ALBERT

Description: Volatile elements (e.g., H, C, N) have a strong influence on the physical and chemical evolution of planets and are essential for the development of habitable conditions. Measurement of the volatile and incompatible heavy halogens, Cl, Br, and I, can provide insight into volatile distribution and transport processes, due to their hydrophilic nature. However, information on the bulk halogen composition of martian meteorites is limited, particularly for Br and I, largely due to the difficulty in measuring ppb-level Br and I abundances in small samples. In this study, we address this challenge by using the neutron irradiation noble gas mass spectrometry (NI-NGMS) method to measure the heavy halogen composition of five olivine-phyric shergottite meteorites, including the enriched (Larkman Nunatak LAR 06319 and LAR 12011) and depleted (LAR 12095, LAR 12240, and Tissint) compositional end-members. Distinct differences in the absolute abundances and halogen ratios exist between enriched (74 to136 ppm Cl, 1303 to 3061 ppb Br, and 4 to 1423 ppb I) and depleted (10 to 26 ppm Cl, 46 to 136 ppb Br, and 3 to 329 ppb I) samples. All halogen measurements are within the ranges previously reported for martian shergottite, nakhlite, and chassignite (SNC) meteorites. Enriched shergottites show variable and generally high Br and I absolute abundances. Halogen ratios (Br/Cl and I/Cl) are in proportions that exceed those of both carbonaceous chondrites and the martian surface. This may be linked to a volatile-rich martian mantle source, be related to shock processes or could represent a small degree of heavy halogen contamination (a feature of some Antarctic meteorites, for example). The differences observed in halogen abundances and ratios between enriched and depleted compositions, however, are consistent with previous suggestions of a heterogeneous distribution of volatiles in the martian mantle. Depleted shergottites have lower halogen abundances and Br and Cl in similar proportions to bulk silicate Earth and carbonaceous chondrites. Tissint in particular, as an uncontaminated fall, allows an estimate of the depleted shergottite mantle source composition to be made: 1.2 ppm Cl, 7.0 ppb Br, and 0.2 ppb I. The resultant bulk silicate Mars (BSM) estimate (22 ppm Cl, 74 ppb Br, and 6 ppb I), including the martian crust and depleted shergottite mantle, is similar to estimates of the bulk silicate earth (BSE) halogen composition.

Description: The Rum Layered Suite, NW Scotland, hosts Cr-spinel seams at the bases of peridotite–troctolite macro-rhythmic units in the eastern portion of the intrusion. Here, we present detailed field observations together with microstructural and mineral chemical analyses for the Unit 7–8 Cr-spinel seam and associated cumulates in the Eastern Layered Intrusion. Detailed mapping and sampling reveal significant lateral variations in the structural characteristics and mineral compositions of the Unit 7–8 boundary zone rocks. Although the Cr-spinel seam is laterally continuous over ~ 3 km, it is absent towards the centre and the margins of the intrusion. The compositional characteristics of Cr-spinel and plagioclase vary systematically along strike, exhibiting a chemical evolution towards more differentiated compositions with increasing distance from the main feeder conduit of the Rum intrusion; the Long Loch Fault. On the basis of our combined datasets, we propose that the upper part of the troctolite, the anorthosite layer underlying the Cr-spinel seam and the seam itself formed during a multi-stage magma replenishment event. The stages can be summarised as follows: (1) peridotite schlieren and anorthosite autoliths formed following melt infiltration and cumulate assimilation in the crystal mush of the Unit 7 troctolite. (2) The anorthosite layer then formed from the Unit 7 troctolite crystal mush by thermal erosion and dissolution due to infiltrating magma. (3) Subsequent dissolution of the anorthosite layer by new replenishing magma led to peritectic in situ crystallisation of the Unit 7–8 Cr-spinel seam, with (4) continued magma input eventually producing the overlying Unit 8 peridotite. In the central part of the Rum Layered Suite, the aforementioned assimilation of the troctolitic footwall formed the anorthosite layer. However, the absence of anorthosite in close proximity to the Long Loch Fault can be explained by enhanced thermochemical erosion close to the feeder zone, and its absence close to the margins of the intrusion, at maximum distance from the Long Loch Fault, may be due to cooling of the magma and loss of erosion potential. In line with other recent studies on PGE-bearing chromitites in layered intrusions, we highlight the importance of multi-stage intrusive magma replenishment to the formation of spatially coupled anorthosite and Cr-spinel seams, as well as the lateral mineral chemical variations observed in the Unit 7–8 boundary zone cumulates.