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––Comprehensive studies of structural geology and metallogeny, taking into account the authors’ previous works started as early as the last century, have shown that the southeastern part of East Sayan formed mainly in the Neoproterozoic–early Paleozoic in the settings of multistage thrust and nappe tectonics and tectonomagmatic restructuring of autochthonous and overthrust allochthonous oceanic (ophiolitic), island arc, and ocean-marginal terranes as well as amalgamation of accretion–collision and postcollisional igneous complexes that formed during the opening and subsequent closure of the Paleoasian Ocean marginal structures. In the middle and late Paleozoic, active intraplate volcanic and plutonic processes continued in the thrust/overthrust fault setting, which led to the formation of new dome-shaped nappe structures and the redistribution of ore matter (gold etc.) in large mineral deposits. The final structure of the East Sayan region formed during the late Cenozoic as a result of mountain uplifting and volcanic eruptions, including those in the valley of the Zhombolok River.

In the north of the Siberian Platform, east of the Anabar Shield, several identified massifs of alkaline rocks with carbonatites are known: Tomtorsky, Bogdo, Promezhutochniy, as well as Bualkalakh, Chuempe, Uele, which are projected according to geophysical data and forming a large alkaline-carbonatite province. The first data on the composition of alkaline rocks of the Bogdo massif were obtained, which correspond to a group of feldspathic rocks of the main composition: rischorrites, biotite-aegirine libenerite syenites, carbonatized, with symplectites and nepheline-feldspar aggregates, pseudo-leucite nepheline syenites. Sphenes were extracted from various types of rocks of the Bogdo massif and their U-Pb age was determined using the SHRIMP-II secondary-ion microprobe. The calculated U-Pb age corresponds to 394,4 3,2 Ma, which is close to the age stage established for the Tomtor massif and the age of the rocks of the Kola alkaline province. One of the reasons for the manifestation of alkaline plume magmatism in this territory may be the influence of the peripheral zone Africa Large Low Shear Velocity Province (Tuzo) in the Baltic and Siberia during the Devonian era.

The main challenge in the prediction of tectonic earthquakes and their control is still insufficient awareness of seismotectonic processes in the lithosphere and upper mantle during the preparation of strong earthquakes. This is associated in many respects with not quite appropriate equipment for researchers. Among relevant problems is also a lack of adequate models of preparation of earthquake sources at different stages, and this retards the development of earthquake prediction methods. The paper discusses long-term research on deformation and destruction of the Baikal ice cover in the context of physical mesomechanics. With certain combinations of meteorological factors (wind, temperature, precipitation, undercurrents, etc.) responsible for deformation, major cracks of many kilometers arise in the Baikal ice cover. Their spontaneous growth often involves seismic phenomena as ice quakes whose energy reaches Emax = 104–107 J. The nucleation of major cracks is similar to that of rock bursts of moderate strength or weak earthquakes. It is found that ice quakes and earthquakes are both preceded by foreshocks, seismic calm for tens of minutes, aftershocks and other events against the background of accelerated creep in fractures and increased seismoacoustic activity. Research data make it possible to put forward two genetically interrelated criteria among basic factors for ice quake prediction: variations in deformation modes at convergent boundaries of ice sheets and a specific intensification mode-generation of strong foreshocks in a segment in which ice sheets are prepared for dynamic motion. We substantiate the conclusion that simpler and clearer scenarios of preparation of strong seismic events in the Baikal ice cover allow successful physical simulation of preparation of tectonic earthquakes and rock bursts and advances in their prediction. We also consider and substantiate the feasibility of techniques for more efficient seismic risk reduction.

We present seismic images of the mantle beneath East Russia and adjacent regions and discuss geodynamic implications. Our mantle tomography shows that the subducting Pacific slab becomes stagnant in the mantle transition zone under Western Alaska, Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, Japan Sea, and Northeast Asia. Many intraplate volcanoes exist in these areas, which are located above the low-velocity zones in the upper mantle above the stagnant slab, suggesting that the intraplate volcanoes are related to the dynamic processes in the big mantle wedge above the stagnant slab and the deep slab dehydration. Teleseismic tomography revealed a low-velocity zone extending down to 660 km depth beneath the Baikal rift zone, which may represent a mantle plume. The bottom depths of the Wadati–Benioff deep seismic zone and the Pacific slab itself become shallower toward the north under Kamchatka Peninsula, and the slab disappears under the northernmost Kamchatka. The slab loss is considered to be caused by the friction between the slab and the surrounding asthenosphere as the Pacific plate rotated clockwise at about 30 Ma ago, and then the slab loss was enlarged by the slab-edge pinch-off by the hot asthenospheric flow and the presence of Meiji seamounts.

