The palaeomagnetism of the main zone in the western Bushveld complex

1986 ◽  
Vol 79 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 441-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.J. Hattingh
Keyword(s):  
Bushveld Complex ◽  
Main Zone

scholarly journals Parental magma composition of the Main Zone of the Bushveld Complex: Evidence from in-situ LA-ICP-MS trace element analysis of silicate minerals in the cumulate rocks

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shenghong Yang ◽  
Wolfgang D. Maier ◽  
Belinda Godel ◽  
Sarah-Jane Barnes ◽  
Eero Hanski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trace Elements ◽  
Trace Element ◽  
Bushveld Complex ◽  
Trace Element Analysis ◽  
Parental Magma ◽  
Main Zone ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Silicate Minerals ◽  
Incompatible Elements

<p>In-situ trace element analysis of cumulus minerals may provide a clue to the parental magma from which the minerals crystallized. However, this is hampered by effects of the trapped liquid shift (TLS). In the Main Zone (MZ) of the Bushveld Complex, the Ti content in plagioclase grains shows a clear increase from core to rim, whereas most other elements (e.g., rare earth elements (REEs), Zr, Hf, Pb) do not. This is different from the prominent intra-grain variation of all trace elements in silicate minerals in mafic dikes and smaller intrusion, which have a faster cooling rate. We suggest that crystal fractionation of trapped liquid occurred in the MZ of Bushveld and the TLS may have modified the original composition of the cumulus minerals for most trace elements except Ti during slow cooling. Quantitative model calculations suggest that the influence of the TLS depends on the bulk partition coefficient of the element. The effect on highly incompatible elements is clearly more prominent ­­than on moderately incompatible and compatible elements because of different concentration gradients between cores and rims of cumulate minerals. This is supported by the following observations in the MZ of Bushveld: 1) positive correlation between Cr, Ni and Mg# of clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene, 2) negative correlation between moderately incompatible elements (e.g., Mn and Sc in clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene, Sr, Ba, Eu in plagioclase), but 3) poor correlation between highly incompatible elements and Mg# of clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene or An# of plagioclase. Modeling suggests that the extent of the TLS for a trace element is also dependent on the initial fraction of the primary trapped liquid, with strong TLS occurring if the primary trapped liquid fraction is high. This is supported by the positive correlation between highly incompatible trace element abundances in cumulus minerals and whole-rock Zr contents.</p><p>We have calculated the composition of the parental magma of the MZ of the Bushveld Complex. The compatible and moderately incompatible element contents of the calculated parental liquid are generally similar to those of the B3 marginal rocks, but different from the B1 and B2 marginal rocks. For the highly incompatible elements, we suggest that the use of the sample with the lowest whole-rock Zr content and the least degree of TLS is the best approach to obtain the parental magma composition. Based on calculation, we propose that a B3 type liquid is the most likely parental magma to the MZ of the Bushveld Complex.</p>

Coexisting Ca-poor pyroxenes in the Main Zone of the Bushveld Complex

1977 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerhard von Gruenewaldt ◽  
Klaus Weber-Diefenbach
Keyword(s):  
Bushveld Complex ◽  
Main Zone

Field, petrographical and geochemical characterization of a layered anorthosite sequence in the Upper Main Zone of the Bushveld Complex

2020 ◽  
Vol 123 (3) ◽  
pp. 277-296
Author(s):  
J.E. Bourdeau ◽  
S.E. Zhang ◽  
B. Hayes ◽  
A. Logue
Keyword(s):  
Bushveld Complex ◽  
Major Element ◽  
Parental Magma ◽  
Incompatible Trace Element ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Main Zone ◽  
Bulk Rock ◽  
Magmatic Differentiation ◽  
Slurry Injection

