Geothermal gradient of the upper mantle beneath Jeju Island, Korea: Evidence from mantle xenoliths

Abstract Ultramafic xenoliths found in alkali basalts from Jeju Island, Korea are mostly spinel lherzolites accompanied by subordinate amount of spinel harzburgites and pyroxenites. The combination of results from a two-pyroxene geothermometer and Ca-in-olivine geobarometer yields temperature–pressure (T–P) estimates for spinel peridotites that fall in experimentally determined spinel lherzolite field in CaO-Fe-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-Cr₂O₃ (CFMASCr) system. These T–P data sets have been used to construct the Quaternary Jeju Island geotherm, which defines a locus from about 13 kbar at 880°C to 26 kbar at 1040°C. The geothermal gradient of Jeju Island is greater than that of the conventional conductive models, and may be as a result of a thermal perturbation by the heat input into the lithospheric mantle via the passage and emplacement of magma. Spinel–lherzolite is the main constituent rock-type of the lithospheric mantle beneath Jeju Island. Pyroxenites may be intercalated in peridotites at similar depth and temperature as re-equilibrated veins or lenses.     

Geochemistry of peridotite xenoliths in alkali basalts from Jeju Island, Korea

Abstract   Ultramafic xenoliths in alkali basalts from Jeju Island, Korea, are mostly spinel lherzolites with subordinate amounts of spinel harzburgites and pyroxenites. The compositions of major oxides and compatible to moderately incompatible elements of the Jeju peridotite xenoliths suggest that they are residues after various extents of melting. The estimated degrees of partial melting from compositionally homogeneous and unfractionated mantle to form the residual xenoliths reach 30%. However, their complex patterns of chondrite-normalized rare earth element, from light rare earth element (LREE)-depleted through spoon-shaped to LREE-enriched, reflect an additional process. Metasomatism by a small amount of melt/fluid enriched in LREE followed the former melt removal, which resulted in the enrichment of the incompatible trace elements. Sr and Nd isotopic ratios of the Jeju xenoliths display a wide scatter from depleted mid-oceanic ridge basalt (MORB)-like to near bulk-earth estimates along the MORB–oceanic island basalt (OIB) mantle array. The varieties in modal proportions of minerals, (La/Yb)_N ratio and Sr-Nd isotopes for the xenoliths demonstrate that the lithospheric mantle beneath Jeju Island is heterogeneous. The heterogeneity is a probable result of its long-term growth and enrichment history.     

Characteristics of subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath Baegryeong Island, Korea: Spinel peridotite xenoliths

Abstract   Geochemical data on Baegryeong Island spinel peridotites found in Miocene alkali basalt provide the information for lithosphere composition, chemical processes, equilibrium pressure and temperature conditions. Spinel peridotite xenoliths, showing transitional textures between protogranular and porpyroclastic textures, were accidentally trapped by the ascending alkali basalt magma. The xenoliths originate at depths from 50 to 70 km with a temperature range from 800 to 1100°C. The variations of modal and mineral compositions of the spinel peridotite xenoliths indicate that the xenoliths have undergone 1–10% fractional melting. The spinel peridotites from Baegryeong Island have undergone cryptic mantle metasomatism subsequent to melt extraction. Metasomatic agent of enriched spinel peridotite xenoliths was carbonatite melt.     

Geodynamic significance of ultramafic xenoliths from Eastern Serbia: Relics of sub-arc oceanic mantle?

