ALBERT

Description: The early stages of magmatic processes operating at mantle depths beneath continental arcs are poorly known. The chemical compositions of minerals and rocks, mineral Sr–Nd–Hf–O isotopes and zircon U–Pb ages of garnet clinopyroxenite dykes from the Shenglikou peridotite massif (North Qaidam Orogen, NE Tibet, China) were studied to constrain their sources and genesis, and the dynamic processes that controlled pyroxenite formation beneath an early Paleozoic active continental margin. Major-element compositions of bulkrocks suggest that the pyroxenitic protoliths were cumulates segregated from a melt, which was extracted from a peridotite-dominated mantle source. Bulk-rock and mineral trace-element patterns show strong enrichment in fluid-mobile elements (e.g. Cs, Rb, Ba, Th, U, K, Pb and Li) and marked negative anomalies in the high field strength elements relative to rare earth elements, similar to the characteristics of melts derived from a volatile-rich sub-arc mantle. Enriched Sr and Nd initial isotopic compositions at 500 Ma ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr of 0·70919–0·71774 and Nd of –16·3 to –3·4) are in contrast to the highly radiogenic Hf isotope compositions (similar to those of the depleted-mantle reservoir) and to the uncontaminated upper-mantle 18 O V-SMOW (garnet: 5·6 ± 0·3, 2SD, n = 61; zircon: 5·9 ± 0·3, 2SD, n = 28). These decoupled isotopic signatures suggest that the melt source was located in a convective mantle wedge (controlling the Hf and O isotopes) that had been pervasively metasomatized by fluids from a subducted Proto-Tethys oceanic slab (controlling the Sr–Nd isotopes and highly incompatible elements). Zircons with two groups of U–Pb ages (430 ± 5 Ma and 401 ± 7 Ma) were generated by recrystallization events, corresponding to UHP metamorphism and a major uplift stage during the North Qaidam orogeny, respectively. The combined evidence reveals a picture of continental arc magmatism at mantle depths and subsequent continental collision. The subduction of the Proto-Tethys oceanic slab beneath the southern Qilian margin triggered flux melting of the metasomatized convective mantle wedge and generated hydrous arc magmas. These primitive magmas intruded into the overlying lithospheric mantle and segregated the cumulates parental to the Shenglikou pyroxenites. Subsequent continental subduction incorporated fragments of the mantle-wedge peridotite (containing pyroxenite dykes) at ~430 Ma and carried them to shallow depths during exhumation at ~400 Ma.

Description: Using a new high-resolution dataset, this study presents evidence for short length scale 18 O/ 16 O heterogeneity in the mantle source region of young (age 12 ka bp ) Icelandic basalts. The dataset comprises secondary ion mass spectrometry determinations of 18 O/ 16 O in single compositional zones of plagioclase crystals from the primitive Borgarhraun flow in northern Iceland, along with trace and major element data from the same zones. The presence of mantle under Iceland with 18 O below typical mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) values of ~5·5 ± 0·3 (VSMOW) has previously been disputed, because variability in 18 O in many Icelandic basalts is also known to be caused by the interaction of basaltic melts with crustal lithologies that have been altered by low- 18 O meteoric water. Primitive basalt flows, such as Borgarhraun, and their macrocrysts are the most likely candidates to retain a mantle 18 O signature. However, the role of crustal processes in generating the low 18 O in olivine crystals from these flows has not unequivocally been ruled out. By making intra-crystal analyses in Borgarhraun plagioclase it has been possible in this study to obtain a detailed record of the chemical and isotopic compositions of the melts that crystallized the plagioclase zones. The variability observed in trace element compositions of the early crystallized anorthitic plagioclase zones (80·9–89·4 mol % anorthite) is firstly shown to arise from melt compositional variability, and equilibrium melt concentrations of Sr, La and Y are then calculated from the crystal concentrations of these elements using carefully selected partition coefficients. The ranges of incompatible trace element ratios (La/Y, Sr/Y) in these equilibrium melts reflect a range of compositions of fractional mantle melts, a result that is in agreement with previous proposals for the cause of variability in trace element indices of Borgarhraun olivine-hosted melt inclusions and clinopyroxene compositional zones. Correlations observed between La/Y and Sr/Y in the melts in equilibrium with the Borgarhraun plagioclase zones and the 18 O of these zones therefore support the hypothesis that the mantle under Iceland is heterogeneous in 18 O/ 16 O. Such correlations have not previously been observed in intra-crystal data from Iceland, and provide strong evidence that mantle material with abnormally low 18 O may exist in the form of readily fusible heterogeneities alongside ambient mantle with MORB-like 18 O (+5·5) on a length scale of 〈100 km. The lowest 18 O of plagioclase that is attributed to a mantle origin in this study is 4·5 ± 0·4, equating to a melt equivalent value of 4·3 ± 0·5 or an olivine equivalent value of 3·8 ± 0·5.

