Showing papers on "Incompatible element published in 2019"

Magmatic Response to Subduction Initiation: Part 1. Fore‐arc Basalts of the Izu‐Bonin Arc From IODP Expedition 352

Abstract: The Izu‐Bonin‐Mariana (IBM) fore arc preserves igneous rock assemblages that formed during subduction initiation circa 52 Ma. International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 352 cored four sites in the fore arc near the Ogasawara Plateau in order to document the magmatic response to subduction initiation and the physical, petrologic, and chemical stratigraphy of a nascent subduction zone. Two of these sites (U1440 and U1441) are underlain by fore‐arc basalt (FAB). FABs have mid‐ocean ridge basalt (MORB)‐like compositions, however, FAB are consistently lower in the high‐field strength elements (TiO2, P2O5, Zr) and Ni compared to MORB, with Na2O at the low end of the MORB field and FeO* at the high end. Almost all FABs are light rare earth element depleted, with low total REE, and have low ratios of highly incompatible to less incompatible elements (Ti/V, Zr/Y, Ce/Yb, and Zr/Sm) relative to MORB. Chemostratigraphic trends in Hole U1440B are consistent with the uppermost lavas forming off axis, whereas the lower lavas formed beneath a spreading center axis. Axial magma of U1440B becomes more fractionated upsection; overlying off‐axis magmas return to more primitive compositions. Melt models require a two‐stage process, with early garnet field melts extracted prior to later spinel field melts, with up to 23% melting to form the most depleted compositions. Mantle equilibration temperatures are higher than normal MORB (1,400 °C–1,480 °C) at relatively low pressures (1–2 GPa), which may reflect an influence of the Manus plume during subduction initiation. Our data support previous models of FAB origin by decompression melting but imply a source more depleted than normal MORB source mantle.

Sampling the volatile-rich transition zone beneath Bermuda

Abstract: Intraplate magmatic provinces found away from plate boundaries provide direct sampling of the composition and heterogeneity of the Earth's mantle. The chemical heterogeneities that have been observed in the mantle are usually attributed to recycling during subduction1-3, which allows for the addition of volatiles and incompatible elements into the mantle. Although many intraplate volcanoes sample deep-mantle reservoirs-possibly at the core-mantle boundary4-not all intraplate volcanoes are deep-rooted5, and reservoirs in other, shallower boundary layers are likely to participate in magma generation. Here we present evidence that suggests Bermuda sampled a previously unknown mantle domain, characterized by silica-undersaturated melts that are substantially enriched in incompatible elements and volatiles, and a unique, extreme isotopic signature. To our knowledge, Bermuda records the most radiogenic 206Pb/204Pb isotopes that have been documented in an ocean basin (with 206Pb/204Pb ratios of 19.9-21.7) using high-precision methods. Together with low 207Pb/204Pb ratios (15.5-15.6) and relatively invariant Sr, Nd, and Hf isotopes, the data suggest that this source must be less than 650 million years old. We therefore interpret the Bermuda source as a previously unknown, transient mantle reservoir that resulted from the recycling and storage of incompatible elements and volatiles6-8 in the transition zone (between the upper and lower mantle), aided by the fractionation of lead in a mineral that is stable only in this boundary layer, such as K-hollandite9,10. We suggest that recent recycling into the transition zone, related to subduction events during the formation of Pangea, is the reason why this reservoir has only been found in the Atlantic Ocean. Our geodynamic models suggest that this boundary layer was sampled by disturbances related to mantle flow. Seismic studies and diamond inclusions6,7 have shown that recycled materials can be stored in the transition zone11. For the first time, to our knowledge, we show geochemical evidence that this storage is key to the generation of extreme isotopic domains that were previously thought to be related only to deep recycling.