A suite of highly depleted peridotite xenoliths in East Serbian Palaeogene basanites represents the lithospheric mantle beneath the Balkan Peninsula. The xenoliths are harzburgites, clinopyroxene-poor lherzolites and rare dunites. They contain mostly <5 vol.% of modal clinopyroxene and are characterized by high Mg# in silicates (>91), high Cr# in spinel (mostly 0.5–0.7), and by distinctively low Al₂O₃ contents in orthopyroxene (mostly 1–2 wt.%). They have experienced some mantle metasomatism which has slightly obscured their original composition. Nevertheless, the general characteristics of the xenoliths imply a composition which is significantly more depleted than most non-cratonic sub-continental mantle xenolith suites, as well as orogenic peridotites and abyssal peridotites. Geological and compositional evidence suggests that the xenoliths do not represent Archean mantle. The existence of Proterozoic mantle cannot be entirely excluded, although it is in disagreement with geological evidence. On the other hand, the studied xenoliths are compositionally very similar to peridotites of modern oceanic sub-arc settings. The existence of such a depleted lithospheric mantle segment is also inferred from the presence of rare orthopyroxene-rich xenoliths in the same suite. These are interpreted to have originated as lithospheric precipitates of high-Mg, SiO₂-saturated magmas that require a highly depleted mantle source. Such source is typically required by boninitic-like magmas of intraoceanic suprasubduction settings. A proposed geodynamic model to explain these observations involves accretion or underplating of the lower parts of the Tethyan oceanic lithosphere during the Upper Jurassic closure of the eastern branch of the Vardar ocean.     

A petrologic model for the constitution of the upper mantle and crust of the Koolau shield,Oahu, Hawaii,and Hawaiian magmatism

A petrological model for the uppermost upper mantle and crust under the Koolau shield to a depth of about 60 km has been derived on the basis of petrology of the upper mantle and crustal xenoliths in nephelinites of the Honolulu Volcanic Series. Three main xenolith suites exist in the Koolau shield: dunites, spinel lherzolites, and garnet-bearing pyroxenites. On the basis of mineralogy, it is inferred that the dunites represent cumulates in shallow crustal tholeiitic magma chambers, the spinel lherzolites form a thick (～ 40 km) layer in the upper mantle, and the garnet pyroxenite suite occurs as veins and stringers in the spinel lherzolites at about 60 km depth.The eruption sequence in a Hawaiian volcano, i.e., tholeiite → transitional basalt → alkali basalt, is generated by partial melting of a volatile-bearing garnet-lherzolite part of a lithospheric plate as it rides over a hot spot. If the tholeiite, transitional, and alkali basalts of Hawaiian volcanoes are generated at the same depth, then the observed sequence of lavas requires replenishment of the source area with volatiles and gradual decrease of the degree of partial melting with time. Post-erosional olivine nephelinites are produced from isotopically distinct, deeper source area, which may be the asthenosphere.     

High-pressure inclusions in tholeiitic basalt and the range of lherzolite-bearing magmas in the Tasmanian volcanic province

Spinel-lherzolite xenoliths have been found in olivine tholeiite near Andover in the Tasmanian Tertiary volcanic province. They show a high-pressure mineralogy of predominant olivine (Mg₉₀), with aluminous enstatite (Mg₉₀) and lesser aluminous diopside and chrome-bearing spinel, and resemble lherzolite xenoliths commonly found in undersaturated lavas. Such xenoliths are unusual in tholeiitic basalts and the occurrence directly attests to a mantle origin for at least some tholeiitic magmas.The lherzolites are accompanied by doleritic and pyroxenitic xenoliths and by olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and plagioclase xenocrysts. If near-liquidus phases are represented amongst the xenocrysts, then the magnesian number of the host basalt and its xenocryst assemblage provisionally suggest a magma derived by more than 15–20% partial melting of mantle peridotite, before commencing xenocryst crystallisation at pressures between 8–13 kbar.With this new record, lherzolite-bearing lavas in Tasmania now cover an extremely wide compositional range, extending from highly undersaturated olivine melilitite to olivine tholeiite. They also include a considerable number of fractionated alkaline rocks that are only sparsely reported in the literature as lherzolite hosts. This latter group contains representatives of a previously suggested but unestablished alkaline fractionation series based on olivine nephelinite, viz. calcic olivine nephelinite → sodic olivine nephelinite → potassi-sodic olivine nephelinite → mafic nepheline benmoreite → mafic phonolite.Lherzolite and megacryst-bearing lavas are relatively more abundant in peripheral parts to the main basalt sequences in Tasmania. This suggests that they developed in fringing zones of less intense mantle melting which enhanced stagnation and fractionation of magmas within the mantle before eruption. Calculated crustal thicknesses under these areas suggest that the magmas were generated at pressures exceeding 6–11 kbar, with the Andover tholeiitic magma exceeding 9 kbar.     

