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     

新疆北山地区罗东镁铁质-超镁铁质层状岩体岩石成因

罗东镁铁质-超镁铁质岩体位于塔里木板块东北部的新疆北山地区,岩体平面形态为眼球状,出露面积约2.1 km2.由纯橄岩、单辉橄榄岩、斜长二辉橄榄岩、橄榄二辉岩、方辉辉石岩、橄长岩、橄榄辉长岩、辉长岩、苏长辉长岩和淡色辉长岩组成,堆晶结构和堆晶韵律发育,属于层状岩体.岩浆演化过程中主要分离结晶/堆晶相是橄榄石和单斜辉石,此...     

金川Ⅰ号岩体橄榄石Ni-MgO相互关系及其地质意义

金川超镁铁质岩体赋存着仅次于加拿大Sudbury和俄罗斯Noril'sk-Talnakh的世界第三大在采铜镍硫化物矿床,岩体以一系列的NE向断层为界分成四个小岩体,由西至东依次为:Ⅲ、Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅳ岩体.Ⅰ号岩体主要由二辉橄榄岩、含辉橄榄岩和橄榄二辉岩构成,橄榄石在各岩相中均为保存较好的主要造岩矿物.本文研究得到金川Ⅰ号岩体上部二辉橄榄岩和含辉橄榄岩中橄榄石的镁橄榄石F_o值介于83.9～85.7,而其Ni含量为1396×10~(-6)～2043×10~(-6),大多低于从S不饱和玄武岩浆中结晶出来的橄榄石的Ni含量.模拟计算结果表明橄榄石较低的Ni含量是因为橄榄石结晶的同时,发生了强烈的硫化物熔离;橄榄石的Fo-Ni关系还因与晶间硅酸盐熔浆的物质交换而发生改变.模拟计算还证明大约有30%的晶间硅酸盐岩浆与橄榄石发生Fe-Mg物质交换反应,导致早结晶橄榄石的Fo值减少了1～1.5.同时,橄榄石较小的Fo值变化表明,在橄榄石结晶和硫化物熔离过程中,不断有新的岩浆贯入和补充.     

Olivine xenocrysts in picritic magmas

Experimental partial melting of plagioclase lherzolite at 0.7 MPa confining pressure has produced euhedral olivine crystals by corrosion and overgrowth during cooling. The particular conditions of this experiment allow observation of both processes recorded in the crystal shape: corrosion boundaries are rounded, or straight when parallel to [001] intersection of {110} planes; (010) and {110} facets are developed by fast overgrowth during quenching. These observations support the contention that phenocrysts in basaltic or picritic magmas are, in part, xenocrysts. The possible mantle origin of olivine crystals in two natural occurrences of ultramafic magmas; the picritic pillow lavas of the Troodos, and a wehrlitic intrusion of the oman ophiolite, is investigated. In both cases discriminant characteristics are deduced from detailed microstructural study. The mantle origin of olivine megacrysts in the investigated picrites raises the question about the existence of picritic magmas in the mantle.     

新疆东天山黄山东岩体橄榄石成因意义探讨

黄山东岩体位于新疆东天山造山带中段,由四次岩浆侵入形成:第一次侵入形成了岩体上部的橄榄辉长岩、角闪辉长岩和闪长岩,构成岩体的主体;第二次侵入形成辉长苏长岩,呈岩墙状分布于岩体西端和西北部;第三次侵入岩石为斜长二辉橄榄岩,位于岩体下部,为主要的赋矿岩石;第四次侵入岩石为底部角闪辉长岩。橄榄石为第三次侵入的斜长二辉橄榄岩和第一次侵入的橄榄辉长岩主要造岩矿物之一,橄榄石的镁橄榄石牌号(Fo)值介于68.5～82.5之间。其中含硫化物斜长二辉橄榄岩中的橄榄石具有较高的Fo值(79.7～82.5);斜长二辉橄榄岩中橄榄石的Fo值为78.3～79.9;而基性程度较低的橄榄辉长岩中橄榄石具有较低的Fo值(68.5～72.2)。利用橄榄石矿物成分计算得出黄山东岩体母岩浆Mg#(Mg2+/(Mg2++Fe2+))为0.59,为原生玄武质岩浆经历结晶分异作用形成。模拟计算结果显示黄山东岩体不含矿岩石中橄榄石是母岩浆经过2%的橄榄石结晶分异且硫达到饱和后,在硫化物熔离的同时岩浆发生橄榄石结晶而形成,并且橄榄石︰硫化物≈50︰1,部分橄榄石成分投点在橄榄石结晶和硫化物熔离的模拟曲线右下侧,指示它们可能受到晶间硅酸盐熔浆作用的影响。含硫化物斜长二辉橄榄岩中Fo值与Ni含量呈负相关关系,说明橄榄石与硫化物熔体之间发生了Fe-Ni交换反应。     

