Strontium isotope disequilibrium of plagioclase in the Upper Critical Zone of the Bushveld Complex: evidence for mixing of crystal slurries

We report in situ Sr isotope data for plagioclase of the Bushveld Complex. We found disequilibrium Sr isotopic compositions on several scales, (1) between cores and rims of plagioclase grains in the Merensky pyroxenite, the Bastard anorthosite, and the UG1 unit and its noritic footwall, (2) between cores of different plagioclase grains within thin sections of anorthosite and pyroxenite of the Merensky unit, the footwall anorthosite of the Merensky reef and the footwall norite of the UG1 chromitite. The data are consistent with a model of co-accumulation of cumulus plagioclase grains that had crystallized from different magmas, followed by late-stage overgrowth of the cumulus grains in a residual liquid derived from a different level of the compacting cumulate pile. We propose that the rocks formed through slumping of semi-consolidated crystal slurries at the top of the Critical Zone during subsidence of the center of the intrusion. Slumping led to sorting of crystals based on density differences, resulting in a layered interval of pyroxenites, norites and anorthosites.     

Petrogenesis of the Merensky Reef in the Rustenburg section of the Bushveld Complex

A petrogenetic model for the Merensky Reef in the Rustenburg section of the Bushveld Complex has been developed based on detailed field and petrographic observations and electron microprobe data. The model maintains that the reef formed by reaction of hydrous melt and a partially molten cumulate assemblage. The model is devised to account for several key observations: (1) Although the dominant rock type in the Rusterburg sections is pegmatoidal feldspathic pyroxenite, there is a continous range of reef lithology from pyroxenite to pegmatoidal harzburgite and dunite, and small amounts of olivine are present in nearly all pegmatoids. (2) The pegmatoid is usually bounded above and below by chromitite seams and the basal chromitite separated from underlying norite by a centimeter-thick layer of anorthosite. The thicknesses of the two layers exhibit a well-defined, positive correlation. (3) Inclusion of pyroxenite identical to the hanging wall and of leuconorite identical to the footwall are present in the pegmatoid. The leuconorite inclusions are surrounded by thin anorthosite and chromitite layers in the same sequence as that at the base of the reef. (4) Chromite in seams adjacent to plagioclase-rich rocks is characterized by higher Mg/Mg+Fe and Al/R3 and lower Cr/R3 than that in seams adjacent to pyroxene-rich rocks. Similar variations in mineral compositions are observed across individual chromitite seams where the underlying and overlying rock types differ. The chromite compositional variations cannot be rationalized in terms of either fractional crystallization or reequilibration with surrounding silicates. It is proposed that the present reef was originally a melt-rich horizon in norite immediately overlain by relatively crystallized pyroxenite. Magmatic vapor generated by crystallization of intercumulus melt migrated upward through fractures in the cumulate pile below the protoreef. The melt-rich protoreef became hydrated because fractures were unable to propagate through it and because the melt itself was water-undersaturated. Hydration of the intercumulus melt was accompanied by melting, and the hydration/melting front migrated downward into the footwall and upward into the hanging wall. In the footwall melting resulted first in the dissolution of orthopyroxene and then of plagioclase. With continued hydration chromite was stabilized as melt alumina content increased. The regular variations in chromite compositions reflect the original gradients in melt composition at the hydration front. The stratigraphic sequence downward through the base of the reef or pegmatoid (melt)-chromitite-anorthosite-norite represents the sequence of stable mineral assemblages across the hydration/melting front. The sequence is shown to be consistent with knowledge gained from experiments on melting of hydrous mafic systems at crustal pressures. With cooling the hydrated mixture from partial melting of norite footwall and more mafic hanging wall crystallized in the sequence chromite-olivine-pyroxene-plagioclase, with peritectic loss of some olivine. Calculations of mass balance indicate that a significant proportion of the melt was lost from the melt-rich horizon. Variations in the development of the pegmatoid and associated lithologies and amount of modal olivine in the pegmatoids along the strike of the Merensky Reef resulted because the processes of hydration, melting and melt loss operated to varying extents.     

The petrogenesis of Merensky Reef potholes at the Western Platinum Mine, Bushveld Complex: Sr-isotopic evidence for synmagmatic deformation

