ALBERT

Description: The Gleibat Lafhouda dolomite carbonatites of the Moroccan Sahara occur as three separate cone-shaped plugs intruding an autochthonous succession of Archean supracrustal basement rocks. Geochemically, the Gleibat Lafhouda dolomite carbonatites are characterized by a compositional range of 11.3–27.1 wt% MgO, 3.1–29.7 wt% CaO, 3.5–38.0 wt% FeOtot and 〈 0.1–7.5 wt% SiO2, and enrichment in large-ion lithophile elements (LILE), particularly Sr (2173–11,310 ppm), Ba (174–4537 ppm), U (0.1–296 ppm) and light REEs (LREEs) (131–1295 ppm), but not in the heavy REE (HREEs) and high-field strength elements (HFSE) such as Ti, Zr, and Hf. Nb and Ta show, however, much higher concentrations ranging from 0.5 ppm to 1.0 wt%, and 〈 0.0 to 199 ppm, respectively, which set them apart from naturally occurring carbonatites and the experimentally derived carbonated melts. The combined stable (δ13CV-PDB = −2.5 to −6.6‰, δ18OV-SMOW = 6.0 to 20.7‰) and radiogenic 87Sr/86Srin (0.7032–0.7046), 143Nd/144Ndin (0.5105–0.5106) or εNd(t) (+ 3 to +6), and 206Pb/204Pb (19.06–49.05), 207Pb/204Pb (15.90–18.87), and 208Pb/204Pb (37.87–38.50) isotope compositions are consistent with low degree partial melting, at convecting upper mantle conditions, of a predominantly depleted mantle source in a rift-related environment. Based on these geochemical features, it is suggested that the Gleibat Lafhouda dolomite carbonatites represent the earliest manifestation of rifting processes related to the fragmentation of the Columbia supercontinent at 1.85 Ga. Accordingly, we propose that these carbonatitic rocks represent the initial Mg-rich melt in the mantle plume head that derived from decompressional adiabatic melting of a depleted mantle source.

Description: The Cretaceous Twihinate carbonatite in the Moroccan Sahara is a ~ 5 km diameter ring-shaped intrusion made of an inner core preserving sparse occurrences of medium- to coarse-grained calcite carbonatite encircled by a ring of vuggy siliceous breccia. The Twihinate carbonatite is enriched in large ion lithophile elements (Cs, Rb, Ba, U and Th) and light rare earth elements (LREE), but shows negative anomalies in high field strength elements (particularly Ta, Zr, Hf and Ti). Stable and radiogenic isotope ratios vary in the range of δ13Cv-PDB = −10.5 to −1.6‰, δ18OV-SMOW = 6.4–28.3‰, initial 87Sr/86Sr = 0.7034–0.7043 (εSri between −14.5 and − 1.8), 143Nd/144Nd = 0.51282–0.51283 (εNdi between 2.8 and 3.6), 206Pb/204Pbi = 19.52–23.78, 207Pb/204Pbi = 15.56–15.69 and 208Pb/204Pbi = 38.69–39.02). Altogether, these isotopic compositions reflect compositional mantle heterogeneity, and are interpreted to reflect partial melting of heterogenous mantle sources with a potential eclogite component in an intraplate, rift-controlled tectonic setting. From a geodynamic perspective, the time span ascribed to age emplacement of Twihinate carbonatite shortly follows the Upper Jurassic hyper-extension event which ultimately resulted in mantle exhumation and subsequent onset of drifting in the Central Atlantic Ocean and Maghrebian Tethys.