Host Magma Research Articles

Post-entrainment mineral–melt reactions in spinel peridotite xenoliths from Inver, Donegal, Ireland

Spinel lherzolite and harzburgite xenoliths hosted in an alkali basalt dyke near Inver, Donegal, Ireland show abundant evidence of interaction between xenolith minerals and the host melt. Of particular interest are primary Cr-diopside and spinel with sieve-textured coronas. Coronas on primary Cr-diopside are up to 3 mm wide and are associated with veinlets of devitrified glass. The coronas comprise secondary Cr-diopside with vermicular, interstitial alkali feldspar and chlorite grains up to 100 µm in size. The inclusion-free Cr-diopside cores are Al- and Na-rich whereas the coronas are Al- and Na-depleted and Ti-enriched. Sieve-textured spinels have similar texture to the clinopyroxene grains and are also associated with veinlets of infiltrated glass. However, the interstitial inclusions in the sieve-textured region are chlorite and nepheline. Inclusion-free spinel is part of a chromite–spinel solid solution and is Ti-poor. Spinel in the coronas has a greater chromite and ulvospinel component and falls close to a mixing line with spinel in the host alkali basalt. In addition to the sieve-textured grains, primary olivine in contact with infiltrated glass has Fe-rich rims, and orthopyroxene has broken down to form rims of olivine, clinopyroxene and a K-rich phase similar in composition to alkali-feldspar. Comparison of the compositions of the inclusion-free cores and sieve-textured rims shows that the rims have chemical signatures consistent with partial melting, that is, Al and Na depletion for clinopyroxene and Cr-enrichment for spinel. The textures of the coronas, particularly those around spinel and the reaction margins on orthopyroxene are identical to those produced during dissolution experiments.We suggest that silicate liquid from the host magma infiltrated the xenoliths during their ascent and since it was not in equilibrium with the xenolith minerals caused reaction. The occurrence of K-bearing interstitial minerals in the sieve-textured grains and reacted orthopyroxenes indicate that the coronas did not form by simple melting since none of the minerals that underwent breakdown are K-bearing. We suggest that the sieve-textured grains formed initially by partial melting and reaction associated with decompression and infiltration of liquid from the host magma. The melts included in the reacted phases were enriched in K by diffusion from the Si-poor infiltrated melt into the more Si-rich melt inclusions in the coronas.

An integrated model for the deep structure of the Chyulu Hills volcanic field, Kenya

The Chyulu Hills, a 1.4 Ma B.P. to Holocene volcanic field located about 150 km to the east of the Kenya rift, is one of the few locations on Earth for which detailed geochemical (volcanic rocks), thermobarometric (xenoliths), seismological and gravity data are available. This paper combines these data to achieve an integrated seismic-petrological model for the deep structure of this volcanic field. Results of a wide-angle reflection and refraction experiment reveal an average crustal thickness of 40 km and a thickness of 20 km for the lower crust. Beneath the volcanic field, the crust thickens to about 44 km. In this region a low-velocity body (LVZ) is modelled which extends from about 30 ± 5 km depth to the Moho. The LVZ is characterised by an increased v P/ v S-ratio ranging from 1.81 to 1.93 depending on the possible extents of this body. This is in contrast to the surrounding crust where a ratio of only about 1.76 is observed. In the same area, the results of a teleseismic tomography study show a P-wave low-velocity anomaly of −3%. The seismic data can be explained by either an anorthositic body directly above the Moho in the region of the Chyulu Hills or by the presence of partial melt. Directly beneath the Chyulu Hills, a P-wave velocity of 7.9 km/s is determined for the uppermost mantle; this velocity is 0.2–0.3 km/s lower than that of the surrounding mantle region. The teleseismic tomography model suggests a P-wave low-velocity anomaly of −2.5 to −3.5% in the uppermost mantle (<70 km depth). Widespread garnet-bearing pyroxenitic and lherzolitic mantle xenoliths are mostly well equilibrated and suggest an apparent lithospheric thickness of about 105 km. Most garnet-free spinel harzburgitic xenoliths and some garnet pyroxenitic xenoliths were significantly heated before they were sampled and erupted by the host magmas. Heating events lasted for less than 210 ka as indicated by chemical diffusion profiles observed in orthopyroxene grains. It is suggested that heating was caused by stagnating magmas in the uppermost lithospheric mantle. At the same depth P-wave velocity perturbations of the tomographic model show a low-velocity zone directly underneath the youngest part (SE) of the volcanic field. At depths greater than about 70 km, this low-velocity zone is shifted towards the east, away from the volcanic field.

