Mechanisms and timescales of felsic magma segregation, ascent and emplacement in the Himalaya
We combine field, petrological, geochemical and experimental observations to evaluate the timescales of compaction-driven and shear-assisted melt extraction and ascent in the Himalaya. The results show that melt migration via compaction and channelling is inescapable and operates on timescales of le...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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2006
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| _version_ | 1826286198335733760 |
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| author | Scaillet, B Searle, M |
| author_facet | Scaillet, B Searle, M |
| author_sort | Scaillet, B |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | We combine field, petrological, geochemical and experimental observations to evaluate the timescales of compaction-driven and shear-assisted melt extraction and ascent in the Himalaya. The results show that melt migration via compaction and channelling is inescapable and operates on timescales of less than 1 million years and possibly as short as 0.1 million years. Field and petrological data show that such a fast and efficient melt transfer results from a combination of favourable factors, including: (1) low but constant melt viscosity (10 4.5 Pa s) during extraction and ascent; (2) grain size coarsening of the source rocks in response to prolonged heating prior to melting; and (3) high source fertility and thus high melt fraction, owing to elevated modal amounts of muscovite in leucogranite sources. All three factors dramatically increase source permeability. Calculations show that shear-assisted melt extraction had a time interval recurrence in the range 10 000-100 000 years (10-100 ka), leading to sill thicknesses of 1-30 m. Yet melts falling at the low end of the viscosity range when coupled to high shear velocities may lead to veins several hundred metres thick. The deepest structural levels (e.g. central Zanskar Range) show that in-situ melts formed where pure shear compaction was greatest and where simple shear was also operative. Magma extracted from migmatite leucosomes was injected along planes of weakness parallel to the ductile shear fabric, probably by some form of hydraulic fracturing crack propagation mechanism. Large High Himalayan leucogranite (HHL) bodies (e.g. c. 5 km thick sills at Manaslu, Makalu and northern Bhutan) may thus represent inflated laccoliths assembled via dykes that tapped a 100-300 m melt layer produced by compaction of the Greater Himalayan Series (GHS). Thermal simulations show that such melt layers may have incubation times of several million years. Although transport time for magmas associated with the HHL is short, the time for assembly may take several million years for the largest HHL, as geochronological data indicate (up to 5 million years for Manaslu, Shisha Pangma). Transport of leucogranite melt from mid-crustal levels towards the surface was concomitant with active low-angle normal faulting along the South Tibetan Detachment (STD) normal fault, a structure that effectively formed the lid to the extrusion of a partially molten layer of mid-crustal rocks (channel flow). Rapid cooling of the granites emplaced at the top of the GHS implies rapid extrusion and lateral flow of GHS rocks beneath the STD during the period c. 20-17 Ma. Weakening of the crust by partial melting is thus likely to be pulsatory in time, and future thermomechanical models should incorporate such aspects to model tectonic evolution of hot orogens. © The Geological Society of London 2006. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T01:40:12Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:969901c1-f95b-49b4-b970-f6a59aa3616b |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T01:40:12Z |
| publishDate | 2006 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:969901c1-f95b-49b4-b970-f6a59aa3616b2022-03-26T23:53:57ZMechanisms and timescales of felsic magma segregation, ascent and emplacement in the HimalayaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:969901c1-f95b-49b4-b970-f6a59aa3616bEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2006Scaillet, BSearle, MWe combine field, petrological, geochemical and experimental observations to evaluate the timescales of compaction-driven and shear-assisted melt extraction and ascent in the Himalaya. The results show that melt migration via compaction and channelling is inescapable and operates on timescales of less than 1 million years and possibly as short as 0.1 million years. Field and petrological data show that such a fast and efficient melt transfer results from a combination of favourable factors, including: (1) low but constant melt viscosity (10 4.5 Pa s) during extraction and ascent; (2) grain size coarsening of the source rocks in response to prolonged heating prior to melting; and (3) high source fertility and thus high melt fraction, owing to elevated modal amounts of muscovite in leucogranite sources. All three factors dramatically increase source permeability. Calculations show that shear-assisted melt extraction had a time interval recurrence in the range 10 000-100 000 years (10-100 ka), leading to sill thicknesses of 1-30 m. Yet melts falling at the low end of the viscosity range when coupled to high shear velocities may lead to veins several hundred metres thick. The deepest structural levels (e.g. central Zanskar Range) show that in-situ melts formed where pure shear compaction was greatest and where simple shear was also operative. Magma extracted from migmatite leucosomes was injected along planes of weakness parallel to the ductile shear fabric, probably by some form of hydraulic fracturing crack propagation mechanism. Large High Himalayan leucogranite (HHL) bodies (e.g. c. 5 km thick sills at Manaslu, Makalu and northern Bhutan) may thus represent inflated laccoliths assembled via dykes that tapped a 100-300 m melt layer produced by compaction of the Greater Himalayan Series (GHS). Thermal simulations show that such melt layers may have incubation times of several million years. Although transport time for magmas associated with the HHL is short, the time for assembly may take several million years for the largest HHL, as geochronological data indicate (up to 5 million years for Manaslu, Shisha Pangma). Transport of leucogranite melt from mid-crustal levels towards the surface was concomitant with active low-angle normal faulting along the South Tibetan Detachment (STD) normal fault, a structure that effectively formed the lid to the extrusion of a partially molten layer of mid-crustal rocks (channel flow). Rapid cooling of the granites emplaced at the top of the GHS implies rapid extrusion and lateral flow of GHS rocks beneath the STD during the period c. 20-17 Ma. Weakening of the crust by partial melting is thus likely to be pulsatory in time, and future thermomechanical models should incorporate such aspects to model tectonic evolution of hot orogens. © The Geological Society of London 2006. |
| spellingShingle | Scaillet, B Searle, M Mechanisms and timescales of felsic magma segregation, ascent and emplacement in the Himalaya |
| title | Mechanisms and timescales of felsic magma segregation, ascent and emplacement in the Himalaya |
| title_full | Mechanisms and timescales of felsic magma segregation, ascent and emplacement in the Himalaya |
| title_fullStr | Mechanisms and timescales of felsic magma segregation, ascent and emplacement in the Himalaya |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mechanisms and timescales of felsic magma segregation, ascent and emplacement in the Himalaya |
| title_short | Mechanisms and timescales of felsic magma segregation, ascent and emplacement in the Himalaya |
| title_sort | mechanisms and timescales of felsic magma segregation ascent and emplacement in the himalaya |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT scailletb mechanismsandtimescalesoffelsicmagmasegregationascentandemplacementinthehimalaya AT searlem mechanismsandtimescalesoffelsicmagmasegregationascentandemplacementinthehimalaya |