Hostname: page-component-599cfd5f84-5kswg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-07T05:41:18.042Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Geochemistry of the 1100 Ma intrusive rocks from the Ahlmannryggen region, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2014

Teal R. Riley  and
Ian L. Millar
Teal R. Riley*
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OET, UK
Ian L. Millar
Affiliation:
NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, Kingsley Dunham Centre, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
*
[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The recognition of a Mesoproterozoic large igneous province (LIP) across large parts of southern Africa has been strengthened by recent geochronology, geochemistry and petrology. The c. 1100 Ma Umkondo province has been recognized across parts of Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Mozambique where tholeiitic sills, dykes and rare lava flows have been correlated into a single magmatic province emplaced in the interval 1108–1112 Ma. The extension of the province into the Dronning Maud Land region of Antarctica has been suggested by several workers, but detailed analyses of geochemistry and petrogenesis are lacking, as are comparative studies. This study investigates 25 dykes and sills of the Borgmassivet intrusions which include several of the major diorite sills of the province, up to 300 m in thickness. The dykes and sills are also considered to be c. 1100 Ma and they were emplaced, in part, synchronously with the Ritscherflya Supergroup sedimentary sequence. The Borgmassivet intrusions are characterized by geochemical signatures that suggest the magmas were either extensively contaminated by continental crust or derived from an enriched lithospheric mantle source, where the enrichment was related to earlier subduction. The limited geochemical range of the Borgmassivet and Umkondo intrusions are probably not consistent with significant levels of crustal contamination. Furthermore, the trace element ratios indicate a source in the sub-lithospheric mantle, followed by gabbroic fractionation and interaction with lithospheric wall rocks.

