volcanic plutonic parity and the differentiation of the continental crust the continental crust is central to the biological and geological history of earth however crustal heterogeneity has prevented a thorough geochemical comparison of its primary igneous building blocks volcanic and plutonic rocks and the processes by which they differentiate to felsic compositions our analysis of a comprehensive global data set of volcanic and plutonic whole rock geochemistry shows that differentiation trends from primitive basaltic to felsic compositions for volcanic versus plutonic samples are generally indistinguishable in subduction zone settings but are divergent in continental rifts offsets in major and trace element differentiation patterns in rift settings suggest higher water content in plutonic magmas and reduced eruptibility of hydrous silicate magmas relative to dry rift volcanics in both tectonic settings our results indicate that fractional crystallization rather than crustal melting is predominantly responsible for the production of intermediate and felsic magmas emphasizing the role of mafic cumulates as a residue of crustal differentiation a global geochemical data set of volcanic and plutonic rocks indicates that differentiation trends from primitive basaltic to felsic compositions for volcanic versus plutonic samples are generally indistinguishable in subduction zone settings but are divergent in continental rifts brenhin keller and co authors present a global geochemical dataset of the two fundamental building blocks of the continental crust volcanic externally erupted and plutonic internally solidified rocks their results indicate that differentiation trends from primitive basaltic to felsic compositions for volcanic versus plutonic samples are generally indistinguishable in subduction zone settings but divergent in continental rifts offsets in major and trace element differentiation patterns in rift settings suggest higher water content in plutonic magmas and reduced eruptibility of hydrous silicate magmas relative to dry rift volcanics this work indicates that in both tectonic settings fractional crystallization rather than crustal melting is predominantly responsible for the production of intermediate and felsic magmas

the new athena alpha particle x ray spectrometer for the mars exploration rovers 1 the new alpha particle x ray spectrometer apxs is part of the athena payload of the two mars exploration rovers mer the apxs sensor head is attached to the turret of the instrument deployment device idd of the rover the apxs is a very light weight instrument for determining the major and minor elemental composition of martian soils rocks and other geological materials at the mer landing sites the sensor head has simply to be docked by the idd on the surface of the selected sample x ray radiation excited by alpha particles and x rays of the radioactive sources is recorded by a high resolution x ray detector the x ray spectra show elements starting from sodium up to yttrium depending on their concentrations the backscattered alpha spectra measured by a ring of detectors provide additional data on carbon and oxygen by means of a proper calibration the elemental concentrations are derived together with data from the two other athena instruments mounted on the idd the samples under investigation can be fully characterized key apxs objectives are the determination of the chemistry of crustal rocks and soils and the examination of water related deposits sediments or evaporates using the rock abrasion tool attached to the idd issues of weathering can be addressed by measuring natural and abraded surfaces of rocks

the behavior of cu zn and pb during magmatic hydrothermal activity at merapi volcano indonesia abstract understanding the behavior of cu zn and pb in magmatic hydrothermal systems is essential in developing models for the genesis of hydrothermal ore deposits in subduction environments a commonly held view is that the metals originate in magmas of intermediate to felsic composition from which they partition directly into exsolving aqueous fluids in this paper we build on the results of an earlier study in which we showed that fe cu co and ni at merapi volcano indonesia were transferred from a mafic melt to an immiscible sulfide melt and then to a magmatic volatile phase which carried them to the surface here we examine the pathways taken by the volatile phase and the behavior of cu zn and pb in the upper part of the magmatic system beneath merapi volcano based on the composition of a suite of silicate melt inclusions and thermodynamic modeling we show that the mafic melt did not hybridize with the resident felsic melt but instead transferred metals to the latter by exsolving a magmatic volatile phase which dissolved the cu rich sulfide melt and then percolated upwards through the felsic melt enriching it in cu and pb it is this fluid which transported the metals to the surface and potentially also to subsurface environments of ore formation

tibetan tectonic evolution inferred from spatial and temporal variations in post collisional magmatism cenozoic magmatism on the tibetan plateau shows systematic variations in space and time that must be considered in models concerning tibetan tectonic evolution after the india asia collision which started in the early tertiary and terminated the gangdese arc magmatism in the lhasa terrane made of the southern tibetan plateau widespread potassium rich lavas and subordinate sodium rich basalts were generated from f50 to 30 ma in the qiangtang terrane of northern tibet subsequent post collisional magmatism migrated southwards producing ultrapotassic and adakitic lavas coevally between f26 and 10 ma in the lhasa terrane then potassic volcanism was renewed to the north and has become extensive and semicontinuous since f13 ma in the western qiangtang and songpan ganze terranes such spatial temporal variations enable us to elaborate a geodynamic evolution model which depicts when and how the indian continental lithospheric mantle started thrusting under asia by involving rollback and breakoff of the subducted neo tethyan slab followed by removal of the thickened lhasa lithospheric root we propose that only after the lithospheric removal which occurred at f26 ma could the indian mantle lithosphere have commenced its northward underthrusting and henceforth served as a pivotal control to the himalayan tibetan orogenesis consequently the tibetan plateau is suggested to have risen diachronously from south to north whereas the southern part of the plateau may have been created and maintained since the late oligocene the northern plateau would have not attained its present day elevation and size until the mid miocene when the lower part of the western qiangtang and songpan ganze lithospheres began to founder owing to the push of the underthrust indian mantle lithosphere d 2004 elsevier b v all rights reserved

an experimental investigation of the influence of water and oxygen fugacity on differentiation of morb at 200 mpa crystallization experiments were performed at 200mpa in the temperature range 1150 950 c at oxygen fugacities corresponding to the quartz fayalite magnetite qfm and mno mn3o4 buffers to assess the role of water and fo2 on phase relations and differentiation trends in mid ocean ridge basalt morb systems starting from a primitive mgo 9 8 wt and an evolved morb mgo 6 49 wt crystallization paths with four different water contents 0 35 4 7 wt h2o have been investigated in primitive morb olivine is the liquidus phase followed by plagioclase clinopyroxene amphibole is present only at water saturated conditions below 1000 c but not all fluid saturated runs contain amphibole magnetite and orthopyroxene are not stable at low fo2 qfm buffer residual liquids obtained at low fo2 show a tholeiitic differentiation trend the crystallization of magnetite at high fo2 mno mn3o4 buffer results in a decrease of melt feo mgo ratio causing a calc alkaline differentiation trend because the magnetite crystallization temperature is nearly independent of the h2o content in contrast to silicate minerals the calc alkaline differentiation trend is more pronounced at high water contents residual melts at 950 c in a primitive morb system have compositions approaching those of oceanic plagiogranites in terms of sio2 and k2o but have ca na ratios and feo contents that are too high compared with the natural rocks implying that fractionation processes are necessary to reach typical compositions of natural oceanic plagiogranites

rock spectral classes observed by the spirit rover s pancam on the gusev crater plains and in the columbia hills 1 this paper examines the ferrous and ferric iron mineralogy of rocks inferred from 246 visible near infrared 430 1010 nm multispectral observations made by the mars exploration rover spirit s pancam on its traverse from its landing site to its second winter haven location principal component correspondence analyses and a sequential maximum angle convex cone technique were used to identify 14 candidate classes spectra from the west spur of husband hill and the watchtower area had the highest 535 and 601 nm band depths indicating that these areas were more oxidized differences in the depth and band center of a near infrared nir absorption feature were observed using 904 nm band depth and 803 904 nm ratio and parameters gauging the 754 864 and 754 1009 nm slopes spectra of rocks from the southern flank of husband hill had negative 754 1009 nm slopes and a broad nir absorption consistent with high olivine abundances rocks observed on the lower west spur at the cumberland ridge locale at the husband hill summit and at the haskin ridge locale had deep 904 nm band depths and steep 754 864 nm slopes consistent with greater pyroxene abundances these observations are consistent with results on iron bearing mineralogy from spirit s mossbauer spectrometer comparisons of these rock spectral classes with a set of terrestrial analog samples found similarities between the west spur and watchtower classes and red hematite bearing impact melts fewer similarities were found in comparisons of the columbia hills classes with basaltic hydrovolcanic tephras

motion between the indian antarctic and african plates in the early cenozoic we used a three plate best fit algorithm to calculate four sets of euler rotations for motion between the india capricorn africa somali and antarctic plates for 14 time intervals in the early cenozoic each set of rotations had a different combination of data constraints the first set of rotations used a basic set of magnetic anomaly picks on the central indian ridge cir southeast indian ridge seir and southwest indian ridge swir and fracture zone constraints on the cir and seir but did not incorporate data from the carlsberg ridge and did not use fracture zones on the swir the second set added fracture zone constraints from the region of the bain fracture zone on the swir which were dated with synthetic flowlines based on the first data set the third set of rotations used the basic constraints from the first rotation set and added data from the carlsberg ridge the fourth set of rotations combined both the swir fracture zone constraints and the carlsberg ridge constraints data on the indian plate side of the carlsberg ridge arabian basin were rotated to the capricorn plate before being included in the constraints plate trajectories and spreading rate histories for the cir and swir based on the new rotations document the major early cenozoic changes in plate motion on the cir and seir there was a large but gradual slowdown starting around chron 23o 51 9 ma and continuing until chron 21y 45 3 ma followed 2 or 3 myr later by an abrupt change in spreading azimuth which started around chron 20o 42 8 ma and which was completed by chron 20y 41 5 ma no change in spreading rate accompanied the abrupt change in spreading direction on the swir there was a continuous increase in spreading rates between chrons 23o and 20o and large changes in azimuth around chrons 24 and 23 and again at chron 21 unexpectedly we found that the two sets of rotations constrained by the carlsberg ridge data diverged from the other two sets of rotations prior to anomaly 22o when compared to rotations for the cir that are simultaneously constrained by data from all three branches of the indian ocean triple junction there is a progressively larger separation of anomalies on the carlsberg ridge with a roughly 25 km misfit for anomaly 23o and increasing to over 100 km for anomaly 26y these data require that there was previously unrecognized convergence somewhere in the plate circuit linking the indian capricorn and somali plates prior to chron 22o we quantify this motion by summing our new capricorn somalia rotations with previously published rotations for neogene india capricorn motion and for early cenozoic somali india motion based solely on carlsberg ridge data the most likely possibility is that there was motion within the somalia plate due to a distinct seychelles microplate as young as chron 22o the sense of the misfit on the carlsberg ridge is consistent with roughly 100 150 km of convergence across a boundary passing through the amirante trench and extending north to the carlsberg ridge axis between anomalies 26y and 22o alternatively there may have been convergence within the indian plate either along the western margin of indian or east of the cir in the region of the current capricorn indian diffuse plate boundary our work sharpens the dating of the two major eocene changes in plate motion recognized in the indian ocean

