Phlogopite Phenocrysts Research Articles

Geochemistry and tectonic setting of a lamproite dyke in Kvaløya, North Norway

A new lamproite occurrence of inferred Carboniferous age intruded into an extensive, more than 5 km long rectilinear fracture zone in a granite of the West Troms Basement Complex, North Norway. This 30 cm wide dyke, which shows well developed chilled margins, is characterized by up to 3 mm long phenocrysts of phlogopite in a fine-grained gray matrix of K-feldspar and K-magnesioarfvedsonite with minor amounts of apatite, Ba-titanates (baotite) and rutile. Based on its mineralogy, whole rock chemistry (e.g., SiO 2 = 54.4–57.3 wt.%, K/Na = 2.02–7.03, K/Al = 0.86–1.22, Mg# = 76–84 and K agp = 1.0–1.7), and specific mineral compositions (e.g. tetrahedral coordination of Fe 3+ in phlogopite, high Fe, but negligible Na in K-feldspar, and high Ti in K-magnesioarfvedsonite and phlogopite) the rock can be classified as a high-Si phlogopite lamproite. Concentrations and element ratios of a number of trace elements (e.g. high LILE and HFSE, except of Nb and Ta, high La/Yb n and low Th/Nb) in addition to isotope data (moderately radiogenic 87Sr/ 86Sr and extremely non-radiogenic 143Nd/ 144Nd; εNd(T) varies from − 19.9 to − 22.4) indicate an anorogenic, i. e., within-plate setting for the Kvaløya lamproite, similar to the anorogenic types of lamproite from Leucite Hills (Wyoming) and Smoky Butte (Montana). The Kvaløya lamproite shows high Nb/Ta and simultaneous high Zr, suggesting a multistage enrichment history of its mantle source. It is suggested that in addition to an ancient stage of enrichment (2.1–2.3 Ga, based on Nd model ages), parts of the mantle enrichment possibly resulted from the involvement of subducted materials during metasomatism of the mantle during the Caledonian Orogeny.

Unique accessory Ti-Ba-P mineralization in the Kvalöya ultrapotassic dike, Northern Norway

Unusual ultrapotassic dikes were recently found on the Kvaloya Island in Northern Norway. The dikes crosscutting granites 1.8 Ga in age are 0.1–1.0 m thick and consist of phlogopite phenocrysts in a fine-grained groundmass of K-magnesioarfvedsonite, orthoclase, apatite, and secondary chlorite. According to the composition of the rock-forming minerals (4.5–6.0 wt % K2O and 0.7–3.5 wt % TiO2 in magnesioarfved-sonite, 1.6–3.6 wt % FeO in orthoclase, 9.2–10.7 wt % Al2O3 and 2.1–2.6 wt % TiO2 in phlogopite) and its bulk chemical composition (K/Na = 2.3–2.9, K/Al = 1.0–1.2, (Na + K)/Al = 1.4–1.7, Mg# V = 65–73, (La/Yb)n = 100–140, 3.2–4.0 wt % TiO2, 0.55–1.47 wt % BaO, 2.5–3.0 wt % P2O5, 2650–3000 ppm Zr, 900–1260 ppm REE total, 2300–2500 ppm Sr), the rock corresponds to lamproite of the transitional type. The unique chemical composition of the rock resulted in uncommon Ti-Ba-P accessory mineralization, including baotite Ba4(Ti,Nb)8Si4O28Cl (up to 5 vol %), Sr-apatite (5–7 vol %), and previously unknown Na-Mg-Ba phosphate. Baotite forms anhedral elongated and isometric grains 10–500 μm in size. It is characterized by low Nb (0.03–0.05 f.c.); admixtures of K (0.04–0.12 f.c.) and Sr (0.04–0.07) replacing Ba and Fe (0.01–0.03 f.c.); and Al (0.03–0.04 f.c.) substituting Ti. Euhedral elongated zonal apatite crystals are extremely enriched in SrO (8–12 wt %) and REE2O3 + Y2O3 (6–9 wt %) in the marginal zone. Na-Mg-Ba phosphate occurs as prismatic grains 10–100 μm in size. The atomic ratio of its major cations Na: Mg: Ba: P ∼ 2: 1: 1: 2 corresponds to the conventional formula Na2MgBa(PO4)2; the mineral contains Sr, Mn, Fe, Ca, Si, and Al admixtures.

