Geochemistry and petrogenesis of basaltic rocks from Coppermine River area, Northwest Territories

1983 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 684-698 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Dostal ◽  
W. R. A. Baragar ◽  
C. Dupuy

Proterozoic basaltic flows (> 2000 m thick) and associated dykes and sills from the Coppermine River area, Northwest Territories have chemical compositions typical of continental tholeiites. The low Mg/Fe ratio and abundances of Ni and Cr indicate that the lavas were extensively fractionated prior to extrusion. The variations of incompatible elements such as K, Rb, REE, Y, Zr, Nb, and Th suggest that the rocks were affected by interaction with continental crust. The samples least affected by contamination have trace-element compositions very similar to those of P-type mid-ocean ridge basalts. It is suggested that continental tholeiites have been generated from the same source as P-type oceanic tholeiites, and geochemical features, such as the enrichment of some lithophile elements in many of these rocks, may be related to crustal contamination. The variations within the volcanic pile of the Coppermine River area are related to those of an exposed part of the Muskox layered intrusion.

1997 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 958-975 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mélanie Griselin ◽  
Nicholas T. Arndt ◽  
W. R. A. Baragar

New trace-element and Nd-isotope analyses were carried out on the Coppermine River basalts, a suite of 1.27 Ga old continental flood basalts in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Although all the samples are tholeiitic basalts, their chemical and isotopic compositions change upwards in the sequence. The lowermost unit has relatively high contents of SiO2 and incompatible trace elements, high ratios of elements with different compatibilities (e.g., Th/Nb, La/Sm), high Gd/Yb, negative Nb anomalies, and low εNd. Samples at the top of the sequence have less pronounced enrichment and fractionation of incompatible elements coupled with an absence of Nb anomalies and positive εNd values. These results are interpreted to indicate that the lavas lowest in the sequence were produced by melting in the garnet stability field, at depths greater than 90 km, and probably in a mantle plume beneath the continental lithosphere. These magmas passed through magma chambers in the lower and upper crust where they became contaminated with crustal rocks. During the course of the eruption of the entire volcanic sequence the extent of crustal contamination became minimal and the lavas lost the chemical signature of residual garnet. The youngest lavas formed by melting in the spinel field and were free of crustal contamination. The site of mantle melting apparently became shallower, perhaps because of lithosphere thinning.


1986 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 622-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Dostal ◽  
W. R. A. Baragar ◽  
C. Dupuy

The Natkusiak flows (~1100 m thick), sills, and dykes of Victoria Island, Northwest Territories, are part of an extensive, late Hadrynian magmatic event in the northern Canadian Shield. The flows are subaerially erupted plateau basalts and together with associated doleritic sills and dykes display many geochemical features typical of continental tholeiites. In addition to fractional crystallization, the rocks were affected by crustal contamination but to a smaller degree than usually encountered in continental tholeiites elsewhere. The basalts were derived from a depleted upper mantle source very similar to that of N-type mid-ocean ridge basalts, although it is suggested that the melting residue contained small amounts of garnet (~2%).


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 155
Author(s):  
Yao Honoré Koffi ◽  
Sagbrou Chérubin Djro ◽  
Urbain Wenmenga

The Djarkadougou gold prospect is located on the Birimian greenstone belt of the Houndé exploration permit held by the company Orezone Inc. The permit is at 275 km far from the capital Ouagadougou south- western Burkina Faso, West Africa. This area is based on sheared and metamorphosed greenschist facies rocks. Metamorphism locally reaches to the amphibolite facies around intrusions. There are two major lithological units whose interface is marked by a NW-SE trending shear corridor: an unit of andesite-basaltic rocks of andesitic breccias in the East and volcaniclastic and sedimentary unit composed flows, tuffs and felsic to mafic breccia, interbedded volcano-sedimentary rocks. All this together is intruded by plutonic rocks, and various felsic to mafic dykes. These rocks have undergone ductile to brittle heterogeneous deformations and hydrothermal alteration sericite ±carbonate ±quartz±sulphide within deformation corridors. The rocks of the East and West domains affected by three phases of brittle-ductile deformation (D1, D2, and D3) and the meteoric alteration is systematic in superficial facies of Djarakadougou core drilling.Geochemical analysis shows a tholeiitic to calc-alkaline volcanic serie characteristic a bimodal volcanism. The spectra of normalized REE chondrites are generally flat and constant reminding those of N-MORB basalt. The chemical compositions of andesite and basalt are deferred on several discrimination diagrams especially Th / Yb - Nb / Yb and 2 Nb - Zr / 4 - Y show that andesites and basalts of the prospect are issued in geotectonic setting of volcanism preponderant arc.