Abstract A sequence of eight poikilitic anorthosite layers (labeled 1 to 8), within the Upper Main Zone in the eastern lobe of the Bushveld Complex, are exposed along a road-cut, 5.3 km northeast of the town of Apel, Limpopo Province. The anorthosite layers are meter-scale in thickness (0.4 to 10 m), have sharp contacts and are defined on the size and shape of pyroxene oikocrysts they contain. The anorthosite sequence is bounded by typical Main Zone gabbronorites. Euhedral, zoned primocrystic laths of plagioclase (An62.5-80.6; 0.2 to 4 mm long) are morphologically identical throughout the anorthosite sequence and define a moderate to strong foliation that is typically aligned parallel to the plane of layering. Interstitial clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene typically occur as large (0.8 to 80 cm) oikocrysts enclosing numerous partly rounded plagioclase chadacrysts. Rarely, orthopyroxene appears as subophitic crystals enclosing few and significantly smaller (0.08 to 0.4 mm), equant plagioclase inclusions. Detailed plagioclase and pyroxene mineral compositions for layers 2 to 5 show minimal variations within layers (0.1 to 2.3 mol% An and 0.7 mol% Mg#), whereas compositional breaks occur between layers (0.5 to 3.8 mol% An and 1.3 mol% Mg#). In layers 2 to 5, the An-content of plagioclase cores and the Mg# of both clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene crystals decrease by 2.5 mol%, 8.6 mol% and 13.0 mol% upwards, respectively. Bulk-rock incompatible trace element concentrations and patterns are similar for all analyzed anorthosite layers indicating that they are related to the same parental magma. However, bulk-rock major element oxides (e.g. Al2O3, TiO2, K2O) and atomic Mg# become more evolved upwards, consistent with magmatic differentiation. Based on the consistent plagioclase crystal morphologies and relatively constant chemistries within each anorthosite layer, we propose that each layer was formed by the intrusion of a plagioclase slurry. The upwards-evolving mineral chemistries, bulk-rock major element oxides and atomic Mg# suggests that each plagioclase slurry injection, that yielded an anorthosite layer, was derived from a slightly more fractionated parental magma prior to emplacement.

Trapped intercumulus liquid in the Main Zone of the eastern Bushveld Complex, South Africa

2006 ◽  
Vol 151 (3) ◽  
pp. 352-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. L. Lundgaard ◽  
C. Tegner ◽  
R. G. Cawthorn ◽  
F. J. Kruger ◽  
J. R. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Bushveld Complex ◽  
Main Zone

Platinum-group mineral assemblages in the Platreef at the Sandsloot Mine, northern Bushveld Complex, South Africa

2006 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Holwell ◽  
I. McDonald ◽  
P. E. B. Armitage
Keyword(s):  
Small Volume ◽  
Bushveld Complex ◽  
Rock Type ◽  
Platinum Group Mineral ◽  
Main Zone ◽  
Group Mineral ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Mineral Assemblages ◽  
Base Metal Sulphides ◽  
Platinum Group

AbstractPlatinum group mineral (PGM) assemblages in the Platreef at Sandsloot, northern Bushveld Complex, in a variety of lithologies reveal a complex multi-stage mineralization history. During crystallization of the Platreef pyroxenites, platinum group elements (PGE) and base-metal sulphides (BMS) were distributed thoughout the interstitial liquid forming a telluride-dominant assemblage devoid of PGE sulphides. Redistribution of PGE into the metamorphic footwall by hydrothermal fluids has formed arsenide-, alloy- and antimonide-dominant assemblages, indicating a significant volatile influence during crystallization. Serpentinization of the footwall has produced an antimonide-dominant PGM assemblage. Parts of the igneous reef were subjected to alteration by a late-stage, Fe-rich fluid, producing ultramafic zones where the telluride-dominant assemblage has been recrystallized to an alloy-dominant one, particularly rich in Pt-Fe and Pd-Pb alloys. A thin, small-volume zone of PGE-BMS mineralization along the base of the hangingwall contains a primary PGM assemblage that is locally altered to one dominated by Pt/Pd germanides. This is thought to have formed when the new pulse of Main Zone magma entered the chamber, and scavenged PGE from the underlying Platreef pyroxenites. That each major rock type at Sandsloot contains a distinctive PGM assemblage reflects the importance of syn- and post-emplacement fluid and magmatic processes on the development of Platreef mineralization.

Compositional cyclicity in a pyroxenitic layer from the Main Zone of the Western Bushveld Complex: evidence for repeated magma influx

1996 ◽  
Vol 60 (398) ◽  
pp. 149-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew A. Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Bushveld Complex ◽  
Mineral Chemistry ◽  
Critical Zone ◽  
Central Portion ◽  
Main Zone ◽  
Iron Enrichment ◽  
Southern Sector ◽  
Modal Layering ◽  
Layer Mineral ◽  
Textural Evidence

AbstractLacking the pronounced modal layering of the underlying Critical Zone, the Main Zone of the Bushveld Complex nevertheless displays well-developed cryptic layering, expressed in a series of iron-enrichment trends, each defining a unit of the order of 100 to 200 m thick. At the base of one such unit, 1100 m above the Main Zone — Critical Zone contact, a 10 m thick pyroxenitic layer was intersected in an exploration borehole from the southern sector of the western Bushveld.Within the pyroxenitic layer, mineral chemistry defines a series of five cycles of upward Mg and Cr enrichment in pyroxenes, and Ca enrichment in plagioclase. The mineral chemistry, supported by textural evidence, suggests the influx of successive surges of magma. Sustained streaming of magma gave rise to adcumulate textures in the central portion of each cycle, with orthocumulate textures at bases and tops of cycles representing waxing and waning stages of magma surges.

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