Patterns in the hydrogen and trace element compositions of mantle olivines

The concentrations of hydrogen and the other trace elements in olivines from mantle xenoliths have been determined by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) for clarifying the incorporation mechanism and the behavior of the hydrogen. The hydrogen contents in olivines from mantle xenoliths range from 10 to 60 ppm wt. H2O and the concentration range is consistent with the previous infrared (IR) spectroscopic data. IR spectra of the olivine crystals show no effects of the weathering or secondary alteration. The hydrogen is distributed homogeneously among olivine grains in each mantle xenolith. However, the hydrogen contents of the olivine crystals are less than those for the olivine phenocrysts crystallized from the host magma. Olivine inclusions in diamonds also show similar hydrogen contents to the xenolithic olivines. Thus the hydrogen content of xenolithic olivines does not attain equilibrium with water in the host magma during the transportation from the Earth's mantle to the surface, and is taken as a reflection of the hydrogen condition in the mantle. Correlations of hydrogen with trivalent cation contents in garnet peridotitic olivines indicate the incorporation of hydrogen into mantle olivines by a coupled substitution mechanism, with the hydrogen present in the form of hydroxyl in oxygen positions adjacent to the M site vacancies. The hydrogen content of xenolithic olivines increases with pressure but decreases with increasing temperature, suggesting importance of olivine as a water reservoir at low temperature regions such as in subducting slabs.

Igneous and Metamorphic Enclaves in the S-type Deddick Granodiorite, Lachlan Fold Belt, SE Australia: Petrographic, Geochemical and Nd-Sr Isotopic Evidence for Crustal Melting and Magma Mixing

The Deddick Granodiorite, a mafic S-type pluton in the Lachlan INTRODUCTION Fold Belt, contains abundant enclaves. Most are derived from Enclaves in granites and volcanic rocks can provide high-grade metasediments of pelitic–psammitic composition, and petrogenetic information not readily available from their migmatites are common. Among these, discrete fragments of host rocks (Didier, 1973; Didier & Barbarin, 1991). For melanosomes rich in cordierite and garnet are restites from partial example, metasedimentary enclaves can place constraints melting. However, compositional and Nd–Sr isotopic data indicate on the age, composition and deformational history of they are not restite in equilibrium with the melt component of the magma source regions within continental crust (Fleming, host magma, but may have formed part of a spectrum of diverse 1991; Steele et al., 1991). Enclaves formed by acmagma source lithologies. Alternatively, they may be accidental cumulation of early phenocrysts (‘autoliths’) document xenoliths. Regardless of their origin, data for these enclaves suggest the early evolution of the host magma, whereas others their precursors could represent deeply buried age equivalents of the may represent commingled magmas and illustrate the ubiquitous Ordovician turbidites of the Lachlan Fold Belt. Three possible role of hybridization (Didier, 1987). types of microgranular enclaves with igneous textures are disEnclave suites in the relatively mafic S-type granitoids tinguished. The most common type are small and rounded mafic of SE Australia are often diverse, including abundant enclaves of tonalitic composition. They carry xenocrysts derived from enclaves of metasedimentary origin and microgranular the host magma, and some contain high-Mg pyroxene derived from enclaves (Phillips et al., 1981; Price, 1983; Chen et al., a mafic magma. Isotopic data form an array with eNd from –6 to 1989; Wyborn et al., 1991). The metasedimentary en–12, and Sr/Sr from 0·7130 to 0·7167 (host rock –10 and claves are lithologically diverse, including gneissic– 0·715, respectively). These enclaves formed as globules of hybrid migmatitic types and biotite-rich ‘surmicaceous’ types. mafic magma commingled with, and contaminated by, the more Apart from their potential as indicators of crustal structure felsic host magma. Other enclave types were derived from disrupted and composition, they are of interest as possible fragments syn-plutonic dykes having a distinct isotopic composition, and from of source material and/or refractory residue from which a cogenetic marginal facies of the host. peraluminous melts were generated and extracted. By

Glasses in mantle xenoliths from western Victoria, Australia, and their relevance to mantle processes

Mantle-derived xenoliths from western Victoria, Australia, contain glass in patches and veinlets, and as secondary inclusions within xenolith minerals. Glass patches are commonly associated with primary clinopyroxene, spinel and in some cases relict pargasitic amphibole, phlogopite, apatite or calcitic carbonate. The patches and veins are filled with secondary microphenocrysts of olivine, clinopyroxene and spinel. The siliceous, aluminous, alkali-rich glasses display ranges in major element compositions which are similar to those of glasses in mantle xenoliths worldwide. Textures and compositions of glass and associated phases in the Victorian xenolith suite argue strongly against origins involving equilibrium partial melting of spinel peridotite, or migration of exotic metasomatic melts. Metasomatism of the southeastern Australian lithosphere is expressed by formation of amphibole, phlogopite, and apatite, and increased abundances of clinopyroxene at the expense of orthopyroxene, in lherzolite or harzburgite. Partial or complete melting of this metasomatic assemblage occurred immediately prior to, or during, entrainment of the xenolith in the host magmas, and locally produced disequilibrium liquids, now preserved as glass. Melting in the xenoliths was caused by the thermal and decompressional effects of transport in the host magma, or by thermal and metasomatic effects in the lithosphere associated with adjacent intrusion of magmas. Large inter-xenolithic variation in glass compositions was caused by variations in the nature and proportions of the precursor metasomatic assemblage, by reaction of the melts with primary orthopyroxene in the lherzolites and harzburgites, and by rapid, disequilibrium crystallization from the melts of an assemblage of olivine, clinopyroxene and spinel in all samples.

