Magmatic modification of the uppermost mantle beneath the Basin and Range to Colorado Plateau Transition Zone; Evidence from xenoliths, Wikieup, Arizona

Upper mantle xenoliths from Wikieup, AZ, provide abundant evidence for magmatic modification of the uppermost mantle beneath the Transition Zone between the Colorado Plateau and the southern Basin and Range province. Upper mantle lithologies in this xenolith suite are represented by spinel peridotite, wehrlite, plagioclase peridotite, and Al-augite group pyroxenites. Isotopic data for these xenoliths yield relatively uniform values and suggest a common petrogenesis. Al-augite-bearing gabbro and pyroxenite xenoliths from this locality are interpreted to have formed by crystal fractionation processes from parent alkali basalts similar to the Wikieup host basalt. Mineral and whole rock compositions show consistent trends of increasing incompatible element contents (Fe, Al, Ca, Na, K, LIL, and LREE), and decreasing compatible element contents (Mg, Cr, Ni) from spinel peridotite to wehrlite to plagioclase peridotite to the host basalt composition. These compositional trends are interpreted as resulting from varying degrees of magma-mantle wall rock interaction as ascending mafic magmas infiltrated upper mantle peridotite. Small degrees of melt infiltration resulted in slightly modified spinel peridotite compositions while moderate degrees metasomatized spinel peridotite to wehrlite, and the highest degrees metasomatized it to plagioclase peridotite. Whole rock compositions and clinopyroxene, plagioclase, and whole rock isotopic data suggest that the infiltrating magmas were the same as those from which the gabbros and pyroxenites crystallized, and that they were alkalic in composition, similar to the Wikieup host alkali olivine basalts. Relatively uniform ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd for the mineral separates and whole rocks in spite of the significantly wide range in their ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd (0.71–0.23 in clinopyroxene) suggests that the Wikieup xenoliths including gabbro, pyroxenite, peridotite, wehrlite, and plagioclase peridotite, are all relatively young rocks formed or metasomatized by a relatively recent magmatic episode. Received: 21 May 1996 / Accepted: 23 December 1996     

Migration and accumulation of ultra-depleted subduction-related melts in the Massif du Sud ophiolite (New Caledonia)

The Massif du Sud is a large ophiolitic complex that crops out in the southern region of New Caledonia (SW Pacific). It is dominated by harzburgite tectonite that locally shows a transitional gradation to massive dunite up section. Clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene and plagioclase progressively appear in dunite up to the transition to layered wehrlite and orthopyroxene–gabbro. The dunite–wehrlite and wehrlite–gabbro contacts are parallel and the latter defines the paleo-Moho.Highly depleted modal, mineral and bulk rock compositions indicate that harzburgites are residues after high degrees (20–30%) of partial melting mainly in the spinel-stability field. Their relative enrichment in HFSE, LREE and MREE is due to re-equilibration of melting residues with percolating melts. Dunite formed in the Moho transition zone by reaction between residual mantle harzburgite and olivine-saturated melts that led to pyroxene dissolution and olivine precipitation. Rare clinopyroxene and plagioclase crystallized in interstitial melt pores of dunite from primitive, low-TiO₂, ultra-depleted liquids with a geochemical signature transitional between those of island arc tholeiites and boninites.Ascending batches of relatively high-SiO₂, ultra-depleted melts migrated through the Moho transition zone and generated wehrlite by olivine dissolution and crystallization of clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene and plagioclase in variable amounts. These liquids were more evolved and were produced by higher degrees of melting or from a more depleted source compared with melts that locally crystallized clinopyroxene in dunite. Ultra-depleted magmas, non-cogenetic with those that formed the Moho transition zone, ascended to the lower crust and generated gabbroic cumulates with subduction-related affinity. Thus, the ultramafic and mafic rocks in the Moho transition zone and lower crust of the Massif du Sud ophiolite are not products of fractional crystallization from a single magma-type but are the result of migration and accumulation of different melts in a multi-stage evolution.The record of high partial melting in the mantle section, and migration and accumulation of ultra-depleted subduction-related melts in the Moho transition zone and lower crust support that the Massif du Sud ophiolite is a portion of forearc lithosphere generated in an extensional regime during the early phases of the subduction zone evolution. Our results show the existence of different types of ultra-depleted melt compositions arriving at the Moho transition zone and lower crust of an infant intraoceanic paleo-arc. Ultra-depleted melts may thus be a significant component of the melt budget generated in oceanic spreading forearcs prior to aggregation and mixing of a large range of melt compositions in the crust.     

