Silica enrichment of Group II xenoliths by evolved alkali basalt from Jeju Island, South Korea: implication for modification of intraplate deep-seated rocks

Group II xenoliths, corresponding to the lithology of dunite, wehrlite to olivine clinopyroxenite and olivine websterite to websterite, occur in Pleisto-Holocene alkali basalts from Jeju Island, South Korea. The large grain size (up to 5?mm), moderate mg# [=100?×?Mg/(Mg?+?Fe_total) atomic ratio] of olivine (79–82) and pyroxenes (77–83), and absence of metamorphic textural features indicate that they are cumulates of igneous origin. Based on textural features, mineral equilibria and major and trace element variations, it can be inferred that the studied xenoliths were crystallized from basaltic melts enriched in incompatible trace elements and belong to the Jeju Pleisto-Holocene magma system. They appear to have been emplaced near the present Moho, an estimated 5–8?kbars beneath Jeju Island. Consolidation of cumulates was followed by infiltration of silica-enriched metasomatic melt, producing secondary orthopyroxenes at the expense of olivine. The metasomatic agent appears to have been a silica-enriched residual melt evolved from an initially slightly silica-undersaturated alkali basalt to silica-saturated compositions by fractional crystallization under relatively high pressure conditions. The result of this study indicates that relatively young olivine-bearing cumulates could have been metasomatized by a silica-enriched melt within underplates, suggesting that silica enrichment can occur in intraplate Moho-related rocks as well as in the upper mantle of the subarc area.     

Magmatic modification of the uppermost mantle beneath the Basin and Range to Colorado Plateau Transition Zone; Evidence from xenoliths, Wikieup, Arizona

Upper mantle xenoliths from Wikieup, AZ, provide abundant evidence for magmatic modification of the uppermost mantle beneath the Transition Zone between the Colorado Plateau and the southern Basin and Range province. Upper mantle lithologies in this xenolith suite are represented by spinel peridotite, wehrlite, plagioclase peridotite, and Al-augite group pyroxenites. Isotopic data for these xenoliths yield relatively uniform values and suggest a common petrogenesis. Al-augite-bearing gabbro and pyroxenite xenoliths from this locality are interpreted to have formed by crystal fractionation processes from parent alkali basalts similar to the Wikieup host basalt. Mineral and whole rock compositions show consistent trends of increasing incompatible element contents (Fe, Al, Ca, Na, K, LIL, and LREE), and decreasing compatible element contents (Mg, Cr, Ni) from spinel peridotite to wehrlite to plagioclase peridotite to the host basalt composition. These compositional trends are interpreted as resulting from varying degrees of magma-mantle wall rock interaction as ascending mafic magmas infiltrated upper mantle peridotite. Small degrees of melt infiltration resulted in slightly modified spinel peridotite compositions while moderate degrees metasomatized spinel peridotite to wehrlite, and the highest degrees metasomatized it to plagioclase peridotite. Whole rock compositions and clinopyroxene, plagioclase, and whole rock isotopic data suggest that the infiltrating magmas were the same as those from which the gabbros and pyroxenites crystallized, and that they were alkalic in composition, similar to the Wikieup host alkali olivine basalts. Relatively uniform ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd for the mineral separates and whole rocks in spite of the significantly wide range in their ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd (0.71–0.23 in clinopyroxene) suggests that the Wikieup xenoliths including gabbro, pyroxenite, peridotite, wehrlite, and plagioclase peridotite, are all relatively young rocks formed or metasomatized by a relatively recent magmatic episode. Received: 21 May 1996 / Accepted: 23 December 1996     

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.     

Podiform chromitite in the arc mantle: chromitite xenoliths from the Takashima alkali basalt,Southwest Japan arc

Chromitite xenoliths from the Takashima alkali basalt in the Southwest Japan arc are classified into two types: Type 1 chromitite in thin layers in dunite or wehrlite xenoliths; and Type 2 chromitite in discrete xenoliths which has an orbicular texture, previously documented only from podiform chromitites in ophiolites. Type 1 may be equivalent to layered chromitites in ophiolitic cumulates and Type 2 to podiform chromitites in the transition zone of ophiolites. This example of podiform chromitite from the Southwest Japan arc suggest that these podiform chromitites may exist in the upper mantle beneath an arc, where their formation is favored.     