Description: Mafic to ultramafic intrusions of the Qullinaaraaluk suite (Q-suite) were emplaced into the Ungava craton of the Northeastern Superior Province during an episode of intense igneous activity and crustal reworking from c. 2·74 to 2·70 Ga. Orthopyroxene-rich Q-suite intrusions from the Hudson Bay Terrane and southwestern Rivière Arnaud Terrane, and orthopyroxene-poor Q-suite intrusions from the north–central Rivière Arnaud Terrane indicate the existence of at least two Q-suite magma types: a subalkaline magma parental to the orthopyroxene-rich intrusions and a transitional magma parental to the orthopyroxene-poor intrusions. Both types of intrusions are characterized by light rare earth element (LREE)-enriched, high field strength element (HFSE)-depleted trace element profiles that reflect, in large part, contamination by the tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite-dominated crust. Near-chondritic to strongly sub-chondritic initial Nd (2·72 Ga) values (+2 to –10) of the Q-suite intrusions reflect the combined effects of both the amount of crustal contamination and the age-dependent isotopic composition of the contaminant. The inferred trace element profiles of the uncontaminated Q-suite magmas were probably flat to LREE-depleted. The transitional magmas that produced the least evolved dunitic cumulates of the Q-suite were ferropicrites (MgO ~14 wt %, FeO TOT ~17 wt %). In contrast, the magmas parental to the primitive Q-suite harzburgites were Fe-rich, high-Mg basalts (MgO ~11 wt %; FeO ~14 wt %). The high Fe contents of the Q-suite magmas are incompatible with derivation from a pyrolitic mantle [Mg-number ~0·90, Mg/(Mg + Fe TOT )] and require sources significantly enriched in iron (Mg-number ≤0·79). Both magma types are also characterized by relatively low Ni contents suggesting derivation from source regions depleted in Ni relative to pyrolitic mantle peridotite. Differences in the major element compositions of the subalkaline and transitional parental magmas may reflect compositional diversity among the Fe-rich mantle sources. Comparisons with melting experiments on compositions analogous to the Martian mantle suggest that the Q-suite magmas may rather be generated by different degrees of melting of a common source with an Fe content slightly lower than that of the Homestead L5 ordinary chondrite (Mg-number = 0·77). The Fe-rich picritic to high-Mg basaltic magmas last equilibrated with garnet-free harzburgitic to lherzolitic residues at upper mantle pressures (≤5 GPa). The craton-wide occurrence of c. 2·72–2·70 Ga Q-suite mafic to ultramafic plutons suggests that underplating by Fe-rich mantle melts may have had a key role in the c. 2·74–2·70 Ga cratonization of the Northeastern Superior Province.