martian gases in an antarctic meteorite significant abundances of trapped argon krypton and xenon have been measured in shock altered phases of the achondritic meteorite elephant moraine 79001 from antarctica the relative elemental abundances the high ratios of argon 40 to argon 36 2000 and the high ratios of xenon 129 to xenon 132 2 0 of the trapped gas more closely resemble viking data for the martian atmosphere than data for noble gas components typically found in meteorites these findings support earlier suggestions made on the basis of geochemical evidence that shergottites and related rare meteorites may have originated from the planet mars

rapid transition to long lived deep crustal magmatic maturation and the formation of giant porphyry related mineralization yanacocha peru abstract the yanacocha magmatic field northern peru hosts the largest high sulfidation gold deposit on earth mineralization is associated with porphyritic intrusions distributed along a ne trending magmatic structural corridor eight of these intrusions investigated in this study range in age from 12 4 to 8 4 ma and show systematic chemical and isotopic changes through time they are interpreted to derive from hydrous mafic magmas evolving through amphibole clinopyroxene garnet fractionation and lower crust melting leaving a garnet residue at deeper levels which led to variably strong adakite like signatures and through plagioclase amphibole fractionation at shallower levels both accompanied by crustal assimilation and recharge recharge assimilation fractional crystallization rafc processes systematic geochemical and isotopic changes with intrusion ages coupled with plagioclase zoning and amphibole geobarometry suggest that the evolution of the magmatic system occurred through interaction of mantle derived melts with an increasing length of the crustal column and propagation from deep towards shallower crustal levels through time this was probably the result of a steadily increasing compression that has progressively slowed down magma ascent forcing magmas to evolve at a series of intermediate level chambers between the lower and upper crust increased compression might have been related to the onset of subduction of the buoyant inca oceanic plateau estimated to occur at 12 ma i e the same time of the onset of the rapid transition from normal to adakite like signatures the giant yanacocha ore system developed in coincidence with the 3 6 4 0 ma long intrusion of the adakite like magmas 12 4 12 0 8 4 ma formed by the above processes into a small upper crustal volume and peaked during the last 2 4 ma 10 8 8 4 ma of magmatic activity after a 1 4 ma long 12 4 11 0 ma maturation of magmas at deep crustal levels further investigation is needed to understand whether the association of adakite like magmas with ore which is typical of other giant porphyry systems is the result of the build up of incompatible volatiles and metals in oxidized magmas that evolve under high pressure conditions of recycling of lower crustal sulfide rich cumulates and or of a long lived focused transfer of magmas from deep to shallow crustal levels

mossbauer mineralogy of rock soil and dust at gusev crater mars spirit s journey through weakly altered olivine basalt on the plains and pervasively altered basalt in the columbia hills 1 the mossbauer spectrometer on spirit measured the oxidation state of fe identified fe bearing phases and measured relative abundances of fe among those phases for surface materials on the plains and in the columbia hills of gusev crater eight fe bearing phases were identified olivine pyroxene ilmenite magnetite nanophase ferric oxide npox hematite goethite and a fe3 sulfate adirondack basaltic rocks on the plains are nearly unaltered fe3 fet px and minor npox and magnetite columbia hills basaltic rocks are nearly unaltered peace and backstay moderately altered woolypatch wishstone and keystone and pervasively altered e g clovis uchben watchtower keel and paros with fe3 fet 0 6 0 9 fe from pyroxene is greater than fe from olivine ol sometimes absent and fe2 from ol px is 40 49 and 9 24 for moderately and pervasively altered materials respectively ilmenite fe from ilm 3 6 is present in backstay wishstone keystone and related rocks along with magnetite fe from mt 10 15 remaining fe is present as npox hematite and goethite in variable proportions clovis has the highest goethite content fe from gt 40 goethite feooh is mineralogical evidence for aqueous processes because it has structural hydroxide and is formed under aqueous conditions relatively unaltered basaltic soils fe3 fet 0 3 occur throughout gusev crater 60 80 fe from ol px 10 30 from npox and 10 from mt pasorobles soil in the columbia hills has a unique occurrence of high concentrations of fe3 sulfate 65 of fe magnetite is identified as a strongly magnetic phase in martian soil and dust

event and conditions that produced the iron meteorite block island on mars 1 the mars exploration rover opportunity has discovered four large iron nickel meteorites that range in size from 50 to 240 kg dispersed over 10 km of meridiani planum mars because these meteorites are covered with hollows that resemble regmaglypts their surfaces record their ablation through the atmosphere and they must have landed at speeds below hypervelocity 2 km s 1 to survive slowing massive iron meteorites requires a minimum atmospheric density which was quantified using a numerical model that integrates the equations of motion for incoming meteoroids through an atmosphere of a given surface density and scale height and records their outcomes as direct generally hypervelocity impacts that form craters longer over the horizon and fallback flight paths and skip outs the present atmosphere of mars is sufficient to slow iron meteoroids as large as block island the most massive meteorite via drag and significant ablation on long flight paths although for standard distributions of entering meteoroid masses velocities and entry angles such events are rare 0 007 of incoming iron meteoroids such events require entry angles of 10 13 entry velocities of 6 18 km s 1 and entry masses of 225 710 kg the absence of large stony meteorites is probably at least partially because they are much weaker and thus broken up into smaller fragments on impact although differential drag deceleration on long flight paths could disperse fragments of an entering meteoroid by tens of kilometers dynamic pressures are too low to break up an iron meteorite leaving the possibility that they are paired an open question

investigation of the near infrared spectral character of putative martian chloride deposits 1 putative chloride salt deposits observed throughout the southern highlands of mars by the compact reconnaissance imaging spectrometer for mars crism display featureless red slopes in near infrared ratio spectra it is hypothesized that the admixture of anhydrous chlorides or unoxidized sulfides with silicate rocks or minerals could imitate this spectral behavior three different sets of spectra were collected 1 simple mixtures of halite with labradorite and flood basalt at multiple concentrations 2 halite crusts formed on both labradorite and flood basalt and 3 simple mixtures of 25 and 50 wt acid washed pyrite with labradorite and flood basalt in all three instances multiple grain sizes were used to evaluate the effect of particle size on spectral results spectra of the mixtures and crusts were divided by pure labradorite and flood basalt spectra of the same grain size to produce ratio spectra comparable to the crism ratio spectra our study rules out pyrite as a possible component of these deposits whereas flood basalt mixtures with halite reproduced the observed red slope under some conditions this allows us to place some broad constraints on halite proportions and the effective grain sizes of these deposits

iron mineralogy and aqueous alteration from husband hill through home plate at gusev crater mars results from the mossbauer instrument on the spirit mars exploration rover 1 spirit s mossbauer mb instrument determined the fe mineralogy and oxidation state of 71 rocks and 43 soils during its exploration of the gusev plains and the columbia hills west spur husband hill haskin ridge northern inner basin and home plate on mars the plains are predominantly float rocks and soil derived from olivine basalts outcrops at west spur and on husband hill have experienced pervasive aqueous alteration as indicated by the presence of goethite olivine rich outcrops in a possible mafic ultramafic horizon are present on haskin ridge relatively unaltered basalt and olivine basalt float rocks occur at isolated locations throughout the columbia hills basalt and olivine basalt outcrops are found at and near home plate a putative hydrovolcanic structure at least three pyroxene compositions are indicated by mb data mb spectra of outcrops barnhill and torquas resemble palagonitic material and thus possible supergene aqueous alteration deposits of fe3 sulfate soil located at paso robles arad and tyrone are likely products of acid sulfate fumarolic and or hydrothermal activity possibly in connection with home plate volcanism hematite rich outcrops between home plate and tyrone e g montalva may also be products of this aqueous activity low water to rock ratios isochemical alteration are implied during palagonite goethite and hematite formation because bulk chemical compositions are basaltic so3 free basis high water to rock ratios leaching under acid sulfate conditions are implied for the high sio2 rock and soil in eastern valley and the float rock fuzzysmith which has possible pyrite marcasite as a hydrothermal alteration product

athena microscopic imager investigation 1 the athena science payload on the mars exploration rovers mer includes the microscopic imager mi the mi is a fixed focus camera mounted on the end of an extendable instrument arm the instrument deployment device idd the mi was designed to acquire images at a spatial resolution of 30 microns pixel over a broad spectral range 400 700 nm the mi uses the same electronics design as the other mer cameras but has optics that yield a field of view of 31 31 mm across a 1024 1024 pixel ccd image the mi acquires images using only solar or skylight illumination of the target surface a contact sensor is used to place the mi slightly closer to the target surface than its best focus distance about 66 mm allowing concave surfaces to be imaged in good focus coarse focusing 2 mm precision is achieved by moving the idd away from a rock target after the contact sensor has been activated the mi optics are protected from the martian environment by a retractable dust cover the dust cover includes a kapton window that is tinted orange to restrict the spectral bandpass to 500 700 nm allowing color information to be obtained by taking images with the dust cover open and closed mi data will be used to place other mer instrument data in context and to aid in petrologic and geologic interpretations of rocks and soils on mars