Fluid-Inclusion Evidence for an Upper-Mantle Origin for Green Clinopyroxenes in Late Cenozoic Basanites from the Nógrád-Gömör Volcanic Field,Northern Hungary/Southern Slovakia

Green clinopyroxenes with elevated Fe and Na contents coexist with “normal” clinopyroxene phenocrysts in alkali basalts from the Nógrád-Gömör Volcanic Field (NGVF) of northern Hungary and southern Slovakia. The coexistence of these clinopyroxenes with incompatible compositions in the same sample is often used as evidence for mixing between a mafic and a more evolved melt. However, results of fluid-inclusion, textural, and geochemical studies of samples from Tertiary basanites from the NGVF suggest that the majority of the green clinopyroxenes could not have formed from magma mixing but, rather, are products of lithospheric processes such as metasomatism or dynamic melt flow.

Two distinct types of green clinopyroxenes have been identified. Group 1 green clinopyroxenes are Al rich and contain CO₂ inclusions; Group 2 green clinopyroxenes are Al poor and lack CO₂ inclusions. On the basis of analysis of CO₂ inclusions, the Group 1 clinopyroxenes, observed as xenocrysts and major constituents of clinopyroxenite xenoliths, were entrained into the host basanitic magmas in the uppermost mantle. These clinopyroxenes originally formed during a meta-somatic event or as a result of dynamic melt flow in the mantle. Group 2 clinopyroxenes likely represent xenocrysts from disaggregated dioritic cumulates produced from melt(s) related to the host basanitic magmas.     

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     

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.     

Melting and Melt Segregation in the Mantle Wedge above a Subduction Zone: Evidence from the Chromite-bearing Peridotites of the Miyamori Ophiolite Complex, Northeastern Japan

Chromite-bearing peridotites of the Ordovician Miyamori ophiolitecomplex exhibit spatial mineralogical variations on scales rangingfrom several centimeters to a few kilometers. The largest variationscorrespond to the entire structure of the complex, which featuresa layered zone of interstratified harzburgite, wehrlite, andvarious pyroxenites sandwiched between zones of unlayered harzburgiteand dunite containing only minor pyroxenite bands. All zonesexhibit the same deformation microstructures, tabular equigranularto porphyroclastic textures, and strong mineral aggregate lineation.Harzburgite from the unlayered zones is characterized by olivinevalues of 100Mg/(Mg+Fe)=91–93.5 and chromite values of100Cr/(Cr+Al+Fe³⁺)=40–75. These variables exhibit a positivecorrelation, which is typical of harzburgites and lherzolitesfrom the basal units of ophiolites and from xenoliths in alkalibasalts and kimberlites. The harzburgite is therefore interpretedas a residue from partial melting in the mantle. By contrast,harzburgite in the interlayered zone features olivine valuesof 100Mg/(Mg+Fe)=88–92 and chromite values of 100Cr/(Cr+Al+Fe3+)=40–60,and in this case the variables tend to show a negative correlationin any given locality and they partly overlap data from theintercalated wehrlite and dunite. The harzburgite of the layeredzone is interpreted as residual mantle that reacted with evolvedmelts that then crystallized as wehrlite and dunite. The harzburgitein the unlayered zones is more refractory than that in the layeredzone, even after removing effects of reaction. This differencecan be explained either by enhanced partial melting and meltextraction in the unlayered zones, possibly owing to the preferentialintroduction of a waterrich fluid, or by melt segregation fromthe unlayered zones and transfer to the layered zone in responseto a piezometric pressure gradient and compaction of a solidresidual matrix. Mineralogical evidence suggests that evolvedmelts migrated through conduits formed in the layered zone byfracturing or diapirism.     