Effect of melt composition on basalt and peridotite interaction: laboratory dissolution experiments with applications to mineral compositional variations in mantle xenoliths from the North China Craton

Interaction between basaltic melts and peridotites has played an important role in modifying the lithospheric and asthenospheric mantle during magma genesis in a number of tectonic settings. Compositions of basaltic melts vary considerably and may play an important role in controlling the kinetics of melt–peridotite interaction. To better understand the effect of melt composition on melt–peridotite interaction, we conducted spinel lherzolite dissolution experiments at 2 GPa and 1,425 °C using the dissolution couple method. The reacting melts include a basaltic andesite, a ferro-basalt, and an alkali basalt. Dissolution of lherzolite in the basaltic andesite and the ferro-basalt produced harzburgite–lherzolite sequences with a thin orthopyroxenite layer at the melt–harzburgite interface, whereas dissolution of lherzolite in the alkali basalt produced a dunite–harzburgite–lherzolite sequence. Systematic variations in mineral compositions across the lithological units are observed. These mineral compositional variations are attributed to grain-scale processes that involve dissolution, precipitation, and reprecipitation and depend strongly on reacting melt composition. Comparison of mineral compositional variations across the dissolution couples with those observed in mantle xenoliths from the North China Craton (NCC) helps to assess the spatial and temporal variations in the extent of siliceous melt and peridotite interaction in modifying the lithospheric mantle beneath the NCC. We found that such melt–rock interaction mainly took place in Early Cretaceous, and is responsible for the enrichment of pyroxene in the lithospheric mantle. Spatially, siliceous melt–peridotite interaction took place in the ancient orogens with thickened lower crust.     

牛鼻子梁镁铁质-超镁铁质杂岩体岩石特征

牛鼻子梁岩体位于柴达木地块的北缘,出露面积约8 km²,平面形态呈长条状,主要由斜长二辉橄榄岩、斜长单辉橄榄岩、角闪二辉橄榄岩、角闪橄榄岩、角闪橄榄二辉岩、黑云母化二辉岩、角闪辉石岩、橄榄辉石角闪石岩、角闪橄榄辉长岩、细粒辉长岩、似斑状辉长岩、暗色辉长岩、辉长岩、淡色辉长岩、石英闪长岩和英云闪长岩组成。文章通过岩石学、矿物学、地球化学研究,得到锆石U-Pb年龄为（361.5±1.2） Ma,Sm-Nd等时线年龄为（347±26） Ma。研究认为,牛鼻子梁基性-超基性岩体含矿岩石产于大陆边缘环境。岩体形成于泥盆纪晚期。岩浆分异充分,岩石类型丰富,岩浆演化过程中主要发生了橄榄石和斜长石的分离结晶/堆晶作用。岩体的母岩浆应属于拉斑玄武岩质岩浆。从目前发现的矿化情况来看,牛鼻子梁基性-超基性杂岩体为含矿岩体,有很好的找矿前景。     

Melts of garnet lherzolite: experiments, models and comparison to melts of pyroxenite and carbonated lherzolite

