Origin of ultramafic xenoliths in high-Mg diorites from east-central China based on their oxidation state and abundance of platinum group elements

Abstract

Ultramafic xenoliths are abundant in late Mesozoic high-Mg diorites at Laiwu, western Shandong Province; they are composed of dunite (>80 vol.%) with minor harzburgite (<10 vol.%) and olivine (Ol)-pyroxenite (<10 vol.%). We determined the abundance of siderophile and chalcophile elements of representative samples of xenoliths, and calculated oxidation conditions based on mineral chemistry. Bulk compositions of harzburgite show high Cr (2640–3430 ppm), Co (103–111 ppm), Ni (2210–2400 ppm), and high Ir-type platinum group elements (PGE) (IPGE, 14.0–17.8 ppb), with high ratios of IPGE to Pt-type PGE (PPGE, 3.1–6.3). Spinel contains moderate Cr (Cr# = 0.41–0.61). Our data suggest that the harzburgite is the residue of partial melting. The occurrence of orthopyroxene replacing Ol suggests that harzburgite was metasomatized by a Si-rich melt. Dunite contains high concentrations of Cr (> 3800 ppm), Co (>110 ppm), and Ni (>1680 ppm), and low concentrations of IPGE (<4.8 ppb), with low ratios of IPGE/PPGE (as low as 0.05), suggesting that dunite is the cumulate of a mafic melt. High Cr in chromite (Cr# > 0.7) and high Mg in Ol suggest that the parental melt was boninitic. Some Ol grains show variable, locally high Mg, up to Fo 94.3. We attribute these high values to the interaction of the Ol with abundant chromite in the cumulate. Both dunite and harzburgite indicate high log fO2 values, ranging from fayalite-magnetite-quartz (FMQ) +1.4 to +2.4. The values contrast with fO2 below that of the graphite–CO2 buffer for xenoliths in early Palaeozoic diamondiferous kimberlite pipes in the area. The data indicate a sharp increase in fO2 during Mesozoic time, likely caused by subduction of the Tethyan oceanic plate before collision with the Yangtze continent below the eastern margin of the North China craton.