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Lithos 100 (2008) 1 – 13
Editorial
Links between ophiolites and Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) in
Earth history: Introduction
1. Introduction
Plate tectonics cycle, driven by lithospheric subduction
and surface cooling, is responsible for the melting and
primary differentiation of the Earth's mantle while also
introducing chemical heterogeneity in the upper mantle.
Oceanic crust generated at divergent plate boundaries
commonly gets recycled into the mantle via subduction
(Cloos, 1993), although the oceanic crust formed in
subduction zone environments may become incorporated
into continental margins through collisional and/or
accretionary orogenic events as in ophiolites. The
majority of the world's best preserved ophiolites appear
to have formed in suprasubduction zone (SSZ) settings,
where slab rollback, mantle flow in the arc wedge corner,
subduction-induced mantle metasomatism, and upper
plate extension collectively lead to oceanic crust
formation (Pearce et al., 1984; Umino et al., 1990; Searle
and Cox, 1999; Shervais, 2001; Ishikawa et al., 2002;
Dilek and Flower, 2003; Beccaluva et al., 2005; Dilek
et al., 2007). Systematic studies of SSZ ophiolites and
suture zones in ancient and modern orogenic belts show
that most of these ophiolites evolved in an older and wider
ocean basin, following the initial collapse and consump-
tion of its floor as a result of intra-oceanic subduction
(Dilek and Flower, 2003; Harris, 2003; Garfunkel, 2006).
Continued subduction, slab rollback, and upper plate
extension and magmatism without any collisional
interference would result in successive periods of
forearc–protoarc splitting and hence in the formation of
nested oceanic crust formation with larger age ranges; the
modern and recent examples of this scenario include the
Izu–Bonin–Mariana (IBM) system (Stern and Bloomer,
1992; Bloomer et al., 1995) and the northern Philippines
(Encarnación, 2004; Yumul, 2007). The Jurassic ophio-
lites in California (Stern and Bloomer, 1992; Godfrey and
Dilek, 2000), the Neo-Tethyan ophiolites in the Balkan
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Peninsula (Bortolotti et al., 2002; Saccani and Photiades,
2004; Beccaluva et al., 2005; Dilek et al., 2007) and in the
Mediterranean region (Robertson, 2002; Dilek and
Flower, 2003; Garfunkel, 2006) may be good ancient
analogues for this model, although passive margin-trench
collisions ultimately arrested these arc-trench rollback
cycles and nested oceanic crust formation in the Neo-
Tethyan domains and caused ophiolite emplacement in
the early stages of collisional orogens.
Times of enhanced ophiolite genesis and emplacement
in Earth history appear to coincide with the timing of
major collisional events during the assembly of super-
continents (basin collapse and closure), dismantling of
these supercontinents via continental rifting, and wide-
spread development of Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs)
(Coffin and Eldholm, 1994; Yale and Carpenter, 1998;
Dalziel et al., 2000; Coffin and Eldholm, 2001; Ernst and
Buchan 2002; Courtillot and Renne, 2003; Coffin and
Eldholm, 2005; Ernst et al., 2005; Bryan and Ernst, in
press) of oceanic affinity (oceanic plateaus, ocean basin
flood basalts, and related seamount chains), suggesting
spatial and temporal reactions between these events at
global scales (Fig. 1; Dilek, 2003a). The most discrete
ophiolite pulse during 180–140 Ma coincides with the
formation and emplacement of the Tethyan, Caribbean,
and some of the Circum-Pacific (Western Pacific and
North American Cordillera) ophiolites. In the Tethyan
system this timing marks the collapse of restricted basins
between various Gondwana-derived subcontinents prior
to the terminal closure of oceans and major continental
collisions. In the Caribbean system this was the period
when LIPs-generated oceanic lithosphere was accreted to
the continental margins of northern South America and
the northern Caribbean Islands (Lapierre et al., 1997; Kerr
et al., 1998; Giunta et al., 2002).
The second important ophiolite pulse during the Late
Cretaceous follows the Mid-Cretaceous “superplume
2 Editorial

Fig. 1. Histogram showing the occurrence of major ophiolite pulses, the life spans of supercontinents and major collisional-orogenic events that led to
their assembly, and formation of LIPs and giant dike swarms through time (only through the Neoproterozoic). Large Igneous Provinces include the
‘classic’ flood basalts, oceanic plateaus and also those LIPs in which the plumbing system of dike intrusions, sills, and layered intrusions are exposed
(cf. Ernst and Buchan, 2001; Bryan and Ernst, in press). Note the change in time scale about the Phanerozoic–Proterozoic boundary. Abbreviations
for orogenic events (from youngest to oldest): Ar–Eu, Arabia–Eurasia collision; In–Eu, India–Eurasia collision; Al–Ur, Altaid–Uralian orogenies of
central Asia; Ap–Hy, Appalachian–Hercynian orogenies; Cld, Caledonian orogeny; Fmt, Famatinian orogeny; P–Af–Br, Pan–African−Brasiliano
orogenies; Grn, Grenville and related orogenies. Period of ‘No Magnetic Reversals’ between 120 and 80 Ma concides with the mid-Cretaceous
‘superplume’ event (Larson, 1991). After Dilek, 2003a (see the extensive citation in this paper for the data source used in the compilation of this
figure).