2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-128
Author(s):  
Ai Li ◽  
Jian Wang ◽  
Yue Song

The Hongqiling magmatic Ni–Cu sulfide deposit, situated on the southern margin of the eastern Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), is composed of over 30 mafic–ultramafic intrusions. These ore-bearing intrusions are composed mainly of harzburgite, lherzolite, websterite, orthopyroxenite, and norite (gabbro). The constituent minerals are olivine, diopside, bronzite, calcic-hornblende, plagioclase, and spinel with orthopyroxene as a dominant mineral in these intrusions. These ore-bearing intrusions are not Alaskan-type complexes. Spinel and clinopyroxene both exhibit different chemical compositions from those in the Alaskan-type complexes. The rocks that make up the intrusions have high contents of MgO (average value = 25.20 wt.%) and low TiO2 (average value = 0.58 wt.%). The high MgO contents of the minerals and the high Mg# (71) of the calculated melt in equilibrium with olivine demonstrate that the parental magma of the Hongqiling mafic–ultramafic intrusions was a high-Mg tholeiitic magma. The Hongqiling ore-bearing mafic–ultramafic intrusions and the calculated “trapped liquids” for the olivine-orthopyroxene cumulate rocks are all enriched in large-ion lithophile elements and depleted in high field strength elements. The Ce/Pb, Ta/La, Th/Yb, and (La/Sm)PM values and the depletion of Nb and Ta suggest that the magma experienced crustal contamination. The Hongqiling ore-bearing intrusions display many similarities with mafic–ultramafic intrusions that formed in a post-collisional extensional environment in the western CAOB (e.g., Huangshanxi). Common features include their whole-rock compositions and mineral chemistry. Combined with the evolutionary history of the eastern segment of the CAOB, we believe that the Late Triassic Hongqiling mafic–ultramafic intrusions formed in a post-collisional extensional environment.


Author(s):  
Xiao-Han Gong ◽  
Ji-Feng Xu ◽  
Ren-Deng Shi ◽  
Ben-Xun Su ◽  
Qi-Shuai Huang ◽  
...  

Garnet-bearing peridotites commonly occur in the deeper parts of mature or thickened oceanic lithosphere, and are rarely exhumed and emplaced onto the seafloor. The Purang ophiolitic peridotites in south Tibet contain rare symplectite pseudomorphs after garnet, offering a unique window into the still poorly understood evolution of the deep oceanic lithosphere. Here, integrated petrologic and Os-Li isotopic data are used to constrain the evolution and dynamics of emplacement for these garnet peridotite protoliths. The Purang peridotites show wide variations of chemical compositions (spinel Cr#: 0.2−0.8) and Os model ages (up to 2.0 Ga), thus representing a piece of heterogeneous oceanic mantle lithosphere. Dunite channels show two distinctive groups of Cr# of spinels and Os-isotope compositions, with the low- to medium-Cr# (0.2−0.6) and high-Cr# (0.7−0.8) dunites reflecting the reaction of host lherzolites/harzburgites with percolating mid-ocean ridge basalt−like and boninitic melts, respectively. This confirms recent subduction initiation-related melt percolation in the Purang peridotites. Coexisting olivines and pyroxenes in the peridotites show systematic Li elemental and isotopic disequilibrium, suggesting fast cooling of the peridotites to Li closure temperature shortly after the melt percolations, likely during exhumation of the peridotites onto the seafloor. This supports a close link between subduction initiation and tectonic emplacement of the Purang peridotites. Combined with other geological evidence, we suggest the Purang peridotites may originate from the deep part of old, thick oceanic lithosphere of the Neo-Tethys. This thick oceanic lithosphere was progressively weakened and thinned likely during widespread plume-lithosphere interaction, triggering the transformation of garnet peridotite protoliths to spinel peridotites. Subsequently, initiation of a new subduction zone along the lithospheric weakness caused rapid ascent and emplacement of the Purang peridotites at a nascent forearc.


