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AGE PROGRESSIVE VOLCANISM in the COMORES ARCHIPELAGO and NORTHERN MADAGASCAR Redacted for Privacy ABS TRACT APPROVED: 41 Fr 'I.-J / £A

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AGE PROGRESSIVE VOLCANISM in the COMORES ARCHIPELAGO and NORTHERN MADAGASCAR Redacted for Privacy ABS TRACT APPROVED: 41 Fr 'I.-J / £A AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Christina M. Emerickfor the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Oceanography presented on January 17, 1985 Title: AGE PROGRESSIVE VOLCANISM IN ThE COMORES ARCHIPELAGO AND NORTHERN MADAGASCAR Redacted for privacy ABS TRACT APPROVED: 41 fR 'i.-J / £A.. CM Robert A. Dunc'an The Comores Islands and Tertiary volcanic province of Northern Madagascar form a sub-linear trend of alkalic shield volcanoes across the northern Mozambique Channel. Potassium-argon dating of shield building lavas confirms an eastward increase in age of vol- canism along the chain, consistent with a hotspot origin for the lineament. The rate of migration of the Somali Plate over the man- tle source is approximately5 mm/yr. This new geochronology for the Comores Island chain is used to model the absolute motiOn of the Somali Plate for the last 10 mil- lion years. A systematic departure of the Somali Plate absolute motion from the African Plate absolute motion during this period represents a component of relative motion across the East African Rift at the rate of .33O°/m.y., about an Euler pole located at 63.6° 5, 2.3°E. The geometry of older portions of the Comores and Reunion trends indicates that there was no significant relative motion between the African and Somali Plates prior to about 10 m.y. ago. This Somali-African movement is added to the best known marine mag- netic data from the Indian Ocean to tie the evolution of that basin into the .abaolute referenceframe.Sequential reconstructions from 200-0 m.y. are presented. Modeiliig the earlier tectonicevolution of the Somali Plate is complicated by the enigmaticmigration of Madagascar with respect to Africa and the uncertainnature of the transitional crust underlying the Mozaxnbique Channel,which may have been created by the motion of Madagascar. The Comores Islandsand northern Madagascar volcanic suites provide informationabout the geochemical nature of this portion of crust, throughwhich they have erupted. Petrologic exami- nation of the Coinores lavasaddresses the role of volatiles and pressure in the control of mineralphases governing the generation and evolution of thesealkaline magmas. The coordinated use of strontium and oxygen isotopesindicates that the undersaturated alkaline rocks of Madagascarresult from the contamination of a depleted sub-continental 11thosphere with radiogeflic continental crust, including Jurassicgeosynclinal sediments having high B7Sr/B6Sr and high cS'80 values. The Comores lavas show no evidence of contamination by thiscrustal component. Instead the Comores lavas trend towarda high °'Sr/86Sr and low 5&80 component charac- teristic of an primitive mantlesource. AGE PROGRESSIVE VOLCANISM IN THECOMORES ARCHIPELAGO AND NORTHERN MADAGASCAR by Christina M. Emerick A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Completed January 17, 1985 Commencement June 1985 APPROVED Redacted for privacy Professor of Oceanography in charge of major Redacted for privacy Dean oJ College of Oceanography Redacted for privacy Dean of CrRedacted for privacye Senool Date Thesis is presented Typed by Christina Emerick. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Plate Tectonics in the Indian Ocean 1 Limitations of Relative Motion Modelling 6 Paleoposition of Madagascar 7 Objectives 13 2 GEOLOGY AND GEO CHRONOLOGY: 15 IMPLICATIONS FOR SOMALI PLATE TECTONICS Introduction 15 Linear Volcanism from the Comores Islands to 18 Northern Madagascar General Geology 20 Sample Collection and Coverage 32 Geochronology 33 Age vs. Distance 39 Duration of Volcanism 142 Absolute Motion Modelling 145 Neogene Tectonics of the Somali Plate 146 3 GEOCHEMISTRY AND PETROLOGY 56 Introduction 56 Petrology Petrologic Classification 614 Mineralogy 68 Chemical Variations 73 The Major Element 73 The Lithophile Elements 87 Discussion Straddle Sequence of Madagascar 102 ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY 106 Introduction 106 Review of Mantle Isotopic Heterogeneities 107 Crustal Interaction 115 Isotopic Composition of the Comores and .120 Madagascar Volcanic Rocks Oxygen Isotopes 123 Strontium Isotopes 126 Conclusions 12 5 EVOLUTION OF THE INDIAN OCEAN 1I3 Absolute and Relative Reference Frames 13 Aseismic Ridges 1145 Reconstructions 1514 6 sur 173 BIBLIOGRAPHY 177 APPENDIX 1: Sample Locations and Petrographic Descriptions 196 APP1DIX 2: Analytical Methods 219 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1.1 Physiographic map of the Indian Ocean 3 2.1 The Comores and Reunion hotspot tracks 17 2.2 Sample location maps: Comores Islands and 22 Northern Madagascar volcanic rocks 2.3 Age vs. distance from the active hotspot 140 2.14 Duration of volcanism vs. absolute plate velocity 143 2.5 Hotspot paths predicted by African absolute motions 147 2.6 Absolute and relative poles of rotation of the 53 Somali African plate pair 3.1 Location of samples used in geochemical studies 60 3.2 