Description: Arc basalts are more oxidized than mid-ocean ridge basalts, but it is unclear whether this difference is due to differentiation processes in the Earth’s crust or to a fundamental difference in the oxygen fugacity of their mantle sources. Distinguishing between these two hypotheses is important for understanding redox-sensitive processes related to arc magmatism, and thus more broadly how Earth materials cycle globally. We present major, volatile, and trace element concentrations in combination with Fe 3+ /Fe ratios determined in olivine-hosted glass inclusions and submarine glasses from five Mariana arc volcanoes and two regions of the Mariana Trough. For single eruptions, Fe 3+ /Fe ratios vary along liquid lines of descent that are either slightly oxidizing (olivine + clinopyroxene + plagioclase fractionation, CO 2 ± H 2 O degassing) or reducing (olivine + clinopyroxene + plagioclase ± magnetite fractionation, CO 2 + H 2 O + S degassing). Mariana samples are consistent with a global relationship between calc-alkaline affinity and both magmatic H 2 O and magmatic oxygen fugacity, where wetter, higher oxygen fugacity magmas display greater affinity for calc-alkaline differentiation. We find, however, that low-pressure differentiation cannot explain the majority of variations observed in Fe 3+ /Fe ratios for Mariana arc basalts, requiring primary differences in magmatic oxygen fugacity. Calculated oxygen fugacities of primary mantle melts at the pressures and temperatures of melt segregation are significantly oxidized relative to mid-ocean ridge basalts (~QFM, where QFM is quartz–fayalite–magnetite buffer), ranging from QFM + 1·0 to QFM + 1·6 for Mariana arc basalts, whereas back-arc related samples record primary oxygen fugacities that range from QFM + 0·1 to QFM + 0·5. This Mariana arc sample suite includes a diversity of subduction influences, from lesser influence of a homogeneous H 2 O-rich component in the back-arc, to sediment melt- and fluid-dominated influences along the arc. Primary melt oxygen fugacity does not correlate significantly with sediment melt contributions (e.g. Th/La), nor can it be attributed to previous melt extraction in the back-arc. Primary melt oxygen fugacity correlates strongly with indices of slab fluids (e.g. Ba/La) from the Mariana Trough through the Mariana arc, increasing by 1·5 orders of magnitude as Ba/La increases by a factor of 10 relative to mid-ocean ridge basalts. These results suggest that contributions from the slab to the mantle wedge may be responsible for the elevated oxygen fugacity recorded by Mariana arc basalts and that slab fluids are potentially very oxidized.

Description: Magma mixing and crystal mush disaggregation are important processes in basaltic magma reservoirs. We carried out a detailed petrological and geochemical study on a highly plagioclase-phyric eruption within the Eastern Volcanic Zone of Iceland—the Skuggafjöll eruption—to investigate crystal storage and transport processes within a single magmatic system. Crystal content and phase proportions vary between samples: the least phyric samples have phase proportions similar to the low-pressure, three-phase gabbro eutectic (plg:cpx:ol ~ 11:6:3), whereas highly phyric samples are strongly enriched in plagioclase (plg:cpx:ol ~ 8:1:1). Statistically significant geochemical variability in 28 whole-rock samples collected across the eruption can be accounted for by variable accumulation of a troctolitic assemblage containing plagioclase and olivine in an approximately 9:1 ratio. Two macrocryst assemblages are defined using compositional and textural information recorded in QEMSCAN® images: a primitive assemblage of high-anorthite plagioclase (An 〉83 ) and high-forsterite olivine (Fo 〉84 ), and an evolved assemblage of low-anorthite plagioclase (An 〈79 ), low-forsterite olivine (Fo 〈82 ) and clinopyroxene (Mg# ~ 82). Plagioclase and olivine have strongly bimodal composition distributions whereas the composition distribution of clinopyroxene is unimodal. The mean trace element composition of melt inclusions hosted within high-forsterite olivine and high-anorthite plagioclase macrocrysts is the same (mean Ce/Y ~ 0·47–0·48), confirming that both primitive macrocryst phases crystallized from the same distribution of melts. Clinopyroxene macrocrysts and matrix glasses are in Ce/Yb equilibrium with each other, indicating that the evolved assemblage crystallized from melts with a more incompatible trace element-enriched composition (mean Ce/Y ~ 0·65–71) than the primitive assemblage. Variability in whole-rock, macrocryst and melt inclusion compositions suggests that the Skuggafjöll magma experienced two stages of crystallization. Primitive macrocrysts crystallized first from incompatible trace element-depleted melts within a shallow crustal magma reservoir. These primitive macrocrysts were subsequently stored in crystal mushes that ultimately disaggregated into an evolved and incompatible trace element-enriched magma from which the evolved assemblage crystallized. On average, ~17% of the erupted magma at Skuggafjöll is composed of accumulated macrocrysts entrained from crystal mushes. The timescale between mush disaggregation and eruption, during which crystal accumulation occurred, was short—of the order of years—according to simple diffusion calculations. Striking petrological similarities between Skuggafjöll and other highly phyric eruptions both in Iceland and along mid-ocean ridges indicate that crystal accumulation by mush disaggregation is likely to be an important mechanism for generating highly phyric magmas in basaltic plumbing systems.

