The initial isotopic compositions of Nd and Sr in basalts from the Central Siberian Plateau and other major continental flood basalts are reported. The continental flood basalts appear to be the product of partial melting of mantle sources that consist of relatively primitive undifferentiated material and are clearly distinct from midocean ridge basalts, which sample mantle reservoirs that have...

The five major mass extinctions identified in 1982 by Raup and Sepkoski have expanded to six, with the suggestion that the Permian-Triassic extinction was a double event. Is there a general explanation for great mass extinctions, or can they result from different triggers, or even from internal system instabilities? The two most-discussed candidates for a general extinction mechanism are impact...

Small-scale continental flood basalts are a global phenomenon characterized by regular spatio-temporal distributions. However, no genetic mechanism has been proposed to explain the visible but overlooked distribution patterns of these continental basaltic volcanism. Here we present a case study from eastern China, combining major and trace element analyses with Ar-Ar and K-Ar dating to show tha...

The composition of the silicate portion of Martian regolith fines indicates derivation of the fines from mafic to ultramafic igneous rocks, probably rich in pyroxene. Rock types similar in chemical and mineralogical composition include terrestrial Archean basalts and certain achondrite meteorites. If these igneous rocks weathered nearly isochemically, the nontronitic clays proposed earlier as a...

The origin of continental flood basalts has been debated for decades. These eruptions often produce millions of cubic kilometers of basalt on timescales of only a million years. Although flood basalts are found in a variety of settings, no locale is more puzzling than cratonic areas such as southern Africa or the Siberian craton, where strong, thick lithosphere is breached by these large basalt...

Continental flood basalt eruptions have resulted in sudden and massive accumulations of basaltic lavas in excess of any contemporary volcanic processes. The largest flood basalt events mark the earliest volcanic activity of many major hot spots, which are thought to result from deep mantle plumes. The relative volumes of melt and eruption rates of flood basalts and hot spots as well as their te...

techniques and fractionation correcting to a 194Pt/ 95pt ratio of 0.9734 (38). 33. E. Anders and N. Grevesse, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 53, 197(1989). 34. M. P. Gorton, E. S. Schandl, A. J. Naldrett, Ocean Drilling Project Scientific Results, Leg 140, in press. 35. R. J. Walker et al., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 58, 4179 (1994); M. F. Horan, R. J. Walker, V. A. Fedorenko, G. K. Czamanske, ibid., i...

Stratigraphic data and ^Ar-39Ar ages for the Early Cretaceous ParaniEtendeka flood basalts indicate that the main magmatic episode lasted for several m.y. (129-134 Ma) and was linked to the northward opening of the South Atlantic Ocean, but with some earlier magmatism (135-138 Ma) found inland far from the eventual oceanic rift. The regional distribution of distinct high-TiN (Urubici, Pitanga, ...

Abstmct: Island arc lavas from New Britain and the Marianas have 143 Nd/144 Nd similar to other oceanic basalts and distinctly different from continental flood basalts and thus appear to be derived from a high Sm/Nd, light-REE-depleted reservoir. Consideration of both Nd and Sr isotopes suggests seawater involvement in the generation of some island arc lavas and thus indicates that they may be ...

Continental flood basalts and mid-ocean ridge (MOR) tholeiitic basalts have distinctly different 14 3 Ndf1 44 Nd which may permit a priori distinctwn between '"continental" and "oceanic" igneous rocks. Initial 14 3 NdJI 4 4 Nd of continental igneous rocks through time fall on a Sm/Nd evolution curve with chondritic REE abundance ratio. These observations indicate that many continental igneous r...