Rates of magma ascent and depths of magma reservoirs beneath La Palma (Canary Islands)

Peridotitic mantle xenoliths from historic and prehistoric eruptions on La Palma show many similarities. Prolonged reactions of the xenoliths with their host magmas have been used to place constraints on the magma transport system beneath the island. All xenoliths show crystalline selvages and 0.9–2.6 mm wide diffusion zones in olivine along most of their surface. Diffusion kinetics in olivine, combined with fluid inclusion barometry, document that selvages and diffusion zones formed at crustal levels within 8 to about 100 years. Some xenolith fractures lack selvages and were in contact with the host magma for less than 4 days. A multistage magma ascent is proposed: (i) peridotite wall rock was fragmented and became incorporated into the ascending magma years to decades prior to the eruption; (ii) the xenoliths were rapidly transported to, and deposited in, crustal magma reservoirs, forming selvages and diffusion zones at the xenolith rims; (iii) renewed fragmentation of the xenoliths occurred days to hours prior to eruption, possibly by decompressive strain fracturing during rapid ascent.

Hornblende gabbro sill complex at Onion Valley, California, and a mixing origin for the Sierra Nevada batholith

The steep crest of the Sierra Nevada, California, near Onion Valley, exposes natural cross sections through a mafic intrusive complex that formed as part of the Mesozoic Sierra Nevada batholith. Sheeted sills of hornblende gabbro to hornblende diorite, individually as thick as 1.5 m, form the upper 200 to 300 m of the complex. Thicker, multiply-injected sills, as well as mafic stocks, lie underneath at elevations below 3600 m. Lens-shaped cumulate bodies, as thick as 200 m and more than 700 m broad, lie near the base of the sheeted sill suite. Cumulates are flat-lying, modally layered hornblende gabbro with subsidiary ultramafic olivine hornblendite, plagioclase hornblendite, and late-mobile hornblende-plagioclase pegmatite. Fine grain size, scarce phenocrysts and xenocrysts, and quench mineral textures are evidence that hornblende gabbro sills injected in a largely liquid state and preserve basaltic melt compositions. Most sills reached volatile saturation, as shown by tiny miarolitic cavities that are also widespread in cumulates. Although some sills chilled directly against others, most chilled against septa, millimeters to a few centimeters thick, of medium-grained diorite to granodiorite. Mutually crosscutting relations, as well as chilling, show that the septa were partly molten at the time the sills injected and likely formed the lower portions of an overlying more silicic magma chamber that has since been removed by erosion. Sill compositions range from evolved high-alumina basalt to aluminous andesite with major and trace element abundances similar to those of modern arc magmas. Experimental phase equilibria indicate dissolved water contents near 6 wt% (Sisson and Grove 1993a). The sills show unequivocally that hydrous arc basaltic magmas reached shallow levels in the crust during formation of the largely granodioritic Sierra Nevada batholith. The basaltic magmas appear to have been produced from an enriched mantle source with 87Sr/86Sr ∼0.7065, ɛNd ∼−4.3, 206Pb/204Pb ∼18.6, 207Pb/204Pb ∼15.6, 208Pb/204Pb ∼38.6. Although crystal fractionation contributed to forming the sill suite and the associated cumulates, nearly constant concentrations of Na2O, P2O5, Nb, Zr, and light rare earth elements in the sills indicate that mixing between sill basaltic and more evolved septa magmas was important for producing sills with andesitic compositions. Average Sierran granodiorite major and trace element concentrations are readily reproduced by a simple mixture of average basaltic sill from Onion Valley and average Sierran low-silica granite. This result supports the inference that Sierran granitoids formed chiefly by mixing between crustal and mantle-derived magmas, although in some cases these crustal melts may have been derived by refusion of earlier mafic intrusions near the base of the crust. The common mafic inclusions (enclaves) in Sierran granodiorites bear a superficial resemblance to Onion Valley mafic sills; however, high concentrations of lithophile elements in the inclusions point to extensive chemical exchange between inclusions and their host magmas. The prevalence of hornblende-rich mafic intrusive rocks at Onion Valley, elsewhere in the Sierra Nevada, and in other shallow subduction batholiths stems from two effects of high melt water concentrations (∼4–6 wt% H2O). The hydrous parent basaltic and basaltic andesite magmas had low liquidus temperatures, compared to nearly dry basaltic melts, and thus were chilled less during ascent through the crust and were more capable of ascent as liquids. More importantly, their high water concentrations led to low melt densities, higher than granitoid liquids, but comparable to or less dense than partly solidified granitoid magmas. Thus, the hydrous basaltic and basaltic andesite magmas were neutrally or positively buoyant and were capable of penetrating and rising through partly crystallized granitoids and their partly molten source regions to reach upper crustal emplacement levels. Drier basaltic magmas were probably abundant at depth and contributed heat and mass to granite generation, but were insufficiently buoyant to ascend to shallow levels.