A new type of orthopyroxenite xenolith from Takashima, Southwest Japan: silica enrichment of the mantle by evolved alkali basalt

We found fine-grained Fe-rich orthopyroxene-rich xenoliths (mainly orthopyroxenite) containing partially digested dunite fragments of Group I from Takashima, Southwest Japan. Orthopyroxenite veinlets, some of which contain plagioclase at the center, also replace olivine in dunite and wehrlite xenoliths of Group I. This shows high reactivity with respect to olivine of the melt involved in orthopyroxenite formation, indicating its high SiO₂ activity. The secondary orthopyroxene of this type is characterized by low Mg# [= Mg/(Mg + total Fe) atomic ratio] (down to 0.73) and high Al₂O₃ contents (5–6 wt%). It is different in chemistry from other secondary orthopyroxenes found in peridotite xenoliths derived from the mantle wedge. Clinopyroxenes in the Fe-rich orthopyroxenite show a convex-upward REE pattern with a crest around Sm. This pattern is strikingly similar to that of clinopyroxenes of Group II pyroxenite xenoliths and of phenocrystal and xenocrystal clinopyroxenes, indicating involvement of similar alkali basaltic melts. The Fe-rich orthopyroxenite xenoliths from Takashima formed by reaction between evolved alkali basalt melt and mantle olivine; alkali basalt initially slightly undersaturated in silica might have evolved to silica-oversaturated compositions by fractional crystallization at high-pressure conditions. The Fe-rich orthopyroxenites occur as dikes within the uppermost mantle composed of dunite and wehrlite overlying pockets of Group II pyroxenites. The orthopyroxene-rich pyroxenites of this type are possibly common in the uppermost mantle beneath continental rift zones where alkali basalt magmas have been prevalent.     

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.     

Geochemical and mineralogical evidence for the occurrence of at least three distinct magma types in the ‘famous’ region

Bulk rock major and trace element variations in selected basalts from the Famous area, in conjunction with a detailed study of the chemical compositions of phenocryst minerals and associated melt inclusions are used to place constraints on the genetic relationship among the various lava types. The distribution of NiO in olivine and Cr-spinel phenocrysts distinguishes the picritic basalts, plagioclase phyric basalts and plagioclase-pyroxene basalts from the olivine basalts. For a given Mg/Mg+Fe²⁺ atomic ratio of the mineral, the NiO content of these phenocrysts in the former three basalt types is low relative to that in the phenocrysts in the olivine basalts. The Zr/Nb ratio of the lavas similarly distinguishes the olivine basalts from the plagioclase phyric and plagioclase pyroxene basalts and, in addition, distinguishes the picritic basalts from the other basalt types. These differences indicate that the different magma groups could not have been processed through the same magma chamber, and preclude any direct inter-relationship via open or closed system fractional crystallization.The Fe-Mg partitioning between olivine and host rock suggests that the picritic basalts represent olivine (±Cr-spinel) enriched magmas, derived from a less MgO rich parental magma. The partitioning of Fe and Mg between olivine, Cr-spinel and coexisting liquid is used to predict a primary magma composition parental to the picritic basalts. This magma is characterized by relatively high MgO (12.3%) and CaO (12.6%) and low FeO^* (7.96%) and TiO₂ (0.63%).Least squares calculations indicate that the plagioclase phyric basalts are related to the plagioclase-pyroxene basalts by plagioclase and minor clinopyroxene and olivine accumulation. The compositional variations within the olivine basalts can be accounted for by fractionation of plagioclase, clinopyroxene and olivine in an open system, steady state, magma chamber in the average proportions 453223. It is suggested that the most primitive olivine basalts can be derived from a pristine mantle composition by approximately 17% equilibrium partial melting. Although distinguished by its higher Zr/Nb ratio and lower NiO content of phenocryst phases, the magma parental to the picritic basalts can be derived from a similar source composition by approximately 27% equilibrium partial melting. It is suggested that the parental magma to the plagioclase-pyroxene and plagioclase phyric basalts might have been derived from greater depth resulting in the fractionation of the Zr/Nb ratio by equilibration with residual garnet.C.O.B. Contribution No. 722     