Petrological feature of spinel lherzolite xenolith from Oki-Dogo Island: An implication for variety of the upper mantle peridotite beneath southwestern Japan

Abstract   Spinel lherzolite is a minor component of the deep-seated xenolith suite in the Oki-Dogo alkaline basalts, whereas other types of ultramafic (e.g. pyroxenite and dunite) and mafic (e.g. granulite and gabbro) xenoliths are abundant. All spinel lherzolite xenoliths have spinel with a low Cr number (Cr#; < 0.26). They are anhydrous and are free of modal metasomatism. Their mineral assemblages and microtextures, combined with the high NiO content in olivine, suggest that they are of residual origin. But the Mg numbers of silicate minerals are lower (e.g. down to Fo₈₆) in some spinel lherzolites than in typical upper mantle residual peridotites. The clinopyroxene in the spinel lherzolite shows U-shaped chondrite-normalized rare-earth element (REE) patterns. The abundance of Fe-rich ultramafic and mafic cumulate xenoliths in Oki-Dogo alkali basalts suggests that the later formation of those Fe-rich cumulates from alkaline magma was the cause of Fe- and light REE (LREE)-enrichment in residual peridotite. The similar REE patterns are observed in spinel peridotite xenoliths from Kurose and also in those from the South-west Japan arc, which are non-metasomatized in terms of major-element chemistry (e.g. Fo > 89), and are rarely associated with Fe-rich cumulus mafic and ultramafic xenoliths. This indicates that the LREE-enrichment in mantle rocks has been more prominent and prevalent than Fe and other major-element enrichment during the metasomatism.     

Complete mantle section of a slow-spreading ridge-derived ophiolite: An example from the Isabela ophiolite in the Philippines

Abstract   The Isabela ophiolite shows a complete ophiolite sequence exposed along the eastern coast of northern Luzon, the Philippines. It forms the Cretaceous basement complex for the northeastern Luzon block. This ophiolite is located at the northern end of a trail of ophiolites and ophiolitic bodies along the eastern margin of the Philippine Mobile Belt. This paper presents new findings regarding the nature and characteristics of the Isabela ophiolite. Peridotites from the Isabela ophiolite are relatively fresh and are composed of spinel lherzolites, clinopyroxene-rich harzburgites, depleted harzburgites and dunites. The modal composition, especially the pyroxene content, defines a northward depletion trend from fertile lherzolite to clinopyroxene-rich harzburgites and more refractory harzburgites. Variation in modal composition is accompanied by petrographic textural variations. The chromium number of spinel, an indicator of the degree of partial melting, concurs with petrographic observations. Furthermore, the Isabela ophiolite peridotites are similar in spinel and olivine major-element geochemistry and clinopyroxene rare earth-element composition to abyssal peridotites from modern mid-oceanic ridges. Petrological and mineral compositions suggest that the Isabela ophiolite is a transitional ophiolite subtype, with the fertile lherzolites representing lower sections of the mantle column that are usually absent in most ophiolitic massifs. The occurrence of the fertile peridotite presents a rare opportunity to document the lower sections of the ophiolitic mantle. The variability in composition of the peridotites in one continuous mantle section may also represent a good analogy of the melting column in the present-day mid-oceanic ridges.     