Description: To constrain effects of chloride-bearing H 2 O–CO 2 fluids on complex natural assemblages during high-grade metamorphism and anatexis, we report the results of experiments on the interaction of biotite–hornblende tonalitic gneiss from the Sand River Formation (Limpopo Complex, South Africa) with H 2 O–CO 2 , H 2 O–CO 2 –KCl, H 2 O–CO 2 –NaCl, and H 2 O–CO 2 –(K, Na)Cl fluids at 550 MPa, 750 and 800°C, and varying chloride/(H 2 O + CO 2 ) ratios with molar CO 2 /(CO 2 + H 2 O) = 0·5. Heating of solid cylinders of gneiss at both temperatures in the absence of a free fluid phase produced no changes in the gneiss phase assemblage. The equimolar H 2 O–CO 2 fluid at 750°C also did not significantly influence the phase assemblage. Addition of KCl to the fluid at 750°C resulted in formation of the clinopyroxene + K-feldspar (+ ilmenite/titanite) assemblage after biotite, hornblende and plagioclase. Orthopyroxene accompanied by amphibole appeared only at 800°C as a result of biotite breakdown in the presence of H 2 O–CO 2 and low-salinity H 2 O–CO 2 –KCl fluids. Increase in the KCl content in the fluid at 800°C resulted in the production of a clinopyroxene-bearing assemblage. Increase of the NaCl content stabilized amphibole in an assemblage with either orthopyroxene (at low NaCl concentrations) or clinopyroxene. Nevertheless, clinopyroxene (+ albite) is stable only at high salt concentrations. Comparison of the experimental results with the results of thermodynamic modeling using the Gibbs free energy minimization method (PERPLE_X software) showed that mineral reactions and assemblages in the run products were governed by the activities of alkali components imposed by KCl and NaCl in the H 2 O–CO 2 fluids, and decrease of the water activity served as an additional factor stabilizing anhydrous assemblages. No melts formed at 750°C in the presence of the H 2 O–CO 2 –KCl fluids. These fluids provoked melting only at 800°C with formation of rhyolitic melts. With increasing KCl content of the fluid, the melt composition changed to potassic rhyolitic with Al 2 O 3 〈 13·5 wt %, CaO 〈 2 wt %, K 2 O + Na 2 O 〉 7 wt %, FeO/(FeO + MgO) 〉 0·8, K 2 O/Na 2 O 〉 1, and moderate enrichment in Cl (0·2–0·6 wt %). Increasing NaCl content caused melting at 750°C and shifted the melt composition towards trachytic and trachyandesitic compositions at both 750 and 800°C. The experiments support a model for the formation of ferroan A-type granite–syenite complexes via crustal melting in the presence of H 2 O–CO 2 –salt fluids in extensional tectonic settings. They demonstrate a possible link between A-type granitoids and mid-crustal dehydration zones in amphibolite- to granulite-facies terrains and allow a new interpretation of mineral assemblages within these zones in terms of variations in fluid salinity.

