Intraplutonic Quench Zones in the Kap Edvard Holm Layered Gabbro Complex, East Greenland

The Kap Edvard Holm Layered Gabbro Complex is a large layeredgabbro intrusion (>300 km²) situated on the opposite sideof the Kangerdlugssuaq fjord from the Skaergaard Intrusion.It was emplaced in a continental margin ophiolite setting duringearly Tertiary rifting of the North Atlantic. Gabbroic cumulates, covering a total stratigraphic thicknessof >5 km, have a typical four-phase tholeiitic cumulus mineralogy:plagioclase, clinopyroxene, olivine, and Fe–Ti oxides.The cryptic variation is restricted (plagioclase An_81–51,olivine Fo_85–66, clinopyroxene Wo_43–41 En_46–37Fs_20–11) and there are several reversals in mineral chemistry.Crystallization took place in a low-pressure, continuously fractionatingmagma chamber system which was periodically replenished andtapped. Fine-grained (0•2–0•4 mm) equigranular, thin(0•5–3 m), laterally continuous basaltic zones occurwithin an {small tilde}1000 m thick layered sequence in theTaco Point area. Twelve such zones define the bases of individualmacrorhythmic units with an average thickness of {small tilde}80m. The fine-grained basaltic zones grade upwards, over a fewmetres, into medium-grained (>1 mm) poikilitic, olivine gabbrowith smallscale modal layering. Each fine-grained basaltic zoneis interpreted as an intraplutonic quench zone in which magmachilled against the underlying layered gabbros during influxalong the chamber floor. Supercooling by {small tilde}50C isbelieved to have caused nucleation of plagioclase, olivine,and clinopyroxene in the quench zone. The nucleation rate isbelieved to have been enhanced as the result of in situ crystallizationin a continuously flowing magma. The transition to the overlyingpoikilitic olivine gabbro reflects a decreasing degree of supercooling. Compositional variation in the Taco Point sequence is typicalfor an open magma chamber system: olivine (Fo_{77–68 5})and plagioclase cores (An_80–72) show a zig-zag crypticvariation pattern with no overall systematic trend. Olivinehas the most primitive compositions in the quench zones andmore evolved compositions in the olivine gabbro; plagioclasecores show the opposite trend. Although plagioclase cores arebelieved to retain their original compositions, olivines re-equilibratedby reaction with trapped liquid. Some plagioclase cores containrelatively sodic patches which retain quench compositions. Whole-rock compositions of nine different quench zones varyover a range from 10 to 18% MgO although the mg-number remainsconstant at {small tilde}0•78. The average composition(47•7% SiO₂, 13•3%MgO, 1•57% Na₂O+K₂O) is takenas a best estimate of the parental magma composition, and isequivalent to a high-magnesian olivine tholeiite. The compositionalvariation of the quench zones is believed to reflect burstsof nucleation and growth of olivine and plagioclase during quenching. Magma emplacement is believed to have taken place by separatetranquil influxes which flowed along the interface between alargely consolidated cumulus pile and the residual magma. Theresident magma was elevated with little or no mixing. At certainlevels in the layered sequence the magma drained back into thefeeder system; such a mechanism is referred to as a surge-typemagma chamber system.