Physicochemical conditions of crystallization of dunites of the Nizhnii Tagil Pt-bearing massif (Middle Urals)

Studies of primary multiphase silicate inclusions in accessory Cr-spinels from the fine-grained dunites of the Nizhnii Tagil Pt-bearing massif reveal their similarity to melt inclusions trapped by chromite during its growth. The analyzed Cr-spinels with multiphase silicate inclusions differ in composition from ore chromites of the same massif and from chromites (with melt inclusions) from ultramafic oceanic complexes but are similar to Cr-spinels in dunites from Pt-bearing alkaline ultramafic massifs (Konder and Inagli). According to petro- and geochemical data on heated multiphase silicate inclusions, the studied Cr-spinels crystallized with the participation of subalkalic picrobasaltic melts similar to the magmas of the Konder Pt-bearing massif and having almost the same chemical composition as tylaites. The differences between the compositions of olivines formed within the multiphase silicate inclusions and of the rock-forming minerals show that the studied Cr-spinels formed from an intercumulus liquid melt in the olivine crystal interstices during the cumulate crystallization of most of the Nizhnii Tagil massif dunites in the intrusive chamber. Numerical modeling based on the compositions of heated multiphase silicate inclusions in accessory Cr-spinels demonstrates that olivines and Cr-spinels from the studied dunites crystallized at 1430 to 1310 °C and then olivine formation continued to 1280 °C during the evolution of melts.     

Recycling of continental crust into the mantle as revealed by Kytlym dunite zircons, Ural Mts, Russia

The presence of zircons of crustal origin in the dunites of Kytlym, a subduction-related concentrically zoned dunite–clinopyroxenite–gabbro massif of the Urals Platinum-Bearing Belt, may provide the first direct evidence of the recycling of continental crust into the mantle. Zircons were part of subducted sediments that melted to produce silicic magmas with entrained restitic zircons. These melts induced partial melting in the overlying mantle, which later crystallized as the Kytlym massif. Zircons rapidly captured into early formed dunites were prevented from dissolving completely and underwent different degrees of recrystallization. A few crystals still record their original ages, which range from ∼410 Myr to ∼2800 Myr, thus revealing a different origin. The majority, however, recrystallized in the presence of a limited amount of melt and record the diapir formation, 350–370 Ma, which was coeval with the Uralian high-pressure metamorphism. Lastly, several grains record an age of ∼330 Myr, which is identical, within error, to the Rb–Sr age of the tilaitic gabbros, (337 ± 22 Myr), and may, therefore, represent the crystallization age of the last melts formed during the evolution of Kytlym.     

Mineralogical,geochemical, and age characteristics of the rocks of the Inagli dunite-clinopyroxenite-shonkinite massif with platinum-chromite and Cr-diopside mineralization (Aldan Shield)

We consider the mineralogical and geochemical features of the rocks of the Inagli dunite-clinopyroxenite-shonkinite massif with platinum-chromite and unique jewelry Cr-diopside mineralization, which is a reference object of concentric zonal complexes. The massif rocks, from dunites to pulaskites, including peridotites, clinopyroxenites, shonkinites, and melanocratic alkali syenites, form a single continuous comagmatic series. This is confirmed by a clear dependence of the compositions of olivine, pyroxene, phlogopites, and Cr-spinels on the MgO content of the rocks and on the behavior of trace elements in them. The similar compositions of pyroxenes and trace-element patterns of clinopyroxenite rocks and Cr-diopsidite veins indicate a genetic similarity of these rocks. The age and mineralogical and geochemical compositions of the rocks and the geologic and morphological features of the intrusion prove that the Inagli massif formed from high-K picritoid melts, which underwent gradual decompression solidification during the ascent and formed a cylindrical diapir-like body at the subsurface level in the Early Cretaceous. The new portions of differentiates supplied from the lower horizons of the magma column determined the complex composition of the massif: It has a concentric zonal structure cut by numerous radial-circular vein bodies of pegmatites and pure anchimonomineral rocks (Cr-diopsidites), in places, of jewelry quality.     

