Petrological Constraints on the Recycling of Mafic Crystal Mushes and Intrusion of Braided Sills in the Torres del Paine Mafic Complex (Patagonia)

Cumulate and crystal mush disruption and reactivation are difficult to recognize in coarse-grained, shallow plutonic rocks. Mafic minerals included in hornblende and zoned plagioclase provide snapshots of early crystallization and cumulate formation, but are difficult to interpret in terms of the dynamics of magma ascent and possible links between silicic and mafic rock emplacement. This study presents the field relations, the microtextures and the mineral chemistry of the Miocene mafic sill complex of the Torres del Paine intrusive complex (Patagonia, Chile) and its subvertical feeder zone. We summarize a number of observations that occur in structurally different, shallow, plutonic rocks, as follows. (1) The mafic sill complex was built up by a succession of braided sills of shoshonitic and high-K calc-alkaline porphyritic hornblende-gabbro and fine-grained monzodiorite sills. Local diapiric structures and felsic magma accumulation between sills indicate limited separation of intercumulus liquid from the mafic sills. Anhedral hornblende cores, with olivine + clinopyroxene ± plagioclase ± apatite inclusions, crystallized at temperatures >900°C and pressures of ∼300 to ∼400 MPa. The corresponding rims and monzodiorite matrix crystallized at 950°C) than estimated from the composition of the granite minimum. We show that hornblende-plagioclase thermobarometry is a useful monitor for the determination of the segregation conditions of granitic magmas from gabbroic crystal mushes, and for monitoring the evolution of shallow crustal magmatic crystallization, decompression and coolin

Petrological Constraints on the Recycling of Mafic Crystal Mushes and Intrusion of Braided Sills in the Torres del Paine Mafic Complex (Patagonia)

Cumulate and crystal mush disruption and reactivation are difficult to recognize in coarse-grained, shallow plutonic rocks. Mafic minerals included in hornblende and zoned plagioclase provide snapshots of early crystallization and cumulate formation, but are difficult to interpret in terms of the dynamics of magma ascent and possible links between silicic and mafic rock emplacement. This study presents the field relations, the microtextures and the mineral chemistry of the Miocene mafic sill complex of the Torres del Paine intrusive complex (Patagonia, Chile) and its subvertical feeder zone. We summarize a number of observations that occur in structurally different, shallow, plutonic rocks, as follows. (1) The mafic sill complex was built up by a succession of braided sills of shoshonitic and high-K calc-alkaline porphyritic hornblende-gabbro and fine-grained monzodiorite sills. Local diapiric structures and felsic magma accumulation between sills indicate limited separation of intercumulus liquid from the mafic sills. Anhedral hornblende cores, with olivine + clinopyroxene ± plagioclase ± apatite inclusions, crystallized at temperatures >900°C and pressures of ∼300 to ∼400 MPa. The corresponding rims and monzodiorite matrix crystallized at <830°C, ∼70 MPa. This abrupt compositional variation suggests stability and instability of hornblende during recycling of the mafic roots of the complex and subsequent decompression. (2) The near lack of intercumulus crystals in the subvertical feeder zone layered gabbronorite and pyroxene–hornblende gabbronorite stocks testifies that melt is more efficiently extracted than in sills, resulting in a cumulate signature in the feeding system. Granitic liquids were extracted at a higher temperature (T >950°C) than estimated from the composition of the granite minimum. We show that hornblende–plagioclase thermobarometry is a useful monitor for the determination of the segregation conditions of granitic magmas from gabbroic crystal mushes, and for monitoring the evolution of shallow crustal magmatic crystallization, decompression and cooling

A Detailed Geochemical Study of a Shallow Arc-related Laccolith; the Torres del Paine Mafic Complex (Patagonia)

