Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sub-Volcanic Intrusions and the Link to Global Climatic and Environmental Changes

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Physical Geology of Shallow Magmatic Systems

Part of the book series: Advances in Volcanology ((VOLCAN))

Abstract

Most of the Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) formed during the last 260 million years are associated with climatic changes , oceanic anoxia , or extinctions in marine and terrestrial environments. Current hypotheses involve (1) degassing of carbon from either oceans or shallow sea-bed reservoirs, (2) degassing from flood basalts , or from (3) sedimentary basins heavily intruded by LIP-related sills. These hypotheses are based on detailed geological and geochemical studies from LIPSs or relevant proxy data sequences. Here we present new data on gas generation and degassing from a LIP, based on the LA1/68 borehole north of the Ladybrand area in the Karoo Basin , South Africa. The borehole was drilled in the middle of a phreatic breccia pipe and penetrated 11 sills before reaching the basement at 1710 m depth. We present new data on the lowermost 15 m thick sill emplaced in shale, and on the breccia comprising the uppermost 154 m of the core. We show that (1) a reduction in organic matter within a contact aureole can be explained by heating and the formation of CH4, (2) a phreatic eruption and breccia formation was initiated from pore fluid boiling around sills emplaced in Beaufort Group sandstones at 420–570 m depth, (3) the phreatic eruption cut through a cover of solidified and partly molten lava flows that subsequently filled the crater, and (4) the pipe has been used as a fluid flow pathway for millions of years, demonstrated by fossil and active oil seeps. We conclude that the sub-volcanic LIP environment hold the key to understand the relationships between large scale volcanism and rapid environmental perturbations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aarnes I, Fristad K, Planke S, Svensen H (2011a) The impact of host-rock composition on devolatilization of sedimentary rocks during contact metamorphism around mafic sheet intrusions. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 12(10)

    Google Scholar 

  • Aarnes I, Podladchikov Y, Svensen H (2012) Devolatilization-induced pressure build-up: implications for reaction front movement and breccia pipe formation. Geofluids 12(4):265–279

    Google Scholar 

  • Aarnes I, Svensen H, Connolly JAD, Podladchikov YY (2010) How contact metamorphism can trigger global climate changes: modeling gas generation around igneous sills in sedimentary basins. Geochim Et Cosmochim Acta 74(24):7179–7195

    Google Scholar 

  • Aarnes I, Svensen H, Polteau S, Planke S (2011b) Contact metamorphic devolatilization of shales in the Karoo Basin, South Africa, and the effects of multiple sill intrusions. Chem Geol 281(3–4):181–194

    Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong MKDI, Tyrrell T, Wilson PA, Foster GL (2014) Estimating the impact of the cryptic degassing of large igneous provinces: a mid-Miocene case-study. Earth Planet Sci Lett 403:254–262

    Google Scholar 

  • Arneth JD, Matzigkeit U (1986) Laboratory-simulated thermal maturation of different types of sediments from the Williston Basin, North America–effects on the production rates, the isotopic and organo-geochemical composition of various pyrolysis products. Chem Geol Isot Geosci Sect 58(4):339–360

    Google Scholar 

  • Beerling DJ, Harfoot M, Lomax B, Pyle JA (2007) The stability of the stratospheric ozone layer during the end-Permain eruption of the Siberian Traps. Philos Trans R Soc Math Phys Eng Sci 365:1843–1866

    Google Scholar 

  • Berner RA (2002) Examination of hypotheses for the Permo-Triassic boundary extinction by carbon cycle modeling. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99(7):4172–4177

    Google Scholar 

  • Bond DPG, Wignall PB (2014) Large igneous provinces and mass extinctions: an update. Geol Soc Am Spec Pap 505:29–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Bristow JW, Saggerson EP (1983) A review of Karoo vulcanicity in Southern Africa. Bull Volcanologique 46(2):135–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Caldeira K, Rampino MR (1990) Carbon dioxide emissions from Deccan volcanism and a K/T boundary greenhouse effect. Geophys Res Lett 17:1299–1302

    Google Scholar 

  • Catuneanu O, Hancox PJ, Rubidge BS (1998) Reciprocal flexural behaviour and contrasting stratigraphies: a new basin development model for the Karoo retroarc foreland system, South Africa. Basin Res 10(4):417–439