Potholes represent areas where the normally planar PGE-rich Merensky Reef of the upper Critical Zone of the Bushveld Complex transgresses its footwall, such geometric relationships being unusual in layered intrusions. The recognition of vertical dykes of Merensky pyroxenite in the footwall suggests downward collapse of crystal mush into pull-apart sites resulting from tensional deformation due to the loading effects of major new magma additions. In contrast, crosscutting anorthosite veins display physical and isotopic evidence of upward emplacement. The Merensky Reef and its footwall have distinct initial Sr-isotope ratios (R ₀ > 0.7066 and <0.7066, respectively), which may be used to constrain these processes related to pothole formation. Merensky Reef in potholes (R ₀ = 0.7069−0.7078) shows no isotopic evidence of assimilation of, or reaction with, footwall material. Discrete, discordant replacement bodies of anorthosite extend from the footwall lithologies to cross-cut the Merensky Reef and its hanging wall. The initial Sr-isotope ratio in these replaced rocks is totally reset to footwall values (R ₀ = 0.7066), and immediately adjacent stratiform lithologies are slightly modified towards footwall values. In contrast, Neptunian pyroxenitic (Merensky) dykes cross-cutting the footwall lithologies, with a large surface area to volume ratio, and low Sr content, do not display footwall-like Sr-isotope initial-ratios (R ₀ = 0.7077), and thus show no evidence for assimilation of or reaction with footwall material. Furthermore, pegmatoidal replacement pyroxenite (“replacement pegmatoid”), at the base of the Merensky Reef within potholes, has a high initial-ratio (R ₀ > 0.7071), and so models of pervasive metasomatism by footwall material are not applicable. This isotopic evidence indicates that there was no active interaction of footwall material with the overlying magma during, or after, the formation of Merensky Reef potholes, a basic tenet of existing pothole formation hypotheses involving footwall mass-transfer. In contrast, the isotopic data are entirely consistent with an extensional model for pothole formation, with the more radiogenic Merensky magma migrating laterally to fill extensional zones in the footwall layers. Received: 11 October 1997 / Accepted: 21 December 1998     

Magmatic metasomatism and formation of the Merensky reef,Bushveld Complex

The rare earth element (REE) contents of pyroxenes and other minerals from the Merensky reef and stratigraphically adjacent rocks of the Atok section, Bushveld Complex, have been determined with the ion microprobe. Merensky reef clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene contain much higher and more variable concentrations of the REE than their cumulus counterparts in rocks several meters below the reef. Chondrite-normalized Merensky clinopyroxene Ce contents vary from 10 to 90 for Ce and from 4 to 17 for Yb. They also possess deep, negative Eu anomalies, the Eu anomalics being deeper for crystals having high REE contents and relatively shallow for pyroxenes with low REE contents. Similar compositional characteristics are displayed by Cl-rich apatite, which is an accessory phase in the rocks. Interstitial pyroxene in cumulates above and below the reef also tends to have elevated REE contents and in general is not in equilibrium with coexisting cumulus minerals. The melt from which the cumulus minerals crystallized falls within the compositional range of continental basalts; that from which Merensky and postcumulus pyroxenes crystallized is inferred to be much more highly enriched in REE than any normal tholeiitic or alkalic basalt. Despite their highly evolved nature in terms of the REE, the Merensky reef pyroxenes are not evolved in terms of major elements. The decoupling of incompatible trace and major elements is best explained by a metasomatic process. It is speculated that metasomatism involved upward percolation of hydrated silicate melt through and its reaction with the crystalline cumulate pile. The fact that the rocks enriched in the platinum group elements are also those that show evidence for metasomatism suggests that these elements were also metasomatically redistributed.     

Recycled crustal melt injection into lithospheric mantle: implication from cumulative composite and pyroxenite xenoliths

A rare composite xenolith and abundant cumulative pyroxenites obtained from the Mesozoic Fangcheng basalts on the eastern North China Craton record a complex history of melt percolation and circulation in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle. The composite xenolith has a dunite core and an olivine clinopyroxenite rim. The dunite is of cumulative origin and has a granular recrystallized texture and extremely low Mg# [100 Mg/(Mg + Fe) = 81–82] contents in olivines. The olivine clinopyroxenite contains larger clinopyroxene and/or orthopyroxene with a few fine-grained olivine and tiny phlogopite, feldspar, and/or carbonate minerals interstitial to clinopyroxene. The clinopyroxene has low Mg# (83–85). Compositional similarity between dunitic olivine and pyroxenitic one indicates a sequential crystallization of dunite and pyroxenite from a precursor melt. Pyroxenite xenoliths include olivine websterites and clinopyroxenites, both are of cumulative origin. Estimation of the melt from major oxides in olivines and REE concentrations in clinopyroxenes in these composite and pyroxenite xenoliths suggests a derivation from subducted crustal materials, consistent with the highly enriched EMII-like Sr and Nd isotopic ratios observed in the pyroxenites. Occurrence of phlogopite, feldspar and carbonate minerals in some xenoliths requires the melt rich in alkalis (K, Na), silica and volatiles (water and CO₂) at the latest stage as well, similar to highly silicic and potassic melts. Thus, the occurrence of these composite and pyroxenite xenoliths provides an evidence for voluminous injection of recycled crustal melts into the lithosphere beneath the southeastern North China Craton at the Late Mesozoic, a reason for the rapid lithospheric enrichment in both elemental and isotopic compositions.     

Platinum-group elements in the Boulder Bed,western Bushveld Complex,South Africa

Concentrations of platinum-group elements in samples from the Boulder Bed at five localities in the western Bushveld Complex range between 50 ppb and 70 ppm. Boulders thus have much more variable, and sometimes highly enriched, PGE contents relative to the other lithologies in the immediate foot-wall sequence of the Merensky Reef. The PGE enrichment can largely be modelled as a result of primary magmatic processes including collection of PGE by segregating sulphide melt and fractionation of mss. Other features of the Boulder Bed, such as the selvages of pure anorthosite and the chromitite stringers surrounding some of the boulders, bear evidence of recrystallisation. A model is proposed by which the Boulder Bed formed as a result of a combination of early and late magmatic processes. The PGEs were collected by magmatic sulphide melt which accumulated in a pyroxenite layer. The host rock to the pyroxenite was a thick package of norites which recrystallised in response to upward-migrating magmatic fluids. The fluids caused partial hydration melting of the norites adjacent to the pyroxenite, producing anorthosite. The boulders represent the broken-up remnants of the pyroxenite layer. The selvages of chromite and pure anorthosite around some of the boulders remain poorly understood, but may represent the latest recrystallisation event, in response to localised late-magmatic fluid overpressure upon cooling.     

