Isotopic Studies of Processes in Mafic Magma Chambers: I. The Kiglapait Intrusion, Labrador

The initial Nd and Sr isotopic ratios of cumulate rocks andminerals of the Kiglapait intrusion are pertinent as indicatorsof the processes that affected the Kiglapair magma while itwas resident in the crust. A Sm–Nd mineral isochron indicatesthat the crystallization age of the intrusion is 1305?22 millionyears. The initial _Nd values range from—1?6 in the LowerZone to 6 in the Upper Zone and correlate with the anorthitecontent of plagioclase. The initial ₈₇Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios are 0.70407to 0.70433 in the Lower Zone, and increase monotonically up-section(decreasing plagioclase anorthite content) to 0.7068 in theUpper Zone. These variations are attributed to assimilationof roof rock concurrently with crystallization. It is evidentthat replenishment of the chamber with uncontaminated magmawas important during the accumulation of the lower zone rocks,but did not occurduring crystallization of the Upper Zone. Amathematical model relating isotope ratio shifts to the relativerates of crystallization, assimilation, and replenishment ispresented. It is estimated that the rate of assimilation wasbetween 0.01 and 0.04 of the crystallization rate, and thatduring the accumulation of the Lower Zone, the rate of replenishmentwas about half of the crystallization rate. A formulation for‘assimilation efficiency’is presented that relatedthe actual amount of assimilation (determined from the isotopedata) to the thermodynamic maximum allowable amount. The assimilationefficiency of the Kiglapait intrusion is not tightly constrained,but appears to be of the order of 0.01 near the end of crystallizationand perhaps as high as 0.07 near the beginning. Further quantitativeestimates of assimilation efficiency in different intrusionsemplaced under different conditions may aid in understandingassimilation mechanisms and in assessing the role of assimilationin magmatic evolution in general. Many layered intrusions studiedto date have initial Nd isotope ratios close to the chondriticvalue (_Nd= 0), suggestive of mantle magma sources that are chemicallyundepleted, and thus different from the sources of mid-oceanridge basalt and island-arec basalt.