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The convergent or active margins where lithospheric plates collide are the most tectonically
active parts of Earth. Of the three fundamentally different types, subduction plays the
dominant role in magma generation in the first two, but other processes also operate in the
third:
1. Convergence between two oceanic plates, where the typical result is a deep ocean trench
and an offshore island arc such as the Japanese islands, the Indonesian arc, or the Aleutian
arc. 2. Convergence between an oceanic and a continental plate, resulting in a deep ocean
trench, a metamorphic complex on the continental margin, and a magmatic arc; classic
examples include the Andes and the Sierra Nevada.
3. Convergence between two continental plates, where neither slab of thick lithosphere can
be subducted and the result is a collisional mountain range with greatly thickened crust. The
Himalaya, the Alps, and the Urals are classic examples.
Each of these three types of convergent margins has its own characteristic form and pattern
of magma generation, plutonism, and volcanism, although the generation of large volumes of
andesitic magma is common to the first two. The third type is the termination Of convergence
of two plates when the continental lithosphere within each of the two plates ultimately
converges. In a plate tectonic cycle, however, continent-continent collision with its own
unique igneous rocks is typically pre-ceded by episodes of one or both of the first two types as
leading edges of oceanic lithosphere in the plates interact. Continental collision zones
therefore contain complex, tectonically intermingled igneous rock products of
the whole cycle, and unraveling their spatial and chronologic relationships is a challenging
task for geologists. As discussed in Chapter 8, the plate tectonic cycle involves the creation of
new basaltic oceanic crust at the divergent plate margins, also referred to as constructive
margins. Earth has retained a relatively constant radius for most of its history, however, so
oceanic lithosphere must be consumed at about the same rate as new lithosphere forms at
the mid-ocean ridges. Oceanic lithosphere is subducted at convergent margins, also called
destructive margins, where old, cold oceanic lithosphere sinks gravitationally back into the
mantle. The processes of heating and compressing this old (100 million-200 mil-lion years)
lithosphere are keys to the generation of mag-mas at most convergent margins. The margins
of areas of continental lithosphere within the plates are especially important, because it is in
these geologic regimes that most new continental crust has been created during Earth history.
New continental crustal material is a mixture of oceanic crust, sedimentary rocks, and newly
created magmatic rocks, all of which are reprocessed (de-formed and possibly
metamorphosed) at the continental margin and welded to the existing continent. Much of the
discussion in this chapter will focus on convergent margins of the first two types that border
the Pacific plate and related smaller oceanic plates. Figure 9-1 illustrates an interesting
concentration of volcanoes around the Pacific that has been recognized by geologists for over
a hundred years. This "necklace" of volcanic activity and related earthquakes has been called
the Ring of Fire and involves active volcanic island arcs such as the Aleutian arc and those in
the western and southwestern Pacific (including Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines), as well as
volcanoes associated with continental magmatic arcs such as the Andes and the Cas-cades
(where Mount St. Helens is located).
CAPTULO 9
Los mrgenes convergentes o activas, donde colisionan las placas litosfricas son las partes
ms activos tectnicamente de la Tierra. De los tres tipos fundamentalmente diferentes,
subduccin desempea el papel dominante en la generacin de magma en las dos primeras,
pero otros procesos tambin operan en la tercera:
1. La convergencia entre dos placas ocenicas, donde el resultado tpico es una fosa ocenica
profunda y un arco de islas en alta mar, como las islas japonesas, el arco de Indonesia, o el
arco de las Aleutianas. 2. La convergencia entre una ocenica y una placa continental, lo que
resulta en una fosa ocenica profunda, un complejo metamrfico en el margen continental, y
un arco magmtico; ejemplos clsicos incluyen los Andes y la Sierra Nevada.
3. La convergencia entre dos placas continentales, donde ni la placa de la litsfera de espesor
puede ser subducida y el resultado es una cadena montaosa de colisin con la corteza
enormemente engrosada. El Himalaya, los Alpes y los Urales son ejemplos clsicos.