metallogeny of the northeastern gangdese pb zn ag fe mo w polymetallic belt in the lhasa terrane southern tibet abstract the northeastern gangdese pb zn ag fe mo w polymetallic belt ngpb characterized by skarn and porphyry deposits is one of the most important metallogenic belts in the himalaya tibetan continental orogenic system this belt extends for nearly four hundred kilometers along the luobadui milashan fault in the central lhasa subterrane and contains more than 10 large ore deposits with high potential for development three major types of mineralization system have been identified skarn fe systems skarn breccia pb zn ag systems and porphyry skarn mo cu w systems in this study we conducted a whole rock geochemical u pb zircon geochronological and in situ zircon hf isotopic study of ore forming rocks in the ngpb specifically the jiangga jiaduopule and rema skarn fe deposits and the yaguila pb zn ag deposit although some of these deposits porphyry mo systems formed during the post collisional stage 21 14 ma the majority these three systems developed during the main soft collision stage of the india asia continental collision 65 50 ma the skarn fe deposits are commonly associated with granodiorites monzogranites and granites and formed between 65 and 50 ma the ore forming intrusions of the pb zn ag deposits are characterized by granite quartz porphyry and granite porphyry which developed in the interval of 65 55 ma the ore forming porphyries in the sharang mo deposit formed at 53 ma the rocks from fe deposits are metaluminous and have relatively lower sio2 and higher cao mgo feo contents than the intrusions associated with mo and pb zn ag mineralization while the pb zn ag deposits are peraluminous and have high sio2 and high total alkali concentrations they all exhibit moderately fractionated ree patterns characterized by lower contents of heavy ree relative to light ree and they are enriched in large ion lithophile elements and relatively depleted in high field strength elements ore forming granites from fe deposits display 87sr 86sr i 0 7054 0 7074 and end t 4 7 to 1 3 whereas rocks from the yaguila pb zn ag deposit have 87sr 86sr i 0 7266 0 7281 and end t 13 5 to 13 3 in situ lu hf isotopic analyses of zircons from fe deposits show that ehf t values range from 7 3 to 6 6 with tdm hf c model ages of 712 to 1589 ma and yaguila pb zn ag deposit has ehf t values from 13 9 to 1 3 with tdm hf c model ages of 1216 to 2016 ma combined with existing data from the sharang mo deposit we conclude that the ore forming intrusions associated with the skarn fe and porphyry mo deposits were derived from partial melting of metasomatized lithospheric mantle and rejuvenated lower crust beneath the central lhasa subterrane respectively melting of the ancient continental material was critical for the development of the pb zn ag system therefore it is likely that the source rocks play an important role in determining the metal endowment of intrusions formed during the initial stage of the india asia continental collision

mineralogy and chemistry of cobbles at meridiani planum mars investigated by the mars exploration rover opportunity numerous loose rocks with dimensions of a few centimeters to tens of centimeters and with no obvious physical relationship to outcrop rocks have been observed along the traverse of the mars exploration rover opportunity to date about a dozen of these rocks have been analyzed with opportunity s contact instruments providing information about elemental chemistry alpha particle x ray spectrometer iron mineralogy and oxidation states mossbauer spectrometer and texture microscopic imager these cobbles appear to be impact related and three distinct groups can be identified on the basis of chemistry and mineralogy the first group comprises bright fragments of the sulfate rich bedrock that are compositionally and texturally indistinguishable from outcrop rocks all other cobbles are dark and are divided into two groups referred to as the barberton group and the arkansas group after the first specimen of each that was encountered by opportunity barberton group cobbles are interpreted as meteorites with an overall chemistry and mineralogy consistent with a mesosiderite silicate clast composition arkansas group cobbles appear to be related to meridiani outcrop and contain an additional basaltic component they have brecciated textures pointing to an impact related origin during which local bedrock and basaltic material were mixed

surface processes recorded by rocks and soils on meridiani planum mars microscopic imager observations during opportunity s first three extended missions the microscopic imager mi on the mars exploration rover opportunity has returned images of mars with higher resolution than any previous camera system allowing detailed petrographic and sedimentological studies of the rocks and soils at the meridiani planum landing site designed to simulate a geologist s hand lens the mi is mounted on opportunity s instrument arm and can resolve objects 0 1 mm across or larger this paper provides an overview of mi operations data calibration and analysis of mi data returned during the first 900 sols mars days of the opportunity landed mission analyses of opportunity mi data have helped to resolve major questions about the origin of observed textures and features these studies support eolian sediment transport rather than impact surge processes as the dominant depositional mechanism for burns formation strata mi stereo observations of a rock outcrop near the rim of erebus crater support the previous interpretation of similar sedimentary structures in eagle crater as being formed by surficial flow of liquid water well sorted spherules dominate ripple surfaces on the meridiani plains and the size of spherules between ripples decreases by about 1 mm from north to south along opportunity s traverse between endurance and erebus craters

composition and evolution of ore fluids in a magmatic hydrothermal skarn deposit the chemistry of brine vapor and low salinity fluid inclusions measured by proton induced x ray emission from the bismark skarn deposit mexico is consistent with an evolving magmatic hydrothermal system with no evidence for external fluid inputs the results support a model that invokes early phase separation of magmatic fluids into brine and vapor two phase field at high temperature and lithostatic pressure followed by the entrapment of a low salinity magmatic fluid one phase field at lower temperature and hydrostatic pressure the early brine and vapor inclusions contain high pb and zn concentrations and low cu however the vapor contains significantly more cu than the brine and was likely transported as a sulfur complex the fluid phase changes observed and behavior of cu are comparable to those of porphyry cu systems the later low salinity fluid at bismark represents a distinct pulse of magmatic fluid with a high k ca ratio in which base metals including cu were transported by chloride complexes paragenetic relationships and variations in the relative concentrations of cu pb and zn suggest that this fluid was primarily responsible for ore deposition the relative cu pb and zn concentrations in fluid inclusions at bismark are consistent with those measured from base metal ores in high temperature carbonate replacement deposits throughout mexico and suggest that the bulk metal budget of these deposits is primarily controlled by magmatic hydrothermal fluids deficient in cu

visible and near infrared multispectral analysis of geochemically measured rock fragments at the opportunity landing site in meridiani planum 1 we have used visible and near infrared panoramic camera pancam spectral data acquired by the opportunity rover to analyze 15 rock fragments at the meridiani planum landing site these spectral results were then compared to geochemistry measurements made by the in situ instruments mossbauer mb and alpha particle x ray spectrometer apxs to determine the feasibility of mineralogic characterization from pancam data our results suggest that dust and alteration rinds coat many rock fragments which limits our ability to adequately measure the mineralogy of some rocks from pancam spectra relative to the different field of view and penetration depths of mb and apxs viewing and lighting geometry along with sampling size also complicate the spectral characterization of the rocks rock fragments with the same geochemistry of sulfate rich outcrops have similar spectra although the sulfate rich composition cannot be ascertained based upon pancam spectra alone feni meteorites have spectral characteristics particularly ferric oxide coatings that generally differentiate them from other rocks at the landing site stony meteorites and impact fragments with unknown compositions have a diverse range of spectral properties and are not well constrained nor diagnostic in pancam data bounce rock with its unique basalt composition is easily differentiated in the pancam data from all other rock types at meridiani planum our pancam analyses of small pebbles adjacent to these 15 rock fragments suggests that other rock types may exist at the landing site but have not yet been geochemically measured

visible and near infrared multispectral analysis of rocks at meridiani planum mars by the mars exploration rover opportunity multispectral measurements in the visible and near infrared of rocks at meridiani planum by the mars exploration rover opportunity s pancam are described the pancam multispectral data show that the outcrops of the burns formation consist of two main spectral units which in stretched 673 535 432 nm color composites appear buff and purple colored these units are referred to as the hfs and lfs spectral units based on higher and lower values of 482 to 535 nm slope spectral characteristics are consistent with the lfs outcrop consisting of less oxidized and the hfs outcrop consisting of more oxidized iron bearing minerals the lfs surfaces are not as common and appear primarily at the distal ends of outcrop layers and on steep more massive surfaces locations that are subject to greater eolian erosion consequently the hfs surfaces are interpreted as a weathering rind further inherent spectral differences between layers and between different outcrop map units both untouched and patches abraded by the rover s rock abrasion tool are also described comparisons of the spectral parameters of the meridiani outcrop with a set of laboratory reflectance measurements of fe 3 bearing minerals show that the field of outcrop measurements plots near the fields of hematite ferrihydrite poorly crystalline goethite and schwertmannite rind and fracture fill materials observed intermittently at outcrop exposures are intermediate in their spectral character between both the hfs and lfs spectral classes and other less oxidized surface materials basaltic sands spherules and cobbles

soil grain analyses at meridiani planum mars 1 grain size analyses of the soils at meridiani planum have been used to identify rock sources for the grains and provide information about depositional processes under past and current conditions basaltic sand dust millimeter size hematite rich spherules interpreted as concretions spherule fragments coated partially buried spherules basalt fragments sedimentary outcrop fragments and centimeter size cobbles are concentrated on the upper surfaces of the soils as a lag deposit while finer basaltic sands and dust dominate the underlying soils there is a bimodal distribution of soil grain sizes with one population representing grains 125 m and the other falling between 1 4 5 mm soils within craters like eagle and endurance show a much greater diversity of grain morphologies compared to the plains the spherules found in the plains soils are approximately 1 2 mm smaller in size than those seen embedded in the outcrop rocks of eagle and endurance craters the average major axis for all unfractured spherules measured in the soils and outcrop rocks is 2 87 1 18 mm with a trend toward decreasing spherule sizes in both the soils and outcrop rocks as the rover drove southward wind ripples seen across the plains of meridiani are dominated by similar size 1 3 1 7 mm hematite rich grains and they match in size the larger grains on plains ripples at gusev crater larger clasts and centimeter size cobbles that are scattered on the soils have several spectral and compositional types reflecting multiple origins the cobbles tend to concentrate within ripple troughs along the plains and in association with outcrop exposures

a genetic linkage between subduction and collision related porphyry cu deposits in continental collision zones the genesis of continental collision related porphyry cu deposits pcds remains controversial the most common hypothesis links their genesis with magmas derived from subduction modified arc lithosphere however it is unclear whether a genetic linkage exists between collision and subduction related pcds here we studied jurassic subduction related cu au and miocene collision related cu mo porphyry deposits in south tibet the jurassic pcds occur only in the western segment of the jurassic arc which has depleted mantle like isotopic compositions e g 87 sr 86 sr i 0 7041 0 7048 e nd t as high as 7 5 and e hf t as high as 18 by contrast no jurassic pcds have been found in the eastern arc segment which is isotopically less juvenile e g 87 sr 86 sr i 0 7041 0 7063 e nd t 4 5 and e hf t 12 these results imply that incorporation of crustal components during underplating of jurassic magma induced copper accumulation as sulfides at the base of the eastern jurassic arc inhibiting pcd formation at this time miocene pcds are spatially confined to the jurassic arc and the giant miocene pcds cluster in its eastern segment where no jurassic pcds occur this suggests that the arc segment barren for subduction related pcds could be fertile for collision related pcds miocene ore forming porphyries have young hf model ages and sr nd hf isotopic compositions overlapping with those of the jurassic rocks in the eastern segment whereas contemporaneous barren porphyries outside the jurassic arc have abundant zircon inheritance and crustlike sr nd hf isotopic compositions these data suggest that remelting of the lower crustal sulfide bearing cu rich jurassic cumulates triggered by cenozoic crustal thickening and or subsequent slab break off led to the formation of giant miocene pcds the spatial overlap and complementary metal endowment between subduction and collision related magmas may be used to evaluate the mineral potential for such deposits in other orogenic belts

