Multistage melt impregnation in Tethyan oceanic mantle: Petrochemical constraints from channelized melt flow in the Naga Hills Ophiolite

Ophiolitic sequences obducted onto continental margins allow field based observations coupled with petrochemical interrogations of upper mantle lithologies thereby aiding evaluation of compositional heterogeneity of oceanic mantle, depletion-enrichment events and geodynamic conditions governing oceanic lithosphere formation. The Naga Hills Ophiolite (NHO) suite preserves a segment of the Neotethyan oceanic lithosphere encompassing a package of mantle and crustal lithologies. This paper for the first time reports the occurrence of melt flow channels traversing the mantle section near Molen of the NHO and presents a comprehensive study involving chromite-spinel chemistry, bulk rock major, trace and PGE geochemistry to understand the petrogenesis and evolution in a geodynamic transition from mid oceanic ridge (MOR) to suprasubduction zone (SSZ). The spinel chemistry of peridotitic melt channels depicts both MOR-type and SSZ signatures underlining a transitional tectonic frame. Chromite chemistry and high Al₂O₃/TiO₂ ranging from 15.98–35.70 in concurrence with low CaO/Al₂O₃ ranging from 0.03–0.53; and chondrite normalised LREE > MREE < HREE patterns confirm the influx of boninitic melts into the refractory mantle. The boninitic signature shared by melt channels and host rock invokes a geochemical and geodynamic transition from anhydrous melting of depleted mantle to hydrated fluid flux melting resulting in boninitic melts, that subsequently impregnate and refertilise the fore arc mantle wedge in a SSZ regime at the nascent stage of subduction. The high Ba/Nb, Ba/Th, and Ba/La for the studied peridotites highlight the influx of subduction derived fluids in the supra subduction mantle. Further higher Zr/Hf and Nd/Hf with respect to primitive mantle values in concurrence with lower Nb/Ta suggest progressive refertilisation due to fluid- and melt-driven metasomatism of the refractory fore arc mantle wedge. The chondrite normalised PGE patterns suggest positive Ir and Ru anomalies stipulating the source to be refractory while enriched Pt and Pd underpins the mobilisation of these elements by subduction derived fluids and melts. The elevated abundances of PPGEs than IPGEs as cited by PPGE/IPGE > 1; and Pd/Pt avg. 0.85 for melt channels and 0.84 for host peridotites indicate fluid-fluxed metasomatism of fore arc mantle wedge with a S-undersaturated trend coupled with boninitic affinity. The mineral, trace, REE and PGE chemistry collectively emphasizes that the mantle peridotites of the NHO formed in a transitional geodynamic tectonic setting caused by fore arc extension during subduction initiation followed by rejuvenation by subduction derived fluids and boninitic melts, which typically are of the SSZ tectonic regime. The harzburgitic melt channels and host rock are refractory in nature, reflecting multiple episodes of melt extraction of about 5–15% and ~10–20% respectively from a spinel peridotite mantle source. The occurrences of these melt channels indicate segregation and percolation of melt through porous and channelized network in upper mantle peridotites.     

Tectono-magmatic evolution of Tethyan oceanic lithosphere in supra subduction zone fore arc regime: Geochemical fingerprints from crust-mantle sections of Naga Hills Ophiolite

The Naga Hills Ophiolite(NHO) belt in the Indo-Myanmar range(IMR) represents a segment of Tethyan oceanic crust and upper mantle that was involved in an eastward convergence and collision of the Indian Plate with the Burmese Plate during the Late Cretaceous-Eocene.Here, we present a detailed petrological and geochemical account for the mantle and crustal sections of NHO, northeastern India to address(i) the mantle processes and tectonic regimes involved in their genesis and(ii) their coherence in terms of the thermo-tectonic evolution of Tethyan oceanic crust and upper mantle.The NHO suite comprises well preserved crustal and mantle sections discretely exposed at Moki, Ziphu, Molen, Washelo and Lacham areas.The ultramafic-mafic lithologies of NHO are mineralogically composed of variable proportions of olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and plagioclase.The primary igneous textures for the mantle peridotites have been overprinted by extensive serpentinisation whereas the crustal section rocks reflect crystal cumulation in a magma chamber.Chondrite normalised REE profiles for the cumulate peridotite-olivine gabbro-gabbro assemblage constituting the crustal section of NHO show flat to depleted LREE patterns consistent with their generation from depleted MORB-type precursor melt in an extensional tectonic setting, while the mantle peridotites depict U-shaped REE patterns marked by relative enrichment of LREE and HREE over MREE.These features collectively imply a dual role of depleted MORB-type and enriched arc-type mantle components for their genesis with imprints of melt-rock and fluid-rock interactions.Tectonically, studied lithologies from NHO correspond to a boninitic to slab-proximal Island Arc Tholeiite affinity thereby conforming to an intraoceanic supra subduction zone(SSZ) fore-arc regime coherent with the subduction initiation process.The geochemical attributes for the crustal and mantle sections of NHO as mirrored by Zr/Hf, Zr/Sm, Nb/Ta, Zr/Nb, Nb/U, Ba/Nb, Ba/Th, Ba/La and Nd/Hf ratios propound a two-stage petrogenetic process:(i) a depleted fore arc basalt(FAB) type tholeiitic melt parental to the crustal lithologies was extracted from the upwelling asthenospheric mantle at SSZ fore-arc extensional regime thereby rendering a refractory residual upper mantle;(ii) the crust and upper mantle of the SSZ fore arc were progressively refertilised by boninitic melts generated in response to subduction initiation and slab-dehydration.The vestiges of Tethyan oceanic lithosphere preserved in NHO represent an accreted intra-oceanic fore arc crust and upper mantle section which records a transitional geodynamic evolution in a SSZ regime marked by subduction initiation, fore arc extension and arc-continent accretion.     

Imposex in the indigenous Nassarius kraussianus (Mollusca: Neogastropoda) from South African harbours

Nassarius kraussianus populations in the Durban and Richards Bay harbours (along the eastern seaboard of southern Africa) and in the Knysna lagoon (southern Cape coast) showed imposex development, confirming bioavailability of tributyltin (TBT) in these waterways. Incidence of imposex (which ranged from 29% to 100%) and relative penis length of females (RPL; which ranged from 1.3% to 55.2%) were markedly variable among populations from different sites in each waterway, indicative of localised effects of TBT contamination. Shell length of the snails was apparently not correlated with contamination level, as assessed from imposex measurements. While population imposex features are easy to determine and often provide a sensitive biomarker of TBT exposure, the discussion outlines reservations when extrapolating these to general ecological situations. Additionally, this study represents the first published report on the topic for sub-Saharan, African harbours, some of which seem remarkably less affected than suggested for other world regions.