Cada uno de estos tres tipos de mrgenes convergentes tiene su propia forma caracterstica y
el patrn de generacin de magma, plutonismo, y volcanismo, aunque la generacin de
grandes volmenes de magma andestico es comn a los dos primeros. El tercer tipo es la
terminacin de la convergencia de dos placas cuando la litosfera continental dentro de cada
una de las dos placas convergen en ltima instancia. En un ciclo de tectnica de placas, sin
embargo, continente-continente colisin con sus propias rocas gneas nicas es tpicamente
pre-cedida por episodios de uno o ambos de los dos primeros tipos que interactan bordes de
ataque de la litosfera ocenica en las placas. Por lo tanto, las zonas de colisin continental
contienen productos de roca gnea, tectnicamente complejos entremezcladas de
todo el ciclo, y desentraar sus relaciones espaciales y cronolgicos es una tarea difcil para
los gelogos. Como se discuti en el captulo 8, el ciclo de tectnica de placas implica la
creacin de una nueva corteza ocenica basltica en los mrgenes de las placas divergentes,
tambin conocida como mrgenes constructivos. Tierra ha conservado un radio relativamente
constante durante la mayor parte de su historia, sin embargo, por lo litosfera ocenica se
debe consumir ms o menos al mismo ritmo que las nuevas formas litosfera en las dorsales
ocenicas. litosfera ocenica se hunde en mrgenes convergentes, tambin llamados
mrgenes destructivos, donde lo antiguo, la litosfera ocenica fra se hunde
gravitacionalmente en el manto. Los procesos de calentamiento y la compresin de esta edad
(100 millones de aos-200 MIL-len) litosfera son claves para la generacin de mag-mas en la
mayora de los mrgenes convergentes. Los mrgenes de las reas de litosfera continental
dentro de las placas son especialmente importantes, ya que es en estos regmenes geolgicos
que ms nueva corteza continental se ha creado durante la historia de la Tierra. Nuevo
material de la corteza continental es una mezcla de corteza ocenica, rocas sedimentarias y
rocas magmticas de nueva creacin, todos los cuales son transformados de nuevo (de
formado y, posiblemente, se transform) en el margen continental y se suelda al continente
existente. Gran parte de la discusin en este captulo se centrar en los mrgenes
convergentes de los dos primeros tipos que bordean la placa del Pacfico y relacionados
placas ocenicas ms pequeos. La figura 9-1 ilustra una interesante concentracin de
volcanes alrededor del Pacfico, que ha sido reconocida por los gelogos durante ms de cien
aos. Este "collar" de la actividad volcnica y los terremotos relacionados ha sido llamado el
Anillo de Fuego y consiste en arcos activos de islas volcnicas, como el arco de las Aleutianas
under the island arc. Both a schematic map and cross-sectional view of an island
arc are shown in Figure 9-2. Although they can be several thousand kilometers
long, arcs are fairly narrow, typically 200 to 300 km wide. Because they are built as
thick accumulations of volcanic rocks directly onto the seafloor, the sources of
island arc magmas must be within the mantle. The principal geometric features of
the arc-trench association are shown in Figure 9-2. The trench marks the contact of
underthrust and overthrust oceanic lithosphere and the bending of the subducted
slab from a horizontal to a dipping position. Subduction zone dip angles vary
significantly, as inferred from seismic data on Benioff zone earthquakes. The
Benioff zone is a pla-nar trend of earthquakes along the upper boundary of the
subducted slab and can extend as deep as 700 km into the mantle as an important
seismic feature. The
heat flow because the downgoing slab of cold oceanic lithosphere acts as a heat sink. The
volcanic arc and the adjacent backarc basin are areas of unusually high heat flow, partly
because of localized magmatic activity but principally because of mantle up-welling; this
effect is poorly understood (refer to Figure 18-13 for additional detail). Note the presence of a
mantle wedge beneath the arc. Either this wedge or the subducted slab is the likeliest source
of arc magmas; the roles of the wedge and the subducted slab in magma generation are
discussed in the section on petrogenesis.
Chemistry and Petrography of Island Arc Volcanics
Andesite is by far the most voluminous rock type in older and larger arcs such as
the Indonesian and Philippine arcs. The volcanic rocks of island arcs are a very
diverse suite, however, ranging from relatively primitive high-magnesium tholeiitic
basalts to strongly differentiated dacites (the fine-grained volcanic equivalent of
granodiorite) and rhyolites (the volcanic equivalent of granite). Volcanic rocks of
the island arcs are therefore called the basalt-andesite-rhyolite association. The
tholeiitic basalts show one particular chemical distinction from tholeiitic basalts of
the seafloor and oceanic islands: They are notably higher in Al203 (typically in
excess of 16 wt%), inspiring the name high-alumina basalts. Although arc basalts
overlap the MORB suite chemically, this special compositional feature of the island
arc tholeiites seems to be virtually ubiquitous and is an important clue to the
petrogenesis of the suite. Andesites are the most distinctive volcanic rock type of
convergent margins. The volcanic equivalent of diorite, andesite is distinguished
from basalt principally by having somewhat more sodic (less than about An50) and
strongly zoned plagioclase, by its commonly porphyritic character, and by the common
presence of a hydrous mineral such as amphibole or biotite and the rare occurrence of olivine.
Chemically, andesites have greater than 52 wt% Si02, and basalts typically have less. Some
andesites have exceptionally high Mg #s (a typical clue to the primary character of mafic
magmas) and have been proposed as unmodified mantle melts. In general, how-ever,
petrologists have concluded on the basis of major-and trace-element composition and isotopic
analyses that most andesites cannot be primary mantle melts but are derived from fractional
crystallization of a more primitive parent, most likely high-aluminum tholeiite. The more felsic
members of the association, dacites and rhyolites, apparently are in turn derived from the
andesites by fractionation. As discussed by Ewart (1982), this can be shown persuasively on a
Harker variation diagram (Figure 9-3), similar to the one in Chapter 8 (see Figure 8-8).
However, because there is considerably more variation in Si02 content than in Mg0
content in the basalt-andesite-rhyolite suite, this diagram uses variation in
chemical constituents as a function of Si02 content (rather than Mg0 content), and
hence as a more general function of fractionation within a cogenetic suite. Although there is some scatter, the smooth patterns of de-creasing Al203, Mg0, FeO,
CaO, and TiO2 content or in-creasing Na20 and K20 content indicate a relatively
orderly fractionation relationship among all the members of the suite. Another
powerful geochemical technique for relating or distinguishing rock suites that
involve fractionation is called the AFM (or FMA) diagram, which was described in
Chapter 3. (This is definitely not to be confused with a very different AFM diagram
that is used by metamorphic petrologists and also is used in the metamorphic
section of this book.) The AFM diagram (Figure 9-4) is a ternary plot of total
content of alkalis (Na20 + K20) versus Fe0 and Mg0 contents. Within a rock suite,
the trend of rock compositions on this diagram will depend on the mineral or
minerals being removed from the initial parental liquid by fractionation. For
example, prolonged olivine fractionation alone (as occurs in the ocean island
tholeiites) will have a much stronger effect on the Mg # at an early stage than on
the proportion of total alkalis (refer back to Figure 6-12), thus causing a
fractionation trend that moves from the field of primary basalt on the diagram
toward the Fe0 apex. Only at a fairly late stage in fractionation does alkali content
(very low at the start) begin to increase notably, and the trend then turns to-ward
the alkali corner. This AFM trend has been called
FIGURE 9-4 AFM diagram showing the calc-alkalic trends, including the low-K
series, the calc-alkaline series, and the high-K shoshonite series. Approximate
compositional ranges for basalt, andesite, dacite, and rhyolite are shown, as is the
field of compositions for primary, mantle-derived basalts.
