Open-system evolution versus source control in basaltic magmas: Matachewan–Hearst dike swarm, Superior Province, Canada

1990 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 767-783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis O. Nelson ◽  
Donald A. Morrison ◽  
William C. Phinney
Keyword(s):  
Trace Element ◽  
Fractional Crystallization ◽  
Incompatible Trace Element ◽  
Source Control ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Crustal Rock ◽  
Dike Swarm ◽  
Element Abundances ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
Element Enrichment

The 2.45 Ga Matachewan–Hearst dike swarm was emplaced over 250 000 km2 in diverse granitoid–greenstone and metasedimentary terranes of the Superior Province of Canada. The Fe-rich tholeiitic dikes host large, uniform plagioclase megacrysts and display significant trace-element variations, e.g., (La/Sm)N = 0.62–2.23, not correlated to terrane lithologies.Fractional crystallization alone cannot produce these variations or simultaneously account for both major- and trace-element abundances. Combined periodic replenishment–fractional crystallization (RFC) in shallow magma chambers is consistent with major- and trace-element concentrations and with field evidence for periodic magma injection within the dikes. RFC cannot, however, produce the observed variation in incompatible-trace-element ratios, e.g., (La/Sm)N. Models invoking mixed mantle sources are unsuccessful at reproducing trace-element trends. Combined assimilation–fractional crystallization (AFC) models, assuming depleted parental magmas and using crustal rock data from xenoliths and from the Kapuskasing Structural Zone, can accommodate the trace-element variations, including the light-rare-earth-element enrichment and the observed relative depletions of the high-field-strength elements. The AFC process apparently took place in the lower crustal regions from where evolved magmas were periodically transported to shallow chambers dominated by RFC.

The early tectono-magmatic evolution of the Southern Province: implications from the Agnew Intrusion, central Ontario, Canada

1998 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 854-870 ◽  
Author(s):  
D C Vogel ◽  
R S James ◽  
R R Keays
Keyword(s):  
Parental Magma ◽  
Structural Data ◽  
Flood Basalt ◽  
Incompatible Trace Element ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Magmatic Evolution ◽  
Layered Intrusions ◽  
Continental Flood Basalt ◽  
Southern Province ◽  
Field Evidence

The Palaeoproterozoic Southern Province comprises a thick, continental rift related volcanic-sedimentary sequence along the southern margin of the Archaean Superior Province. The Agnew Intrusion (50 km2), which is a member of the East Bull Lake suite of layered intrusions, occurs adjacent to the Superior Province - Southern Province boundary in central Ontario, Canada, and provides an opportunity to examine the early tectono-magmatic evolution of a Palaeoproterozoic rifting event. The Agnew Intrusion is a well-exposed, 2100 m thick, layered gabbronoritic to leucogabbronoritic pluton. It was the product of at least four recognizable, but chemically similar, high-Al2O3 and low-TiO2 magma pulses. Structural data, coupled with excellent stratigraphic correlations between the Agnew Intrusion and other East Bull Lake suite layered intrusions, suggest that these plutons are erosional remnants of one or more sill-like bodies that may originally have formed an extensive, subhorizontal mafic sheet. We argue on the basis of field evidence that the early evolution of the Southern Province was characterized by a large, mantle plume induced magmatic event that gave rise to a Palaeoproterozoic continental flood basalt province. However, the incompatible trace element characteristics of the Agnew Intrusion parental magma (i.e., large ion lithophile and light rare earth element enrichment and high field strength element depletion) are more typical of modern subduction-modified subcontinental lithospheric mantle. Given that this is a prevailing geochemical signature of mafic rocks in the Archaean-Palaeoproterozoic, we suggest that there was a fundamental difference in both the composition and structure between the ancient and more modern mantle. "Subduction-like" geochemical signatures may have been imparted to the entire developing mantle during early Earth differentiation.

Perim Island, a volcanic remnant in the southern entrance to the Red Sea

1990 ◽  
Vol 127 (4) ◽  
pp. 309-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. I. J. Mallick ◽  
I. G. Gass ◽  
K. G. Cox ◽  
B. V. W. De Vries ◽  
A. G. Tindle
Keyword(s):  
Trace Element ◽  
Red Sea ◽  
Fractional Crystallization ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Gulf Of Aden ◽  
Sea Floor ◽  
Element Abundances ◽  
Major Oxide ◽  
Propagating Rift ◽  
Sea Floor Spreading