Crystallization conditions of dunites in the Konder platiniferous alkaline-ultramafic massif of the southeastern Aldan Shield

The investigation of melt inclusions in Cr spinels yielded direct information on the physicochemical parameters of the magmatic processes responsible for the formation of the Konder platiniferous alkaline-ultrabasic massif (southeastern Aldan Shield). The comparative analysis of the composition of the chromites containing the inclusions revealed that the Cr spinels from the Konder dunites differ significantly from their counterparts in the ultrabasic complexes of ophiolites and the modern oceanic crust. In terms of their composition and REE distribution, the clinopyroxene microcrystals from the Konder chromites are significantly different from the pyroxenes in the basic-ultrabasic ophiolite complexes of associations and identical to the minerals from the Kytlym platiniferous massif (the Urals). With respect to the distribution of the major components, the high-magnesian inclusions are identical to alkaline biotite-pyroxene picrites, testifying to the active participation of ultrabasic (picritic) alkaline magmatic systems in the formation of the dunites in the Konder Massif. The results of the ion probe investigation of the inclusions indicate a high water content (up to 0.54 wt %) in the melts. The data on the distribution of the rare and rare-earth elements in the inclusions suggest that the dunites of the Konder Massif crystallized with the involvement of water-saturated magmas at minimal temperatures of about 1230°C. Such temperatures are consistent with the earlier estimates for the melt inclusions in the olivine of the Konder Massif.     

The mineral chemistry and origin of xenoliths from the lavas of Anjouan,Comores Archipelago,Western Indian Ocean

Mineralogical data for xenoliths occurring as inclusions in the fissure erupted alkali basalts and the basanitic tuffs of Anjouan reveal three xenolith suites: 1) the lherzolites, 2) the dunites and wehrlites, 3) the gabbros and syenites. The dunite-wehrlite suite and the gabbro suite are shown to represent high-level cumulate sequences resulting from ankaramitic fractionation of the hy-normative shield-building lavas and cotecictic fractionation of the alkali basalt lavas respectively, whilst the syenitic xenoliths represent evolved high-level intrusions. Mineralogical and rare earth element (REE) data indicate that the most likely origin for the spinel lherzolite xenoliths is by extraction of a basaltic phase from spinel peridotite, leaving a light REE-poor spinel lherzolite residuum. REE models, constructed using model peridotite assemblages, imply that the hy-normative basalt lavas may be derived by partial melting of spinel peridotite at pressures of <20–25 kb leaving a residual lherzolite, and that the alkali basalt and basanite melts are formed by small degrees of melting of a garnet-peridotite source at pressures of >20–25 kb. The spinel lherzolite source for the hy-normative basalts has been accidentally sampled during explosive eruption of the alkali basalt and basanite magmas.     

The upper geochronological limit for dunites of the East Khabarny gabbro-ultramafic complex (South Urals) by the data of U-Pb age of zircons extracted from vein hornblendites

This paper discusses the results of U-Pb isotopic dating of zircons from hornblendites that cut dunites of the East Khabarny dunite-clinopyroxenite-websterite-gabbro complex in the South Urals. This complex is included into the structure of the large Khabarny mafic-ultramafic allochthon, and the set of rocks and their petrogeochemical peculiarities allow this complex to be compared with the Ural-Alaskan-type complexes. Zircons from hornblendites have been dated on a SHRIMP-II ion microprobe and by the classical thermo-ionization mass spectrometric method by five fractions. The obtained results are comparable between each other within the analysis deviation interval and show that hornblendites were formed in the Early Devonian (408–402 Ma). This age is the upper geochronological limit in estimation of the time when dunites of the East Khabarny complex were formed. The synchronity of intrusive hornblendite manifestation in most of the Urals in the Early Devonian is discussed. The probable Early Devonian stage, in addition to the found Vendian and Ordovician-Silurian ones when dunite-clinopyroxenite-gabbro complexes formed in the Urals, is suggested.     

REE and PGE Geochemical Constraints on the Formation of Dunites in the Luobusa Ophiolite, Southern Tibet