the gangdese magmatic constraints on a latest cretaceous lithospheric delamination of the lhasa terrane southern tibet abstract this paper presents a systematic study of late cretaceous to early tertiary magmatism in the eastern gangdese batholith lhasa nyingchi segment the southern lhasa terrane southern tibet based on zircon u pb age rock association and geochemistry the magmatism can be divided into three stages 95 86 ma stage 1 85 73 ma stage 2 and 68 60 ma stage 3 with a short magmatic quiescence or gap of 73 69 ma the stage 1 is composed mainly of intermediate mafic rocks including norite gabbro diorite charnockite and subordinate granodiorite whereas the stage 2 consists largely of felsic rocks including tonalite granodiorite monzogranite and granite in contrast the stage 3 comprises a wide range of rock types from gabbro to granite all these samples show i type geochemical characteristics with high zircon hf isotope ratios e hf t 7 1 13 0 medium k calc alkaline and metaluminous to weakly peraluminous features stage 1 granitic rocks show low sr y 31 43 and la yb n 6 3 8 3 ratios in contrast to stage 2 that show gradually increasing sr y 47 450 and la yb n 6 38 ratios their magma temperatures constrained by titanium in zircon thermometer decrease from 740 719 c stage 1 to 685 628 c stage 2 these are consistent with an interpretation of progressive magma source deepening coupled with crustal thickening stage 3 granitoids in turn show reduced sr y 3 40 and la yb n 3 5 17 6 ratios and elevated magma temperatures 755 676 c suggesting a high temperature low pressure melting condition and thus a shallow magma source which may imply the presence of thinner crust the contrasting temperature pressure conditions between stage 2 and stage 3 magmatism suggest an event of crustal thinning which we interpret through a synthesis of other lines of geologic evidence to have resulted from a lithospheric delamination of the lhasa terrane in the latest cretaceous in conclusion the lhasa terrane underwent continuous crustal thickening in the late cretaceous and lithospheric delamination in the latest cretaceous this implies that the overthickened crust of southern tibet is generated in the cenozoic

increasing magmatic oxidation state from paleocene to miocene in the eastern gangdese belt tibet implication for collision related porphyry cu mo au mineralization in the gangdese belt of southern tibet paleocene eocene magmas record the final stage of neo tethyan subduction and are associated with few economic porphyry deposits in contrast magmas formed during later stages of the india asia collision in the oligo miocene are associated with several large porphyry cu mo au deposits especially in the eastern part of the belt 89 e 93 e in a previous study we showed that these oligocene miocene magmas were more hydrous than the earlier paleocene eocene magmas in this study we show that the later magmas were also more oxidized paleocene eocene rocks from the eastern gangdese belt are characterized by low zircon ce4 ce3 ratios mostly 50 32 3 141 9 average 74 3 30 1 n 33 and higher f o2 values fmq 0 8 2 9 average 1 8 0 8 n 6 estimated from magnetite ilmenite pairs estimates of magmatic oxidation state from amphibole compositions also show an increase from fmq 1 2 to 2 1 average 1 6 0 2 n 40 in the paleocene eocene to 2 0 to 2 8 average 2 5 0 2 n 58 in the miocene sparse whole rock fe3 fe2 ratios show the same general trend the amphibole results are systematically shifted to higher fmq compared to data from magnetite ilmenite pairs but their trend is internally consistent the higher oxidation states and water contents of miocene igneous rocks from the eastern gangdese belt may explain their unique association with large porphyry deposits in tibet because it has been shown from other studies that the potential for hydrous calc alkaline magmas to transport au is maximized near fmq 1 0 and cu at higher f o2 fmq 1 0 in comparison the somewhat less oxidized and less hydrous paleocene eocene magmas would have been less fertile for the formation of such deposits we suggest that these differences reflect the tectonomagmatic evolution of the cenozoic gangdese collisional orogen from early collision related magmatism in the paleocene eocene to late collisional magmatism in the miocene asthenospheric upwelling following slab breakoff in the miocene caused interaction between mantle derived magmas and previously subduction modified tibetan lithosphere the resultant evolved magmas had high oxidation states and water contents which are favorable properties for the subsequent formation of magmatic hydrothermal porphyry cu mo au deposits

mantled and exhumed terrains in terra meridiani mars 1 hematite bearing deposits in the terra meridiani region of mars constitute the top stratum of a partially eroded layered complex that covers dissected noachian aged cratered terrain the hematite unit consists of dark plains and dunes covering a bright substrate this substrate is fully exposed beyond the borders of the hematite bearing deposit and consists of polygonal ground separated by ridges or valleys together with layered deposits that have been eroded into a variety of landforms the complex is partially covered by a regional scale aeolian mantle that thickens toward the north the hematite bearing stratum exhibits low albedoes pulse widths and intermediate thermal inertias whereas the underlying unit exhibits high values of these parameters both units have spectral emissivity signatures similar to those for the low albedo cratered terrain to the south with the addition of hematite for the top stratum the complex is interpreted to consist of extensive plains forming lava flows and tephra deposits emplaced during an extensional regime and at least partially buried by an aeolian mantle aeolian stripping of the mantle exposed much of the complex and differentially eroded the deposits to produce the landforms existent today exploration of the hematite bearing deposits by the 2003 mars exploration rover opportunity will allow testing of the hypotheses presented since this stratum has been locally reworked into dunes that only partially cover the underlying brighter portion of the complex in particular the rover based measurements will allow us to test the extent to which the unusual remote sensing properties of the units indicate aqueous alteration

athena mars rover science investigation 1 each mars exploration rover carries an integrated suite of scientific instruments and tools called the athena science payload the primary objective of the athena science investigation is to explore two sites on the martian surface where water may once have been present and to assess past environmental conditions at those sites and their suitability for life the remote sensing portion of the payload uses a mast called the pancam mast assembly pma that provides pointing for two instruments the panoramic camera pancam and the miniature thermal emission spectrometer mini tes pancam provides high resolution color stereo imaging while mini tes provides spectral cubes at mid infrared wavelengths for in situ study a five degree of freedom arm called the instrument deployment device idd carries four more tools a microscopic imager mi for close up imaging an alpha particle x ray spectrometer apxs for elemental chemistry a mossbauer spectrometer mb for the mineralogy of fe bearing materials and a rock abrasion tool rat for removing dusty and weathered surfaces and exposing fresh rock underneath the payload also includes magnets that allow the instruments to study the composition of magnetic martian materials all of the athena instruments have undergone extensive calibration both individually and using a set of geologic reference materials that are being measured with all the instruments using a mer like rover and payload in a number of field settings we have devised operations processes that will enable us to use the mer rovers to formulate and test scientific hypotheses concerning past environmental conditions and habitability at the landing sites

u pb geochronology geochemistry and h o s pb isotopic compositions of the leqingla and xin gaguo skarn pb zn polymetallic deposits tibet china abstract the leqingla and xin gaguo deposits are two representative skarn pb zn polymetallic deposits of the gangdese pb zn polymetallic belt tibet china la icp ms zircon u pb dating of the mineralization related biotite granites from both the leqingla and xin gaguo deposits yielded weighted mean ages of 60 8 ma and 56 5 ma respectively which can be inferred as their mineralization ages the leqingla biotite granite is characterized by high al 2 o 3 total fe na 2 o and low k 2 o in comparison the xin gaguo biotite granite is characterized by relative higher k 2 o but lower al 2 o 3 total fe and na 2 o geochemical and mineralogical characteristics indicate that the leqingla and xin gaguo biotite granites are calc alkaline i type granite and high k calc alkaline i type granite respectively both the leqingla and xin gaguo biotite granites are enrichment in lree and liles and depletion in hfses and they were formed at the india asia collision stage 18 o and d values for the leqingla and xin gaguo deposits are 8 8 to 5 3 and 140 4 to 90 1 4 5 to 7 0 and 117 3 to 81 0 respectively indicating magma fluids mixed with meteoric water in ore forming fluids 34 s values 11 6 to 0 3 of ore sulfides from the leqingla deposit show characteristics of biogenetic sulfur isotope compositions suggesting sulfur for the leqingla deposit were sourced from wall rocks of the mengla and luobadui formation which are rich in organic materials 34 s values of ore sulfides from the xin gaguo deposits show bimodal distribution 5 0 to 1 6 and 1 6 2 1 indicating sulfur in the xin gaguo deposit were derived from both wall rocks and magma in the leqingla deposit most ore sulfides have the similar pb isotopic compositions with that of the mineralization related biotite granite suggesting the biotite granite supplied most of the ore forming metals pb isotopic compositions of ore sulfides and hf isotopic compositions of biotite granite show that the majority of ore forming metals are derived from mantle components of partial melting of the neo tethys ocean slab with some upper crust materials of the lhasa terrane pb isotopic compositions of ore sulfides from the xin gaguo deposit are similar to that of the leqingla deposit indicating they have the similar sources of ore forming metals

use and abuse of the terms calcalkaline and calcalkalic the terms calcalkaline and calcalkalic are currently defined and used in multiple and non equivalent ways generally the variation of total fe as feo mgo within evolving subalkaline rock suites is regarded as the most distinctive character of calcalkaline compared with tholeiitic suites reflecting the relative timing of phase saturation with fe ti oxides plagioclase and ferromagnesian silicates other classification schemes are widely used including a minority of adherents to the original formalized definition of calcalkalic by peacock 1931 journal of geology 39 54 67 given the prevailing contradictory and confusing usage of these terms which leads to miscommunication it is proposed that the spectrum of subalkaline rocks be divided into high medium and low fe suites complementing divisions made on the basis of k contents the terms calcalkaline and calcalkalic should be restricted to rock suites that conform to peacock s definition

rock abrasion tool mars exploration rover mission 1 the rock abrasion tool rat is an integral part of the athena science payload serving primarily as the geologist s rock hammer the rat will expose fresh surfaces of martian rocks to other instruments on the payload the rat also brushes dust and debris from an excavated hole or unaltered rocks to accomplish these tasks autonomously the rat a sophisticated 3 axis precision controlled device was designed data products derived from rat telemetry enable the rat to also act as an important rock physical properties science instrument the returned rat grinding and penetration rate data will be inverted and compared to a rock library on the earth the design is also very compact and lightweight the rat is contained within a cylinder 128 mm long and 85 mm in diameter and has a mass of 687 g