Contrasting types of metasomatism in dunite, wehrlite and websterite xenoliths from Kimberley, South Africa

Dunite, wehrlite and websterite are rare members of the mantle xenolith suite in the Kimberley kimberlites of the Kaapvaal Craton in southern Africa. All three types were originally residues of extensive melt extraction and experienced varying amounts and types of melt re-enrichment. The melt depletion event, dated by Re-Os isotope systematics at 2.9 Ga or older, is evidenced by the high Mg# (Mg/(Mg + Fe)) of silicate minerals (olivine (0.89-0.93); pyroxene (0.88-0.93); garnet (0.72-0.85)), high Cr# (Cr/(Cr + Al)) of spinel (0.53-0.84) and mostly low whole-rock SiO₂, CaO and Al₂O₃ contents. Shortly after melt depletion, websterites were formed by reaction between depleted peridotites and silica-rich melt (>60 wt% SiO₂) derived by partial melting of eclogite before or during cratonization. The melt-peridotite interaction converted olivine into orthopyroxene.All three xenolith types have secondary metasomatic clinopyroxene and garnet, which occur along olivine grain boundaries and have an amoeboid texture. As indicated by the preservation of oxygen isotope disequilibrium in the minerals and trace-element concentrations in clinopyroxene and garnet, this metasomatic event is probably of Mesozoic age and was caused by percolating alkaline basaltic melts. This melt metasomatism enriched the xenoliths in CaO, Al₂O₃, FeO and high-field-strength-elements, and might correspond to the Karoo magmatism at 200 Ma. The websterite xenoliths experienced both the orthoyproxene-enrichment and clinopyroxene-garnet metasomatic events, whereas dunite and wehrlite xenoliths only saw the later basaltic melt event, and may have been situated further away from the source of melt migration channels.     

软流圈熔体地幔交代作用过程中的铂族元素行为

南美洲南部的Pali Aike火山岩区第四纪碱性玄武岩中普遍发育含石榴石的斜方辉石岩包体。这种斜方辉石岩既作为独立的捕掳体存在又以细脉的形式穿插于橄榄岩捕掳体中。斜方辉石岩普遍含富Ti矿物,并且次生斜方辉石含橄榄石和单斜辉石残晶。与含石榴石橄榄岩中的斜方辉石相比,这种次生的斜方辉石以高TiO2、中等含量的Al2O3以及低Mg#为特征,表明它是在一种高度分异演化的富Ti熔体交代作用下通过消耗橄榄石和单斜辉石方式形成的。斜方辉石岩全岩的Co、Ni略低,Cr和铂族元素(PGE)含量与地幔橄榄岩相当,表明这些元素在交代作用过程中相对稳定,而交代介质带入的组分以碱质(K2O+Na2O)、Ti、Si、Al和S为主。交代的斜方辉石在现代活动岛弧和古克拉通的地幔橄榄岩捕掳体中多有报道。与这些环境中地幔样品的斜方辉石相比,PaliAike地区的次生斜方辉石含有相对高的Ti和Al,以及相对低的Mg。高Ti低Mg属性反映了交代介质可能来源于下伏的软流圈地幔并且经历了高度的分异和演化过程。Pali Aike地区所见到的这种交代斜方辉石和斜方辉石岩在其他被上涌软流圈影响的陆下岩石圈地幔中可能普遍存在。这些研究对了解中国华北-东北中生代以来的岩石圈地幔减薄机制有着重要的借鉴意义。     

Os, Nd, and Sr isotopic and chemical compositions of ultramafic xenoliths from Kurose, SW Japan: Implications for contribution of slab-derived material to wedge mantle

We examined seven ultramafic xenoliths from 1~3 Ma alkali olivine basalt reefs near the Eurasian continent and one sample of the host alkali basalt to identify the mantle wedge material and to constrain the origin and evolution of mantle beneath SW Japan. Six xenoliths are from Kurose and one xenolith is from Takashima, northern part of the Kyushu islands, SW Japan. The Sr and Nd isotopic ratios vary from 0.70416 to 0.70773 and from 0.51228 to 0.51283, respectively. The Kurose and Takashima xenoliths have higher Sr isotopic ratios and lower Nd isotopic ratios than those of the peridotite xenoliths from the other arc settings such as Simcoe and NE Japan.

The Kurose xenoliths have less radiogenic Os isotopic ratios (¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os = 0.123–0.129) than the primitive upper mantle (PUM) estimate and limited variation compared to the other arc xenoliths. Their Os isotope compositions are rather similar to the ultramafic xenoliths from NE and east China. In addition, the samples of the Kurose and Takashima xenoliths plot along a mixing line between ultramafic xenoliths from SE and NE China and a slab component in Sr–Nd–Os isotopic space. Our results suggest that fragments of continental lithospheric mantle from the China craton may exist beneath Kurose and Takashima after the Sea of Japan expansion when the Japanese islands were rifted away from the Eurasian continent during Miocene. Later magmatism due to subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the SW Japan arc around 15 Ma ago may have introduced fluids or melts derived from slab component, interpreted to be oceanic sediments rather than altered oceanic crust, that possibly modified the original composition of the lithospheric mantle sampled by the peridotite xenoliths from Kurose and Takashima.     