Ferric-ferrous ratios, H 2 O contents and D/H ratios of phlogopite and biotite from lavas of different tectonic regimes

Complete chemical analyses, including ferric and ferrous iron, H2O contents and δD values for 16 phlogopite and biotite and 2 hornblende separates are presented. Samples were obtained from volcanic rocks from four localities: (1) phlogopite phenocrysts from minette lavas from the western Mexico continental arc, (2) biotite and hornblende phenocrysts from andesite lavas from Mono Basin, California, (3) phlogopite and biotite from clinopyroxenite nodules entrained in potassic lavas from the East African Rift, Uganda, and (4) phlogopite phenocrysts from a wyomingite lava in the Leucite Hills, Wyoming. The Fe2O3 contents in the micas range from 0.8 to 10.5 wt%, corresponding to 0.09 to 1.15 Fe3+ per formula unit (pfu). Water contents vary from 1.6 to 3.0 wt%, corresponding to 1.58 to 3.04 OH pfu, significantly less than would be expected for a site fully occupied by hydroxyl. Cation- and anion-based normalization procedures provide accurate mineral formulae with respect to most cations and anions, but are unable to generate accurate estimates of Fe3+/FeT, and overestimate OH at the expense of O on the hydroxyl site. These inaccuracies are present despite acceptable adjusted totals and stoichiometric calculated site occupancies. The phlogopite and biotite phenocrysts in arc-related lavas from western Mexico and eastern California have the highest Fe3+/FeT ratios (56–87%), reflecting high magmatic oxygen fugacities (ΔNNO = +2 to +5), in contrast to those from Uganda (25–40%) and the Leucite Hills (23%). There is no correlation between the OH content and the Fe3+/FeT ratio in the micas. Values of KMg/Fe2+D (± 2σ errors) were calculated for three phlogopite-olivine pairs (0.12 ± 0.12, 0.26 ± 0.14, 0.09 ± 0.12), two biotite-hornblende pairs (0.73 ± 0.08 and 1.22 ± 0.10) and a single phlogopite-augite pair (1.15 ± 0.12). Values of KF/OHD for two biotite and hornblende pairs could not be determined without significant error because of the extremely low F contents (< 0.2 wt%) of the four phases. The δD values obtained in this study encompass a large range (−137 to −43‰). The phlogopite and biotite separates from Uganda have δD values of −70 to −49‰, which overlap those believed to represent “primary” mantle. There is a larger range in δD values (−137 to −43‰) for phlogopite phenocrysts from western Mexico minette lavas, although their range in δ18O values (5.2–6.2‰) is consistent with “normal” mantle. It is unlikely, therefore, that the variable δD values reflect heterogeneity in the mantle source region of the minette magmas. Nor can the extremely low δD values reflect degassing of H2 or H2O since almost 100% loss of dissolved water in the magma is required, an unrealistic scenario given the stability of the hydrous phenocrysts. The very low δD values of the Mascota minette phlogopites require that the hydrogen be introduced from an external source (e.g., meteoric water). Whatever the process responsible for the observed hydrogen isotope composition, it had no effect on the δ18O value, f O 2, a H 2O or bulk composition of the host magmas.

A noble gas profile across a Hawaiian mantle xenolith: Coexisting accidental and cognate noble gases derived from the lithospheric and asthenospheric mantle beneath Oahu

A noble gas profile across a garnet pyroxenite xenolith from Salt Lake Crater, Oahu, Hawaii, provides information about the scale and origin of noble gas heterogeneities within such rocks. Variations in both absolute and relative noble gas concentrations are large and comparable to those observed between individual Salt Lake Crater pyroxenite xenoliths. 3He/4He varies from 7.7 to 9.4 times the atmospheric value (Ra) and correlates inversely with 40Ar/36Ar, which ranges between 4100 and 9700. Neon krypton and xenon isotopes are uniform and indistinguishable from air, with the exception of excess 129Xe. Overall, the observed noble gas compositions reflect a derivation from depleted MORB-type mantle sources.The spatial distribution of noble gas signatures within the xenolith and the observed correlation between helium and argon isotopes suggest the presence of two different noble gas components which are trapped in different phases and are unevenly distributed within the xenolith. 40Ar/36Ar and 1/36Ar correlate inversely, indicating that atmospheric contamination is insignificant. Hence, the observed isotopic variations reflect mixing of two mantle-derived noble gas components. Correlations between HeAr isotopes and CO2/H2O in different pyroxenites from Salt Lake Crater, including our sample, reveal that the first component is characterized by highly radiogenic helium and argon isotopes and related to abundant secondary CO2-rich fluid inclusions. Given the high diffusivity of He at mantle temperatures (Hart, 1984), the observed helium isotope heterogeneities on a sub-mm scale require that the fluids were introduced concurrently with eruption. This interpretation is supported by the low entrapment depths of fluid inclusions in Salt Lake Crater pyroxenites (<30 km; Murck et al., 1978). This implies that the fluids are genetically related to the host magma itself and reflect its composition. The second noble gas component is interpreted as being magmatic, i.e., cognate to the basaltic magma from which the pyroxenite precipitated within the mantle. It is proposed that this component resides inside the mineral lattices and was trapped during magmatic crystallization.Our results indicate that the depleted lithospheric mantle source of the post-erosional host magma (Honolulu Volcanic Series) is characterized by 40Ar/36Ar ≥ 10000, R/Ra ≤ 7.5, and excesses in129Xe. Noble gas signatures of the asthenospheric mantle source parental to the pyroxenite-producing magma are less radiogenic with respect to these isotopes. Combining noble gas and strontium, neodymium, and lead isotope evidence, we propose that the asthenosphere beneath Oahu was originally similar to depleted MORB-type mantle, but became slightly modified by noble gases and other incompatible trace elements derived from the Hawaiian mantle plume prior to partial melting.This study provides evidence that noble gas isotopes and solid radiogenic isotopes are coupled in the mantle sources of basalts (e.g., Allègre et al., 1983), but decoupled in xenoliths (e.g., Vance et al., 1989).

