Tectonic Generation of Pseudotachylytes and Volcanic Rocks: Deep-Seated Magma Sources of Crust-Mantle Transition in the Baikal Rift System, Southern Siberia

Research reveals that the tectonic generation of volcanic rocks in the Kamar-Stanovoy Zone of Hot Transtension (KSZHT) within the Baikal Rift System (BRS) stems from deep-seated crust-mantle transition (CMT) magmatic sources, distinct from ocean island basalts. These findings, based on geochemical data and seismic tomography models, suggest that the KSZHT magmas formed between 18.1 and 11.7 million years ago due to delamination of a thickened root part of the South Baikal Orogen, a process linked to present-day seismogenic deformations in the region. Similar CMT sources are also identified for melts erupted in the past 17 million years from adjacent areas, indicating cooperative tectonic effects in the Japan-Baikal Geodynamic Corridor and Indo-Asian interactional regions.

Rasskazov, S., Chuvashova, I., Yasnygina, T., Saranina, E., Gerasimov, N., Ailow, Y., & Sun, Y.-M. (2021). Tectonic Generation of Pseudotachylytes and Volcanic Rocks: Deep-Seated Magma Sources of Crust-Mantle Transition in the Baikal Rift System, Southern Siberia. Minerals, 11(5), 487. https://doi.org/10.3390/min11050487