Petrologic Relationship between Lamprophyres, Carbonatites, and Heavy Rare-Earth Element Enriched Breccias at Hicks Dome

New petrological, geochemical, and P–T modelling results from igneous samples clarify how carbonatite-lamprophyre magmatism, fluorite and rare earth element (REE) enrichment are petrogenetically related in southern Illinois. P–T modelling reveals that igneous rocks derive from a deep mantle carbonated source, that is consistent with trace element signatures for a fluorine-rich transition zone origin. Major element systematics suggests liquid-immiscibility with lamprophyric melts as the origin for Ca-carbonatites. Heavy REE (HREE) enrichments in Hicks Dome breccias likely formed through preferential partitioning and transport of HREE by brine-melts, exsolved from a deep carbonatite body. Brine-melts redistributed HREEs throughout the system along brecciated pathways where they reprecipitated as HREE-rich phosphate/fluorcarbonate minerals (e.g. xenotime, florencite, synchesite) in host bedrock. The diversity of igneous rocks in southern Illinois highlights the area as an excellent natural laboratory to study carbonated melt petrogenesis and evolution

Shape-preferred orientation (SPO) of oceanic gabbros at ODP Hole 1256D: implications for magmatic processes

The magmatic processes involved in building the plutonic section of the oceanic crust at fast-spreading centers remain debated. At this stage, no intact section of this important lithospheric layer, known as seismic layer 3, has been drilled. Yet, Ocean Drilling Program Hole 1256D, located on the eastern flank of the East Pacific Rise, provides unparalleled opportunities to investigate the mode of emplacement and fabric development of the two uppermost gabbro bodies in this crust. Although inferences made from a drill core remain limited due to the intrinsically linear nature of observations, the samples recently recovered hold potential clues on fabric-forming processes and the magma convection in such small intrusions. Gabbro 1 forms a 52 m-thick body intruded in the texturally granoblastic altered zone of the sheeted dike complex. Gabbro 2, situated below gabbro 1, is only 24 m-thick. Both gabbro bodies lack a macroscopically visible fabric and were, until this study, considered structurally isotropic. We use digital image analysis of petrographic thin-sections and the intercept method (Launeau and Robin, 1996) to determine the shape-preferred orientation of plagioclase phenocrysts in 3-D. Thirty-three sets of three mutually perpendicular thin-sections were prepared and analyzed in this manner. The mode of plagioclase grains ranges from 15 to 20% in the upper interval of gabbro 1, 13 to 36% in the lower interval of gabbro 1, and 9 to 28% in gabbro 2. These values refer to the mode of euhedral to subhedral grains only and do not reflect the total mode of plagioclase in the rock. The two gabbros display a weakly anisotropic shape-preferred orientation characterized by an average shape ratio \u3e 1.050. The aspect ratio indicates plagioclase fabric strength deviation from a perfectly anisotropic distributed population. The aspect ratio in the upper interval of gabbro 1 ranges from 1.068 to 1.153. The aspect ratio in the lower interval of gabbro 1 ranges from 1.074 to 1.183. The aspect ratio in gabbro 2 ranges from 1.056 to 1.220. The fabric of these gabbros also displays broad consistency between nearby specimens. Lineation plunges in the upper interval of Gabbro 1 range from 1° to 36°. Lineations plunge in the lower interval of gabbro 1 range from 0° to 44°. Lineations in gabbro 2 plunge from 6° to 69°. In general, the symmetry of plutonic fabrics provides clues on the nature of magmatic fabric-forming processes. Prolate fabrics support magmatic flow while oblate fabrics rather suggest gravitational settling of crystals. Fabrics in gabbro 1 and gabbro 2 are both prolate and oblate. Fabric in the upper interval of gabbro 1 is more prolate than oblate whereas the lower interval of gabbro 1 and gabbro 2 have even distributions of fabric ellipsoids. Detailed observations of petrographic thin-sections reveal several microstructures suggestive of brittle and plastic deformation in plagioclase grains. Microstructures indicative of plastic deformation include kink-banding, mechanical twinning, and undulose extinction. Microstructures indicative of brittle deformation include submagmatically-fractured laths. These subtle features appear in at least one crystal per thin-section analyzed. With the exception of mechanical twins, shipboard scientists of Expeditions 312 and 335 have not documented these microstructures. Numerical calculations reveal that for both gabbro bodies the Rayleigh Number ranges between 1015 and 1018, depending primarily on the kinematic viscosity of the magmas and temperature change across the intrusions. These values indicate that turbulent flow (Rayleigh number \u3e 106) occurred during emplacement. This type of flow may provide an explanation for the variability of aspect ratio and the variability in linear crystal fabric

