Basalt geochemistry and tectonic discrimination within continental flood basalt provinces
Continental flood basalts are usually regarded as a single tectonomagmatic entity but frequently quoted examples exhibit a variety of tectonic settings. In one well-studied, classic, flood basalt province, the Mesozoic Karoo province of southern Africa, magmatism occurred in the following tectonic s...
| Published in: | Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2003
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140412 http://vital.seals.ac.za:8080/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:37886 https://doi.org/10.1016/0377-0273(87)90035-7 |
| Summary: | Continental flood basalts are usually regarded as a single tectonomagmatic entity but frequently quoted examples exhibit a variety of tectonic settings. In one well-studied, classic, flood basalt province, the Mesozoic Karoo province of southern Africa, magmatism occurred in the following tectonic settings: (a) continental rifting leading to ocean-floor spreading in the South Atlantic Ocean (Etendeka suite of Namibia); (b) stretched continental lithosphere and rifting not leading directly to ocean-floor formation (Lebombo suite of southeastern Africa); and (c) an a-tectonic, within-plate, continental setting characterized by an absence of faulting or warping (Lesotho highlands and Karoo dolerites of South Africa). |
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