1987 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Bell ◽  
John Blenkinsop ◽  
S. T. Kwon ◽  
G. R. Tilton ◽  
R. P. Sage

Rb–Sr and U–Pb data from the Borden complex of northern Ontario, a carbonatite associated with the Kapuskasing Structural Zone, indicate a mid-Proterozoic age. A 207Pb/206Pb age of 1872 ± 13 Ma is interpreted as the emplacement age of this body, grouping it with other ca. 1900 Ma complexes that are the oldest known carbonatites associated with the Kapuskasing structure. A 206Pb–238U age of 1894 ± 29 Ma agrees with the Pb–Pb age but has a high mean square of weighted deviates (MSWD) of 42. A Rb–Sr apatite–carbonate–mica whole-rock isochron date of 1807 ± 13 Ma probably indicates later resetting of the Rb–Sr system.An εSr(T) value of −6.2 ± 0.5 (87Sr/86Sr = 0.70184 ± 0.00003) and an εNd(T) value of +2.8 ± 0.4 for Borden indicate derivation of the Sr and Nd from a source with a time-integrated depletion in the large-ion lithophile (LIL) elements. These closely resemble the ε values for Sr and Nd from the Cargill and Spanish River complexes, two other 1900 Ma plutons. The estimated initial 207Pb/204Pb and 206Pb/204Pb ratios from Borden calcites plot significantly below growth curves for average continental crust in isotope correlation diagrams, a pattern similar to those found in mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) and most ocean-island volcanic rocks, again suggesting a source depleted in LIL elements. The combined Nd and Sr, and probably Pb, data strongly favour a mantle origin for the Borden complex with little or no crustal contamination and support the model of Bell et al. that many carbonatites intruded into the Canadian Shield were derived from an ancient, LIL-depleted subcontinental upper mantle.


1995 ◽  
Vol 32 (9) ◽  
pp. 1451-1461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian L. Cousens ◽  
Mary Lou Bevier

Pleistocene- to Holocene-age basaltic rocks of the Iskut–Unuk rivers volcanic field, at the southern terminus of the Stikine Volcanic Belt in the northern Canadian Cordillera, provide information on the geochemical composition of the underlying mantle and processes that have modified parental magmas. Basaltic rocks from four of the six eruptive centres are moderately evolved (MgO = 5.7–6.8%) alkaline basalts with chondrite-normalized La/Sm = 1.6–1.8, 87Sr/86Sr = 0.70336–0.70361, εNd = +4.4 to +5.9, and 206Pb/204Pb = 19.07–19.22. The small range of isotopic compositions and incompatible element ratios imply a common "depleted" mantle source for the basalts, similar to the sources of enriched mid-ocean ridge basalts from northwest Pacific spreading centres or alkali olivine basalts from the western Yukon. Positive Ba and negative Nb anomalies that increase in size with increasing SiO2 and 87Sr/86Sr indicate that the basalts are contaminated by Mesozoic-age, arc-related, Stikine Terrane crust or lithospheric mantle through which the magmas passed. Lavas from a fifth volcanic centre, Cinder Mountain, have undergone greater amounts of fractional crystallization and are relatively enriched in incompatible elements, but are isotopically identical to least-contaminated Iskut–Unuk rivers basalts. Iskut–Unuk rivers lavas share many of the geochemical characteristics of volcanic rocks from other Stikine Belt and Anahim Belt centres, as well as alkali olivine basalts from the Fort Selkirk volcanic centres of the western Yukon.