Origin of xenoliths in the trachyte at Puu Waawaa,Hualalai Volcano,Hawaii

Rare dunite and 2-pyroxene gabbro xenoliths occur in banded trachyte at Puu Waawaa on Hualalai Volcano, Hawaii. Mineral compositions suggest that these xenoliths formed as cumulates of tholeiitic basalt at shallow depth in a subcaldera magma reservoir. Subsequently, the minerals in the xenoliths underwent subsolidus reequilibration that particularly affected chromite compositions by decreasing their Mg numbers. In addition, olivine lost CaO and plagioclase lost MgO and Fe₂O₃ during subsolidus reequilibration. The xenoliths also reacted with the host trachyte to form secondary mica, amphibole, and orthopyroxene, and to further modify the compositions of some olivine, clinopyroxene, and spinel grains. The reaction products indicate that the host trachyte melt was hydrous. Clinopyroxene in one dunite sample and olivine in most dunite samples have undergone partial melting, apparently in response to addition of water to the xenolith. These xenoliths do not contain CO₂ fluid inclusions, so common in xenoliths from other localities on Hualalai, which suggests that CO₂ was introduced from alkalic basalt magma between the time CO₂-inclusion-free xenoliths erupted at 106±6 ka and the time CO₂-inclusion-rich xenoliths erupted within the last 15 ka.     

Origin of Phlogopite in Mantle Xenoliths from Kostal Lake, Wells Gray Park, British Columbia

Phlogopite has been recognized for the first time in ultramaficxenoliths from the Canadian Cordillera. The phlogopite-bearingxenoliths are hosted in post-glacial basanitoid flows and ejectaof the Kostal Lake volcanic center, British Columbia. The xenolithassemblage consists of 60% cumulate-textured wehrlites, and40% coarse-textured lherzolites, harzburgites, dunites, andolivine websterites. The phlogopite occurs: (1) as sub-euhedral grains along grainboundaries in dunite and lherzolite xenoliths; or (2) alongorthopyroxene lamellae exsolved from intercumulus clinopyroxenein the wehrlite xenoliths; or (3) as grains hosted in 10–100pm diameter fluid inclusions in clinopyroxene of all xenoliths.The phlogopites do not show any reaction relationships withother phases in any of the xenoliths studied. Phlogopites ina given xenolith have Mg/Mg + Fe²⁺ similar to that of coexistingolivine, clinopyroxene, and orthopyroxene. The partitioningof Fe and Mg between phlogopite and coexisting olivine and clinopyroxeneis similar to that observed in other phlogopite-bearing mantlexenoliths, and in high-pressure melting experiments on rockswith similar bulk compositions. This indicates that the phlogopitesin xenoliths from Kostal Lake have equilibrated with these coexistingphases. The occurrence of phlogopites in fluid inclusions containingNa, K, Cl, P, and S, suggests that incompatible element-enrichedhydrous fluids/melts fluxed this part of the upper mantle beneatheastern British Columbia. Metasomatism of the upper mantle beneathKostal Lake probably occurred prior to Quaternary alkaline magmatism(7550–400 B.P.) and after the initial volcanism whichformed the wehrlite cumulates (3–5 Ma). Metasomatism causedoverall oxidation of the upper mantle beneath this area butwas not responsible for the anomalously Fe-rich nature of somexenoliths from the Kostal Lake eruptive center.     

