Thermodynamic modeling and elemental migration for the early stage of rodingitization: An example from the Xialu massif of the Xigaze ophiolite, southern Tibet

Abstract

The analysis of early stage rodingite from the ultramafic rocks of the Xialu Massif in the Xigaze Ophiolite, Tibet, in China shows that the rodingitization involved continuous changes in fluid composition during different stages of subduction. The early stage prehnite-bearing rodingite was produced at low pressures and temperatures along extensional fractures. Samples of rodingite were collected along a profile from the center to the margin of a rodingitized intrusive igneous rock (~10 m × 30 m), and they record wide variations in bulk composition, mineralogy, and texture. The mineral assemblages, from center to margin, vary from (1) relics of primary clinopyroxene (Cpxr) and primary amphibole (Ampr) + newly formed late amphibole (Act) + primary plagioclase (Plr) + clinozoisite + prehnite + albite + chlorite + titanite + ilmenite (R1 rodingite), through (2) relics of primary clinopyroxene (Cpxr) + newly formed late clinopyroxene (Cpxn) + primary and late amphiboles (Ampr + Act) + clinozoisite + prehnite + albite + chlorite + titanite (R2 rodingite), to (3) newly formed late clinopyroxene (Cpxn) and amphibole (Act) + clinozoisite + prehnite + albite + chlorite + titanite (R3 rodingite). As a result of the metasomatic process of rodingitization, the content of CaO in the whole rock chemical composition from R1 to R3 increases, SiO2 decreases, and Na2O + K2O is almost completely removed. Mass-balance diagrams show enrichments in large ion lithophile elements such as Rb, Cs, Ba, and Pb as well as Ni during rodingitization. The central part of the rodingitized intrusion (R1 rodingite) was only slightly affected by metasomatism. On the other hand, the contents of the rare earth elements (REEs), high field strength elements (HFSEs; e.g. Zr, Nb, Ta, Hf, and Y), and some highly compatible elements such as Cr and Sc decreased slightly during rodingitization. Thermodynamic modeling based on equilibrium mineral assemblages indicates that the rodingite of the Xialu Massif formed in an H2O-saturated, CO2-rich environment. The estimated conditions of metamorphism were ~281–323 °C and 0.4–3.9 kbar, representing the subgreenschist facies. In this environment, REEs and HFSEs were soluble in the fluids and partly removed. Moreover, these prehnite rodingites formed in a progressively reducing and less alkaline environment, as indicated by decreases in f(O2) and bulk-rock Fe3+/Fe2+ ratios, and the records of fluid ΔpH from the center to the margin of the studied rodingitized intrusion.