由包体推导的河北汉诺坝下地壳-上地幔地温线及其地质意义

通过对采自河北汉诺坝玄武岩中的下地壳和上地幔包体的详细研究 ,建立了本区下地壳—上地幔地温线。该地温线高于大洋地温线和古老地盾地温线 ,接近克拉通边缘的地温线 ,符合该区的大地构造环境。由该地温线建立的下地壳—上地幔地质结构剖面表明 ,该区下地壳主要由不同类型的麻粒岩相岩石组成 ,其化学成分以镁铁质为主 ,深度范围为 2 5～ 4 2km。上地幔由超镁铁质的二辉橄榄岩组成 ,在尖晶石二辉橄榄岩和石榴石二辉橄榄岩之间有一过渡层。由地温线确定的壳幔边界位于 4 2km附近 ,与地震资料确定的莫霍面一致 ,但在壳幔边界之上的下地壳底部有下地壳麻粒岩和超镁铁质岩的互层。这一现象可以解释在下地壳底部常见的层状反射层。该区岩石圈底界大约在 95km ,其下的软流层仍由石榴石二辉橄榄岩组成     

Trace element and Sr and Nd isotope geochemistry of peridotite xenoliths from the Eifel (West Germany) and their bearing on the evolution of the subcontinental lithosphere

Peridotite xenoliths from the Eifel can be divided into incompatible element-depleted and -enriched members. The depleted group is restricted to dry lherzolites whereas the enriched group encompasses dry harzburgites, dry websterite and amphibole and/or phlogopite-bearing peridotites. Isotopically the depleted group is very diverse with¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ranging from 0.51302 to 0.51355 and⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr from 0.7041 to 0.7019, thus occupying a field larger than expected for oceanic-type subcontinental mantle. These xenoliths are derived from a mantle which appears to have diverged from a bulk-earth Nd and Sr isotopic evolution path 2 Ga ago as a consequence of partial melting. The combination of high¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd with high⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr in some members of the depleted-xenoliths suite is likely to be the result of incipient reaction with incompatible element-enriched fluids in the mantle. In the enriched group such reactions have proceeded further and erased any pre-enrichment isotope memory resulting in a smaller isotopic diversity (¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd 0.51256–0.51273,⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr 0.7044–0.7032). An evaluation of SmHf and YbHf relationships suggests that the amphibole-bearing lherzolites and harzburgites acquired their high enrichment of light rare earth elements by fluid infiltration into previously depleted peridotite rather than by silicate melt-induced metasomatism. Upper mantle composed of such metasomatized peridotites does not represent a potential source for the basanites and nephelinites from the Eifel. The isotopic and chemical diversity of the subcontinental lithospheric part of the mantle may result from it having remained isolated from the convecting mantle for times > 1 Ga.     

Petrological and seismic studies of the lithosphere in the earthquake swarm region Vogtland/NW Bohemia,central Europe

New petrological and geochemical data of upper mantle and lower crustal xenoliths from a Quaternary tephra deposit in Mýtina, Czech Republic, are discussed in the frame of previous geophysical results (receiver functions, reflection seismology) of the western Eger/Ohře Rift area. The Vogtland/NW Bohemia region is well known for intraplate earthquake swarms, which are usually associated with volcanic activity. As previously reported, ³He/⁴He data of CO₂ emissions in mofettes and mineral-water springs point at ongoing magmatic processes in this area. Using teleseismic P receiver functions, an approximately 40-km-wide Moho updoming (from 31 to 27 km) and indications for a seismic discontinuity at 50 to 60 km depth were observed beneath the active CO₂-degassing field. The studied xenolith suite probes a lithospheric profile within the structural and gas geochemical anomaly field of the western Eger Rift.With regard to texture, composition, p–T estimates and origin, five xenolith groups can be discriminated. Upper crustal xenoliths (quartzites, phyllites, mica schists) resemble crystalline country rocks at surface. One noritic xenolith (6 kbar, 800 °C) could represent a sample of the lower crust. Clinopyroxenites and hornblendites probably represent cumulates of the nephelinitic magma or fragments of magmatic veins. Porous wehrlites and one hornblende peridotite xenolith reflect a metasomatied upper mantle. Megacrysts of Ti-rich amphibole, olivine, clinopyroxene, and phlogopite could be fragments of pegmatitic veins or high-pressure phenocrysts. Most of the ultramafic nodules (xenoliths and megacrysts) formed at pressures between 6 and 11 kbar (22 to 38 km depth), at temperatures well above regional geotherms of the Bohemian Massif calculated from surface heat flow studies. Orthopyroxene-bearing spinel-lherzolite xenoliths were not observed. Our petrographical, geochemical, and thermobarometric results indicate a lithospheric mantle strongly altered by magmatic processes. This metasomatism can cause slower than typical uppermost-mantle seismic velocities in a greater area and might help to explain observed seismic anomalies.     