Ultrabasic Xenoliths and Lava from the Lashaine Volcano, Northern Tanzania

The Lashaine tuff-ring consists of carbonatite tuff and glassyscoria of ankaramitic composition. The pyroclastics encloseejected blocks of country-rock metamorphic rocks and a suiteof ultramafic blocks which are divisible into two groups. Thefirst group, characterized by xenomorphic granular textures,contains rocks comprising varying combinations of pyrope garnet,spinel, magnesian olivine and orthopyroxene, chromiferous diopside,and phlogopite. Analyses are given for garnet lherzolite, lherzolite,harzburgite, and wehrlite and their separate phases. The chemistryof the garnet lherzolite and its phases resembles that of garnetperidotite nodules in kimberlite diatremes, and the A1₂O₂ contentand Ca/Ca+Mg ratio of the clinopyroxenes in the lherzolite andwehrlite indicate more affinities with those in mantle-derivedrocks rather than with peridotites derived by accumulation froma basaltic melt. The phlogopite in a mica garnet lherzolite,that otherwise resembles other mantle garnet peridotites, isan unusual variety containing > 9 per cent TiO₂. The othergroup of ultramafic xenoliths, characterized by cumulate andidiomorphic textures, comprises pyroxenite, with or withoutolivine, mica and amphibole, and mica dunite. Analyses are givenfor a mica dunite and its separate phases. The pressure andtemperature of formation of the various rock-types are estimated,and the relationship of the rocks to each other and to the hostlava is discussed. The chemistry of the host lava is discussedin the light of current experimental data and also in relationto the Northern Tanzania volcanic province. The significanceof the presence of mica in the upper mantle is also discussed.     

Origin of wehrlite cumulates in the Moho transition zone of the Neoproterozoic Ras Salatit ophiolite,Central Eastern Desert,Egypt: crustal wehrlites with typical mantle characteristics

Ultramafic cumulates, mainly crustal true wehrlites, were discovered and described in the mantle–crust transition zone (MTZ) and the extremely lower layered gabbro sequence of the Ras Salatit ophiolite, Central Eastern Desert, Egypt. They form either boudinaged lensoidal tabular bodies or interdigitated layers often concordant with the planolinear fabrics of the Ras Salatit ophiolite rocks. The contact between wehrlites and the host MTZ dunite or layered gabbro is razor sharp, lobate and/or sinuous, without chilled margins or any visible deformations. The Ras Salatit wehrlites are orthopyroxene-free and composed mainly of olivine and clinopyroxene. They are texturally equilibrated and show a characteristic poikilitic texture. Crystallization order of the Ras Salatit wehrlites is olivine/spinel followed by clinopyroxene with the absence of plagioclase. Olivine and clinopyroxene of the Ras Salatit wehrlites are compositionally uniform and conspicuously high in Mg#, mostly around 0.93 and 0.92, respectively. Moreover, the clinopyroxene shows low Ti and Al contents coupled with marked depletion in LILE. The calculated melt in equilibrium with clinopyroxene from the Ras Salatit wehrlites is largely similar to lavas from the Izu-Bonin forearc. Given the above characteristics, the Ras Salatit wehrlites were produced by crystal accumulation from a hydrous depleted basaltic/tholeiitic melt corresponding to temperatures between 1,000 and 1,100°C at the oceanic crustal pressure (~2 kbar). The involved hydrous tholeiitic melt has been probably formed by fluid-assisted partial melting of a refractory mantle source (similar to the underlying harzburgites) in a somewhat shallow sub-arc environment.     

Gabbro Akarem mafic-ultramafic complex, Eastern Desert, Egypt: a Late Precambrian analogue of Alaskan-type complexes