Phase equilibrium experiments on a compositionally modified olivine leucitite from the Tibetan plateau have been carried out from 2.2 to 2.8 GPa and 1,380–1,480 °C. The experiments-produced liquids multiply saturated with spinel and garnet lherzolite phase assemblages (olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and spinel ± garnet) under nominally anhydrous conditions. These SiO₂-undersaturated liquids and published experimental data are utilized to develop a predictive model for garnet lherzolite melting of compositionally variable mantle under anhydrous conditions over the pressure range of 1.9–6 GPa. The model estimates the major element compositions of garnet-saturated melts for a range of mantle lherzolite compositions and predicts the conditions of the spinel to garnet lherzolite phase transition for natural peridotite compositions at above-solidus temperatures and pressures. We compare our predicted garnet lherzolite melts to those of pyroxenite and carbonated lherzolite and develop criteria for distinguishing among melts of these different source types. We also use the model in conjunction with a published predictive model for plagioclase and spinel lherzolite to characterize the differences in major element composition for melts in the plagioclase, spinel and garnet facies and develop tests to distinguish between melts of these three lherzolite facies based on major elements. The model is applied to understand the source materials and conditions of melting for high-K lavas erupted in the Tibetan plateau, basanite–nephelinite lavas erupted early in the evolution of Kilauea volcano, Hawaii, as well as younger tholeiitic to alkali lavas from Kilauea.     

The Ronda high temperature peridotite: Geochemistry and petrogenesis

The Ronda peridotite in southern Spain is a large (~300 km²) exposure of upper mantle which provides direct information about mantle processes on a scale much larger than that provided by mantle xenoliths in basalt. Ronda peridotites range from harzburgite to lherzolite, and vary considerably in major element content, e.g., Al₂O₃ from 0.9 to 4.8%, and trace element abundances, e.g., Sr, Zr and La abundances vary by factors of 20 to 40. These compositional variations are systematic and correlate with (pyroxene + garnet)/olivine ratios and olivine compositions. The data are consistent with formation of residual peridotites by variable degrees of melting (~0 to 30%) of a compositionally homogeneous peridotite. None of the peridotites have geochemical characteristics of residues formed by extensive (?5%) fractional melting and the data can be explained by equilibrium (batch) melting, possibly with incomplete melt segregation in some samples. Based on compositional differences between Ronda peridotites, the segregated melts were picritic (12–22% MgO) with relative rare earth element abundances similar to mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB). Prior to the melting event the Ronda peridotite body was a suitable source for MORB. The compositional characteristics of Ronda peridotites are consistent with diapiric rise of a fertile mantle peridotite with relatively small degrees of melting near the diapir-wall rock interface yielding residues of garnet iherzolite, and larger degrees of melting in the diapir interior yielding residues of garnet-free peridotite. Subsequently these residual rocks were recrystallized at sub-solidus conditions (Obata, 1980), and emplaced in the crust by thrusting (Lundeen, 1978).     

Mineralogy,geochemistry and petrogenesis of the Khopoli mafic intrusion,Deccan Traps,India

The Khopoli intrusion, exposed at the base of the Thakurvadi Formation of the Deccan Traps in the Western Ghats, India, is composed of olivine gabbro with 50–55 % modal olivine, 20–25 % plagioclase, 10–15 % clinopyroxene, 5–10 % low-Ca pyroxene, and <5 % Fe-Ti oxides. It represents a cumulate rock from which trapped interstitial liquid was almost completely expelled. The Khopoli olivine gabbros have high MgO (23.5–26.9 wt.%), Ni (733–883 ppm) and Cr (1,432–1,048 ppm), and low concentrations of incompatible elements including the rare earth elements (REE). The compositions of the most primitive cumulus olivine and clinopyroxene indicate that the parental magma of the Khopoli intrusion was an evolved basaltic melt (Mg# 49–58). Calculated parental melt compositions in equilibrium with clinopyroxene are moderately enriched in the light REE and show many similarities with Deccan tholeiitic basalts of the Bushe, Khandala and Thakurvadi Formations. Nd-Sr isotopic compositions of Khopoli olivine gabbros (εNd_t?=??9.0 to ?12.7; ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr?=?0.7088–0.7285) indicate crustal contamination. AFC modelling suggests that the Khopoli olivine gabbros were derived from a Thakurvadi or Khandala-like basaltic melt with variable degrees of crustal contamination. Unlike the commonly alkalic, pre- and post-volcanic intrusions known in the Deccan Traps, the Khopoli intrusion provides a window to the shallow subvolcanic architecture and magmatic processes associated with the main tholeiitic flood basalt sequence. Measured true density values of the Khopoli olivine gabbros are as high as 3.06 g/cm³, and such high-level olivine-rich intrusions in flood basalt provinces can also explain geophysical observations such as high gravity anomalies and high seismic velocity crustal horizons.     