event” and coincides with the breakup of Pangea, the
closure of Neo-Tethyan seaways, and the emplacement of
giant dike swarms and LIPs (Fig. 1). Some of the Alpine–
Apennine ophiolites that formed during the breakup of
Pangea represent rift-related mafic–ultramafic assem-
blages (i.e., exhumed subcontinental mantle fragments)
and/or remnants of embryonic ocean floor (Dilek, 2003b,
and the references therein). The enhanced LIP formation
(comprising mainly of flood basalts and giant dike
swarms) and ophiolite generation in the Late Cretaceous
seem to be linked in space and time through the increased
seafloor spreading rates, extensive oceanic plateau
formation and widespread compression at convergent
margins (Larson, 1991; Vaughan, 1995; Dalziel et al.,
2000; Dilek, 2003a; Vaughan and Scarrow, 2003). Spatial
and temporal associations of rift volcanics showing
within-plate alkaline basalt (WPB) to subalkaline tholei-
itic basalt (akin to MORB) chemistry with passive margin
sequences and ophiolites indicate that the plume activities
and thermal anomalies in the mantle may have been
responsible for the initial continental breakup, which led
to the opening of ocean basins and seafloor spreading (i.e.
Dilek and Rowland, 1993, and the references therein;
Garzanti et al., 1999; Lapierre et al., 2004, 2006). The
emplacement of contemporaneous continental flood
basalts with similar geochemical signatures along some
of the rifted continental margins supports this model
(Garzanti et al., 1999; Song et al., 2001; Nikishin, 2002).
This topic is further explored in the papers by Song et al.,
Xiao et al., and Mo et al., in this issue.
Correlation of the ophiolite pulses with major
orogenic events that led to the assembly of super-
continents is particularly important during the Protero-
zoic and Paleozoic (Fig. 1), although our data from this
time window of the Earth's history are rather limited.
The collisional buildup of Rodinia around 1 Ga, the
collision of East and West Gondwana and the construc-
tion of Pannotia (c. 700 and 600 Ma), Pan–African–
Brasiliano orogenies (520–500 Ma), Caledonian–Fama-
tian orogenies (460–440 Ma), Appalachian–Hercynian
orogenies (c. 300–270 Ma), and Altaid–Uralian oroge-
nies in central Asia (c 240 Ma) are the most important
examples (Dilek, 2003a). Most ophiolites that formed
during these orogenic events are the SSZ ophiolites
 Editorial
representing subduction rollback cycles. We also see an
accelerated rate of production of LIPs and giant dike
swarms corresponding to the timing of major orogenic
events particularly in the Neo-Proterozoic and Early
Paleozoic (Fig. 1). It is possible that major orogenic
events may have supplied cold subducted slabs into the
lower mantle, triggering large upwellings and thermal
anomalies feeding mantle plumes, which produced ex-
tensive continental and oceanic LIPs (Moores et al., 2000;
Nikishin, 2002). The ophiolite and LIP record for the
Archean geology is not as nearly complete as the Pro-
terozoic and Phanerozoic history, and hence the related
discussions are highly limited (Ernst and Buchan, 2002;
Eriksson et al., 2004; Kusky, 2004). In fact, whether the
modern plate tectonics might have operated in the
Archean (particularly in the Mesoarchean and earlier) is
still debated (Hamilton, 1998; Stern, 2002; Polat et al.,
2002; Hamilton, 2003; Smithies et al., 2004; Cawood
et al., 2006; Condie and Benn, 2006; Ernst, 2007b).
The record of oceanic Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs)
for the past ca. 200 Myr indicates that they have occurred
at an average rate of about one per 20 Myr (Fig. 2; Ernst,
2007a). On the other hand, few oceanic LIPs have been
identified in the Proterozoic and Paleozoic (mainly as
accreted packages in orogenic belts). This change in rate
of oceanic LIP identification is likely a result of poor
preservation potential of the oceanic LIPs during sub-
duction, coupled with the absence of oceanic crust older
than about 180 Ma. Some Phanerozoic and Precambrian
ophiolites and greenstone belts may be accreted scraps of
oceanic plateaus and/or volcanic sections of plateau-
like thick oceanic crust (particularly in the Archean).
Because the average rate of continental LIP production
throughout the entire Proterozoic and Phanerozoic
period (including within the last 200 Myr) was ap-
proximately constant at about one per 20 Myr (Ernst and
Buchan, 2002), we can infer that the oceanic LIP pro-
duction rate was also broadly constant back to 2500 Ma.
If we extrapolate the more recent oceanic LIP production
rate to earlier times, we can surmise that there are more
than 100 unrecognized oceanic events in the Proterozo-
ic–Paleozoic time. Strategies for recovering this ‘lost’
LIP oceanic record include: (1) recognizing which
ophiolites and other accreted volcanic/plutonic packages
are of oceanic LIP origin (e.g. Coffin and Eldholm,
2001), and (2) tracing giant dike swarms (up to 2500 km
in length) that radiate from ‘lost’ oceanic LIP centres
onto formerly adjacent continental landmasses (Ernst
and Buchan, 1997).
The contributions in this special issue of LITHOS
examine the LIP and ophiolite records through time to
develop the criteria for their recognition in the older rock
3
record, and to better understand the significance of their
multi-varied evolution patterns in plate tectonic cycles.
