Geochemistry of peridotites, gabbros and trondhjemites of the Ballantrae complex, SW Scotland

1984 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Jelínek ◽  
J. Souček ◽  
Z. Řanda ◽  
P. Jakeš ◽  
B. J. Bluck ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTMajor and trace element, including REE, analytical data are used as bases for interpreting the petrogenesis of the major igneous components of the northern part of the Ballantrae complex which occurs in the southwestern part of the Midland Valley of Scotland. Most of the peridotite, now serpentinised, is similar to ultramafic rocks in other ophiolite complexes. Mean crystallisation conditions, determined on the basis of co-existing orthopy-roxenes and clinopyroxenes for the dominant peridotite and minor pyroxenite were 1060 (±60)°C—20 (±2) kb and 1240 (±89)°C—25 (±25) kb, respectively. These rocks, of mantle provenance, have compositions consistent with being residues after the extraction of 20–30% of tholeiitic material from the mantle. The presence among them of a rock whose REE contents indicate that it is a plagioclase peridotite, point to the tectonic incorporation of the products of a high level magma chamber.The mafic parts of the complex have tholeiitic characteristics and developed between 1300° and 1100°C. They do not represent primary mantle melt but fractionated material. Clinopyroxene was the main fractionating phase and more than 10% fractional crystallisation is indicated with increase from gabbros, through beerbachites (metadolerites) of a sheeted dyke complex and pillow lavas, to microgabbros and pyroxene diorites. Biotite diorites and trondhjemites represent the most fractionated products, the latter having affinities with ophiolitic plagiogranites.The beerbachites of the sheeted dyke complex do not all represent the same stage of fractionation. The pillow lavas have REE patterns similar to rocks found in marginal basins but are markedly different from pillow lavas from the Highland Border Complex in Arran, near the northern margin of the Midland Valley.

1984 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 731-736 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan L. Green ◽  
Paul Henderson

A suite of hy-normative hawaiites, ne-normative mugearite, and calc-alkaline andesitic rocks from the Garibaldi Lake area exhibits fractionated, slightly concave-upward REE patterns (CeN/YbN = 4.5–15), heavy REE contents about 5–10 times the chondritic abundances, and no Eu anomalies. It is unlikely that the REE patterns provide information concerning partial melting conditions beneath southwestern British Columbia because they have probably been modified substantially by upper crustal processes including crustal contamination and (or) crystal fractionation. The REE contents of the Garibaldi Lake lavas are not incompatible with previous interpretations that (1) the hawaiites have undergone considerable fractionation of olivine, plagioclase, and clinopyroxene; and (2) the individual andesitic suites were derived from separate batches of chemically distinct magma that evolved along different high-level crystallization trends. In general, however, the andesites are characterized by lower light REE contents than the basaltic andesites. These differences in LREE abundances may reflect different amounts of LREE-rich accessory phases, such as apatite, sphene, or allanite, assimilated from the underlying quartz diorites.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Matthew Thomas Stevens