Classification of alkaline rocks by the variation of 65 alkalis vs. silica 3.3 Total alkalis vs. S1O2: Comores and Madagascar 66 3.14 Kovs. NazO: Mayotte 714 3.5 Oxides vs. MgO: Coniores and Madagascar 75 3.6 Oxides vs. MgO: Mayotte 77 3.7 Oxides vs. MgO: Madagascar 78 3.8 Eruptive age vs. Mg-number for Mayotte and Madagascar 82 3.9 AFM diagrams: Comores and Madagascar 814 3.10 NaZO_KZ0_CaO:a variations 85 3.11 Ne-Ol-Di-Hy for the Comores and northern Madagascar 86 volcanic rocks 3.12 Rb and Sr vs. MgO. 89 3.13 K vs. Rb and Rb/K vs. Rb: Mayotte 91 3.114 Rb/K vs. Rb: Moheli and Anjouan 93 3.15 K vs. Rb and Rb/K vs. Rb: Madagascar 96 3.16 Rb vs. KzO:comparison of the Comores twith other 97 oceanic volcanic provinces 3.17 Ti02vs. P205: Comores and Madagascar 98 14.1 tYO vs. 87Sr/86Sr for Comores and Madagascarlavas 122 14.2 87Sr/86Sr vs. Rb/Sr: Comores and Madagascar 127 11.3 Variation of 87Sr/86Sr in northern Madagascar lavas 130 14.11 87Sr/86Sr shifts in amagma affected by assimilation 132 and fractional crystallization 14.5 87Sr/86Sr vs. eruptiveage 136 4.6 518O vs. 87Sr/86Srsignature of oceanic volcanism 138 and mantle reservoirs 11.7 87Sr/86Sr variations in oceanic hotspotsand 1140 their continental counterparts 11.8 Nd and Sr isotopic variability in volcanic rocks 1141 of the Indian Ocean 5.1 The distribution of magnetic anomalies in the Indian 1146 Ocean 5.2 200 m.y. reconstruction of Gondwanaland 156 5.3 160-130m.y.: Migration ofMadagascar away from Africa 158 514 100 m.y.reconstruction ofthe southern continents 160 5.5 80 m.y.reconstruction ofthe southern continents 163 5.6 60 m.y.reconstruction ofthe southern continents 165 57 140 m.y.reconstruction ofthe southern continents 167 5.8 20 my.reconstruction ofthe southern continents 169 5.9 10 m.y.reconstruction ofthe southern continents 170 5.10 Predicted hotspot tracks andthe present day 172 distribution of aseismic ridgesin the Indian and South AtlanticOceans LIST OF TABLES Table Page 2.1 K-Ar age data for Comores Islands and northern 35 Madagascar volcanic rocks 2.2 Absolute and relative motions for the Somali 52 plate, western Indian Ocean 3.1 Major oxide concentrations in weight percent 61 and CIPW norms: Conrres and Madagascar 32 Rb-Sr concentrations: Comores and Madagascar 88 14.1 Oxygen and strontium isotopic compositions: 121 Comores and Madagascar 14.2 6O (°"oo) of mineral separates and whole rock 1214 samples 5.1 Rotation parameters including SM-AF rotation 1144 AGE PROGRESSIVE VOLCANISM IN THE COMORES ARCHIPELAGO AND NORTHERN MADAGASCAR CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION PLATE TECTONICS IN THE INDIAN OCEAN Beyond the immediately apparent connection betweensea floor spreading and the redistribution of continentalmasses through time, there are many changes to the physical world thatcan be better understood within a firm framework of plate tectonicprocesses. Development of a massive mountainrange, such as the Himalaya, resulted from India's collision with the Eurasian continenton its northward flight from Gondwanaland. Besides the structural interest in the growth of such mountains, theirclear impact on the climatic patterns in the Indian Ocean and surrounding regionsconcerns atmospheric and earth scientists alike. The redistribution of land masses relative to high-evaporation zones in the tropics led to the development of the monsoon system that dominatesthe climate of Eurasia and the Indian Ocean region (Whitmarsh, 1977). Similarly, the redistribution of landmasses and the growth of bathymetric features, such as spreading ridges and aseismicridges, are correlated with the onset of major circulationpatterns. For example, the Antarctic Circuinpolar Current, the primary featureof southern ocean circulation today, began in Miocene timewhen the opening of the Drake Passage permitted uninteruptedflow around Antarctica (Barker and Burrell, 1977). The opening of the Amirante Passage in the western Indian Ocean provideda path for the Deep 2 Western Boundary Current, important to the circulation of the entire Indian Ocean (Johnson et al., 1982). Such structural control of bottom water circulation thus influences the distribution of nutrients in the world oceans and resulting distribution of biogenic masses. General patterns of sedimentation, both from changing biogenic component and terrigenous input, may then be understood in the context of time dependent distribution of continental masses. Thus, accurate knowledge of plate reconstructions,. with attention to the details of the nature and time of origin of aseismic ridges, is important to the biologist, the sedimentologist, the physical and chemical oceanographer, the paleontologist, and to the continental and marine geologist. The connection between plate motions and biogeography has long been recognized. Analogous to Darwin's classical Galapagos fauna, the flora and fauna of Madagascar are unique, owing to the long isolation of this microcontirient (Collinvaux, 19711). The physical barriers to the radiation of species are created and destroyed by the processes that move the plates at the surface of the earth. Within the Indian Ocean and bordering regions (Fig. 1.1) there is ample opportunity to study every aspect of plate tectonics and its effect on the natural world.
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