Geochemistry of mafic igneous rocks of the northern Prince Charles Mountains,Antarctica

Rare mafic dykes, which intrude 1000 Ma high‐grade metamorphic rocks of the northern Prince Charles Mountains‐Mawson Coast area, are compositionally distinct from abundant early to middle Proterozoic tholeiite dykes, which are confined to Archaean or early Proterozoic terrains in the southern Prince Charles Mountains and elsewhere in East Antarctica, and which have therefore proved useful as stratigraphic markers. The younger dykes (and extrusive rocks) are a composition‐ally heterogeneous group with a wide range of ages (at least Cambrian to Eocene), although most are of K‐rich alkaline composition or have alkaline affinites. Their strong enrichment in highly incompatible elements (Rb, Ba, Th, Nb, K, Pb, Th and U) relative to less incompatible elements (La, Ce and P) suggests derivation by partial melting of more enriched mantle source regions than those of most of the Proterozoic tholeiite suites. However, unlike the latter, many incompatible element ratios have been significantly affected by fractional crystallisation and possibly also by the presence of residual minor phases during low degrees of melting.