<p>The Coromandel Volcanic Zone (CVZ) was the longest-lived area of volcanism in New Zealand hosting the commencement of large explosive rhyolitic and ignimbrite forming eruptions. The NW trending Coromandel Peninsula is the subaerial remnant of the Miocene-Pliocene CVZ, which is regarded as a tectonic precursor to the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ), currently the most dynamic and voluminous rhyolitic volcanic centre on Earth. This study presents new single glass shard major and trace element geochemical analyses for 72 high-silica volcanic tephra layers recovered from well-dated deep-sea sediments of the SW Pacific Ocean by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 181. ODP Site 1124, ~720 km south and east from the CVZ, penetrated sediments of the Rekohu Drift yielding an unprecedented record of major explosive volcanic eruptions owing to the favourable location and preservation characteristics at this site. This record extends onshore eruptive sequences of CVZ explosive volcanism that are obscured by poor exposure, alteration, and erosion and burial by younger volcanic deposits. Tephra layers recovered from Site 1124 are well-dated through a combination of biostratigraphic and palaeomagnetic methods allowing the temporal geochemical evolution of the CVZ to be reconstructed in relation to changes in the petrogenesis of CVZ arc magmas from ~ 10 to 2 Ma. This thesis establishes major and trace element geochemical "fingerprints" for all Site 1124-C tephras using well-established (wavelength dispersive electron probe microanalysis) and new (laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) in situ single glass shard microanalytical techniques. Trace element analysis of Site 1124-C glass shards (as small as 20 um) demonstrate that trace element signatures offer a more specific, unequivocal characterisation for distinguishing (and potentially correlating) between tephras with nearly identical major element compositions. The Site 1124-C core contains 72 unaltered Miocene-Pliocene volcanic glass-shard-bearing laminae > 1 cm thick that correspond to 83 or 84 geochemical eruptive units. Revised eruptive frequencies based on the number of geochemical eruptive units identified represent at least one eruption every 99 kyr for the late Miocene and one per 74 kyr for the Pliocene. The frequency of tephra deposition throughout the history of the CVZ has not been constant, rather reflecting pulses of major explosive eruptions resulting in closely clustered groups of tephra separated by periods of reduced activity, relative volcanic quiescence or non-tephra deposition. As more regular activity became prevalent in the Pliocene, it was accompanied by more silicic magma compositions. Rhyolitic volcanic glass shards are characterised by predominantly calc-alkaline and minor high-K enriched major element compositions. Major element compositional variability of the tephras deposited between 10 Ma and 2 Ma reveals magma batches with pre-eruptive compositional gradients implying a broad control by fractional crystallisation. Trace element characterisation of glass shards reveals the role of magmatic processes that are not readily apparent in the relatively homogeneous major element compositions. Multi-element diagrams show prominent negative Sr and Ti anomalies against primitive mantle likely caused by various degrees of plagioclase and titanomagnetite fractional crystallisation in shallow magma chambers. Relative Nb depletion, characteristic of arc volcanism, is moderate in CVZ tephras. HFSEs (e.g. Nb, Zr, Ti) and HREEs (e.g. Yb, Lu) remain immobile during slab fluid flux suggesting they are derived from the mantle wedge. LILE (e.g. Rb, Cs, Ba, Sr) and LREE (e.g. La, Ce) enrichments are consistent with slab fluid contribution. B/La and Li/Y ratios can be used as a proxy for the flux of subducting material to the mantle wedge, they suggest there is a strong influence from this component in the generation of CVZ arc magmas, potentially inducing melting. CVZ tephra show long-term coherent variability in trace element geochemistry. Post ~ 4 Ma tephras display a more consistent, less variable, chemical fingerprint that persists up to and across the CVZ/TVZ transition at ~ 2 Ma. Initiation of TVZ volcanism may have occurred earlier than is presently considered, or CVZ to TVZ volcanism may have occurred without significant changes in magma generation processes.</p>


2016 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgina E. King ◽  
Nicholas J.G. Pearce ◽  
Helen M. Roberts ◽  
Victoria C. Smith ◽  
John A. Westgate ◽  
...  

AbstractThe Kulshan caldera formed at ∼1.15 Ma on the present-day site of Mt. Baker, Washington State, northwest USA and erupted a compositionally zoned (dacite-rhyolite) magma and a correlative eruptive, the Lake Tapps tephra. This tephra has previously been described, but only from the Puget Lowland of NW Washington. Here an occurrence of a Kulshan caldera correlative tephra is described from the Quaternary Palouse loess at the Washtucna site (WA-3). Site WA-3 is located in east-central Washington, ∼340 km southeast of the Kulshan caldera and ∼300 km east-southeast of the Lake Tapps occurrence in the Puget Lowland. Major- and trace element chemistry and location of the deposit at Washtucna within reversed polarity sediments indicates that it is not correlative with the Mesa Falls, Rockland, Bishop Ash, Lava Creek B or Huckleberry Ridge tephras. Instead the Washtucna deposit is related to the Lake Tapps tephra by fractional crystallisation, but is chemically distinct, a consequence of its eruption from a compositionally zoned magma chamber. The correlation of the Washtucna occurrence to the Kulshan caldera-forming eruption indicates that it had an eruptive volume exceeding 100 km3, and that its tephra could provide a valuable early-Pleistocene chronostratigraphic marker in the Pacific Northwest.


1988 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 1323-1337 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H. Sevigny