each trend a different rock type predominates. Distinctions among these trends are
considered significant in terms of petro-genetic processes. For example, trends
near the upper edge of the talc-alkaline band are called the low-K series. They are
dominated by basalts and basaltic andesites and are thought to represent initial
stages of mantle melting beneath an island arc, with subsequent fractionation of
these initial melts. Paucity of highly differentiated felsic magmas reflects the very
primitive nature of the initial basaltic magmas and the very low contents of alkalis
and silica. Low-K trends are characteristic of young, immature, and typically
smaller arcs. Trends near the lower edge are called the calc-alkaline (in a strict
sense)
and high-K series. They tend to be dominated by andesite, and even by dacite, and
are characteristic of late-stage magmatic activity in larger, older, and more mature
arcs like the Japan arc and arcs of western North America. Many different minerals
occur as phenocrysts in the volcanic rocks of the basalt-andesite-rhyolite
association, their diversity reflecting the enormous range of chemical compositions
due to fractionation. Except for certain very primitive magnesium-rich tholeiites
and the highly fractionated rhyolites, one common feature of rocks of this
association is that they are packed with phenocrysts. As discussed in Chapter 8,
this is an impor-tant clue to whether these rocks could be primary mantle-derived
magmas. Primary mafic magmatic rocks tend to be fine grained or glassy and very
poor in phenocrysts. Most of the basalt-andesite-rhyolite suites are therefore likely
to be evolved magmas that have resulted from fractional crystallization of more
primitive parents. Hess (1989) has arranged the information on phenocrysts of the
basalt-andesite-rhyolite suite into a useful tabular form that illustrates the
evolution of phenocryst assemblages within several of the AFM trends discussed
earlier (Table 9-1). As he noted, this table makes an important assumption that
there are in fact relationships through liquid lines of descent within each trend,
and other data suggest that this is a valid assumption. As Table 9-1 illustrates, the
common phenocryst assemblage in basalts of all trends is olivine + augite +
plagioclase + magnetite. Although olivine is not com-mon in andesites, its presence
in magnesium-rich varieties supports the idea that andesite is part of a trend
TABLE 9-1 Phenocrysts of island arc volcanic rocks, Rock type. Low-K series ,
Calc-alkaline series, High-K series , Basalt, Olivine Augite Plagioclase ,- Timagnetite, Olivine ,Augite, Plagioclase ,- Ti-magnetite, Olivine ,Augite ,
Plagioclase, Andesite, Plagioclase ,Augite, Orthopyroxene ,- Olivine, timagnetite ,Plagioclase ,Augite Orthopyroxene - Hornblende -11-magnetite Biotite Plagioclase Augite Orthopyroxene -Hornblende -Ti-magnetite -Biotite
Dacite/rhyolite Plagioclase , Augite Hypersthene Quartz Fe-Ti oxides Fayalite Sanidine Plagioclase Hornblende Biotite Orthopyroxene Quartz Augite -
Sanidine Plagioclase Hornblende Biotite Sanidine Quartz -Fayalite
Source: Adapted from P. C. Hess, 1989, Origins of Igneous Rocks (Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press).
likely to balance the effect of olivine fractionation in pro-ducing the calc-alkaline trends with a
relatively constant Mg/Fe ratio. Orthopyroxene is common to ubiquitous in andesite,
apparently occurring instead of olivine in these derivative magmas richer in silica. Whereas
basalt contains calcic plagioclase (An50-70), plagioclase in andesite is more sodic (An3c,_50),
a composition reflecting fractionation. Low-K andesite contains no hydrous minerals; but in
the higher K series, both hornblende and biotite occur as phenocrysts. This is exceptionally
important in-formation because it indicates a role for water in both the generation and
evolution of the talc-alkaline mag-mas. Major involvement of water was not seen in any of the
oceanic basalts, all of which appear to have been nearly anhydrous magmas throughout their
entire evolution. With further fractionation, all of the series can produce dacites or rhyolites
that contain both potassium-rich feldspar (sanidine) and sodic plagioclase. By this late stage
of fractionation, ferromagnesian minerals in these rocks are relatively iron-rich, and iron-rich
olivine (even fayalite) can occur, with or without quartz.
slab melting appears to be, however, further experimental and geochemical studies
have shown that in most cases it is unlikely for the basaltic (or eclogitic) material
in the subducted slab ,,Trench, Island arc , Top of subducted plate _
FIGURE 9-5 Generalized view of thermal structure beneath an offshore island arc,
with oceanic lithosphere in both plates. Lithosphere slab margins are shown by
heavy lines, and isotherms by fine lines. Numerous modeling studies indicate
qualitatively similar results. Note that the subduction rate in this model is
sufficiently rapid relative to heat conduction that the downgoing slab acts as a heat
sink. Also note the upward deflection of near-surface isotherms under the island
arc. Refer to text for detailed explanation.