Some of these papers were presented in a thematic
session at the 2005 Fall Meeting of the American
Geophysical Union (San Francisco). Characterizating
the origin of “ophiolites” in the older record may be
predictive regarding ore deposit potential. For instance,
ophiolites of suprasubduction zone settings (such as
Troodos) are associated with massive sulphide (mainly
Cu) deposits, whereas LIPs, and presumably ophiolites
of LIP affinity, have potential to form Ni–Cu-PGE
deposits. A careful review of the Precambrian and
Phanerozoic ophiolite record should aid in recovering
the missing pre-Mesozoic record of oceanic LIPs. The
majority of the papers in this special issue have
extensive new petrological and geochemical data that
are interpreted within the regional structural and tectonic
framework of the area investigated. This new informa-
tion on modern oceanic crust and plateaus provides
essential information on the mode and nature of
geochemical and tectonic processes during their forma-
tion that we can use in our examination of the
Phanerozoic and Precambrian record of ophiolites and
oceanic plateaus. It is our hope that this special issue
shall make a strong contribution to our knowledge of
oceanic crust and oceanic plateau formation, the
possible spatial and temporal links between LIPs and
magma plumbing systems in divergent and convergent
plate boundaries and between the different geochemical
reservoirs, and shall help us better understand the
dynamics of plate tectonics in the Precambrian.
The papers in this issue are collected in three main
sections. The first section contains three papers that
involve the theoretical aspects of the formation of
oceanic and continental basaltic volcanism and their
identification (through geochemical fingerprinting and
field observations) and modeling. The next section
includes papers that examine the geological record,
geochemistry, and geodynamics of various examples of
continental and oceanic plume-generated volcanism,
mainly in Asia and Japan. The papers in the last section
provide extensive petrological and geochemical data
from the Tethyan (Mesozoic) and Appalachian (Early
Paleozoic) ophiolites and from a Mesoarchean green-
stone belt in SW Greenland, and discuss their
tectonomagmatic evolution using regional tectonic and
geodynamic models.
2. Oceanic and continental basaltic volcanism
Identifying and fingerprinting oceanic basalts is a
valuable tool in better understanding basalt petrogenesis
4 Editorial

Fig. 2. Barcode and cumulative frequency diagram of LIP events (after Ernst, 2007a). Selected LIPs are labeled; NA, SA, EU, AF, AS, PA refer to
North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Pacific Ocean, respectively. The average rate of preserved LIP production (on cumulative
frequency diagram) from 2500 to about 200 Ma is about 1 per 20 Myr, a rate which continues between 200 Ma and Present for Curve B (plotting only
the continental record of LIPs). Curve A (which plots all the available LIPs during that interval) is steeper because it includes the full oceanic LIP
record that is mostly lost during ocean closure, and therefore is greatly diminished and obscured in the pre-Mesozoic record.

and the mantle's evolution and in reconstructing the
geodynamics of ancient ocean basins. Therefore,
basaltic rocks in ophiolites and plume-related igneous
complexes are important sources of information to
explore the plate tectonic evolution of the Earth,
possibly back into the Archean. Using proxies for
specific petrogenetic processes, Pearce evaluates the
existing methods for fingerprinting oceanic basalts and
presents new ones that optimize the choice of elements.
He points out that present methodologies for the
identification of oceanic basalts are limited in part
because those discriminant diagrams based on immobile
elements are problematic due to the “complexity of
oceanic volcanism and the common interactions be-
tween plumes and ridges that cause basalt suites to cross
discriminant boundaries”. Pearce demonstrates that two
 Editorial
geochemical proxies are particularly significant in the
classification of oceanic basalts, the Th–Nb and Ti–Yb
proxies. Modeling the sensitivity of the Th–Nb proxy to
crustal addition shows how magma–crust interactions,
crustal recycling, and subduction processes may affect
magma compositions and drive them away from the
diagonal MORB–OIB array, which commonly repre-
sents the field of typical oceanic basalts. The Ti–Yb
proxy is useful for deciphering the depth of melting and
hence is sensitive to variations in mantle potential
temperature and lithospheric thickness. Modeling the
sensitivity of the Ti–Yb proxy to garnet melting
indicates that OIB originates by less melting with
residual garnet beneath thicker lithosphere, whereas
oceanic plateau basalts originate from a higher degree of
melting of fertile mantle beneath progressively thinner
lithosphere (particularly at volcanic rifted margins and
oceanic plume–ridge interactions).
This proxy is particularly useful for further classify-
ing Phanerozoic and Proterozoic MORB ophiolites into
contaminated (C-MORB), normal (N-MORB), enriched
(E-MORB), and plume-influenced (P-MORB) sub-
types, and thus for assisting the subdivision of ridge
environments into plume-distal vs. plume-proximal
ridges, ridge-subduction settings, subduction-distal
back-arc basins, edges of LIPs, and incipient oceans at
volcanic and non-volcanic rifted margins. Pearce argues
that while the Th–Nb proxy is useful in detecting the
extent of crustal interactions in the petrogenetic
evolution of the Archean basalts, the Ti–Yb proxy is
ineffective for fingerprinting Archean tectonic settings
because of higher than modern mantle potential
temperatures and the insensitivity of the residual garnet
occurrence to lithospheric thickness in the hot Archean
mantle. He questions the applicability of modern-day
proxies to the Archean and warns that there are
precautions needed in interpreting Archean basalts of
unknown affinities.
The occurrence of large igneous bodies associated
with LIPs within short time spans in the Earth's history
suggests that extensive melting caused by significant
changes in physical conditions at depth must have
occurred. These events are commonly interpreted to
have resulted from mantle plumes derived from deep
thermal boundary layers, although recent studies
suggest that these melting anomalies can also be a
natural result of non-rigid plate tectonics (e.g. Anderson,
2005; Foulger, in press). Garfunkel examines the
formation of continental flood volcanism, one of the
most ubiquitous modes of LIPs magmatism commonly
focused on rifted continental margins, in terms of
temperature and depth conditions of melting and the role
5
of continental lithospheric thickness in melt evolution.
