Translithospheric Mantle Diapirism: Geological Evidence and Numerical Modelling of the Kondyor Zoned Ultramafic Complex (Russian Far-East)

We report new structural, microstructural, petrological, and major- and trace-element data on ultramafic rocks from the Kondyor zoned ultramafic complex in Far-East Russia. The ultramafic rocks are subdivided into three subconcentric lithologies, from core to rim: (1) a metasomatic domain where generally phlogopite-rich dykes pervasively intrude dunite; (2) a main dunite core; (3) a pyroxenite rim. The ultramafic rocks have nearly vertical contacts with the surrounding Archaean basement (gneisses, quartzites and marbles) and hornfelsed Riphean sediments. The hornfelsed sediments show a relatively steep (> 60°), outward dipping layering, which rapidly flattens to horizontal away from the inner contact. Although the Riphean sediments define a dome-like structure, the inward, shallow dipping foliation of the dunites indicates a synformal structure. Detailed petro-structural investigations indicate that the Kondyor dunites were deformed by solid-state flow under asthenospheric mantle conditions. The outward textural change from coarse- to fine-grained equigranular dunite and the outward-increasing abundance of subgrains and recrystallized olivine grains suggest dynamic recrystallization while fluid circulation was channelized within the core metasomatic zone, with a decreasing melt fraction from core to rim, and also suggest that solid-state deformation induced grain-size reduction towards the cooling border of the Kondyor massif. Based on their geochemistry, the dunites are interpreted as mantle rocks strongly affected by reaction with melts similar to the Jurassic-Cretaceous Aldan Shield lamproites. Rim pyroxenites were formed by a melt-consuming peritectic reaction, implying the existence of at least a small, conductive thermal gradient around the dunite body while the latter was still at near-solidus temperature conditions. This suggests that the zoned structure of Kondyor was initiated at mantle depths, most probably within the subcontinental lithosphere. Upon cooling, the lamproitic melts were progressively focused in the central part of the massif and drained into vein conduits where they reacted with the wall-rock dunite. Two-dimensional numerical modelling based on finite-differences with a marker-in-cell technique incorporates temperature-dependent rheologies for both molten and non-molten host rocks. The modelling consolidates the structural, petrological and geochemical interpretations, which show that the dunites represent the synformal, flat-lying apex of an asthenospheric mantle diapir, triggered by fluid pressure channelized in the core, which nearly reached the Earth's surface. We conclude that translithospheric mantle diapirism is an important mode of mass transfer in theEart

The Lherz spinel lherzolite: Refertilized rather than pristine mantle

Differentiation of the Earth's mantle and formation of continental and oceanic crust occur principally through partial melting and extraction of basaltic melt. Among the mantle rocks occurring at the Earth's surface, as tectonically-emplaced massifs, abyssal peridotites or xenoliths.. the harzburgites (<5% clinopyroxene) are widely considered as refractory mantle residues left after extraction of a basaltic component. In contrast, the most fertile therzolites (15% clinopyroxene) are generally regarded as pristine mantle, only weakly affected by partial melting. In this paper we present new convergent structural and geochemical data from the Lherz massif, the type-locality of lherzolite. indicating that the lherzolites from Lherz do not represent pristine mantle. Detailed structural mapping clearly shows that the lherzolites are secondary rocks formed at the expense of the harzburgites. Variations of major, minor and trace elements through the harzburgite-lherzolite contacts indicate that the lherzolites were formed through a refertilization process involving interaction of refractory, lithospheric mantle with upwelling asthenospheric partial melts. Combined with previously published indications of refertilization in orogenic peridotites, our new observations in Lherz suggest that most lherzolite massifs represent secondary (refertilized) rather than pristine mantle. Together with geochemical data on mantle xenoliths, this indicates that melt transport and melt-rock reaction play a key role on the rejuvenation and erosion of the lithospheric mantle. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

The Syenite–Carbonatite Complex of Ihouhaouene (Western Hoggar, Algeria): Interplay Between Alkaline Magma Differentiation and Hybridization of Cumulus Crystal Mushes