AbstractPerim Island is an eroded fragment of the southwest flank of a late Miocene (10.5 ± 1.0 Ma) volcano whose centre lay on the southwesternmost tip of Arabia. The volcano is the westernmost of the E–W line of six central vent volcanoes (the Aden Line) that extends 200 km along the south coast of Arabia from Perim to Aden. Major oxide and trace element abundances are given for 35 Perim specimens and these show that the volcano has within-plate trace element characteristics and consists of a petrographically and geochemically simple suite of alumina-poor olivine basalts, andesites, and transitional andesite–trachyandesites. Six specimens, however, are markedly enriched in Al2O3 and CaO, and contain abundant (20–30 mode %) highly calcic (An77–83) plagioclase phenocrysts. Geochemical modelling suggests that the main Perim volcanic sequence was produced by the fractional crystallization (o1 + cpx + Ti-mt + plag) of a silica saturated (SiO2 c. 45%) basic melt. The high A1, high Ca, magmas appear to be mixing products of plagioclase-enriched basic magmas with more evolved melts. Perim is the oldest volcano of the Aden line, which becomes increasingly younger and alkalic eastward. It is suggested that the volcanism is related to an eastwards-propagating rift produced before the most recent stage of sea-floor spreading in the Gulf of Aden (4.5 Ma–present).

scholarly journals Rare Earth Element and Incompatible Trace Element Abundances in Emeralds Reveal Their Formation Environments

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 513
Author(s):  
Raquel Alonso-Perez ◽  
James M. D. Day
Keyword(s):  
Rare Earth ◽  
Trace Element ◽  
Rare Earth Element ◽  
Earth Element ◽  
Regional Metamorphism ◽  
Incompatible Trace Element ◽  
Plate Tectonic ◽  
Element Abundances ◽  
Type Ia ◽  
Ree Patterns

Emeralds require the unusual association of typically compatible elements (Cr, V), with incompatible Be to form, and occur in complex tectonic settings associated with sediments (type IIB; Colombia) or, more commonly, with magmatism and regional metamorphism (IA). Precise rare earth element (REE) and incompatible trace element abundances are reported for a global suite of emeralds, enabling the identification of the environments in which they formed. Type IIB emeralds have nearly flat continental crust normalized REE patterns (La/YbCC = ~2), consistent with a sedimentary source origin. Type IA emerald REE patterns have upturns in the heavy REE (La/YbCC = ~0.3), a feature also shared with South African emeralds occurring in Archaean host rocks. Modeling of type IA emerald compositions indicates that they form from magmatic fluids of sedimentary (S)-type granite melts interacting with Cr, V-rich mafic–ultramafic crustal protoliths. This geochemical signature links emerald formation with continental suture zones. Diamonds, rubies, and sapphires have been considered as ‘plate tectonic gemstones’ based on mineral inclusions within them, or associations with plate tectonic indicators. Emeralds are distinct plate tectonic gemstones, recording geochemical evidence for origin within their mineral structure, and indicating that plate tectonic processes have led to emerald deposit formation since at least the Archaean.

Trace-element and Nd isotopic variations in Early Proterozoic dyke swarms emplaced in the vicinity of the Kapuskasing structural zone: enriched mantle or assimilation and fractional crystallization (AFC) process?

1991 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Boily ◽  
J. N. Ludden
Keyword(s):  
Trace Element ◽  
Fractional Crystallization ◽  
Lower Crust ◽  
Crustal Material ◽  
Early Proterozoic ◽  
Crustal Rocks ◽  
Asthenospheric Mantle ◽  
Enriched Mantle ◽  
Element Enrichment ◽  
Dyke Swarms

Several Early Proterozoic Hearst–Matachewan (2.454 Ga), Kapuskasing (2.14 Ga), and Preissac (2.04 Ga) dykes were emplaced within the Archean crust surrounding the Kapuskasing structural zone (KSZ). The dykes are composed of moderately to highly fractionated tholeiitic basalts (Mg number = 24–55) that exhibit trace-element characteristics similar to those of intraplate basaltic magmas or ocean–island basalts (e.g., Zr/Nb = 6–21, Zr/Y = 2–5, high TiO2 = 0.9–3.2 wt.%, and (Fe2O3)t = 12.4–18.7 wt.%). Their initial Nd isotopic compositions display a range of depleted [Formula: see text] to enriched [Formula: see text] values that are negatively correlated with the degree of light rare-earth element enrichment. We evaluate two models for the origin of these dykes: (i) The basaltic parental magmas were derived from two distinct sources, an isotopically depleted asthenospheric mantle (εNd = +4 and La/Sm = 2.7) and an isotopically enriched lithospheric(?) mantle (εNd = −4 to−8 and La/Sm = 5.1). The magmas subsequently underwent mixing and fractionation during ascent in the mantle or the lower crust. (ii) The parental magmas originated from a homogeneous Nd isotopically depleted asthenospheric mantle but later assimilated a substantial amount of Archean crustal material upon fractionation and ascent in the lower crust. Results derived for the latter model preclude any participation of the exposed crustal rocks in the KSZ, and the assimilation and fractional crystallization (AFC) model remains a viable hypothesis only if the parental magmas assimilated an older and perhaps more isotopically enriched crust than that represented in the KSZ.