Description: Layered mafic intrusions (LMI) are sporadically distributed in the Early Permian Tarim large igneous province (LIP), NW China, and are crosscut by numerous contemporaneous dykes. The Xiaohaizi wehrlite intrusion is composed mainly of olivine (Fo69–75), clinopyroxene (Mg# = 75–84), intercumulus plagioclase (An53–86) and Fe–Ti oxides. Both petrography and mineral compositions suggest that olivine and clinopyroxene crystallized earlier than plagioclase and Fe–Ti oxides. The dykes are of alkali basalt to trachyandesite with low Mg# (35–39). The least-contaminated dykes display strong rare earth element (REE) fractionation, enrichment of Nb and Ta, and depletion of Pb relative to other similarly incompatible elements, bearing strong similarity to ocean island basalts (OIB). This, together with their positive Nd i values (4·3–4·8), is consistent with derivation from an enriched asthenospheric mantle source. Clinopyroxenes in the wehrlites display convex-upward chondrite-normalized REE patterns. The melts in equilibrium with these clinopyroxenes have very similar trace element compositions to those of the crosscutting dykes, suggesting a similar mantle source shared by the Xiaohaizi wehrlite intrusion and dykes. The Xiaohaizi wehrlite intrusion is characterized by Sr–Nd isotopic disequilibrium between clinopyroxene and plagioclase separates: 87 Sr/ 86 Sr i (0·7038–0·7041) and Nd i (1·0–1·9) of clinopyroxene are lower and higher than the respective ratios of intercumulus plagioclase ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr i = 0·7042–0·7043, Nd i = 0·4–1·0). The 87 Sr/ 86 Sr i and Nd i of clinopyroxene separates correlate positively and negatively with Zr/Nb, respectively, implying variable degrees of crustal contamination during the formation of the Xiaohaizi wehrlite intrusion. 87 Sr/ 86 Sr i increases and Nd i decreases with increasing Ca content of plagioclase, indicating that higher An plagioclases experienced higher degrees of contamination. This can be explained by assimilation of continental crust through a turbulent magma ascent (ATA) process. However, this ATA model fails to account for the positive correlation between the Mg# and Nd i of clinopyroxene separates. The isotopic disequilibrium in the Xiaohaizi LMI is more probably generated during an assimilation and fractional crystallization process involving Archean–Neoproterozoic basement and carbonates as contaminants.

Description: Olivine textures are potentially important recorders of olivine origin and crystallization conditions. Primary magmatic and xenocrystic origins are commonly considered for olivine from ultramafic to intermediate magmas, whereas secondary olivine origins (i.e. crystals formed by recrystallization or peritectic reaction) are rarely considered in the interpretation of magmatic phenocrysts. The main aim of our study was to determine textures that are characteristic for secondary magmatic olivine and non-characteristic, or at least rare, for primary magmatic olivine. To characterize the textures of the different olivine types, we review previous experimental work and present new textural data for olivine from four melanorite melting and eight basalt crystallization experiments. We qualitatively characterize olivine textures using transmitted light and back-scattered electron microscopy, and semi-quantitatively characterize the 2D surface area of olivine branches and single crystals, their 2D and calculated 3D shapes, and 2D grain boundary segment lengths. Olivine recrystallization yields crystals with dendritic branches, whereas peritectic reaction produces olivine clusters with randomly oriented crystals. In agreement with previous studies, we find that olivine crystal and branch size, grain boundary segmentation, and inclusion relations cannot unequivocally distinguish between olivine of secondary and primary origins. However, recrystallized olivine typically has short prismatic branches, whereas primary magmatic olivine dendrites commonly have elongated branches. The peritectic crystals are closely comparable with glomerocrysts and single polyhedral primary magmatic crystals, but they commonly form small groups of touching crystals and clusters with crystal-poor cores. Spatial association and a comparison with xenocryst textures may further guide the interpretation of their origin, but detailed analyses of core compositions and zoning patterns appear necessary to firmly distinguish peritectic from primary magmatic crystals. Our comparison of experimental and natural samples suggests that dendritic olivine crystals and clusters of polyhedral olivine that commonly occur in mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks should be evaluated for possible primary as well as secondary magmatic origins.