Origin of the Pegmatitic Pyroxenite in the Merensky Unit, Bushveld Complex, South Africa

The genesis of the pegmatitic pyroxenite that often forms thebase of the Merensky Unit in the Bushveld Complex is re-examined.Large (>1 cm) orthopyroxene grains contain tricuspidate inclusionsof plagioclase, and chains and rings of chromite grains, whichare interpreted to have grown by reaction between small, primaryorthopyroxene grains and superheated liquid. This superheatedliquid may have been an added magma or be due to a pressurereduction as a result of lateral expansion of the chamber. Therewould then have been a period of non-accumulation of grains,permitting prolonged interaction with the crystal mush at thecrystal–liquid interface. Crystal ageing and grain enlargementof original orthopyroxene grains would ensue. Only after thepegmatitic pyroxenite had developed did another layer of chromiteand pyroxenite, with normal grain size, accumulate above it.Immiscible sulphide liquids formed with the second pyroxenite,but percolated down as a result of their density contrast, evenas far as the footwall anorthosite in some cases. Whole-rockabundances of incompatible trace elements in the pegmatiticpyroxenite are comparable with or lower than those of the overlyingpyroxenite, and so there is no evidence for addition and/ortrapping of large proportions of interstitial liquid, or ofan incompatible-element enriched liquid or fluid in the productionof the pegmatitic rock. Because of the coarse-grained natureof the rock, modal analysis, especially for minor minerals,is unreliable. Annealing has destroyed primary textures, suchthat petrographic studies should not be used in isolation todistinguish cumulus and intercumulus components. Geochemicaldata suggest that the Merensky pyroxenite (both pegmatitic andnon-pegmatitic) typically consists of about 70–80% cumulusorthopyroxene and 10–20% cumulus plagioclase, with a further10% of intercumulus minerals, and could be considered to bea heteradcumulate. KEY WORDS: Bushveld Complex; Merensky Reef; pegmatitic textures; cumulate processes; heteradcumulates; recrystallization; incompatible trace elements     

Origin of Pyroxenite-Peridotite Veined Mantle by Refertilization Reactions: Evidence from the Ronda Peridotite (Southern Spain)

The Ronda orogenic peridotite (southern Spain) contains a varietyof pyroxene-rich rocks ranging from high-pressure garnet granulitesand pyroxenites to low-pressure plagioclase–spinel websterites.The ‘asthenospherized’ part of the Ronda peridotitecontains abundant layered websterites (‘group C’pyroxenites), without significant deformation, that occur asswarms of layers showing gradual modal transitions towards theirhost peridotites. Previous studies have suggested that theselayered pyroxenites formed by the replacement of refractoryspinel peridotites. Here, we present a major- and trace-element,and numerical modelling study of a layered outcrop of groupC pyroxenite near the locality of Tolox aimed at constrainingthe origin of these pyroxenites after host peridotites by pervasivepyroxene-producing, refertilization melt–rock reactions.Mg-number [= Mg/(Mg + Fe) cationic ratio] numerical modellingshows that decreasing Mg-number with increasing pyroxene proportion,characteristic of Ronda group C pyroxenites, can be accountedfor by a melt-consuming reaction resulting in the formationof mildly evolved, relatively low Mg-number melts (0·65)provided that the melt fraction during reaction and the time-integratedmelt/rock ratio are high enough (>0·1 and > 1,respectively) to balance Mg–Fe buffering by peridotiteminerals. This implies strong melt focusing caused by melt channellingin high-porosity domains resulting from compaction processesin a partial melted lithospheric domain below a solidus isothermrepresented by the Ronda peridotite recrystallization front.The chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) patterns ofgroup C whole-rocks and clinopyroxenes are convex-upward. Numericalmodeling of REE variations in clinopyroxene produced by a pyroxene-forming,melt-consuming reaction results in curved trajectories in the(Ce/Nd)_N vs (Sm/Yb)_N diagram (where N indicates chondrite normalized).Based on (Ce/Nd)_N values, two transient, enriched domains betweenthe light REE (LREE)-depleted composition of the initial peridotiteand that of the infiltrated melt may be distinguished in thereaction column: (1) a lower domain characterized by convex-upwardREE patterns similar to those observed in Ronda group C pyroxenite–peridotite;(2) an upper domain characterized by melts with strongly LREE-enrichedcompositions. The latter are probably volatile-rich, small-volumemelt fractions residual after the refertilization reactionsthat generated group C pyroxenites, which migrated throughoutthe massif—including the unmelted lithospheric spinel-tectonitedomain. The Ronda mantle domains affected by pyroxenite- anddunite- or harzburgite-forming reactions (the ‘layeredgranular’ subdomain and ‘plagioclase-tectonite’domain) are on average more fertile than the residual, ‘coarsegranular’ subdomain at the recrystallization front. Thisindicates that refertilization traces the moving boundariesof receding cooling of a thinned and partially melted subcontinentallithosphere. This refertilization process may be widespreadduring transient thinning and melting of depleted subcontinentallithospheric mantle above upwelling asthenospheric mantle. KEY WORDS: subcontinental mantle; refertilization; pyroxenite; peridotite; websterite; melt–rock reaction; plagioclase; trace elements     

