Amphibolite blocks from an Archaean (2.9 Ga) trondhjemite-agmatite complex in the Lewisian at Gruinard Bay have a varied trace element and R E E content. Whilst some of the variability is attributable to element mobility during high-grade metamorphism and subsequent trondhjemite magmatism, it is for the main part considered to be a primary feature of the amphibolites. The observed trace element...

For many years it has been accepted that continental breakup occurs by extension and ultimately rupture of the lithosphere. However, the emergence and early evolution of two fundamental characteristics of divergent plate boundaries, segmentation and magmatism, are not well understood because most studies focus on mature or successfully rifted margins. Additionally, there are few existing datase...

Between 5 and 6 million years ago, during the so-called Messinian salinity crisis, the Mediterranean basin became a giant salt repository. The possibility of abrupt and kilometre-scale sea-level changes during this extreme event is debated. Messinian evaporites could signify either deep- or shallow-marine deposits, and ubiquitous erosional surfaces could indicate either subaerial or submarine f...

The temporal coincidence between large igneous provinces (LIPs) and mass extinctions has led many to pose a causal relationship between the two. However, there is still no consensus on a mechanistic model that explains how magmatism leads to the turnover of terrestrial and marine plants, invertebrates and vertebrates. Here we present a synthesis of ammonite biostratigraphy, isotopic data and hi...

Following accretion of southern Siberian microcontinents to the compositions reveal up to one order of magnitude variation of some trace elements and ratios between suites, and show a progressive Siberian craton in the Early Paleozoic, five cycles of K-rich silicic magmatism, progressively decaying in volume, occurred on batholithic change in trace element concentration with decreasing age. Pla...

Rifted passive margins exhibit a large variety in the timing, distribution, and amount of magmatism. The factors controlling magmatism during rifted margin formation, remain, however, incompletely understood, partly owing to complex rifting styles. In this study, we use 2-Dimensional numerical models investigate effects depth-dependent wide lithospheric counterflow on formation. Results show th...

The facies changes, tectonics and magmatism across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary in the southern Tethyan margin have been studied in Egypt, Sudan, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia and Jordan an unconformable contact is recognized between the Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic rocks. This unconformity surface is marked by the truncation of the fluvial clastics of the uppermost Triassic b...