Early Proterozoic diamond-bearing kimberlites of Karelia and their formation peculiarities

Early Proterozoic kimberlites of Karelia are among the most ancient diamond-bearing primary source rocks in the world. They compose the large (2.0 × 0.8 km) Kimozero body localized in the predicted Zaonezhskoe kimberlite field. The established and assumed occurrences of kimberlite magmatism are located within the Karelian craton, which was stabilized during the Early Archean. They are confined to the central part of a large geophysical anomaly detected by gravity, magnetic, seismic, and heat-flow studies and mark a deep-seated magma chamber. Kimberlite bodies occur within structural blocks bounded by zones of plicative-rupture dislocations. The Kimozero kimberlites form an extensive but thin saucer-like body cut by narrow quasi-cylindrical feeders and dikes. It consists of metamorphosed kimberlites, their breccias and tuffs with widely varying amounts of mica. The body includes fragmentary fine-layered crater formations. The rocks contain olivine and phlogopite phenocrysts in an extremely altered groundmass of serpentine, chlorite, calcite, mica, and ore minerals as well as indicator minerals of kimberlites, such as Cr-spinel, manganiferous ilmenite, Cr-diopside, and rare pyrope. About 100 diamonds were extracted from 12 samples (total weight 815 kg). The crystals are colorless resorbed octahedra and, more seldom, combined octahedra-dodecahedra and spinel twins with abundant green spots caused by natural irradiation, which often make the whole crystal surface green. The diamonds contain inclusions of Mg-rich orthopyroxene and pentlandite suggestive of peridotitic lithospheric mantle derivation and dating of the sulfide inclusion implies a late Archean mantle source. By petrochemistry, the rocks are classified as kimberlites. The Kimozero kimberlites differ from classical Phanerozoic ones in having higher Fe contents, low contents of alkalies and P 2O 5, and intense superimposed carbonate, magnetite, and amphibole mineralization. The saucer-like bodies with narrow feeders without developed diatremes have no analogs in Russia but are similar to the saucer-like kimberlite bodies in Canada (Fort a la Corne), India (Tokapal), and Central Africa (Bakwanga) and the West Kimberley lamproites in Australia. By analogy with these bodies and on the basis of some common petrographic features (presence of pyroclastics and specific amoeba-like autoliths, scarcity of fragments of the enclosing rocks, local reworking of the deposited matter), the Kimozero kimberlites are considered to be the products of subaerial volcanic central-type eruptions.

Deep gas well encounters ultramafic kimberlite-like material in the Sauk Sequence of southeastern Ohio, USA

The first indication of a potential deep-subsurface kimberlite-like material in the Appalachian Basin, without surface expression, has been discovered in oil and gas well drilling samples from a deep well drilled near Zanesville, Ohio, USA. The well was drilled into the Cambrian Sauk Sequence within a localized fault-bounded graben, where a zone of ultramafic rocks was encountered. The zone of ultramafic rocks is within Sauk carbonates at 1720 m below sea level and is not highly anomalous on geophysical wire-line well logs. Petrographic analyses of grain-mounted samples show a 20 m zone of ultramafic rock material near the top of the Conasauga Group. Well cuttings from the ultramafic zone include relatively fresh phenocrysts of phlogopite with calcite, apatite, and titaniferous magnetite, in a secondary matrix of amphibole, chlorite, Fe-oxides, and possibly serpentine. The rocks have undergone deuteric alteration and probably later hydrothermal alteration. A 20-m-thick, localized, natural gas–bearing sandstone unconformably overlies (Knox unconformity) the Sauk Sequence above the ultramafic zone. Structural mapping indicates that the localized sandstone is confined to a small seismic-defined graben originating in the faulted Precambrian Grenville basement complex. Mapping of newly acquired gravity and magnetic data does not indicate the presence of an anomaly coincident with the graben, suggesting that the ultramafic material must be a very small, localized intrusive body (pipe or diatreme). Alternative interpretations include a thin intrusive sill, extrusive tuff deposits, Grenville-aged tectonic fault slice, or eroded igneous deposits. Subsurface mapping of units above the Sauk Sequence (Ordovician Black River Group–Trenton Limestone) shows no significant variation in structural contours above the feature. Although the igneous material has not been isotopically dated, the stratigraphic position suggests that it was intruded prior to Middle Ordovician time.

Magmatic Evolution and Ascent History of the Aries Micaceous Kimberlite, Central Kimberley Basin, Western Australia: Evidence from Zoned Phlogopite Phenocrysts, and UV Laser 40Ar/39Ar Analysis of Phlogopite–Biotite

The Neoproterozoic Aries kimberlite was emplaced in the central Kimberley Basin, Western Australia, as a N–NNE-trending series of three diatremes infilled by lithic-rich kimberlite breccias. The breccias are intruded by hypabyssal macrocrystic phlogopite kimberlite dykes that exhibit differentiation to a minor, high-Na–Si, olivine–phlogopite–richterite kimberlite, and late-stage macrocrystic serpentine–diopside ultramafic dykes. Mineralogical and geochemical evidence suggests that the high-Na–Si, olivine–phlogopite–richterite kimberlite was derived from the macrocrystic phlogopite kimberlite as a residual liquid following extended phlogopite crystallization and the assimilation of country rock sandstone, and that the macrocrystic serpentine–diopside ultramafic dykes formed as mafic cumulates from a macrocrystic phlogopite kimberlite. Chemical zonation of phlogopite–biotite phenocrysts indicates a complex magmatic history for the Aries kimberlite, with the early inheritance of a range of high-Ti phlogopite–biotite xenocrysts from metasomatized mantle lithologies, followed by the crystallization of a population of high-Cr phlogopite phenocrysts within the spinel facies lithospheric mantle. A further one to two phlogopite–biotite overgrowth rims of distinct composition formed on the phlogopite phenocrysts at higher levels during ascent to the surface. Ultra-violet laser 40Ar/39Ar dating of mica grain rims yielded a kimberlite eruption age of 815·4 ± 4·3 Ma (95% confidence). 40Ar/39Ar laser profiling of one high-Ti phlogopite-biotite macrocryst revealed a radiogenic 40Ar diffusive loss profile, from which a kimberlite magma ascent duration from the spinel facies lithospheric mantle was estimated (assuming an average kimberlite magma temperature of 1000°C), yielding a value of ∼0·23–2·32 days for the north extension lobe of the Aries kimberlite.