Deep Magma Storage revealed by Multi-Method Elemental Mapping of Clinopyroxene Megacrysts at Stromboli Volcano

Abstract: The magmatic architecture and physicochemical processes inside volcanoes influence the style and timescale of eruptions. A long-standing challenge in volcanology is to establish the rates and depths of magma storage and the events that trigger eruption. Magma feeder systems are remarkably crystal-rich, and the growth stratigraphy of minerals sampled by erupted magmas can reveal a wealth of information on pre-eruptive processes. Here we combine detailed textural and chemical data acquired on large (>5 mm), euhedral augite megacrysts from Roman era activity (Pizzo scoria cone, 2.4-1.8 ka) at Stromboli (Italy) to investigate the plumbing system prior to the onset of current steady-state activity. Our dataset includes novel laser ablation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-TOFMS) maps, which rapidly visualise multi-element zoning patterns across entire megacryst sections. The clinopyroxene data are complemented with geochemical constraints on mineral and melt inclusions, and adhering glassy tephra. Megacrysts are sector and oscillatory zoned in trace elements, yet their major element compositions are relatively uniform and in equilibrium with shoshonite-buffered melts. Mild sector zoning documents dynamic crystallisation under conditions of low undercooling during magma residence and growth. Clinopyroxene-melt thermobarometric and hygrometric calibrations, integrated with thermodynamically derived equilibrium equations, accurately track the P-T-H2O path of magmas. The refined models return restricted crystallisation depths that are deeper than those reported previously for historical and current eruptions, but consistent with deep clinopyroxene-dominated crystallisation (≥10 km), resembling other water-rich alkaline mafic systems. Megacryst cores are overgrown by oscillatory zoned mantles recording continuous input of magma that failed to trigger eruption. Crystal rims are characterised by a mild increase in compatible transition metals Cr and Ni, and depletion in incompatible elements, indicative of pre-eruptive mafic replenishment and magma mixing. The volcanic system appears to have been dominated by protracted periods of replenishment, convection and crystal residence, punctuated by rapid megacryst evacuation and eruption upon arrival of more mafic magma (days-weeks). Since the inception of current steady-state activity, eruption-triggering melts have become appreciably more mafic, suggesting that intrusion of primitive magma may be a key driver of the steady-state regime.

Ubiquitous ultra-depleted domains in Earth’s mantle

Abstract: Partial melting of Earth’s mantle generates oceanic crust and leaves behind a chemically depleted residual mantle. The time-integrated composition of this chemically depleted mantle is generally inferred from basalts produced at mid-ocean ridges. However, isotopic differences between oceanic mantle rocks and mid-ocean ridge basalts suggest that mantle and basalt composition could differ. Here we measure neodymium isotope ratios in olivine-hosted melt inclusions from lavas of the Azores mantle plume. We find neodymium isotope ratios that include the highest values measured in basalts, and suggest that melts from ultra-depleted mantle contribute to the isotopic diversity of the erupted lavas. Ultra-depleted melts have exceedingly low preservation potential during magma extraction and evolution due to progressive mixing with melts that are enriched in incompatible elements. A notable contribution of ultra-depleted melts to the Azores mantle plume therefore implies that variably depleted mantle is the volumetrically dominant component of the Azores plume. We argue that variably depleted mantle, sometimes ranging to ultra-depleted compositions, may be a ubiquitous part of most ocean island and mid-ocean ridge basalt sources. If so, Earth’s mantle may be more depleted than previously thought, which has important implications for the rate of mass exchange between crust and mantle, plume dynamics and compositional stratification of Earth’s mantle. Depleted mantle is a volumetrically dominant component of the Azores plume and possibly of oceanic basalt sources more generally, according to neodymium isotope compositions of olivine-hosted melt inclusions from lavas of the Azores mantle plume.