174 Chapter 9 Igneous Rocks of Convergent Margins
to melt to any significant degree to yield arc magmas (but see below for additional
discussion of this point). Instead, the currently preferred model (although it is only
a model, and much further work is needed) is that arc magmas are derived from
melting of the mantle wedge, a process that can occur because there has been
infiltration of sufficient water to reduce its melting temperature (solidus) by
several hundred degrees. Indeed, the evidence for the influence of water in the
generation of arc magmas is compelling, including, for example, the presence of
ubiquitous hydrous minerals (amphibole and biotite). However, current research
shows that the process of magma generation above subduction zones is not simply
the result of the addition of water to the man-tle wedge. If this were the case,
primary melts in arc set-tings would presumably be generated at much lower
temperatures than in other settings (e.g., mid-ocean ridges), and show
correspondingly different compositions. But comparisons of the most primitive
basalts from arcs and other settings such as ridges show that their major element
compositions are nearly identical (Plank and Langmuir 1988, Tatsumi 2003). In
addition, the available geochemical and experimental evidence shows that primary
arc magmas are probably produced , at temperatures that are similar to those in
other tectonic settings (>1300C). Thus, some process in addition to fluxing by
water must be involved in arc magmatism. A considerable amount of research has
been devoted in recent years to modeling both the thermal and mechanical
properties of subduction zones, including various processes that occur in the
mantle wedge. One of the most significant outcomes of these studies is the
recognition that the subduction process itself may actually induce convection in
the overlying mantle wedge. This process occurs because the subducting slab
tends to drag the immediately overlying mantle downward. As a result, hotter,
deeper mantle material then migrates upward and toward the "corner" of the
mantle wedge. Thus, melting may occur as a consequence of decompression in this
setting, just as it does at mid-ocean ridges. One model that incorporates many of
these aspects of subduction zone processes is illustrated in Figure 9-6. The figure
shows the stability regions of various hydrous phases in the downgoing slab,
temperature isotherms in the mantle wedge, and the direction of flow of mantle
material in the wedge. The subducting slab dehydrates in various stages as a
consequence of the breakdown of hydrous minerals with increasing depth,
Phlogopite ,K-Richterite ,Partially molten region ,Serpentine diapirs ,Phengite
FIGURE 9-6 A diagram illustrating features of a typical subduction zone in an island
arc setting. The stability regions of various hydrous minerals in the subducting
oceanic crust and adjacent mantle are indicated. Abbreviations: AMPH =
amphibole; CHL = chlorite; SERP = serpentine; TC = talc; ZO = zoisite; CLD =
chloritoid; LAW = lawsonite. Open arrows indicate the rise of fluid, and short black
arrows the rise of melt. The direction of mantle flow is indicated by long arrows.
Most melting probably occurs in the shaded region, as hotter mantle moves to
shallower levels in the wedge. [From M. W. Schmidt and S. Poli, 1998,
Experimentally based water budgets for dehydrating slabs and consequences for
arc magma generation, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 163, Fig. 8.1
Pag 175,,and is probably largely dehydrated by a depth of about 200 km. Melting occurs in
the mantle wedge not only be-cause of addition of water from the slab but also as a
consequence of decompression as hot mantle migrates to shallower levels. The geochemical
signatures of oceanic crust or sedimentary material that are contained in arc magmas
probably come from components that were dissolved in the aqueous fluids generated during
heating. These fluids then infiltrated the mantle wedge and metasomatized it to some degree.
Finally, being strongly incompatible, these elements were fractionated into the newly formed
magmas. The melt that is generated from metasomatized mantle is almost certainly a nearly
dry olivine tholeiite magma that closely resembles E-MORB and is derived by substantial
degrees of melting. Rarely, however, does any of this primary basaltic arc magma make it to
the surface. The likeliest place to find it is in the suite of low-potassium tholeiites in young and
immature arcs (the Caribbean and Aleutian arcs, for example). Here there is relatively thin
crust for the magmas to penetrate, and they apparently do so rapidly, with relatively little
cooling and fractional crystallization, thus giving rise to an abundance of tholeiite and basaltic
andesite. As arcs mature, the successive primary magmas ap-pear to represent smaller
degrees of melting of the mantle wedge and thus contain somewhat larger amounts of water,
alkalis, and other elements that tend to concentrate in melts (incompatible elements). As
magmas rise, they encounter thicker lithosphere and have more difficulty penetrating to the
surface. Significant underplating of the arc may occur as these magmas pond beneath
the arc and undergo fractional crystallization. This stage of arc evolution produces voluminous
andesites and the first significant volumes of dacites and rhyolites, the more evolved
members of the association. These lower-density magmas are more likely to rise through the
thickened crust and erupt to form volcanic rocks because of greater buoyancy. There also
is a relationship between the depth of melting and the chemical composition of the
magmas derived. Island arcs commonly have younger and more potassium-rich
volcanic rocks farther from the trench. These magmas that occur farther from the
trench must come from deeper melting (Figure 9-7). A good example of the spatial
and temporal distribution of arc volcanic rocks can be found in the young volcanic
provinces of Japan (Figure 9-8). The westward-dipping active subduction zone and
the oceanic trench occur to the east or southeast, bordered immediately to the
west by a nonvolcanic arc-trench gap. Beyond the volcanic front marking the
beginning of the main volcanic arc, the sequence of progressively younger volcanic
zones is (1) tholeiitic and calc-alkaline rocks, (2) calc-alkaline rocks, and (3) calcalkaline to high-K series rocks. Figure 9-8 also shows the locality of one possible
exception to an origin of most andesite through fractionation of basalts. This is an
unusual, magnesium-rich orthopyroxene-bearing rock called boninite that occurs in
the Izu-Bonin arc, an offshoot of the Japan arc be-tween its northeast and
southwest branches. Boninite is thought by some petrologists to be a candidate for
a very primitive andesite that was derived directly by melting of metasomatized
mantle. Interestingly, boninite-like plutonic rocks called sanukitoids have now been
found in Precambrian orogenic belts of several continents, one good example being
the Rainy Lake district of northern Minnesota and southern Ontario along the
southern mar-gin of the Canadian Shield. Primary andesite-like mag-mas may have
been more voluminous in the past than they appear to be in modern arc
environments. Although melting of the subducted slab may be relatively
uncommon in most arc settings, the idea was revived in the 1990s to explain the
chemical compositions of rocks now known as adakites. The name was coined by
Defant and Drummond (1990) for an occurrence on Adak Island in the Aleutian arc.
