Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The continental South Armenian Block – part of the Anatolide–Tauride South Armenian microplate – of Gondwana origin rifted from the African margin after the Triassic and collided with the Eurasian margin after the Late Cretaceous. During the Late Cretaceous, two northward dipping subduction zones were simultaneously active in the northern Neo-Tethys between the South Armenian Block in the south and the Eurasian margin in the north: oceanic subduction took place below the continental Eurasian margin and intra-oceanic subduction resulted in ophiolite obduction onto the South Armenian Block in the Late Cretaceous.The paleolatitude position of the South Armenian Block before its collision with Eurasia within paleogeographic reconstructions is poorly determined and limited to one study. This earlier study places the South Armenian Block at the African margin in the Early Jurassic. To reconstruct the paleolatitude history of the South Armenian Block, we sampled Upper Devonian–Permian and Cretaceous sedimentary rocks in Armenia. The sampled Paleozoic rocks have likely been remagnetized. Results from two out of three sites sampled in Upper Cretaceous strata pass fold tests and probably all three carry a primary paleomagnetic signal. The sampled sedimentary rocks were potentially affected by inclination shallowing. Therefore, two sites that consist of a large number of samples (> 100) were corrected for inclination shallowing using the elongation/inclination method.These are the first paleomagnetic data that quantify the South Armenian Block's position in the Tethys ocean between post-Triassic rifting from the African margin and post-Cretaceous collision with Eurasia. A locality sampled in Lower Campanian Eurasian margin sedimentary rocks and corrected for inclination shallowing, confirms that the corresponding paleolatitude falls on the Eurasian paleolatitude curve. The north–south distance between the South Armenian Block and the Eurasian margin just after Coniacian–Santonian ophiolite obduction was at most 1000 km.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01365871
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01365871
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2015.01.012

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Orogenic wedges locally present chaotic tectonostratigraphic units that contain exotic blocks of various size, origin, age and lithology, embedded in a sedimentary matrix. The occurrence of ophiolitic blocks, sometimes huge, in such “mélanges” raises questions on (i) the mechanisms responsible for the incorporation of oceanic basement rocks into an accretionary wedge and (ii) the mechanisms allowing exhumation and redeposition of these exotic elements in “mélanges” during wedge growth.To address these questions, we present the results of a series of analogue experiments performed to characterize the processes and parameters responsible for accretion, exhumation and tectonosedimentary reworking of oceanic basement lithospheric fragments in an accretionary wedge.The experimental setup is designed to simulate the interaction between tectonics, erosion and sedimentation. Different configurations are applied to study the impact of various parameters, such as irregular oceanic floor due to structural inheritance, or the presence of layers with contrasted rheology that can affect deformation partitioning in the wedge (frontal accretion vs basal accretion) influencing its growth. Image correlation technique allows extracting instantaneous velocity field, and tracking of passive particles. By retrieving the particle paths determined from models, the pressure-temperature path of mélange units or elementary blocks can be discussed. The experimental results are then compared with observations from ophiolite-bearing mélanges in Taiwan (Lichi and Kenting mélanges) and Raman spectroscopy of carbonaceous material (RSCM) Thermometry data on rocks from the northern Apennines (Casanova mélange). A geological scenario is proposed following basic observations. The tectonic evolution of the retroside of doubly vergent accretionary wedges is mainly controlled by backthrusting and backfolding. The retro wedge is characterized by steep slopes that are prone to gravitational instabilities. It triggers submarine landslides inducing huge mass transfers. This erosion combined with backthrusting could favour exhumation of the ophiolitic fragments formerly accreted at the base of the wedge along the rough seafloor-sediments interface. Such an exhumed material can be reworked and deposited as debris- flows in proximal basins located at the foot of the retrowedge slope forming a tectono-sedimentary mélange. These syntectonic basins are continuously deformed and involved in prograding backthrusting-induced deformation.
ISSN: 0264-3707

hal-01395127
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01395127
DOI : 10.1016/j.jog.2016.05.008