high silica granites terminal porosity and crystal settling in shallow magma chambers abstract high silica 70 wt sio2 granites hsgs are important carriers of highly incompatible elements thus understanding their origin is relevant to understanding how the composition of the continental crust evolves we examined a large scale geochemical study of plutons in the peninsular ranges batholith in southern california usa to better understand the petrogenetic relationships between hsgs and the batholith using highly incompatible and compatible elements we show that hsgs represent residual liquids within a felsic 69 72 wt sio2 magmatic crystal mush at crystal fractions of 50 60 and residual liquid fractions of 40 50 trace element systematics show that separation of the hsg liquid from the crystal mush is inefficient such that no more than 70 80 of the hsg is fully extracted and the remaining greater than 20 30 remains trapped in cumulate mush we find little evidence of more efficient liquid crystal segregation which suggests that compaction induced segregation may be too slow to be important on a large scale instead the terminal porosity of 20 30 coincides with theoretical maximum packing fraction of unimodal particles settled out of suspension 0 74 which may indicate that crystal settling perhaps in the form of hindered settling drives segregation of viscous silicic melts and crystals unlike compaction settling operates on timescales of 1 10 ky fast enough to generate large volumes of hsg and complementary cumulates with trapped melt before magma chambers freeze many felsic plutons may thus be cumulates but because of trapped melt they are difficult to geochemically distinguish from plutons whose compositions fall along liquid lines of descent the approach here using a combination of highly incompatible and compatible elements provides a way of identifying and quantifying trapped melt fractions finally we show that hsgs appear to form only in the shallow crust

geochronology and magmatic oxygen fugacity of the tongcun molybdenum deposit northwest zhejiang se china the tongcun mo porphyry deposit in northwest zhejiang is hosted in three porphyry units huangbaikeng songjiazhuang and tongcun from southwest to northeast u pb zircon ages of 162 3 0 ma for the huangbaikeng porphyry 159 9 3 0 ma for the songjiazhuang porphyry and 167 6 155 6 ma for the tongcun porphyry indicate that these intrusions formed during the jurassic and are most likely associated with the northwestward subduction of the izanagi plate trace element compositions of zircons from the tongcun deposit constrain the oxygen fugacity fo2 of the magma using zircon ce anomalies and ti in zircon temperatures the average magmatic fo2 for the porphyries in the tongcun deposit is fayalite magnetite quartz fmq 2 7 which is similar to the shapinggou fmq 3 2 and dabaoshan fmq 3 5 mo porphyry deposits but much higher than that of the reduced cretaceous ore barren shangjieshou porphyry fmq 1 1 around 8 km away from the tongcun deposit the distinct difference in magmatic oxygen fugacity between the jurassic and cretaceous porphyries may help to explain the absence of mo porphyry mineralization in northwest zhejiang during the cretaceous

the geochemical evolution of syncollisional magmatism and the implications for significant magmatic hydrothermal lead zinc mineralization gangdese tibet abstract in addition to well known subduction processes the collision of two continents also generates abundant ore deposits as in the case of the tibetan plateau which is the youngest and most spectacular collisional belt on earth during the building history of the gangdese magmatic belt several magmatic flare up events developed however significant magmatic hydrothermal lead zinc mineralization dominantly accompanied the magmatism during the syncollisional period 65 41 ma based on integrated geochemical and isotopic data we provide insights into the genesis and evolution of syncollisional magmas and their implications for significant magmatic hydrothermal lead zinc mineralization the sr nd isotopic compositions of most syncollisional igneous rocks 87sr 86sr 0 7034 0 7123 end t 9 0 to 1 8 indicate a mixing origin between mantle derived basaltic magmas and ancient crustal melts and fractional crystallization is a fundamental mechanism by which syncollisional magmas evolve towards intermediate to silicic compositions most lead zinc mineralization related plutons are high silica 76 14 wt sio2 on average high oxygen fugacity average fmq 2 5 granites with highly evolved chemical signatures average eun eun 0 33 high rb sr average 3 9 and they represent the final products from primary magmas due to the contribution of ancient crustal melts to the genesis of mineralization related parent magmas the spatial distribution of pb zn deposits within the northern gangdese magmatic belt is controlled by the lithospheric architecture in compressional environments magmas have low evacuation efficiency and long magma chamber lifespan which is favorable for basaltic parents evolved to high silica granites through sufficient fractional crystallization this scenario contributes to our understanding of the significant magmatic hydrothermal lead zinc mineralization that occurred in the syncollisional period

a latest pliocene age for the earliest and most extensive cordilleran ice sheet in northwestern canada abstract the klondike gravel is a widespread glaciofluvial gravel marking the earliest and most extensive cordilleran ice sheet cis in nw north america new terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide tcn burial ages indicate this gravel was emplaced 2 64 0 20 0 18 ma 1 coupled with previously interpreted paleomagnetic stratigraphy this numerical age constrains the timing of the earliest cis to the late gauss chron and provides a minimum age for the upper white channel gravel a significant placer gold source in the yukon this implies the first cis glacial maximum pre dates the maximum extent of the laurentide ice sheet indicating that during the initial stages of northern hemisphere glaciation the most extensive glaciers were present in the relatively cold and high elevation northern cordillera our results verify the cis as a likely source of persistent coeval ice rafted debris in the northern pacific and suggest that the first cis formed as a response to the establishment of the northern pacific halocline and emergence of the 41 ka obliquity cycle during the plio pliocene transition

mossbauer mineralogy of rock soil and dust at meridiani planum mars opportunity s journey across sulfate rich outcrop basaltic sand and dust and hematite lag deposits additonal co authors p gutlich e kankeleit t mccoy dw mittlefehldt f renz me schmidt b zubkov sw squyres re arvidson

high temperature carbonate hosted ag pb zn cu deposits of northern mexico the high temperature carbonate hosted ag pb zn cu deposits of northern mexico occur in thick carbonate dominant jurassic cretaceous basinal sedimentary sequences floored by paleozoic or older crust the districts lie within or on the margins of a major fold thrust zone structures parallel to the trends of this belt control mineralization in many districts altered and or mineralized volcanic and intrusive rocks of tertiary age are found in all but three of the districts mineralization apparently occurred during a restricted period 47 to 26 m y ago the deposits are characterized by irregular ore lenses that commonly reveal strong structural controls and are stratigraphically discordant orebodies are of three principal morphological types mantos chimneys and pods and are composed of massive sulfides and or calc silicate skarn sulfide mantos and chimneys are enclosed within carbonate rocks and are generally remote from intrusive bodies sulfide mantos commonly grade downward into sulfide chimneys which may in turn grade downward into skarn chimneys cored by dikes podiform skarn and sulfide orebodies principally occur along stock dike or sill contacts but they may also be developed at some distance from an intrusive contact the associated intrusions are not widely mineralized despite the variations between ore types major similarities are seen in structural controls host rock characteristics and sulfide mineralogy structural controls include intrusive contacts faults fold axes fractures fissures and cavern zones intrusive contacts and intrusion related faults are most important in the skarns whereas regional fault fold and fracture systems are dominant controls on mantos and chimneys mineralization commonly occurs below relatively impermeable shaly units sills or volcanic rocks but some extensive orebodies show remarkable restriction to specific horizons within apparently homogeneous carbonate successions studies of mineralized and unmineralized strata have found no consistent links between ore deposition and carbonate composition facies organic content or insoluble components however zones of secondarily enhanced porosity and permeability induced by recrystallization heating deformation or hydrothermal dolomitization are important mineralization controls geochemical data for the deposits are sparse but indicate strongly contrasting conditions among some of the major districts fluid inclusion data indicate temperatures in the range 200 degrees to 500 degrees c and salinities ranging from i to 60 equiv wt percent nacl the hotter more saline solutions are typically from skarn zones evidence for boiling has not been reported the skarn ores of naica concepcion del oro and velardefia show tight clustering of sulfide sulfur isotope values near 0 whereas the skarn and massive sulfide ores of santa eulalia show a wide range of values in most cases there is isotopic disequilibrium between galena and sphalerite pyrrhotite or pyrite calcite veinlet stockworks above mineralization and limestone wall rocks adjacent to mineralization show shifts of carbon and oxygen isotopes to lighter values the tightly clustered sulfur isotopes and high temperature high salinity fluid inclusions have been interpreted as indicating a strong magmatic component in the mineralizing fluids at naica concepcion del oro and velardena but santa eulalia and other districts show evidence suggesting extensive mixing between magmatic and meteoric fluids it appears that the spectrum of mineralization styles shown by these deposits represent differing responses to variations in intrusive associations depth of emplacement host rock characteristics and geochemical evolution of the individual systems

the lhasa terrane record of a microcontinent and its histories of drift and growth article i nfo the lhasa terrane in southern tibet has long been accepted as the last geological block accreted to eurasia before its collision with the northward drifting indian continent in the cenozoic but its lithospheric architecture drift and growth histories and the nature of its northern suture with eurasia via the qiangtang terrane remain enigmatic using zircon in situ u pb and lu hf isotopic and bulk rock geochemical data of mesozoic early tertiary magmatic rocks sampled along four north south traverses across the lhasa terrane we show that the lhasa terrane has ancient basement rocks of proterozoic and archean ages up to 2870 ma in its centre with younger and juvenile crust phanerozoic accreted towards its both northern and southern edges this finding proves that the central lhasa subterrane was once a microcontinent this continent has survived from its long journey across the paleo tethyan ocean basins and has grown at the edges through magmatism resulting from oceanic lithosphere subduction towards beneath it during its journey and subsequent collisions with the qiangtang terrane to the north and with the indian continent to the south zircon hf isotope data indicate significant mantle source contributions to the generation of these granitoid rocks e g 50 90 0 70 and 30 100 to the mesozoic magmatism in the southern central and northern lhasa subterranes respectively we suggest that much of the mesozoic magmatism in the lhasa terrane may be associated with the southward bangong nujiang tethyan seafloor subduction beneath the lhasa terrane which likely began in the middle permian or earlier and ceased in the late early cretaceous and that the significant changes of zircon ehf t at 113 and 52 ma record tectonomagmatic activities as a result of slab break off and related mantle melting events following the qiangtang lhasa amalgamation and india lhasa amalgamation respectively these results manifest the efficacy of zircons as a chronometer u pb dating and a geochemical tracer hf isotopes in understanding the origin and histories of lithospheric plates and in revealing the tectonic evolution of old orogenies in the context of plate tectonics