Petrology and genetic significance of an ultramafic xenolith suite from Tahiti

A suite of ultramafic xenoliths 2–10 cm in size occurs in basanite near Papeete, Tahiti, and consists of spinel lherzolites with minor dunites and wehrlites. Petrographic examination of xenoliths reveals that they are typically coarse grained with well-developed annealed textures. Microprobe analyses of constituent minerals in 11 xenoliths indicate that bulk compositions of xenoliths are magnesian but with significant variability from xenolith to xenolith especially in Fe/Mg and Cr/Al ratios and in absolute amounts of Al₂O₃ and Cr₂O₃. Within any single xenolith, however, coexisting minerals are homogeneous and appear to be compositionally equilibrated. Geothermometry of coexisting orthopyroxene and augite indicates temperatures of equilibration of about 1100°C but there is considerable uncertainty in this estimate due to significant non-quadrilateral pyroxene substitutions. There is no accurate way to determine pressures, but the ubiquity of Cr-poor spinel and absence of garnet imply pressures less than about 15–20 kbar.The margins of most xenoliths show significant alteration through reaction with enclosing alkaline magma. Principal reaction features include zoning of spinels and olivines toward compositions in equilibrium with the magma, and reaction-melting of orthopyroxene to a symplectite of olivine plus silica-rich glass. Glass composition profiles across the symplectites indicate that alkalis, titanium and aluminum diffused into the symplectite from the magma and that silica diffused into the magma. All glass analyses show very low iron, magnesium and calcium.Xenolith mineral assemblages and chemistry indicate their origin in the upper mantle at relatively shallow depths. They are therefore not related genetically to the enclosing basanite magma which came from deeper in the mantle, but rather are accidental fragments of country rock picked up by magma on its way to the surface. The details of the reaction features strongly imply that the magma had partially crystallized by the time it reacted with xenoliths, possibly while still in the mantle.     

Experimental evidence for the exsolution of cratonic peridotite from high-temperature harzburgite

Phase equilibrium experiments were performed on typical ‘oceanic’ and ‘cratonic’ peridotite compositions and a Ca, Al-rich orthopyroxene composition, to test the proposal that garnet lherzolites exsolved from high-temperature harzburgites, and to further our understanding of the origin of ancient cratonic lithospheres. ‘Oceanic’ peridotites crystallize a garnet harzburgite assemblage at pressures above 5 GPa in the temperature range 1450–1600°C, but at 5 GPa and temperatures less than 1450°C, crystallize clinopyroxene to become true lherzolites. ‘Cratonic’ peridotites crystallize a garnet harzburgite assemblage at pressures above 5 GPa in the temperature range 1300–1600°C. Garnet-free harzburgite crystallizes from both ‘cratonic’ and ‘oceanic’ peridotite at temperatures above 1450°C and pressures below 4.5–5 GPa. Phase relations for the high Ca, Al-rich orthopyroxene composition essentially mirror those for ‘oceanic’ peridotite.The complete solution of garnet and clinopyroxene into orthopyroxene observed in all three starting compositions at temperatures near or above the mantle solidus at pressures less than 6 GPa supports the hypothesis that garnet lherzolite could have exsolved from harzburgite. The inferred cooling path for the original high-temperature harzburgite protoliths of garnet lherzolites differs depending on bulk composition. The precursor harzburgite protoliths of garnet lherzolites and harzburgites with ‘cratonic’ bulk compositions apparently experienced simple isobaric cooling from formation temperatures near the peridotite solidus to those at which most of these peridotites were sampled in the mantle (< 1200°C). The cooling histories for harzburgite protoliths of sheared garnet lherzolites with ‘oceanic’ compositional affinity are speculated to have involved convective circulation of mantle material to depths deeper than those at which it was originally formed.Phase equilibria and compositional relationships for orthopyroxenes produced in phase equilibrium experiments on peridotite and komatiite are consistent with an origin for ‘cratonic’ peridotite as a residue of Archean komatiite extraction, which has since cooled and exsolved clinopyroxene and garnet to become the common low-temperature, coarse-grained peridotite thought to comprise the bulk of the mantle lithosphere beneath the Archean Kaapvaal craton.     