Assuming that melting results from adiabatic decom-
pression in rising plume heads beneath the continental
lithosphere, he constrains the melting depth to 120–
150 km or deeper and the plume potential temperatures
to z 300 °C higher than the ambient mantle adiabat
(Tp = 1350 °C). The MgO-rich (N20%) primary melts
that are well above the solidus in the lithosphere interact
with and assimilate the fusible components of the
lithospheric mantle, and they hence become modified
during their ascent. Further differentiation and assimi-
lation may take place in shallow-depth magma cham-
bers and/or due to circulation within plume heads and
reactions with eclogite patches, adding to the diversity
of magmas within single eruptive provinces. No
significantly high concentration of fusible/metasoma-
tized lithospheric components is required during the
evolution of continental flood basalt (CFB) magmatism,
and no significant lithospheric stretching associated
with continental rifting is necessary for CFB formation
although magma intrusion weakens the lithosphere and
assists initiation of rifting. CFB emplacement is,
therefore, immediately followed by the formation of
volcanic rifted margins. Comparison of continental LIPs
(e.g. CFBs) and oceanic LIPs should consider, therefore,
the role of magma differentiation through ascent and
interaction with the continental lithosphere during melt
evolution of CFB volcanism.
Dobretsov et al. present a more elaborate modeling of
thermochemical plumes originating from the base of the
lower mantle and offer the Siberian Traps as an example
of an ancient thermochemical super plume event. The
authors suggest that thermochemical plumes form at the
core–mantle boundary in the presence of heat flow from
the outer core and with local chemical doping, which
results from the reactions of lower mantle minerals (i.e.,
perovskite and magnesiowustite) with hydrogen, meth-
ane and/or components of a fluid phase derived from the
core. A plume starts its ascent when the lower mantle
begins to melt as the melting point of the thermal
boundary layer at the core–mantle boundary becomes
lower than the surrounding temperatures, and the
diameter of this plume conduit remains nearly constant
as it rises. A mushroom-shaped plume head develops
when the plume reaches a refractory layer (dunite–
harzburgite) whose melting point is higher than the melt
temperature in the conduit. The plume size, shape and
evolution during its ascent are controlled mainly by melt
viscosity, ascent time and velocity, temperature differ-
ences in the conduit, and thermal power. Dobretsov et al.
suggest that giant volumes of lavas and sills forming
major continental flood basalt provinces and traps have
6 Editorial
originated from superplume events that commonly
have three main stages of formation. The early phase
producing variable picrites and alkali basalts corre-
sponds to the initial stages of plume ascent (one or
several independent plumes), the main phase generating
tholeiite plateau basalts follows the formation of thick
lenses of mantle melts underplating the lithosphere, and
the final phase creating ultrabasic and alkaline lavas and
intrusions coincides with the emplacement of differen-
tiated mantle melts in the uppermost crust. The Permo–
Triassic Siberian Traps in NE Russia display these major
stages of superplume magmatism. The granite–syenite
plutonic rocks and the coeval bimodal volcanics along
the margins of the Siberian Traps represent the
magmatic products of lower crustal melting (∼65–
70 km at depth) caused by the plume's thermal effects.
3. LIP magmatism in Asia and Japan
The Permian Emeishan large igneous province in
Dongchuan of SW China is one of the best and well-
studied examples of plume magmatism, and it provides
an excellent laboratory to study the geochemical
evolution of magmas derived from plume activities
and affected by plume-lithosphere interactions. In
addition, the spatial and temporal associations of the
Emeishan continental flood basalt sequence with the
Paleo-Tethyan passive margin units and structures
indicate that the plume magmatism and continental
rifting here were intimately linked in space and time,
offering a relatively complete geological record to
further investigate this relationship. The next two papers
in this issue involve the evolution of the Emeishan LIP
and its association with the development of a Tethyan
volcanic rifted margin.
Song et al. describe the Emeishan continental flood
basalt sequence in Dongchuan and document the
occurrence of its two geochemically distinct volcanic
units. The upper tholeiitic basalt unit with high TiO2
contents (3.2–5.2 wt%), relatively high REE concentra-
tions (La: 140–60 ppm, Sm: 12.5–16.5 ppm, Yb: 3–
4 ppm), moderate Zr/Nb (4.3–10.2) and Nb/La ratios
(0.6–0.9), and ɛNd(t) values of − 9.4 to +2.3 represents
the products of partial melting of the Emeishan plume
head at a garnet stability depth (N 80 km). The basal
tephrite unit with high P2O5 (1.3–2.0 wt%), low REE
concentrations (e.g., La: 17–23 ppm, Sm: 4–5.3 ppm,
Yb: 2–3 ppm), high Nb/La ratios (2.3–4.2), and very
low ɛNd(t) values (− 11.1 to − 10.6) most likely represent
magmas derived from partial melting of a previously
metasomatized, volatile-rich subcontinental lithospheric
mantle when heated by the upwelling Emeishan mantle
plume. Depleted mantle model ages (TDM) of these
basal tephrites (2.60–2.15 Ga) suggest the existence of
an Archean subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath
SW China.
Xiao et al. report on the geology and geochemistry of
the Permo–Carboniferous volcanic units in the Xiaruo–
Tuoding area of the Yunnan Province in SW China and
explore their genetic relation with the Emeishan LIP.
These volcanic rocks are composed of OIB-like basalts,
characterized by high TiO2 values (2.2–3.55 wt%),
moderate MgO contents (4.15–6.49 wt%) and Mg
numbers (0.37–0.50), high-Ti/Y ratios (N 450), LILE
enrichment, and ɛNd(t) values of − 1.43 to +1.90, that are
similar to the upper tholeiitic basalt unit of the Emeishan
continental flood basalt sequence. The Xiaruo–Tuoding
volcanic rocks, more than 2 km in thickness, are part of a
volcanosedimentary unit of a passive margin sequence
associated with the opening of the Jingshajiang Ocean (a
Paleo-Tethyan basin). The authors suggest that the
initial rifting that led to the opening of this basin was
caused by the Emeishan mantle plume, which was active
along the western margin of the Yangtze Craton during
300–260 Ma. They argue that the Emeishan flood
basalts represent the last magmatic episode of a long-
lived mantle plume, which might have operated in
pulses.