provenance analysis of upper cretaceous strata in the tethys himalaya southern tibet implications for timing of india asia collision abstract the provenance of upper cretaceous strata in the tethys himalaya provides critical constraints on the closure time of the neo tethys ocean and the initial india asia collision this paper reports detailed petrographic studies in situ detrital zircon u pb ages and lu hf isotopic analyses whole rock nd isotopes and cr spinel electronic microprobe data from upper cretaceous clastic sedimentary rocks of the tethys himalaya near gyangze southern tibet the berriasian coniacian jiabula formation consists of black mudstone chert and minor quartz arenite and is dominated by detrital zircons with archean cambrian u pb ages which were most likely derived from the indian continent overlying conformably is the santonian maastrichtian chuangde formation which consists of red shale limestone and chert the chuangde formation is in turn overlain by the late maastrichtian late paleocene zongzhuo formation which is composed of black mudstone and lithic sandstone enclosing various olistoliths of sandstone limestone and chert the rilang conglomerate is a lens which is located within the upper part of the zongzhuo formation and consists of an upward thinning and fining succession of volcanic conglomerate sandstone and black mudstone the zongzhuo formation and the rilang conglomerate record an abrupt influx of cretaceous zircon grains with juvenile hf isotopic compositions arc related cr spinels and positive end 0 sediments suggesting an arc and suture zone provenance the change in provenance of upper cretaceous strata from the southern indian continent to a northern arc and suture zone is attributed to either 1 initial collision between the indian plate and lhasa terrane or 2 initial collision between the indian plate and an intra oceanic arc we prefer option 1 that the initiation of india asia collision occurred during maastrichtian 70 65 ma

the geological evolution of the tibetan plateau the geological evolution of the tibetan plateau is best viewed in a context broader than the india eurasia collision zone after collision about 50 million years ago crust was shortened in western and central tibet while large fragments of lithosphere moved from the collision zone toward areas of trench rollback in the western pacific and indonesia cessation of rapid pacific trench migration 15 to 20 million years ago coincided with a slowing of fragment extrusion beyond the plateau and probably contributed to the onset of rapid surface uplift and crustal thickening in eastern tibet the latter appear to result from rapid eastward flow of the deep crust probably within crustal channels imaged seismically beneath eastern tibet these events mark a transition to the modern structural system that currently accommodates deformation within tibet

did the indo asian collision alone create the tibetan plateau it is widely believed that the tibetan plateau is a late cenozoic feature produced by the indo asian collision however because tibet was the locus of continental accretion and subduction throughout the mesozoic crustal thickening during that time may also have contributed to growth of the plateau this portion of the geologic history was investigated in a traverse through the central lhasa block southern tibet together with earlier studies our mapping and geochronological results show that the lhasa block underwent little north south shortening during the cenozoic rather our mapping shows that 60 crustal shortening perhaps due to the collision between the lhasa and qiangtang blocks occurred during the early cretaceous this observation implies that a significant portion of southern tibet was raised to perhaps 3 4 km elevation prior to the indo asian collision

paleocene eocene record of ophiolite obduction and initial india asia collision south central tibet 1 uppermost cretaceous to eocene marine sedimentary sequences occur both to the south and north of the yarlung zangbo suture in south central tibet they consist of indian margin strata of the northern tethyan himalaya and asian margin strata of the gangdese forearc both assemblages are characterized by major changes in depositional environment and sedimentary provenance at 65 ma and an appearance of detrital chromium rich spinel of ophiolite affinity tio2 generally 0 1 wt during the paleocene ophiolitic melange exposed along the suture could have provided a source for detrital spinel the melange occurs in the hanging wall of a north dipping south directed mylonitic shear zone which includes a tectonic sliver of mafic schist amphibole from the schist yields 40ar 39ar ages of 63 ma which we attribute to cooling during slip along the shear zone and southward obduction of the melange melange obduction was coeval with the development of an angular unconformity within the gangdese forearc basin to the north between late maastrichtian time and 62 ma upper paleocene to middle eocene sandstones in the northern tethyan himalaya yield 200 120 ma u pb detrital zircon ages and 190 170 ma 40ar 39ar detrital mica ages these detrital grains were most likely sourced from regions north of the yarlung zangbo suture suggesting that onset of india asia collision in south central tibet is middle eocene or older in age collectively our results support previous suggestions that oceanic rocks were obducted onto the northern margin of india during latest cretaceous earliest tertiary time coeval changes in gangdese forearc sedimentation raise the possibility that this obduction event marks onset of tectonic interaction between india and asia at 65 ma alternatively in concert with the conventional view of eocene collision initiation the obducted oceanic rocks may be of intraoceanic origin while coeval changes in gangdese forearc sedimentation may be a consequence of an increase in the rate of ocean continent convergence following the demise of the intraoceanic subduction zone

origin of mesozoic adakitic intrusive rocks in the ningzhen area of east china partial melting of delaminated lower continental crust to the best of our knowledge modern adakites have not been documented in a nonarc environment we report geochemical and isotopic data for early cretaceous anjishan adakitic intrusive rocks that are in a continental setting unrelated to subduction the anjishan adakitic intrusive rocks which are exposed in the ningzhen area of east china have high sr y and la yb ratios coupled with low yb and y as well as relatively high mgo contents and mg numbers mg 0 4 0 6 similar to products from slab melting however low n d t values 6 8 to 9 7 and high 8 7 sr 8 6 sr i 0 7053 0 7066 are inconsistent with an origin by slab melting the tectonics and geochemistry lead us to conclude that adakitic magmas were most likely derived from partial melting of mafic material at the base of the continental crust high sr y and la yb ratios of the adakitic intrusive rocks suggest that garnet was stable as a residual phase during partial melting implying that the crustal thickness exceeded 40 km in the early cretaceous the present thickness of the crust in the ningzhen area is only 30 km and therefore the crust appears to have been thinned by at least 10 km since the early cretaceous the relatively high mgo contents and mg of the anjishan intrusive rocks suggest that adakitic magmas interacted with mantle rocks possibly coinciding with lower crustal delamination which would also account for the observed thinning

tectonic magmatic and metallogenic evolution of the tethyan orogen from subduction to collision abstract this paper reviews the tectonic magmatic and metallogenic history of the tethyan orogen from the carpathians to indochina focus is placed on the formation of porphyry cu mo au deposits as being the most characteristic mineral deposit type formed during both subduction and collisional processes in this region relatively little is known about the history of the paleotethys ocean which opened and closed between gondwana and eurasia in the paleozoic and few ore deposits are preserved from this period the neotethyan ocean opened in the permian early triassic as the cimmerian continental fragments the cores of turkey iran tibet and indochina rifted from the northern gondwana margin and drifted northwards these microcontinents docked with the eurasian margin at various points in the mesozoic and cenozoic and formed a complex archipelago involving several small back arc basins and remnants of the paleotethyan ocean the main neotethyan ocean and these smaller basins were largely eliminated by collision with india and africa arabia in the early eocene and early mid miocene respectively although neotethyan subduction continues beneath the hellenic arc and the makran the majority of porphyry type deposits are found in association with neotethyan subduction mainly in the mesozoic and paleogene and syn to post collisional events in the mid paleogene to neogene they are found throughout the orogen but some sections are particularly well endowed including the carpathians balkans rhodopes eastern turkey lesser caucasus nw iran se iran sw pakistan southern tibet and se tibet indochina other sections that appear barren may reflect deeper levels of erosion young sedimentary cover or lack of exploration although there may also be real reasons for low prospectivity in some areas such as minimal subduction e g the western mediterranean region or lithospheric underthrusting as proposed in western tibet over the last decade improved geochronological constraints on the timing of ore formation and key tectonic events have revealed that many porphyry deposits that were previously assumed to be subduction related are in fact broadly collision related some forming in back arc settings in advance of collision some during collision and others during post collisional processes such as orogenic collapse and or delamination of subcontinental mantle lithosphere while the formation of subduction related porphyries is quite well understood collisional metallogeny is more complex and may involve a number of different processes or sources these include melting of orogenically thickened crust previously subduction modified lithosphere including metasomatized mantle underplated mafic rocks or lower crustal arc plutons and cumulates or upwelling asthenosphere e g in response to delamination slab breakoff back arc extension or orogenic collapse the most fertile sources for syn and post collisional porphyry deposits appear to be subduction modified lithosphere because these hydrated lithologies melt at relatively low temperatures during later tectonomagmatic events and retain the oxidized and relatively metalliferous character of the original arc magmatism unusually metallically enriched lithospheric sources do not seem to be required but the amount of residual sulfide phases in these rocks may control metal ratios e g cu au in subsequent magmatic hydrothermal ore deposits relatively au rich deposits potentially form in these settings as observed in the carpathians e g rosia montan turkey kisladag copler and iran sari gunay dalli although the majority of syn and post collisional porphyries are cu mo rich and resemble normal subduction related deposits e g in the gangdese belt of southern tibet this similarity extends to the associated igneous rocks which being derived from subduction modified sources largely retain the geochemical and isotopic character of those original arc magmas while still retaining a broadly calc alkaline character these rocks may extend to mildly alkaline shoshonitic compositions and may display adakite like trace element signatures high sr y and la yb ratios reflecting melting of deep crustal garnet amphibolitic sources but they are otherwise hard to distinguish from normal subduction related magmas small post collisional mafic alkaline volcanic centers are common throughout the orogen but for the most part appear to be barren however similar rocks in other post subduction settings around the world are associated with important alkalic type porphyry and epithermal au cu deposits and the potential for discovery of such deposits in the tethyan orogen should not be overlooked

overview of mars surface geochemical diversity through alpha particle x ray spectrometer data multidimensional analysis first attempt at modeling rock alteration 1 principal component analysis and a hierarchical clustering method have been employed to describe and quantify the compositional variability of martian rocks and soils measured by the alpha particle x ray spectrometers onboard the mars exploration rovers a robust classification of samples emerges which defines distinct rock classes and sheds light on the petrogenetic relationships between rocks this is particularly useful in the case of rocks from gusev crater where significant chemical diversity is observed this approach also highlights that compositional variability of rocks at meridiani is dominated by variations in sulfur content the relative proportions of other elements remaining approximately constant for soils variations in fe concentration dominate because of the presence of hematite rich berry bearing samples on the basis of this observation a simple geochemical model of acid fog alteration of martian basalts has been tested assuming either equivalent alteration of all phases or preferential alteration of certain phases thus taking into account kinetic considerations the results show that for certain ranges of so3 basalt many of the compositional and mineralogical features measured at both sites may be explained the secondary mineralogy and bulk rock compositions predicted by the model are broadly consistent with rock and soil compositions from gusev and meridiani especially if the role of brine circulation and evaporation are considered although agreement is not perfect comparison of observations and models argues in favor of variable interaction of the martian surface with sour gas explaining the high local abundance of sulfates for example