Modeling the Merensky Reef,Bushveld Complex,Republic of South Africa

The Merensky pegmatoid (normal reef) in the western Bushveld Complex is commonly characterized as a pyroxene-rich pegmatoidal unit with a base that is enriched in chromite and platinum-group element-bearing sulfides overlying a leuconorite footwall. Models for its formation have ranged from those that view it as entirely a magmatic cumulate succession to those that have suggested that it is a zone of volatile-induced remelting. The consequences of the latter interpretation are investigated using the numerical modeling program IRIDIUM, which links diffusive and advective mass and heat transport with a phase equilibration routine based on the MELTS program. The initial system consists of a simple stratigraphic succession of a partially molten leuconorite overlain by a partially molten pyroxenite, both initially at 1,190°C and 2 kbar. 2 wt% of a volatile fluid composed of 75 mol% H₂O, 20 mol% CO₂ and 5 mol% H₂S is then added to the lower 20 cm of the pyroxenite. The system is then allowed to evolve under conditions of chemical diffusion in the liquid. The addition of the volatile components results in a modest increase in the amount of melt in the pyroxenite. However, chemical diffusion across the leuconorite–pyroxenite boundary leads to more extensive melting at and below the boundary with preferential loss of opx from the underlying leuconorite, preferential re-precipitation of sulfide and chromite and concentration of the PGE at this boundary. These results mimic actual mineral and compositional profiles across the Merensky pegmatoid and illustrate that long-term diffusion process can effectively produce mineralogical and compositional layering not present in the original assemblage.     

Experimental melting of a modally heterogeneous mantle

Summary Melting of a spinel lherzolite with a spinel clinopyroxenite layer was investigated experimentally from 3.5 to 20 kbar and from 1200 to 1450 °C. The melt fraction in the spinel pyroxenite layer increases rapidly, and clinopyroxene disappears leaving olivine-spinel residua according to the reaction Cpx + Sp = Ol + Liq. The melt in the pyroxenite layer reacts with the surrounding lherzolite resulting in the formation of an essentially monomineral (olivine) zone with interstitial melt near the former pyroxenite. Melt compositions in the central melt pool are similar to those produced by other authors in melting experiments with peridotites similar to the bulk compositions of our samples. It is suggested that similar small-scale mantle heterogeneities (i.e. thin pyroxenite layers in lherzolite) may exert significant influence on mantle rheology and melt segregation, whereas melt compositions are not strongly affected and controlled by the dominating lherzolite lithology. Received October 10, 2000; revised version accepted August 31, 2001     

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2016.06.005

The formation of anorthosites in layered intrusions has remained one of petrology's most enduring enigmas. We have studied a sequence of layered chromitite, pyroxenite, norite and anorthosite overlying the UG2 chromitite in the Upper Critical Zone of the eastern Bushveld Complex at the Smokey Hills platinum mine. Layers show very strong medium to large scale lateral continuity, but abundant small scale irregularities and transgressive relationships. Particularly notable are irregular masses and seams of anorthosite that have intrusive relationships to their host rocks. An anorthosite layer locally transgresses several 10 s of metres into its footwall, forming what is referred to as a "pothole" in the Bushveld Complex. It is proposed that the anorthosites formed from plagioclase-rich crystal mushes that originally accumulated at or near the top of the cumulate pile. The slurries were mobilised during tectonism induced by chamber subsidence, a model that bears some similarity to that generally proposed for oceanic mass flows. The anorthosite slurries locally collapsed into pull-apart structures and injected their host rocks. The final step was down-dip drainage of Fe-rich intercumulus liquid, leaving behind anorthosite adcumulates.     

Geochemistry of the Merensky reef, Rustenburg Section, Bushveld Complex: controls on the silicate framework and distribution of trace elements

This whole rock and silicate mineral study focuses on the genesis of the Merensky reef sequence, as well as the footwall and hanging wall norites at an area of Rustenburg Platinum Mines in a demonstrably normal (undisturbed) environment. Continuous sampling provides major and trace element variations and mineral compositions and allows an evaluation of the post- liquidus processes which affected the sequence. Following the formation of liquidus phases three stages are envisaged to have modified the rocks. These are (a) migration of fluid during early compaction of cumulates, (b) circulation of fluids within the crystal mush, and (c) reaction and solidification of trapped liquid. Liquidus compositions are nowhere preserved in the sequence. A strong link is demonstrated between orthopyroxene compositions (e.g. Mg# and TiO₂) and the incompatible trace element content of the whole rocks. The final amount of trapped liquid is shown to have been variable but never exceeded 10%. Calculated liquidus (pre-equilibration) orthopyroxene compositions show an up- sequence progression of evolving compositions from the footwall norite to the hanging wall norite. Initial Sr isotopic values do not support a simple magma mixing model by which radiogenic Main Zone magma mixes with that of the Critical Zone at the level of the Merensky reef. There is evidence that the hanging wall norite formed from a much more evolved magma. These conclusions have implications for the distribution and origin of the PGE-enriched Merensky reef package. Received: 7 October 1998 / Accepted: 5 March 1999     