Keywords

doleriteKalahariMesoproterozoicUmkondo
Type
Earth Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 26 , Issue 4 , August 2014 , pp. 389 - 399
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Antonini, P., Piccirillo, E.M., Petrini, R., Civetta, L., D'Antonio, M. Orsi, G. 1999. Enriched mantle - Dupal signature in the genesis of the Jurassic Ferrar tholeiites from Prince Albert Mountains (Victoria Land, Antarctica). Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 136, 1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arndt, N.T. Christensen, U. 1992. The role of lithospheric mantle in continental flood volcanism - thermal and geochemical constraints. Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth, 97, 10 967–10 981.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bullen, D.S., Hall, R.P. Hanson, R.E. 2012. Geochemistry and petrogenesis of mafic sills in the 1.1 Ga Umkondo large igneous province, southern Africa. Lithos, 142, 116–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curtis, M.L. Riley, T.R. 2003. Mobilization of fluidized sediment during sill emplacement, western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 15, 393–398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferraccioli, F., Jones, P.C., Curtis, M.L. Leat, P.T. 2005a. Subglacial imprints of early Gondwana break-up as identified from high resolution aerogeophysical data over western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Terra Nova, 17, 573–579.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferraccioli, F., Jones, P.C., Curtis, M.L., Leat, P.T. Riley, T.R. 2005b. Tectonic and magmatic patterns in the Jutulstraumen rift (?) region, East Antarctica, as imaged by high-resolution aeromagnetic data. Earth Planets and Space, 57, 767–780.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Floyd, P.A. 1986. Petrology and geochemistry of oceanic intraplate sheet-flow basalts, Nauru Basin, deep sea drilling project leg 89. Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, 89, 471–497.Google Scholar
Frimmel, H.E. 2004. Formation of a late Mesoproterozoic supercontinent: the South Africa–East Antarctica connection. In Eriksson, P.G., Altermann, W., Nelson, D.R., Mueller, W.U. & Catuneanu, O., eds. The Precambrian earth: tempos and events. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 240–255.Google Scholar
Grantham, G.H. 1996. Aspects of Jurassic magmatism and faulting in western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica: implications for Gondwana break-up. In Storey, B.C., King, E.C. & Livermore, R.A., eds. Weddell Sea tectonics and Gondwana break-up. Special Publication of the Geological Society of London, No. 108, 63–72.Google Scholar
Groenewald, P.B., Grantham, G.H. Watkeys, M.K. 1991. Geological evidence for a Proterozoic to Mesozoic link between southeastern Africa and Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Journal of Geological Society, 148, 1115–1123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Groenewald, P.M., Moyes, A.B., Grantham, G.H. Krynauw, J.R. 1995. East Antarctic crustal evolution: geological constraints and modelling in western Dronning Maud Land. Precambrian Research, 75, 231–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grosch, E.G., Bisnath, A., Frimmel, H.E. Board, W.S. 2007. Geochemistry and tectonic setting of mafic rocks in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica: implications for the geodynamic evolution of the Proterozoic Maud Belt. Journal of the Geological Society, 164, 465–475.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanson, R.E., Martin, M.W., Bowring, S.A. Munyanyiwa, H. 1998. U-Pb zircon age for the Umkondo dolerites, eastern Zimbabwe: 1.1 Ga large igneous province in southern Africa-East Antarctica and possible Rodinia correlations. Geology, 26, 1143–1146.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanson, R.E., Crowley, J.L., Bowring, S.A., Ramezani, J., Gose, W.A., Dalziel, I.W.D., Pancake, J.A., Seidel, E.K., Blenkinsop, T.G. Mukwakwami, J. 2004. Coeval large-scale magmatism in the Kalahari and Laurentian cratons during Rodinia assembly. Science, 304, 1126–1129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hawkesworth, C.J., Marsh, J.S., Duncan, A.R., Erlank, A.J. Norry, M.J. 1984. The role of continental lithosphere in the generation of the Karoo volcanic rocks: evidence from combined Nd- and Sr-isotope studies. In Erlank, A.J., ed. Petrogenesis of the volcanic rocks of the Karoo province. Special Publication of the Geological Society of South Africa, No. 13, 341–354.Google Scholar
Jacobs, J., Thomas, R.J. Weber, K. 1993. Accretion and indentation tectonics at the southern edge of the Kaapvaal Craton during Kibaran (Grenville) orogeny. Geology, 21, 203–206.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kokelaar, B.P. 1982. Fluidization of wet sediments during the emplacement and cooling of various igneous bodies. Journal of the Geological Society, 139, 21–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krynauw, J.R., Hunter, D.R. Wilson, A.H. 1988. Emplacement of sills into wet sediments at Grunehogna, western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Journal of the Geological Society, 145, 1019–1032.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marschall, H.R., Hawkesworth, C.J., Storey, C.D., Dhuime, B., Leat, P.T., Meyer, H.P. Tamm-Buckle, S. 2010. The Annandagstoppane granite, East Antarctica: evidence for Archaean intracrustal recycling in the Kaapvaal-Grunehogna Craton from zircon O and Hf isotopes. Journal of Petrology, 51, 2277–2301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, A.K. Hartnady, C.J.H. 1986. Plate tectonic development of the southwest Indian Ocean – a revised reconstruction of East Antarctica and Africa. Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth, 91, 4767–4786.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Molzahn, M., Reisberg, L. Wörner, G. 1996. Os, Sr, Nd, Pb, O isotope and trace element data from the Ferrar flood basalts, Antarctica: evidence for an enriched subcontinental lithospheric source. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 144, 529–545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moyes, A.B., Krynauw, J.R. Barton, J.M. 1995. The age of the Ritscherflya Supergroup and Borgmassivet Intrusions, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 7, 87–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Munyanyiwa, H. 1999. Geochemical study of the Umkondo dolerites and lavas in the Chimanimani and Chipinge Districts (eastern Zimbabwe) and their regional implications. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 28, 349–365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakamura, N. 1974. Determination of REE, Ba, Fe, Mg, Na and K in carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 38, 757–775.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ottley, C.J., Pearson, D.G. Irvine, G.J. 2003. A routine method for the dissolution of geological samples for the analysis of REE and trace elements via ICP-MS. In Holland, J.G. & Tanner, S.D., eds. Plasma source mass spectrometry: applications and emerging technologies. Special Publication of the Royal Society of Chemistry, No. 291, 221–230.Google Scholar
Pearce, J.A. Peate, D.W. 1995. Tectonic implications of the composition of volcanic arc magmas. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 23, 251–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peate, D.W. 1997. The Paraná-Etendeka province. In Mahoney, J.J. & Coffin, M.F., eds. Large igneous provinces: continental, oceanic, and planetary flood volcanism. Washington, DC: American Geophysical Union, 217–245.Google Scholar
Plank, T. Langmuir, C.H. 1998. The chemical composition of subducting sediment and its consequences for the crust and mantle. Chemical Geology, 145, 325–394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riley, T.R., Leat, P.T., Curtis, M.L., Millar, I.L., Duncan, R.A. Fazel, A. 2005. Early-Middle Jurassic dolerite dykes from Western Dronning Maud Land (Antarctica): identifying mantle sources in the Karoo large igneous province. Journal of Petrology, 46, 1489–1524.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riley, T.R., Curtis, M.L., Leat, P.T., Watkeys, M.K., Duncan, R.A., Millar, I.L. Owens, W.H. 2006. Overlap of Karoo and Ferrar magma types in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Journal of Petrology, 47, 541–566.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riley, T.R., Curtis, M.L., Leat, P.T. Millar, I.L. 2009. The geochemistry of Middle Jurassic dykes associated with the Straumsvola-Tvora alkaline plutons, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica and their association with the Karoo large igneous province. Mineralogical Magazine, 73, 205–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schoene, B., de Wit, M.J. Bowring, S.A. 2008. Mesoarchean assembly and stabilization of the eastern Kaapvaal Craton: a structural-thermochronological perspective. Tectonics, 27, 10.1029/2008TC002267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shaw, D.M. 1970. Trace element fractionation during anatexis. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 34, 237–243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stocklmayer, V. 1981. The Umkondo Group. In Hunter, D.R., ed. Precambrian of the southern hemisphere. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 556–561.Google Scholar
Sun, S.S. McDonough, W.F. 1989. Chemical and isotopic systematics of oceanic basalts: implications for mantle composition and processes. In Saunders, A.D. & Norry, M.J., eds. Magmatism in ocean basins. Special Publication of the Geological Society of London, No. 42, 313–345.Google Scholar
Sweeney, R.J., Duncan, A.R. Erlank, A.J. 1994. Geochemistry and petrogenesis of central Lebombo basalts of the Karoo igneous province. Journal of Petrology, 35, 95–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Upton, B.G.J., Rämö, O.T., Heaman, L.M., Blichert-Toft, J., Kalsbeek, F., Barry, T.L. Jepssen, H.F. 2005. The Mesoproterozoic Zig-Zag Dal basalts and associated intrusions of eastern North Greenland: mantle plume-lithosphere interaction. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 149, 40–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolmarans, L.G. Kent, L.E. 1982. Geological investigations in western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica – a synthesis. South African Journal of Antarctic Research, Sup. 2, 93 pp.Google Scholar
Zhang, X., Luttinen, A.V., Elliot, D.H., Larsson, K. Foland, K.A. 2003. Early stages of Gondwana breakup: the Ar-40/Ar-39 geochronology of Jurassic basaltic rocks from western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, and implications for the timing of magmatic and hydrothermal events. Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth, 108, 10.1029/2001JB001070.CrossRefGoogle Scholar