Petrology, geochemistry, radioactivity, and M–W type rare earth element tetrads of El Sela altered granites, south eastern desert, Egypt

Abstract: The southern part of the Eastern Desert of Egypt—about 30 km southwest of Abu-Ramad city—is mainly covered by ophiolitic rocks (Sul Hamed), island arc assemblage, younger granites (muscovite granites of Qash Amer and two mica granites of El Sela), and various acidic and basic dikes. Field, petrological, and geochemical studies indicate that the El Sela shear zone has been subject to hydrothermal and supergene alteration such as kaolinization, albitization, sericitization, and hematitization. It is invaded by quartz ENE–WSW veins associated with hydrothermal alteration accompanied by radioactive mineralization. The investigated younger granitic rocks had very low contents of compatible elements, such as Cr, Ni, and Co; and high contents of incompatible elements, such as Zr, and large ion lithophiles, such as Sr, especially in the El Sela shear zone. Major oxide and trace element analyses revealed calc-alkaline affinity and peraluminous character. These highly differentiated granitic rocks’ lower Zr/Hf and higher Y/Ho than the normal ratio are consistent with hydrothermal alteration. Most samples had rare earth element (REE)-patterns with an M-type tetrad effect in the first and fourth segments and a W-type tetrad in the third segment. The average ∑REE in the studied granites was lower than the world granite average; the ratio of light to heavy REEs greater. The main radioactive, uranium-bearing, and uraniferous Fe and Mn minerals are uranothorite, autunite, uranophane and autunite as compounds, kasolite, columbite, xenotime, uranophane-bearing zircon and jarosite, silver-bearing pyrite, hematite, and autunite-bearing pyrolusite.

Palaeoarchaean deep mantle heterogeneity recorded by enriched plume remnants

Abstract: The thermal and chemical state of the early Archaean deep mantle is poorly resolved due to the rare occurrences of early Archaean magnesium-rich volcanic rocks. In particular, it is not clear whether compositional heterogeneity existed in the early Archaean deep mantle and, if it did, how deep mantle heterogeneity formed. Here we present a geochronological and geochemical study on a Palaeoarchaean ultramafic–mafic suite (3.45-Gyr-old) with mantle plume signatures in Longwan, Eastern Hebei, the North China Craton. This suite consists of metamorphosed cumulates and basalts. The meta-basalts are iron rich and show the geochemical characteristics of present-day oceanic island basalt and unusually high mantle potential temperatures (1,675 °C), which suggests a deep mantle source enriched in iron and incompatible elements. The Longwan ultramafic–mafic suite is best interpreted as the remnants of a 3.45-Gyr-old enriched mantle plume. The first emergence of mantle-plume-related rocks on the Earth 3.5–3.45 billion years ago indicates that a global mantle plume event occurred with the onset of large-scale deep mantle convection in the Palaeoarchaean. Various deep mantle sources of these Palaeoarchaean mantle-plume-related rocks imply that significant compositional heterogeneity was present in the Palaeoarchaean deep mantle, most probably introduced by recycled crustal material. Deep mantle heterogeneity and large-scale deep mantle convection has been operating since the Palaeoarchaean, according to enriched plume signatures found in a 3.45-billion-year-old ultramafic–mafic suite from the North China Craton.

The enhanced element enrichment in the supercritical states of granite–pegmatite systems

Abstract: In this paper, we show that supercritical fluids have a greater significance in the generation of pegmatites, and for ore-forming processes related to granites than is usually assumed. We show that the supercritical melt or fluid is a silicate phase in which volatiles; principally H2O are completely miscible in all proportions at magmatic temperatures and pressures. This phase evolves from felsic melts and changes into hydrothermal fluids, and its unique properties are particularly important in sequestering and concentrating low abundance elements, such as metals. In our past research, we have focused on processes observed at upper crustal levels, however extensive work by us and other researchers have demonstrated that supercritical melt/fluids should be abundant in melting zones at deep-crustal levels too. We propose that these fluids may provide a connecting link between lower and upper crustal magmas, and a highly efficient transport mechanism for usually melt incompatible elements. In this paper, we explore the unique features of this fluid which allow the partitioning of various elements and compounds, potentially up to extreme levels, and may explain various features both of mineralization and the magmas that produced them.