Geological-petrological and geochemical data on subduction-related magmatism (including the volumes and compositions of the corresponding magmatic series) are compared to the results of experiments and numerical simulation. The subduction zone is subdivided into five depth sectors and volcanic zones I, II, and III: 1 is the accretionary wedge that controls the geodynamic stability of subduction; 2 is the sector of dehydration and fluid filtration; 3 is the zone of eclogitization and initial partial melting in the slab above which boninite volcanic zone I is formed during early stages; 4 is the main zone of melting of the sedimentary-basite layer and the development of volcanic zone II with the predominance of andesites; and 5 is the zone of higher degree melting, above which volcanic zone III (basaltic andesite and alkali basalt) is formed. The criterion of volcanism intensity, which was obtained within the scope of the melting model, is proportional to the subduction velocity and the thickness of the melting zone, and the distance between the groups of volcanics along the subduction zone is 75–100 km, at a thickness of the melting zone of 15–20 km. The calculated isotherm of 600°C, which controls the stability of serpentine and chlorite, is not identified at depth above 150 km, and this is confirmed by the composition and P-T conditions of the high-pressure rocks (containing diamond and coesite), which were brought from depths of 150–200 km in subduction zones. Seismic sections constructed with regard for the amplitude characteristics of seismic waves show two melting zones (“wet” melting at a depth of 100–200 km and “dry” melting at a depth of 150–200 km) and a complicated thermal structure of the suprasthenospheric wedge, which can include slant magma conduits. The mineralogical and geochemical features of arc magmatic series are formed at a decisive role of an H2O-CO2 fluid and an elevated oxidation potential. The predominant buffer minerals are as follows: garnet in the slab melting zone; magnetite, Ca-pyroxene, and amphibole in intermediate magmatic chambers; and amphibole, protoenstatite-bronzite (in place of olivine), and Cr-spinel (in place of magnetite) for boninite series generated in a “hot” asthenospheric wedge at interaction with fluids or water-rich melts. Actively disputable problems are the interactions scale of melts and fluids generated in a subduction zone with a “hot” mantle wedge, the possibility of transporting water-rich minerals deep into the mantle (to depths greater than 150 km), and the evolution of the scale at which young continental crust is generated by subduction melts.

Heat and mass transfer processes in the conduit of a thermochemical plume located beneath an oceanic plate far from a mid-ocean ridge (MOR) proceed under conditions of horizontal convective flows penetrating the plume conduit. In the region of a mantle flow approaching the plume conduit (in the frontal part of the conduit), the mantle material heats and melts. The melt moves through the plume conduit at the average velocity of flow v and is crystallized on the opposite side of the conduit (in the frontal part of the conduit). The heat and the chemical dope transferred by the conduit to the mantle flow are carried away by crystallized mantle material at the velocity v.

When modeling the formation and dynamics of thermochemical plumes, geologists and geophysicists of the world use equations of free convection in the Boussinesq approximation with addition of the mass transfer equation [1]. It is assumed that the base of the mantle corresponds to a dense chemical layer that was formed owing primarily to accretion of the oceanic crust in the lower mantle. The plume is forming in the thermal boundary zone in the presence of this dense chemical layer at the base of the mantle. The ascending migration of the plume under thermal and concentration gravitational convection is stimulated by the high temperature gradient between the core‐mantle interface and the surrounding mantle (750 K). The ascending movement of the plume is accompanied by the capture of material from the dense chemical layer. Our model of the thermochemical plume [2] differs from that accepted in [1]. Its difference from the latter is discussed in detail elsewhere [3]. According to our model, thermochemical plumes form at the core‐mantle interface under the influence of the heat flow from the outer core and local influx of a chemical dope that reduces the melting point of the lower mantle substance, which results in mantle substrate melting and upward plume migration [2, 3]. The heat and mass transfer due to interaction between horizontal free convection mantle flows and the conduit of the thermochemical plume located under the oceanic plate away from the mid-oceanic ridge (MAR) is considered in [4] with presentation of the main equations for calculating the heat and mass transfer by the thermochemical plume interacting with the horizontal convective mantle flow and quantitative correlation between the dope concentration at the plume base and the Lewis number. The purpose of this study is calculation of the heat exchange between the conduit of the thermochemical plume ascending from the core‐mantle interface and the horizontal mantle flow. We present the model of the plume conduit interacting with horizontal free convection flows in the upper and lower mantle and determine local coefficients of the heat transfer at the interface between the melt and the surrounding mantle (plume conduit boundary), as well as the diameter of the Hawaiian plume interacting with horizontal mantle flows. Based on the calculated heat exchange between the plume and the horizontal lower mantle flow, we also estimate the main parameters of the lower mantle. Let us consider the possible structure of the conduit and head part of the Hawaiian plume based on experimental modeling and seismic studies of the upper mantle beneath the Island of Hawaii. The thermal power of the Hawaiian plume is estimated to be 3 · 10 11 W, and the Raleigh number (Ra) for the free convection flow in the conduit of the Hawaiian plume is

