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Geochemistry and Mantle Potential Temperature of Late Cenozoic Basaltic Rocks from the Northern and Western Continental Margins of the South China Sea

Received: 09 August 2020    Accepted: 25 August 2020    Published: 21 September 2020
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Abstract

Deep dynamic processes of the evolution of the South China Sea (SCS) are recorded by the large-scale magmatism in the SCS and its surrounding regions. The geochemical analysis of whole-rock and olivine phenocryst was conducted on the Late Cenozoic basaltic rocks, which are exposed in the continental margins of the northern (the Leiqiong Area) and western (the Kontum Area) SCS. Consistent geochemical characteristics were shown on the basaltic rocks based on the results, which are similar to OIB from intra-plate environment. Mantle potential temperature (Tp ) was measured by MgO of parental magma compositions and by olivine-liquid equilibria thermometry, with an average of 1489°C beneath the Leizhou Peninsula, 1555°C beneath the Northern Hainan and 1458°C beneath the Kontum Area. Compared with Tp of SCS MORB, the mantle excess temperature is about 78–175°C in the studied areas. The highest excess temperature within typical plume-affected regions. Our results provide the evidence based on temperature for the existence of the Hainan Plume. The data of highest Tp under the North Hainan may indicate the upper reaches of mantle plume. The mantle source of post-spreading magmatism in SCS and its surrounding region is likely to be correlated to that of pre-spreading volcanic activities in the northern continental margins.

DOI 10.11648/j.earth.20200905.14
Published in Earth Sciences (Volume 9, Issue 5, October 2020)
Page(s) 178-191
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Hainan Plume, Mantle Potential Temperature, Geochemistry, The South China Sea, Post-Spreading

References
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Author Information
  • Institute of Marine Science, Hebei Normal University of Science and Technology, Qinhuangdao, China

  • Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

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    Xiaobo Yuan, Wang Ding. (2020). Geochemistry and Mantle Potential Temperature of Late Cenozoic Basaltic Rocks from the Northern and Western Continental Margins of the South China Sea. Earth Sciences, 9(5), 178-191. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20200905.14

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    Xiaobo Yuan; Wang Ding. Geochemistry and Mantle Potential Temperature of Late Cenozoic Basaltic Rocks from the Northern and Western Continental Margins of the South China Sea. Earth Sci. 2020, 9(5), 178-191. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20200905.14

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    Xiaobo Yuan, Wang Ding. Geochemistry and Mantle Potential Temperature of Late Cenozoic Basaltic Rocks from the Northern and Western Continental Margins of the South China Sea. Earth Sci. 2020;9(5):178-191. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20200905.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.earth.20200905.14,
      author = {Xiaobo Yuan and Wang Ding},
      title = {Geochemistry and Mantle Potential Temperature of Late Cenozoic Basaltic Rocks from the Northern and Western Continental Margins of the South China Sea},
      journal = {Earth Sciences},
      volume = {9},
      number = {5},
      pages = {178-191},
      doi = {10.11648/j.earth.20200905.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20200905.14},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.earth.20200905.14},
      abstract = {Deep dynamic processes of the evolution of the South China Sea (SCS) are recorded by the large-scale magmatism in the SCS and its surrounding regions. The geochemical analysis of whole-rock and olivine phenocryst was conducted on the Late Cenozoic basaltic rocks, which are exposed in the continental margins of the northern (the Leiqiong Area) and western (the Kontum Area) SCS. Consistent geochemical characteristics were shown on the basaltic rocks based on the results, which are similar to OIB from intra-plate environment. Mantle potential temperature (Tp ) was measured by MgO of parental magma compositions and by olivine-liquid equilibria thermometry, with an average of 1489°C beneath the Leizhou Peninsula, 1555°C beneath the Northern Hainan and 1458°C beneath the Kontum Area. Compared with Tp  of SCS MORB, the mantle excess temperature is about 78–175°C in the studied areas. The highest excess temperature within typical plume-affected regions. Our results provide the evidence based on temperature for the existence of the Hainan Plume. The data of highest Tp  under the North Hainan may indicate the upper reaches of mantle plume. The mantle source of post-spreading magmatism in SCS and its surrounding region is likely to be correlated to that of pre-spreading volcanic activities in the northern continental margins.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Geochemistry and Mantle Potential Temperature of Late Cenozoic Basaltic Rocks from the Northern and Western Continental Margins of the South China Sea
    AU  - Xiaobo Yuan
    AU  - Wang Ding
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20200905.14
    DO  - 10.11648/j.earth.20200905.14
    T2  - Earth Sciences
    JF  - Earth Sciences
    JO  - Earth Sciences
    SP  - 178
    EP  - 191
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5982
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20200905.14
    AB  - Deep dynamic processes of the evolution of the South China Sea (SCS) are recorded by the large-scale magmatism in the SCS and its surrounding regions. The geochemical analysis of whole-rock and olivine phenocryst was conducted on the Late Cenozoic basaltic rocks, which are exposed in the continental margins of the northern (the Leiqiong Area) and western (the Kontum Area) SCS. Consistent geochemical characteristics were shown on the basaltic rocks based on the results, which are similar to OIB from intra-plate environment. Mantle potential temperature (Tp ) was measured by MgO of parental magma compositions and by olivine-liquid equilibria thermometry, with an average of 1489°C beneath the Leizhou Peninsula, 1555°C beneath the Northern Hainan and 1458°C beneath the Kontum Area. Compared with Tp  of SCS MORB, the mantle excess temperature is about 78–175°C in the studied areas. The highest excess temperature within typical plume-affected regions. Our results provide the evidence based on temperature for the existence of the Hainan Plume. The data of highest Tp  under the North Hainan may indicate the upper reaches of mantle plume. The mantle source of post-spreading magmatism in SCS and its surrounding region is likely to be correlated to that of pre-spreading volcanic activities in the northern continental margins.
    VL  - 9
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

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