Petrogenesis of the amphibole-rich veins from the Lherz orogenic lherzolite massif (Eastern Pyrenees, France): a case study for the origin of orthopyroxene-bearing amphibole pyroxenites in the lithospheric mantle

The Lherz orogenic lherzolite massif (Eastern French Pyrenees) displays one of the best exposures of subcontinental lithospheric mantle containing veins of amphibole pyroxenites and hornblendites. A reappraisal of the petrogenesis of these rocks has been attempted from a comprehensive study of their mutual structural relationships, their petrography and their mineral compositions. Amphibole pyroxenites comprise clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene and spinel as early cumulus phases, with garnet and late-magmatic K₂O-poor pargasite replacing clinopyroxene, and subsolidus exsolution products (olivine, spinel II, garnet II, plagioclase). The original magmatic mineralogy and rock compositions were partly obscured by late-intrusive hornblendites and over a few centimetres by vein–wallrock exchange reactions which continued down to subsolidus temperatures for Mg–Fe. Thermobarometric data and liquidus parageneses indicate that amphibole pyroxenites started to crystallize at P ≥ 13 kbar and recrystallized at P < 12 kbar. The high Al^VI/Al^IV ratio (>1) of clinopyroxenes, the early precipitation of orthopyroxene and the late-magmatic amphibole are arguments for parental melts richer in silica but poorer in water than alkali basalts. Their modelled major element compositions are similar to transitional alkali basalt with about 1–3 wt% H₂O. In contrast to amphibole pyroxenites, hornblendites only show kaersutite as liquidus phase, and phlogopite as intercumulus phase. They are interpreted as crystalline segregates from primary basanitic magmas (mg=0.6; 4–6 wt% H₂O). These latter cannot be related to the parental liquids of amphibole pyroxenites by a fractional crystallization process. Rather, basanitic liquids mostly reused pre-existing pyroxenite vein conduits at a higher structural level (P ≤ 10 kbar). A continuous process of redox melting and/or alkali melt/peridotite interaction in a veined lithospheric mantle is proposed to account for the origin of the Lherz hydrous veins. The transitional basalt composition is interpreted in terms of extensive dissolution of olivine and orthopyroxene from wallrock peridotite by alkaline melts produced at the mechanical boundary layer/thermal boundary layer transition (about 45–50 km deep). Continuous fluid ingress allowed remelting of the deeper veined mantle to produce the basanitic, strongly volatiles enriched, melts that precipitated hornblendites. A similar model could be valid for the few orthopyroxene-rich hydrous pyroxenites described in basalt-hosted mantle xenoliths. Received: 15 September 1999 / Accepted: 31 January 2000     

Subcalcic clinopyroxenites and associated ultramafic xenoliths in alkali basalt near Glen Innes, northeastern New South Wales, Australia

An alkali basalt near Glen Innes, northeastern New South Wales, contains a suite of Cr-diopside group ultramafic xenoliths which includes some spinel peridotites but which is dominated by a diverse spinel pyroxenite assemblage. Pyroxenite xenoliths range from subcalcic clinopyroxenites (composed largely of unmixed prismatic subcalcic clinopyroxene megacrystals and lesser orthopyroxene megacrystals) to equant mosaic textured websterites (orthopyroxene and Ca-rich clinopyroxene ± spinel). Rare orthopyroxenite xenoliths also occur. The pyroxenite xenoliths are characterised by high 100Mg/(Mg + Fe²⁺) ratios (M˜ 90) and low concentrations of Ti, K, P, La, Ce and Zr. The websterites are mineralogically and chemically similar to many spinel pyroxenites occurring as layers or dykes in peridotite massifs such as those at Ronda in southern Spain and at Ariège (French Pyrénées). T / P estimates indicate crystallization temperatures of 1250–1350 °C for subcalcic clinopyroxene-orthopyroxene megacrystal pairs and 900–1000 °C for the equilibrated mosaic textured websterites and associated peridotites at pressures of 9–13 kbar. Subcalcic clinopyroxene megacrystals, websterites and orthopyroxenites have LREE-depleted chondrite-normalised REE abundances with (La/Yb)_CN < 1 and their convex-upwards REE patterns are typical of subcalcic clinopyroxene-dominated cumulates. The pyroxenites are not residua from partially melted pyroxenite layers or dykes in mantle peridotites nor are they completely crystallized protobasaltic or protopicritic magmas. They are interpreted as high-pressure crystal segregations from basaltic magmas (probably mildly alkaline or transitional) flowing within narrow mantle conduits (the flow crystallization model of Irving, 1980). The parental magma(s) was Ti-poor (0.6–0.7% TiO₂) and relatively Mg-rich (M˜ 74 − 70). Pyroxenite genesis was a two-stage process involving crystallization of tschermakitic subcalcic clinopyroxenes and orthopyroxenes  ±spinel as liquidus or near-liquidus phases at 1250–1350 °C and 9–13 kbar to yield “primary” subcalcic clinopyroxenites which then re-equilibrated at 900–1000 °C and similar pressures to produce the mosaic textured “secondary” websterites. The pyroxenites show a wide range of ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values (0.513298–0.512473 and 0.702689–0.704659, respectively). Their isotopic ratios appear to have been variably modified by exchange with adjacent mantle peridotites or migrating basaltic melts. Received: 11 December 1995 / Accepted: 3 December 1996     

Corundum-bearing Garnet Clinopyroxenites at Beni Bousera (Morocco): Original Plagioclase-rich Gabbros Recrystallized at Depth within the Mantle?