Intracratonic asthenosphere upwelling and lithosphere rejuvenation beneath the Hoggar swell (Algeria): Evidence from HIMU metasomatised lherzolite mantle xenoliths

The mantle xenoliths included in Quaternary alkaline volcanics from the Manzaz-district (Central Hoggar) are proto-granular, anhydrous spinel lherzolites. Major and trace element analyses on bulk rocks and constituent mineral phases show that the primary compositions are widely overprinted by metasomatic processes. Trace element modelling of the metasomatised clinopyroxenes allows the inference that the metasomatic agents that enriched the lithospheric mantle were highly alkaline carbonate-rich melts such as nephelinites/melilitites (or as extreme silico-carbonatites). These metasomatic agents were characterized by a clear HIMU Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic signature, whereas there is no evidence of EM1 components recorded by the Hoggar Oligocene tholeiitic basalts. This can be interpreted as being due to replacement of the older cratonic lithospheric mantle, from which tholeiites generated, by asthenospheric upwelling dominated by the presence of an HIMU signature. Accordingly, this rejuvenated lithosphere (accreted asthenosphere without any EM influence), may represent an appropriate mantle section from which deep alkaline basic melts could have been generated and shallower mantle xenoliths sampled, respectively. The available data on lherzolite xenoliths and alkaline lavas (including He isotopes, Ra < 9) indicate that there is no requirement for a deep plume anchored in the lower mantle, and that sources in the upper mantle may satisfactorily account for all the geochemical/petrological/geophysical evidence that characterizes the Hoggar swell. Therefore the Hoggar volcanism, as well as other volcanic occurrences in the Saharan belt, are likely to be related to passive asthenospheric mantle uprising and decompression melting linked to tensional stresses in the lithosphere during Cenozoic reactivation and rifting of the Pan–African basement. This can be considered a far-field foreland reaction of the Africa–Europe collisional system since the Eocene.     

Fertile and barren AlCr-spinel harzburgites from the upper mantle: Ion and electron probe analyses of trace elements in olivine and orthopyroxene: Relation to lherzolites

Ion and electron microprobe analyses of twenty-one CrAl-spinel harzburgite xenoliths from southern African kimberlites show two chemical groups. Orthopyroxenes from “fertile” harzburgites have higher CaO (mean of 11, 0.95 wt.%), Al₂O₃ (3.05 wt.%), Cr₂O₃ (0.85 wt.%) and Li (0.8 ppmw) than those from “barren” harzburgites (mean of 10, CaO 0.24 wt.%, Al₂O₃ 1.10 wt.%, Cr₂O₃ 0.35 wt.%, Li 0.3 ppmw). Olivines from all harzburgites have similar chemistry except that mean values of Li and Na are higher for barren than fertile harzburgites (Li 0.9 vs. 0.4 ppmw; Na₂O 16 vs. 7 ppmw). Orthopyroxenes from fertile harzburgites are chemically distinct from those in garne lherzolites from southern Africa and spinel lherzolites from southwest U.S.A., but orthopyroxenes from barren harzburgites are indistinguishable from those in many coarse garnet lherzolites.Chromium, Ca, Ni, Na and Li in coexisting olivines and orthopyroxenes from the above rock types show complex patterns, which for Ca, Cr and Ni can be related to pressure and temperature. Temperatures from an empirically calibrated thermometer based on Ni-Mg exchange between olivine and orthopyroxene, measured modes of harzburgites (fertile, mean of 10: ol 68, opx 31, spinel-silicate intergrowth <0.5; barren, mean of 8: ol 76, opx 23, spinel and spinel-silicate intergrowth 1), and high-pressure experimental studies suggest (a) that harzburgites are residues of partial melting, (b) that barren harzburgites were melted to a greater extent at a higher temperature (though probably at a similar depth) than fertile harzburgites, and (c) that incomplete reequilibration during retrograde metamorphism has led to development of complex inter- and intragranular textures, probably in the range ～700–900°C.     

