西南日本の熱変成超苦鉄質岩体中のかんらん石と輝石の組成変化に関する覚書

This short article presents some diagrams showing the compositional variations of primary and metamorphic olivine, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene in peridotites and serpentinites from thermally metamorphosed ultramafic complexes in SW Japan. In contrast to olivine, which shows a gradual change of chemical composition corresponding with metamorphic grade, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene show clear differences in composition between primary and metamorphic phases. Compared with primary pyroxenes, even though their compositions could be variable depending on original rock composition, metamorphic orthopyroxene and metamorphic clinopyroxene is clearly deficient in Cr(2)O(3) and CaO, and in Cr(2)O(3) and Al(2)O(3), respectively. These characteristics are useful for the discrimination between the pyroxenes of different origin

Mineral paragenesis in thermally metamorphosed serpentinites, Ohsa-yama, Okayama Prefecture

The Ohsa-yama ultramafic body, which consists of several types of serpentinized peridotites, underwent contact metamorphism caused by a Cretaceous granite intrusion ; this metamorphism resulted in the formation of contact aureole, 1.5-2.0 km wide, around the granite intrusion, and produced progressive mineral changes in metaserpentinites toward the contact between the Ohsa-yama body and the granite intrusion. On the basis of analysis of mineral paragenetic relations, the Ohsa-yama ultramafic body can be divided into three zones with progressive changes in mineral assemblages as follows : Zone Ⅰ : serpentine ± chlorite ± brucite Zone Ⅱ : olivine + talc ± tremolite ± chlorite Zone Ⅲ : olivine + orthopyroxene ± tremolite ± spinel Zone Ⅰ corresponds to the parts unaffected by the thermal event, and Zones Ⅱ and Ⅲ correspond to the thermally metamorphosed parts of the Ohsa-yama body. The results obtained in this study are generally consistent with those of the previous studies on metamorphic peridotites from the Sangun and Muzuru zones

Petrography of primary peridotites from the Ohsa-yama area, Okayama Prefecture

Ultramafic rocks exposed around Mt. Ohsa(= Ohsa-yama), Okayama prefecture, designated as "Ohsa-yama ultramafic body" all together, are one of the Alpine-type peridotites in the Sangun metamorphic belt. They are intensely serpentinized and locally suffered contact metamorphism by younger granitic intrusions. In a por-tion of the ohsa-yama body where it has been affected by the contact metamorphism, the constituent minerals, texture and structure of primary ultramafic rocks have been locally preserved. Petrographic studies revead that the primary ultramafic rocks of the ohsa-yama body consist domimantly of dunite and harzburgite possessing no obvious layering, and their constituent minerals are similar in composition to those of the Tari-Misaka and Ashidachi ultramafic bodies. These features indicate that unlike the Ochiai-Hokubo body, the Ohsa-yama ultra-mafic body belongs to the "massive group" of the Arai's (1980) classification

Ferroglaucophane schist from the Ohsa-yama srea, Okayama Prefecture, Japan

A ferroglaucophane schist occurs in fault contact with serpentinites at the Ohsa-yama area, Southwest Japan. It consists of albite, ferroglaucophane and actinolite with small amounts of stilpnomelane, sphene, apatite and K-feldspar. Petrological studies reveal that the schist was originally igneous rock of felsic or intermediate composition and has suffered two stages of metamorphism : ferroglaucophane has been formed at the first stage and actinolite at the second stage. In a basic schist from the same outcrop that the ferroglaucophane schist occurs, tremolitic amphibole instead of alkali amphibole has been formed along with chlorite, phengite and albite. Such a difference in mineral association between the schists is ascribed to a difference in whole rock composition, particu-larly in Fe/Mg ratio. Some of the schists from th Ohsa-yama area characteristically contain glaucophane or ferroglaucophane and have low Fe2O3/FeO ratios, forming a striking contrast to the crossite schists that commonly occur in the so-called "Sangun metamorphic terrane". These facts suggest that the alkali amphiboles of the Ohsa-yama schists were formed under higher P/T and more reducing conditions than those of the regional metamrphic rocks. On the other hand, development of the second-stage actinolite in the ferroglaucophane schist is consistent with the meta-morphic parageneses of greenschists from adjacent areas. Consequently the ferroglaucophane schist is considered one of the tectonic blocks that were captured by mobile serpentinites and have suffered the regional metamor-phism after the emplacement of the serpentinites into the present geologic position

Petrological characteristics of the stone chamber of Tobiotsuka Kofun, Okayama Prefecture

