Cenozoic magmatism in SE Asia

Colin Macpherson, Heather Handley, Chris Dale & Robert Hall

Aims
To improve our understanding of the timing and nature of magmatism and magmatic rocks in SE Asia in order to provide new constraints on their relationship to petroleum and mineral resources.

Background
Volcanoes are among the most conspicuous geological phenomena in SE Asia and most major islands in the region have experienced Cenozoic magmatism. Magmatic rocks provide information regarding the age and nature of tectonic activity with which they are associated. For example, the mantle will melt as it upwells beneath an extensional basin so the distribution and chemistry of magma erupted into the basin depends on the locus and amount of lithospheric stretching. Subduction and collision processes also generate distinctive magmas which record the sediment supply to subduction zones and the loss of arc lithospheric roots.

Recent Papers –

Max Webb et al., 2020. Isotopic mapping reveals the location of crustal fragments along a long-lived convergent plate boundary. Lithos.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2020.105687

Max Webb et al., 2020. The history of Cenozoic magmatism and collision in NW New Guinea – New insights into the tectonic evolution of the northernmost margin of the Australian Plate. Gondwana Research.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2019.12.010

Amy Gough et al., 2020. Mid-Cenozoic fluvio-deltaic to marine environments of the Salin Sub-basin, Central Myanmar. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2019.104143

Recent News –

Amy Gough and Max Webb attended the Restech 2.0 Virtual Reservoir Conference. Amy Gough presented new SEARG research on the pitfalls of light mineral studies for sedimentary provenance in tropical climates.

Amy Gough was awarded an honorary research fellowship of the British Geological Survey and continues to foster collaborative relationships between SEARG and the BGS.