The field investigations carried out recently have shown that an effective model medium for studying geotectonic processes can be the ice cover of Lake Baikal, which is a classical example of hierarchically organized block-structured media. Many significant deformation mechanisms of the block-structured ice cover can be compared to the mechanisms known in geodynamics, such as spreading, subduction, pull-apart and other ones. The present paper contains the results of studying dynamic processes of formation and evolution of one of the mentioned deformation-induced structures in the Baikal ice cover, namely, an underride zone that can be considered as a subduction zone analog. It is shown that these processes can be induced by dynamic relaxation events related either to the formation of new interfaces (fragmentation of blocks) or to the activation of the existing but earlier inactive cracks. A supposition is made that fragmentation accompanied by releasing a large amount of elastic energy can be one of possible mechanisms of forming compression impulse, which is considered to be necessary for initiation of subduction in the lithosphere. The processes of forming underride and subduction zones are compared and their qualitative similarity is revealed. After examining the structure of contact between ice plates in the underride zone the conclusion was made that formation of the deformation-induced structure under consideration allows reducing the compression resistance of the plate boundary by orders of magnitude. This suggests that structures of subduction type make for an effective mechanism of realization of high inelastic deformations in block-structured media without noticeable stress growth.

Heat and mass transfer processes in the conduit of a thermochemical plume located beneath an oceanic plate far from a mid-ocean ridge (MOR) proceed under conditions of horizontal convective flows penetrating the plume conduit. In the region of a mantle flow approaching the plume conduit (in the frontal part of the conduit), the mantle material heats and melts. The melt moves through the plume conduit at the average velocity of flow v and is crystallized on the opposite side of the conduit. The heat and the chemical dope transferred by the conduit to the mantle flow are carried away by crystallized mantle material at the velocity v. The main equations of heat and mass transfer are obtained for a thermochemical plume interacting with a horizontal convective mantle flow. The joint multiparameter problem of heat and mass transfer is solved for a thermochemical plume located far from an MOR axis. The dope concentration at the base of the plume is found as a function of the Lewis number. The Lewis numbers and, accordingly, the diffusion coefficients of the chemical dope in the plume conduit far from the MOR axis are determined.

Investigation of real geological media faces significant difficulties related to the scale of objects (e.g., the length of fractures ranges from tens to thousands of kilometers) and significant durations of geological processes (long-term observations are needed to obtain reliable information about peculiarities of the response of fractures to forcing). Strains are accumulated over tens and even hundreds of years [1‐3]. Therefore, physical modeling using simplified and smaller-scale block schemes is a promising field in the study of tectonic processes in the Earth’s crust. The rheological characteristics, structural pattern, and forcing dynamics in such schemes can be considered similar to those in the Earth’s crust [4‐5]. The present paper is dedicated to study of the implication of the fracture-block system of ice cover in Lake Baikal and dynamics of its loading as an object for modeling geotectonic and seismogeological processes in the lithosphere. Investigations and observations were carried out during expeditions of the Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2005‐2006 with the participation of scientists from