The shallow crustal Torres del Paine Intrusive Complex in southern Patagonia offers an opportunity to understand the chemical evolution and timing of crystallization processes in shallow plutonic rocks. It is characterized by hornblende-gabbros, gabbronorites, monzodiorites and granitic plutonic rocks. The exceptional exposure of the intrusion permits the identification of two structurally and petrographically different zones. Layered gabbronorite, olivine-bearing pyroxene-hornblende gabbronorite and monzodiorite forming vertical sheets and stocks in the west are referred to here as the feeder zone. These mafic rocks are in vertical contact with younger granitic rocks on their eastern border. The eastern part is a laccolith complex. It is characterized by three major units (I, II, III) of granitic rocks of over 1000 m vertical thickness; these are underlain in places by a sequence of hornblende-gabbro sills intermingled with evolved monzodiorite granite. Chilled, crenulated margins as well as flame structures between gabbroic rocks and monzodiorites suggest that the mafic sill complex remained partially molten during most of its construction. Bulk-rock major and trace element data indicate that the Paine mafic rocks follow a high-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic differentiation trend. The parental magmas were basaltic trachyandesite liquids, with variable H2O and alkali contents. The majority of the feeder zone gabbronorites have high Al2O3 contents and positive Eu and Sr anomalies, consistent with accumulation of plagioclase and efficient extraction of intercumulus melt. The mafic sill complex largely lacks these cumulate signatures. Comparisons of the intercumulus groundmass in the hornblende-gabbros with intra-sill dioritic stocks and pods reveal similar rare earth element patterns and trace element ratios indicating incomplete extraction of evolved interstitial liquids. The Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic compositions of the mafic and granitic rocks exhibit ranges of 87Sr/86Sr of 0·704-0·708, εNd +3·8 to −1·2, 206Pb/204Pb 18·61-18·77, 207Pb/204Pb 15·67-15·67 and 208Pb/204Pb 38·56-38·77. Crystal fractionation and assimilation-fractional crystallization modelling, combined with high-precision U-Pb dating of zircons, indicates that the western feeder zone gabbronorites are linked to the uppermost Paine granite (granite I), whereas the mafic sill complex is younger and not directly related to the voluminous granite units II and III. These results are interpreted to indicate that crystal-liquid separation is facilitated in subvertical, dynamic feeder systems whereas subhorizontal sill complexes are inefficient in separating large volumes of mafic cumulates and complementary felsic rock

Metasomatic Vein Formation By Stationary Fluids In Carbonate Xenoliths At The Eastern Margin Of The Bergell Intrusion, Val Sissone, Italy

Fluid flow is an important mechanism associated with heat and mass transport within the Earth’s crust. The study of veins, which represent channelling of fluids, can thus be key in understanding these fluid movements, unravelling fluid composition and origin, paleo stress regimes, and the history of the host-rock. New stable isotope data on carbonates and silicates have been combined with phase petrology, mass balance, and field observations to evaluate the formation mechanism of metasomatic reaction veins in dolomitic xenoliths in the Bergell tonalites (Val Sissone, Italy). Multiple generations of extensional veins can be followed from the contact zone between the dolomites and the intrusion to a few meters within either the tonalites (with the epidote-quartz veins), or within the dolomites, where they terminate. Each type of vein contains a central zone, which is formed by open fracture crystallization. This central fracture is framed by relatively symmetric replacement zones, where the original dolomite reacted to form either forsterite, diopside, tremolite or talc, all accompanied by calcite in either a succession of reaction zones or in simpler bi-mineral (silicate + calcite) veins. The δ18O and δ13C values across the veins allow temperatures to be estimated from different mineral pairs (silicate + calcite), and which confirm vein formation along a retrograde cooling path of the intrusion. At least four different fluid infiltration events are required, the first one around 555 °C to form the forsterite-calcite veins, followed by the epidote-quartz veins at temperatures around 430 °C, then the tremolite-calcite veins at around 390 °C, and finally the talc-calcite veins at around 140 °C. The shape of the δ18O and δ13C profiles, which are flat across the central part and the replacement zones of the veins (buffered by the intrusion), change substantially over short distances. Both of these isotope profiles overlap with the equally sharp mineralogical front between the veins and the unreacted dolomites. These profiles are interpreted to be the result of an isotopic exchange mechanism driven by dissolution and re-precipitation reactions. All veins are oriented perpendicular to the contact with the intrusive body, except for the late talc veins. Elevated fluid pressures, above the confining pressures caused by the regional and intrusion emplacement stress field, are suggested to be responsible for the initial fracturing of the carbonates and intrusive rocks. The contact zones between the tonalites and carbonates likely served as fluid conduits, where fluids accumulated and the pressure built up until hydrofracturing occurred. We propose that the veins formed through episodic pulses of highly reactive fluids that remained stationary during reaction, rather than a system where fluids flushed through the veins. Based on the XCO2-constrained mass balance, the formation of the veins would only require a relatively small amount of fluid, which could potentially originate from the intrusive rocks in vicinity of the xenoliths. Veining is not ubiquitous around the Bergell intrusion, suggesting that it only may have been a localized event and thus there is no need to involve a larger convective hydrothermal system for their formation

