Tectonic discrimination of chromian spinels, olivines and pyroxenes in the Northeastern Jiangxi Province ophiolite, South China

Abstract

The peridotites of the Northeastern Jiangxi Province Ophiolite (NJO), including dunite, harzburgite and clinopyroxene-bearing harzburgite, are strongly altered under serpentinization, except for minor aggregations of partially-altered olivines, chromian spinels and pyroxenes. The forsterite content of olivines in dunites (Fo 93.6) is slightly higher than in harzburgites (Fo 91.4). Chromian spinels in harzburgites and dunites are very refractory, with restricted chemical compositions of high-Cr varieties. The unaltered cores of chromian spinels have low Al2O3 and TiO2 content, and display a large range of Mg# (100× [Mg/(Mg + Fe)], 41–64) and Cr# (100× [Cr/(Cr + Al)], 53–83) values, suggesting that the peridotites originated from a highly-depleted mantle. The spinels plotted in “olivine-spinel mantle array” (OSMA) diagram and Cr# versus. Mg# diagram both indicate the peridotite of NJO experienced a >25 % partial melting. The positive correlation between the Cr# and the TiO2 content probably resulted from the reaction between boninitic melt and mantle peridotite, as a consequence of melt-mantle interaction within the arc setting. The oxygen fugacity (ƒO2), calculated using chromian spinel-olivine pairs, indicates that the peridotites in the NJO were formed under relatively low oxidizing conditions quite different from those commonly found in supra-subductions zones (SSZ). This might be explained by the reaction between fore-arc magmas and residual mantle in a back-arc oceanic basin during a rapid subduction process. The Neoproterozoic subduction between the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks was therefore probably rapid, and the addition of water and other volatiles to the mantle wedge beneath the island arc would have enhanced melting, leading to the production of highly depleted boninitic melts.