Petrogenesis of Devonian lamprophyre and carbonatite minor intrusions, Kandalaksha Gulf (Kola Peninsula, Russia)

Minor magmatic intrusions (dykes and explosion pipes) of lamprophyric and carbonatitic compositions occur on several islands in the Gulf of Kandalaksha (White Sea, Kola Peninsula, Russia). The lamprophyre dykes yielded K-Ar ages of 368 ± 15 Ma and 360 ± 16 Ma, similar to the majority of alkaline rocks from the Kola Alkaline Province. Mineralogical data (presence of perovskite and sodalite, absence of amphibole phenocrysts) and geochemical data (low SiO 2 and A1 2O 3, high MgO) indicate an ultramafic lamprophyre affinity for the investigated silicate rocks. The lamprophyres contain a wide variety of xenoliths including hornblende- and biotite-rich cumulate ultramafic rocks. The carbonatite intrusions have ferrocarbonatite affinities and one of them contains xenoliths of coarse-grained Si-rich calciocarbonatites, together with abundant hornblendites and glimmerites which resemble those in the lamprophyres. The calciocarbonatite xenoliths themselves contain fragments of mica- and hornblende-rich rocks. 40Ar- 39Ar ages on phlogopite and amphibole from calciocarbonatite and hornblende-rich cumulate xenoliths are between 386 ± 1.0 Ma and 395.6 ± 4.4 Ma, indicating an early Devonian age and suggesting a close relationship between the calciocarbonatite xenoliths and the ultramafic cumulate xenoliths. Thus, the ferrocarbonatite host magma may have disrupted an older calciocarbonatite-hornblendite-glimmerite intrusion at depth and incorporated xenoliths from it. The presence of hornblendite and glimmerite xenoliths with similar parageneses and identical ages in both the ultramafic lamprophyres and ferrocarbonatites suggests a close relationship between the ferrocarbonatite and lamprophyric magmas. REE patterns of the lamprophyric dykes and calciocarbonatite xenoliths show strong similarities, indicating a petrogenetic relationship. The ultramafic lamprophyres have REE patterns which are indistingishable from the contemporaneous kimberlites and melilitites from the nearby Terskii Bereg area, south Kola Peninsula. Age-corrected Sr and Nd isotope compositions demonstrate that the calciocarbonatite xenoliths have close affinities with other Devonian carbonatites from Kola and Karelia, whereas the lamprophyres are similar to the Kola kimberlites and melilitites. Differences between the Sr and Nd isotopic ratios of the silicate and carbonatite magmas throughout the Kola Alkaline Province are probably due to different mantle-source components. The Kola carbonatites mainly show a depleted mantle signature whereas the lamprophyres, melilitites and kimberlites were derived from a more enriched mantle. However, some degree of assimilation of lower continental crust and late-stage hydrothermal alteration of the silicate magmas may also have occurred.

Indirect crustal contamination: evidence from isotopic and chemical disequilibria in minerals from alkali basalts and nephelinites from northern Tanzania

Alkali basalts and nephelinites from the volcanic province of northern Tanzania contain pyroxene and nepheline that show evidence for chemical and/or isotopic disequilibria with their host magmas. Olivine, pyroxene, nepheline and plagioclase all appear to be partially xenocrystic in origin. Five whole rock/mineral separate pairs have been analyzed for Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopic compositions. The 206Pb/204Pb ratios are distinct by as much as 20.94 (whole rock) vs. 19.10 (clinopyroxene separate). The Sr and Nd isotopic disequilibria vary from insignificant in the case of nepheline, to Δ 87Sr/86Sr of 0.0002 and ΔɛNd of 0.7 in the case of clinopyroxene. The mineral chemistry of 25 samples indicates the ubiquitous presence of minerals that did not crystallize from a liquid represented by the host rock. The northern Tanzanian magmas are peralkaline and exhibit none of the xenocrystic phases expected from crustal assimilation. The disequilibria cannot be the result of mantle source variations. Rather the xenocrystic phases present appear to have been derived from earlier alkali basaltic rocks or magmas that were contaminated by the crust. Material from this earlier magma was then mixed with batches of magma that subsequently erupted on the surface. Disequilibrium in volcanic rocks has potentially serious consequences for the use of whole rock data to identify source reservoirs. However, mass balance calculations reveal that the 206Pb/204Pb isotopic compositions of the erupted lavas were changed by less than 0.25% as a result of this indirect crustal contamination.