Genesis of Ultramafic Lamprophyres and Carbonatites at Aillik Bay, Labrador: a Consequence of Incipient Lithospheric Thinning beneath the North Atlantic Craton

Numerous dykes of ultramafic lamprophyre (aillikite, mela-aillikite, damtjernite) and subordinate dolomite-bearing carbonatite with U–Pb perovskite emplacement ages of 590–555Ma occur in the vicinity of Aillik Bay, coastal Labrador. The ultramafic lamprophyres principally consist of olivine and phlogopite phenocrysts in a carbonateor clinopyroxene-dominated groundmass. Ti-rich primary garnet (kimzeyite and Ti-andradite) typically occurs at the aillikite type locality and is considered diagnostic for ultramafic lamprophyre–carbonatite suites. Titanian aluminous phlogopite and clinopyroxene, as well as comparatively Al-enriched but Cr–Mg-poor spinel (Cr-number < 0.85), are compositionally distinct from analogous minerals in kimberlites, orangeites and olivine lamproites, indicating different magma geneses. The Aillik Bay ultramafic lamprophyres and carbonatites have variable but overlapping Sr/Sri ratios (0 70369–0 70662) and show a narrow range in initial «Nd (þ0 1 to þ1 9) implying that they are related to a common type of parental magma with variable isotopic characteristics. Aillikite is closest to this primary magma composition in terms of MgO ( 15–20wt %) and Ni ( 200–574 ppm) content; the abundant groundmass carbonate has dCPDB between 5 7 and 5‰, similar to primary mantle-derived carbonates, and dOSMOW from 9 4 to 11 6‰. Extensive melting of a garnet peridotite source region containing carbonateand phlogopite-rich veins at 4–7 GPa triggered by enhanced lithospheric extension can account for the volatile-bearing, potassic, incompatible element enriched and MgO-rich nature of the proto-aillikite magma. It is argued that low-degree potassic silicate to carbonatitic melts from upwelling asthenosphere infiltrated the cold base of the stretched lithosphere and solidified as veins, thereby crystallizing calcite and phlogopite that were not in equilibrium with peridotite. Continued Late Neoproterozoic lithospheric thinning, with progressive upwelling of the asthenosphere beneath a developing rift branch in this part of the North Atlantic craton, caused further veining and successive remelting of veins plus volatile-fluxed melting of the host fertile garnet peridotite, giving rise to long-lasting hybrid ultramafic lamprophyre magma production in conjunction with the break-up of the Rodinia supercontinent. Proto-aillikite magma reached the surface only after coating the uppermost mantle conduits with glimmeritic material, which caused minor alkali loss. At intrusion level, carbonate separation from this aillikite magma resulted in

Ar‐Ar and U‐Pb Geochronology of a Late Paleoproterozoic Rift Basin: Support for a Genetic Link with Hudsonian Orogenesis, Western Churchill Province, Nunavut, Canada

The Baker Lake Group (Baker Sequence) represents the record of the formative stage of Baker Lake Basin, a series of generally elongate, northeast‐striking, half‐graben, and fault‐bounded troughs filled with continental redbeds and coeval voluminous ultrapotassic volcanic rocks. An estimate for the time of basin initiation is given by a U‐Pb (zircon) age of $$1833\pm 3$$ Ma, obtained from a basal volcanic flow at the western end of the basin, which is in agreement with a less precise 40Ar/39Ar (phlogopite) step‐heating plateau age of $$1837\pm 8$$ Ma from a flow located at a similar stratigraphic level in the eastern Baker Lake Basin. 40Ar/39Ar analysis of phlogopite phenocrysts in a syenite that intrudes the lower part of the Baker Sequence yielded a plateau age of $$1811\pm 12$$ Ma. The syenite also intrudes sandstones containing detrital zircons with xenotime (YPO4) overgrowths, known to form during burial diagenesis. In situ U/Pb SHRIMP analysis of these overgrowths yields an upper intercept age of $$1838\pm 27$$ Ma, which is within analytical uncertainty of the ages obtained from the volcanic flows. Alluvial conglomerates near the top of the Baker Sequence contain discontinuous layers of laminar carbonate cements interpreted as geothermal travertine. Specific calcite layers within the travertine have very high 238U/204Pb values and yield a Pb‐Pb isochron age of $$1785\pm 3$$ Ma, considered to represent a minimum age for deposition of the Baker Sequence. Our data suggest that the Baker Sequence was deposited over an interval of approximately 55 m.yr. (1840–1785 Ma), within error of the predicted periodicity of a second‐order sequence. This interval coincides with collisional and postcollisional deformation and magmatism in the Trans‐Hudson orogen and thus supports interpretations that the Baker Lake Basin formed in response to related far‐field extension.