Adakites generally contain
Oceanic lithosphere , Mantle wedge , Oceanic lithosphere
FIGURE 9-7 The relationship of depth of melting along, or above, a subducting
lithospheric plate to the location of various igneous rock types behind the
subduction zone. C, calcic series; CA, calc-alkaline series; K-CA, high-potassium
calc-alkaline series; AC, alkalic-calcic series; A, alkalic series. The more alkalic rock
types form intrusive or extrusive rocks. farther from the trench, reflecting greater
depth of origin of these magmas. Note that a greater subduction angle would shift
all the zones closer to the trench. [After S. B. Keith, 1978, Paleosubduction
geometries inferred from Cretaceous and Tertiary magmatic patterns in
southwestern South America, Geology 6, Fig. 1.1
more typical in subduction zones, thus accounting for the paucity of modern adakitic
magmatism. However, rocks that resemble modern adakites are more abundant in the
Archean, which may indicate that subduction of young, hot slabs was common in early Earth
history (Martin 1999). Understanding the petrogenesis of adakites is an active area of ongoing
research. Knowledge of arc-related magmas is still being assembled, and both experimental
and geochemical discoveries come with considerable frequency. This discus-sion has
obviously been somewhat generalized, without a critical review of much of the experimental
and geo-chemical data that underlie the models. The interested reader is referred to the
detailed discussions of this topic by Hess (1989), Wilson (1989), and Tatsumi and Eggins
(1995).
them bear a striking re-semblance to newly created oceanic crust and upper-most mantle
near mid-ocean ridges (refer to Figure 8-4 and Table 8-2). The presence of ophiolitic suites at
continental margins and in orogenic belts has provided powerful evidence in support of plate
tectonics, in particular, the transport of what were thought initially to be mid-ocean rocks to
the continental margin where they be-came accreted to the continent. Relatively complete
ophiolite suites are located on the western coast of Newfoundland (particularly the Bay of
Islands), in the Troodos Complex on Cyprus, in eastern Papua in New Guinea, and at the
Samail Complex in Oman. Most ophiolites, however, are exposed in orogenic belts only as
relatively small tectonic slivers of originally more extensive bodies that have been
dismembered in the process of emplacement. The Samail ophiolite is much more extensive
and better exposed than most others and thus has undergone considerable petrologic and
geochemical investigation. Although not directly related to continental margin igneous
processes, ophiolitic suite rocks nonetheless have significant petrologic importance. The
assemblage of rock types in ophiolites is considered typical of oceanic crust and uppermost
mantle at spreading centers, but the tectonic setting in which most ophiolites originate has
been the subject of much de-bate. OphioliteS were initially envisioned as having formed at
mid-ocean ridges, but most are now thought to have formed in extensional settings
associated with subduction zones. An example of such a setting is a backarc basin (see
Figure 9-2) in which a spreading center may be developed. Evidence for the
association with subduction zones comes in part from the recognition that the
chemical compositions of volcanic rocks in many ophiolites are calc-alkaline in
character, and thus more like island arc lavas rather than MORBs. Nonetheless, it
seems that ophiolites can be produced in a number of different settings, one of
which may be at mid-ocean ridges (Dilek 2003). Emplacement of ophiolites is still
not well under-stood but certainly seems to be the ultimate result of convergence
between oceanic and continental plates. Several scenarios for emplacement have
been envisioned, some of which involve complicated interactions of lithospheric
plates (Figure 9-9). Unfortunately, as noted earlier, the poor state of preservation
of most ophiolites makes it difficult to constrain their emplacement unambiguously.
In the simplest and most straightforward emplacement model, the beginning of
subduction at a newly activated, old passive (Atlantic-type) margin results initially
in some of the oceanic plate overriding the edge of the continental plate before the
more normal subduction of oceanic lithosphere is established. This process, called
obetaction, can result temporarily in an oceanward-dipping subduction zone. The
obducted ocean crust is in overthrust contact with surrounding material (as most
ophiolites are) and displays a cross section of the uppermost layers of oceanic
crust and shallow mantle when exposed by erosion. An alternative model involves
substantial fracturing of oceanic crust during the inception of the normal
subduction process. As a mixed zone of fractured and deformed rocks called
tectonic melange develops along the contact between continental lithosphere and
the downgoing slab, large blocks of oceanic crust with preserved layered structure
become incorporated in the mlange and are accreted to the continental margin.