Summary ?Gabbro Akarem is a Late-Precambrian concentrically-zoned mafic-ultramafic intrusion located along a major fracture zone trending NE-SW in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. It intruded low-grade metasedimentary rocks, and has a contact metamorphic aureole a few meters wide. This intrusion comprises a dunite core enveloped by clinopyroxene hornblende-bearing lherzolite, olivine-hornblende clinopyroxenite and plagioclase hornblendite. The contacts between the rock types are gradational. They have cumulate textures and the observed crystallization sequence is: olivine ( + cotectic spinel)-orthopyroxene (Opx)-clinopyroxene (Cpx)-hornblende. Mafic minerals from the core of the intrusion are highly magnesian, a consistent increase in the Mg# of olivine (from 69 to 87), Opx (from 62 to 89), Cpx (from 85 to 96) and hornblends (from 62 to 88) is observed from the mafic to the ultramafic units. Spinel has a wide range of Cr# and Mg# ratios. The various rock units define a fractionation trend. The mafic rocks are slightly LREE-enriched relative to the ultramafic units and chondrites. In many aspects, the Gabbro Akarem intrusion is similar to Alaskan-type complexes. Mineralogical and geochemical data suggest that the different rock units were fractionated from a hydrous picritic magma with no apparent crustal contamination. A petrogenetic model involving a rapid rise of hydrous mantle magma along a major fracture zone is proposed. Extensive fractional crystallization led to magma chamber stratification; internal circulation and strong vertical stretching up the center of the rapidly rising diapir increased the rate of magma ascent towards the core. Due to cooling and high viscosity the marginal mafic magma was partly crystallized while the unsolidified core ultramafic magma continued its ascent. As a result, different mineral phases crystallized at different pressure-temperature paths. Field relations, geophysical, petrological and experimental studies support this model which explains many of the characteristics of the Gabbro Akarem and some other concentrically zoned mafic-ultramafic intrusions. Received April 24, 2001; revised version accepted November 20, 2001     

Ultramafic and mafic xenoliths from Hierro,Canary Islands: evidence for melt infiltration in the upper mantle

Three groups of ultramafix xenoliths were collected from alkali basalt in the island of Hierro, Canary Islands: (1) Cr-diopside series (spinel harzbugite, lherzolite, dunite); (2) Al-augite series xenoliths (spinel wherlite, olivine clinopyroxenite, dunite, olivine websterite); (3) gabbroic xenoliths. The main textures are granoblastic, porphyroclastic and granular, but poikilitic textures, and symplectitic intergrowths of clinopyroxene (cpx) + spinel (sp)±orthopyroxene (opx)±olivine (ol) (in rare cases cpx+opx), occur locally. Textural relations and large inter- and intra-sample mineral chemical variations testify to a complex history of evolution of the mantle source region, involving repeated heating, partial melting, and enrichment associated with infiltration by basaltic melts. The oldest assemblage in the ultramafic xenoliths (porphyroclasts of ol+opx±sp±cpx) represents depleted abyssal mantle formed within the stability field of spinel lherzolite. The neoblast assemblage [ol+cpx+ sp±opx±plagioclase (plag)±ilmenite (il)±phlogopite (phlog)] reflect enrichment in CaO+Al₂O₃+Na₂O+ FeO±TiO₂±K₂O±H₂O through crystal/liquid separation processes and metasomatism. The Al-augite-series xenoliths represent parts of the mantle where magma infiltration was much more extensive than in the source region of the Cr-diopside series rocks. Geothermometry indicates temperature fluctuations between about 900–1000 and 1200°C. Between each heating event the mantle appears to have readjusted to regional geothermal gradient passing 950°C at about 12 kbar. The gabbroic xenoliths represent low-pressure cumulates.     

Clinopyroxene REE Geochemistry of the Red Hills Peridotite, New Zealand: Interpretation of Magmatic Processes in the Upper Mantle and in the Moho Transition Zone