Origin of ultramafic xenoliths containing exsolved pyroxenes from Hualalai Volcano,Hawaii

Hualalai Volcano, Hawaii, is best known for the abundant and varied xenoliths included in the historic 1800 Kaupulehu alkalic basalt flow. Xenoliths, which range in composition from dunite to anorthosite, are concentrated at 915-m elevation in the flow. Rare cumulate ultramafic xenoliths, which include websterite, olivine websterite, wehrlite, and clinopyroxenite, display complex pyroxene exsolution textures that indicate slow cooling. Websterite, olivine websterite, and one wehrlite are spinel-bearing orthopyroxene +olivine cumulates with intercumulus clinopyroxene +plagioclase. Two wehrlite samples and clinopyroxenite are spinel-bearing olivine cumulates with intercumulus clinopyroxene+orthopyroxene + plagioclase. Two-pyroxene geothermometry calculations, based on reconstructed pyroxene compositions, indicate that crystallization temperatures range from 1225° to 1350° C. Migration or unmixing of clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene stopped between 1045° and 1090° C. Comparisons of the abundance of K₂O in plagioclase and the abundances of TiO₂ and Fe₂O₃in spinel of xenoliths and mid-ocean ridge basalt, and a single ⁸⁷Sr/ ⁸⁶Sr determination, indicate that these Hualalai xenoliths are unrelated to mid-ocean ridge basalt. Similarity between the crystallization sequence of these xenoliths and the experimental crystallization sequence of a Hawaiian olivine tholeiite suggest that the parental magma of the xenoliths is Hualalai tholeiitic basalt. Xenoliths probably crystallized between about 4.5 and 9 kb. The 155°–230° C of cooling which took place over about 120 ka — the age of the youngest Hualalai tholeiitic basalt — yield maximum cooling rates of 1.3×10^–3–1.91×10^–3 °C/yr. Hualalai ultramafic xenoliths with exsolved pyroxenes crystallized from Hualalai tholeiitic basalt and accumulated in a magma reservoir located between 13 and 28 km below sealevel. We suspect that this reservoir occurs just below the base of the oceanic crust at about 19 km below sealevel.     

Peculiar Mg–Ca–Si metasomatism along a shear zone within the mantle wedge: inference from fine-grained xenoliths from Avacha volcano,Kamchatka

We found extremely high-Mg# (=Mg/(Mg + total Fe) atomic ratio) ultramafic rocks in Avacha peridotite suite. All the high-Mg# rocks have higher modal amounts of clinopyroxene than ordinary Avacha peridotite xenoliths, and their lithology is characteristically heterogeneous, varying from clinopyroxenite through olivine websterite to pyroxene-bearing dunite. The Mg# of minerals is up to 0.99, 0.98 and 0.97 in clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene and olivine, respectively, decreasing progressively toward contact with dunitic part, if any. The petrographical feature of pyroxenes in the high-Mg# pyroxenite indicates their metasomatic origin, and high LREE/HREE ratio of the metasomatic clinopyroxene implies that the pyroxenites are the products of reaction between dunitic peridotites and high-Ca, silicate-rich fluids. The lithological variation of the Avacha high-Mg# pyroxenites from clinopyroxenite to olivine websterite resulted from various degrees of fluid-rock reaction coupled with fractional crystallization of the high-Ca fluids, which started by precipitation of high-Mg# clinopyroxene. Such fluids were possibly generated originally at a highly reduced serpentinized peridotite layer above the subducting slab. The fluids can reach the uppermost mantle along a shear zone as a conduit composed of fine-grained peridotite that developed after continent-ward asthenospheric retreats from the mantle wedge beneath the volcanic front. The fluids are incorporated in mantle partial melts when the magmatism is activated by expansion of asthenosphere to mantle wedge beneath the volcanic front.     

Fe-rich Dunite Xenoliths from South African Kimberlites: Cumulates from Karoo Flood Basalts

Fe-rich dunite xenoliths within the Kimberley kimberlites compriseolivine neoblasts with minor elongated, parallel-oriented ilmenite,and rarely olivine porphyroclasts and spinel. Compared withtypical mantle peridotites, olivines in the Fe-rich duniteshave lower forsterite (Fo_87–89) and NiO contents (1300–2800ppm), which precludes a restitic origin for the dunites. Chrome-richspinels are remnants of a metasomatic reaction that producedilmenite and phlogopite. Trace element compositions differ betweenporphyroclastic and neoblastic olivine, the latter having higherTi, V, Cr and Ni and lower Zn, Zr and Nb contents, documentingtheir different origins. The dunites have high ¹⁸⁷Os/ ¹⁸⁸Osratios (0·11–0·15) that result in youngmodel ages for most samples, whereas three samples show isotopicmixtures between Phanerozoic neoblasts and ancient porphyroclasticmaterial. Most Fe-rich dunite xenoliths are interpreted to berecrystallized cumulates related to fractional crystallizationof Jurassic Karoo flood basalt magmatism, whereas the porphyroclastsare interpreted to be remnants from a much earlier (probablyArchaean Ventersdorp) magmatic episode. The calculated parentalmagma for the most primitive olivine neoblasts in the Fe-richdunites is similar to low-Ti Karoo basalts. Modelling the crystalfractionation of the inferred parental magma with pMELTS yieldselement fractionation trends that mirror the element variationof primitive low-Ti Karoo basalts. KEY WORDS: dunite xenoliths; fractional crystallization; Karoo; large igneous province; pMELTS; Re–Os; trace elements     