REEVALUATION OF THE HOMOGENEITY OF REE, THE AND U IN GEOCHEMICAL REFERENCE ZIRCON 61.308B

In a previous study of the reference sample zircon 61.308B, it has been suggested that either the sample is heterogeneous or inter‐method comparisons introduce analytical dispersions. New determinations by LA‐ICP‐MS show relative standard deviation in the order of 20% for Heavy Rare Earth Elements (HREE). This is four times the variation attributable to analytical method. A possible explanation is that HREE concentration varations in geochemical reference zircon were created by crystal fractionation or oscillatory variation in the host magma. This confirms that zircon 61.308B is heterogeneous for trace elements.

Mafic Microgranular Enclaves and Interaction Between Felsic and Mafic Magmas in the Agacoren Intrusive Suite: Evidence from Petrographic Features and Mineral Chemistry

The Agacoren Intrusive Suite is exposed as a large intrusive body over ∼500 km2 east of Lake Tuz in central Anatolia and consists of the Cokumkaya gabbro, the Agacoren granitoid, and young dikes. The Agacoren granitoid is the predominant lithology of the Agacoren Intrusive Suite, and is differentiated into several subunits ranging in composition from monzonite, through granite, to alkali feldspar granite. The Cokumkaya gabbro occurs as stocks enclosed in the Agacoren granitoid; individual bodies range in size from 10 m × 20 m to 7 km × 3 km. Young dikes cut both the Cokumkaya gabbro and the Agacoren granitoid, and are particularly abundant in the central part of the intrusive body. Centimeter- to meter-size mafic microgranular enclaves (MME) are enclosed in the Agacoren granitoid. The enclaves are diorite, quartz diorite, and monzodiorite in composition, and represent blobs of mafic magma injected into a felsic host magma. The MME have a mineral assemblage (plagioclase + amphibole + biotite ± quartz ± K-f...

An unusual ruby-sapphire-sapphirine-spinel assemblage from the Tertiary Barrington volcanic province, New South Wales, Australia

AbstractRuby-sapphire-sapphirine-spinel forms small, corroded, crystalline aggregates in corundum bearing alluvials shed from the Tertiary Barrington basalt shield volcano. Sapphirine is near a 7:9:3 (MgO-Al2O3-SiO2) composition and, together with the corundum, shows reaction rims of pleonaste spinel. Spinel in the aggregates has a compositional range Sp 68–73 Hc 27–29 Cm 0–3. The aggregates give new insights into the ruby-sapphire source rocks. Potential origins include metamorphic recrystallization of aluminous material (below 1460°C) or high temperature-high pressure crystallization reactions related to lamprophyric or basaltic magmas (up to 1300°C and 20 kbar). Sapphirine-spinel thermometry suggests final crystallization temperatures for the aggregates around 780 to 940°C and reaction with host magmas at over 1000°C.The Barrington gemfield includes two distinct corundum suites. One, typical in eastern Australia, is dominated by blue-green, well-crystallized, growth-zoned sapphire, commonly containing rutile silk and Ferich spinel inclusions (Hc 51–73, Mt 18–35, Mf 6–8, Usp 2–6). The other, an unusual suite, is dominated by ruby and pastel coloured sapphires, with little crystal shape or growth zonation and restricted mineral inclusions, mostly chromian pleonaste and pleonaste. The ruby-sapphire-sapphirine-spinel aggregates provoke new thoughts on the origin of rubies and sapphires and their indicator minerals in eastern Australian and southeastern Asian volcanic gemfields.

Non-Newtonian effects during injection in partially crystallised magmas

Injection of Newtonian crystal-free magmas into a partially crystallised host which may exhibit non-Newtonian properties produces magmatic structures such as pipes, syn-plutonic dikes or dendritic structures. Field relationships between the structure and the host rock commonly indicate what the rheological contrasts during the injection were. The manner in which a magma deforms in response to injection is mainly linked to crystal content and strain rate (i.e., injection rate). Three kinds of behaviour can be distinguished: (1) Newtonian at low crystal contents; (2) Non-Newtonian at intermediate (40–60%) crystal contents, or at high crystal contents if the strain rate is small; and (3) brittle failure at high crystal content or strain rates. Petrologic observations indicate that injection can take place when the host magma still behaves as a fluid. To investigate the physics of the injection process we review the results of injection experiments in non-Newtonian fluids. These experiments were performed to study viscous fingering in 2-D Hele Shaw cells. They provide the first step to establishing the main non-Newtonian effects during the formation of interfacial instabilities arising when a Newtonian fluid is injected into a more viscous fluid or paste. The qualitative comparison of the morphological features of the interfaces between the fluids in the experiments with those in nature suggests that, in magmas, irregularities of the interfaces (dikes and dendrites) result from non-Newtonian properties of the host. We conclude that fluid-like deformation, rather than brittle behaviour of the host, during injection is likely to produce the general features observed on the field. Cooling effects might be responsible for the widespread phenomenon of fragmentation. We emphasise that the main effect of non-Newtonian properties in partially crystallised magmas is to generate strongly heterogeneous media producing discontinuities which could explain the main morphological features of syn-plutonic injection structures.

