The Weaklaw Vent, SE Scotland:Metasomatism of eruptive products by carbo-hydro-fluids of probable mantle origin

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from CUP via the DOI in this record The Weaklaw vent in SE Scotland (East Lothian coast), inferred to be Namurian, produced lava spatter and volcanic bombs. The latter commonly contained ultramafic xenoliths. All were metasomatised by carbonic fluids rich in incompatible elements. The lavas and xenoliths are inferred to have been basanites and lherzolites prior to metasomatism. The abundance and size of (carbonated) peridotite xenoliths at Weaklaw denotes unusual rapidity of magma ascent and high-energy eruption making Weaklaw exceptional in the British Isles. The lavas and xenoliths were altered subsequently by low-temperature (<200°C) carbo-hydrous fluids to carbonate, clay and quartz assemblages. A small irregular tuffisite 'dyke' that transects the ejecta is also composed dominantly of carbonates and clays. The peridotitic xenoliths are typically foliated, interpreted as originating as pre-entrainment mantle shear-planes. Analyses of the relic spinels shows them to be compositionally similar to spinels in local unaltered lherzolites from near-by basanitic occurrences. Chromium showed neither significant loss nor gain but was concentrated in a di-octahedral smectite allied to volkonskoite. It is in the complex association of smectite with other clays, chlorite and possibly fuchsite that the diverse incompatible elements are concentrated. We conclude that late Palaeozoic trans-tensional fault movement caused mantle shearing. Rapid ascent of basanite magma entrained large quantities of sheared lithospheric mantle. This was followed by ascent of an aggressive carbonate-/ hydroxyl-rich fluid causing pervasive metasomatism. The vent is unique in several ways: in its remarkable clay mineralogy and in displaying such high Cr-clays in a continental intra-plate setting; in being more productive in terms of its 'cargo' of peridotite xenoliths; in presenting an essentially un-eroded sequence of Namurian extrusives; and, not least, for giving evidence for post-eruptive, surface release of small-melt, deep-source fluids

Hf–Zr anomalies in clinopyroxene from mantle xenoliths from France and Poland: implications for Lu–Hf dating of spinel peridotite lithospheric mantle

Clinopyroxenes in some fresh anhydrous spinel peridotite mantle xenoliths from the northern Massif Central (France) and Lower Silesia (Poland), analysed for a range of incompatible trace elements by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, show unusually strong negative anomalies in Hf and Zr relative to adjacent elements Sm and Nd, on primitive mantle-normalised diagrams. Similar Zr–Hf anomalies have only rarely been reported from clinopyroxene in spinel peridotite mantle xenoliths worldwide, and most are not as strong as the examples reported here. Low Hf contents give rise to a wide range of Lu/Hf ratios, which over geological time would result in highly radiogenic εHf values, decoupling them from εNd ratios. The high 176Lu/177Hf could in theory produce an isochronous relationship with 176Hf/177Hf over time; an errorchron is shown by clinopyroxene from mantle xenoliths from the northern Massif Central. However, in a review of the literature, we show that most mantle spinel peridotites do not show such high Lu/Hf ratios in their constituent clinopyroxenes, because they lack the distinctive Zr–Hf anomaly, and this limits the usefulness of the application of the Lu–Hf system of dating to garnet-free mantle rocks. Nevertheless, some mantle xenoliths from Poland or the Czech Republic may be amenable to Hf-isotope dating in the future

The origin of the Popiel peridotite (Western Sudetes, SW Poland) : metamorphism of the island arc tholeiitic cumulate

A small (280 x 140 m) outcrop of peridotite occurs on Popiel Hill (Sudetes, SW Poland) within the low-grade metabasic rocks of the Rudawy Janowickie Complex, which form the eastern and north-eastern cover of the Variscan Karkonosze granite. The peridotite is situated on the Intra-Sudetic Fault, one of the major Variscan dislocations in the region. The rock consists of strongly tectonised olivine (Fo84-88) and orthopyroxene (Mg# 0.84–0.88) aggregates, overgrown by tremolite-magnesiohornblende, locally forming large crystals, embedded in serpentine. Spinel and magnetite are subordinate; ilmenite, Fe-sulfide, and apatite are accessories. The bulk-rock chemical composition suggests a lherzolitic composition and the occurrence of primary clinopyroxene, now completely replaced by tremolite and magnesiohornblende. Rare Earth Element patterns are flat, slightly enriched relatively to primitive mantle, as is typical of island arc tholeiites. Olivine, orthopyroxene, and spinel were the first to crystallize, and they represent relics of a primary igneous assemblage. They were followed by tremolite and serpentine, formed during uplift and related metamorphism. The last mineral to crystallize was magnesiohornblende, which originated due to contact metamorphism by the Karkonosze granite magma. The Popiel peridotite probably represents a small slice of lherzolitic cumulate, which originated in a tholeiitic magma chamber at the roots of a supra-subduction volcanic arc

