Abstract
A total of 113 ultramafic rocks, including dunites, peridotites, pyroxenites, kimberlites, serpentinites and peridotite inclusions, has been analyzed for sodium, manganese, chromium, scandium and cobalt by a neutron activation technique. The overall average abundances determined are: 1040 ppm Na; 1040 ppm Mn; 2980 ppm Cr; 15.7 ppm Sc; and 110 ppm Co. Na, Mn and Co values are markedly lower than the average abundances of these elements in ultramafic rocks as reported in the geochemical literature. When the fresh ultramafic rocks are compared with the serpentinites, by means of frequency histograms, the abundance ranges and the approximate variances about the mean are found to be the same, within experimental error, for each element studied. Thus, the process of serpentinization has no marked effect on the abundances of Na, Mn, Cr, Sc and Co in ultramafic rocks. For those elements whose abundances are highly dependent on mineral composition, such as Na and Sc, it appears that the pre-serpentinization mineral composition rather than the process of serpentinization determines the elemental abundances in the serpentinite.
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