1975 ◽  
Vol 40 (309) ◽  
pp. 25-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. A. Rodgers

SummaryEocene tholeiitic basalts occur throughout the length of New Caledonia where their emplacement preceded that of the peridotite massifs. In the south, two areas of basaltic rocks are intimately associated with Eocene sediments, which have been overridden by the peridotites. The aphyric, holocrystalline basalts consist of plagioclase, clinopyroxene, titanomagnetite, and minor quartz together with their abundant alteration products, which include epidote and uralite. The chemical compositions of these rocks fail to show agreement with oceanic tholeiitites, as suggested by earlier writers, although strong similarities exist with the basalts of the Papuan Ultramafic Belt.


1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 1123-1140 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. C. Lightfoot ◽  
H. de Souza ◽  
W. Doherty

Major and trace element data are presented for 2.2 Ga Proterozoic diabase sills from across the Nipissing magmatic province of Ontario. In situ differentiation of the magma coupled with assimilation of Huronian Supergroup roof sediments is responsible for the variation in composition between quartz diabase and granophyric diabase seen within many of the differentiated intrusions. Uniform trace element and isotope ratio signatures, such as La/Sm (2.8 – 3.7) and εNdCHUR (−2.7 to −5.9) characterize chilled margins and undifferentiated quartz diabases. These chemical signatures suggest the existence of a single magma source that was parental to intrusions throughout the magmatic province; this magma has higher La/Sm and lower Ti/Y than primitive mantle and is displaced towards the composition of shales. Most chilled diabases and quartz diabases have a similar Mg# (0.64 and 0.60) and Ni content (98 and 127 ppm), and it is argued that the magma differentiated at depth and was emplaced as a uniform low-Mg magma. The Wanapitei intrusion and Kukagami Lake sill are an exception in that although the quartz diabase has La/Sm similar to the Nipissing magma type, which suggests that they came from the same source, the Mg# (0.68–0.71) and Ni content (130–141 ppm) are higher, which may suggest that they are either slightly more primitive examples of the normal Nipissing magma or that cumulus hypersthene has been resorbed. The light rare earth element enriched signature of the Nipissing magmas was perhaps introduced from the continental crust as the magma migrated from the mantle to the surface, but a remarkably constant and large amount (>20%) of crustal contamination would be required. An addition of 1 –3% shale to the source of a transitional mid-ocean ridge basalt type magma can broadly reproduce the compositional features of the Nipissing magma type. The source characteristics were perhaps imparted during subduction accompanying the terminal Kenoran orogeny.


1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 1505-1520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Skulski ◽  
Robert P. Wares ◽  
Alan D. Smith

The New Québec orogen contains two volcano-sedimentary sequences bounded by unconformities. Each sequence records a change from continental sedimentation and alkaline volcanism to marine sedimentation and tholeiitic volcanism. The first sequence records 2.17 Ga rifting and the development, by 2.14 Ga, of a passive margin along the eastern part of the Superior craton. The second sequence developed between 1.88 and 1.87 Ga in pull-apart basins that reflect precollisional dextral transtension along the continental margin. Second-sequence magmatism comprises (i) carbonatitic and lamprophyric intrusions and mildly alkaline mafic to felsic volcanic rocks; (ii) widespread intrusion of tholeiitic gabbro sills, and submarine extrusion of plagioclase glomeroporphyritic basalts and younger aphyric basalts and picrites; and (iii) late-stage, mafic to felsic volcanism and intrusion of carbonatites. Crustal thinning allowed primitive tholeiitic magmas to equilibrate at progressively lower pressures before more buoyant derivative liquids could erupt. Early primitive melts were trapped at the base of the crust and crystallized olivine and orthopyroxene with minor crustal contamination. Derivative melts, similar to transitional mid-ocean-ridge basalts, migrated upward into mid-crustal magma chambers where they became saturated in calcic plagioclase. Subsequent tapping of these magma chambers allowed plagioclase ultraphyric magmas to intrude the sedimentary pile and erupt on the sea floor. Prolonged lithospheric extension resulted in more voluminous mantle melting and eruption of picrites and basalts in the south. Primitive magmas in the north were trapped beneath thicker crust and crystallized wehrlite cumulates. Resulting basaltic melts intruded the volcano-sedimentary pile, or erupted as aphyric basalts.


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