Magmatic-Orogenic cycles

508-2K13-lec25

N. American Cordillera scale

• No depth bias;

• Mostly upper plate-derived magmas;

• Significant pre-existing crust involved;

• Flare-ups are compressional;

• Fluxes vary by a factor of 10.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450

Age (Ma)

Depth (km)

Regional age-depth

Quartz delta 18O- all N. American Cordilera-

Average quartz ~ 9.4 ‰ SMOW

Nd isotopes in Cordilleran batholiths.

εNd=0-10 10

PRB east

PRB west

SNB east

SNB west

Idaho

Coast, BC

Coast, Alaska

Average North American Cordillera εnd(i)= -4.5

Predominant input of North American lithosphere

Magmatic fluxes

• Average (Reymer and Schubert, 1984)– 20-40 km3/kmMa

• Lulls and flare-ups. – Need detailed info on individual pluton surface

area, depth of emplacement and age. Lots of data everywhere, very little synthesis work has been done. Enough data for Sierra, Coastal batholith of Peru, maybe a couple more worldwide;

– 10-25 km3/kmMa, baseline– Up to 500 km3/kmMa flare-ups

Barton et al., 1988 Barton, 1996

IDB - Age vs. Sr(i)

0.7

0.71

0.72

0.73

0.74

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

Age (Ma)

Sr(i)

Idaho

Montana

Idaho Batholith - Strontium

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

65 75 85 95 105 115 125

Age (Ma)

eNd(t)

N Peninsular Ranges Batholith (K only)

Epsilon Nd vs time

.

- 2 5

- 2 0

- 1 5

- 1 0

- 5

0

5

10

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

time

California arc

Coast Mountains - Including Alaska

Flare-ups are marked by increased N-American input- these are compressional

arcs.

What drives high flux events?

plate kinematics

upper plate deformation

Other?

Plate kinematics and fluxes

• Data available only for magmatic arcs– Early work on the Coast Mountains

batholith (Armstrong, 1988) proposed they may be correlated: faster convergence - higher fluxes.

California arc - no correlation (see next slide).

Apparent intrusive flux vs. time and plate motions

Ducea, 2001

• Short, high flux events separated by lulls• Baseline fluxes coincide with steady state

island arcs (10-30 km3/km Ma). Flare-ups generate 10 times more magma within short (5-15 My) periods. Most of the continental arcs are made in flare-ups.

• Don’t know what ignites the high flux events– We do know they are compressional events.

Magmatic flare-ups

Some Relevant Facts:

Shortening in some thrust belts amounts to 300-700 km (Andes, North American Cordillera, Himalaya)

Rocks involved are almost exclusively upper crustal

Requires disposal of large volumes of continental lower crust and lithosphere beneath orogenic belts

Some Questions:

What are the spatial-temporal relationships between shortening, magmatism, and mantle processes?

Can we track these through time?

How much continental crust is involved and where does it go?

Implications for mantle chemistry and Earth evolution?

The concept of a tectono-magmatic cycle in major orogenic belts, with emphasis on subduction of continental crust and lithosphere on the foreland side: Cordilleran but can be extended

to collisional

Los Frailesvolcanic field

SubandeanZone

Altiplano

Amazon drainage basin

WesternCordilleravolcanic

topography

Age of ductile thrusting predates flare-ups by some 15-35 my

DeCelles, Ducea, Zandt,Kapp 2009

What is not in the model

• Forearc and trench contributions, known to be a factor, in some arcs

• Possible storage and release mechanisms in the lower crust

• Need better constraints on plate kinematics to fully rule those effects out.

•>65% of the volume of magmatic rocks in the coastal batholiths of North America are formed in short, 5-15 My flare-up (hih flux) events;•These episodes are dominated by upper plate mass, mantle and crust;•They are not demonstrably related to plate kinematic parameters in the few areas where enough data is available;•Oxygen isotopes are clearly showing tens of % of mass is recycled crustal;•One mechanism suggested here is retroarc thickening. It reconciles geologic constraints.