The Luobusa ophiolite, Southern Tibet, lies in the Indus–YarlungZangbo suture zone that separates Eurasia to the north fromthe Indian continent to the south. The ophiolite contains awell-preserved mantle sequence consisting of harzburgite, clinopyroxene(cpx)-bearing harzburgite and dunite. The harzburgite containsabundant pods of chromitite, most of which have dunite envelopes,and the cpx-bearing harzburgites host numerous dunite dykes.Dunite also exists as a massive unit similar to those of themantle–crust transition zones in other ophiolites. Allof the dunites in the ophiolite have a similar mineralogy, comprisingmainly olivine with minor orthopyroxene and chromite and tracesof clinopyroxene. They also display similar chemical compositions,including U-shaped chondrite-normalized REE patterns. Mantle-normalizedPGE patterns show variable negative Pt anomalies. Detailed analysisof a chromite-bearing dunite dyke, which grades into the hostcpx-bearing harzburgite, indicates that LREE and Ir decrease,whereas HREE, Pd and Pt increase away from the dunite. Thesefeatures are consistent with formation of the dunite dykes byinteraction of MORB peridotites with boninitic melts from whichthe chromitites were formed. Because the transition-zone dunitesare mineralogically and chemically identical to those formedby such melt–rock reaction, we infer that they are ofsimilar origin. The Luobusa ultramafic rocks originally formedas MORB-source upper mantle, which was subsequently trappedas part of a mantle wedge above a subduction zone. Hydrous meltsgenerated under the influence of the subducted slab at depthmigrated upward and reacted with the cpx-bearing harzburgitesto form the dunite dykes. The modified melts ponded in smallpockets higher in the section, where they produced podiformchromitites with dunite envelopes. At the top of the mantlesection, pervasive reaction between melts and harzburgite producedthe transition-zone dunites. KEY WORDS: melt–rock interaction; REE; PGE; hydrous melt; mantle; ophiolite; Tibet     

Infiltration of refractory melts into the lowermost oceanic crust: evidence from dunite- and gabbro-hosted clinopyroxenes in the Bay of Islands Ophiolite

Up to 3 km of dunitic rocks occur below crustal gabbro in the Blow Me Down massif (Bay of Islands Ophiolite, Newfoundland). Analyses of dunite- and gabbro-hosted clinopyroxene grains (cpx) for rare earth elements (REE), Zr, and Ti reveal three types of chondrite-normalized patterns: N-group patterns are similar to cpx grains as they would form by fractionation from a range of mid ocean ridge basalts (MORB). They are typical for a few higher level dunitic samples as well as mafic cumulates. F-group patterns show light REE depletion, very strong middle REE fractionation and a positive Zr anomaly and occur in dunites only. R-group patterns are severely depleted in both light and heavy REEs relative to MORB-like cpx and two samples of the group display a positive Ti anomaly. They are also restricted to dunitic rocks. The patterns are explained in a two stage model in which an established dunite sequence, dominated by MORB-type cumulate signatures (N-group), was infiltrated by extremely refractory melts. During infiltration of the refractory melt chromatographic fractionation occurred, transforming N-group dunites into F-group and R-group dunites. The F-group patterns are composite patterns: heavy REE, Ti ± Zr reflect the original MORB-like cumulate dunite host, light REEs indicate equilibrium with the infiltrating, refractory melts. Steep slopes in the middle REEs reflect the position of the chromatographic front. For more intense percolation of refractory melts, R-group patterns with a positive Ti anomaly will form by the same process. The rest of the R-group patterns displaying no positive Ti anomaly may represent either the most intensely reacted host rocks or these dunites derive directly as cumulates from refractory melts. Only small volumes of refractory melt (a 5 m column) are required to imprint the observed trace element pattern on the thick original dunite sequence. One of several possible origins for the refractory melts is transformation of original MORB-type melts by way of chromatographic fractionation within the highly depleted, residual uppermost mantle. In the framework of an oceanic spreading centre, the migrating, refractory liquids are considered a late event following the main constructive stage dominated by aggregated melts. The study demonstrates that highly refractory melts can exist under oceanic spreading centres dominated by a MORB-like cumulate and volcanic sequence. Received: 2 September 1996 / Accepted: 20 November 1997     

Isotopic-geochemical features and age of zircons in dunites of the platinum-bearing type Uralian massifs: Petrogenetic implications