The Beni Bousera ultramafic massif, Morocco, is composed ofperidotite with subordinate garnet pyroxenitc units which belongto two different families: (1) the Type I pyroxenites, whichare characterized by an Fe-enrichment trend; and (2) the TypeII pyroxenites, which are characterized by high but nearly constantMg/Fe ratios and highly variable concentrations of Ca and Al;the latter family includes corundum-bearing garnet pyroxeniteswhich resemble the peraluminous eclogites and grospydites describedas xenoliths in kimberlite diatremes. The Type II pyroxenites appear as layered sheets in the peridotite,and have granuloblastic metamorphic texture. They contain aprimary association of a coarse-grained assemblage (cpx + gt;cpx + gt + sp; cpx + gt + co), and a variety of secondary andtertiary associations includ ng clinopyrox-ene, orthopyroxene,olivine, spinel, corundum, sapphirine, plagioclase, and amphibole.The primary assemblage in the corundum-bearing pyroxenite ischaracterized by clinopyroxene rich in A1₂O₃ (up to 20 wt%),and poor in Na₂O (generally less than 2 wt.%). The clinopyroxenephase is therefore richer in the Ca-Ts molecule than in thejadeite molecule. On the other hand, the composition of theprimary and secondary clinopyroxene and garnet phases showsstrong variation across the pyroxenite sheets. These variationsexpress compositional variations of the rock system across thesheets. The cpx-gt associations indicate high temperatures (1200–1350?C) in the central parts of the sheets. The crystallizationpressure may have reached at least 20 kb in the corundum-bearingassemblages. The bulk-rock composition and the compatible element's behaviourin the Type II pyroxenite sheets suggest that the modal andcryptic layering mainly resulted from igneous fractionationprocesses. The REE patterns of corundum-bearing Type II pyroxeniteare characterized by low concentrations of HREE and by significantEu anomalies. These, together with the high bulk-rock Sr/Ndratios, suggest that plagioclase segregation may have playeda significant part in the rock genesis. These geochemical featuresare similar to those described, in the literature, in some low-pressure,plagioclase-bearing adcumulates (e.g., in the crustal sequenceof the Oman ophiolite). They are quite different from thoseobserved in the Type I pyroxenite sheets in the Beni Bouseramassif, whose geochemistry suggests that plagioclase playedno part in the fractionation process, whereas garnet probablyfractionated as an early igneous phase. The Type II pyroxenitesheets have a primary isotopic signature similar to MORB, basedon the composition of leached clinopyroxene. It is concluded that the Mg-rich Type II pyroxenite sheets resultedultimately from the fractionation of a basaltic melt at lowpressure, and from the accumulation of olivine, clinopyroxene,and plagioclase along dykes cross-cutting the surrounding peridotite.The close similarities with the geochemical features in theOman ophiolite lead us to suggest that these processes may havebeen operative in an oceanic crustal environment. The high-pressureand high-temperature crystallization of the ‘primary’cpx+gt + co assemblage was achieved deep in the mantle, aftersubduction and/or dragging down in convection currents of thisparticular piece of the (oceanic?) lithosphere. Further ascentmay have resulted in partial melting of peridotite and/or pyroxenite,and in the emplacement of the Type I pyroxenite sheets.     

