CHROMIAN SPINEL COMPOSITION AND PLATINUM-GROUP ELEMENT MINERALOGY OF CHROMITITES FROM THE MILIA AREA, PINDOS OPHIOLITE COMPLEX, GREECE

Abstract

The chromitites of the Milia area in the Pindos ophiolite complex, in Greece, were investigated for their platinum-group mineral (PGM) content. The chromitites are massive, more rarely disseminated in texture and occur as small pods. They are composed of magnesiochromite crystals with Cr# [Cr/(Cr + Al)] between 0.80 and 0.84, and Mg# [Mg/(Mg + Fe 2+ )] between 0.54 and 0.72. The total platinum-group-element (PGE) contents in chromitites are relatively low (≤170 ppb), although they may locally be higher (up to 1059 ppb). The IPGE (Os, Ir and Ru) predominate over the PPGE (Rh, Pt and Pd). The PGM assemblage, consistent with the geochemical data, is dominated by laurite and Os–Ir–Ru alloys that occur both as single and composite grains, generally less than 15 μm in size. Laurite has a wide range of Os-for-Ru substitution [Ru/(Ru + Os): 0.42–0.99], whereas primary alloys are enriched in Ru (up to 73.80 wt.%). Some laurite crystals exhibit an anomalous pattern of zoning. Such zoning requires an inversion of the normal T– f (S 2 ) trend in magmatic systems, and is herein considered to be due to postmagmatic processes. Some Ru-rich alloy grains contain relatively high Rh and Pt abundances, similar to those of residual sulfides in mantle peridotites. This feature suggests that these alloys may represent residual PGM phases from earlier episodes of melt extraction from the severely depleted mantle unit of the Pindos ophiolite complex. Combined compositional data indicate that the Milia chromitites formed from a hydrous boninitic melt in a suprasubduction-zone environment.