Petrology and geochemistry of high Cr# podiform chromitites of Bulqiza,Eastern Mirdita Ophiolite (EMO), Albania

The ultramafic massif of Bulqiza, which belongs to the eastern ophiolitic belt of Albania, is a major source of metallurgical chromitite ore. The massif consists of a thick (> 4 km) sequence, composed from the base upward of tectonized harzburgite with minor dunite, a transitional zone of dunite, and a magmatic sequence of wehrlite, pyroxenite, troctolite and gabbro. Only sparse, refractory chromitites occur within the basal clinopyroxene-bearing harzburgites, whereas the upper and middle parts of the peridotite sequence contain abundant metallurgical chromitites. The transition zone dunites contain a few thin layers of metallurgical chromitite and sparse bodies are also present in the cumulate section. The Bulqiza Ophiolite shows major changes in thickness, like the 41–50 wt.% MgO composition similar with forearc peridotite as a result of its complex evolution in a suprasubduction zone (SSZ) environment. The peridotites show abundant evidence of mantle melt extraction at various scales as the orthopyroxene composition change from core to rim, and mineral compositions suggest formation in a forearc, as Fo values of olivine are in 91.1–93.0 harzburgite and 91.5–91.9 in dunite and 94.6–95.9 in massive chromitite. The composition of the melts passing through the peridotites changed gradually from tholeiite to boninite due to melt–rock reaction, leading to more High Cr# chromitites in the upper part of the body. Most of the massive and disseminated chromitites have high Cr# numbers (70–80), although there are systematic changes in olivine and magnesiochromite compositions from harzburgites, to dunite envelopes to massive chromitites, reflecting melt–rock reaction. Compositional zoning of orthopyroxene porphyroblasts in the harzburgite, incongruent melting of orthopyroxene and the presence of small, interstitial grains of spinel, olivine and pyroxene likewise attest to modification by migrating melts. All of the available evidence suggests that the Bulqiza Ophiolite formed in a suprasubduction zone mantle wedge.     

Quantitative Untersuchungen mit der Elektronen-Mikrosonde an Pyroxenen aus Basalten und Peridotit-Einschlüssen

The chemical composition of the pyroxenes and olivines of 12 basaltic rocks and 5 lherzolite nodules was determined quantitatively by electron micro-probe analysis. The composition of the pyroxenes depends on the type of basalt in which they occur. Tholeiitic basalts with normative quartz contain three pyroxenes: orthorombic pyroxenes, pigeonites and augites. All pyroxene phases are zoned and do not show any exsolution. Their Ti and Al contents (Ca-Tschermaks and Ti-augite molecules) are small. All pyroxene phases were formed under disequilibrium with each other and with the melt because of rapid quenching. The sequence of crystallization: orthopyroxene—pigeonite—augite could be established by their Cr content.The alkali olivine basalts undersatured in SiO₂ and the olivine nephelinites are characterized by Ti and Al-rich clinopyroxenes. The distribution of Ti and Al in the pyroxenes of the alkali olivine basalts shows a differentiation trend from the cores of the phenocrysts to their outer zones and to the crystals of the ground mass. Thereby the Ca-Tschermaks molecule is being replaced more and more by the Ti-augite molecule. The Ti content of the pyroxenes of the olivine nephelinites decreases in the last stage of differentiation because simultaneously increasing amounts of titaniferous magnetite crystallize.The pyroxenes of lherzolite peridotite nodules are characterized by high Al and low Ti contents which differ according to the type of basalt (alkali olivine basalt or olivine nephelinite) in which the nodules occur. The homogeneous distribution of the elements within the single grains indicates crystallization under equlibrium conditions. The conditions of their formation are comparable to those of Al-pyroxene peridotites in the upper mantle. The composition of pyroxenes of early accumulates of alkali basaltic melts differ from those of peridotite nodules. Therefore lherzolite nodules can be taken as residues of deeper peridotite masses.     