    Google Scholar 

  • Catuneanu O, Wopfner H, Eriksson PG, Cairncross B, Rubidge BS, Smith RMH, Hancox PJ (2005) The Karoo basins of south-central Africa. J Afr Earth Sci 43(1–3):211–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Chevallier L, Woodford A (1999) Morpho-tectonics and mechanism of emplacement of the dolerite rings and sills of the western Karoo, South Africa. S Afr J Geol 102(1):43–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen AS, Coe AL, Kemp DB (2007) The late Palaeocene-Early Eocene and Toarcian (Early Jurassic) carbon isotope excursions: a comparison of their time scales, associated environmental changes, causes and consequences. J Geol Soc 164:1093–1108

    Google Scholar 

  • Courtillot VE, Renne PR (2003) On the ages of flood basalt events. CR Geosci 335(1):113–140

    Google Scholar 

  • de Oliveira DPS, Cawthorn RG (1999) Dolerite intrusion morphology at Majuba Colliery, northeast Karoo Basin, Republic of South Africa. Int J Coal Geol 41(4):333–349

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickens GR, Castillo MM, Walker JCG (1997) A blast of gas in the latest Paleocene: simulating first-order effects of massive dissociation on oceanic methane hydrate. Geology 25(3):259–262

    Google Scholar 

  • Dingle RV, Siesser WG, Newton AR (1983) Mesozoic and tertiary geology of Southern Africa, Rotterdam, Balkema, 375 p

    Google Scholar 

  • du Toit AI (1920) The Karoo dolerites of South Africa: a study in hypabyssal injection. Trans Geol Soc S Afr 23:1–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Duncan AR, Marsh JS (2006) The karoo igneous province. In: Johnson MR, Anhaeusser CR, RJ T (eds) The geology of South Africa, geological society of South Africa, Johannesburg/Council for Geoscience, Pretoria, pp 501–519

    Google Scholar 

  • Eales HV, Marsh JS, Cox KG (1984) The Karoo igneous province: an introduction. In: Erlank AJ (ed) Petrogenesis of the volcanic rocks of the Karoo Province, vol 13. Geological Society Special Publication of South Africa, pp 1–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Galerne CY, Neumann ER, Planke S (2008) Emplacement mechanisms of sill complexes: information from the geochemical architecture of the Golden Valley Sill Complex, South Africa. J Volcanol Geoth Res 177(2):425–440

    Google Scholar 

  • Ganino C, Arndt NT (2009) Climate changes caused by degassing of sediments during the emplacement of large igneous provinces. Geology 37(4):323–326

    Google Scholar 

  • Gevers TW (1928) The volcanic vents of the Western Stormberg. Trans Geol Soc S Afr 31:43–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Grab S, Svensen H (2011) Rock doughnut and pothole structures of the Clarens Fm. Sandstone in the Karoo Basin, South Africa: Possible links to Lower Jurassic fluid seepage. Geomorphology 131(1–2):14–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Gröcke DR, Rimmer SM, Yoksoulian LE, Cairncross B, Tsikos H, van Hunen J (2009) No evidence for thermogenic methane release in coal from the Karoo-Ferrar large igneous province. Earth Planet Sci Lett 277(1–2):204–212

    Google Scholar 

  • Hesselbo SP, Grocke DR, Jenkyns HC, Bjerrum CJ, Farrimond P, Bell HSM, Green OR (2000) Massive dissociation of gas hydrate during a Jurassic oceanic anoxic event. Nature 406(6794):392–395

    Google Scholar 

  • Jamtveit B, Svensen H, Podladchikov Y, Planke S (2004) Hydrothermal vent complexes associated with sill intrusions in sedimentary basins. Phys Geol High-level Magmatic Syst 234:233–241

    Google Scholar 

  • Jourdan F, Feraud G, Bertrand H, Kampunzu AB, Tshoso G, Watkeys MK, Le Gall B (2005) Karoo large igneous province: brevity, origin, and relation to mass extinction questioned by new Ar-40/Ar-39 age data. Geology 33(9):745–748

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemp DB, Coe AL, Cohen AS, Schwark L (2005) Astronomical pacing of methane release in the Early Jurassic period. Nature 437(7057):396–399

    Google Scholar 

  • Lock BE, Robey JA, Svensen H, Planke S, Jamtveit B, Chevallier L (2007) Discussion on structure and evolution of hydrothermal vent complexes in the Karoo Basin, South Africa—Journal, Vol. 163, 2006, 671–682. J Geol Soc 164:477–479