The Red Hills peridotite in the Dun Mountain ophiolite of SouthIsland, New Zealand, is assumed to have been produced in a paleo-mid-oceanridge tectonic setting. The peridotite is composed mostly ofharzburgite and dunite, which represent residual mantle andthe Moho transition zone (MTZ), respectively. Dunite channelswithin harzburgite blocks of various scales represent the MTZcomponent. Plagioclase- and clinopyroxene-bearing dunites occursporadically within common dunites. These dunites representproducts of melt–wall-rock interaction. Chondrite-normalizedrare earth element (REE) patterns of MTZ clinopyroxenes showa wide compositional range. Clinopyroxenes in plagioclase dunitesare extremely depleted in light REE (LREE) ([Lu/La]_N >100),and are comparable with clinopyroxenes in abyssal peridotitesfrom normal mid-ocean ridges. Interstitial clinopyroxenes inthe common dunite have flatter patterns ([Lu/La]_N 2) comparablewith those for dunite in the Oman ophiolite. Clinopyroxenesin the lower part of the residual mantle harzburgites are evenmore strongly depleted in LREE ([Lu/La]_N = 100–1000) thanare mid-ocean ridge peridotites, and rival the most depletedabyssal clinopyroxenes reported from the Bouvet hotspot. Incontrast, those in the uppermost residual mantle harzburgiteand harzburgite blocks in the MTZ are less LREE depleted ([Lu/La]_N= 10–100), and are similar to those in plagioclase dunite.Clinopyroxenes in the clinopyroxene dunite in the MTZ are similarto those reported from mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) cumulates,and clinopyroxenes in the gabbroic rocks have compositions similarto those reported from MORB. Strong LREE and middle REE (MREE)depletion in clinopyroxenes in the harzburgite suggests thatthe harzburgites are residues of two-stage fractional melting,which operated initially in the garnet field, and subsequentlycontinued in the spinel lherzolite field. The early stage meltingproduced the depleted harzburgite. The later stage melting wasresponsible for the gabbroic rocks and dunite. Strongly LREE–MREE-depletedclinopyroxene in the lower harzburgite and HREE-enriched clinopyroxenein the upper harzburgite and plagioclase dunite were formedby later reactive melt migration occurring in the harzburgite. KEY WORDS: clinopyroxene REE geochemistry; Dun Mountain ophiolite; Moho transition zone; orogenic peridotite; Red Hills     

Origin of some magmas in oceanic and circum-oceanic regions

Partial melting experiments on spinel-lherzolite, a rock which probably occurs in relatively shallow parts of the oceanic upper mantle, demonstrate that alkali basaltic melt is formed at depths of at least 20 kbar whereas tholeiitic melt is formed at lower pressures (< 15 kbar) under anhydrous conditions. The specimen studied was a relatively iron-rich natural spinel-lherzolite (Fe/Mg+Fe=0.15) and the melts produced have ratios comparable to those obtained in basalts. Slight increase of degree of partial melting produces picritic melt over a wide pressure range. Under hydrous (water-excess) conditions, andesitic melt is produced by partial melting of the same natural spinel-lherzolite and a synthetic lherzolite. The melting experiments on two different abyssal tholeiites from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge suggest that the derivation of olivine tholeiite from a more mafic magma or a mantle peridotite (lherzolite) is possible, but is limited to depths shallower than 25 km under essentially anhydrous conditions, whereas plagioclase tholeiite may have been formed by fractional crystallization at depths of about 20 km in the presence of a small amount (～ 2 wt.%) of water.It is suggested that under mid-ocean ridges, partial melting of spinel-lherzolite at depths shallower than 60 km would produce olivine-tholeiitic magma, which differentiates at shallower levels (20–25 km) under either essentially anhydrous or hydrous (but vapor-absent) conditions to produce abyssal tholeiites of olivine-tholeiite type or plagioclase-tholeiite type. It may be also possible that the former olivine-tholeiite is generated by direct partial melting of plagioclase-lherzolite. Alkali basalts in the oceanic region may be generated at depths greater than 50 km by relatively small degree of partial melting. Along island arcs and continental margins, where the subduction zones probably exist, partial melting of lherzolite would take place in the presence of water that may be supplied by breakdown of hydrous minerals in the subducted oceanic crust, thereby producing andesitic magmas. High-alumina basalt magma could be produced by partial melting of the dehydrated oceanic crust in the subduction zone at depths between 40 and 60 km, where garnet is unstable above the solidus.     

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.     

Formation of plagioclase-bearing peridotite and plagioclase-bearing wehrlite and gabbro suite through reactive crystallization: an experimental study