A comparative study of melt-rock reactions in the mantle: laboratory dissolution experiments and geological field observations

Systematic variations in mineralogy and chemical composition across dunite-harzburgite (DH) and dunite-harzburgite-lherzolite (DHL) sequences in the mantle sections of ophiolites have been widely observed. The compositional variations are due to melt-rock reactions as basaltic melts travel through mantle peridotite, and may be key attributes to understanding melting and melt transport processes in the mantle. In order to better understand melt-rock reactions in the mantle, we conducted laboratory dissolution experiments by juxtaposing a spinel lherzolite against an alkali basalt or a mid-ocean ridge basalt. The charges were run at 1 GPa and either 1,300°C or 1,320°C for 8–28 h. Afterward, the charges were slowly cooled to 1,200°C and 1 GPa, which was maintained for at least 24 h to promote in situ crystallization of interstitial melts. Cooling allowed for better characterization of the mineralogy and mineral compositional trends produced and observed from melt-rock reactions. Dissolution of lherzolite in basaltic melts with cooling results in a clinopyroxene-bearing DHL sequence, in contrast to sequences observed in previously reported isothermal-isobaric dissolution experiments, but similar to those observed in the mantle sections of ophiolites. Compositional variations in minerals in the experimental charges follow similar melt-rock trends suggested by the field observations, including traverses across DH and DHL sequences from mantle sections of ophiolites as well as clinopyroxene and olivine from clinopyroxenite, dunite, and wehrlite dikes and xenoliths. These chemical variations are controlled by the composition of reacting melt, mineralogy and composition of host peridotite, and grain-scale processes that occur at various stages of melt-peridotite reaction. We suggest that laboratory dissolution experiments are a robust model to natural melt-rock reaction processes and that clinopyroxene in replacive dunites in the mantle sections of ophiolites is genetically linked to clinopyroxene in cumulate dunite and pyroxenites through melt transport and melt-rock reaction processes in the mantle.     

云南哀牢山蛇绿岩的矿物学研究

云南哀牢山蛇绿岩由变橄榄岩、堆晶杂岩、火山熔岩和硅质岩等四个单元组成,其主要矿物有橄榄石,斜方辉石、单斜辉石、尖晶石、斜长石、角闪石、石榴子石等,这些矿物均已不同程度地遭到蚀变、橄榄石、斜方辉石的化学成分显示蛇绿岩中的二辉橄榄岩为原始地幔岩;是石的化学特征表明蛇绿岩中的橄榄岩为深海橄榄岩;单斜辉石的成分反映二辉橄榄岩经历过熔融作用,堆晶杂央才基性熔岩具有火山弧和洋底玄武岩的特征。     

Ancient melt depletion overprinted by young carbonatitic metasomatism in the New Zealand lithospheric mantle

Spinel facies dunite, harzburgite, lherzolite and wehrlite mantle xenoliths from a cluster of Miocene volcanoes in southern New Zealand preserve evidence of the complex evolution of the underlying continental mantle lithosphere. Spinel Cr# records melt extraction with some values indicative of near complete removal of clinopyroxene. LREE-enriched, low Ti/Eu and low Al₂O₃ clinopyroxene and rare F-, LREE-rich apatite indicates subsequent interaction between peridotite and a metasomatising carbonatitic melt. The clearest metasomatic signature occurs in the formerly highly depleted samples because there was little or no pre-existing clinopyroxene to dilute the carbonatite signature. For the same reason, the isotopic character of the metasomatising agent is best observed in the formerly highly depleted peridotites (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.7028–0.7031; ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd = 0.5129; ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 20.2–20.3). These isotope ratios are very close to, but slightly less radiogenic than, the HIMU end-member mantle reservoir. Nd isotope data imply carbonatite metasomatism occurred within the last several hundred million years, with ubiquitous pyroxene core-to-rim Al diffusion zoning indicating that it must pre-date cooling of the lithospheric mantle following Late Cretaceous–Eocene rifting of Zealandia from Gondwana. Metasomatism was significantly younger than ancient Re-depletion ages of ~2 Ga and shows that decoupling of peridotite isotope systems has occurred.     