This paper presents results of isotopic (Cameca IMS1270 NORDSIM and SHRIMP-II ion microprobes) and geochemical (LA-ICP MS) study of zircons in three dunite samples of the Uralian-Alaskan-type massifs of the Urals: Kosva, Sakharin, and Eastern Khabarny. The zircons in the dunites share common features. Each sample contains the following genetic and age groups of zircons: (1) xenogenic zircons of the Archean and Proterozoic age; (2) zircons of magmatic appearance, which in age and geochemistry are close to the zircons from associated gabbroids; (3) postmagmatic zircons that presumably crystallized from hydrothermal solutions. The xenogenic zircons of the Archean age in each of three samples comprise transparent fragments, which are depleted in U and other trace elements and presumably have mantle origin. Xenogenic zircons of the Proterozoic age (1500–2000 Ma) occur as oval grains with surface abrasion, the traces of their redeposition. The geochemical features of the xenogenic zircons unequivocally demonstrate their affiliation to the continental crust—the basement of the Uralian orogen. The zircons of magmatic habit in all the dunite samples are close in age to the associated gabbroids: 435–432 Ma in the Kosva Massif, 378–374 in the Sakharin Massif, and 407–402 Ma in the Eastern Khabarny Massif, and mark the age of dunite formation. In addition, the magmatic zircons from dunites and associated gabbroids share similar geochemical features. These data could serve as additional argument in support of cumulate origin of dunites in the Uralian-Alaskan-type complexes. The postmagmatic zircons are most enriched in trace elements and were presumably formed from a fluid phase, which was responsible for the recrystallization of dunites and redistribution of Cr-spinel and PGE mineralization.     

Metasomatic interactions between slab-derived melts and depleted mantle: Insights from xenoliths within Monglo adakite (Luzon arc, Philippines)

The Monglo adakite contains mafic and ultramafic xenoliths, which probably originated from the mantle section of an Early Cretaceous supra-subduction zone ophiolitic complex located within the Luzon arc crust. Spinel-bearing dunites are dominant among this xenolith collection and display evidence for three episodes of subduction-related melt percolation. The first one is evidenced by an undeformed clinopyroxene characterized by convex-upwards REE pattern. This clinopyroxene crystallized from a calc-alkaline basaltic magma, likely formed in the Cretaceous supra-subduction setting of the ophiolite. Then, two metasomatic events, evidenced by orthopyroxene-rich and amphibole-rich secondary parageneses, respectively, affected most of the spinel dunites. The opx-rich paragenesis is related to the circulation within the dunitic upper mantle of hydrous slab-derived melts similar to those affecting the mantle peridotite xenoliths from Papua New Guinea and Kamchatka. Finally the amphibole-rich veins are related to the interaction between the studied dunite xenoliths and the host adakite or an adakitic melt similar to it.     

Conditions of crystallization of olivine shonkinites in the Inagli massif (Central Aldan)

The olivine shonkinites localized among dunites and alkali gabbroids in the northern part of the alkaline ultrabasic Inagli massif (northwestern part of Central Aldan) have been studied. The obtained data on the chemical and trace-element compositions of the rocks and minerals and the results of melt inclusion study showed that the olivine shonkinites crystallized from alkaline basanite melt enriched in Cl, S, CO2, and trace elements. Clinopyroxene crystallized at 1180-1200 °C from a homogeneous silicate-salt melt, which was probably separated into immiscible silicate and carbonate-salt fractions with temperature decreasing. The composition of the silicate fraction evolved from alkaline basanite to alkaline trachyte. The carbonate-salt fraction had an alkaline carbonate composition and was enriched in S and Cl. The same trend of evolution of clinopyroxene-hosted melts and the igneous rocks of the Inagli massif suggests that the alkali gabbroids, melanocratic alkali syenites, and pulaskites formed from the same magma, which had a near-alkaline basanite composition during its crystallization differentiation. The geochemical studies showed that the olivine shonkinites and glasses of homogenized melt inclusions in clinopyroxene grains have similar contents of trace elements, one or two orders of magnitude higher than those in the primitive mantle. The high contents of LILE (K, Rb, and Sr) and LREE in the olivine shoshonites and homogenized inclusions suggest the enriched mantle source, and the negative anomalies of HFSE and Ti are a specific feature of igneous rocks formed with the participation of crustal material. The slight depletion in HREE relative to LREE and the high (La/Yb)_n ratios in the rocks and inclusion glasses (10.0-11.4 and 4.7-6.2, respectively) suggest the presence of garnet in the mantle source.     