Parental magma composition of the Main Zone of the Bushveld Complex : evidence from in situ LA-ICP-MS trace element analysis of silicate minerals in the cumulate rocks

Abstract: In situ trace element analysis of cumulus minerals may provide a clue to the parental magma from which the minerals crystallized. However, this is hampered by effects of the trapped liquid shift (TLS). In the Main Zone (MZ) of the Bushveld Complex, the Ti content in plagioclase grains shows a clear increase from core to rim, whereas most other elements [e.g. rare earth elements (REE), Zr, Hf, Pb] do not. This is different from the prominent intra-grain variation of all trace elements in silicate minerals in mafic dikes, which have a faster cooling rate. We suggest that crystal fractionation of trapped liquid occurred in the MZ of Bushveld and the TLS may have modified the original composition of the cumulus minerals for most trace elements except Ti during slow cooling. Quantitative model calculations suggest that the influence of the TLS depends on the bulk partition coefficient of the element. The effect on highly incompatible elements is clearly more prominent than that on moderately incompatible and compatible elements because of different concentration gradients between cores and rims of cumulate minerals. This is supported by the following observations in the MZ of Bushveld: (1) positive correlation between Cr, Ni and Mg# of clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene; (2) negative correlation between moderately incompatible elements (e.g. Mn and Sc in clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene; Sr, Ba and Eu in plagioclase); but (3) poor correlation between highly incompatible elements and Mg# of clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene or An# of plagioclase. Modeling suggests that the extent of the TLS for a trace element is also dependent on the initial fraction of the primary trapped liquid, with strong TLS occurring if the primary trapped liquid fraction is high. This is supported by the positive correlation between highly incompatible trace element abundances in cumulus minerals and whole-rock Zr contents. We have calculated the composition of the parental magma of the MZ of the Bushveld Complex. The compatible and moderately incompatible element contents of the calculated parental liquid are generally similar to those of the B3 marginal rocks, but different from those of the B1 and B2 marginal rocks. For the highly incompatible elements, we suggest that the use of the sample with the lowest whole-rock Zr content and the least degree of TLS is the best approach to obtain the parental magma composition. The heavy REE contents of the magma calculated from orthopyroxene are similar to those of B3 rocks and lower than those of B2 rocks. The calculated REE contents from clinopyroxene are generally significantly higher than for B2 or B3 rocks, and those from plagioclase are in the lower level of B2, but slightly higher than for B3. However, the calculated REE patterns for both clinopyroxene and plagioclase show strong negative Eu anomalies, which are at the lower level of the B2 field and within the B3 field, respectively. We suggest that Eu may be less affected by TLS than other REE owing to its higher bulk compatibility. Based on this and the fact that the calculated REE contents of the parental magma should be higher than the real magma composition owing to some degree of crystal fractionation and TLS, even for the sample with the lowest amount of trapped liquid, we propose that a B3 type liquid is the most likely parental magma to the MZ of the Bushveld Complex. In the lowermost part of the MZ, there is involvement of the Upper Critical Zone (UCZ) magma.

Double-Front Crystallization in the Chapesvara Ultramafic Subvolcanic Complex, Serpentinite Belt, Kola Peninsula, Russia