The Permian was a time of widespread plume-related
magmatism, both terrestrial and marine, suggesting a
large-scale super plume event in the Permian. Ichiyama
et al. document the occurrence and petrogenesis of the
Permian greenstones in the Jurassic Mino–Tamba
accretionary complex in SW Japan. The Permian
volcanic rocks in the Funafuseyama–Haiya nappe
within the Mino–Tamba complex are associated with
pelagic limestone, chert and mélange units in a
mudstone matrix and consist of three geochemically
distinct series. The most voluminous lavas intercalated
with Lower Permian chert and limestone are composed
of low-Ti volcanics with slightly more enriched
geochemical and isotopic signatures than MORB. The
lavas of a transitional series show more enriched
geochemical signatures than MORB, and their isotopic
characteristics are divided into enriched and depleted
ones. A younger series, consisting of sills and
hyaloclastites within a Middle Permian chert and dikes
intruding the transitional series, has high-Ti and MgO
contents and is characterized by enrichment in incom-
patible trace elements and an isotopic composition
comparable to HIMU-type basalt. The authors suggest
that the low-Ti series lavas were produced by partial
melting of a shallow mantle plume head below a thick
oceanic lithosphere in the Early Permian, while the
 Editorial
transitional series formed simultaneously along the
margins of the mantle plume head. The younger, high-
Ti series rocks were the products of smaller degree of
partial melting of a deep mantle plume tail in the Middle
Permian. Collectively, the Permian volcanic units in the
Mino–Tamba accretionary complex were the products
of an intra-oceanic superplume event and may have
been part of a large oceanic plateau subsequently
accreted to the Eurasian continental margin.
Possible links (in space and time) between plume
magmatism and continental rifting and volcanic rifted
margin evolution are further explored in the eastern
Himalaya of south Tibet by Zhu et al. in the next paper.
These authors document the internal stratigraphy and
petrogenesis of the Lower Cretaceous Cona mafic rocks
and suggest that these geochemically diverse volcanic
assemblages were the magmatic products of variable
degrees of partial melting of distinct mantle sources,
resulted from the interactions between the incubating
Kerguelen plume and the continental lithosphere.
Basaltic flows and diabasic dikes and sills of Group 1
in the Cona mafic sequence have high TiO2 and P2O5
contents and OIB-like trace element patterns with a
relatively large range of ɛNd(t) values (+ 1.84 to + 4.67)
and may have formed from magmas derived from partial
melting of enriched garnet–clinopyroxene peridotite.
Gabbroic sills and intrusions of Group 2 show lower
TiO2 and P2O5 contents and “depleted” N-MORB-like
trace element patterns with relatively higher, homoge-
neous ɛNd(t) values (+ 5.67 to + 6.37) in comparison to
Group 1 rocks and likely formed from magmas derived
from the partial melting of spinel–lherzolite. Group 1
and Group 2 units have been dated at 144.7 ± 2.4 Ma and
131.1 ± 6.1 Ma, respectively. Group 3 basaltic lavas
intercalated with the Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous
pelitic rocks constitute a transitional sequence between
the first two groups as suggested by their flat to slightly
enriched trace element patterns. Zhu et al. propose that
the formation of Group 1 units in the Cona Sequence
was related to the incubating Kerguelen plume—
continental lithosphere interactions, whereas the forma-
tion of the younger Group 2 units was related to the
interaction between an anhydrous continental litho-
spheric mantle and a rising depleted asthenosphere,
which was enriched by a “droplet” originated from the
Kerguelen plume. The transitional units of Group 3 may
be attributed to thermal erosion of the continental
lithospheric mantle that led to its partial melting and to
the subsequent, long-term incubation of a magma
chamber at shallow crustal levels. Thus, according to
these authors, the Kerguelen plume may have played an
active role in the continental breakup of Greater India,
7
eastern India, and NW Australia, in a far more extensive
fashion than previously considered.
4. Phanerozoic and Archean ophiolites and models
for ancient oceanic crust
Ophiolites have been the subject of considerable
interest since their recognition as on-land fragments of
ancient oceanic lithosphere formed at divergent and
convergent plate boundaries. Since they are the only
remaining vestiges of the Early Jurassic and older
oceanic crust, ophiolites are particularly important to
understand the igneous, metamorphic, hydrothermal,
sedimentological, biological, and structural processes
involved in magmatic accretion, seafloor spreading and
tectonic emplacement of the early Phanerozoic and
Precambrian oceanic crust. They record significant
evidence for the evolution of oceanic crust from rift–
drift through the accretionary and collisional stages of
continental margin evolution in various tectonic settings
and different stages of the Wilson cycle evolution of
ancient ocean basins (Dilek and Robinson, 2003). The
papers in this section present several case studies from
the Phanerozoic and Precambrian ophiolite record, and
document the structural, magmatic, and metamorphic
evolution of ancient oceanic lithosphere in suprasub-
duction zone environments.