Melt/peridotite interaction in the Southern Lanzo peridotite: Field, textural and geochemical evidence

This paper presents field, petrographic–structural and geochemical data on spinel and plagioclase peridotites from the southern domain of the Lanzo ophiolitic peridotite massif (Western Alps). Spinel lherzolites, harzburgites and dunites crop out at Mt. Arpone and Mt. Musinè. Field evidence indicates that pristine porphyroclastic spinel lherzolites are transformed to coarse granular spinel harzburgites, which are in turn overprinted by plagioclase peridotites, while strongly depleted spinel harzburgite and dunite bands and bodies replace the plagioclase peridotites. On the northern flank of Mt. Arpone, deformed, porphyroclastic (lithospheric) lherzolites, with diffuse pyroxenite banding, represent the oldest spinel-facies rocks. They show microstructures of a composite subsolidus evolution, suggesting provenance from deeper (asthenospheric) mantle levels and accretion to the lithosphere. These protoliths are locally transformed to coarse granular (reactive) spinel harzburgites and dunites, which show textures reminiscent of melt/rock reaction and geochemical characteristics suggesting that they are products of peridotite interaction with reactively percolating melts. Geochemical data and modelling suggest that <1–5% fractional melting of spinel-facies DMM produced the injected melts. Plagioclase peridotites are hybrid rocks resulting from pre-existing spinel peridotites and variable enrichment of plagioclase and micro-gabbroic material by percolating melts. The impregnating melts attained silica-saturation, as testified by widespread orthopyroxene replacement of olivine, during open system migration in the lithosphere. At Mt. Musinè, coarse granular spinel harzburgite and dunite bodies replace the plagioclase peridotites. Most of these replacive, refractory peridotites have interstitial magmatic clinopyroxene with trace element compositions in equilibrium with MORB, while some Cpx have REE-depleted patterns suggesting transient geochemical features of the migrating MORB-type melts, acquired by interaction with the ambient plagioclase peridotite. These replacive spinel harzburgite and dunite bodies are interpreted as channels exploited for focused and reactive migration of silica-undersaturated melts with aggregate MORB compositions. Such melts were unrelated to the silica-saturated melts that refertilized the pre-existing plagioclase peridotites. Finally, MORB melt migration occurred along open fractures, now recorded as gabbroic dikes.

Our data document the complexity of rock-types and mantle processes in the South Lanzo peridotite massif and describe a composite tectonic and magmatic scenario that is not consistent with the “asthenospheric scenario” proposed by previous authors. We envisage a “transitional scenario” in which extending subcontinental lithospheric mantle was strongly modified (both depleted and refertilized) by early melts with MORB-affinity formed by decompression partial melting of the upwelling asthenosphere, during pre-oceanic rifting and lithospheric thinning in the Ligurian Tethys realm.     

Petrogenesis of tholeiite associations in Kudi ophiolite (western Kunlun Mountains, northwestern China): implications for the evolution of back-arc basins

The Kudi ophiolite in the western Kunlun Mountains comprises harzburgites, dunites, cumulate dunites, cumulate pyroxenites and gabbros, diabase dikes, and pillow and massive lavas, and are fragments of a supra-subduction zone (SSZ) ophiolite from the Early Paleozoic. The extrusive rocks can be classified into three groups of tholeiites: back-arc basin (BAB) tholeiites, low-Ti island arc tholeiites (IAT), and LREE-enriched IAT, as shown by their distinctive geochemical characteristics. The SSZ-type mantle peridotites, the cumulate complex with arc tholeiite affinity, and BABB-type diabase dikes and basalts constitute an upper mantle and crustal section of a back-arc basin formed by coupling of MORB-type mantle upwelling with fluid efflux from slab devolatilization. The low-Ti IAT are characterized by low Ti and HFSE, and slightly U-shaped or LREE-depleted chondrite-normalized REE patterns, and represent melts derived from a depleted mantle source region (extraction of BABB magma) modified compositionally by fluids and/or melts from the subducting lithospheric slab during propagation and extension of the back-arc basin. We interpret the LREE-enriched IAT as products of closure of the back-arc basin because an interaction between the parental magma of this IAT and the mantle peridotites (formerly the upper mantle of the basin) in a newly formed mantle wedge had occurred.     

Genesis and Geodynamic Significance of Chromitites from the Fuchuan Ophiolite, Southern China, as Evidenced by Trace Element Fingerprints of Chromite, Olivine and Pyroxene

The Fuchuan ophiolite is located in the northeasternmost segment of the Neoproterozoic Jiangnan orogen and consists mainly of harzburgites, with minor dunites, pyroxenite and gabbro veins and dykes. In order to investigate the genesis and tectonic setting of the Fuchuan ophiolite and chromitites, in situ analyses of unaltered chromites and silicates were carried out. Trace element analyses of unaltered chromites from the Fuchuan chromitites indicate the parental magma is of mid-ocean ridge basal...     