　Tobiotsuka Kofun, a tumulus built on the Misu Hills in the Kofun period, has a horizontal stone chamber made of huge stone blocks with a width up to 2 meters or more. To specify the source of the stone blocks, we carried out the measurement of magnetic susceptibility, petrographic observation, and chemical analysis of minerals. The stones are amphibole-biotite granite with phenocrystic large grains of K-feldspar. The back-wall stone of the chamber has higher magnetic susceptibility than ceiling and side-wall stones, which probably results from a higher amount of magnetite formed by the alteration of biotite in the back-wall stone. Furthermore, the back-wall stone is different from ceiling stone in that it has lower XMg [Mg/(Mg + Fe) mole ratio], lower Al, Ti, and Na + K contents and higher Si contents of amphibole, higher XMg of biotite, and shows a tendency to have higher Na (albite component) contents at rims of plagioclase crystals and lower Ti contents of zircon. These characteristics of the back-wall stone are similar to those of granite exposed in the Koshinzan area about 2 km northeast of Tobiotsuka Kofun, whereas the ceiling and side-wall stones are similar to granite outcrops in the vicinity of Tobiotsuka Kofun, e.g., in the Midoriyama area. It is concluded that the quarry for the back-wall was located at a different place from that for the ceiling and side-wall stones

Drilling constraints on lithospheric accretion and evolution at Atlantis Massif, Mid-Atlantic Ridge 30°N

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2011. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 116 (2011): B07103, doi:10.1029/2010JB007931.Expeditions 304 and 305 of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program cored and logged a 1.4 km section of the domal core of Atlantis Massif. Postdrilling research results summarized here constrain the structure and lithology of the Central Dome of this oceanic core complex. The dominantly gabbroic sequence recovered contrasts with predrilling predictions; application of the ground truth in subsequent geophysical processing has produced self-consistent models for the Central Dome. The presence of many thin interfingered petrologic units indicates that the intrusions forming the domal core were emplaced over a minimum of 100–220 kyr, and not as a single magma pulse. Isotopic and mineralogical alteration is intense in the upper 100 m but decreases in intensity with depth. Below 800 m, alteration is restricted to narrow zones surrounding faults, veins, igneous contacts, and to an interval of locally intense serpentinization in olivine-rich troctolite. Hydration of the lithosphere occurred over the complete range of temperature conditions from granulite to zeolite facies, but was predominantly in the amphibolite and greenschist range. Deformation of the sequence was remarkably localized, despite paleomagnetic indications that the dome has undergone at least 45° rotation, presumably during unroofing via detachment faulting. Both the deformation pattern and the lithology contrast with what is known from seafloor studies on the adjacent Southern Ridge of the massif. There, the detachment capping the domal core deformed a 100 m thick zone and serpentinized peridotite comprises ∼70% of recovered samples. We develop a working model of the evolution of Atlantis Massif over the past 2 Myr, outlining several stages that could explain the observed similarities and differences between the Central Dome and the Southern Ridge

Primitive layered gabbros from fast-spreading lower oceanic crust

Three-quarters of the oceanic crust formed at fast-spreading ridges is composed of plutonic rocks whose mineral assemblages, textures and compositions record the history of melt transport and crystallization between the mantle and the sea floor. Despite the importance of these rocks, sampling them in situ is extremely challenging owing to the overlying dykes and lavas. This means that models for understanding the formation of the lower crust are based largely on geophysical studies and ancient analogues (ophiolites) that did not form at typical mid-ocean ridges. Here we describe cored intervals of primitive, modally layered gabbroic rocks from the lower plutonic crust formed at a fast-spreading ridge, sampled by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program at the Hess Deep rift. Centimetre-scale, modally layered rocks, some of which have a strong layering-parallel foliation, confirm a long-held belief that such rocks are a key constituent of the lower oceanic crust formed at fast-spreading ridges. Geochemical analysis of these primitive lower plutonic rocks-in combination with previous geochemical data for shallow-level plutonic rocks, sheeted dykes and lavas-provides the most completely constrained estimate of the bulk composition of fast-spreading oceanic crust so far. Simple crystallization models using this bulk crustal composition as the parental melt accurately predict the bulk composition of both the lavas and the plutonic rocks. However, the recovered plutonic rocks show early crystallization of orthopyroxene, which is not predicted by current models of melt extraction from the mantle and mid-ocean-ridge basalt differentiation. The simplest explanation of this observation is that compositionally diverse melts are extracted from the mantle and partly crystallize before mixing to produce the more homogeneous magmas that erupt