Such mlanges have been de-scribed from both western Newfoundland and in the
Franciscan Formation in California, where ophiolitic material and serpentinized
peridotites are closely associated with areas of intense deformation and shearing.
The Bay of Islands Complex, Newfoundland, is one of the most extensively studied
ophiolites (Figure 9-10). This complex extends along the west coast of Newfoundland for about 96 km and is roughly 24 km wide. The entire sequence is structurally
allochthonous; that is, it lies above and in thrust-fault contact with the underlying
rocks. These consist of Precambrian Grenville gneisses about 1 billion years old, a
Cambrian-Ordovician shallow-water sequence of clastic and carbonate rocks
representing the early Paleozoic North American continental shelf, and thrust slices
of clastic sedimentary rocks that apparently came from the east and were
emplaced onto the shelf rocks before the ophiolite was. Some discontinuous layers
of mafic volcanic rocks (now metamorphosed) occur along the base of the ophiolite.
The ophiolite itself was emplaced at 460 to 500 Ma, during the Taconic Orogeny of
the Ordovician period.
material. Some of these dikes are younger than the gabbro and can be traced down
into and through it. Some incipient low-grade metamorphism and hydrothermal
alteration of the basalts are present. 5. Moving upward, the sheeted dike complex
is overlain by a layer of pillow basalts that marks the original seafloor with
extruded basaltic lava flows. Hydrother-mal alteration also occurs here.
6. The uppermost layer is a clastic sedimentary sequence containing siliceous
sediments and chert rather than the interlayered abyssal sediments and volcanics
that are typical of other ophiolites. All of the features of this ophiolite indicate an
origin at or very near an oceanic spreading center: the presence of very shallow
mantle, the existence of extensive basaltic magmatism, the presence of
extensional stresses and fracturing (as shown by the sheeted dike complex), and
the apparent near-ridge gabbroic magma chamber.
Continental Magmatic Arcs Most of the great batholithic provinces of Earth
constitute magmatic arcs that occur on the continental side of subduction zones at
Andean-type margins. Classic examples are the Andes themselves in western South
America and the great batholiths of western North America. The processes of
magma generation in this environment are very similar to those in the island arcs.
The principal differences between the island arc and continental magmatic arc
suites result from postmelting evolution of the parental magmas, particularly
through interactions with thick continental crust in magmatic arcs. The continental
arcs contain both plutonic and volcanic rocks, but the plutonic rocks are far more
abundant than in even the most mature of island arcs. The most obvious cause for
this is the orogenesis and subsequent uplift and erosion that characterize
continental convergent margins. Deep erosion over millions-Of years has exposed
the roots of the volcanic arcs that were contemporaneous with active subduction,
permitting observation of plumbing systems like those that must underlie modern
volcanic arcs.
Presumably these modern arcs have unseen deep active plutonism, which involves
the solidification of magma in the chambers that feed the surface outpourings of
lava. Subduction of oceanic lithosphere beneath continental lithosphere at Andeantype margins has the same geometry and similar geophysical evidence as the
oceanic subduction zones discussed earlier. Above the subduction zone, there is an
equally well developed, though somewhat thinner, mantle wedge, which appears to
be the principal source of magma generation. Earth-quake foci along a Benioff zone
form a plane that dips underneath the continent to a depth of at least 600 km and
perhaps as much as 750 km. Recent geophysical studies of the Andean subduction
zone for several thou-sand kilometers north-south along the west coast of South
America have shown that it is not a simple plane, nor does it have a constant dip.
Seismic data show as much as 10 variation in dip angle along the zone. In one
section, flattening of the dip angle to near zero at a depth of several hundred
kilometers is then succeeded by a re-turn to relatively steep subduction. The
thickness of the continental crust overlying the subduction zone also varies
significantly, from only 30 km in the northern and southern Andes to over 70 km in
the central portion. It is unclear whether these changes in subduction geometry or
crustal thickness are related to the changes in magmatic patterns that also occur
in a north-south sense within the Andean belt. The areas of thinner crust are
dominated by surface volcanic rocks such as tholeiite, basaltic andesite, and
andesite, whereas the thicker central part is characterized by andesitic to dacitic
lavas and even by thick sheets of rhyolitic welded tuff. These patterns are probably
a direct result of the relative difficulty of magma penetration through thinner or
thicker crust and the subsequent evolution through fractionation that occurs when
magma ponds up at the base of the crust. One relatively common characteristic of
volcanism in continental magmatic arcs (although it does occur in island arcs as
well) is the mixture of rock types as di-verse as basalt and rhyolite, occasionally
occurring as nearly contemporaneous eruptions from single volcanoes. This socalled bimodal magmatism appears to be a direct result of the nature of magma
interactions with thicker continental crust. Most of the primary magmas pond up in
chambers at deep levels where they fraction-ally crystallize to produce the more
evolved andesitic-dacitic-rhyolitic magmas. However, a particularly vigorous pulse
of relatively primary basaltic magma occasionally makes its way straight through
toward the surface, entering the plumbing system normally occupied by more
evolved magmas. An additional notable feature, spectacularly displayed by Mount
St. Helens and other volcanoes in the Cascade Range in Washington and Oregon, is
the tendency toward explosive volcanic activity in the continental volcanic arcs
(Figure 9-11). This activity is primarily a result of the increase in the silica content
of the evolved magmas, a
Pag181. FIGURE 9-11 Mount St. Helens in the Cascades, Washington, before (left)
and following the cataclysmic eruption of May 18, 1980 (right). [left Harry
Glicken/U.S. Geological Survey; right U.S. Geological Survey.)