Effect of melt composition on basalt and peridotite interaction: laboratory dissolution experiments with applications to mineral compositional variations in mantle xenoliths from the North China Craton

Interaction between basaltic melts and peridotites has played an important role in modifying the lithospheric and asthenospheric mantle during magma genesis in a number of tectonic settings. Compositions of basaltic melts vary considerably and may play an important role in controlling the kinetics of melt–peridotite interaction. To better understand the effect of melt composition on melt–peridotite interaction, we conducted spinel lherzolite dissolution experiments at 2 GPa and 1,425 °C using the dissolution couple method. The reacting melts include a basaltic andesite, a ferro-basalt, and an alkali basalt. Dissolution of lherzolite in the basaltic andesite and the ferro-basalt produced harzburgite–lherzolite sequences with a thin orthopyroxenite layer at the melt–harzburgite interface, whereas dissolution of lherzolite in the alkali basalt produced a dunite–harzburgite–lherzolite sequence. Systematic variations in mineral compositions across the lithological units are observed. These mineral compositional variations are attributed to grain-scale processes that involve dissolution, precipitation, and reprecipitation and depend strongly on reacting melt composition. Comparison of mineral compositional variations across the dissolution couples with those observed in mantle xenoliths from the North China Craton (NCC) helps to assess the spatial and temporal variations in the extent of siliceous melt and peridotite interaction in modifying the lithospheric mantle beneath the NCC. We found that such melt–rock interaction mainly took place in Early Cretaceous, and is responsible for the enrichment of pyroxene in the lithospheric mantle. Spatially, siliceous melt–peridotite interaction took place in the ancient orogens with thickened lower crust.     

Depletion and enrichment processes in the lithospheric mantle beneath the Kola Peninsula (Russia): Evidence from spinel lherzolite and wehrlite xenoliths

A suite of spinel lherzolite and wehrlite xenoliths from a Devonian kimberlite dyke near Kandalaksha, Kola Peninsula, Russia, has been studied to determine the nature of the lithospheric mantle beneath the northern Baltic Shield. Olivine modal estimates and Fo content in the spinel lherzolite xenoliths reveal that the lithosphere beneath the Archaean–Proterozoic crust has some similarities to Phanerozoic lithospheric mantle elsewhere. Modal metasomatism is indicated by the presence of Ti-rich and Ti-poor phlogopite, pargasite, apatite and picroilmenite in the xenoliths. Wehrlite xenoliths are considered to represent localised high-pressure cumulates from mafic–ultramafic melts trapped within the mantle as veins or lenses. Equilibration temperatures range from 775 to 969 °C for the spinel lherzolite xenoliths and from 817 to 904 °C for the wehrlites.

Laser ablation ICP-MS data for incompatible trace elements in primary clinopyroxenes and metasomatic amphiboles from the spinel lherzolites show moderate levels of LREE enrichment. Replacement clinopyroxenes in the wehrlites are less enriched in LREE but richer in TiO₂. Fractional melt modelling for Y and Yb concentrations in clinopyroxenes from the spinel lherzolites indicates 7–8% partial melting of a primitive source. Such a volume of partial melt could be related to the 2.4–2.5 Ga intrusion of basaltic magmas (now metamorphosed to garnet granulites) in the lower crust of the northern Baltic Shield. The lithosphere beneath the Kola Peninsula has undergone several episodes of metasomatism. Both the spinel lherzolites and wehrlites were subjected to an incomplete carbonatitic metasomatic event, probably related to an early carbonatitic phase associated with the 360–380 Ma Devonian alkaline magmatism. This resulted in crystallisation of secondary clinopyroxene rims at the expense of primary orthopyroxenes, with development of secondary forsteritic olivine and apatite. Two separate metasomatic events resulted in the crystallisation of the Ti–Fe-rich amphibole, phlogopite and ilmenite in the wehrlites and the low Ti–Fe amphibole and phlogopite in the spinel lherzolites. Alternatively, a single metasomatic event with a chemically evolving melt may have produced the significant compositional differences seen in the amphibole and phlogopite between the spinel lherzolites and wehrlites. The calculated REE pattern of a melt in equilibrium with clinopyroxenes from a cpx-rich pocket is identical to that of the kimberlite host, indicating a close petrological relationship.     

