Widespread abiotic methane in chromitites

Recurring discoveries of abiotic methane in gas seeps and springs in ophiolites and peridotite massifs worldwide raised the question of where, in which rocks, methane was generated. Answers will impact the theories on life origin related to serpentinization of ultramafic rocks, and the origin of methane on rocky planets. Here we document, through molecular and isotopic analyses of gas liberated by rock crushing, that among the several mafic and ultramafic rocks composing classic ophiolites in Greece, i.e., serpentinite, peridotite, chromitite, gabbro, rodingite and basalt, only chromitites, characterized by high concentrations of chromium and ruthenium, host considerable amounts of 13C-enriched methane, hydrogen and heavier hydrocarbons with inverse isotopic trend, which is typical of abiotic gas origin. Raman analyses are consistent with methane being occluded in widespread microfractures and porous serpentine- or chlorite-filled veins. Chromium and ruthenium may be key metal catalysts for methane production via Sabatier reaction. Chromitites may represent source rocks of abiotic methane on Earth and, potentially, on Mars

Ultra-depleted melts from Kamchatkan ophiolites : evidence for the interaction of the Hawaiian plume with an oceanic spreading center in the Cretaceous?

We report new data on the major and trace element composition of melt inclusions in spinel phenocrysts (Mg# = 0.7-0.8, Cr/(Cr + Al) = 0.32-0.52, TiO2 = 0.06-0.60 wt.%) from Cretaceous MORB-like basalt (La/Yb = 0.94, Th/Nb = 0.055, Th/La = 0.041) in the Kamchatsky Mys ophiolites (Eastern Kamchatka). The melt inclusions preserved primitive melts (Mg# up to 0.72), which are remarkably depleted in incompatible trace elements compared to common MORBs. Numerous ultra-depleted inclusions from the studied sample have extraordinarily low Na2O (0.20-0.67 wt.%), TiO2 (0.16-0.5 wt.%), K (1.5-25 ppm), La (0.015-0.040 ppm), Zr (0.9-2 ppm), B (0.01-0.03 ppm), Ti/Zr = 300-1074, La/Yb = 0.008-0.075 and represent the most depleted melts known until now. The ultra-depleted melts from the Kamchatkan ophiolites are only comparable to a single melt inclusion from MORB of 9 degrees N Mid-Atlantic Ridge [Sobolev and Shimizu, Nature 363 (1993) 151-154] yet have higher FeO, CaO, heavy rare-earth element (Dy, Er, Yb) contents and lower Na2O and SiO2. These melts, possibly the last melt fractions produced in an upwelling mantle column, could represent the highest degrees (up to similar to 20%) of near-fractional melting of mantle with T-p >= 1400 degrees C, which started melting at similar to 75 km depth and continued to shallow depths of similar to 20 km. The presence of melts ranging in composition from ultra-depleted to compositions similar to Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawaii, high potential mantle temperature and association with rocks akin the Cretaceous Hawaiian tholeiites suggest that the trace element depleted melts preserved in spinel phenocrysts could have originated from extensive melting of a depleted component intrinsic to the Hawaiian plume or ambient upper mantle entrained and heated up at the plume margins. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Carbonate alteration of ophiolitic rocks in the Arabian–Nubian Shield of Egypt: sources and compositions of the carbonating fluid and implications for the formation of Au deposits

Ultramafic portions of ophiolitic fragments in the Arabian–Nubian Shield (ANS) show pervasive carbonate alteration forming various degrees of carbonated serpentinites and listvenitic rocks. Notwithstanding the extent of the alteration, little is known about the processes that caused it, the source of the CO2 or the conditions of alteration. This study investigates the mineralogy, stable (O, C) and radiogenic (Sr) isotope composition, and geochemistry of suites of variably carbonate altered ultramafics from the Meatiq area of the Central Eastern Desert (CED) of Egypt. The samples investigated include least-altered lizardite (Lz) serpentinites, antigorite (Atg) serpentinites and listvenitic rocks with associated carbonate and quartz veins. The C, O and Sr isotopes of the vein samples cluster between −8.1‰ and −6.8‰ for δ13C, +6.4‰ and +10.5‰ for δ18O, and 87Sr/86Sr of 0.7028–0.70344, and plot within the depleted mantle compositional field. The serpentinites isotopic compositions plot on a mixing trend between the depleted-mantle and sedimentary carbonate fields. The carbonate veins contain abundant carbonic (CO2±CH4±N2) and aqueous-carbonic (H2O-NaCl-CO2±CH4±N2) low salinity fluid, with trapping conditions of 270–300°C and 0.7–1.1 kbar. The serpentinites are enriched in Au, As, S and other fluid-mobile elements relative to primitive and depleted mantle. The extensively carbonated Atg-serpentinites contain significantly lower concentrations of these elements than the Lz-serpentinites suggesting that they were depleted during carbonate alteration. Fluid inclusion and stable isotope compositions of Au deposits in the CED are similar to those from the carbonate veins investigated in the study and we suggest that carbonation of ANS ophiolitic rocks due to influx of mantle-derived CO2-bearing fluids caused break down of Au-bearing minerals such as pentlandite, releasing Au and S to the hydrothermal fluids that later formed the Au-deposits. This is the first time that gold has been observed to be remobilized from rocks during the lizardite–antigorite transition