Dilek et al. present new geochemical data and a
petrogenetic model from the Jurassic Mirdita ophiolite
(Albania). Together with other coeval ophiolites in the
Balkan Peninsula the Mirdita ophiolite constitutes a
critical link between the slightly older MORB ophiolites
in the Alps–Appennines to the west and the younger
(Cretaceous) suprasubduction zone ophiolites in the
Anatolian and Himalayan orogenic belts to the east. The
Middle Jurassic Tethyan ophiolites in the Balkan
Peninsula show a geochemical dualism with both
MORB and SSZ signatures displayed by their crustal
and mantle units. Their internal architecture ranges from
highly attenuated, thin (∼3 km) Hess-type oceanic crust
analogous to oceanic core complexes (Ildefonse et al.,
2007) to thick (∼12 km), Penrose-type idealized and
complete oceanic crust, which is reminiscent of fast-
spreading oceanic lithosphere (Dilek et al., 1998; Dilek,
2003b). The occurrence of these different geochemical
affinities with significantly different crustal architec-
tures within the same ophiolite belts has been a subject
of debate over the years, and different petrogenetic and
tectonic models have been proposed.
Dilek et al. show that the shift from MORB to SSZ
affinities in the Mirdita ophiolite is both lateral and
stratigraphic (vertical), indicating changes in the melt
8 Editorial
compositions and mantle sources through time within
the same tectonic setting. The 3–4 km-thick western
Mirdita ophiolite (WMO) consists of lherzolite perido-
tites, gabbros, and extrusive rocks mainly composed of
basalt and basaltic andesite. These volcanic rocks
display MORB affinities with Ti and Zr contents
decreasing upsection in a 600 m-thick sequence in
parallel with low-Ti and HREE abundances, and Cs and
Ba enrichments detected in the uppermost basaltic
andesites. The ɛNd(t) values (+ 8 to + 6.5) remain nearly
constant throughout the WMO extrusive sequence.
These geochemical features suggest that WMO magmas
were derived from partial melting of fertile MORB-type
mantle, and that they were increasingly influenced by
subduction processes in their evolution. The ∼ 12 km-
thick eastern Mirdita ophiolite (EMO) contains harz-
burgitic peridotites, gabbros, plagiogranites, sheeted
dikes, and a thick (1.1 km) extrusive sequence
composed of basaltic to basaltic andesitic pillow lavas
in the lower 700 m, and andesitic, dacitic and
rhyodacitic sheet flows in the upper 400 m. Basaltic
and basaltic andesite rocks in the lower sequence have
lower Ti and Zr contents than but similar ɛNd(t) values
(+ 7.5 to + 6.5) to those of the WMO lavas and show
variable enrichment in subduction-enriched incompati-
ble elements. The more felsic volcanics in the upper
sequence have low Ti and ɛNd(t) values (+ 6.5 to + 3.0)
and large variations in their Ba, K and Pb contents,
suggesting that the mantle source of these rocks was
variably enriched in Th by melts derived from
subducted sediments. The occurrence of boninitic
lavas higher up in this sequence also indicates that the
late-stage magmas of the EMO were produced from
partial melting of highly depleted mantle.
The authors argue that this lateral (from west to east)
and vertical transition from MORB to SSZ magmatism
in the Mirdita ophiolite was a result of an eastward shift
in the protoarc–forearc magmatism, keeping pace with
slab rollback in this direction. The Mirdita and other
western Hellenic ophiolites (i.e., Pindos, Vourinos,
Othris) formed during the closing stages of a marginal
basin (Pindos basin), which had evolved between the
Apulian and Pelagonian subcontinents within the
Tethyan realm.
The occurrence of Jurassic island arc volcanism in a
different Tethyan domain in the Balkan Peninsula,
currently exposed in the eastern Rhodope of Bulgaria, is
documented by Bonev and Stampfli in the next paper.
Mafic extrusive rocks and the associated greenschist
rocks are found in a mélange-like, low-grade Mesozoic
unit in the eastern Rhodope and SW Trace (Greece) and
define an early-Middle Jurassic island arc system that
developed as part of the Vardar basin to the south of
the SerboMacedonian-Rhodope continental fragment.
The island arc rocks are composed of low-Ti tholeiitic
basalts and boninitic-like calc-alkaline volcanics (basal-
tic andesites and andesites) and metamorphosed pyro-
clastic rocks. These rocks are intruded by dioritic dikes
showing a boninitic affinity. Mafic lavas and pyroclastic
rocks show LILE enrichment, flat REE patterns with a
slight LREE depletion, negative Nb anomalies and
positive ɛNd(i) values ranging from + 4.87 to + 6.09.
These geochemical features suggest a depleted MORB-
like mantle source, which was modified by subduction-
derived LILE-enriched components. Late-stage dioritic
dikes have lower ɛNd(i) values (− 2.61) and are slightly
more Pb radiogenic, suggesting the involvement of
crustal contamination and/or recycled sediments in their
magma genesis.
This MORB to IAT to boninitic evolution of the
Jurassic eastern Rhodope mafic assemblages is analo-
gous to the geochemical evolution of the Mirdita
ophiolite in Albania and appears to be a common
tectonomagmatic pattern of incipient island arc devel-
opment in the Tethyan domains (Ishikawa et al., 2002;
Arai et al., 2006; Dilek et al., 2007). The authors suggest
that the Jurassic island arc magmatism in eastern
Rhodope was a result of the southward subduction of
the Meliata–Maliac ocean floor that led to the opening
of the Vardar back-arc basin by the Late Jurassic.
The Jurassic Othris ophiolite in Greece is part of the
Western Hellenide ophiolite belt, occurring west of the
Pelagonian subcontinent. Barth et al. report on the
geochemistry and petrogenesis of upper mantle perido-
tites in the Othris ophiolite. The peridotite samples
collected from the western part of the ophiolite (Fournos
Kaïtsa and western Katáchloron sub-massifs) are
compositionally similar to high-Ti basalts and basaltic
andesites of the Agoriani mélange in the northwestern
part of Othris and indicate a MORB-type mantle source.