    Google Scholar 

  • Malthe-Sørenssen A, Planke S, Svensen H, Jamtveit B (2004) Formation of saucer-shaped sills. In: Breitkreuz C, Petford N (eds) Physical geology of high-level magmatic systems, vol 234., Geological societyLondon, Special Publications, pp 215–227

    Google Scholar 

  • Marsh JS, Eales HV (1984) The chemistry and petrogenesis of igneous rocks of the Karoo central area, Southern Africa. Spec Publ Geol Soc S Afr 13:27–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Marsh JS, Hooper PR, Rehacek J, Duncan AR and Duncan RA (1997) Stratigraphy and age of Karoo basalts of Lesotho and implications for correlations within the Karoo igneous province. In: Mahoney JJ and Coffin MF (eds) Large igneous provinces: continental, oceanic and planetary flood volcanism. Geophysical Monograph 100, pp 347–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Mazzini A, Svensen H, Leanza HA, Corfu F, Planke S (2010) Early Jurassic shale chemostratigraphy and U-Pb ages from the Neuquén Basin (Argentina): implications for the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic event. Earth Planet Sci Lett 297(3–4):633–645

    Google Scholar 

  • McClintock M, White JDL, Houghton BF, Skilling IP (2008) Physical volcanology of a large crater-complex formed during the initial stages of Karoo flood basalt volcanism, Sterkspruit, Eastern Cape, South Africa. J Volcanol Geoth Res 172(1–2):93–111

    Google Scholar 

  • McElwain JC, Wade-Murphy J, Hesselbo SP (2005) Changes in carbon dioxide during an oceanic anoxic event linked to intrusion into Gondwana coals. Nature 435(7041):479–482

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyers PA, Simoneit BRT (1999) Effects of extreme heating on the elemental and isotopic compositions of an upper Cretaceous coal. Org Geochem 30(5):299–305

    Google Scholar 

  • Mills SR, Fourie ET (1976) A review of the heat effects of dolerite intrusions on oil accumulations in the Middle Ecca of the Northern Karoo

    Google Scholar 

  • Neumann ER, Svensen H, Galerne CY, Planke S (2011) multistage evolution of dolerites in the karoo large igneous province, Central South Africa. J Petrol 52(5):959–984

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters EK, Rohrback BG, Kaplan IR (1981) Carbon and hydrogen stable isotope variations in kerogen during laboratory-simulated thermal maturation. AAPG Bull 65:501–508

    Google Scholar 

  • Polteau S, Mazzini A, Galland O, Planke S, Malthe-Sorenssen A (2008a) Saucer-shaped intrusions: Occurrences, emplacement and implications. Earth Planet Sci Lett 261:195–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Polteau S, Ferre EC, Planke S, Neumann ER, Chevallier L (2008b) How are saucer-shaped sills emplaced? constraints from the Golden Valley Sill, South Africa. J Geophys Res Solid Earth 113(B12)

    Google Scholar 

  • Retallack G, Jahren AH (2008) Methane release from igneous intrusion of coal during late permian extinction events. J Geol 116(1):1–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson SH (1979) Chemical variation produced by flow differentiation in an extensive Karroo dolerite sheet, southern Namibia. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 43:1433–1441

    Google Scholar 

  • Roscher M, Stordal F, Svensen H (2011) The effect of global warming and global cooling on the distribution of the latest Permian climate zones. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 309(3–4):186–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Roux HJ (1972) Geological well completion report of LA1/68

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowsell DM, De Swardt AMJ (1976) Diagenesis in Cape and Karoo sediments, South Africa and its bearing on their hydrocarbon potential. Trans Geol Soc S Afr 79:81–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruhl M, Kürschner WM (2011) Multiple phases of carbon cycle disturbance from large igneous province formation at the Triassic-Jurassic transition. Geology 39(5):431–434

    Google Scholar 

  • Senger K, Planke S, Polteau S, Ogata K, Svensen H (2014) Sill emplacement and contact metamorphism in a siliciclastic reservoir on Svalbard, Arctic Norway. Norw J Geol 94(2–3):155–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Stothers RB (1993) Flood basalts and extinction events. Geophys Res Lett 20(13):1399–1402

    Google Scholar 

  • Svensen H, Bebout G, Kronz A, Li L, Planke S, Chevallier L, Jamtveit B (2008) Nitrogen geochemistry as a tracer of fluid flow in a hydrothermal vent complex in the Karoo Basin, South Africa. Geochim Et Cosmochim Acta 72(20):4929–4947