Geochemical constraints on the differentiation processes that were active in the Sept Iles complex

1986 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 670-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Higgins ◽  
R. Doig
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Trace Element ◽  
Fractional Crystallization ◽  
Major Element ◽  
Alkali Feldspar ◽  
Granitic Magma ◽  
Trace Element Distribution ◽  
Accessory Mineral ◽  
Quartz Syenite ◽  
Element Abundances

Major- and trace-element abundances in the major units (gabbro, anorthosite, monzonite, syenite, and granite) of the unmetamorphosed Sept Iles complex have been evaluated to determine if these rocks can be related by simple magmatic processes or if it is necessary to invoke separately derived magmas. Major-element mass-balance and trace-element distribution calculations indicate that the diorite and quartz syenite were produced by fractional crystallization of plagioclase and augite, together with minor hypersthene and ilmenite, from a parental gabbroic magma. The Sr depletion of the granite, as compared with the quartz syenite, cannot be developed readily by partial melting and is better explained by fractional crystallization models. Major-element mass-balance solutions indicate that the granite was formed by removal of alkali feldspar, plagioclase, amphibole, and ilmenite from a quartz syenitic magma. Depletion of REE in the granite was probably the result of amphibole or REE-rich accessory mineral fractionation. It is unlikely that an unrelated, independently generated granitic magma could have a composition so related to the remainder of the complex. Therefore, fractional crystallization of a parental gabbroic magma is the dominant process that controlled the diversity of magma in the complex.

Melt geometry, movement and crystallization, in relation to mantle dykes, veins and metasomatism

1993 ◽  
Vol 342 (1663) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Trace Element ◽  
Fractional Crystallization ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Mantle Peridotite ◽  
Mantle Metasomatism ◽  
Mantle Xenoliths ◽  
Chemical Components ◽  
Combined Processes ◽  
Element Abundances ◽  
Natural Rock

Consideration of theoretical, experimental and natural rock data show that basic-ultrabasic melt will disperse along mineral grain edges in olivine-rich mantle rock and thereby form a connected three-dimensional network throughout the rock even when present in only small (less than 1%) volumes. The viscosity of such melts will also allow small (less than 1-5%) volumes to move on appropriate geological timescales as a result of gravity-driven compaction. These features mean that small volume basic-ultrabasic melts are capable of infiltrating and metasomatizing mantle peridotites. Modally metasomatized mantle xenoliths are commonly closely associated with an array of dyke-like and vein injection phenomena. Textural, structural and modal characteristics of a wide array of mantle dykes, veins and metasomatic rocks suggest that such rocks have certain features in common with cumulates, and might usefully be distinguished as dyke cumulates and metasomatic infill cumulates . They represent partial crystal precipitates from melt flowing along channelways or pervasively through peridotite, and their bulk rock compositions provide poor guides to actual mantle melt compositions. The crystallization of the minerals in dykes/veins/ metasomites causes differentiation of the melt by crystal fractionation processes, but at the same time the melt may maintain equilibrium with host rock phases (e.g. olivine) and chromatographic column or percolation effects will control the range of transport of different chemical components by the melt. These combined processes are referred to as percolative fractional crystallization . Data on the actual trace element compositions of melt in equilibrium with the minerals of mantle dykes/veins/metasomites are calculated from trace element analyses of the minerals by using partition coefficients. For a wide variety of metasomatic suites, the calculated melt compositions show a progression of trace element abundances from ones similar to primitive asthenospheric OIB-like compositions towards more incompatible element enriched compositions. Thus they support the hypothesis that fractional crystallization and percolative fractional crystallization processes operating upon initial primitive asthenospheric melts may yield melt compositions matching those necessary for wide varieties of mantle metasomatism. The differentiation of the melts and evolution of the metasomatic rocks proceed together. No evidence for the involvement of volatile-rich fluids distinct from melts has been found. The trace element compositions of many kimberlitic and lamproitic melts may also arise by processes of percolative fractional crystallization of initially primitive melts with oIB-like trace element compositions, as a result of flow through mantle peridotite.

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