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Abstract The widespread Cenozoic alkaline magmatism within and around the Tibetan Plateau offers a prime opportunity to probe the nature of the mantle at the depths where basalt magmas originate. The close temporal and spatial relationship between volcanism and regional strike‐slip fault systems also helps better understand the geodynamics of outward growth of the plateau in response to the continued India‐Asia convergence. We present a comprehensive study of the deeply sourced alkaline basalts formed along the Kunlun strike‐slip fault with the aim of understanding their petrogenesis and the composition of mantle sources beneath the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. High Nb/U and Ce/Pb ratios and relatively depleted bulk‐rock Sr‐Nd‐Pb isotope compositions corroborate the mantle origin of these alkaline basalts. Homogeneous and low 87Sr/86Sr of clinopyroxene indicates negligible crustal contamination during magmatic evolution. Low δ26Mg in the alkaline basalts and positive correlations with Hf/Sm and Ti/Ti* indicate that the basalts were derived from mantle that was metasomatized by melts derived from sedimentary carbonates during the Paleo‐Tethyan seafloor subduction. Based on 40Ar/39Ar dating results, it appears that the alkaline basaltic magmatism in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau occurred simultaneously with Kunlun strike‐slip faulting. These observations suggest that the India‐Asia convergence must have reactivated ancient subduction plate boundaries and resulted in strike‐slip faulting along these suture zones within and around the Tibetan Plateau. The eruption of low‐volume and deeply rooted alkaline basalts may have been controlled by fractures associated with the strike‐slip fault systems.

Abstract Decades of research have resulted in characterization of the ocean floor manifestations of mid‐ocean ridge (MOR) hydrothermal systems, yet numerical models accounting for the connections between heat transfer, hydrology and geochemistry have been slow to develop. The Thermo‐hydro‐chemical code ToughReact can be used to describe the coupled effects of fluid flow, heat transfer, and fluid‐rock chemical interactions that occur in MOR systems. We describe the results of 2‐dimensional simulations of steady state flow in fractured diabase with mineral‐fluid chemical reactions. Basal heating and specified permeability yield maximum temperature of 400°C. Total fluid flux and high fracture flow velocities are in accord with observations. Fluid chemistry, mineralogical changes and 87Sr/86Sr ratios can be compared to observations to assess and calibrate models. Simulated high temperature fracture fluids have Mg and SO4 near zero, elevated Ca and 87Sr/86Sr of about 0.7040. Total alteration is 10%–50% for simple models of spreading. Anhydrite forms mainly near the base of the upwelling zone and results in substantial local fracture porosity reduction. A calibrated model is used to predict how Sr isotopes and other features of altered oceanic crust would be different in the Cretaceous (95 Ma) early Proterozoic (1,800 Ma) and Archean (3,800 Ma), when seawater may have had high Ca and Sr concentrations, lower pH, higher temperature, and lower Na, Mg, and SO4. The simulations are offered as a start on what ultimately may require a longer‐term community effort to better understand the role of MOR thermo‐hydro‐chemical systems in Earth evolution.

Oceanic volcanoes formed by mantle plumes, such as those of Hawaii and Iceland, strongly influence our views about the deep Earth (Morgan, 1971; Sleep, 2006). These volcanoes are the principal geochemical probe into the deep mantle, a testing ground for understanding mantle convection, plate tectonics and volcanism, and an archive of information on Earth’s magnetic field and lithospheredynamics. Study of the petrology, geochemistry, and structure of oceanic volcanoes has contributed immensely to our present understanding of deep Earth processes, but virtually all of this study has been concentrated on rocks available at the surface. In favorable circumstances, surface exposures penetrate to a depth of a few hundred meters, which is a small fraction of the 10- to 15-kilometer height of Hawaiian volcanoes above the depressed seafloor (Moore, 1987; Watts, 2001).

The relatively low rates of magma production in island arcs and continental extensional settings require that the volume of silicic magma involved in large catastrophic caldera-forming (CCF) eruptions must accumulate over periods of 10 5 to 10 6 years. We address the question of why buoyant and otherwise eruptible high-silica magma should accumulate for long times in shallow chambers rather than erupt more continuously as magma is supplied from greater depths. Our hypothesis is that the viscoelastic behavior of magma chamber wall rocks may prevent an accumulation of overpressure sufficient to generate rhyolite dikes that can propagate to the surface and cause an eruption. The critical overpressure required for eruption is based on the model of Rubin (1995a). An approximate analytical model is used to evaluate the controls on magma overpressure for a continuously or episodically replenished spherical magma chamber contained in wall rocks with a Maxwell viscoelastic rheology. The governing parameters are the long-term magma supply, the magma chamber volume, and the effective viscosity of the wall rocks. The long-term magma supply, a parameter that is not typically incorporated into dike formation models, can be constrained from observations and melt generation models. For effective wall-rock viscosities in the range 10 18 to 10 20 Pa s ?1, dynamical regimes are identified that lead to the suppression of dikes capable of propagating to the surface. Frequent small eruptions that relieve magma chamber overpressure are favored when the chamber volume is small relative to the magma supply and when the wall rocks are cool. Magma storage, leading to conditions suitable for a CCF eruption, is favored for larger magma chambers (>10 2 km 3) with warm wall rocks that have a low effective viscosity. Magma storage is further enhanced by regional tectonic extension, high magma crystal contents, and if the effective wall-rock viscosity is lowered by microfracturing, fluid infiltration, or metamorphic reactions. The long-term magma supply rate and chamber volume are important controls on eruption frequency for all magma chamber sizes. The model can explain certain aspects of the frequency, volume, and spatial distribution of small-volume silicic eruptions in caldera systems, and helps account for the large size of granitic plutons, their association with extensional settings and high thermal gradients, and the fact that they usually post-date associated volcanic deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]