International audienceThe 2 Ga-old Ihouhaouene alkaline complex (Western Hoggar, Algeria) is among the oldest known carbonatite occurrences on Earth. The carbonatites are calciocarbonatites hosted by syenites, the predominant rock type in the complex. Both rock types are characterized by medium-grained to pegmatitic textures and contain clinopyroxene, apatite, and wollastonite, associated with K-feldspar in syenites and a groundmass of calcite in carbonatites. The rock suite shows a continuous range of compositions from 57–65 wt.% SiO 2 and 0.1–0.4 wt.% CO 2 in red syenites to 52–58 wt.% SiO 2 and 0.1–6.5 wt.% CO 2 in white syenites, 20–35 wt.% SiO 2 and 11–24 wt.% CO 2 in Si-rich carbonatites (&gt;10% silicate minerals), and &lt;20 wt.% SiO 2 and 24–36 wt.% CO 2 in Si-poor carbonatites (&lt;5% silicate minerals). Calculation of mineral equilibrium melts reveals that apatite and clinopyroxene are in disequilibrium with each other and were most likely crystallized from different parental magmas before being assembled in the studied rocks. They are subtle in the red syenites, whereas the white syenites and the Si-rich carbonatites bear evidence for parental magmas of highly contrasted compositions. Apatite was equilibrated with LREE-enriched (Ce/Lu = 1,690–6,182) carbonate melts, also characterized by elevated Nb/Ta ratio (&gt;50), whereas clinopyroxene was precipitated from silicate liquids characterized by lower LREE/HREE (Ce/Lu = 49–234) and variable Nb/Ta ratios (Nb/Ta = 2–30). The Si-poor carbonatites resemble the Si-rich carbonatites and the white syenites with elevated REE contents in apatite equilibrium melts compared to clinopyroxene. However, apatite equilibrium melt in Si-poor carbonatite shows a majority of subchondritic values (Nb/Ta&lt;10) and clinopyroxene has chondritic-to-superchondritic values (Nb/Ta = 15–50). Although paradoxical at first sight, this Nb-Ta signature may simply reflect the segregation of the carbonatite from highly evolved silicate melts characterized by extremely low Nb/Ta values. Altogether, our results suggest an evolutionary scheme whereby slow cooling of a silico-carbonated mantle melt resulted in the segregation of both cumulus minerals and immiscible silicate and carbonate melt fractions, resulting in the overall differentiation of the complex. This process was however counterbalanced by intermingling of partially crystallized melt fractions, which resulted in the formation of hybrid alkaline cumulates composed of disequilibrium cumulus phases and variable proportions of carbonate or K-feldspar

Translithospheric Mantle Diapirism: Geological Evidence and Numerical Modelling of the Kondyor Zoned Ultramafic Complex (Russian Far-East)

ISSN:0022-3530ISSN:1460-241

Evidence for Cambro–Ordovician bimodal magmatism in the Moroccan Meseta: geodynamic implication

Goldschmidt 2019, Barcelona (España), del 18 al 23 de agosto, 201

Late Cadomian rifting of the NW Gondwana margin and the reworking of Precambrian crust–evidence from bimodal magmatism in the early Paleozoic Moroccan Meseta

The Meseta Goaïda magmatism, which occurs as gabbro, dolerite and rhyolitic intrusions in the Neoproterozoic basement and Cambrian platform sedimentary series of the Moroccan Hercynian orogen, has been ascribed to the Variscan orogenesis in the late Palaeozoic. Here, we provide new LA–ICP-MS U-Pb zircon ages–ranging from c. 519 Ma to c. 479 Ma–of this magmatism that reveal, for the first time in the Moroccan Central Meseta, the existence of early Cambrian to early Ordovician bimodal magmatism. Inherited zircons in these magmatic rocks yield dates that range from c. 1.2 to 1.0 Ga and c. 0.63 to 0.50 Ga. This inheritance suggests provenance from Precambrian crustal sources in the Cadomian‒Pan-African of the NW margin of the West African Craton, which is buried beneath the currently exposed Paleozoic Moroccan Meseta. The affinity of this early Palaeozoic magmatism is mainly tholeiite to transitional for the mafic rocks and high-K calc-alkaline for the silicic rocks. The Cambrian–Ordovician age and varying parental magma signature–as shown by trace element and Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic data from this magmatism and its Neoproterozoic granitoid basement rocks–indicate that the Moroccan Meseta early-Paleozoic magmatism might be associated with the weakening of the continental lithosphere during the early stages of rifting during the Cambrian–Ordovician along the NW Gondwana margin. This is supported by the presence of inherited zircons derived from reworking of the Precambrian crust in the early-Palaeozoic magmas.We would like to thank Dr. Robert Stern for editorial handling, and Dr. Abderrahmane Soulaimani and Dr. Jean-Paul Liégeois for their reviews that helped to clarify and improve some aspects of the paper. M. Ouabid acknowledges funding from by FP7 IRSES-MEDYNA project “Maghreb-EU Research staff Exchange on Geodynamics, Geohazards, and Applied Geology in Northwest Africa” funded under REA Grant Agreement PIRSES-GA-2013-612572, the Integrated Litosphere Program (ILP, CC-4 MEDYNA), and Erasmus Mundus Al Idrisi action II (a scholarship scheme for exchange and cooperation between Europe and North Africa). The authors also acknowledge funding from the “Junta de Andalucia” research group RNM-131. Research and research infrastructure grants leading to this research have been (co)funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERFD) of the European Commission