Utility of Rb–Sr geochronology in constraining Miocene and Cretaceous events in the eastern Karakoram, Ladakh, India

Multiple magmatic and deformational events, resulting from accretion of Gondwanan terranes to the northern margin of India and followed by post-accretion tectonics, have been recognized from the eastern Karakoram. The time resolution of these events is important for understanding the geodynamic evolution of the region. To constrain certain major events, conventional Rb–Sr geochronology was applied to the various phases of granitoids and their mineral separates, from mainly within the Pangong transpressional zone of the dextral Karakoram fault (KF), in order to show that this technique can date such young events. Calcalkaline gneissic granodiorite from within the transpression zone and calcalkaline tonalite enclaves within the Karakoram batholith (KB) at Skyangpoche, yield a whole rock date of 118±15 Ma, MSWD 1.5, Sr i of 0.7045±0.0002 and whole rock-biotite age of 115±18 Ma with Sr i of 0.7061±0.0002 and MSWD=1.5, respectively. Four samples of a mesocratic foliated granite within the Pangong migmatite, near the NE strand of the KF, yielded an errorchron corresponding to an age of 72±8 Ma, MSWD of 39 and Sr i of 0.7041±0.0008. Phenocrysts of phlogopite from an ultrapotassic lamprophyre dyke within the Ladakh batholith, near Leh, yield an age of 24.3±2.2 Ma, with Sr i of 0.7083±0.0001. A muscovite-whole rock isochron age of 13.3±0.6 Ma with Sr i of 0.7249±0.0001, and MSWD=1.5 was measured from the Darbuk leucogranite, on the SW strand of the KF. A foliated granite, proximal to Muglib on the NE strand of the KF, yields a whole rock-biotite age of 12.4±0.7 Ma and Sr i of 0.7056±0.0001. The Early Cretaceous ages of the granitoids, comprising early pre-Miocene plutonic components of the KB, are consistent with an U-Pb SHRIMP age of ∼106 Ma, and can be spatially correlated with the K2 gneiss (115–120 Ma) and the Hunza Plutonic Unit (106 Ma) of the KB in northern Pakistan. The Late Cretaceous age of foliated granite along the KF confirms that calcalkaline plutonism extended from Tirit, near the confluence of Nubra and Shyok rivers, to Rutog in western Tibet and was probably related to plutonism in the Ladakh magmatic arc. The earliest Miocene magmatism in SE Ladakh is represented by the ultrapotassic lamprophyre dyke at 24 Ma and spatially represents the westernmost extension of the voluminous ultrapotassic and potassic lavas in SW Tibet at this time (17–25 Ma). Following the intrusion of the main KB-forming leucogranite at 15 Ma (U-Pb SHRIMP crystallization age from zircon rims), the time of shearing on the SW strand of the KF is recorded by the age of muscovite from the Darbuk leucogranite at 13.3 Ma, comparable to that measured by Ar isotopic systematics (13.9 Ma) on mica aggregates from a granodiorite deformed by the KF in the Nubra valley. The biotite cooling age of the foliated granite within the Pangong migmatite is consistent with its cooling following high-grade migmatization, previously measured as having occurred between 17 and 14 Ma.

Eocene shoshonitic mafic dykes intruding the Monashee Complex, British Columbia: a petrogenetic relationship with the Kamloops Group volcanic sequence?

The newly named Three Valley Suite (TVS) kersantite lamprophyre to shoshonitic mafic dykes of the Monashee Complex are inferred to be hypabyssal feeder dykes to an alkaline to calc-alkaline volcanic suite related to the Kamloops Group. These dykes were emplaced in a subvertical north-trending orientation coincident with inferred Eocene crustal extension (~50.0 Ma), based on the flat 40Ar/39Ar step-heating plateau of contact-metamorphic muscovite on the margin of a TVS dyke. These weakly altered mafic dykes are fine grained with phenocrysts (0.5–2.0 mm) of phlogopite, augite, amphibole, and olivine (pseudomorphed by clays), rare labradorite, and both primary and secondary carbonates set in a fine-grained groundmass of similar mineralogy consistent with their classification as plagioclase-bearing potassic diorite to kersantite lamprophyre. The dykes are weakly silica-undersaturated and alkalic (2.8 wt.% K2O, 7.7 wt.% MgO), with high large ion lithophile element contents (~300 times primitive mantle) and elevated high-field-strength element contents, with a prominent negative Nb (Ta) anomaly, and have radiogenic Nd and Sr isotopic signatures; these geochemical attributes are consistent with a calc-alkaline shoshonitic affinity. Therefore, it is inferred that the subducting oceanic plate influenced subcrustal mantle wedge metasomatism in the region. Decompression partial melting of this metasomatised lithospheric mantle was initiated by coupled rapid unroofing, regional trans pression, slab rollback, and slab window development to the south. The TVS is similar to the mafic volcanic rocks within the nearby Eocene volcanic rocks, suggesting that these dykes represent the feeder system to a volcanic field that is now eroded, i.e., a broad-terrane association.