Gabbro-norite cumulates from strongly depleted MORB melts in the Alpine–Apennine ophiolites

Hundred-meter wide cumulate bodies and decimetric dykelets of gabbro-norites are widespread within the distal ophiolitic peridotites from the Jurassic Ligure-Piemontese oceanic basin, now emplaced in the Alpine–Apennine orogenic system. These peridotites derived from the sub-continental mantle of the pre-Triassic Europe–Adria lithosphere and underwent profound modifications of their structural and compositional characteristics via melt–rock interaction during diffuse percolation by porous flow of upwelling asthenospheric melts. Gabbro-norite cumulates show the peculiar association of high forsteritic olivine, high-Mg# clinopyroxenes and orthopyroxenes and high anorthitic plagioclase with respect to mineral compositions in common ophiolitic and oceanic MORB gabbros. Abundance and early crystallization of magnesian orthopyroxene suggests that parental magmas of the gabbro-noritic cumulates were relatively silica-rich basaltic liquids. Clinopyroxenes and plagioclase have anomalously low Sr and LREE, resulting in highly fractionated C1-normalized LREE patterns in clinopyroxenes and negatively fractionated C1-normalized LREE patterns in plagioclases.Modal mineralogy and mineral major and trace element compositions indicate that these gabbro-norites crystallized from MORB-type basaltic liquids that were strongly depleted in Na, Ti, Zr, Sr and other incompatible trace elements relative to any erupted liquids of MORB-type ophiolites and modern oceanic lithosphere. Computed melt compositions in equilibrium with gabbro-norite clinopyroxenes are closely similar to depleted MORB-type single melt increments after 5–7% of fractional melting of a DM asthenospheric mantle source under spinel-facies conditions.Present knowledge on the ophiolitic peridotites of Monte Maggiore indicate that they were formed by interaction of lithospheric mantle protoliths with depleted, MORB-type single melt increments produced by the ascending asthenosphere. Their composition was progressively modified from olivine-saturated to orthopyroxene-saturated by the early reactive melt–peridotite interaction (i.e., pyroxene dissolution and olivine precipitation).Gabbro-norite cumulates marked the change from diffuse porous flow percolation to intrusion and crystallization when cooling by conducive heat loss became dominant on heating by melt percolation. Progressive upwelling and cooling of the host peridotite during rifting caused transition to more brittle conditions and to hydration and serpentinization.The Monte Maggiore peridotite body was then intruded along fractures by variably evolved, Mg–Al- to Fe–Ti-rich gabbroic dykes. Computed melt compositions in equilibrium with clinopyroxenes from less evolved gabbro dykes are closely similar to aggregated MORBs. The event of gabbro intrusion indicates that aggregated MORB-type liquids: i) migrated through and stagnated in the mantle lithosphere and ii) underwent evolution into shallow ephemeral magma chambers to form the parental magmas of the gabbroic dykes and the basaltic lava flows of the Ligurian oceanic crust.     

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.     

东天山四顶黑山层状岩体地质特征及成矿潜力分析

东天山黄山岩带因发育众多镁铁质-超镁铁质岩体和岩浆铜镍硫化物矿床而备受地质学者关注。四顶黑山岩体位于该岩带最东端,具有层状岩体特征;岩石类型有单辉橄榄岩、橄榄辉石岩、橄榄苏长辉长岩、橄榄辉长岩、辉石角闪岩、辉长岩、角闪辉长岩、闪长岩,主要造岩矿物为贵橄榄石、古铜辉石、透辉石、普通角闪石和斜长石,岩体分异较好,蚀变较发育。通过矿物显微结构特征观察以及计算得出:四顶黑山岩体中橄榄石最先结晶,其开始结晶温度大约在1419℃左右;古铜辉石和透辉石在橄榄石之后开始结晶,结晶温度分别在1100℃左右和900～1100℃之间,两矿物相在岩石中可以共存。岩体中橄榄岩相、苏长岩相发育,以及贵橄榄石+古铜辉石的矿物组合特征,表明岩体具有形成铜镍(铂)矿床的有利条件。     