U-Pb ages and morphologies of zircon in microgranitoid enclaves and peraluminous host granite: evidence for magma mingling

Granites of the S-type Wilson's Promontory Batholith (Lachlan Fold Belt, Australia) contain zircons which are euhedral and relatively large; their age is 395 Ma, which can be considered as the best available estimate of the crystallysation age of the granites. Contrary to their dominance in other S-type granites of the Lachlan Fold Belt, very few zircon cores give inherited ages, varying between 500 and 1700 Ma. Microgranitoid enclaves contained within the granites contain a zircon population that is dominated by relatively small, anhedral or elongated crystals. These give ages that are indistinguishable from the crystallisation age of the granite. Some enclaves, which are characterised by the presence of megacrysts, contain a proportion of larger, euhedral zircons. These zircons give inherited ages similar to the zircons from the granitic host rocks. The data are in agreement with a magma mingling origin for the microgranitoid enclaves. The large euhedral zircons are interpreted to have been introduced into the “enclave magma” during a hybridisation event which also introduced quartz and plagioclase megacrysts into the magma. The relatively high proportion of inherited cores within the “large” zircon population of the enclaves is related to the timing of mixing between “enclave” and host magma. This mixing event took place before the majority of the magmatic zircons crystallised in the granitic magma. The small, anhedral zircons within the enclaves crystallised during quenching of the globules of enclave magma against the cooler granitic magma.

Genetic Significance of Multiple Enclave Types in a Peraluminous Ignimbrite Suite, Lachlan Fold Belt, Australia

The Violet Town Volcanics (Lachlan Fold Belt, Australia) are an S-type ignimbrite suite containing microgranitoid enclaves, basaltic andesite enclaves and enclaves of high-silica rhyolite. The microgranitoid enclaves are similar to those in peraluminous granites. They typically have lower initial ^Sr/^Sr and higher e^i than the host, and represent globules of a mafic, mantle-derived magma, ivhich was hybridized by mixing and diffusional exchange with the host magma. The basaltic andesite enclaves were incorporated into the ignimbrite as xenoliths, but their parental magma may have been similar to that of the microgranitoid enclaves. They are isotopically less depleted than other mantle-derived rocks from the Lachlan Fold Belt, reflecting contamination by crustal material, or derivation from less depleted mantle sources. The high-silica rhyolite enclaves, previously interpreted to be related to the ignimbrite by crystal fractionation, have Ejw values up to 3 units higher than their host, and cannot be related to their host by crystal fractionation or assimilation- fractional crystallization (AFC) processes. The coexistence of S-type magmas and mantle-derived magmas suggests that the latter may have played a role in the Palaeozoic magmatism of the Lachlan Fold Belt, acting as a heat source for melting and perhaps also contributing chemical components to the crustally derived magmas.

Non-linear dynamics, chaos, complexity and enclaves in granitoid magmas

ABSTRACT:Most natural systems display non-linear dynamic behaviour. This should be true for magma mingling and mixing processes, which may be chaotic. The equations that most nearly represent how a chaotic natural system behaves are insoluble, so modelling involves linearisation. The difference between the solution of the linearised and ‘true’ equation is assumed to be small because the discarded terms are assumed to be unimportant. This may be very misleading because the importance of such terms is both unknown and unknowable. Linearised equations are generally poor descriptors of nature and are incapable of either predicting or retrodicting the evolution of most natural systems. Viewed in two dimensions, the mixing of two or more visually contrasting fluids produces patterns by folding and stretching. This increases the interfacial area and reduces striation thickness. This provides visual analogues of the deterministic chaos within a dynamic magma system, in which an enclave magma is mingling and mixing with a host magma. Here, two initially adjacent enclave blobs may be driven arbitrarily and exponentially far apart, while undergoing independent (and possibly dissimilar) changes in their composition. Examples are given of the wildly different morphologies, chemical characteristics and Nd isotope systematics of microgranitoid enclaves within individual felsic magmas, and it is concluded that these contrasts represent different stages in the temporal evolution of a complex magma system driven by nonlinear dynamics. If this is true, there are major implications for the interpretation of the parts played by enclaves in the genesis and evolution of granitoid magmas.