Structural overview of selected Group II kimberlite dyke arrays in South Africa: implications for kimberlite emplacement mechanisms

Group II kimberlite dykes occur in small, dominantly en-echelon dyke-fracture arrays, with individual dyke-fractures showing small angular variations from their array trends (5° to 15°). The analysed dyke systems are characterized by closely matching opposing dyke contacts, “ in-situ ” breccia, multiple kimberlite stringers within a dilated dyke-parallel fracture cleavage, wedge-shaped apophyses in bent bridges at dyke-fracture offsets/overlaps, kimberlite-free offset/overlap areas and calcite vein fibres orthogonal to dyke contacts. Commonly found microscopic structures include synemplacement/syncrystallization calcite veinlets, containing high aspect ratio stretched fibrous calcite, and elongate phlogopite phenocrysts and serpentinized olivine phenocrysts growing across the width of these veins. Both macro- and microscopic structures support a model of orthogonal host rock dilation during kimberlite emplacement. Terminations of dyke-fracture segments show minimal curvature or overlap, suggesting that remote horizontal stresses dominated during their emplacement (“passive” intrusion), as opposed to magma overpressured systems wherein dyke or dyke-fracture overlaps curve strongly towards each other (“active” intrusion). The application of Mohr diagrams suggests that low differential stresses, with no or only a very minor shear component, prevailed at the time of emplacement. The dominance of remote horizontal forces, imparting small differential stresses to the brittle portions of the crust, a closely-spaced, dilating dyke-parallel fracture cleavage ahead of the dyke tip (imparting a local suction) and the low-volume, low-viscosity, highly volatile nature of kimberlitic magmas may explain their empirically-constrained high emplacement velocities. This, in turn, explains the means by which such magmas may entrain significant volumes of high specific-gravity mantle material. Mobile hydrofracturing in the fringe zones around dilated craton-scale jointing is proposed to be a viable mechanism for kimberlite emplacement.

Shoshonites from Agios Nectarios, Lesbos, Greece: origin by mixing of felsic and mafic magma

Miocene dykes and minor lavas at Agios Nectarios in southeastern Lesbos, of shoshonite (trachyandesite) composition, are texturally hybrid, containing felsic glass and minerals characteristic of primitive mafic magmas. The lava includes both felsic and mafic glass, now partly devitrified, and has phenocrysts of forsteritic olivine and clinopyroxene, with groundmass phlogopite. The olivine contains abundant chromite inclusions. The dyke rock has phenocrysts of phlogopite and clinopyroxene, both with chromite inclusions and the phlogopite is chemically similar to that in the lava. The nearby Skopelos ignimbrite has glass composition distinct from the more extensive Polychnitos Ignimbrite Formation, but similar to the felsic glass in the Agios Nectarios lava. Both lava and dyke rock appear to be hybrid, formed by mixing of basaltic crystal mush containing olivine, clinopyroxene and phlogopite phenocrysts with felsic magma of similar composition to glass from the Skopelos ignimbrite. New dates on the lava (K/Ar whole rock 17.9 ± 0.5 Ma) and the Skopelos ignimbrite ( 40 Ar/ 39 Ar biotite 18.1 ± 0.3 Ma) are essentially identical and allow the rocks to be placed in context within the volcanic stratigraphy of Lesbos. A new age of 17.9 ± 0.6 Ma on a dyke cutting the Sigri Pyroclastic Formation demonstrates that these older felsic pyroclastic rocks could be synchronous with the Skopelos ignimbrite. The occurrence of phlogopite phenocrysts with chromite inclusions and of pyrite inclusions in plagioclase and clinopyroxene phenocrysts indicates that the parent mafic magma was enriched in both S and K.