Properties of metastable alkaline-earth-metal atoms calculated using an accurate effective core potential

The first three electronically excited states in the alkaline-earth-metal atoms magnesium, calcium, and strontium comprise the (nsnp) triplet P^o_J (J=0,1,2) fine-structure manifold. All three states are metastable and are of interest for optical atomic clocks as well as for cold-collision physics. An efficient technique--based on a physically motivated potential that models the presence of the ionic core--is employed to solve the Schroedinger equation for the two-electron valence shell. In this way, radiative lifetimes, laser-induced clock shifts, and long-range interaction parameters are calculated for metastable Mg, Ca, and Sr.Comment: 13 pages, 9 table

The Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment and the Standard Model

The muon anomalous magnetic moment measurement, when compared with theory, can be used to test many extensions to the standard model. The most recent measurement made by the Brookhaven E821 Collaboration reduces the uncertainty on the world average of a_mu to 0.7 ppm, comparable in precision to theory. This paper describes the experiment and the current theoretical efforts to establish a correct standard model reference value for the muon anomaly.Comment: Plenary Talk; PANIC'02 XVI Particles and Nuclear International Conference, Osaka, Japan; Sept. 30 - Oct. 4, 2002; Report describes the published 0.7 ppm result and updates the theory statu

Search for Lorentz and CPT Violation Effects in Muon Spin Precession

The spin precession frequency of muons stored in the $(g-2)$ storage ring has been analyzed for evidence of Lorentz and CPT violation. Two Lorentz and CPT violation signatures were searched for: a nonzero $\Delta\omega_{a}$ (=$\omega_{a}^{\mu^{+}}-\omega_{a}^{\mu^{-}}$); and a sidereal variation of $\omega_{a}^{\mu^{\pm}}$. No significant effect is found, and the following limits on the standard-model extension parameters are obtained: $b_{Z} =-(1.0 \pm 1.1)\times 10^{-23}$ GeV; $(m_{\mu}d_{Z0}+H_{XY}) = (1.8 \pm 6.0 \times 10^{-23})$ GeV; and the 95% confidence level limits $\check{b}_{\perp}^{\mu^{+}}< 1.4 \times 10^{-24}$ GeV and $\check{b}_{\perp}^{\mu^{-}} < 2.6 \times 10^{-24}$ GeV.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters, Modified to answer the referees suggestion

An Improved Limit on the Muon Electric Dipole Moment

Three independent searches for an electric dipole moment (EDM) of the positive and negative muons have been performed, using spin precession data from the muon g-2 storage ring at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Details on the experimental apparatus and the three analyses are presented. Since the individual results on the positive and negative muon, as well as the combined result, d=-0.1(0.9)E-19 e-cm, are all consistent with zero, we set a new muon EDM limit, |d| < 1.9E-19 e-cm (95% C.L.). This represents a factor of 5 improvement over the previous best limit on the muon EDM.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, 7 table

Search for Lorentz and CPT Violation Effects in Muon Spin Precession

The spin precession frequency of muons stored in the $(g-2)$ storage ring has been analyzed for evidence of Lorentz and CPT violation. Two Lorentz and CPT violation signatures were searched for: a nonzero $\Delta\omega_{a}$ (=$\omega_{a}^{\mu^{+}}-\omega_{a}^{\mu^{-}}$); and a sidereal variation of $\omega_{a}^{\mu^{\pm}}$. No significant effect is found, and the following limits on the standard-model extension parameters are obtained: $b_{Z} =-(1.0 \pm 1.1)\times 10^{-23}$ GeV; $(m_{\mu}d_{Z0}+H_{XY}) = (1.8 \pm 6.0 \times 10^{-23})$ GeV; and the 95% confidence level limits $\check{b}_{\perp}^{\mu^{+}}< 1.4 \times 10^{-24}$ GeV and $\check{b}_{\perp}^{\mu^{-}} < 2.6 \times 10^{-24}$ GeV.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters, Modified to answer the referees suggestion