Origin of the UG2 chromitite layer, Bushveld Complex

Chromitite layers are common in large mafic layered intrusions.A widely accepted hypothesis holds that the chromitites formedas a consequence of injection and mixing of a chemically relativelyprimitive magma into a chamber occupied by more evolved magma.This forces supersaturation of the mixture in chromite, whichupon crystallization accumulates on the magma chamber floorto form a nearly monomineralic layer. To evaluate this and othergenetic hypotheses to explain the chromitite layers of the BushveldComplex, we have conducted a detailed study of the silicate-richlayers immediately above and below the UG2 chromitite and anotherchromitite layer lower in the stratigraphic section, at thetop of the Lower Critical Zone. The UG2 chromitite is well knownbecause it is enriched in the platinum-group elements and extendsfor nearly the entire 400 km strike length of the eastern andwestern limbs of the Bushveld Complex. Where we have studiedthe sequence in the central sector of the eastern Bushveld,the UG2 chromitite is embedded in a massive, 25 m thick plagioclasepyroxenite consisting of 60–70 vol. % granular (cumulus)orthopyroxene with interstitial plagioclase, clinopyroxene,and accessory phases. Throughout the entire pyroxenite layerorthopyroxene exhibits no stratigraphic variations in majoror minor elements (Mg-number = 79·3–81·1).However, the 6 m of pyroxenite below the chromitite (footwallpyroxenite) is petrographically distinct from the 17 m of hangingwall pyroxenite. Among the differences are (1) phlogopite, K-feldspar,and quartz are ubiquitous and locally abundant in the footwallpyroxenite but generally absent in the hanging wall pyroxenite,and (2) plagioclase in the footwall pyroxenite is distinctlymore sodic and potassic than that in the hanging wall pyroxenite(An_45–60 vs An_70–75). The Lower Critical Zone chromititeis also hosted by orthopyroxenite, but in this case the rocksabove and below the chromitite are texturally and compositionallyidentical. For the UG2, we interpret the interstitial assemblageof the footwall pyroxenite to represent either interstitialmelt that formed in situ by fractional crystallization or chemicallyevolved melt that infiltrated from below. In either case, themelt was trapped in the footwall pyroxenite because the overlyingUG2 chromitite was less permeable. If this interpretation iscorrect, the footwall and hanging wall pyroxenites were essentiallyidentical when they initially formed. However, all the modelsof chromitite formation that call on mixing of magmas of differentcompositions or on other processes that result in changes inthe chemical or physical conditions attendant on the magma predictthat the rocks immediately above and below the chromitite layersshould be different. This leads us to propose that the Bushveldchromitites formed by injection of new batches of magma witha composition similar to the resident magma but carrying a suspendedload of chromite crystals. The model is supported by the commonobservation of phenocrysts, including those of chromite, inlavas and hypabyssal rocks, and by chromite abundances in lavasand peridotite sills associated with the Bushveld Complex indicatingthat geologically reasonable amounts of magma can account foreven the massive, 70 cm thick UG2 chromitite. The model requiressome crystallization to have occurred in a deeper chamber, forwhich there is ample geochemical evidence. KEY WORDS: Bushveld complex; chromite; crystal-laden magma; crustal contamination; magma mixing; UG2 chromitite     

铂族元素在地壳中的富集:以布什维尔德杂岩为例

地幔是地壳铂族元素富集的主要源库。铂族元素迁移主要有两个途径:(1)地幔部分熔融物质侵入地壳;(2)地幔板片就位于俯冲/碰撞带。前一途径比后一途径重要得多。地幔物质进入地壳造成铂族元素富集并成为可供开采的主矿产而非副产品,这一过程可包含许多成矿作用机制:(i)基性侵入体中Ni-Cu硫化物矿浆的发育,岩浆冷却与分离结晶作用导致富含Cu,Pt,Pd的硫化物矿浆的形成;(ii)层状侵入体一定层位形成高品位的铂族元素硫化物层,伴生或不伴生铬铁岩;(iii)富铂族元素及硫化物的岩浆沿着层状侵入体的边缘就位;(iv)直至层状侵入体结晶分异作用晚期的硫化物不混溶滞后分离;(v)不发育硫化物不混溶作用的铬铁矿结晶作用;(vi)低程度硫化物浸染带中的热液作用与铂族元素富集;(vii)乌拉尔-阿拉斯加型侵入体重结晶过程中的铂族元素与铬铁矿的次生富集作用,岩体在风化过程中形成砂矿床;(viii)黑色页岩形成过程中Pt的富集。南非布什维尔德火成杂岩蕴藏世界Pt资源的75%,Pd资源的54%,Rh资源的82%,并具有(ii)、(iii)、(iv)、(v)、(vi)成矿作用的实例。在这些作用中,作用(ii)形成的现有经济储量和资源量占90%,作用(iii)占9%。Merensky矿层(占总资源量30%)是一个铂族元素富集层位,它含1~3铬铁矿薄层,在可采宽度内硫化物平均含量为1%~3%(质量分数)。硫化物一般被认为是铂族元素的主要聚集体。该矿层由两个或两个以上含硫化物的基性热岩浆上升汇聚而成。这些岩浆的汇聚造成超镁铁质堆晶岩的厚度(主要是斜方辉石岩,某些地区包括橄榄岩)变化于50cm至数米之间。开采通常集中在厚度不到1m的地带。矿层的成因至今仍存在争议,一些观点认为铂族元素来自下部上升的热液流体,另一些观点认为铂族元素来自上部岩浆的硫化物沉降作用,并形成了Merensky辉石岩。已经知道矿层上覆的辉石岩、苏长岩和斜长岩中矿物来自两种岩浆类型:一种富含MgO(12%,质量分数)和Cr,而贫Al2O3(12%);另一种含典型的粒玄岩成分。UG-2铬铁岩含有全部经济资源量的58%,由一0.6~1m厚的铬铁岩层(有时见辉石岩夹层)和上覆的1~3层由铬铁矿所构成的薄层。虽然硫化物被认为至少是某些情况下对铂族元素的富集起作用,但UG-2的硫化物含量(0.5%~1.5%)显著低于Merensky矿层。UG-2层之下共有13个铬铁岩层位,所有的都含铂族元素,虽然铂族元素总含量和(Pt+Pd)/(Ru+Ir+Os)比值远低于UG-2。UG-2内所含的辉石岩"夹层"具高的87Sr/86Sr比值,说明与顶部熔融岩石的混合促进了铬铁岩和硫化物的形成。作用(iii)的主要实例是Platreef。目前它占总资源量的9%。不过,沿该带正积极开展找矿勘探工作,这一比例将来还会提高。这一矿层的厚度比Merensky和UG-2都要大,目前开采厚度达50多米。Platreef呈带状,上部为斜方辉石岩的堆晶岩;下部为辉石岩、长石辉石岩和苏长岩,它们与页岩、铁矿层和白云岩强烈相互作用,直接形成了底盘岩石。笔者认为Platreef是不同期次岩浆作用的结果,这些作用形成了不同的单元产物,包括布什维尔德主岩浆房的UG-2和Merensky矿层。新的岩浆进入主岩浆房会造成先存岩浆移位、岩浆错动并会冲破岩浆房的壁。圆筒状、带状岩管中的超镁铁岩含极高的Pt品位,在布什维尔德杂岩的下部切穿堆晶层,被认为是热液再活化的产物。它们现在未被开采,只是构成存封的铂族元素资源,对整个杂岩体资源没有重要的贡献。     

