Petrogenesis of ultramafic rocks in the Vammala Nickel Belt: Implications for crustal evolution of the early Proterozoic Svecofennian arc terrane

Ultramafic rocks occur within polydeformed high grade metasedimentary rocks throughout the Vammala Nickel Belt (Fennoscandian Shield) and have been subdivided into cumulate-textured intrusive bodies and high-Mg (picritic) eruptive units.

The crystallisation sequence olivine(+cotectic chromite)-orthopyroxene-clinopyroxene-amphibole, the decreased stability field of olivine and fractionation of relatively Al-rich pyroxenes and chromite all suggest that the cumulate-textured intrusions crystallised from a relatively hydrous parental magma at moderate crustal pressures. The parental magma was enriched in Th, LILE and LREE, being similar to modern tholeiitic arc basalts. Trace element ratios suggest that Svecofennian turbidites were the ultimate source of this enriched component. Although the mechanism of contamination is inconsistent with simultaneous assimilation and fractional crystallisation in situ, this can be explained by a model in which magma flowed through subvertical conduits and assimilated adjacent crust.

Characteristics of metamorphism, deformation and subsolidus equilibration and age determinations all suggest that emplacement of cumulate-textured bodies coincided with the peak of ongoing regional metamorphism and deformation. The cumulate-textured intrusions are interpreted as representing middle crustal expressions of early Proterozoic Svecofennian arc magmatism. This model also predicts that the same magmatism resulted in the emplacement of more evolved arc plutonic complexes at higher crustal levels (that have since been eroded), and the formation of large ultramafic cumulate complexes in the lower crust and at the crust-mantle boundary region, and may thus assist in interpreting deep seismic and gravimetric anomalies within Svecofennian domain.

In contrast, the metapicritic supracrustal rocks have trace element signatures similar to transitional MORB, and cannot represent magmas complementary to the cumulate-textured intrusions. The metapicrites represent supracrustal formations which are clearly older than the synorogenic cumulate-textured intrusions, and their spatial association is coincidental only.