These samples also show close resemblance to the
intermediate-Ti basalts found in the same mélange that
have geochemical characteristics between typical low-Ti
island arc tholeiites and high-Ti MORB. The authors
suggest that these peridotites likely experienced initial
melting in the garnet stability field followed by
moderate degrees of anhydrous near-fractional melting
in the spinel stability field beneath a mid-ocean ridge
spreading axis. The plagioclase peridotites here were the
products of impregnation of harzburgites with a
fractionating, MORB-type melt. The peridotite samples
from the Metalleio, Eretria, and western Katáchloron
sub-massifs in Othris are highly depleted and have
significantly low concentrations of Al2O3 and HREE,
 Editorial
and are compositionally similar to the very low-Ti
basaltic andesites and andesites found in the Agoriani
mélange and to the boninitic lavas in the Agrilia
Formation in the southern part of the Othris ophiolite.
These peridotites have enriched LREE contents and
represent residual upper mantle rocks that underwent in
the presence of slab-derived fluids hydrous melting of
mantle sources that had previously experienced extrac-
tion of MORB-type melts.
These observations and interpretations suggest that
MORB-type magmatism was followed closely in time
by SSZ-type magmatism. This mantle evolution of the
Jurassic Othris ophiolite is similar to that of the
Cretaceous Oman ophiolite, as recently documented
by Arai et al. (2006) based on the chromian spinel
geochemistry of its upper mantle peridotites. Barth et al.
proposed that this spatially and temporally close
association of the inferred MORB and SSZ magmatism
recorded in the Othris ophiolite may be explained by
intra-oceanic thrusting and forced subduction initiation
at or near a mid-ocean ridge. The implication of this
model is that there seems to be an evolutionary path
from MORB to IAT to boninitic magmatism through a
very short time period above a west-dipping subduction
zone during the development of the Othris ophiolite.
This pattern is consistent with the coeval Mirdita
ophiolite in the same belt farther north.
Pagé et al. discuss the mantle petrology and
mineralogy of the Early Ordovician (∼ 480 Ma) Thet-
ford Mines ophiolite in the southern Québec Appala-
chians (Canada) and present a petrogenetic model for its
evolution in a forearc tectonic setting. The mantle
sequence in the Thetford Mines ophiolite consists
mainly of foliated harzburgite (V 5–6% cpx) cut by
dunitic (± chromitite cores) and orthopyroxenitic veins
and dikes, and are subdivided into two sections based on
differences in the mineral chemistry, textures, and
structural fabrics. The eastern section, Duck Lake
Block (DLB), has peridotites with secondary granular
textures and two sets of high-T °C ductile foliations: an
earlier foliation sub-perpendicular to the Moho but
subparallel to the sheeted dike orientation, and an
overprinting younger foliation subparallel to the Moho.
The earlier foliation represents asthenospheric flow
associated with upwelling beneath a spreading axis,
whereas the younger foliation is a high-T °C lithospher-
ic fabric (crust–mantle shear) associated with seafloor
spreading. The DLB mantle rocks may have experi-
enced ∼ 27–38% partial melting and have interacted
with an impregnating melt through both channeled and
diffuse porous flow that was facilitated by the vertical
fabric.
9
The western mantle section, the Caribou Mountain
Block (CMB), contains mainly porphyroclastic harzbur-
gites with a strong mylonitic foliation that is oriented
parallel to the spreading-related extensional faults in the
crust. These harzburgites include pods of dunite and
chromitite and orthopyroxenite veins, indicating re-
equilibration with magma percolating through channeled
flow that was facilitated by the subhorizontal lithospher-
ic fabric. The existence in the mantle rocks of olivine and
pyroxenes with high Mg #s and spinel and pyroxenes
with high Cr #s suggests extensive partial melting, which
was responsible for the production of boninitic magmas
that generated the lavas and cumulate rocks in the
Thetford Mines ophiolite. The authors suggest that the
magmatic evolution of the ophiolite occurred in an
extended forearc setting of a subduction zone, which was
dipping eastward (in the present coordinate system) and
away from the Laurentian continental margin.
The origin and tectonic evolution of Archean
greenstone belts are subject to debate partly because it
is often difficult to establish primary igneous features
and geochemical affinities of these highly deformed and
metamorphosed rocks, but also because whether the
modern plate tectonics operated in the Archean to
produce oceanic crust and ophiolites is still hotly
contested (Hamilton, 1998, 2003; Stern, 2005; Cawood
et al., 2006; Ernst, 2007b). Polat et al. report on the
geochemical makeup and origin of Mesoarchean mafic–
ultramafic rocks in the Ivisaartoq greenstone belt
(∼ 3075 Ma) in SW Greenland and suggest that these
rocks collectively represent a remnant of a dismembered
Mesoarchean SSZ ophiolite. The oceanic rocks include
pillow basalts and ultramafic lavas, gabbros, minor
diorites and serpentinized peridotites, spatially associ-
ated with sulfide-rich siliceous volcaniclastic sedimen-
tary rocks. The large ɛNd(i) values (+ 2 to + 6) of the
crustal rocks suggest a long-term LREE-depleted mantle
source(s) (i.e. the source of modern N-MORB) for the
Mesoarchean Ivisaartoq ophiolite. However, the LREE-
enriched and Nb-depleted (relative to Th and La) trace
element patterns of the majority of these rocks are
consistent with a subduction zone origin of their
magmas. Therefore, the authors propose that the
Mesoarchean Ivisaartoq ophiolite may have had a
tectonic evolution similar to that of its Phanerozoic
counterparts. Following the initiation of an intra-oceanic
subduction zone, an N-MORB-like sub-oceanic deplet-
ed mantle source was emplaced in a sub-arc mantle
wedge position, where it was metasomatized by slab-
derived hydrous fluids and melts. Extensive partial
melting of this subduction-modified mantle at shallow
depths beneath the forearc region was responsible for
10
the production of LREE-enriched and HFSE-depleted
magmas. The inferred subduction zone origin of the
Ivisaartoq greenstone belt implies that modern plate
tectonics did operate in the Mesoarchean, and perhaps
even earlier (Polat et al., 2002; Furnes et al., 2007).