Ophiolites in the Eastern Cordillera of the central Peruvian Andes

A discoutinuous NNW-SSE trending belt of scattered ultraiuafic (UM) and subordínate mafic (M) rocks ís exposed alona some 250 km in the Eastern Cordillera of the peruvian Andes (Junin and Huanuco Departnients. -°"-12° S). New data questiou tlieír pieviousty assuuned [1.2] intrusive origin. Work, in progress shows tLat the essential geologic and tecronk featiires are comnion to most of them, as will t e shown on the southeniniost occurrences: Tapo and Acobaniba (Tarraa proviuce). The Tapo massif is the most conspkuoiis and the oaty one with chiomite mining history. It is a lens-shaped body, 5 km long [NV-SE direction) and 1 -2 km wide. lying on detritaí sedirnents of the Lower Carboniferous Ambo Group [3], and comprising extreniely tectomsed and serpentinised peridotiles wilh subordínate podiform chroirdtite bodies. nieta-gabbros or amphibolites The Acobamba oecurrences couiprise serpentinites aud subordínate meta-gabbros [A]. in contact with phyllites of the Precarnbnan (?) Huacar Group (Maraáón Complex)

The Cogne magnetite deposit (Western Alps, Italy): a Jurassic seafloor ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal system?

The Cogne magnetite deposit (Western Alps, Italy) is the largest in a series of apatite and sulphide-free magnetite orebodies that are hosted in serpentinites belonging to western Alpine ophiolitic units. The nearly endmember composition of magnetite, which is unusual for an ultramafic setting, and the relatively high tonnage of the deposit (18 19 10^6 tons at 45-50 wt% Fe) make Cogne an intriguing case study to explore magnetite-forming processes in ophiolites. The Cogne magnetite shows variable textures, including nodular ores, veins and fine-grained disseminations in serpentinites after mantle peridotites and totally serpentinized melt-impregnated peridotites (troctolites). An increase in Co/Ni ratio from magnetite-poor serpentinized peridotites (0.05) to nodular ores (>1) is observed. Trace element analyses of magnetite from different sites and lithologies by laser-ablation inductively-coupled mass spectrometry indicate that magnetites have typically hydrothermal compositions, characterized by high Mg and Mn (median values up to ~24100 and ~5000 ppm, respectively), and low Cr, Ti and V (median values up to ~30, ~570 and ~60 ppm, respectively). Moreover, the variations in trace element compositions distinguish magnetite that has hydrothermal fluid-controlled composition [highest (Mg, Mn, Co, Zn)/Ni ratios] from magnetite whose composition is affected by host-rock chemistry (highest Ni \ub1 Ti \ub1 V). U-Th-Pb dating of magnetite-associated uraninite constrains the formation of the deposit to the Late Jurassic (ca. 150 Ma), during an advanced stage of the opening of the Alpine Tethys. Thermodynamic modelling of fluid-rock interactions indicates that fluids produced by seawater\u2013peridotite or seawater\u2013Fe-gabbro are not sufficiently Fe-rich to account for the formation of the Cogne deposit. This suggests that fractionation processes such as phase separation were critical to generate hydrothermal fluids capable to precipitate large amounts of magnetite in various types of ultramafic host-rocks. The oceanic setting and geochemical and mineralogical similarities with some modern ultramafic-hosted volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits on mid-ocean ridges suggest that the exposed mineralized section at Cogne may represent the deep segment of a seafloor, high-temperature (~300\u2013400\ub0C) hydrothermal system. The occurrence of similar magnetite enrichments in present-day oceanic settings could contribute to explain the presence of significant magnetic anomalies centred on active and inactive ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal fields