Thermochemical plumes develop at the core-mantle boundary in the presence of a heat flow from the outer core and at local chemical doping that decreases the melting temperature near the bottom of the lower mantle (this dope triggers the melting of the mantle material and the ascent of the plume). The paper presents evaluations for the heat power of the Hawaiian and Iceland plumes and the results of the experimental modeling of a thermochemical plume. The diameter of a plume conduit was determined to remain virtually unchanging in the course of plume ascent. When the top of a plume reaches a “refractory” layer, whose melting temperature is higher than the melt temperature in the plume conduit, a mushroom-shaped head of the plume develops beneath the bottom of this layer. The analysis of geological and geophysical data and the results of experimental modeling are used to develop a thermal physical model for a thermochemical plume. The balance relations for the mass and thermal energy and systematic tendencies in the heat and mass transfer during free convection were utilized to derive a system of equations for the heat and mass transfer of a thermochemical plume. Parameters were determined for a thermochemical plume ascending from the core-mantle boundary. Geodynamic processes are considered that occur during the ascent of a plume before it reaches the surface. The effect of the P-T conditions on the shape and size of a plume roof is analyzed, and a model is proposed for mass transfer between a thermochemical plume and the lithosphere, when the plume reaches the bottom of a “refractory” layer in the lithosphere.

The exhumation of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic units from depths more than 100–120 km is one of the most intriguing questions in modern petrology and geodynamics. We use the diamondiferous Kumdy-Kol domain in the Kokchetav Massif to show that exhumation models should take into consideration initially high uplift velocities (from 20 down to 6 cm/year) and the absence of the deformation of UHP assemblages. The high rate of exhumation are indicated by ion microprobe (SHRIMP) dating of zircons from diamondiferous rocks and supported by the low degree of nitrogen aggregation in metamorphic diamonds. Diamondiferous rocks in the Kumdy-Kol domain occur as steeply dipping (60°–80°) thin slices (few hundred metres) within granite–gneiss. Using geological, petrological and isotopic–geochemical data, we show that partial melting of diamondiferous metamorphic rocks occurred; a very important factor which has not been taken into account in previous models. Deformation of diamondiferous rocks at Kumdy-Kol is insignificant; diamond inclusions in garnet are often intergrown with mica crystals carrying no traces of deformation. All these facts could be explained by partial melting of metapelites and granitic rocks in the Kumdy-Kol domain. The presence of melt is responsible for an essential reduction of viscosity and a density difference (Δρ) between crustal rocks and mantle material and reduced friction between the upwelling crustal block, the subducting and overriding plates. Besides Δρ, the exhumation rate seems to depend on internal pressure in the subducting continental crustal block which can be regarded as a viscous layer between subducting continental lithosphere and surrounding mantle. We construct different models for the three stages of exhumation: a model similar to “corner flow” for the first superfast exhumation stage, an intermediate stage of extension (most important from structural point of view) and a very low rate of exhumation in final diapir+erosional uplift.

Serpentinitic melanges containing eclogites, blueschists, and jadeitic rocks have been studied within the following foldbelts: Borus (West Sayan), Chagan-Uzun (Gorny Altai), Chara (East Kazakhstan), Kokchetav (North Kazakhstan), and Maksyutov (Southern Urals). The West Sayan (Borus belt) and Gorny Altai (Chagan-Uzun belt) are Caledonian foldbelts formed after collisions of paleo-seamounts with primitive island arcs, which resulted in the exhumation of eclogites and jadeitic rocks. The Chara belt of Hercynian age was formed during the Late Carboniferous-Permian collision of the Siberian and Kazakhstan continents and represents a strike-slip zone comprising serpentinitic melanges and HP units of different ages. In Caledonian time, the melanges represent an accretionary wedge at the margin of the Kazakhstan continent. The Kokchetav and Maksyutov foldbelts of, respectively, Caledonian and Hercynian ages resulted from collision of microcontinents with island arcs and formation of sheeted complexes incorporatin...