Proterozoic thermal activity in the Archaean basement of the Disko Bugt region and eastern Nuussuaq, West Greenland: evidence from K-Ar and 40Ar-39Ar mineral age investigations

K-Ar and 40Ar-39Ar analyses of amphiboles from Archaean amphibolites and gneisses show that Proterozoic tectono-thermal activity has played an important role in the metamorphic and structural development of the Precambrian rocks around north-eastern Disko Bugt and in eastern Nuussuaq. Proterozoic thermal activity lead to resetting of the K-Ar ages of amphiboles in eastern Nuussuaq, resulting in ages of c. 1750 to 1925 Ma; in the Disko Bugt area the effects are seen in total or partial resetting with K-Ar ages scattering mostly between 2750 and 1870 Ma. Resetting is caused either by total diffusion of earlier accumulated radiogenic argon or by complete recrystallisation of the amphiboles. Archaean 40Ar-39Ar ages obtained from mafic xenoliths within the Atâ tonalite show that not all parts of the area suffered argon loss during Proterozoic reheating. Incorporation of significant proportions of excess argon in some amphiboles is seen from 40Ar-39Ar mineral age spectra obtained for samples from supracrustal rocks and from mafic xenoliths in the Atâ tonalite. Phlogopite phenocrysts from a lamproite stock yielded a K-Ar age of 1764 ± 24 Ma, identical to a previously determined K-Ar age of the matrix phlogopite. These ages probably date the emplacement of the lamproite, and mark the time after which no tectono-thermal events affected the area.

Post-collisional Variscan lamprophyres (Black Forest, Germany): [formula omitted] phlogopite dating, Nd, Pb, Sr isotope, and trace element characteristics

Subsequent to high-pressure and temperature metamorphism of the axial zone of the Variscan foldbelt in central Europe at ca. 340 to 330 Ma, formation of lamprophyre dikes during transtensional tectonics may be viewed as the beginning of the post-collisional stage of the orogeny. We report the results of 40 Ar/ 39 Ar mica dating, major and trace element data, and isotope compositions for lamprophyre and rhyodacite samples from the southern Black Forest. The chemical compositions of these rocks shed light on the upper mantle and crust at the end of the Variscan orogeny. 40 Ar/ 39 Ar plateau ages for four phlogopite–biotite separates from lamprophyres indicate emplacement at 332 to 314 Ma. This event coincides with melting of the crust as indicated by 40 Ar/ 39 Ar biotite plateau ages of ca. 332 Ma for rhyodacite dikes which are probably related to coeval undeformed granites. Incompatible trace element patterns of the lamprophyre samples reveal the characteristics of evolved continental crust and are interpreted as evidence for melting of sediment in a subduction-modified mantle. Nd, Sr, and Pb isotope compositions indicate an enriched mantle source with ε Nd-values of −1.5 to −6.8 which is similar to Variscan crust. Significant contamination of the lamprophyric melts by Variscan crust can be ruled out as mantle-derived phlogopite phenocrysts have similar ε Nd-values as in the whole-rock samples. We propose that the isotope compositions and incompatible trace element characteristics of the lamprophyres were predominantly inherited from melted sediment. The isotope compositions of Variscan lamprophyres from western Europe suggest that enriched upper mantle was only partly delaminated when ascending hot mantle triggered melting of the lower crust, as has been invoked for the origin of post-collisional granites. The isotope compositions of Tertiary basalts and mantle xenoliths indicate a depleted upper mantle under western Europe, implying that the enriched Variscan material was efficiently removed and mixed into the convecting mantle.

Mid‐Devonian ultrabasic sill near White Cliffs, New South Wales

An ultrabasic sill, about 900 m in strike length and up to 20 m thick, crops out near Spring Hill, about 39 km west‐southwest of White Cliffs In western New South Wales. It occurs near the base of a thick, unfossiliferous, gently dipping sandstone sequence, probably Emsian‐Eifelian (latest Early Devonian to earliest Middle Devonian) in age. The sill shows layering parallel to the enclosing strata, indicating that it probably intruded while the strata were horizontal or subhorizontal, before they were folded by the mid‐Devonian (Tabberabberan) Orogeny. The dominant lithology of the sill is a greenish grey, fine‐grained, massive to vesicular, micaceous rock originally containing abundant olivine and phlogopite phenocrysts and other mafic minerals, now mostly highly altered. The sill is layered, with some medium‐ to coarse‐grained bands, and carbonate‐rich pods. The rocks have variable andradite (after melilite?), diopside and dolomite contents; perovskite, sphene, calcite, apatite and spinels are also present, and alteration products include opal, smectitic clays and serpentine. The rock type is most likely to be an alnoite (an ultrabasic lamprophyre with kimberlitic affinities) and may be a potential diamond host.

Oligocene lamproite containing an Al-poor, Ti-rich biotite, Middle Park, northwest Colorado, USA

AbstractA small 33 ± 0.8 Ma lamproite pluton is exposed in the midst of a 23–26 Ma basalt-rhyolite province in Middle Park, NW Colorado. It contains abundant phlogopite phenocrysts in a fine-grained groundmass of analcime pseudomorphs after leucite, biotite, potassic richterite, apatite, ilmenite and accessory diopside. The phlogopite phenocryst cores contain ∼4 wt.% TiO2, 1% Cr2O3 and 0.2% BaO. The smallest groundmass biotites have normal pleochroism but compositions unlike any previously reported, with ∼2% Al2O3, ∼8% TiO2 and F &lt;1.5%. Apart from those elements affected by leucite alteration, both the elemental and isotopic composition of this lamproite are close to those of the Leucite Hills, Wyoming. Its Nd-isotopic model age (TDM = 1.6 Ga) is outside the Leucite Hills range but within that of other Tertiary strongly potassic magmatism in the region underlain by the Wyoming craton. Evidence from both teleseismic tomography and the mantle xenoliths within other western USA mafic ultrapotassic igneous suites shows that the total lithospheric thickness beneath NW Colorado was probably ∼150–200 km at 33 Ma, when the Middle Park lamproite was emplaced. This is an important constraint on tectonomagmatic models for the Cenozoic evolution of this northernmost part of the Rio Grande rift system.

