Investigations in the Stillwater Complex: Part II. Petrology and Petrogenesis of the Ultramafic Series

The Ultramafic series of the Stillwater Complex has been dividedinto two major zones: a Peridotite zone formed of 20 macro-rhythmicunits of dunite-harzburgite-orthopyroxenite, and an overlyingOrthopyroxenite zone. The stratigraphic section has been determinedat Mountain View (2065 m) and at Chrome Mountain (840 m). TheMountain View section apparently formed in a subsiding basinwhereas the rocks at Chrome Mountain accumulated in a relativelystable, higher area of the chamber floor. In both sections,Mg/(Mg + Fe) in cumulus mafic minerals increases with stratigraphicheight in the lower 400 m, then remains relatively constantthrough the rest of the series. The base of the series is marked by the first appearance oflaterally extensive olivine-rich cumulates. The accretion ofthe cumulates and the growth of the chamber proceeded throughperiodic injections of olivine-saturated mafic magma. The lowercontact of the cycles represents a hiatus in crystallizationand a return to a more primitive magma composition. Althoughhotter, the primitive magma was more dense, so it entered thechamber at or near the floor and did not immediately mix withthe more differentiated orthopyroxene-saturated magma alreadypresent. As it cooled by transfer of heat across its upper surface,the primitive magma crystallized olivine and differentiatedin situ to form the lower dunite. With the accumulation of olivinenear the base, the crystal/liquid ratio, and thus the density,decreased at the top of the layer eventually resulting in mixingand the formation of harzburgite. After removal of olivine byresorption and settling from the hybrid magma, orthopyroxenealone crystallized forming an orthopyroxenite. Chromitite layersprobably formed by the mixing of primitive olivine± chromite-saturatedmagma and narrow layers of orthopyroxene-saturated magma trappedunderneath. The Mg-enrichment trend in the lower 400 m resulted from reactionof cumulus olivine and/or orthopyroxene with progressively decreasingvolumes of intercumulus liquid. As heat loss through the floordecreased, accumulation rate approached a steady state, thefraction of trapped liquid remained more or less constant andvariation in Mg/(Mg + Fe) was governed dominantly by cumulusprocesses. The constant NiO abundances in olivine throughoutthe section are consistent with the model for the formationof the macro-rhythmic units. Depletion of NiO was dampened byrepeated additions of parental magma, localized equilibriumcrystallization, mixing, and the effect of postcumulus equi-librationwith varied amounts of trapped liquid. Discordant dunite bodies, which are common at Chrome Mountain,formed by the replacement by olivine of earlier formed cumulates.The replacement involved the incongruent dissolution of ortho-pyroxeneat near-solidus temperatures by a late-stage, hydrous vaporprobably derived from the magma. The vapor phase migrated alongfractures formed by the readjustment of the cumulate pile.