Petrology, Geochemical Characteristics, Tectonic Setting, and Implications for Chromite and PGE Mineralization of the Hongshishan Alaskan-Type Complex in the Beishan Orogenic Collage, North West China

The Hongshishan mafic-ultramafic complex is situated in the north of the Beishan orogenic collage and the southern part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. This paper outlines the petrological, geochemical, and mineralogical data of the Hongshishan ultramafic–mafic complex in the Beishan orogenic collage to constrain its tectonic setting and mineralization. The lithological units of the complex include dunite, clinopyroxene peridotite, pyroxenite, and gabbro. The complex showed concentric zonation, from clinopyroxene peridotite and dunite in the core to pyroxenite and gabbro in the margin. These ultramafic–mafic rocks are characterized by cumulate and layering textures. Field observations, petrography, and significant elemental composition variation, a decreasing sequence of ferromagnesian minerals (Mg#), olivine Fo, and spinel Cr#, all show fractional crystallization trends from dunites through clinopyroxene peridotite and pyroxenite, to gabbros. There are systematic trends among the primary oxides, e.g., CaO, TiO2, and Al2O3, with MgO, suggesting a fractional crystallization trend. SiO2 and Al2O3 increased, which coupled with decreasing MgO, suggested olivine fractionation. The negative correlations of CaO and Al2O3 with MgO meant the accumulation of spinel and mafic minerals. The compositions of olivines from the dunite and clinopyroxene peridotite in the Hongshishan plot within the Alaskan Global trend fields displayed a typical fractional crystallization trend similar to olivines in an Alaskan-type complex. The clinopyroxenes in the clinopyroxene peridotite primarily occur as a diopside and appear in the field of an Alaskan-type complex. The absence of orthopyroxene, less hydrous, and free of fluid inclusions in the chrome spinels means the absence of a magmatic origin of chromite-bearing peridotites in hydrous parental melts or scarce hydrous melts. Serpentinization, carbonatization, subduction modification, and enrichment may account for the LILE-enrichment and HFSE-depletion of peridotite rocks. Negative Eu anomalies and REE fractionations of mafic-ultramafic rocks may not be directly attributed to crustal assimilation. Petrological, mineralogical, and geochemical characteristics indicated the Hongshishan complex is not the member compositions of a typical ophiolite. However, it displays many similarities to Alaskan-type mafic-ultramafic intrusions related to subduction or arc magmas setting at ∼366.1 Ma and suffered subduction modification and enrichment. The Hongshishan complex is a unique Ir-Ru-rich chromite deposit in the southern margin of the Altaids orogenic belt. Chromites occur primarily in light yellow dunites, with banded, lenticular, veined, thin-bedded, and brecciated textures. Part of the chromite enrichment in IPGE (Os, Ir, Ru) and the chondrite-normalized spider diagram of PGE showed steep right-facing sloped patterns similar to those of the PGE-rich ophiolitic chromites.

ERRATUM: Suprasubduction zone ophiolite fragments in the central Appalachian orogen: Evidence for mantle and Moho in the Baltimore Mafic Complex (Maryland, USA)

In the Table 3 note and captions of Figures 8 and 9, the equation Fe2+# = molar Fe2+/[Mg+Fe2++Fe3+] is incorrect. It should instead be Fe2+# = molar Fe2+/[Mg+Fe2+].

Density model of the Permo – Triassic lithospheric mantle of the Ivrea Verbano Complex