In northern Kazakhstan the WNW striking Kokchetav megamelange includes different crustal sequences with high-pressure/ultrahigh-pressure (HP/UHP) remnants of their 540–520 Ma subduction metamorphism. Two domains separated by the north-east trending Chaglinka fault are distinguished. The western domain exhibits NE–SW structures within a single Kumdy–Kol megaunit of diamond-bearing UHP metasediments and high-temperature (HT) eclogites. The eastern domain consists of the composite Kulet megaunit with the Kulet UHP unit (coesite-bearing metasediments, whiteschists and eclogites), the Enbek–Berlyk medium-pressure (MP) unit (kyanite-bearing, high-alumina rocks with interleaved coronitic metagabbro), and ortho- and paragneisses with eclogites and amphibolites included. All eclogites in the eastern domain are of the relatively low temperature (LT) type. Sillimanite is common and appears after kyanite in the sheared MP unit. A regional and moderately ESE plunging linear fabric coincides with the fold-axis of the foliation poles from the eastern domain. Whether this also reflects a regional top to the WNW transport, as inferred from the dextral strike-slip on steeply to SSW dipping foliation, needs further study. Top to the WNW shear is shown by weakly inclined low pressure (LP) cordierite rocks that flank the eastern domain in the south. Some new 39Ar/40Ar mica cooling ages (519, 521 Ma) from the Kulet UHP micaschists reflect the same early stage evolutionary event as was previously shown for the Kumdy–Kol UHP rocks (515, 517 Ma) in the west. Similar 39Ar/40Ar ages (500, 517 Ma) are recorded by micas and amphibole that outline a top to NNW shear fabric in the non-subducted Proterozoic basement, north of the megamelange. A 447 Ma overprint of the MP sequences is considered to reflect the strike-slip deformation with sillimanite and the reworking of an early kyanite-bearing tectonite. Biotites from the LP cordierite rocks yielded approximately 400 Ma 39Ar/40Ar ages. In case they reflect the WNW shear deformation, the latter is considered to be associated with a regional granite magmatism (420–460 Ma) extending south of the eastern domain. In their present different structural domains the Kulet and Kumdy–Kol UHP units display a similar early stage event. Subsequent LP deformation, which is likely to be associated with regional granite magmatism (420–460 Ma), is assumed to have obliterated any common or uniform early exhumation structure for the whole megamelange. The north-east structured Kumdy–Kol domain is assumed to have preserved the most information about the early stage exhumation. This domain is at an angle to the regional WNW strike of the megamelange.

This paper reviews and integrates new results on: (1) the Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic evolution of Central Asia; (2) Cenozoic mountain building and intramontane basin formation in the Altay-Sayan area; (3) comparison of the tectonic evolutionary paths of the Altay, Baikal, and Tien Shan regions; (4) Cenozoic tectonics and mantle-plume magmatic activity; and (5) the geodynamics and tectonic evolution of Central Asia as a function of the India-Himalaya collision. It provides a new and more complete scenario for the formation of the Central Asian intracontinental mountain belt, compared with the generally accepted model of the “indentation” of the Indian plate into the Eurasian plate. The new model is based on the hypothesis of a complex interaction of lithospheric plates and mantle-plume magmatism. Compilation and comparison of new and published structural, geomorphological, paleomagnetic, isotopic, fission-track, and plume magmatism data from the Baikal area, the Altay, Mongolia, Tien Shan, Pamir, and Tibe...

The Maksyutov metamorphic complex is the first locality where coesite pseudomorphs in garnet were described. The importance of this discovery was not understood until ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism was independently recognized in the Dora Maira Massif of the western Alps and the Western Gneiss Region of Norway. The coesite pseudomorphs are significant because they suggest that the lower unit of the Maksyutov complex probably underwent UHP metamorphism at depths greater than 80 km in a paleosubduction zone. The Maksyutov complex, situated in the southern Ural Mountains of Russia, forms an elongate N-S belt along the boundary between the European and Russian plates. The complex contains two superimposed tectonic unitsa lower eclogite-bearing schist unit that underwent high-pressure (HP) to UHP metamorphism and an upper meta-ophiolite unit subjected to blueschist/greenschist-facies metamorphism. The lower unit lithologies range from quartzofeldspathic, to graphite-rich, to mafic-ultramafic composition...