source of fluids forming distal zn pb ag skarns evidence from laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis of fluid inclusions from el mochito honduras the compositions of flinclusions trapped in garnet pyroxene and sphalerite measured with laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry from the distal dominantly limestone hosted el mochito zn pb ag skarn honduras are very similar to those of proximal magmatic fl uids in granitoid related mineral deposits however the el mochito mineralizing fl uids are chemically distinct from basinal brines demonstrating that in distal skarns magmatic fl uids dominate and that most element concentrations and ratios are unaffected by water rock interaction high fl uid temperatures 325 425 c throughout the paragenesis are also consistent with this hypothesis a variety of elements and element ratios e g rb mn k na mn na rb na zn na clearly discriminates between magmatic fl uids and basinal brines elevated ca most likely resulted from carbonate dissolution along the fl ow path zinc and pb contents indicate that the ore metals were precipitated in the deposit in proportions that approached their ratios in the fl uid

mid eocene high sr y granites in the northern himalayan gneiss domes melting thickened lower continental crust abstract within the himalayan collisional belt granotoids occur along two sub parallel belts the northern himalayan gneiss domes nhgd and the high himalayan crystalline series hhcs in the yardoi area of nhgd two mica granite a new type granite occurs in the core of the yardoi gneiss dome ygd dala and quedang from north to south and extends at least 50 km long these granites have similar mineral composition elemental and radiogenic isotope geochemistry and age of formation shrimp zircon u pb dating indicates that the yardoi and the quedang two mica granites formed at 42 6 1 1 ma and 42 8 0 6 ma respectively similar to the dala pluton these two mica granites have 1 high sio2 68 wt al2o3 15 wt and a cnk 1 0 2 relatively high sr and lree but low y 40 and up to 250 and la yb 30 4 very weak or no eu anomalies and 5 as compared with those in the himalayan leucogranites low initial sr 87sr 86sr i

mantle contributions to crustal thickening during continental collision evidence from cenozoic igneous rocks in southern tibet the tibetan crust is twice as thick as average continental crust crustal compression and shortening as a result of indian asian collision isoftenconsideredtobetheprimarycauseforthecrustalthickening inthispaper weshowthatmagmaticcontributionisalsoimportant we come to this conclusion by documenting the paleogene linzizong volcanic succession lvs its coeval granitoid batholiths and the miocene adakitic rocks along the gangdese magmatic belt in southern tibet it has been widely accepted that the indian asian collision proceeded from a soft phase at 65 70 ma to a hard phase at 45 40 ma followed by continued post collisional convergence to the present in response to the collision and post collision convergence are a series of tectono magmatic events recorded in the gangdese magmaticbelt theseinclude 1 thesyn collisionallvsvolcanism 65 40ma andtheemplacementofsoutherngangdesebatholiths a peakageof 50ma 2 aperiod 40mato25ma thatismagmaticallyquiescent yettectonicallydominatedbyactivecompressionand crustal shortening and 3 the emplacements of post collisional adakitic rocks 25 12 ma potassic ultrapotassic volcanics 25 10 ma and peraluminous muscovite bearing granites between 24 and 18 ma these three major events contribute in different ways to the crustal thickness phase i formation of the lower juvenile crust from 65 ma to 50 ma with crustal thickening largely concentrated at 50 40maviainputofmantle derivedmagmas phaseii crustalthickeningbytectonicshorteningat 40 25ma andphaseiii retaining crustal thickness but thinning of the lithospheric mantle since 25 ma in response to crustal extension and upwelling and lateral flow of asthenosphericmantle weemphasizethatcollision inducedcrustalthickeningtookplacemainlyintheperiodof 50 40maand 25ma i e the period between the late stage of the lvs volcanism and the beginning of the adakitic rock emplacement most of the lvs rocks and the collision related granitoids in southern gangdese have end 0 attesting to the significance of mantle input most likely through remelting of mantle derived basaltic rocks including the subducted neo tethyan ocean crust the petrologic and geochemical characteristics of the miocene potassic adakitic rocks support the idea that the lower portion of the thickened tibetan crust is mafic and is genetically associated with the earlier lvs magmatism we estimate that the mantle material input contributed about 30 of the total thickness of the present day tibetan crust by assuming a pre collision crustal thickness of 35 km then the tectonic contribution would be about 20 km

mars exploration rover athena panoramic camera pancam investigation 1 the panoramic camera pancam investigation is part of the athena science payload launched to mars in 2003 on nasa s twin mars exploration rover mer missions the scientific goals of the pancam investigation are to assess the high resolution morphology topography and geologic context of each mer landing site to obtain color images to constrain the mineralogic photometric and physical properties of surface materials and to determine dust and aerosol opacity and physical properties from direct imaging of the sun and sky pancam also provides mission support measurements for the rovers including sun finding for rover navigation hazard identification and digital terrain modeling to help guide long term rover traverse decisions high resolution imaging to help guide the selection of in situ sampling targets and acquisition of education and public outreach products the pancam optical mechanical and electronics design were optimized to achieve these science and mission support goals pancam is a multispectral stereoscopic panoramic imaging system consisting of two digital cameras mounted on a mast 1 5 m above the martian surface the mast allows pancam to image the full 360 in azimuth and 90 in elevation each pancam camera utilizes a 1024 1024 active imaging area frame transfer ccd detector array the pancam optics have an effective focal length of 43 mm and a focal ratio of f 20 yielding an instantaneous field of view of 0 27 mrad pixel and a field of view of 16 16 each rover s two pancam eyes are separated by 30 cm and have a 1 toe in to provide adequate stereo parallax each eye also includes a small eight position filter wheel to allow surface mineralogic studies multispectral sky imaging and direct sun imaging in the 400 1100 nm wavelength region pancam was designed and calibrated to operate within specifications on mars at temperatures from 55 to 5 c an onboard calibration target and fiducial marks provide the capability to validate the radiometric and geometric calibration on mars

overview of the opportunity mars exploration rover mission to meridiani planum eagle crater to purgatory ripple the mars exploration rover opportunity touched down at meridiani planum in january 2004 and since then has been conducting observations with the athena science payload the rover has traversed more than 5 km carrying out the first outcrop scale investigation of sedimentary rocks on mars the rocks of meridiani planum are sandstones formed by eolian and aqueous reworking of sand grains that are composed of mixed fine grained siliciclastics and sulfates the siliciclastic fraction was produced by chemical alteration of a precursor basalt the sulfates are dominantly mg sulfates and also include ca sulfates and jarosite the stratigraphic section observed to date is dominated by eolian bedforms with subaqueous current ripples exposed near the top of the section after deposition interaction with groundwater produced a range of diagenetic features notably the hematite rich concretions known as blueberries the bedrock at meridiani is highly friable and has undergone substantial erosion by wind transported basaltic sand this sand along with concretions and concretion fragments eroded from the rock makes up a soil cover that thinly and discontinuously buries the bedrock the soil surface exhibits both ancient and active wind ripples that record past and present wind directions loose rocks on the soil surface are rare and include both impact ejecta and meteorites while opportunity s results show that liquid water was once present at meridiani planum below and occasionally at the surface the environmental conditions recorded were dominantly arid acidic and oxidizing and would have posed some significant challenges to the origin of life copyright 2006 by the american geophysical union

acceleration and deceleration of india asia convergence since the cretaceous roles of mantle plumes and continental collision 1 a strong 50 35 ma decrease in india asia convergence is generally ascribed to continent continent collision however a convergence rate increase of similar magnitude occurred between 65 50 ma an earlier increase occurred at 90 ma both episodes of accelerated convergence followed upon arrival of a mantle plume below and emplacement of a large igneous province lip on the indian plate we here first confirm these convergence rate trends reassessing the indo atlantic plate circuits then using two different numerical models we assess whether plume head arrival and its lateral asthenospheric flow may explain the plate velocity increases and whether decreased plume flux and increasing continent plume distance may explain deceleration even without continental collision the results show that plume head arrival can indeed lead to absolute indian plate motion accelerations on the order of several cm yr followed by decelerations on timescales similar to the reconstructed fluctuations the 90 ma increase could potentially be explained as response to the morondova mantle plume alone the 65 50 ma convergence rate increase however is larger than can be explained by plume head spreading alone we concur with previous hypotheses that plume induced weakening of the indian continental lithosphere asthenosphere coupling and an increased slab pull and ridge push efficiency are the most likely explanations for the large convergence rate increase the post 50 ma decrease is best explained by orogeny related increased trench resistivity decreased slab pull due to continental subduction and possibly restrengthening of lithosphere asthenosphere coupling upon plume demise

indian and african plate motions driven by the push force of the reunion plume head mantle plumes are thought to play an important part in the earth s tectonics yet it has been difficult to isolate the effect that plumes have on plate motions here we analyse the plate motions involved in two apparently disparate events the unusually rapid motion of india between 67 and 52 million years ago and a contemporaneous transitory slowing of africa s motion and show that the events are coupled with the common element being the position of the indian and african plates relative to the location of the reunion plume head the synchroneity of these events suggests that they were both driven by the force of the reunion plume head the recognition of this plume force has substantial tectonic implications the speed up and slowdown of india the possible cessation of convergence between africa and eurasia in the palaeocene epoch and the enigmatic bends of the fracture zones on the southwest indian ridge can all be attributed to the reunion plume an analysis of the plate motions involved in two apparently disparate tectonic events the unusually rapid motion of india between 67 million and 52 million years ago and a transitory slowing of africa s motion at around the same time has uncovered a possible common cause for the two the reunion volcanic hotspot beneath the indian ocean has been active for about 67 million years and the close coupling of the motion of india and africa strongly suggests that it is the waxing and waning of the reunion plume head that is driving these motions