Melt Enrichment of Shallow Depleted Mantle: a Detailed Petrological, Trace Element and Isotopic Study of Mantle-Derived Xenoliths and Megacrysts from the Cameroon Line

Major element, trace element and Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic compositions ofultramafic xenoliths and megacrysts from the continental Cameroon line provide evidence for metasomatism of the uppermost lithospheric mantle by enriched melts during the Mesozoic The megacrysts probably crystallized within the lower continental crust from melts similar to the host magmas. All the xenoliths originated as depleted residues after the extraction of basaltic melts, but some indicate evidence of interaction with enriched partial melts before entrainment. The U—Pb isotopic data on garnet are consistent with cooling through > 900°C at >300 Ma. The Sm—Nd isotope systematics in constituent phases appear to have been in equilibrium on a xenolith scale at the time of entrainment, indicating derivation from mantle that remained at temperatures > 600°C until eruption. Spinel Iherzolites that show simple light rare earth element (LREE) depletions are characterized by isotopic compositions that are comparable with, but slightly more depleted than Atlantic NMORB, suggesting that the unmetasomatized sub-continental lithosphere of the Cameroon line may be isotopically similar to that of sub-oceanic lithosphere. The Nd-depleted mantle model ages of these xenoliths are consistent with late Proterozoic depletion, similar in age to much of the overlying continental crust. In contrast, samples that have LREE-enriched clinopyroxenes (La/Yb —4-7—9-4) contain trace amounts of amphibole, are enriched in U and have more radiogenic Pb and Sr. These xenoliths yield U-Pb and Sm—Nd model ages consistent with Mesozoic enrichment, in agreement with the age of enrichment of the source regions of the basalts, as deduced from Pb isotopic compositions. Clinopyroxenes record three orders of magnitude enrichment in U and LREE accompanied by progressive K depletion associated with the growth of trace amphibole, with K/ U ratios that range from 12 000 to 1. The ratios of the trace elements thought to have similar bulk D in mantle melting, Ce/ Pb, Ba/Rb and Nd/Sr ratios, display regional variations related to the time integrated history of enrichments indicated by Nd isotopic compositions. Mass balance calculations suggest that the melts responsible for the most recent enrichment of the lithosphere had higher La/Yb and U/Pb than Cameroon line host magmas, and were probably the product of small degrees of partial melting associated with the earliest stages of the breakup of Pangea.

Metasomatism in mantle xenoliths from Gees, West Eifel, Germany: evidence for the genesis of calc-alkaline glasses and metasomatic Ca-enrichment

We have investigated new samples from the Gees mantle xenolith suite (West Eifel), for which metasomatism by carbonatite melt has been suggested. The major metasomatic change is transformation of harzburgites into phlogopite-rich wehrlites. Silicate glasses are associated with all stages of transformation, and can be resolved into two major groups: a strongly undersaturated alkaline basanite similar to the host magma which infiltrated the xenoliths during ascent, and Si-Al-enriched, variably alkaline glass present exclusively within the xenoliths. Si-Al-rich glasses (up to 72 wt% SiO2 when associated with orthopyroxene (Opx) are usually interpreted in mantle xenoliths as products of decompressional breakdown of hydrous phases like amphibole. In the Gees suite, however, amphibole is not present, nor can the glass be related to phlogopite breakdown. The Si-Al-rich glass is compositionally similar to glasses occurring in many other xenolith suites including those related to carbonatite metasomatism. Petrographically the silicate glass is intimately associated with the metasomatic reactions in Gees, mainly conversion of harzburgite orthopyroxene to olivine + clinopyroxene. Both phases crystallize as microlites from the glass. The chemical composition of the Si-Al-enriched glass shows that it cannot be derived from decompressional melting of the Gees xenoliths, but must have been present prior to their entrainment in the host magma. Simple mass-balance calculations, based on modal analyses, yield a possible composition of the melt prior to ascent of the xenoliths, during which glass + microlite patches were modified by dissolution of olivine, orthopyroxene and spinel. This parental melt is a calc-alkaline andesite (55–60 wt% SiO2), characterized by high Al2O3 (ca. 18 wt%). The obtained composition is very similar to high-alumina, calc-alkaline melts that should form by AFC-type reactions between basalt and harzburgite wall rock according to the model of Kelemen (1990). Thus, we suggest that the Si-Al-enriched glasses of Gees, and possibly of other suites as well, are remnants of upper mantle hybrid melts, and that the Gees suite was metasomatized by silicate and not carbonatite melts. High-Mg, high-Ca composition of metasomatic olivine and clinopyroxene in mantle xenoliths have been explained by carbonatite metasomatism. As these features are also present in the Gees suite, we have calculated the equilibrium Ca contents of olivine and clinopyroxene using the QUI1F thermodynamical model, to show that they are a simple function of silica activity. High-Ca compositions are attained at low a SiO2 and can thus be produced during metasomatism by any melt that is Opx-undersaturated, irrespective of whether it is a carbonatite or a silicate melt. Such low a SiO2 is recorded by the microlites in the Gees Si-Al-rich glasses. Our results imply that xenolith suites cannot confidently be related to carbonatite metasomatism if the significance of silicate glasses, when present, is not investigated.