Preservation of ancient Os isotope signatures in the Yungbwa ophiolite (southwestern Tibet) after subduction modification

Abstract

Both spinel and plagioclase harzburgites from the Yungbwa ophiolite, southwestern Tibet, have been studied for highly siderophile elements (HSEs) and Re–Os isotopes. The spinel harzburgites can be subdivided into low-Cr# and high-Cr# groups, according to the spinel Cr#. The low-Cr# harzburgites have been estimated to experience with ca. 13% degrees of partial melting, whereas the high-Cr# harzburgites have been subjected to 16–18% degrees of melting. Clinopyroxenes in the low-Cr# harzburgites show depleted REE patterns, indicating they have been negligibly modified by melts. In contrast, both high-Cr# and plagioclase harzburgites have been metasomatized to different extents, as evidenced by the variable enrichment of LREE in their clinopyroxenes. Compositions of the metasomatic agents are of affinities to the subduction-related magmas. The low-Cr# harzburgites have equilibrium temperatures higher than both high-Cr# and plagioclase harzburgites. We explain that the low-Cr# harzburgites represent mantle residues after melt extraction at mid-ocean ridge (MOR), whereas both high-Cr# and plagioclase harzburgites were originated from the supra-subduction zone (SSZ) settings. These different types of mantle peridotites were tectonically juxtaposed during the emplacement of the Yungbwa ophiolite. The low-Cr# harzburgites display consistent highly siderophile element (HSE) patterns with suprachondritic Ru/Ir and Pd/Ir ratios, whereas both high-Cr# and plagioclase harzburgites show fractionated HSE patterns. A high-Cr# harzburgite, GHP-86, is strongly depleted in both Pd and Re. The Yungbwa harzburgites have variable 187Os/188Os ratios ranging from 0.12228 to 0.12876. Sample GHP-86 has the less radiogenic 187Os/188Os ratio, giving a depletion age (TRD) of ∼1Ga. The Re–Os isotope compositions of different types of the Yungbwa harzburgites suggest that their 187Os/188Os ratios have not been remarkably modified by subduction-related melts. Furthermore, subduction modification has not erased the ancient Os signatures in the Yungbwa peridotites. The reason is probably because the primary unradiogenic Os in the Yungbwa harzburgites had not been significantly reduced during the metasomatism. The asthenospheric mantle beneath the Neo-Tethys Ocean, from which the Yungbwa ophiolite was derived, had heterogeneous Os isotope compositions and contained some ancient mantle domains.