Age and Sources of Dunite from the Konder Massif (Aldan Shield)

The Sm–Nd and Rb–Sr isotope characteristics were studied in clinopyroxenes (Cpx) of ultrabasic rocks (dunite, wehrlite, pyroxenite, and kosvite) from the Konder massif, which is a source of a unique placer platinum deposit. The chemical composition of the clinopyroxenes studied provides evidence for their crystallization from a single melt in the course of magmatic differentiation. The Sm–Nd isotope characteristics of Cpx in dunite from the Konder massif correspond to the regression with an age of 128 ± 40 Ma, which provides evidence for the same age of rocks of the “dunite core,” wehrlite, pyroxenite, kosvite, and alkaline rocks of the subsequent intrusive stage in the Konder massif. Variations in the Sr and Nd isotope characteristics in dunite, wehrlite, pyroxenite, and kosvite result from contamination of the picritic melt with rocks of the continental crust in the course of its cumulative evolution, which allows us to exclude the model of diapiric intrusion of mantle dunite.     

Nature and Evolution of Cenozoic Lithospheric Mantle beneath Shandong Peninsula,Sino-Korean Craton,Eastern China

The Shanwang and Qixia basalts lie within the North China block and were erupted in Miocene to Pliocene time (18.1 to 4.3 Ma) and Pliocene time (6.4 to 5.9 Ma), respectively. The Shanwang area lies astride the Tancheng-Lujiang (Tanlu) fault zone, a major lithospheric fault, whereas the Qixia area lies east of the fault zone. The basaltic rocks (alkali olivine basalts, basanites, nephelinites) carry abundant deep-seated xenoliths including spinel lherzolite (dominant), dunite, and pyroxenite, and a megacryst suite including augite, anorthoclase, phlogopite, ilmenite, and garnet. Xenoliths with coarse-grained microstructures are common in the Qixia xenolith suite, but are absent in Shanwang. Reconstructed bulk compositions of the lherzolites range from relatively depleted (<3% modal diopside) to fertile (>12% modal diopside). Equilibration temperatures of 850° to 1020°C indicate entrainment of these lherzolites from depths ≤45 km, within the lithosphere; the geotherm may have been higher beneath Shanwang. The Shanwang suite contains less-depleted lherzolites, and more pyroxenites, than the Qixia suite. The chondrite-normalized REE patterns in clinopyroxenes of the Shandong xenoliths vary from LREE depleted, through concave shaped, to LREE enriched; spidergrams for the clinopyroxenes can be divided into depleted, fertile, and metasomatic types. Progressive depletion in Na and Al is accompanied by depletion in moderately incompatible elements such as Y, Yb, and Zr, and an increase in Mg#. Ti and Zr in clinopyroxenes have not been affected by the metasomatic process, and MREE have been little disturbed, whereas the light rare-earth elements, Nb, and Sr have been strongly enriched during metasomatism; this suggests that carbonate-rich fluids/melts were the metasomatic agent. The mantle beneath the Shandong Peninsula sampled by these basalts is dominantly Phanerozoic in character rather than Archean or Proterozoic lithospheric mantle. This mantle probably represents a mixture of older lithospheric mantle and newly accreted material that replaced the Archean lithospheric keel through extension, thermal erosion, and fluid/melt metasomatism. The differences in micro-structures, chemistry, temperature, and fluid/melt activity between Shanwang and Qixia are ascribed to their spatial relationships to the Tanlu fault, which is a major translithospheric suture that hasplayed an important role in the Cenozoic replacement of the pre-existing Archean lithospheric mantle.