Multi-stage melt–rock interaction in the Mt. Maggiore (Corsica, France) ophiolitic peridotites: microstructural and geochemical evidence

Spinel and plagioclase peridotites from the Mt.Maggiore (Corsica, France) ophiolitic massif record a composite asthenosphere–lithosphere history of partial melting and subsequent multi-stage melt–rock interaction. Cpx-poor spinel lherzolites are consistent with mantle residues after low-degree fractional melting (F = 5–10%). Opx + spinel symplectites at the rims of orthopyroxene porphyroclasts indicate post-melting lithospheric cooling (T = 970–1,100°C); this was followed by formation of olivine embayments within pyroxene porphyroclasts by melt–rock interaction. Enrichment in modal olivine (up to 85 wt%) at constant bulk Mg values, and variable absolute REE contents (at constant LREE/HREE) indicate olivine precipitation and pyroxene dissolution during reactive porous melt flow. This stage occurred at spinel-facies depths, after incorporation of the peridotites in the thermal lithosphere. Plagioclase-enriched peridotites show melt impregnation microtextures, like opx + plag intergrowths replacing exsolved cpx porphyroclasts and interstitial gabbronoritic veinlets. This second melt–rock interaction stage caused systematic chemical changes in clinopyroxene (e.g. Ti, REE, Zr, Y increase), related to the concomitant effects of local melt–rock interaction at decreasing melt mass, and crystallization of small (<3%) trapped melt fractions. LREE depletion in minerals of the gabbronoritic veinlets indicates that the impregnating melts were more depleted than normal MORB. Preserved microtextural evidence of previous melt–rock interaction in the impregnated peridotites suggests that they were progressively uplifted in response to lithosphere extension and thinning. Migrating melts were likely produced by mantle upwelling and melting related to extension; they were modified from olivine-saturated to opx-saturated compositions, and caused different styles of melt–rock interaction (reactive spinel harzburgites, vs. impregnated plagioclase peridotites) depending on the lithospheric depths at which interaction occurred. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Mineralogical and geochemical patterns of mantle xenoliths from the Jixia region (Fujian Province,southeastern China)

The paper discusses the results of mineralogical and petrographic studies of spinel lherzolite xenoliths and clinopyroxene megacrysts in basalt from the Jixia region related to the central zone of Cenozoic basaltic magmatism of southeastern China. Spinel lherzolite is predominantly composed of olivine (Fo_89.6–90.4), orthopyroxene (Mg# = 90.6–92.7), clinopyroxene (Mg# = 90.3–91.9), and chrome spinel (Cr# = 6.59–14.0). According to the geochemical characteristics, basalt of the Jixia region is similar to OIB with asthenospheric material as a source. The following equilibrium temperatures and pressures were obtained for spinel peridotite: 890–1269°C and 10.4–14.8 kbar. Mg# of olivine and Cr# of chrome spinel are close to the values in rocks of the enriched mantle. It is evident from analysis of the textural peculiarities of spinel lherzolite that basaltic melt interacted with mantle rocks at the xenolith capture stage. Based on an analysis of the P–T conditions of the formation of spinel peridotite and clinopyroxene megacrysts, we show that mantle xenoliths were captured in the course of basaltic magma intrusion at a significantly lower depth than the area of partial melting. However, capture of mantle xenoliths was preceded by low-degree partial melting at an earlier stage.     

