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A 60-Myr record of continental back-arc differentiation through cyclic melting

Nature Geoscience volume 12, pages 215–219 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Continental crust forms and evolves above subduction zones as a result of heat and mass transfer from the mantle below. The nature and extent of this transfer remain debated. Although it has been recognized that arc magmatism at active continental margins can be cyclical at 50- to 1-Myr timescales, such cyclicity has not been recognized in the back-arc. Here we investigate the melting of sedimentary rocks in the continental back-arc of the western Gondwana margin during the Cambrian–Ordovician Famatinian orogeny of Northwest Argentina. We determine the U−Pb ages of zircons that formed during crustal melting and find that they range from 505 to 440 million years ago, concentrated into age groups spaced by 10–15 Myr. This suggests multiple and cyclical melting events in the continental back-arc, which matches the more than 60 Myr duration of the magmatic activity in the arc and demonstrates that thermal and magmatic cyclicity also extends to the continental hinterland. We conclude that back-arc melting reflects a long-lasting, pulsating, cyclical heat transfer from mantle to crust that leads to thorough crustal reworking, transforming sedimentary rocks into crystalline continental crust. Thus, while magma transfer from the mantle promotes crustal growth in convergent margins, cyclical melting promotes crustal maturation of the back-arc.

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Fig. 1: Example of a remelted anatectic granite from Sierra de Quilmes.
Fig. 2: Zircon U−Pb results for sample SQ231a.
Fig. 3: Schematic showing possible combinations of heat and H2O influx causing cyclic anatexis in Sierra de Quilmes.

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The authors declare that all data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its Supplementary Information.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J.-F. Moyen, A. Sola, I. Zibra and A. Kylander-Clark for comments on an early version of the manuscript. This research was supported by the Australian Research Council grant no. DP110102543 (to R.F.W.), FT140101062 (to O.N.) and the Czech Science Foundation grant no. P210-14-25995S (to P.H.). O.N. thanks the Melbourne TIE team for continuing support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

    Lauren C. Wolfram, Roberto F. Weinberg & Oliver Nebel

  2. School of Mathematical Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

    Kais Hamza

  3. Centre for Lithospheric Research, Czech Geological Survey, Prague, Czech Republic

    Pavlína Hasalová & Jitka Míková

  4. Instituto Geonorte, National University of Salta, Salta, Argentina

    Raul Becchio

  5. LaTe Andes, Salta, Argentina

    Raul Becchio

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  1. Lauren C. Wolfram
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Contributions

L.C.W. prepared samples for analysis, performed initial data analysis and took the lead on writing the manuscript. L.C.W., R.F.W. and O.N. contributed to data interpretation and writing the final version of the manuscript. K.H. was responsible for the statistical treatment of the data. P.H. and J.M. conducted laser ablation zircon geochronology. R.B. participated in the fieldwork and developing the original ideas that lead to this paper.

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Correspondence to Roberto F. Weinberg.

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Supplementary Information

Zircon ages, statistical treatment and crustal heat production; Supplementary Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4 and Supplementary Figures 1–9.

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Wolfram, L.C., Weinberg, R.F., Nebel, O. et al. A 60-Myr record of continental back-arc differentiation through cyclic melting. Nat. Geosci. 12, 215–219 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0298-6

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