Abstract: Dunite–harzburgite–olivine-bearing orthopyroxenite successions in the subvolcanic Chapesvara-I and Chapesvara-II intrusions in the Serpentinite Belt, western Kola Peninsula, are notably magnesian. The mean Mg# value (whole-rock) is 86.6, and the olivine is Fo84−89. The upper contact facies (UCF) displays a lower Mg# (81.6). It consists of grains of Fo92 and abundant chromian spinel, implying rapid crystallization of an almost unfractionated melt. On average, the whole-rock Al2O3/TiO2 value is 22.45, close to 22.9 (UCF) and to the primitive mantle, ~22. The rise of primitive ultramafic magma presumably occurred in a special tectonic setting at the boundary of the Paleoproterozoic Lapland Granulite Terrane and the Belomorian Composite Terrane of Archean age. The Chapesvara suite resembles examples of the Al-undepleted komatiites in the Barberton Belt, South Africa, with magmas of up to 30–35% MgO. The UCF rock yields an anomalously low molar MgO/SiO2 value, close to that of dunitic rocks located at the center of the Chapesvara-II body. This rock is the most primitive, as indicated by the maximum Fo content of olivine, the lowest value of (Gd/Yb)N, 0.52, and the lowest abundances of middle to heavy rare-earth elements (REE) in the chondrite-normalized spectrum. The crystallization of the Chapesvara-II sill-like intrusion likely proceeded in two stages, which are evident from the olivine compositions varying from the maximum Fo92 (UCF) to Fo≤89.5 (the central dunite zone). At Stage 1, the UCF rock (Fo92) crystallized first, close to the upper contact. The area of crystallization then shifted to a central portion of the Chapesvara-II body, in which the dunitic zone (Fo89.5) formed in situ (Stage 2). The compositional variations in chromian spinel are consistent with this suggestion. Two crystallization trends were recognized. The type-1 trend displays a relative maximum or minimum close to the center, and then diverges into two linear subtrends directed upward and downward. This pattern is manifested in the variations of Mg# in olivine and chromian spinel, the whole-rock contents of Al and Ca, and in levels of incompatible elements: Ti, V, Zr, Y, and Hf. The type-2 trend decreases or increases uniformly from top to bottom. Variations in amount of Ni in olivine, the Fe3+# index in chromian spinel, and in values of Mg# (rocks), follow a type-2 trend. Variations in total amounts of REE, Nb, and Th, which gradually increase downward, are also related to a type-2 trend. Thus, a contrasting development and possible interference of the two types of evolutionary trends were observed in the crystallization history of the Chapesvara-II sill-like body. A double-front crystallization, hitherto unreported, involved two fronts moving upward and downward, respectively. The upward subtrend appeared to be of subordinate importance, whereas the extent of fractional crystallization of the downward front was much greater. Crystallization proceeded from the top to the bottom, presumably because of the preferential loss of heat at the roof. Variations in the Fe3+# index indicate that the level of fO2 also increased downward with progressive crystallization. Convection cells were presumably the key mechanism of accumulation of the crystallizing olivine grains to form the central dunite zone close to the center of the sill-like intrusion. The observed characteristics of the Chapesvara complex indicate the existence of a primitive-mantle source and imply a highly magnesian composition of intruding magma not only for Chapesvara, but also for the Pados-Tundra layered complex and associated suites of the Serpentinite Belt in the Kola Peninsula.

Early Cretaceous Granitic and Monzonitic Rocks of the Southern Part of the Zhuravlevka Terrane (Sikhote-Alin): Geochemical Composition and Melt Sources

Abstract: The article presents new geological, geochronological, mineralogical, geochemical, and isotopic data on the Early Cretaceous granitic rocks of the southern part of the Zhuravlevka Terrane (Sikhote-Alin). It is shown that four intrusive complexes containing significant amounts of granitic rocks were formed almost simultaneously in this area in the Early Cretaceous (about 100 Ma). These magmatic associations differ in rock set, their mineralogical characteristics, and chemical composition, varying from medium-potassium tonalites and granodiorites depleted in incompatible elements to shoshonitic monzonitic rocks enriched in HFSE and REE. The geochemical and isotopic characteristics of the granitic rocks indicate that the source of their melts was dominated by essentially juvenile metabasite crust with a limited contribution of the upper-crustal metasedimentary rocks. The diversity of geochemical types of the granitic rocks is explained by variable metabasite and metapelite contributions to their source, upper crustal contamination during magma ascent, as well as the variable contribution of the mantle source and different mechanisms of mantle–crust interaction.