athena mimos ii mossbauer spectrometer investigation 1 mossbauer spectroscopy is a powerful tool for quantitative mineralogical analysis of fe bearing materials the miniature mossbauer spectrometer mimos ii is a component of the athena science payload launched to mars in 2003 on both mars exploration rover missions the instrument has two major components 1 a rover based electronics board that contains power supplies a dedicated central processing unit memory and associated support electronics and 2 a sensor head that is mounted at the end of the instrument deployment device idd for placement of the instrument in physical contact with soil and rock the velocity transducer operates at a nominal frequency of 25 hz and is equipped with two 57co rh mossbauer sources the reference source 5 mci landed intensity reference target fe2o3 plus fe0 and pin diode detector are configured in transmission geometry and are internal to the instrument and used for its calibration the analysis mossbauer source 150 mci landed intensity irradiates martian surface materials with a beam diameter of 1 4 cm the backscatter radiation is measured by four pin diode detectors physical contact with surface materials is sensed with a switch activated contact plate the contact plate and reference target are instrumented with temperature sensors assuming 18 fe for martian surface materials experiment time is 6 12 hours during the night for quality spectra i e good counting statistics 1 2 hours is sufficient to identify and quantify the most abundant fe bearing phases data stored internal to the instrument for selectable return to earth include mossbauer and pulse height analysis spectra 512 and 256 channels respectively for each of the five detectors in up to 13 temperature intervals 65 mossbauer spectra engineering data for the velocity transducer and temperature measurements the total data volume is 150 kb the mass and power consumption are 500 g 400 g for the sensor head and 2 w respectively the scientific measurement objectives of the mossbauer investigation are to obtain for rock soil and dust 1 the mineralogical identification of iron bearing phases e g oxides silicates sulfides sulfates and carbonates 2 the quantitative measurement of the distribution of iron among these iron bearing phases e g the relative proportions of iron in olivine pyroxenes ilmenite and magnetite in a basalt 3 the quantitative measurement of the distribution of iron among its oxidation states e g fe2 fe3 and fe6 and 4 the characterization of the size distribution of magnetic particles special geologic targets of the mossbauer investigation are dust collected by the athena magnets and interior rock and soil surfaces exposed by the athena rock abrasion tool and by trenching with rover wheels

tibetan plateau aridification linked to global cooling at the eocene oligocene transition the eocene oligocene transition about 33 5 million years ago was a major global climate event the end of the eocene was unusually warm with no significant ice on antarctica but the oligocene saw the arrival of a permanent antarctic ice sheet two papers this week relate to the continental effects of this global change dupont nivet et al examined sedimentary records from the tibetan plateau and find a drop in atmospheric water which caused cooling and aridification coincident with antarctic cooling previous studies attributed this phenomenon to the rapid uplift of the tibetan plateau but this new work suggests that regional tibetan climate was influenced by global events in an unrelated paper on the same climate transition zanazzi et al explore the cooling in north america at the time using stable isotope measurements from fossil teeth and bones to create a proxy temperature record they find a large drop in mean annual temperature of 8 2 c a greater fall than seen in the oceans this continental transition may explain why many cold blooded reptiles and amphibians became extinct whereas mammals able to regulate their body temperature escaped relatively unscathed precisely dated evidence details that aridification on the tibetan plateau occurred at the time of the eocene oligocene transition in the marine records this suggests a direct link between the palaeontological and palaeoenvironmental changes recorded in continental asia at the time and global climate cooling continental aridification and the intensification of the monsoons in asia are generally attributed to uplift of the tibetan plateau and to the land sea redistributions associated with the continental collision of india and asia1 2 3 whereas some studies suggest that past changes in asian environments are mainly governed by global climate4 5 6 the most dramatic climate event since the onset of the collision of india and asia is the eocene oligocene transition an abrupt cooling step associated with the onset of glaciation in antarctica 34 million years ago7 8 9 however the influence of this global event on asian environments is poorly understood here we use magnetostratigraphy and cyclostratigraphy to show that aridification which is indicated by the disappearance of playa lake deposits in the northeastern tibetan plateau occurred precisely at the time of the eocene oligocene transition our findings suggest that this global transition is linked to significant aridification and cooling in continental asia recorded by palaeontological and palaeoenvironmental changes10 11 12 and thus support the idea that global cooling is associated with the eocene oligocene transition13 14 15 we show that with sufficient age control on the sedimentary records global climate can be distinguished from tectonism and recognized as a major contributor to continental asian environments

adakite like volcanism of ecuador lower crust magmatic evolution and recycling in the northern andes of ecuador a broad quaternary volcanic arc with significant across arc geochemical changes sits upon continental crust consisting of accreted oceanic and continental terranes quaternary volcanic centers occur from west to east along the western cordillera frontal arc in the inter andean depression and along the eastern cordillera main arc and in the sub andean zone back arc the adakite like signatures of the frontal and main arc volcanoes have been interpreted either as the result of slab melting plus subsequent slab melt mantle interactions or of lower crustal melting fractional crystallization and assimilation processes in this paper we present petrographic geochemical and isotopic sr nd pb data on dominantly andesitic to dacitic volcanic rocks as well as crustal xenolith and cumulate samples from five volcanic centers pululagua pichincha ilalo chacana sumaco forming a nw se transect at about 0 latitude and encompassing the frontal pululagua pichincha main ilalo chacana and back arc sumaco chains all rocks display typical subduction related geochemical signatures such as nb and ta negative anomalies and lile enrichment they show a relative depletion of fluid mobile elements and a general increase in incompatible elements from the front to the back arc suggesting derivation from progressively lower degrees of partial melting of the mantle wedge induced by decreasing amounts of fluids released from the slab we observe widespread petrographic evidence of interaction of primary melts with mafic xenoliths as well as with clinopyroxene and or amphibole bearing cumulates and of magma mixing at all frontal and main arc volcanic centers within each volcanic center rocks display correlations between evolution indices and radiogenic isotopes although absolute variations of radiogenic isotopes are small and their values are overall rather primitive e g end 1 5 to 6 87sr 86sr 0 7040 0 70435 rare earth element patterns are characterized by variably fractionated light to heavy ree la ybn 5 7 34 and by the absence of eu negative anomalies suggesting evolution of these rocks with limited plagioclase fractionation we interpret the petrographic geochemical and isotopic data as indicating open system evolution at all volcanic centers characterized by fractional crystallization and magma mixing processes at different lower to mid crustal levels as well as by assimilation of mafic lower crust and or its partial melts thus we propose that the adakite like signatures of ecuadorian rocks e g high sr y and la yb values are primarily the result of lower to mid crustal processing of mantle derived melts rather than of slab melts and slab melt mantle interactions the isotopic signatures of the least evolved adakite like rocks of the active and recent volcanoes are the same as those of tertiary normal calc alkaline magmatic rocks of ecuador suggesting that the source of the magma did not change through time what changed was the depth of magmatic evolution probably as a consequence of increased compression induced by the stronger coupling between the subducting and overriding plates associated with subduction of the aseismic carnegie ridge

adakites without slab melting high pressure differentiation of island arc magma mindanao the philippines abstract new geochemical data for pleistocene magmatic rocks from the surigao peninsula eastern mindanao the philippines demonstrate typical adakitic traits including elevation of sr y and depletion of the heavy rare earth elements 87sr 86sr and 143nd 144nd ratios of the adakites do not support melting of the subducted philippine sea plate but resemble pliocene arc lavas generated in the same subduction zone excepting the heavy rare earth elements the adakites and arc lavas also possess similar ratios of incompatible elements suggesting that the adakites were ultimately derived from melting of the mantle wedge the wide range of sio2 in the adakites and its strong correlation with trace element concentrations and ratios indicate two possible mechanisms for generating the adakitic signature 1 adakitic melt was produced from basaltic arc magma by fractional crystallisation of a garnet bearing assemblage 2 solidified basaltic rock containing garnet melted to yield adakitic magma in either case the basaltic precursor was generated from fluid modified mantle then differentiated within the garnet stability field in surigao this requires differentiation within mantle the surigao example suggests that any subduction zone has the potential to produce adakitic magma if basalt crystallises at sufficient depth this has important implications for the geodynamics of modern and ancient subduction zones that have generated similar rocks

evidence for mechanical and chemical alteration of iron nickel meteorites on mars process insights for meridiani planum 1 the weathering of meteorites found on mars involves chemical and physical processes that can provide clues to climate conditions at the location of their discovery beginning on sol 1961 the opportunity rover encountered three large iron meteorites within a few hundred meters of each other in order of discovery these rocks have been assigned the unofficial names block island shelter island and mackinac island each rock presents a unique but complimentary set of features that increase our understanding of weathering processes at meridiani planum significant morphologic characteristics interpretable as weathering features include 1 a large pit in block island lined with delicate iron protrusions suggestive of inclusion removal by corrosive interaction 2 differentially eroded kamacite and taenite lamellae in block island and shelter island providing relative timing through crosscutting relationships with deposition of 3 an iron oxide rich dark coating 4 regmaglypted surfaces testifying to regions of minimal surface modification with other regions in the same meteorites exhibiting 5 large scale cavernous weathering in shelter island and mackinac island we conclude that the current size of the rocks is approximate to their original postfall contours their morphology thus likely results from a combination of atmospheric interaction and postfall weathering effects among our specific findings is evidence supporting 1 at least one possible episode of aqueous acidic exposure for block island 2 ripple migration over portions of the meteorites 3 a minimum of two separate episodes of wind abrasion alternating with 4 at least one episode of coating forming chemical alteration most likely at subzero temperatures

high sr y arc magmas and porphyry cu mo au deposits just add water porphyry cu mo au deposits are commonly associated with intermediate composition arc related igneous rocks with high sr y and la yb ratios and such rocks are equated by some researchers with melts derived from subducted oceanic crust undergoing eclogite facies metamorphism adakites however similar geochemical characteristics are readily developed in normal asthenospheric mantle wedge derived magmas by fractionation of amphibole and or garnet and or by interaction with crustal materials during ascent through the upper plate lithosphere while there is widespread evidence for such fractionation and contamination processes in porphyry magmas there is little direct evidence for an origin by slab melting the enhanced fertility of arc magmas relates primarily to their high water content which is required for the formation of magmatic hydrothermal systems upon shallow crustal emplacement magmatic water contents 4 wt percent h 2 o cause abundant amphibole garnet fractionation but suppression of plagioclase crystallization at deep crustal levels resulting in increasing sr y and la yb ratios with differentiation commonly into adakitic ranges but not reflecting slab melting additional factors that affect arc magma fertility are relatively high oxidation states and sulfur content but these are secondary to the requirement for sufficient water thus arc magmatic suites with high sr y ratios and evidence for the presence of hydrous phenocryst phases hornblende and or biotite are indeed prospective for porphyry cu mo au deposits but only because these parameters indicate high magmatic water content