Role of CO2 on differentiation of ultramafic alkaline series: liquid immiscibility in carbonate-bearing phonolitic dykes (Polar Siberia)

AbstractThe Maimecha-Kotui province in the North of Siberian platform is the largest province of ultramafic alkaline rocks in the world. The province comprises thirty-seven central-type complexes together with numerous dykes. The majority of dykes are radially disposed around the ultramafic alkaline massifs. Data are presented for dykes of the Dolbykha carbonatite complex, which comprises olivine and melilite nephelinites; nosean, calcite and cancrinite phonolites; calcite trachytes and calcite carbonatites.Some peralkaline phonolitic dykes contain carbonate-bearing globules with sizes of 1−2 mm to 17−20 mm. Globules consist of polycrystalline calcitic aggregates together with albite, phlogopite, apatite, Sr-lueshite, zircon, ancylite, ilmenite and strontianite. The phonolites have phenocrysts of albite, phlogopite and ilmenite. Albite, phlogopite, calcite and nepheline are also present in the groundmass. Analysis of these materials in the light of experimental data on the liquid immiscibility in carbonate-silicate systems suggests that separation of carbonatite from phonolitic melts took place due to immiscibility in the liquid state. I propose that carbonate melts contained originally significantly higher alkali contents which were subsequently lost into the fluid phase due to the incongruent dissolution of calcium-sodium carbonates in aqueous fluid at low temperatures. The discovery of nyerereite in the carbonatite of Polar Siberia confirms this conclusion. I infer that one of the mechanisms for the genesis of carbonatite melt in Polar Siberia was liquid immiscibility in strongly differentiated phonolitic magmas.The generation of the carbonatites was probably controlled by the depth (and PCO2) of the crustal magma chamber where differentiation took place and probably also by the alkalinity of melts, and the rapidity of magma ascent to the surface.

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.

Quaternary minettes and associated volcanic rocks of Mascota, western Mexico: a consequence of plate extension above a subduction modified mantle wedge

Pleistocene-Holocene volcanism in the Jalisco block of western Mexico is confined to two conspicuous grabens, where potassic eruptives range from absarokites (48–52% SiO2) and minettes (49–54% SiO2) through basaltic andesites (53–57% SiO2), the most voluminous type, to andesites and their lamprophyric equivalent spessartite (58–62% SiO2); there are no contemporary rhyolitic rocks. This suite has high concentrations of Mg, Cr (<550 ppm) and Ni (<450 ppm) accompanied by large concentrations of K, P, Ba (<4000 ppm) and Sr (<5000 ppm) and elements such as LREE and Zr (<600 ppm). No combination of crystal fractionation and/or crustal contamination can reproduce the compositional range of these magmas, which nevertheless are believed to be genetically related because of their proximity in time and space. Hydrous minerals in the lamprophyres and the typical absence of plagioclase phenocrysts in both basaltic andesites and andesites reflect the relatively high concentrations of water in the magmas, which suppressed the crystallisation of feldspar. Experimental verification of the minimal amounts of water required to reproduce the phenocryst assemblages in selected rocks range from 3.5 to 6%. During ascent in a volcanic conduit, andesitic magma may lose water and consequently precipitate plagioclase, or it may ascend more rapidly, retaining more of its initial water, which stabilises phenocrysts of hornblende at the expense of plagioclase. Our estimates of water concentrations, which are consistent with the various low pressure phenocryst assemblages, will be minimal for the magmas in their source regions, and the process of magmatic dewatering on ascent may be typical in well established volcanic conduits. In accord with the compositions of phenocrystic olivine in the basaltic andesites and the minettes, the values of FeO and Fe2O3 of the bulk lavas and scoriae are demonstrably pristine. As a consequence, there are two characteristic features of the Mascota suite: the high range of relative oxygen fugacities (ΔNNO=1–5) and the high Mg# (MgO/MgO+FeO) that ranges from 0.70 to 0.91 (with only one andesite as low as 0.66). From the evidence of phlogopite phenocrysts, a partial melt involving phlogopite would have a higher Mg# than one from olivine (Fo90) and pyroxene alone. As the Mascota series shows a correlation between K2O and Mg#, we conclude that it was generated by partial fusion of the mantle wedge, with a variable contribution of phlogopite and apatite from veins throughout the lherzolitic assemblage. In conformity with an origin by varying increments of partial fusion of a phlogopite-bearing mantle, all incompatible elements vary linearly with Ti (or K) as if phlogopite (+apatite) in the source dominated their contribution to the partial melts. Fluids from dehydration of the subducting slab presumably deposit hydrous and other minerals in veins in the mantle wedge and also increase its redox state. As the Mascota volcanism occurs in grabens closer to the trench than the main andesite arc, it is concluded that the eruption of these small volumes of hydrous magmas require the tectonically favored ascent paths offered by the extensional grabens to reach the surface from their mantle sources.

