Petrogenesis and Nd-Pb-Sr- isotope geochemistry of the olivine melilitites and olivine nephelinites (“ankaratrites”) in Madagascar

The Cenozoic ankaratrites of the Alaotra, Takarindoha-Vatomandry and Votovorona (NE Ankaratra) volcanic fields, Madagascar, range from olivine (+/- monticellite) melilitites, through olivine-melilite nephelinites to olivine ( leucite) nephelinites. The rocks show significant compositional ranges in their coexisting magmatic minerals (olivine-group minerals, melilite, clinopyroxene, nepheline, leucite. Ba-phlogopite, perovskite, ilmenite, spinels, apatite), and evidence of distinct parental magmas, often in different facies of the same vent. Primitive compositions (high Mg#, Cr and Ni concentrations) are found in each volcanic district, and a few lavas contain mantle xenoliths or xenocrysts. The rocks show enrichment in the most strongly incompatible elements (e.g., Ba and Nb up to 200 times primitive mantle, La/Yb(n) =24 to 40), with troughs at K and smooth, decreasing patterns towards the least incompatible elements in mantle-normalized diagrams. The Nd-Pb-Sr isotope geochemistry indicates a marked heterogeneity of the mantle sources of the various districts (e.g., (206)Pb/(204)Pb = 18.68-18.77, (87)Sr/(86)Sr = 0.704011-0.704207 for the Alaotra-Votovorona districts; (206)Pb/(204)Pb = 19.04-19.14, (87)Sr/(86)Sr = 0.703544-0.704017 for the Takarindoha-Vatomandry districts), with significant differences to other Cenozoic mafic volcanic rocks of northern Madagascar. The genesis of the Madagascan ankaratrites is related to rifting events which triggered low-degree partial melting of a garnet peridotite enriched in dolomite and incompatible-element-rich phases, in the lowermost lithosphere. Despite marked geochemical similarities, the source of the Madagascan melilitites bears no isotopic similarity to the HIMU-related sources of melilitites of eastern and southern Africa

Fine-grained pyroxenites from the Gansfontein kimberlite, South Africa: Evidence for megacryst magma-mantle interaction

The Gansfontein kimberlite contains a suite of fine-grained xenoliths dominated by orthopyroxene, and containing ilmenite, phlogopite, and occasional garnet, with minor quantities of olivine and sulphide. Lamellar intergrowths of orthopyroxene and ilmenite were observed in one sample. The fine grained orthopyroxenite assemblages were observed as discrete xenoliths as a vein in lherzolite, and as a zone margin surrounding a megacrystic dunite. The minerals are characterized by intra- and inter-grain chemical heterogeneity, but are on the whole compositionally similar to those in the abundant, highly evolved Cr-poor megacryst suite at Gansfontein. However, they differ to varying degrees from megacrysts in the concentration of minor elements such as Cr, Al and Ti. Mineral compositions in a pyroxenite vein in lherzolite are higher Cr and Mg#, and lower in Fe3+ than the discrete fine-grained pyroxenites, indicating chemical interaction with peridotite. A single zircon-bearing mica-clinopyroxenite has mineral compositions similar to MARID xenoliths. Fine-grained orthopyroxenites, recognized previously from the Weltevreden and Mzongwana kimberlites and interpreted as rapidly crystallized magmas, are here suggested to result from a reaction between megacryst magma and solid mantle peridotite. Mica-clinopyroxenite may represent the liquid end-product of this reaction. Chemical and modal differences of orthopyroxenites from megacrysts result from reaction with peridotitic components, lack of buffering by typical megacryst mineral assemblages, and possibly shallower origins. Textures and fine-scale chemical disequilibrium indicate that reaction postdates some episodes of megacryst formation and was probably underway when the xenoliths were sampled by ascending kimberlite. Orthopyroxene-garnet thermobarometry indicates an origin of one Gansfontein pyroxenite at ∼1215°C and ∼3.3 GPA, similar to the locus of megacryst crystallization under East... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR

The geochemistry of primitive volcanic rocks of the Ankaratra volcanic complex, and source enrichment processes in the genesis of the Cenozoic magmatism in Madagascar

The Ankaratra volcanic complex in central Madagascar consists of lava flows, domes, scoria cones, tuff rings and maars of Cenozoic age that are scattered over 3800 km2. The mafic rocks include olivine-leucite-nephelinites, basanites, alkali basalts and hawaiites, and tholeiitic basalts. Primitive samples have high Mg# (>60), high Cr and Ni concentrations; their mantle-normalized patterns peak at Nb and Ba, have troughs at K, and smoothly decrease towards the least incompatible elements. The Ankaratra mafic rocks show small variation in Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic compositions (e.g., 87Sr/86Sr = 0.70377–0.70446, 143Nd/144Nd = 0.51273–0.51280, 206Pb/204Pb = 18.25–18.87). These isotopic values differ markedly from those of Cenozoic mafic lavas of northern Madagascar and the Comoro archipelago, typical Indian Ocean MORB and oceanic basalt end-members. The patterns of olivine nephelinitic magmas can be obtained through 3–10% partial melting of a mantle source that was enriched by a Ca-rich alkaline melt, and that contained garnet, carbonates and phlogopite. The patterns of tholeiitic basalts can be obtained after 10–12% partial melting of a source enriched with lower amounts of the same alkaline melt, in the spinel- (and possibly amphibole-) facies mantle, hence in volumes where carbonate is not a factor. The significant isotopic change from the northernmost volcanic rocks of Madagascar and those in the central part of the island implicates a distinct source heterogeneity, and ultimately assess the role of the continental lithospheric mantle as source region. The source of at least some volcanic rocks of the still active Comoro archipelago may have suffered the same time-integrated geochemical and isotopic evolution as that of the northern Madagascar volcanic rocks

N–C–Ar–He Isotopic Systematics of Quenched Tholeiitic Glasses from the Bouvet Triple Junction Area

The paper presents pioneering data on the isotopic composition and elemental ratios of nitrogen, carbon (carbon dioxide), helium, and argon in the fluid phase of quenched tholeiitic glasses from different segments of the Bouvet Triple Junction area (BTJ). The data reflect a complicated geodynamic and tectonic history of the area evolution and indicate that the variations in the elemental ratios of the volatile components of the fluid–gas phase were controlled by a number of various factors: elemental fractionation during melt degassing, mixing of gases from different sources, postmagmatic diffusion-controlled helium loss. The nitrogen–argon and noble gas isotope systematics suggest a significant contribution of the atmospheric component to the mantle source of fluids for the samples from the Spiess Ridge and the segment of the Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) and a smaller contribution for the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) samples. For the Spiess Ridge and SWIR, the most probable contaminating agent was water fluid with dissolved gases of atmospheric composition. This fluid may have been brought to the mantle with ancient crustal rocks involved in magma generation. These crustal rocks may represent small fragments of the Gondwana continent with which sedimentary organic matter could be brought into the magma source