The emplacement of oceanic lithosphere onto conti-
nental margins to form ophiolites is a first-order tectonic
problem and is inherently related to the tectonic setting
of oceanic crust formation and the relative motions of the
bounding continents (see Wakabayashi and Dilek, 2003
for an overview and other relevant references). Tethyan-
type ophiolites tectonically resting on the passive margin
sequences of microcontinents are underlain by thin
slivers (∼ few 100 m) of high-grade rocks forming
metamorphic soles. These soles contain thrust sheets of
highly-strained (locally mylonitic) metabasic and meta-
pelitic rocks, whose pressure-temperature conditions of
metamorphism are consistent with high-T °C metamor-
phism beneath sub-ophiolitic mantle. Typical soles show
inverted metamorphic field gradients and an inverted
ocean crustal sequence such that the high-grade
components transition downwards from metagabbros
to metabasalts to metamorphosed pelagic sedimentary
rocks (Jamieson, 1986; Hacker and Mosenfelder, 1996).
Although widely accepted models suggest that high-
grade metamorphism and the sole formation occur at the
inception of subduction (Williams and Smyth, 1973;
Nicolas and LePichon, 1980; Spray, 1984; Jamieson,
1986; Hacker, 1991; Searle and Cox, 2002), where and
how this subduction starts and whether this inferred
subduction may have been related to the igneous
evolution of ophiolites remain controversial questions
(see the recent debate on the Semail ophiolite of Oman
by Boudier and Nicolas 2007; Warren et al., 2007). How
these metamorphic soles were eventually exhumed to the
surface from depths of ∼ 25 km (∼ 8 kbar) in a
subduction zone (as inferred from the P-T conditions of
the formation of amphibolites, Warren et al., 2007) also
remains an unresolved problem. Therefore, systematic
studies of metamorphic soles beneath ophiolites provide
important constraints on the emplacement tectonics of
ancient oceanic crust into continental margins.
Elitok and Drüppel report on the geochemistry of
metamorphic sole rocks beneath a Tethyan ophiolite in
SW Turkey and propose a tectonic model for the
formation of its sole. The Cretaceous Beysehir–Hoyran
ophiolite tectonically overlying the Anamas–Akseki
carbonate platform of the Tauride belt is underlain by a
∼ 150 m-thick metamorphic sole, which includes from
top to the bottom pyroxene amphibolite, amphibolite,
epidote amphibolite, calcschist and quartzite, showing
an inverted metamorphic field gradient. The authors
Editorial
estimate the average P-T conditions of metamorphism of
the amphibolites at 630–770 °C and 6 ± 1.5 kbar,
corresponding to a burial depth of 18–20 km in a
subduction zone. The geochemical signatures of the sub-
ophiolitic amphibolites indicate two dominant groups of
protoliths, within-plate alkaline basalts and tholeiitic
island arc basalts. Isolated diabasic dike swarms,
intruding both the metamorphic sole rocks and the
overlying upper mantle peridotites, show trace element
patterns indicating that dike magmas were derived from
partial melting of a variously enriched and subduction-
metasomatized, heterogeneous mantle source(s). Some
dike rocks occur as blocks in the sub-ophiolitic mélange
beneath the sole, but there are no dikes observed to occur
as intrusions in the mélange. These dikes are common in
the entire Tauride ophiolite belt and are interpreted to
have intruded before the emplacement of the ophiolites
onto the northern edge of the Tauride carbonate platform
(Dilek et al., 1999). The magma source for these dikes
may have been below the Benioff zone and from an
asthenospheric window through the subducted slab
(artifact of slab breakoff). The tectonic model presented
in the paper provides additional constraints on the
emplacement direction and kinematics of the Tauride
ophiolites and on the protoliths of the sole rocks.
Acknowledgements
We thank our colleagues and members of the
international scientific community for their help with
timely and thorough reviews of the papers in this issue.
We extend our sincere thanks and gratitude to Patricia
Massar, Joanna Aldred, and Tim Horscroft in the Earth
Sciences Department of Elsevier Science B.V. for their
help and diligent work during the preparation and
production of the Special Issue. We also thank the
Editor-in-Chief, Professor Steve Foley, for his invitation
to produce this special issue and for his help with the
editorial handling of the processed papers.
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 Editorial 13

Yumul Jr., G.P., 2007. Westward younging disposition of Philippine Richard Ernst
ophiolites and its implication for arc evolution. Island Arc 16, Ernst Geosciences, 43 Margrave Avenue, Ottawa, ON,
306–317.
Canada K1T 3Y2
Department of Earth Sciences, Carleton University,
Yildirim Dilek
Ottawa, ON, Canada K1S 5B6
Department of Geology, Miami University, Oxford,
E-mail address: Richard.Ernst@ErnstGeosciences.com.
OH 45056, USA
E-mail address: dileky@muohio.edu.
Corresponding author.