Noble gases in ultramafic xenoliths from San Carlos, Arizona

Abstract

This work reports the results of noble gas (Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe) analyses of accidental mantle xenoliths from San Carlos, Arizona. Except for the addition of radiogenic 40Ar and mass fractionation effects, the isotopic structures of these gases are indistinguishable from atmospheric composition. The absence of 129Xe excesses in these rocks may reflect indirect mixing of atmospheric gases with the source region of the xenoliths. The dominant influence on the noble gas abundances in the San Carlos xenoliths appears to have been diffusive gas loss, which may have occurred in a mantle metamorphic event or during contact with the host basanite magma. Evidence is presented for the partitioning of significant amounts of the heavy noble gases into fluid inclusions in the xenolith minerals; the proportion of each gas in the inclusions increases with increasing atomic weight of the gas, possibly reflecting solubility effects. The noble gases are present in greater concentration in pyroxenes than in olivine, similar to the behavior of other incompatible elements.