Description: Troctolitic intrusive rocks poor in augite are common in certain Proterozoic anorthosite complexes and related rocks. The Lower Zone of the Kiglapait intrusion, Labrador, consists of ~1570 km 3 troctolite today and possibly ~2900 km 3 before erosion. In this augite-free Lower Zone, plagioclase fractionation is as low as 1·6% An km –1 of cumulate thickness and averages 3% An km –1 . When augite crystallizes after 84% of the magma has crystallized, the fractionation becomes as much as 17% An km –1 of cumulate. Why such a difference? It is clear from first principles of phase equilibria that fractionation accelerates with saturation in augite, but not so clear that the difference should be so great. The answer is to be found in the silica-poor nature of troctolitic magma that is critically undersaturated in silica. This low-silica effect reduces the activity of the NaSi albite component relative to the CaAl anorthite component in the plagioclase, thereby favoring the An component of the liquid and crystals and weakening the fractionation process. As the normative augite component in the magma rises from the base of the Lower Zone to the base of the Upper Zone, the activity of silica also rises slightly and its consequent effect on plagioclase composition tends to diminish. Liquid fractionation paths derived from observed crystal paths, when plotted in the system Diopside–Anorthite–Albite, rise across the liquidus fractionation lines toward diopside and reach augite saturation near the 1 atm cotectic. They produce plagioclase compositions 10 mol % higher in An than pure liquidus fractionation lines predict. The key criterion for the troctolitic fractionation of plagioclase composition is the absence of Ca-poor pyroxene from the rocks. Noritic magmas, by contrast, have higher activities of silica and more effective fractionation of plagioclase. A parallel fractionation of olivine is also retarded in the Lower Zone by the accumulation of ferric iron in the liquid until augite and titanomagnetite crystallize in the Upper Zone.

Description: Oxidation state is a sensitive indicator of geochemical processes within the upper mantle. Here we report results of a regional study of the oxidation state of spinel peridotite xenoliths from 45 volcanic centers distributed over ~20 000 km 2 in the Massif Central, France. The log f O 2 values relative to the fayalite–magnetite–quartz oxygen buffer (FMQ) were determined from the equilibrium between the Fe-bearing components in olivine, orthopyroxene and spinel, with the Fe 3+ content of spinel measured either by Mössbauer spectroscopy or by electron microprobe using secondary spinel standards. For the entire suite of samples, log f O 2 values range between FMQ – 0·47 and FMQ + 1·66. Our data confirm the presence of two distinct lithospheric mantle domains, previously reported in the literature, lying north and south of 45°30'N, respectively. The northern domain, with its refractory bulk composition, tends to record more oxidized conditions, having log f O 2 values mostly at or above FMQ + 1. The log f O 2 in the southern domain is more variable, including values below FMQ. Assuming that increasing equilibration temperatures among xenoliths reflect increasing depths of origin, samples from the northern domain suggest that the shallower part of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) is somewhat more oxidized than at deeper levels. On the other hand, such a general observation cannot be made for the southern domain. The high log f O 2 values of harzburgites suggest that they are more sensitive to resetting of their oxidation state by metasomatism than lherzolites. In terms of modally metasomatized xenoliths, the ‘melt’ leading to the addition of clinopyroxene apparently had a higher oxidation state (log f O 2 〉 FMQ + 1) than the agent responsible for crystallization of amphibole (log f O 2 ~ FMQ + 0·6). Furthermore, amphibole-bearing and amphibole-free peridotites exhibit the same range in f O 2 . Cryptic metasomatism can also reset oxidation state, sometimes very effectively. Metasomatic processes are probably the reason why the xenolith suite from the Massif Central records relatively high log f O 2 values compared with ‘normal’ non-cratonic SCLM. This study demonstrates the utility of using oxidation state to help characterize and delineate domains in the lithospheric mantle.