Petrology and geochemistry of peridotite xenoliths from the Letlhakane kimberlites, Botswana |
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Authors: | J Stiefenhofer K S Viljoen J S Marsh |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Geology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa, ZA;(2) Bernard Price Institute of Geophysical Research, Hugh Allsopp Laboratory, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa, ZA |
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Abstract: | The diamondiferous Letlhakane kimberlites are intruded into the Proterozoic Magondi Belt of Botswana. Given the general correlation
of diamondiferous kimberlites with Archaean cratons, the apparent tectonic setting of these kimberlites is somewhat anomalous.
Xenoliths in kimberlite diatremes provide a window into the underlying crust and upper mantle and, with the aid of detailed
petrological and geochemical study, can help unravel problems of tectonic setting. To provide relevant data on the deep mantle
under eastern Botswana we have studied peridotite xenoliths from the Letlhakane kimberlites. The mantle-derived xenolith suite
at Letlhakane includes peridotites, pyroxenites, eclogites, megacrysts, MARID and glimmerite xenoliths. Peridotite xenoliths
are represented by garnet-bearing harzburgites and lherzolites as well as spinel-bearing lherzolite xenoliths. Most peridotites
are coarse, but some are intensely deformed. Both garnet harzburgites and garnet lherzolites are in many cases variably metasomatised
and show the introduction of metasomatic phlogopite, clinopyroxene and ilmenite. The petrography and mineral chemistry of
these xenoliths are comparable to that of peridotite xenoliths from the Kaapvaal craton. Calculated temperature-depth relations
show a well-developed correlation between the textures of xenoliths and P-T conditions, with the highest temperatures and pressures calculated for the deformed xenoliths. This is comparable to xenoliths
from the Kaapvaal craton. However, the P-T gap evident between low-T coarse peridotites and high-T deformed peridotites from the Kaapvaal craton is not seen in the Letlhakane xenoliths. The P-T data indicate the presence of lithospheric mantle beneath Letlhakane, which is at least 150 km thick and which had a 40mW/m2 continental geotherm at the time of pipe emplacement. The peridotite xenoliths were in internal Nd isotopic equilibrium at
the time of pipe emplacement but a lherzolite xenolith with a relatively low calculated temperature of equilibration shows
evidence for remnant isotopic disequilibrium. Both harzburgite and lherzolite xenoliths bear trace element and isotopic signatures
of variously enriched mantle (low Sm/Nd, high Rb/Sr), stabilised in subcontinental lithosphere since the Archaean. It is therefore
apparent that the Letlhakane kimberlites are underlain by old, cold and very thick lithosphere, probably related to the Zimbabwe
craton. The eastern extremity of the Proterozoic Magondi Belt into which the kimberlites intrude is interpreted as a superficial
feature not rooted in the mantle.
Received: 19 March 1996 / Accepted: 16 October 1996 |
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