Plagioclase-bearing peridotites are commonly associated with gabbroic rocks sampled around the Moho Transition Zone. Based on mineral chemistry, texture, and spatial relations, the formation of plagioclase-bearing peridotites has been attributed to impregnation of basalt into residual peridotites. We conducted reactive dissolution and crystallization experiments to test this hypothesis by reacting a primitive mid-ocean ridge basalt with a melt-impregnated lherzolite at 1,300 °C and 1 GPa and then cooling to 1,050 °C as pressure decreased to 0.7 GPa. Crystallization during cooling produced lithologic sequences of gabbro–wehrlite or gabbro–wehrlite–peridotite, depending on reaction time. Wehrlitic and peridotitic sections contain significant amounts of plagioclase interstitial to olivine and clinopyroxene and plagioclase compositions are spatially homogeneous. Clinopyroxene in the wehrlite–peridotite section is reprecipitated from the melt and exhibits poikilitic texture with small rounded olivine chadacrysts. Mineral composition in olivine and clinopyroxene varies spatially, both at the scale of the sample and within individual grains. Olivine grains that crystallized close to the melt–peridotite interface are enriched in iron due to their proximity to the basaltic melt reservoir. Consistent with many field studies, we observed gradual spatial variation in olivine and clinopyroxene composition across a lithologically sharp boundary between the gabbro and wehrlite–peridotite. Plagioclase compositions show no obvious dependence on distance from the melt–rock interface and were precipitated from late-stage trapped melts. Compositional trends of olivine, pyroxene, and plagioclase are consistent with previous experimental results and natural observations of the Moho Transition Zone. Different lithological sequences form based primarily on the melt–rock ratio, composition of the melt and host peridotite, and thermochemical conditions, but are expected to grade from gabbro to wehrlite or troctolite to peridotite. Plagioclase-bearing peridotite represents the low melt–rock ratio end member where pyroxene is only partially replaced by olivine and melt, whereas dunite is expected to form where melts overwhelm and consume all other phases. This study confirms that under nominally anhydrous conditions, the gabbro–wehrlite–plagioclase-peridotite sequence can be formed by reaction between basalt and lherzolite and subsequent crystallization at intermediate to low pressures. Melt–rock reaction is a fundamental process in the formation of new crust at the shallowest part of the melting column where pyroxene-undersaturated melts percolate through depleted peridotite.     

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.     

The dunite bodies, websterite and orthopyroxenite dikes of the Leka ophiolite complex, Norway

Summary The investigated mantle section of the Leka ophiolite complex extends 1.4 km from and 1.1 km along the exposed Moho. The foliated peridotite contains numerous tabular and elongated dunite bodies, orthopyroxenite dikes, websterite veins, and dikes. The foliation of the peridotite is inclined by about 45° to the Moho. The dunite bodies and the dikes cut the foliation at low angles. The dunite bodies vary in width from 0.1 to 50 m and in length from 10 m to more than 1 km. Wider dunite bodies are commonly surrounded by 0 to 1.0 m wide margins of dunitized peridotite. Websterite veins may be present outside these margins. Apart from sporadic chromite layers the dunite is very homogenous. The dunite bodies are considered to have formed by deposition of olivine along the walls of dikes originally containing tholeiitic melt. The tholeiitic melt at first heated the peridotitic sidewalls so that they became partially molten and dunitized. The ascending magma then eroded the sidewalls and removed olivine as xenocrysts. When the ascent rate decreased, the temperature of the sidewalls decreased, so that olivine (Fo_89–92) began to crystallize along the dike walls. There is also evidence for percolative melt migration along foliation planes, however, the largest proportion of the melts intruded along dikes. The websterite dikes are mostly 1 to 4 cm wide and 3 to 20 m long and dispersed with mutual distances of 20–50 m. The websterite veins and dikes probably originated from melts that were generated along the heated sidewalls of the dunite bodies. The 0.02 to 10 m wide orthopyroxenite dikes have exceptionally high MgO contents for their SiO₂ contents; about 36 wt.% MgO and 50 wt.% SiO₂. They may have formed as segregates from a SiO₂-rich magma, although the parent magma does not appear to have been boninitic. The parent magma may instead have formed by second stage partial melting of depleted lherzolite.     

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.     

赣北程浪超基性-基性杂岩特征及其Sm-Nd等时线年龄

扬子古地台板块东南前缘发育一系列晚前寒武纪移置地体。本文着重论述了彭庐地体与障公山地体间深断裂带内的铁质超基性－基性杂岩特征。主要岩石类型有纯橄榄岩、二辉橄榄岩、斜辉橄榄岩、含长橄榄辉石岩、角闪岩及辉长岩、辉绿岩。其全岩钐钕等时线年龄为８２８．６±２７．９Ｍａ,属晋宁运动产物。杂岩体产状与地体边界深断裂产状一致,与晚前寒武纪围岩地层产状斜交。杂岩体片理产状与围岩轴面流劈理产状一致,被后寒武纪地台沉积盖层不整合覆盖。推测,地体在拼贴挤压过程中,玄武岩浆从上地幔上升过程中携带了大量超基性岩块沿深断裂侵入上升就位。