Globular ferropicritic rocks at Pechenga, Kola Peninsula (Russia): Liquid immiscibility versus alteration

Abstract

The uppermost volcanic unit of the early Proterozoic Pechenga Group comprises ferropicritic volcanic and hypabyssal rocks which possess well-developed, light-weathering globular (up to 10 cm in size) or layer-like structures mesoscopicly similar to those found in some Archean ocellar komatiites. These structures are superficially reminiscent of features attributed to liquid immiscibility including spheroidal aggregates in all stages of coalescence. However, several lines of field, microscopical, mineralogical and chemical evidence argue against the immiscibility hypothesis. These include identical modal proportions, grain sizes, morphologies and orientations of crystalline phases in the globules and matrix, as strikingly demonstrated, for example, by the spinifex-textured varieties of the globular rocks. A solid-state hydrothermal/metamorphic diffusional process that affected the originally glassy mesostasis is concluded to be the only feasable mechanism for the formation of the globular structures in the Pechenga ferropicrites.