The mineralogy and weathering of slag produced by the smelting of lateritic Ni ores (Szklary, SW Poland)

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Podiform chromitites from the Variscan ophiolite serpentinites of Lower Silesia (SW Poland) : petrologic and tectonic setting implications

The Gogołów-Jordanów Serpentinite Massif (GJSM) and the Braszowice-Brzeźnica Massif (BBM) are the largest serpentinite outcrops in the Fore-Sudetic Block (NE part of the Bohemian Massif, Central Europe). The GJSM is a peridotitic member of the Variscan Ślęża Ophiolite (SW Poland). Podiform bodies (veins and pockets) of chromitite are found on the Czernica Hill (GJSM) and on the Grochowiec Hill (BBM) within strongly serpentinized harzburgites which occur several hundred metres below Paleo-Moho. Chromitites consist of rounded chromite grains up to 3 cm across, and of chlorite filling the interstices. The veins are embedded in serpentine-olivine-chlorite aggregates. Relics of Mg-rich olivine (Fo95-96) occur in massive chromitite in the BBM. The bulk-rock total PGEs content is very low (42-166 ppm) and the PGE pattern is negatively sloped towards Pt and Pd and depleted relative to chondrite. The primary chromite I is aluminous (Cr# 0.50-0.52, Mg# 0.60-0.70). The highly aluminous and magnesian (Cr# 0.38, Mg# 0.80) chromite Ia occurs locally in the BBM. The secondary chromite II is enriched in Cr and impoverished in Al (Cr# 0.57-0.69), it replaces chromite I. Both chromite I and II contain small amounts of Ti (<0.14 wt% TiO2). Silicate inclusions in chromite are scarce. The composition and mode of occurrence of both the GJSM and the BBM chromitites are similar, thus they were formed probably under the same conditions. Textures of the chromitites suggest their magmatic origin. Their current geological position indicates their emplacement and crystallization in the uppermost mantle harzburgites occurring below the Moho Transition Zone (MTZ). The chromitites and hosting harzburgites were subjected to the greenschist-facies metamorphic overprint. The moderate Cr# and low PGEs contents suggest that the chromitites originated in the arc setting, thus their host ophiolite is of supra-subduction type

Metasomatic effects in the lithospheric mantle beneath the NE Bohemian Massif: a case study of Lutynia (SW Poland) peridotite xenoliths

Spinel lherzolite and spinel harzburgite mantle xenoliths occur in the 4.56 ± 0.2 Ma Lutynia basanite in SW Poland. Only one studied xenolith contains minor pargasitic amphibole. Minerals forming the xenoliths are chemically unzoned. Olivine (Fo [(Mg / (Mg + Fetot)) * 100] 89.8–92.4) contains 0.34–0.45 wt.% NiO and < 780 ppm Ca; orthopyroxene is Al enstatite (#mg [(Mg / (Mg + Fetot) * 100] 0.90–0.92, Al 0.06–0.17 a.pfu); clinopyroxene is Al–Cr diopside (#mg 0.91–0.93, Al 0.104–0.197 a.pfu). Exsolved orthopyroxene occurs in the clinopyroxene and vice versa. Al–Mg spinel occurs in symplectites with clinopyroxene. Second generation crystals of olivine (Fo88.0–91.7, Ca up to 1800 ppm), clinopyroxene and spinel occur in small interstitial patches containing feldspar. Clinopyroxene II is Al-poor (0.018–0.070 a.pfu, #mg 0.921–0.932) when coexisting with alkali feldspar, but Al-rich (0.046–0.261 a.pfu; #mg 0.907–0.925) when found with plagioclase. Four types of REE (rare earth elements) patterns are found in the clinopyroxene: (group A) flat HREE (heavy REE) with LREE (light REE) content increasing smoothly; (group B) flat HREE with an abrupt increase of MREE (medium REE) and LREE; (group C) LREE-enriched, flat HREE with negative inflection at MREE; (group D) smoothly LREE-enriched with no flat HREE pattern. The exception is clinopyroxene from xenolith MM30 which is extremely depleted in LREE. Clinopyroxene I from all the xenoliths (excluding MM30) contains high amounts of Th and U. Clinopyroxene trace element compositions record 8–15% of partial melting. Major and trace element compositions of minerals record later cryptic metasomatism induced by a CO2-bearing alkaline melt. Variable REE patterns for clinopyroxene I from groups A, B and C are due to chromatographic enrichment, with group A peridotites located close to the metasomatic source and group C being the furthest. The pargasite-bearing MM04 was probably the closest to the metasomatic source and thus recorded incipient modal metasomatism. Clinopyroxene–spinel symplectites and ortho-/clinopyroxene exsolutions suggest that the peridotites were transported from the garnet-lherzolite facies into the spinel one where they cooled and equilibrated at 960–1000 °C. The patches formed by the second generation of minerals are the effect of pre-eruption infiltration by the basanitic melt