Textural, isotopic and REE variations in spinel peridotite xenoliths, Massif Central, France

Sr and Nd isotope analyses and REE patterns are presented for a suite of well-documented mantle-derived xenoliths from the French Massif Central. The xenoliths include spinel harzburgites, spinel lherzolites and some pyroxenites. They show a wide range of textures from undeformed protogranular material through porphyroclastic to equigranular and recrystallised secondary types. Textural differences are strongly linked to trace element geochemistry and variations in radiogenic isotope ratios. Many undeformed protogranular xenoliths are Type IA LREE-depleted with MORB-type ε_Sr values between − 30.7 and − 23.6, and ε_Nd values + 13.9 to + 9.4. A second group of undeformed xenoliths are Type IB LREE-enriched with higher ε_Sr values (− 22.7 to − 10.6) and lower ε_Nd values (+ 11.9 to + 5.6). Deformed xenoliths with porphyroclastic, equigranular and secondary recrystallised textures are all Type IB (LREE-enriched, ε_Nd < 6.4, ε_Sr > 11.8). It is proposed that two separate events have given rise to the observed mixing arrays: (1) MORB-source depleted mantle was enriched by a component derived from an enriched mantle. Deformation and recrystallisation accompanied this event. (2) Subsequently, unenriched MORB-source mantle interacted with magmas chemically akin to the host basalts, and enrichment occurred with little deformation. Hypotheses of Tertiary mantle diapirism resulting in isochemical deformation and refinement of protogranular mantle to equigranular mantle are untenable because of differences in REE patterns and isotopic ratios between different textural groups.     

Temperature and pressure condition of garnet lherzolite and websterite from west Qinling,China

The mineral thermobarometry proposed in literature is used to calculate the equilibrium temperature and pressure of garnet lherzolite and websterite xenoliths within the Cenozoic kamafugite from west Qinling, Gansu Province, China. The results show that the equilibrium temperature and pressure of garnet lherzolites and websterite and 1127–1266°C, 2.9–3.6 Gpa and 1169–1248°C, 2.8–3.2 Gpa respectively. The equilibrium peressures reach or exceed the equilibrium peressure of spinel lherzolites (2.0–3.0 GPa), and fall into the stability range of garnet peridotite. The equilibrium temperature of the xenoliths reach or exceed the ocean geotherm, identical with the melting temperature of kamafugite magma determined by experiments under the conditions of post-orogenic lithosphere extension. So the thermal state of Cenozoic mantle of the west Qinling may be fit to generate the kamafugite magmatism. The research on petrology-mineralogy and geobarothermometry of the xenoliths shows that both garnet lherzolite and websterite are mantle components of the west Qinling, and may be considered as source rocks of the Cenozoic kamafugite magma.