change that leads to a dramatic increase (by orders of magnitude) in the viscosity
of the magma. Aiding the process is a concomitant increase in water content of the
chemically evolved magmas. Any magmatic water tends to be concentrated in the
remaining melt during fractional crystallization of anhydrous minerals. Nearsurface boiling of these magmas occurs in volcanic plumbing systems when the
magma becomes saturated with fluid due to either decompression (first boiling) or
the concentration of water into a smaller volume of melt (second boiling). Gas
expansion due to boiling by either mechanism under near-surface, low-pressure
conditions, coupled with extreme viscosity of magma in the volcanic edifice,
commonly produces explosive events such as the May 1980 eruption of Mount St.
Helens. Similar events over millions of years in the northwestern United States
have produced thick accumulations of volcanic ash deposits in Washington,
Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. The great batholiths of Earth are also a
phenomenon peculiar to the continental margin regime (Figure 9-12). They are
enormous in size (tens to hundreds of thou-sands of square kilometers of exposed
area) and extremely complex. Most single large batholiths actually consist of
hundreds of individual plutons that intruded one another over a period of millions
of years. Internal structures or fabrics such as foliations can develop at the
margins of individual plutons and provide mappable markers. Although commonly
referred to as the "granite batholiths," these composite plutons do not actually
contain much granite but are dominated by granodiorite, tonalite, and quartz
diorite, with lesser volumes of the felsic rocks like granite or monzonite, or
intermediate to mafic rocks such as diorite, and rare bodies of gabbro. The term
granitOid, which is used as a field term for granitic rocks (see Chapter 3), has also
been used commonly to describe any lighter colored felsic but not strictly granitic,
plutonic rock.
Chemical Compositions and Petrography The petrography of the continental arc
volcanic rocks is essentially similar to lavas from the island arcs. The rare basaltic
members have olivine and pyroxene phenocrysts, but typically not plagioclase, a
composition reflecting the absence of low-pressure fractional crystallization.
Andesites typically contain abundant orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and
Two questions represent the crux of "the granite problem" that has been a major
focus in igneous petrology: (1) How does one distinguish a granite (or granodiorite
or tonalite) derived by fractionation of more mafic melt from one that originated by
secondary melting within the continental crust? (2) Which of the two processes is
more likely to have generated sizable volumes of truly granitic magma? The topic is
a complicated one that obviously goes into the gray area where igneous and
metamorphic petrology overlap. The topic of metamorphic melting is examined in
more detail in the third part of this book, but for now some initial observations on
the topic are
Continent-Continent Collision
Examples of continent-continent collision in recent Earth history, such as the Alps
and Himalaya, have mixed igneous suites. Many of the rocks are characteristic of
ocean-continent interactions, because oceanic lithosphere of at least limited lateral
dimensions must have once intervened between the continental plates that are
now in contact and thus must have been involved in subduction. This process has
clearly happened in the case of the closing of the Tethys Sea in the last 100 Ma.
Both the Alps and the Himalaya have resulted from the near-total disappearance of
oceanic crust, but magmatic arc rocks related to subduction are preserved, at least
im-perfectly, within the tectonic collision zones. On the basis of the Alpine and
Himalayan cases, an unusually large degree of crustal thickening is a typical result
of continent-continent collision, producing not only impressively high mountains
but also the deep crustal roots to balance them isostatically. Crustal thickening is
mostly accomplished by thrust faulting, which plays a significant role in both
generation and emplacement of granitoids. The Himalaya are an excellent example
of the complex patterns of plutonism that accompany continent-continent collision.
French, Swiss, and Chinese researchers made major contributions to an
understanding of the Himalaya of Tibet and Nepal in the 1970s and 1980s through
a combination of extraordinary high-altitude fieldwork and sophisticated laboratory
analysis of samples (see Debon et al. 1985). More recently, efforts at un-raveling
Himalayan structural geology and tectonics, as well as igneous and metamorphic
petrology, have been spearheaded by both U.S. and British research groups. The
High Himalaya and related ranges of southern Asia in Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan, China,
India, and other countries have resulted from the relatively recent collision of the
Indian subcontinent with Asia, thereby completing
the closure of the Tethys Sea (see the generalized geo-logic map in Figure 9-16).
Three principal episodes of plutonism have been identified in the Himalaya near Mt.
Everest. A lower Paleozoic magmatic event (the Lesser Himalaya, roughly 500 Ma),
north of the Main Central Thrust, involved the shallow emplacement of S-type
granitoids and is unrelated to much more recent events of the Cenozoic Himalayan
orogeny; these older rocks of the Asian continental mar-gin, however, appear to
have been caught in the later collision and tectonically remobilized or remelted by
the later orogeny. The second episode, the Transhimalaya Group, is of late
Cretaceous age and is linked to northward-dipping subduction of Tethys oceanic
lithosphere under the main Asian continent. The earliest rocks appear to be
associated with an island arc that was accreted to southern Asia during the
orogeny, and the later ones show a transition into magmatic arc character. The
magmatic arc had a tremendous lateral extent all the way westward into Pakistan.