Geochemistry, petrogenesis, and tectonic setting of lower Paleozoic alkalic and potassic volcanic rocks, Northern Canadian Cordilleran Miogeocline

The Northern Canadian Cordilleran Miogeocline developed intermittently during the early Paleozoic and hosts alkalic and ultrapotassic volcanic rocks that are spatially restricted in thin beds and lenses and isolated volcanic piles. On the basis of geochemistry and geographic location, these volcanic rocks are subdivided into five main groups. Group I rocks (Porter Puddle and Macmillan rocks) are potassic basanites characterized by high Nb, Ce, and NbIY and low ZrINb. They are chemically similar to the Mountain Diatreme, indicating a genetic link. Group 11 rocks (Porter Puddle, Niddery, and Macmillan rocks) are also potassic but have lower abundances of Nb and Ce, higher ZrINb, and lower NbIY. Group I11 rocks (Vulcan and Itsi Lakes) are also potassic but are chemically variable, have lower contents of high field strength elements (HFSE) than the groups I and I1 rocks, and contain elevated Ba contents. Groups 1-111 are characterized by mica (biotite and phlogopite) phenocrysts, sanidine, augite, and Ba-feldspar, a mineral assemblage typical of ultrapotassic lavas. Group IV (Whale Mountain) alkali basalts are the least enriched in the large ion lithophile elements and have relatively low contents of HFSE compared with Groups I and I1 basalts. Groups I-111 are consistent with partial melting of a previously metasomatized lithospheric mantle that was variably enriched in Ba, Nb, and Ce, whereas the group IV rocks are more typical of asthenospherically derived oceanic island basalt partial melts. The geochemistry of the volcanic rocks is consistent with paleotectonic models of the Selwyn Basin. The Selwyn Basin is a passive continental rift that underwent episodic extension and associated subsidence throughout the lower Paleozoic. Alkalic volcanism, and spatially and temporally associated Ba and base metal mineralization, is concentrated along rift-parallel normal faults, particularly where these faults are offset by transform faults.

Petrology and age determinations of the ultramafic (lamproitic) rocks from the Yakokut complex, Aldan Shield, Eastern Siberia

AbstractMineralogical, geochemical and isotopic data including K-Ar age determinations are presented for one of the largely unknown, Mesozoic ultramafic (lamproitic) occurrences of the Aldan Shield. Ultramafic, ultrapotassic rocks occur as isolated pipes or as dykes in alkaline complexes as the Yakokut complex. K-Ar dating of phlogopites from different ultramafic dyke rocks of Yakokut give cooling ages of 133.3 ± 1.3 Ma. These rocks generally contain olivine, clinopyroxene, phlogopite and spinel phenocrysts. Olivines are forsterite-rich (Fo86–94) and undeformed, suggesting that they are phenocrysts. The low Ti and Al contents of clinopyroxenes are close to those of lamproites. Phlogopite cores are rich in Al2O3 and TiO2 relative to the rims with two different zonation trends caused by distinct crystallization conditions after emplacement. Spinels are Ti-bearing magnetites and Ti-Al-magnesiochromites with high Cr/(Cr+Al) ratios (&gt; 0.9), indicating their crystallization from a lamproitic melt.Geochemically, the rocks are ultrabasic — basic with high mg# values, low Ca, Al, Na and strong enrichments of Rb, Ba and K. Their CaO/Al2O3, Zr/Nb or Ba/Sr ratios indicate their lamproitic nature and origin in the subcontinental lithosphere of a depleted mantle source which had undergone metasomatic enrichment. As the rocks all show strong negative Nb anomalies and low Ti, Y and Yb contents, the enrichment is attributed to subduction zone fluids. The Sr-Nd-data (87Sr/86Sr0 0.70573−0.70605 ± 0.00003; ɛNd − 10.2 ± 0.7) indicate the origin by partial melting of a heterogeneous mantle source with relatively low Rb/Sr ratios and an early enrichment. The evolution model comprises a depletion of ‘basaltic elements’, leading to a harzburgitic source which was enriched by an early LREE contribution during the stabilization of the Archaean to Proterozoic Aldan Shield. It is further suggested that the Mesozoic northwesterly directed subduction of the Ochotsk-Chukotsk belt influenced the subcontinental lithosphere underneath the Aldan Shield, leading to the observed subduction-related signature of the Yakokut lamproites.