Late Proterozoic amphibolites and ultramafic rocks from the southeastern Canadian Cordillera have been analysed for major and trace elements in order to determine the nature and origin of the protoliths. Geologic relations indicate that these rocks were produced during an episode of continental rifting in the Precambrian. Based on rare-earth-element (REE) patterns, immobile-incompatible-element ratios, and characteristic elemental abundances, amphibolites are subdivided into alkaline and tholeiitic metabasalts. Alkaline basalts are recognized by their steep REE patterns, high Zr/Y, high TiO2 and P2O5 abundances, and low Y/Nb and Ti/Zr. Tholeiitic basalts are subdivided into three groups: (I) high-Mg#, high-field-strength-element (HFSE)-depleted, light-REE (LREE)-enriched tholeiites with flat heavy REE (HREE) patterns; (II) LREE-enriched tholeiites depleted in HREE; and (III) low-Mg# tholeiites with flat REE patterns. Ultramafic rocks occur as boudins of partially recrystallized Cr-spinel-bearing harzburgite or therzolite, enriched in LREE (Ce/Sm = 1.7–1.9), HFSE, CaO, Al2O3, and TiO2 relative to depleted mantle.Geochemical data suggest that the basalts were derived from a heterogeneous mantle source that underwent different degrees of partial melting with variable amounts of subsequent crystal fractionation of the melts. High Mg#, high Cr and Ni abundances, low HFSE abundances, and high olivine saturation temperatures suggest that group I tholeiites are primary mantle melts produced by a relatively high degree of partial melting of a LREE-enriched, HFSE-depleted source. Group II and III basalts have undergone moderate olivine and pryoxene and limited plagioclase fractionation. Mass-balance calculations suggest that the ultramafic rocks represent a crustally contaminated primary-mantle-derived melt.Les éléments majeurs et traces des amphibolites et des ultramafites, d'âge protérozoïque tardif, du sud-est de la Cordillère canadienne ont été analysés dans le but de déterminer la nature et l'origine des protolithes. Les relations géologiques indiquent que ces roches se sont formées durant un épisode de rifting continental dans le Précambrien. Les diagrammes des terres rares, les rapports des éléments immobiles et incompatibles et les compositions chimiques caractéristiques ont permis de subdiviser les amphibolites en métabasaltes tholéiitiques et alcalins. Les basaltes alcalins sont reconnus par les courbes abruptes dans les diagrammes des terres rares, les rapports Zr/Y élevés et les fortes teneurs en TiO2 et P2O5 et les rapports Y/Nb et Ti/Zr faibles. Les basaltes tholéiitiques sont subdivisés en trois groupes : (I) avec Mg# élevé, appauvrissement en éléments de force de champ élevée, tholéiites enrichies en terres rares légères avec courbe horizontale des terres rares lourdes; (II) tholéiites enrichies en terres rares légères et appauvries en terres rares lourdes; et (III) tholéiites avec Mg# faible et avec courbe horizontale des variations des terres rares. Les ultramafites se présentent en boudins formés d'harzburgite incluant un spinelle chromifère partiellement recristallisé ou de therzolite qui sont enrichies en terres rares légères (Ce/Sm = 1,7–1,9), en éléments à force de champ élevée, en CaO, Al2O3 et TiO2, comparativement à un manteau appauvri.


Author(s):  
Xiao-Fei Xu ◽  
Long-Long Gou ◽  
Xiao-Ping Long ◽  
Yu-Hang Zhao ◽  
Feng Zhou

Abstract Phase equilibria and trace-element modeling using two previously reported basaltic bulk-rock compositions (samples D11 and 104-16), were carried out in this study, in order to better understand mechanism of low-pressure (LP) partial melting of mafic rocks and associated melt compositions. The T–MH2O pseudosections for both samples at three pressures (i.e. 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 kbar) display that the H2O-stability field gradually increased with decreasing pressure within the T–MH2O range of 600–1100 °C and 0–12 mol.%. The H2O contents of 10, 5.0, and 0.5 mol.% were selected on the basis of the T–MH2O pseudosections to calculate P–T pseudosections over a P–T window of 0.1–3 kbar and 600–1100 °C, so that the reactions of both the H2O-fluxed and -absent meltings at LP conditions can be investigated. The solidus displays a negative or near-vertical P–T slope, and occurs between 710 and 900 °C at pressure between 0.1 and 3.0 kbar. LP melting of metabasites is attributed to the reactions of the hydrous mineral (hornblende and/or biotite) melting and anhydrous mineral (plagioclase, orthopyroxene, and augite) melting. The hydrous mineral melting is gradually replaced by anhydrous mineral melting as pressure decreasing, as the stability of hornblende decreases with falling pressure. With increasing temperature at a given pressure, the modeled melt compositions are expressed as progressions of the granite-granodiorite-gabbroic diorite fields for sample D11and granite-quartz monzonite-monzonite-gabbroic diorite fields for sample 104-16 on the total alkali–silica diagram. The modeled melts produced through the H2O-fluxed melting display higher Al2O3, CaO, MgO, and lower SiO2 and K2O than those formed by H2O-absent melting at the same P–T conditions. Furthermore, the modeled melts formed by H2O-absent melting, become richer in Al2O3, CaO, MgO, FeO, Na2O, but poorer in SiO2 and K2O as increasing water content. The results of trace-element modeling suggests that the nearly flat REE patterns of modeled bulk-rock composition are inherited by all the modeled melts, and the negative Eu anomalies and Sr depletion of the modeled melts gradually decrease as melting degree increases. Combined with the geochemical characteristics of natural oceanic plagiogranites, which have low K2O contents and flat or slightly LREE-depleted REE patterns, our results imply that a bulk-rock composition with low K2O (&lt;0.17 wt.%) and slightly LREEs depletion is the most likely protolith composition (e.g. basalt D11) for plagiogranites, and the compositions of modeled melts formed by LP H2O-absent partial melting of the basalt D11 at relatively high temperatures (1000–1025 °C) are coincident with those of 1256D tonalites.


Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 736
Author(s):  
Gianluca Bianchini ◽  
Claudio Natali ◽  
Paolo Ferretti ◽  
Lara Casagrande ◽  
Manuel Conedera ◽  
...  

Sulfide mineralization in the province of Trento (northeastern Italy) includes various mineral assemblages that are often silver-rich and have been exploited in different phases from the Middle Ages until the 20th century. This study investigates mineralized rocks from three historically important sites (Calisio mount, Erdemolo lake, and the locality of Cinque Valli), providing new analytical data (Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry on bulk rocks, and Scanning Electron Microscopy on thin sections) that demonstrate that parageneses do not only include galena, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite but also accessory minerals, such as tetrahedrite, tennantite, acanthite, and sulfosalts (matildite/polybasite). This explains the high content of As (up to 278 ppm), Bi (up to 176 ppm), and Sb (up to 691 ppm) that are associated with Pb–Cu–Zn mineralization. Notably, trace-element ratios indicate that, although closely associated from a geographical point of view, the studied sites are not genetically related and have to be referred to in distinct mineralization events, possibly induced by three diverse magmatic and hydrothermal phases that occurred in the Variscan post-orogenic setting. Besides geological and petrogenetic reconstruction, the new data outline potential geochemical risks, as they reveal a high concentration of elements characterized by marked toxicity that can be transferred into the local soil and water. Therefore, future studies should be devoted to better investigating the metal distribution in the surroundings of ancient mining sites and their geochemical behavior during the weathering processes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 693-714 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Good ◽  
Peter C. Lightfoot

A diverse suite of tholeiitic to alkaline basalt and gabbroic intrusions located in the Coldwell Complex on the northern margin of the Midcontinent Rift exhibit unusual trace element signatures that show enriched large ion lithophile elements and light rare earth elements with negative Nb and Zr anomalies. These features are not typical of magmas derived by partial melting within or above a rising mantle plume, as might be expected in an early Midcontinent Rift magmatic event. In this paper, we provide a detailed geochemical study of a 500 m thick sequence of metabasalt that represents the earliest stage of magmatism in the Coldwell Complex. We show that contamination or crystallization processes or subsequent metasomatism cannot explain the trace element variations. Instead, we propose partial melting in a metasomatized Subcontinental Lithospheric Mantle source to explain the decoupled behavior of large ion lithophile elements from light rare earth elements and heavy rare earth elements and rare earth elements from high field strength elements and the enriched Nd isotope signature of metabasalt. Similar features occur in unit 5b of the Mamainse Point Volcanic Group located at the northern margin of the Rift. An objective of this paper is to relate Two Duck Lake gabbro, host rock for low-sulfur, high precious metal sulfide mineralization at the Marathon deposit, to the metabasalt sequence. The excellent match of trace element abundances in Two Duck Lake gabbro to metabasalt unit 3 confirms an early Coldwell Complex age for metabasalt and a Subcontinental Lithospheric Mantle source for Cu – platinum group element mineralized gabbros.


1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
pp. 1002-1006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack E. Fergusson

Street dust has frequently been used as a material for the monitoring of trace element pollution, and in particular for the metal lead. The value of the analytical data, as a measure of pollution, depends on understanding the spatial, temporal, and bulk characteristics of the dust. The influence of each of these factors on the variability of trace element analytical results has been investigated in order to determine whether or not the variations reflect differing pollution levels. The concentrations of the four metals Pb, Cu, Ni, and Zn have been measured in street dust collected from a variety of situations. Coefficients of variation > 20% (particularly for lead) for a series of samples have been taken as a guide to real differences in lead levels between samples in the series. An important factor in the variability of heavy metal levels in dust is the distribution of particle size within a sample. Concentrations of the trace metals fall and then rise as the particle size decreases from 1000 μm down to silt sized particles.


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