<p>The Ivrea – Verbano Zone (IVZ) is a virtually complete lower-to-middle continental crustal section exposed in the Western Italian Alps in result of exhumation processes during the Alpine orogenic cycle. To the northwest, the IVZ is juxtaposed to the basement of the Austro-Alpine Domain by the lnsubric Line; to the southeast, it is separated from the middle-to-upper crustal levels of the Strona – Ceneri Zone by the Pogallo and the Cossato-Mergozzo-Brissago (CMB) lines. The IVZ crustal section is constituted by two main units: the Kinzigite Formation, amphibolite- to granulite-facies sedimentary and igneous metamorphic rocks, and the Mafic Complex, a thick, composite gabbroid-to-dioritic intrusion.</p><p>Additionally, the lower crustal rocks of IVZ embed a series of kilometre-scale peridotite bodies; Baldissero, Balmuccia and Finero are the most relevant. These peridotites are thought to represent remnants of the oldest portion of subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) beneath Europe. Geochemical and isotopic studies indicate that peridotitic bodies experienced an Upper Devonian partial melting event followed by protracted enrichments while resident in the mantle. Field and structural relationships coupled with radiometric dating suggest that the emplacement of the mantle peridotite bodies at crustal levels has occurred since the end of the Variscan orogeny, prior to the intrusion of the Mafic Complex.</p><p>The Balmuccia Massif is dominated by fresh spinel lherzolites recording moderate degrees of melt extraction, subordinated harzburgites, reactive dunites and diffuse cross-cutting websteritic dykes. The melt extraction and melt-fluid/rock-reactions preserved in the Balmuccia peridotite, together with the lack of substantial low-temperature alteration, enable to track the evolution of the SCLM prior to its uplift and emplacement in crust. Therefore, reconstructing the density structure of the Balmuccia body could have major implications on the comprehension of the geodynamic evolution of the oldest portions of the European lithospheric mantle.</p><p>In this study, we modelled the density structure of the spinel lherzolite from the Balmuccia Massif, starting from the chemical composition and modal abundance of its main phase constituents. It is well known that the bulk density is function of modes, compositions and elastic properties of constituent minerals and can be explored from the perspective of their Equations of State (EoS) (see also Faccincani et al., 2021, abstract to session GD7.3 for a more holistic view of the density structure of the lithospheric mantle). By assuming that the EoS for a polyphase aggregate (e.g., a rock) may be calculated as weighted mean of the EoS of the constituting minerals (in our case olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, spinel and garnet at increasing depths), we investigated the density structure of a virtual 1-D vertical profile of the lithospheric mantle below the IVZ at pre-Variscan ages.</p>

Corundum-rich dykes constraining Triassic alkaline magmatism in the Ivrea-Verbano Zone (Southern Alps): a zircon approach

<p>Zircon is a common accessory mineral in evolved magmatic rocks and its investigation can provide unevaluable geochronological and geochemical information. The lower continental crust forming the Ivrea-Verbano Zone (IVZ, Southern Alps) locally shows the discordant intrusion of swarms of felsic dykes, which petrology was poorly constrained. Corundum-rich (Crn up to 55 vol.%) felsic dykes were sampled in two different outcrops along the Sabbiola valley (central IVZ). Besides corundum, they consist mainly of sodic plagioclase (An=5-10 %), biotite-siderophyllite, ±K-feldspar and ±hercynite. These dykes intrude granulites and Permian mafic intrusives, showing either pegmatite-like or porphyroclastic textures and contain abundant zircon. Trace elements concentration, as well as the isotopic U-Pb and Lu-Hf compositions of zircons have been determined by LA-ICP-(MC)MS to unravel emplacement ages and nature of parental melts. U-Pb weighted average ages point to Norian emplacement (ca. 224 Ma). Zircons are characterized by very high concentrations in REE, Th, U, Nb and Ta. REE patterns show marked negative Eu anomaly. These data, in association with the enrichments of Na in plagioclases and of Fe in micas and oxides, suggest that the parent melts were extremely evolved differentiates. Porphyroclastic texture developed in the frame of magmatic processes due to volatiles overpressure. Strongly positive Hf<sub>(</sub><sub>t)</sub> values (+13 on average) suggest a derivation of the parental melts from depleted to mildly enriched mantle sources. This observation and the corundum saturation (evidence for low silica activity) point to limited crustal contamination, which was favored by the high eutectic temperature of the host rocks. It is proposed that studied dykes segregated from peraluminous melts produced by exsolution processes affecting volatile-rich differentiates during alkaline magmatism (Bonazzi et al., 2020).</p><p>Triassic magmatic activity is largely documented throughout the Southern Alps, being related to different tectono-magmatic cycles. Nevertheless, before this study, the evidence of Triassic magmatism in IVZ was restricted only in its northernmost tip (Finero area, e.g. Zanetti et al., 2013; Schaltegger et al., 2015). This work provides robust constraints about the transition of the geochemical affinity of Southern Alps magmatism from orogenic-like to anorogenic during Norian, linked to a regional uprising of the asthenosphere and changes of tectonic regime.</p><p> </p><p>References</p><p>Bonazzi, M.; Langone, A.; Tumiati, S.; Dellarole, E.; Mazzucchelli, M.; Giovanardi, T.; Zanetti, A. Mantle-Derived Corundum-Bearing Felsic Dykes May Survive Only within the Lower (Refractory/Inert) Crust: Evidence from Zircon Geochemistry and Geochronology (Ivrea–Verbano Zone, Southern Alps, Italy). Geosciences 2020, 10, 281.</p><p>Schaltegger, U.; Ulianov, A.; Muntener, O.; Ovtcharova, M.; Peytcheva, I.; Vonlanthen, P.; Vennemann, T.; Antognini, M.; Girlanda, F. Megacrystic zircon with planar fractures in miaskite-type nepheline pegmatites formed at high pressures in the lower crust (Ivrea Zone, southern Alps, Switzerland). Am. Miner. 2014, 100, 83–94.</p><p>Zanetti, A.; Mazzucchelli, M.; Sinigoi, S.; Giovanardi, T.; Peressini, G.; Fanning, C.M. SHRIMP U-Pb Zircon Triassic Intrusion Age of the Finero Mafic Complex (Ivrea-Verbano Zone, Western Alps) and its Geodynamic Implications. J. Pet. 2013, 54, 2235–2265.</p>