Magmatic activity of the Transhimalaya Group started about 100 Ma and continued
until about 50 Ma. This latter age is thought to represent the approximate time of
final convergence and initial continent-continent collision and the cessation of
subduction. Plutons of this period are mainly quartz diorite, monzodiorite, and
granodiorite, with smaller volumes of more evolved rocks like granite and less
evolved ones like gab-bro. Most granitoids are metaluminous, show quite typical
calc-alkaline geochemical patterns, and have distinctive mantle signatures in their
trace-element and isotopic chemistry, consistent with their origin as magmatic arc
rocks. Their compositions show some contamination by crustal material but to a
limited extent. The geographic position of the Transhimalaya batholith straddling
the collided oceanic arc to the south and the Asian continental margin to the north,
combined with its activity spanning the time of accretion of the arc, are also
strikingly similar to the characteristics of the Peninsular Ranges batholith. The third
group, the Cenozoic (mainly Eocene and younger) Himalaya Group, which occurs in the high
Himalaya and part of the North Himalaya belts, is very different in character from the
Transhimalaya plutons. Himalaya Group plutons range in age from Eocene (about 50 Ma) to as
young as 6 Ma. (The most recent data suggest ages perhaps as young as 1 Ma in Pakistan!)
These latter ages are startlingly young and emphasize just how tectonically active the
Himalaya still are. Petrographically, the Himalaya plutons are fundamentally different from the
Transhimalaya plutons: They are almost all granite or quartz monzonite and all are
peraluminous. All of them contain at least muscovite, and many contain other aluminum-rich
minerals such as garnet, cordierite, or even aluminum-silicates. They have high to very high
oxygen and strontium isotope ratios, confirming that they are unequivocally S-type granitoids
and indicating a probable origin through melting of aluminous metasedimentary rocks.
Geographically, these plutons are linked to the Main Central Thrust and many have
tabular, dipping forms suggesting that they may have been smeared out along the
thrust surfaces during active faulting. Much of the dramatic postcollisional
thickening of the crust north of the Main Central Thrust was certainly accomplished
by north-directed thrusting. The crustal thickening led directly to heating of the
crust and large-scale melting or anatexis of metasedimentary rocks.
Summary
The zones of convergence of various combinations of oceanic and continental plates are sites
of generation of enormous volumes of igneous rocks and important indicators of the
petrogenesis of magmas. The convergence of oceanic lithosphere and the subduction of one
oceanic plate beneath another produce island arcs above the subduction zone. These arcs
begin as small accumulations of relatively primitive basalt and basaltic andesite de-rived at
depths of 125 to 200 km from hydrothermally metasomatized mantle peridotite immediately
above the downgoing slab. Altered oceanic crust in the subducted slab dewaters as it is
heated, causing metasomatism of the overlying mantle wedge. The slab also contributes key
trace elements and isotopes to the overlying melting mantle through fluid infiltration but in
most cases does not directly produce magma for the arc. As the arc builds and matures, the
ascending magmas begin to fractionate more extensively in deep magma chambers below
the arc and produce increasingly more evolved andesitic to dacitic and even rhyolitic magmas
that find their way to the surface. Deeper and less extensive melting in the mantle above an
increasingly dehydrated subduction slab eventually contributes magmas to the surface along
a band in the back of the arc and farther from the oceanic trench. Richer in incompatible
elements, particularly alkalis, these magmas fractionate to form the potassium-rich volcanic
series. Where the oceanic trench is immediately offshore from continental crust and the
subduction zone dips beneath the continent (an Andean margin), the process of melting
seems much the same as that for island arcs. The surface expression of magmatism is
substantially different. however, because of the thickness of continental crust that the
magmas must pass through. Much of the rising magma solidifies within the continental crust
as plutons of tonalite, diorite, and granodiorite, with lesser volumes of more mafic and more
felsic rocks. At least some of the plutons represent magma chambers that served as feeders
for surface volcanism, and some shallow ones can actually intrude their own early volcanic
debris. The chemical contamination of magmas by continental rocks is common in this
environment. Heating of the crust by magmatic activity in a continental margin orogenic
belt can lead to anatexis, the secondary melting of metasedimentary or older
igneous rocks within the crust. The third major type of convergent margin occurs
between two continental plates, but collision must be preceded by the closing of an
oceanic basin between the two continents. This regime therefore can contain a
complex mix of early subduction-related volcanic arc and magmatic arc rocks and
later anatectic magmas that originated following the collision. The Himalayan
plutonic belts of Tibet and Nepal are good examples of the magmatic effects of
continent-continent collision.
Study Exercises
1. How many different types of convergent plate tec-tonic regimes are there? In
general terms, how do their igneous patterns differ?
2. What are the components of a typical island arc com-plex, and which igneous
rock types are characteristic of each?
3. What are the most important chemical and mineralogic contrasts between the
two most voluminous island arc magma types, tholeiites and andesites?
4. Suppose you are a field geologist mapping a deformed terrane in an orogenic
belt. Describe the petrologic characteristics you would use to recognize an
ophiolite suite. What does the presence of an ophiolite suite tell you about the
tectonic process?
5. What are the petrologic characteristics of the great granitoid batholiths of Earth,
and why are these rocks restricted to continental margins? 6. What are the
petrologic and tectonic implications of the so-called alphabet granitesS-type, Itype, and A-type?