What is it about?
Petrological-geochemical comparison of three Mesozoic igneous provinces in South Africa (Karoo Province) and East Antarctica (Queen Maud Land (QML) and Ferrar) confirms the inferred relation of the Ferrar Igneous Province, which is extended for over 3000 km along the margin of the East Antarctic, with the Mesozoic Karoo–Maud plume.
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Why is it important?
The formation of the Ferrar Igneous Province was related to the lateral spread of the Karoo–Maud plume (as a megaapophysis from the main zone of its manifestation) during melting of metasomatically modified Gondwanian mantle in the vicinity of the Pacific paleosubduction zone. Variations of isotope composition of these melts define mixing trends from a mantle source close in composition to the enriched magmas of the Karoo and QML provinces to a source which was formed owing to the fluid enrichment of mantle in the paleosubduction zone.
Perspectives
The isotope composition of ancient magmas located in the Ferrar Igneous Province and also studied falls in the composition field of Mesozoic igneous rocks of the Karoo and QML provinces. This observation has not yet received a proper explanation and requires further careful isotope-geochemical study of the Pelozoic-Proterozoic magmatites found within this province.
Boris V Belyatsky
Karpinsky Geological Institute (VSEGEI)
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Evolution of the Karoo-Maud Plume and Formation of Mesozoic Igneous Provinces in Antarctica, Geochemistry International, June 2022, Pleiades Publishing Ltd,
DOI: 10.1134/s001670292206009x.
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