Platinum-alloy and sulfur saturation in an arc-related basalt to rhyolite suite: Evidence from the Pual Ridge lavas, the Eastern Manus Basin

Abstract

We have measured the platinum group element (PGE) and Re concentrations of arc-type lavas from the Pual Ridge and the surrounding area in the Eastern Manus Basin. These magmas followed an Fe-enrichment trend to produce a wide range of compositions with MgO varying between 8 and 0.1wt.%. We found distinct differences in the PGE geochemistry of the high (>3wt.% MgO) and the low-Mg lavas (<3wt.% MgO). During the early stages of fractionation, the concentrations of Pd, Cu, Au and Re increase whereas Ir, Ru, Rh and Pt decrease. Co-variations of Ir, Ru and Rh with Pt in the high-Mg lavas suggest that the depletion of these elements is due to Pt-rich alloy saturation. This is consistent with the high Pt contents in the high-Mg lavas, which is close to the solubility of Pt in the basaltic melt at similar conditions. In contrast, the concentrations of all PGE and Re drop rapidly in the low-Mg lavas (except for Ru and Ir), with the PGE concentrations falling at a rate that is appreciably faster than Cu, which we attribute to sulfide saturation. As a consequence, there is a marked decline in Pd/Cu in the low-Mg lavas and we suggest that this ratio is the best indicator of sulfide saturation in an evolving magmatic system.A feature of the data is that duplicate analyses of the same sample often do not agree within error. We attribute this scatter to the nugget effect, with nuggets of a Pt-rich alloy in the high-Mg lavas and sulfide blebs in the low-Mg lavas. The PGE concentrations of phenocryst-bearing high-Mg lavas are higher than in the associated glassy lavas, and scatter on MgO variation diagrams is significantly reduced if only glassy lavas are considered, which indicates that the micron scale Pt-rich alloy grains are intimately associated with the phenocrysts. Our results provide strong evidence that Pt-rich alloys can crystallize from a basaltic-andesitic magma, along with the silicate minerals, and fractionate Pt from Pd during magmatic differentiation. As a consequence, Pd/Pt increases during Pt alloy fractionation and this ratio can be used to identify Pt-rich metal saturation. The Pual Ridge alloys are Pt-rich because the primary magmas are Pt-enriched and Ir-depleted, which is typical of arc-related magmas.