Syndepositional hydrothermalism selectively preserves records of one of the earliest benthic ecosystems, Moodies Group (3.22 Ga), Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa

The ~3.22 Ga Moodies Group, Barberton Greenstone Belt (BGB), South Africa, provides a unique window into Archaean sedimentary, magmatic and ecological processes. In the central BGB, a regional mafic complex, consisting of a genetically related major mafic sill, a peperitic dyke stockwork, and extensive basaltic lava flows affected thick quartzose sandstones of the Moodies Group. We argue that epithermal hydrothermalism associated with this magmatic event occurred, at least in part, syndepositionally and in places destroyed, in other places preserved the abundant benthic microbial mats in terrestrial- and coastal-facies sandstone of this unit. We differentiate four principal types of hydrothermal alteration: (1) Sericitization resulted from ubiquitous feldspar breakdown; (2) iron-oxide alteration replaced the original matrix by fine-grained iron oxide; (3) silicification replaced matrix and most non-silica grains by microcrystalline silica and locally preserved kerogenous microbial mats; and (4) hydraulic fracturing at shallow depth brecciated consolidated Moodies Group sandstone and created closely spaced, randomly oriented fractures and quartz-filled veins. Because stockwork intrusion locally interacted with unconsolidated water-saturated sediment and because the dykes connect the sill with the mafic lava but also follow zones of structural weakness, we suggest that hydrothermalism associated with this magmatic event occurred syndepositionally but was also – within the resolution of radiometric age data – contemporaneous with tight regional folding. We conclude that microbial organisms in Paleoarchaean coastal (tidal, estuarine) environments may have been formerly widespread, possibly even abundant, but are nearly nowhere preserved because they were easily degradable. Preservation of Early Archaean microbial mats in a thermal aureole in the central BGB was controlled by the “just right” degree of heating and very early hydrothermal silicification.

Suprasubduction zone ophiolite fragments in the central Appalachian orogen: Evidence for mantle and Moho in the Baltimore Mafic Complex (Maryland, USA)

Suprasubduction zone (SSZ) ophiolites of the northern Appalachians (eastern North America) have provided key constraints on the fundamental tectonic processes responsible for the evolution of the Appalachian orogen. The central and southern Appalachians, which extend from southern New York to Alabama (USA), also contain numerous ultra- mafic-mafic bodies that have been interpreted as ophiolite fragments; however, this interpretation is a matter of debate, with the origin(s) of such occurrences also attributed to layered intrusions. These disparate proposed origins, alongside the range of possible magmatic affinities, have varied potential implications for the magmatic and tectonic evolution of the central and southern Appalachian orogen and its relationship with the northern Appalachian orogen. We present the results of field observations, petrography, bulk-rock geochemistry, and spinel mineral chemistry for ultramafic portions of the Baltimore Mafic Complex, which refers to a series of ultramafic-mafic bodies that are discontinuously exposed in Maryland and southern Pennsylvania (USA). Our data indicate that the Baltimore Mafic Complex comprises SSZ ophiolite fragments. The Soldiers Delight Ultramafite displays geochemical characteristics—including highly depleted bulk-rock trace element patterns and high Cr# of spinel—characteristic of subduction-related mantle peridotites and serpentinites. The Hollofield Ultramafite likely represents the “layered ultramafics” that form the Moho. Interpretation of the Baltimore Mafic Complex as an Iapetus Ocean–derived SSZ ophiolite in the central Appalachian orogen raises the possibility that a broadly coeval suite of ophiolites is preserved along thousands of kilometers of orogenic strike.