. In this example, granitoid composition is a consequence of the composition of the source rocks and the conditions present during melting, and no geochemical signature indicative of the tectonic setting during magmatism is present.

French Creek Granite and Hohonu Dyke Swarm, South Island, New Zealand: Late Cretaceous alkaline magmatism and the opening of the Tasman Sea*

The Hohonu Dyke Swarm and French Creek Granite represent contemporaneous and cogenetic alkaline magmatism generated during crustal extension in the Western Province of New Zealand. The age of 82 Ma for French Creek Granite coincides with the oldest oceanic crust in the Tasman Sea and suggests emplacement during the separation of New Zealand and Australia. The French Creek Granite is a composite A‐type granitoid, dominated by a subsolvus biotite syenogranite with high silica, low CaO, MgO, Cr, Ni, V and Sr and elevated high‐field‐strength elements (Zr, Nb, Ga, Y). Subordinate varieties of French Creek Granite include a hypersolvus alkali amphibole monzogranite and a quartz‐alkali feldspar syenite. Spatially associated rhyolitic dykes are considered to represent hypabyssal equivalents of French Creek Granite. The Hohonu Dyke Swarm represents mafic magmatism which preceded, overlapped with, and followed emplacement of French Creek Granite. Lamprophyric and doleritic varieties dominate the swarm, with rare ph...

Mid‐Cretaceous oroclinal bending of New Zealand terranes

Abstract Recently published results and new data suggest that the Jurassic‐Cretaceous magmatic rocks of the Median Tectonic Zone of New Zealand, and the Cretaceous Separation Point Batholith that locally intrudes it, were emplaced subparallel to the Mesozoic Gondwana margin. Together, they provide a valuable piercing point on the Alpine Fault for 118 Ma. They also lie almost exactly parallel to mean extension lineations in exhumed metamorphic core complexes and extension directions indicated by fault‐bounded Cretaceous sedimentary basins and dike swarms in the overlying cover. Continental extension and subsequent breakup in the Tasman Sea and the eastern Bounty Trough was towards the northeast, almost perpendicular to the overall trend of the Gondwana margin but parallel to the margin‐related rocks in the central sector. Together, these relationships suggest almost 90° of rotation and major dextral shear. New geochronology now constrains the rotation to the period between the intrusion of the Separation P...