中天山白石泉镁铁-超镁铁质岩体岩石学与矿物学研究

白石泉地区镁铁一超镁铁质岩体处于塔里木板块前缘活动带与中天山地块接合部位，是中天山地块华力西中期岩浆活动的产物。主要岩石类型有辉石橄榄岩（斜方辉石橄榄岩、斜长二辉橄榄岩）、橄榄辉石岩、橄长岩、辉长岩及角闪辉长岩等，主要造岩矿物为橄榄石、斜方辉石、单斜辉石、角闪石、斜长石及黑云母。橄榄石均为贵橄榄石，其Fo值（78-85）位于含铜镍硫化物矿橄榄石的Fo值范围之内；辉石主要有顽火辉石、古铜辉石、紫苏辉石、透辉石等；斜长石的环带构造较为发育；角闪石的FeO含量随着岩浆的演化逐渐增加。它们与造山带环境中的东疆型镁铁一超镁铁杂岩中的造岩矿物具有相同的特征。这些特征表明了白石泉地区的镁铁一超镁铁质岩体的原始岩浆为高镁的拉斑玄武质岩浆。     

An experimental study of the kinetics of lherzolite reactive dissolution with applications to melt channel formation

The kinetics of lherzolite dissolution in an alkali basalt and a basaltic andesite was examined experimentally at 1,300°C and 1 GPa using the dissolution couple method. Dissolution of lherzolite in basaltic liquids produces either the melt-bearing dunite–harzburgite–lherzolite (DHL) sequence or the melt-bearing harzburgite–lherzolite sequence depending on whether the reacting melt is or close to olivine saturation (alkali basalt) or olivine + orthopyroxene saturation (basaltic andesite). The dunite in the DHL sequence is pyroxene-free and the harzburgites in both sequences are clinopyroxene-free. The melt fraction and olivine grain size in the dunite are larger than those in the harzburgite. The olivine grain size in the dunite and harzburgite in the DHL sequence also increases as a function experimental run time. Across the sharp dunite–harzburgite and harzburgite–lherzolite interfaces, systematic compositional variations are observed in the reacting melt, interstitial melt, olivine, and to a lesser extent, pyroxenes as functions of distance and time. The systematic variations in lithology, grain size, mineral chemistry, and melt compositions are broadly similar to those observed in the mantle sections of ophiolites. The processes of lherzolite dissolution in basaltic liquids involve dissolution, precipitation, reprecipitation, and diffusive transport in the interstitial melts and surrounding minerals. Preferential dissolution of olivine and clinopyroxene and precipitation of orthopyroxene in the basaltic andesite produces the melt-bearing harzburgite–lherzolite sequence. Preferential dissolution of clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene and precipitation of olivine results in the melt-bearing DHL sequence. Preferential mineral dissolution can also affect the composition of the through-going melt in a dunite channel or harzburgite matrix. Systematic variations in melt fraction and mineral grain size in the peridotite sequences are likely to play an important role in the development of channelized or diffuse porous melt flow in the mantle.An erratum to this article can be found at     

Petrology of the Hili Manu lherzolite,East Timor

A spinel lherzolite body outcrops as a fault block on the north coast of East Timor. The most common rock‐type in this body is a clinopyroxene‐poor lherzolite, but there are smaller proportions of clinopyroxene‐rich lherzolite and harzburgite. The dominant mineral assemblage is olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, spinel and calcic amphibole. Low‐temperature hydrous minerals are restricted in distribution.

The chemical composition of the peridotite is closely similar to mantle‐derived spinel lherzolite nodules and some alpine peridotites. The internal variation of the peridotite suggests variable depletion by some combination of partial melting and liquid contamination of the residua, in a CO₂‐rich system at 10–15 kb (1000–1500 MPa).

Three solid‐state events are indicated by geothermometry. The earliest event is recorded by coarse exsolution lamellae of orthopyroxene in clinopyroxene porphyro‐clasts. These grains formed at 1250°C. A later granoblastic texture equilibrated at 1100°C, and finally the rocks were mylonitised at 800–1000°C and 8–20 kb (800–2000 MPa).

The peridotite is probably a sample of the oceanic mantle trapped between the Java Trench and the Inner Banda Arc. Its emplacement on Timor is not related to obduction, but may be due to transcurrent faulting between the Asian and Australian plates.