Abstract

Olivine from the deep mantle-derived rocks, such as ultramafic lamprophyres, carries important information about the composition of the mantle source, the processes of mantle metasomatism, the origin of specific silicate-carbonate melts, as well as the composition and mechanisms of crystallization of these rocks. Textures and compositions of olivine from the carbonate-rich ultramafic lamprophyres (aillikites) of the Terina complex, along with their mineral and melt inclusions, exposed that olivines have different sources. Two populations of olivines were considered: macrocrysts (>1 mm) and groundmass olivines (<1 mm). Groundmass olivines are phenocrysts and characterized by weak variations in Mg# (84–86.5), a sharp increase in Ca and Ti contents, and a decrease in Ni and Cr from core to rim. They have higher concentrations of Li, Cu, Ti, and Na compared to macrocrysts. Among the macrocrysts, the following populations are observed: (1) high-Mg olivines (Mg# 89–91) with high Ni and low Ti contents, which are interpreted as xenocrysts from the slightly depleted lherzolite mantle; (2) high-Ca olivines (Mg# 84–88, CaO 0.13–0.21 wt %), which have patterns similar to groundmass olivines and are interpreted as cumulates of early portions of aillikite melt; (3) macrocrysts with wide variations in Mg# (73–88), low CaO contents (0.04–0.11 wt %), and positive slope in Ca vs. Al and negative slope in Ca vs. Mn, which are interpreted as disintegrated megacrysts from the Cr-poor megacryst suite. The megacryst suite could have been formed in the pre-trap period during the melting of the metasomatized subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). The aillikite melt evolution is traced by secondary melt inclusions in olivine macrocrysts: early phlogopite-diopside-calcite-apatite association, containing Ti-magnetite and ilmenite, is followed by an association with magnetite and sulfides (pyrrhotite and pentlandite); finally, at a late stage, inclusions with a predominance of Ca-Na-carbonates and sulfates and enriched in U, Th, Y, REEs, Sr, and Ba were captured.

Highlights

  • Aillikites are carbonate-rich ultramafic lamprophyres (UMLs) [1]

  • Macrocrysts are represented by olivine grains, which are completely or partially replaced by serpentine and calcite

  • Olivines from the aillikites of the Terina complex are divided into groundmass olivines, which are phenocrysts, and macrocrysts for which the polygenetic nature of formation was established

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Summary

Introduction

As group I kimberlites, they are igneous rocks with a deep mantle source, which do not bear significant signs of assimilation of crustal material captured during the rise of the melt [1,2,3]. Like kimberlites, they are significantly depleted in SiO2 (18–35 wt% SiO2 ) and are characterized by a high total content of magmatic carbonates [4,5,6]. Aillikites carry important information about the processes occurring at the boundary of the asthenosphere and the lithospheric mantle and the composition of mantle rocks that were a source of material for parental melts. Many researchers use the macro- and microelemental compositions of the primary magmatic minerals [11,12,13]

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