Solution mechanisms of H2O in depolymerized peralkaline melts

Solubility mechanisms of water in depolymerized silicate melts quenched from high temperature (1000°-1300°C) at high pressure (0.8-2.0 GPa) have been examined in peralkaline melts in the system Na₂O-SiO₂-H₂O with Raman and NMR spectroscopy. The Na/Si ratio of the melts ranged from 0.25 to 1. Water contents were varied from ∼3 mol% and ∼40 mol% (based on O = 1). Solution of water results in melt depolymerization where the rate of depolymerization with water content, ∂(NBO/Si)/∂X_H2O, decreases with increasing total water content. At low water contents, the influence of H₂O on the melt structure resembles that of adding alkali oxide. In water-rich melts, alkali oxides are more efficient melt depolymerizers than water. In highly polymerized melts, Si-OH bonds are formed by water reacting with bridging oxygen in Q⁴-species to form Q³ and Q² species. In less polymerized melts, Si-OH bonds are formed when bridging oxygen in Q³-species react with water to form Q²-species. In addition, the presence of Na-OH complexes is inferred. Their importance appears to increase with Na/Si. This apparent increase in importance of Na-OH complexes with increasing Na/Si (which causes increasing degree of depolymerization of the anhydrous silicate melt) suggests that water is a less efficient depolymerizer of silicate melts, the more depolymerized the melt. This conclusion is consistent with recently published ¹H and ²⁹Si MAS NMR and ¹H-²⁹Si cross polarization NMR data.     

Melt migration and melt-rock reaction in the Alpine-Apennine peridotites:Insights on mantle dynamics in extending lithosphere

The compositional variability of the lithospheric mantle at extensional settings is largely caused by the reactive percolation of uprising melts in the thermal boundary layer and in lithospheric environments.The Alpine-Apennine(A-A)ophiolites are predominantly constituted by mantle peridotites and are widely thought to represent analogs of the oceanic lithosphere formed at ocean/continent transition and slow-to ultraslow-spreading settings.Structural and geochemical studies on the A-A mantle peridotites have revealed that they preserve significant compositional and isotopic heterogeneity at variable scale,reflecting a long-lived multi-stage melt migration,intrusion and melt-rock interaction history,occurred at different lithospheric depths during progressive uplift.The A-A mantle peridotites thus constitute a unique window on mantle dynamics and lithosphere-asthenosphere interactions in very slow spreading environments.In this work,we review field,microstructural and chemical-isotopic evidence on the major stages of melt percolation and melt-rock interaction recorded by the A-A peridotites and discuss their consequences in creating chemical-isotopic heterogeneities at variable scales and enhancing weakening and deformation of the extending mantle.Focus will be on three most important stages:(i)old(pre-Jurassic)pyroxenite emplacement,and the significant isotopic modification induced in the host mantle by pyroxenite-derived melts,(ii)melt-peridotite interactions during Jurassic mantle exhumation,i.e.the open-system reactive porous flow at spinel facies depths causing bulk depletion(origin of reactive harzburgites and dunites),and the shallower melt impregnation which originated plagioclase-rich peridotites and an overall mantle refertilization.We infer that migrating melts largely originated as shallow,variably depleted,melt fractions,and acquired Si-rich composition by reactive dissolution of mantle pyroxenes during upward migration.Such melt-rock reaction processes share significant similarities with those documented in modern oceanic peridotites from slow-to ultraslow-spreading environments and track the progressive exhumation of large mantle sectors at shallow depths in oceanic settings where a thicker thermal boundary layer exists,as a consequence of slow-spreading rate.     

On the formation mode of the Guleman chromite deposits (Turkey)

Kefdag and Soridag chromite pods occur in upper mantle residual peridotites, which consist of harzburgite and dunites. The peridotites represent the residual of multistage, depleted upper-mantle peridotites. The chromitite bodies were formed during the uprising of chromium-rich picritic melts, through the residual upper mantle diapir, along the magma conduits. Chromitite grains were deposited in the caves of the magma conduits under the control of the convection currents.     

