6

PRF_SENT-DAYMAGMATISMANDCIOBALTECTONICFROCESSES
In terms of Table 1.1 we can
clearly sec rbaE much of presentislands develop forming an island arc,
day ................................oicanic
-whacks if it is a continental plate the
activity it concenvolcanism creates an active coniinental
trated within, or adjacent to zones of
margin (Ch. 71. Magma generation in
plate divergthese iwo environments is broadly
ence or convergence.. NeveriheIns,
Nimilar, but in thc Latter the
within. both
geochemicai characteristics of the ma
locum Lc and continental plates active
n2.5 may be modified by continental
volcanoes
crustal coniamination. Behind some
occur, often at considerable distances
volcanic arcs secon-dary seafloor
&iim 131Ale
spre2.ding occurs, resulting in ihe
boundaries, forming inira.(within)development of back-arc or marginal
plate volcanic
basins (Ch_
provinces (Part 4). Idiagmatirn within
8). Processes here are similar to those
continental
operating at mj4,1-ocearde rictRes,
plates. is volumetrically insignificant at
although the resultant basaltic magmas
the present
may be nriorc complex gerachemiLally,
time beilV primarily associated with
having
characieristics of both
intra-plate rift
destructive and consEructive margin
systems such as the E.s_si African rift
tectonic seitings_
(Ch. 11).
However, this may have been a
The process of subduction recycles
much more
material which has been in equilibrium
imporiarii magma ge.nemion
with the continenial crust (sea water or
environrcuem in the
pelagic sediments formed in equilibrium
past, for
riple during the
with %La water) or has been derived
formation
of
Largefrom it (oceanic terrigenous sediments)
cale ourilinental flood basah
back into the mantle_ This has
provinces (Ch.
fundamental implicalions for the long-10)
term chemical evoluticpn of the mantle.
which appear to predate continental
Additionally, some authors (Ch. 9) have
fragrnenlalion.
suggillet1
that
recycled
ocear.iv
SimilarLy, kimberlite maginatism (Ch..
lithosphere may provide a source
12, is not a
component for some oceanic-island
Subduction-related
b:asalts.
rnagrnatism appearS I be the
dominant mcchanivn kr crusial growt11 at ihe present, and probably
throughoui the Phanerozoic.

raid-oceanic ridge tectonic settings is low, as

these form pert of the oceanic lithcisphcre
which is recycled back into the mantle on a
umescale of the order of 101) Ma.. Only
rarely are these rocks pmerved as olxlucted
Slices Ln ophiolhe cotnplexes (Ch. 5). As a
consequence intracontinefttal plate and active
continental margin i8110113-5 rocks should.,
in ihcory, be niore common within the
geologic[ record_
It is generally accepted that partial melting
of mantle material produces primary magmas of
basic or ultra is composition in most tectonic
settings (Ch. 3\ and thai subsiecnient
dilleremiation proces-ses, including fractional
crystallization, magma rnixing and crustal
comarnination fit._ 4), are resvonsible for -the
generation of the wide composi-tional spectrum
of terrotrial igneous rocks. The geiNhernical
characteristics of these primary mag-mas
depend upon parameters such as the source
composition and mineralogy and the depth
and degree of partial melting; factors which
may varw (torn Gine tec[onic &mining to
another. Primary. magmas appear to I

8entraied within a very resuicued depth

range within the upper 100-2(10 krn of
the mantle, although in detail their
precise depths of origin are rmorly
constrainedDiamond-bearing
kimber]ites (Ch. 12) are probably the
deepest terrestrial magmas, originating
from depths wcatcr than 200-250 km_
A fundamental aim of petrogenetic
studies of igneous rocks i5 to distinguish
5ci1111irce characiLeri.c. tics that arc inherited by
the primary partial melts at their depth of
segregation from those arising from
Rthscquenii processes. Variations in the
iso-topic compositio.ns of Sr, Nd and Pb
iii oceanic basalts (Ch. 5 &
a have
provided important constraints. on the
structure
arid
compcsitional
heterogeneity of the upper mimic_ In
particular, they have provided support for a
rwo-layer convec-tion model (Ch. 3) wick
the boundary between the two layers
probably located at the #70 Inn SCi.Smic
discontinuity. The upper layer is
depleted in incompatible elements acid is
the source of MORE-The formatitM Of the
continental crust throughout

tray

boson
. phenomenon_
generally held responsible for the
In general, the pre5ereation potential of igneous
layer. In contrast, the lower toyer
rocks generated in oceanic-island, island-arc
less depleted and must have

geologkal time is
depletion of this
i5 considered to he