Platinum-group element abundances and Os isotope composition of mantle peridotites from the Mamonia complex, Cyprus

Platinum-group element (Os, Ir, Ru, Pt and Pd) abundances and Re–Os isotopic composition of fifteen peridotites (eleven spinel lherzolites and four spinel harzburgites) from the Mamonia complex, Cyprus, were determined as well as major and trace element compositions of bulk-rocks and minerals. Spinel lherzolites show excellent correlation between parameters indicating the degree of melting — e.g. Fo content in olivine, Cr# (Cr/(Cr+Al)) of Cr-spinel, Al and Yb concentrations in clinopyroxene. The degree of partial melting, calculated using Cr-spinel compositions, range from 1% to 9%. The PGE contents in spinel lherzolites show correlation with each other and with the spinel compositions, and thus can be related to the partial melting of the mantle source. The PGE abundances of the mantle source are estimated using the least depleted spinel lherzolite samples: Os 3.6±0.5, Ir 3.4±0.5, Ru 6.5±0.9, Pt 6.1±0.2, Pd 3.9±0.2 (in ppb). Spinel harzburgites, despite a good correlation between the whole rock major element abundances and mineral compositions (e.g., Yb in clinopyroxene and Cr# of spinel), indicate no relationship between the Fo content of olivine and the Cr# of spinel. Hence, the harzburgites cannot be the residuum of simple partial melting, but have a more complex origin (e.g. melt percolation). Pt/Ir ratios increase in the harzburgites as Pt increases. Similar behavior of Pt and Pd is observed in abyssal and SCLM harzburgites, and explained by sulfide precipitation during melt percolation. Rhenium concentrations in most Mamonia peridotites are significantly higher than in the primitive mantle and does not show correlations with PGE. Indeed Re concentrations tend to increase with the Cr# of spinel. Thus its distribution is not governed by partial melting and we suggest that Re addition to the peridotites of Mamonia occurred during serpentinization. The Re–Os model ages of peridotites form three age clusters at 250 Ma, 600–800 Ma and >1000 Ma. The youngest age is consistent with the age of magmatic rocks in the Mamonia Complex, whereas the “oldest” peridotites may belong to remnants of the subcontinental mantle

Sediment geochemistry of coastal environments, southern Kerala, India: implication for provenance

Late Quaternary sediments representing the floodplain, estuary and offshore environments of southern Kerala were investigated to infer provenance. The grain size reveals the dominance of sand to silty clay, clay to clayey silt and clayey silt in the floodplain, estuary and offshore sediments, respectively. The chemical index of alteration (CIA) values and A-CN-K plot attributes to high, moderate and low weathering in floodplain, estuary and offshore regions, respectively. The SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 values lesser than Post-Archean Australian Shale indicate low to moderate maturity for the estuarine and offshore sediments. The geochemical immaturity indicates its derivation from low to moderately weathered source rocks. The major and trace elemental ratios and discriminant function diagrams attribute that the sediments were derived from intermediate to felsic source rocks. The enrichment of Cr and Ni concentration in the sediments compared to the upper continental crust, related to the contribution of orthopyroxenes, weathered from charnockite and garnets from the granulite terrain, respectively