Vendian tectono-magmatic events in mantle ophiolitic complexes of the polar Urals: U-Pb dating of zircon from chromitite

Geological and isotopic evidence of Late Vendian magmatic events in restitic ultramafic mantle rocks of the Voikar-Syn’ya ophiolitic massif are considered and correlated with events at the eastern margin of the East European Platform. The geological and isotopic data show that the ophiolitic complexes of the Polar Urals were formed during several stages. The percolation of melts through peridotites was recorded in the newly formed mineral assemblages, for example, olivine + chromite ± zircon. Zircon crystallized from the residual fraction of the evolved basic melt that impregnated peridotite. The active interaction of hot restitic harzburgite with the migrating melt resumed repeatedly and could have led to the formation of several generations of chromite-bearing dunite. An important geological inference can be made from this suggestion: There is a high probability that isotopic markers of different age have been retained in restitic mantle complexes of ophiolites. The U-Pb dating of zircons with a SHRIMP-2 ion microprobe has shown that the isotopic age of seven grains is 585.3 ± 6 Ma (MSWD is 0.036 and the probability of concordance is 0.85). The obtained age of zircon from chromitite marks a Vendian tectonomagmatic event that occurred in the upper mantle of the transitional zone between the East European Plate and the oceanic basin. The island-arc complexes of the Polar Urals developed on the tectonically juxtaposed fragments of the Early Paleozoic and pre-Paleozoic oceanic crust. These crustal rocks were reworked during younger magmatic events related to the origin of the Middle Paleozoic island arcs. As a result, the rocks that formed in different geological epochs were locally retained in the restitic mantle complexes of a spatially indivisible ophiolitic association.     

Polychronous formation of mantle complexes in ophiolites

The paper presents new determinations of the U-Pb zircon age of high-Al chromitite from dunite of the mantle section of the Voikar-Synya massif at the Kershor site in the boundary zone with rocks of the dunite-wehrlite-clinopyroxenite complex. The high-Cr chromitite from dunite in the central part of the same massif contains zircon dated at ca. 0.6 Ga [10]. It is suggested that Paleoproterozoic (2.0?1.9 Ga) zircons from chromitites of the mantle section near the petrological Moho boundary were formed in the course of partial melting of peridotites and/or their interaction with migrating MORB-type melts. The occurrence of Vendian and Paleoproterozoic zircons in chromitites from different parts of the mantle section, as well as previously published petrological, geochemical, and geological data [2, 11, 22] allow us to suggest a complex multistage evolution of the mantle section in ophiolites. The arguments stated below show that chromitites and host dunites could have been formed at different times and were probably related to different processes. Thus, not only various complexes of the pre-Paleozoic oceanic crust reworked in the suprasubduction setting differ in age, but also the mantle rock of similar petrography, vary in the time of their formation.     

Petrogenesis of the Fe-Ti intrusive complexes in the Sierra Leone region, Central Atlantic

The study of melt inclusions in Cr-spinels from melanocratic troctolites provided the first direct information on the physicochemical parameters of enriched magmatic systems that produced high-Fe and high-Ti intrusive complexes in the Sierra-Leone region (Central Atlantic, 6°N). These complexes are made up of predominating hornblende Fe-Ti oxide gabbronorites and gabbrodiorites with subordinate amount of ultramafics, diorites, quartz diorites, and trondhjemites. The study of melt inclusions and rocks showed that the majority of gabbroids of the Central Atlantic (Sierra Leone area and 15°20′ Fracture Zone) were derived from N-MORB-type melts, whereas differentiated Fe-Ti-oxide rocks were crystallized from other melts, which were preserved as inclusions in the Cr-spinels from the melanocratic troctolites of the Sierra Leone region. The ion-microprobe study of these inclusions yield direct evidence on the elevated water content (up to 1.24–1.77 wt %) in the parental melts of Fe-Ti oxide rocks. Data on trace and rare-earth element distribution together with high (La/Sm)_N and (Ce/Yb)_N ratios in the inclusions indicate the possible influence of deep plume source on the generation of these magmas. Simulation based on melt inclusion data testifies that high-Fe intrusions of the Sierra Leone area were crystallized from the water-saturated magmas at relatively low temperatures (1020–1240°C). It was shown that the geochemically enriched Fe-Ti melts were presumably formed regardless of N-MORB-type magmatism predominant in Central Atlantic, under the influence of new mantle plume that caused melting of hydrated oceanic lithosphere.