Shergottite Northwest Africa 6963: A Pyroxene-Cumulate Martian Gabbro

Northwest Africa (NWA) 6963 was found in Guelmim-Es-Semara, Morocco, and based on its bulk chemistry and oxygen isotopes, it was classified as a Martian meteorite. On the basis of a preliminary study of the textures and crystal sizes, it was resubclassified as a gabbroic shergottite because of the similarity with terrestrial and lunar gabbros. However, the previous work was not a quantitative investigation of NWA 6963; to supplement the original resubclassification and enable full comparison between this and other Martian samples; here we investigate the mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry, quantitative textural analyses, and spectral properties of gabbroic shergottite NWA 6963 to constrain its petrogenesis, including the depth of emplacement (i.e., base of a flow versus crustal intrusion). NWA 6963 is an enriched shergottite with similar mineralogy to the basaltic shergottites but importantly does not contain any fine-grained mesostasis. Consistent with the mineralogy, the reflectance (visible/near-infrared and thermal infrared) spectrum of powdered NWA 6963 is similar to other shergottites because they are all dominated by pyroxene, but its reflectance is distinct in terms of albedo and spectral contrast due to its gabbroic texture. NWA 6963 represents a partial cumulate gabbro that is associated with the basaltic shergottites. Therefore, NWA 6963 could represent a hypabyssal intrusive feeder dike system for the basaltic shergottites that erupted on the surface

New insights into the Aeolian Islands and other arc source compositions from high-precision olivine chemistry

The Aeolian arc (Italy) is characterized by some of the strongest along-the-arc geochemical variations in the planet, making it an ideal location to study the effect of subducting components in modifying the mantle source of island arc melts. Here, we use high-precision element concentrations in primitive phenocrystic olivine from basalts along the arc to elucidate the effects of mantle source modification by the subduction process. Olivines from this arc have Ni concentrations and Fe/Mn ratios that show similarity to peridotite sources that melted to produce mid-ocean ridge basalts. Nevertheless, they also have systematically lower Ca concentrations and Fe/Mn ratios that broadly overlap with olivines from the available global arc array. These phenocrysts also do not show significant variations in Ca as a function of olivine forsterite content. The global data suggest that all olivines crystallizing from island-arcmelts have suppressed Ca concentrations and Fe/Mn ratios, relative to olivines derived frommelts at intraplate andmid-ocean ridge settings suggesting elevated H2O concentrations and higher oxidation state of the equilibrium melts. Based on olivine chemistry, we interpret a predominantly peridotite source (fluxed by subduction fluids) beneath the Aeolian Arc and also for other examples of arc-related lavas

Contrasting Sediment Melt and Fluid Signatures for Magma Components in the Aeolian Arc: Implications for Numerical Modeling of Subduction Systems

The complex geodynamic evolution of Aeolian Arc in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea resulted in melts with some of the most pronounced along the arc geochemical variation in incompatible trace elements and radiogenic isotopes worldwide, likely reflecting variations in arc magma source components. Here we elucidate the effects of subducted components on magma sources along different sections of the Aeolian Arc by evaluating systematics of elements depleted in the upper mantle but enriched in the subducting slab, focusing on a new set of B, Be, As, and Li measurements. Based on our new results, we suggest that both hydrous fluids and silicate melts were involved in element transport from the subducting slab to the mantle wedge. Hydrous fluids strongly influence the chemical composition of lavas in the central arc (Salina) while a melt component from subducted sediments probably plays a key role in metasomatic reactions in the mantle wedge below the peripheral islands (Stromboli). We also noted similarities in subducting components between the Aeolian Archipelago, the Phlegrean Fields, and other volcanic arcs/arc segments around the world (e.g., Sunda, Cascades, Mexican Volcanic Belt). We suggest that the presence of melt components in all these locations resulted from an increase in the mantle wedge temperature by inflow of hot asthenospheric material from tears/windows in the slab or from around the edges of the sinking slab