Origin of podiform chromitite, a new model based on the Luobusa ophiolite, Tibet

Abstract

Podiform chromitites have been interpreted as the result of melt–rock reaction and related melt mixing in upper mantle sections of ophiolites. However, the discovery of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) minerals, especially diamond and coesite, in many podiform chromitites and host peridotites, raises fundamental questions about the validity of this model. Chromitites in the Luobusa ophiolite of Tibet range from massive, to nodular to disseminated. Chromite grains in both the chromitites and peridotites have variable but relatively high MgO and are classified as magnesiochromite. Many magnesiochromite grains in the massive chromitites contain inclusions of forsterite and pyroxene, as well as diamonds and other unusual minerals. Forsterite inclusions have Fo numbers of 97–99 and NiO contents of 1.11–1.29wt.%. Mg#s (=100∗Mg/(Mg+Fe)) of clinopyroxene inclusions are 96–98 and those of orthopyroxene are 96–97. X-ray studies show that the olivine inclusions have very small unit cells and short cation–oxygen bond distances, suggesting crystallization at high pressure. In contrast, magnesiochromite grains in nodular and disseminated chromitites lack pyroxene inclusions and their olivine inclusions have lower Fo numbers of 94–96 and lower NiO contents of 0.35–0.58wt.%. In addition, magnesiochromite in massive ores has higher Fe3+/Fetotal (0.42) than that in nodular and disseminated ores, which have ratios of 0.22. Disseminated chromitites also show systematic changes in olivine and magnesiochromite compositions from the dunite envelope to the massive ore, indicating melt–rock reaction. These observations suggest that the formation of podiform chromitites is a multi-stage process. Magnesiochromite grains and perhaps small bodies of chromitite crystallize deep in the mantle under low ambient ƒO2 from partial melts of peridotite. UHP minerals and highly magnesian olivine and pyroxene inclusions are trapped in these magnesiochromite grains. When oceanic crustal slabs are trapped in suprasubduction zones (SSZ), they are modified by island arc tholeiitic and boninitic magmas, which change the magnesiochromite compositions and deposit chromitite ores in melt channels.