     

Ancient Os isotope signatures from the Ontong Java Plateau lithosphere: Tracing lithospheric accretion history

In order to better understand the nature and formation of oceanic lithosphere beneath the Early Cretaceous Ontong Java Plateau, Re–Os isotopes have been analysed in a suite of peridotite xenoliths from Malaita, Solomon Islands. Geological, thermobarometric and petrological evidence from previous studies reveal that the xenoliths represent virtually the entire thickness of the southern part of subplateau lithospheric mantle (< 120 km). This study demonstrates that vertical Os isotopic variations correlate with compositional variations in a stratified lithosphere. The shallowest plateau lithosphere (< 85 km) is dominated by fertile lherzolites showing a restricted range of ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os (0.1222 to 0.1288), consistent with an origin from ~ 160 Ma Pacific lithosphere. In contrast, the basal section of subplateau lithospheric mantle (~ 95–120 km) is enriched in refractory harzburgites with highly unradiogenic ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratios ranging from 0.1152 to 0.1196, which yield Proterozoic model ages of 0.9–1.7 Ga. Although the whole range of Os isotope compositions of Malaita peridotites is within the variations seen in modern abyssal peridotites, the contrasting isotopic compositions of shallow and deep plateau lithosphere suggest their derivation from different mantle reservoirs. We propose that the subplateau lithosphere forms a genetically unrelated two-layered structure, comprising shallower, typical oceanic lithosphere underpinned by deeper impinged material, which included a component of recycled Proterozoic lithosphere. The impingement of residual but chemically heterogeneous mantle, mechanically coupled to the recently formed, thin lithosphere, may have a bearing on the anomalous initial uplift and late subsidence history of the seismically anomalous plateau root.     

Petrology of the Green Knobs diatreme and implications for the upper mantle below the Colorado Plateau

Peridotite inclusions, crystal fragments, and kimberlite breccia at Green Knobs, New Mexico, have been studied to evaluate compositions and processes in the upper mantle below the Colorado Plateau. Most peridotite inclusions are spinel lherzolites and harzburgites, or their partly hydrated equivalents, in the Cr-diopside group. Orthopyroxene-rich websterites and olivine websterites comprise 3% of the peridotites and formed as cumulates. Typical anhydrous or slightly hydrated peridotites contain aluminous, calcic diopside (5–7% Al₂O₃), aluminous orthopyroxene (3–6% Al₂O₃), spinel, and olivine (near Fa₉). Geothermometers based on different mineral pairs yield temperatures from above 1100°C to below 700°C in single rocks. High values, derived from pyroxenes with included exsolution lamellae, may approximate temperatures of primary crystallization. Low values, based on olivine-spinel and olivine-clinopyroxene pairs, approach upper mantle temperatures before eruption. In rare samples, some spinel grains are rimmed by garnet while others are not rimmed; garnet formation was controlled by nucleation kinetics. About one-third of the peridotites were deformed shortly before eruption, with effects ranging from mild cataclasis to the production of ultramylonites.Discrete crystals of garnet, olivine (near Fa₈), and Cr-diopside represent garnet peridotite. Eclogites were not found. The garnet peridotite is more depleted than overlying spinel peridotite, and it is not a likely source for the minettes associated with the kimberlites.The mantle below Green Knobs consists of spinel peridotite from 45 to perhaps 60 km depth immediately underlain by more-depleted garnet peridotite. The position of the spinel-garnet transition may be fixed by kinetics. The kimberlite may have been produced when heat from ascending minette magma released volatiles from otherwise depleted garnet peridotite. Resulting gas-solid mixtures erupted along zones of deformation associated with Colorado Plateau monoclines. Sheared lherzolites formed during renewed movement along these zones.     

Thermal structure and rheology of upper mantle beneath Zhejiang Province, China

The paleogeotherm derived from spinel and garnet lherzolites xenoliths for the upper mantle beneath Zhejiang Province, China is higher than the oceanic geotherm but is similar to the geotherm for the upper mantle beneath eastern China constructed by Xu et al. and the upper mantle geotherm of southeastern Australia. The crust-mantle boundary defined by this geotherm is about 34 km, while the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary is about 75 km. This result coincides well with geophysical data. The study of rheological features of the xenoliths has revealed that at least two periods of deformation events occurred in the upper mantle beneath this region. The first event might be related to upper mantle diapir occurring in this region before or during late Tertiary, and the second might be related to the occurrence of small-scale shear zones in the upper mantle. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 49472105).