    Google Scholar 

  • Svensen H, Corfu F, Polteau S, Hammer O, Planke S (2012) Rapid magma emplacement in the karoo large igneous province. Earth Planet Sci Lett 325:1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Svensen H, Jamtveit B (2010) Metamorphic fluids and global environmental changes. Elements 6(3):179–182

    Google Scholar 

  • Svensen H, Jamtveit B, Planke S, Chevallier L (2006) Structure and evolution of hydrothermal vent complexes in the Karoo Basin, South Africa. J Geol Soc 163:671–682

    Google Scholar 

  • Svensen H, Planke S, Chevallier L, Malthe-Sorenssen A, Corfu F, Jamtveit B (2007) Hydrothermal venting of greenhouse gases triggering Early Jurassic global warming. Earth Planet Sci Lett 256(3–4):554–566

    Google Scholar 

  • Svensen H, Planke S, Corfu F (2010) Zircon dating ties NE Atlantic sill emplacement to initial Eocene global warming. J Geol Soc 167(3):433–436

    Google Scholar 

  • Svensen H, Planke S, Malthe-Sorenssen A, Jamtveit B, Myklebust R, Rasmussen Eidem T, Rey SS (2004) Release of methane from a volcanic basin as a mechanism for initial Eocene global warming. Nature 429(6991):542–545

    Google Scholar 

  • Svensen H, Planke S, Polozov AG, Schmidbauer N, Corfu F, Podladchikov YY, Jamtveit B (2009a) Siberian gas venting and the end-Permian environmental crisis. Earth Planet Sci Lett 277(3–4):490–500

    Google Scholar 

  • Svensen H, Schmidbauer N, Roscher M, Stordal F, Planke S (2009b) Contact metamorphism, halocarbons, and environmental crises of the past. Environ Chem 6:466–471

    Google Scholar 

  • Tankard A, Welsink H, Aukes P, Newton R, Stettler E (2009) Tectonic evolution of the Cape and Karoo basins of South Africa. Mar Pet Geol 26(8):1379–1412

    Google Scholar 

  • van de Schootbrugge B, Quan TM, Lindstrom S, Puttmann W, Heunisch C, Pross J, Fiebig J, Petschick R, Rohling HG, Richoz S, Rosenthal Y, Falkowski PG (2009) Floral changes across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary linked to flood basalt volcanism. Nat Geosci 2(8):589–594

    Google Scholar 

  • Wignall PB (2001) Large igneous provinces and mass extinctions. Earth Sci Rev 53(1–2):1–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodford AC, Chevallier L (2002) Hydrogeology of the main Karoo Basin: current knowledge and research needs: pretoria. South Africa, Water Research Commission Report, p 310

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge support from the Norwegian Research Council (grant to H.H. Svensen and a Centre of Excellence grant to CEED, grant number 223272). We also would like to thank Council of Geoscience and the National Core Library in Pretoria for providing borehole material and logs from LA1/68, and to Doug Cole for discussions about Karoo geology.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED), University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Henrik H. Svensen, Sverre Planke & Else-Ragnhild Neumann

  2. Volcanic Basin Petroleum Research (VBPR), Oslo Innovation Centre, Oslo, Norway

    Sverre Planke & Stéphane Polteau

  3. Roxar Software Solutions, AS, Oslo, Norway

    Ingrid Aarnes

  4. Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

    Julian S. Marsh

  5. AGR Petroleum Services, Oslo, Norway

    Camilla H. Harstad

  6. Council for Geoscience, Bellville, South Africa

    Luc Chevallier

Authors
  1. Henrik H. Svensen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sverre Planke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Else-Ragnhild Neumann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ingrid Aarnes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Julian S. Marsh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Stéphane Polteau
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Camilla H. Harstad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Luc Chevallier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Henrik H. Svensen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Freiberg University of Mining and Technology, Freiberg, Germany

    Christoph Breitkreuz

  2. Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Sergio Rocchi

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Svensen, H.H. et al. (2015). Sub-Volcanic Intrusions and the Link to Global Climatic and Environmental Changes. In: Breitkreuz, C., Rocchi, S. (eds) Physical Geology of Shallow Magmatic Systems. Advances in Volcanology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/11157_2015_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation