Geochemical variability among stratiform chromitites and ultramafic rocks from Western Makran, South Iran

Abstract

The geochemical compositions of minerals from the Moho transition zone of ophiolites potentially can help to understand the magmatic evolution of the ophiolites, and subsequent mantle-melt interactions. The Jurassic-Late Cretaceous Makran ophiolite of south Iran comprises one of the most extensive tracts of oceanic crust which were scraped off and preserved in an accretionary complex. The Makran ophiolite records traces of MORB-OIB-type magmatism during the Jurassic, but mostly supra-subduction zone magmatic activity during the Late Cretaceous. Despite a few geochemical studies on the crustal rocks, the nature and geochemical signatures of the mantle rocks from this ophiolite remain controversial. The Sorkhband mantle-crust transition zone underlying crustal cumulates in the western Makran consists of stratiform chromitites, harzburgites, chromite-rich dunites and dunites, with crosscutting dikes of olivine websterite and olivine clinopyroxenite. Major- and trace-element compositions of clinopyroxene grains in olivine websterite and clinopyroxenite dikes indicate crystallization from melts similar to boninites and low-Ti fore-arc basalts. Spinel compositions in olivine websterite and clinopyroxenite dikes suggest crystal fractionation from boninitic or high- Mg# magmas have played a major role in the genesis these rocks.We propose a two-stage model for the formation of the Sorkhband dunites including (1) supra-subduction zone-related melt infiltrates through harzburgites in the mantle-crust transition zone to dissolve peridotite orthopyroxene and leave dunites with high forsterite-NiO olivines, and (2) boninitic melts accumulate and react with surrounding harzburgites to crystallize cumulate dunites with low-Mg# olivine and high-Ti spinels. We conclude that there have been temporal changes in the composition of mantle melts in the fore-arc mantle section of the Makran ophiolite during the initial subduction of the Neotethyan ocean beneath the Lut block during the Late Cretaceous.