The Kokchetav Complex is a tectonic mega-melange consisting of seven pre-Ordovician units (units I-VII) of contrasting lithologies and P–T conditions of metamorphism, overlain and/or intruded by four post-recrystallization entities. Most of the constituent rock types display affinities with continental crust; paraschists and paragneisses, which carry biogenically produced carbon, clearly were laid down near the surface of the Earth. Microdiamond (and rare coesite) inclusions are contained in strong, refractory garnet, zircon, clinopyroxene, and kyanite, some of the constituent neoblastic phases of this metasedimentary unit. Systematic mineral parageneses and textural relationships support the hypothesis that the metamorphic assemblages represent a close approach to chemical equilibrium at the time of formation. Metamorphism of diamond-bearing paragneisses and schists transpired at 535 ± 5 Ma; physical conditions included minimum pressures of 40 kbar and temperatures exceeding 900 °C. Other associated units contain mineralogic evidence of somewhat lower to considerably lower pressures and temperatures: observed magnesite + diopside pairs, coesite, grossular-pyropic garnet, potassic clinopyroxene, Si-rich phengite, barroisite-crossite(?), aluminous titanite and/or Al-rutile, and the assemblage talc + kyanite + garnet all testify to relatively elevated pressures of formation. The metamorphosed lithotectonic units represent individual, discrete stages in what initially may have been a continuous P-T series, but intense post-metamorphic dislocation has resulted in the preservation of a chaotically mixed sequence rather than an unbroken gradation in preserved conditions of metamorphism. Only units I-III, and probably VIb may represent portions of a dismembered subduction zone lithologie assemblage. The uplift to mid-crustal levels and cooling of the mega-melange took place by about 515–517 Ma, at which time the complex was stabilized as a part of the Kazakhstan microcontinental collage. An hypothesized Late Vendian-Early Cambrian subduction of the Kazakhstan-North Tianshan(?) microcontinental salient to depths exceeding 125 km, followed by decoupling from the descending oceanic crust-capped lithospheric plate is held responsible for the ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism of the Kokchetav Complex. Inasmuch as vestiges of a calc-alkaline volcanic/plutonic arc of approximately Early Cambrian age are preserved as only scattered relics in the general region, the plate-tectonic setting may have involved an intra-oceanic, Marianas-type, incipient arc which was subsequently removed through transform faulting or erosion.

The Kokchetav and Dabie Shan complexes are typical examples of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic complexes (UHPM) and are important units of the largest suture zones within the Eurasian continent. The...

We present a new model of P- and S-velocity anomalies in the mantle down to 1300 km depth beneath the Izu-Bonin and Mariana (IBM) arcs. This model is derived based on tomographic inversion of global travel time data from the revised ISC catalogue. The results of inversion are thoroughly verified using a series of different tests. The obtained model is generally consistent with previous studies of different authors. We also present the distribution of relocated deep events projected to the vertical surface along the IBM arc. Unexpectedly, the seismicity form elongated vertical clusters instead of horizontal zones indicating phase transitions in the slab. We propose that these vertical seismicity zones mark zones of intense deformation and boundaries between semi-autonomous segments of the subducting plate. The P- and S-seismic tomography models consistently display the slab as prominent high-velocity anomalies coinciding with the distribution of deep seismicity. Based on joint consideration of the tomography results and the seismicity distribution we propose a scenario of the subduction evolution in the IBM zone during the recent time. We can distinguish at least four segments which subduct differently. The northernmost segment of the Izu-Bonin arc has the gentlest angle of dipping which is explained by backward displacement of the trench. In the second segment, the trench stayed at the same location, and we observe the accumulation of the slab material in the transition zone and its further descending to the lower mantle. In third segment, the trench is moving forward that causes steepening of the slab. Finally, for the Mariana segment, despite the backward displacement of the arc, the subducting slab is nearly vertical. We propose that it might be due to the high density of the slab which is responsible for turning any inclined subduction to the vertical position. Between the Izu-Bonin and Mariana arcs we clearly observe a gap which is traced down to about 400 km depth.

The authors summarize the structure of the Betic Cordilleras and the tectonic position of the Ronda, Ojen and other lherzolite massifs in them, as well as the lower Mesozoic ophiolite section. The mafic and ultramafic rocks in the nappe-fold structure of the Betides consist of rocks that were metamorphosed at high pressure and low temperature. The structure of the floor of the Alboran Sea is analyzed, and models of the formation of the Gibraltar arc in the southern part of the Alpine belt are proposed.

Tectonized harzburgites constituting the ultramafic basement of inter-arc and back-arc basins and forming the lower part of corresponding ophiolites provide textural and mineralogical evidences that some veins and other local mineral segregations resulted from crystallization from infiltrated basicultrabasic melt and the reaction of that melt with harzburgites. Veins of dunite are found by reaction. Veins of pyroxenite and gabbro may be formed by disequilibrium crystallization from infiltrated melts during the general cooling. These vein assemblages occur in many ophiolites including Upper Precambrian and Palaeozoic ophiolites of the Urals and southern Siberia.