Genesis of pyroxenite veins in supra-subduction zone peridotites: Evidence from petrography and mineral composition of Egiingol massif (Northern Mongolia)

Swarms of orthopyroxenite and websterite veins are found within Egiingol residual SSZ peridotite massif of Dzhida terrain (Central Asian Orogenic Belt, Northern Mongolia). The process of Egiingol pyroxenite veins formation is investigated using new major and trace element analyses of pyroxenite minerals, calculations of closure temperatures and composition of equilibrium melt. The pyroxenites show abundant petrographic and geochemical evidence for replacement of the residual peridotite minerals by ortho- and clinopyroxene due to melt-rock interaction. Relics of peridotite olivines are found in pyroxenites, Cr^# of spinel increases from peridotites to pyroxenites, and compositions of ortho- and clinopyroxene change from peridotite to pyroxenite. The authors show that calculated equilibrium melts for investigated pyroxenites are very similar to compositions of boninite lavas from the Dzhida terrain. Therefore, formation of pyroxenite veins most likely resulted from percolation of boninite melts through the Egiingol peridotites. Orthopyroxenite veins formed at first, followed by websterite veins. Thus, the authors assume that pyroxenite veins represent the channels for boninitic melts migration in supra-subduction environment.     

High-pressure Partial Melting of Mafic Lithologies in the Mantle

We review experimental phase equilibria associated with partialmelting of mafic lithologies (pyroxenites) at high pressuresto reveal systematic relationships between bulk compositionsof pyroxenite and their melting relations. An important aspectof pyroxenite phase equilibria is the existence of the garnet–pyroxenethermal divide, defined by the enstatite–Ca-Tschermakspyroxene–diopside plane in CaO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂projections. This divide appears at pressures above 2 GPa inthe natural system where garnet and pyroxenes are the principalresidual phases in pyroxenites. Bulk compositions that resideon either side of the divide have distinct phase assemblagesfrom subsolidus to liquidus and produce distinct types of partialmelt ranging from strongly nepheline-normative to quartz-normativecompositions. Solidus and liquidus locations are little affectedby the location of natural pyroxenite compositions relativeto the thermal divide and are instead controlled chiefly bybulk alkali contents and Mg-numbers. Changes in phase volumesof residual minerals also influence partial melt compositions.If olivine is absent during partial melting, expansion of thephase volume of garnet relative to clinopyroxene with increasingpressure produces liquids with high Ca/Al and low MgO comparedwith garnet peridotite-derived partial melts. KEY WORDS: experimental petrology; mantle heterogeneity; partial melting; phase equilibrium; pyroxenite     

Trace Element and Platinum Group Element Distributions and the Genesis of the Merensky Reef, Western Bushveld Complex, South Africa

The Merensky Reef of the Bushveld Complex is one of the world'slargest resources of platinum group elements (PGE); however,mechanisms for its formation remain poorly understood, and manycontradictory theories have been proposed. We present precisecompositional data [major elements, trace elements, and platinumgroup elements (PGE)] for 370 samples from four borehole coresections of the Merensky Reef in one area of the western BushveldComplex. Trace element patterns (incompatible elements and rareearth elements) exhibit systematic variations, including small-scalecyclic changes indicative of the presence of cumulus crystalsand intercumulus liquid derived from different magmas. Ratiosof highly incompatible elements for the different sections areintermediate to those of the proposed parental magmas (CriticalZone and Main Zone types) that gave rise to the Bushveld Complex.Mingling, but not complete mixing of different magmas is suggestedto have occurred during the formation of the Merensky Reef.The trace element patterns are indicative of transient associationsbetween distinct magma layers. The porosity of the cumulatesis shown to affect significantly the distribution of sulphidesand PGE. A genetic link is made between the thickness of theMerensky pyroxenite, the total PGE and sulphide content, petrologicaland textural features, and the trace element signatures in thesections studied. The rare earth elements reveal the importantrole of plagioclase in the formation of the Merensky pyroxenite,and the distribution of sulphide. KEY WORDS: Merensky Reef; platinum group elements; trace elements