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Oman ophiolite includes both a fossil fast spreading axis, defined by five mantle diapirs, and an off-axis mantle diapir emplaced 30 km from the axis, providing a natural laboratory for the study of off-axis magmatic processes. We compare field and petrological observations coupled with geochemical and isotopic analyses of samples from the off-axis diapir with those of the nearest on-axis diapir, with a particular focus on the Moho Transition Zone (MTZ). Both diapirs are defined by the presence of steeply plunging lineations, but in the on-axis case, these lineations rotate gradually into parallelism with the horizontal magmatic lineations of the overlying crust, while in the off-axis case, a shear zone separates the steeply plunging lineations from the horizontal lineations of the surrounding mantle. In the on-axis diapir, the MTZ is 50 to 500 m thick and composed of dunite with layered gabbro lenses whereas in the off-axis diapir, the MTZ is thicker and composed of dunite with massive (∼20% of MTZ) clinopyroxenite lenses and a notable absence of plagioclase. Moreover, the off-axis diapir is associated with amphibole-bearing intrusions, consisting of Mg-rich gabbroic sills in the mantle peripheral to the diapir, and microgabbroic lenses of broadly basaltic composition in the overlying crust. The ε Nd values of the pyroxenites in the MTZ of the off-axis diapir fully overlap with those of the intrusions in the surrounding mantle and crust, suggesting that they are genetically related. Calculated rare earth element (REE) abundances of liquids in equilibrium with clinopyroxene imply that the magmas that traversed the MTZ of the off-axis diapir were more depleted in highly incompatible elements than their counterparts in the MTZ of the on-axis diapir. On the other hand, Nd isotopic compositions of the off-axis samples (εNd=6.2–7.9εNd=6.2–7.9 in 18 of 19 samples) indicate derivation of their parental magmas from a less depleted source than that which produced the magma associated with the on-axis gabbro (εNd=7.8–9.2εNd=7.8–9.2, 10 analyses).To explain these observations, we suggest that the earliest magmas in the uprising off-axis diapir formed from the partial melting of pyroxenite veins with less radiogenic Nd isotopic compositions than those of the ambient peridotite. As the diapir traversed the cool, hydrated lithosphere these early melts interacted with depleted harzburgites, lowering the incompatible element contents of the melt products while having little effect on their Nd isotopic compositions. The great abundance of clinopyroxene in the off-axis MTZ might be explained by the high pyroxene component in the original melt but perhaps also by the presence of water in the lithosphere, which would favor the crystallization of clinopyroxene while inhibiting that of plagioclase. The intrusions in the overlying crust could represent, to first order, the secondary melts produced by the melt–harzburgite reaction, while the sills in the surrounding mantle may be cumulates from such secondary melts.These results shed light on processes occurring during interaction between rising off-axis material and depleted, hydrated lithospheric mantle. Furthermore, if our interpretation is correct, the low εNd values of the off-axis samples contribute to the growing body of evidence for the presence of pyroxenite veins in the MORB mantle source.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-01306575
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01306575
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2015.12.005

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
Microstructures and crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) of anorthosite samples interlayered in the upper and lower gabbro sections in the Oman ophiolite were analyzed in this paper. In the anorthosites registering the dynamics of the melt lenses, foliation is flat lying and starts to develop a few meters below the root zone of the sheeted dike complex (RZSDC). Microstructures and CPO of these rocks were developed in response to four different mechanisms: (1) density-controlled settling of plagioclase on the lens floor, (2) deposition of anorthosites related to convection currents, (3) melt compaction, and (4) uncompacted melt accumulation. In these anorthosites, the poles to (010) of plagioclase are parallel to the flow plane of convection, whereas the [100] axes and poles to (001) express the convection flow direction and the axis of convection rolls, respectively. The effect of subsidence of melt lens floor is recorded immediately below the RZSDC and is characterized by the rapid (but progressive) development of dipping foliation and lineation, reflecting the increase of deformation downsection. The degree of foliation and CPO development in the anorthosites is directly related to the distance of the center of the melt lenses before the subsidence starts. Despite the uncertain origin of the anorthosites from the lower gabbro section, all the samples lost the magmatic microstructural characteristics and presently are reequilibrated aggregates. However, they still preserve plagioclase CPO, where some of these patterns present similarities with the anorthosites from the upper gabbro section, but no evidence of intracrystalline deformation under high temperatures.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-00617446
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00617446
DOI : 10.1029/2010TC002697

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
The ODP/IODP multileg campaign at ODP Site 1256 (Cocos plate, eastern equatorial Pacific) provides the first continuous in situ sampling of fast spreading ocean crust from the extrusive lavas, through the sheeted dikes and down into the uppermost gabbros. This paper focuses on a detailed petrographic and microanalytical investigation of the gabbro section drilled during IODP Expedition 312. The marked patchy and spotty features that can be observed in many Hole 1256D gabbros is mostly due to a close association of two different lithological domains in variable amounts: (1) subophitic domains and (2) a granular matrix. Major and trace element mineral compositions, geothermometry, and petrological modeling suggest that subophitic and granular domains follow one single magma evolution trend formed by in situ fractionation. The subophitic domains correspond to the relative primitive, high-temperature end-member, compositionally similar to the basalts and dikes from the extrusive unit upsection, while the granular domains fit with a magma evolution by crystal fractionation to lower temperatures, up to a degree of crystallization of similar to 80%. Our results support the following scenario for the fossilization of the axial melt lens at ODP Site 1256: relatively primitive MORB melts under near-liquidus conditions fill the melt lens and feed the upper, extrusive crust. Near the melt lens-sheeted dike boundary at lower temperatures, crystallization starts with first plagioclase before clinopyroxene in a mushy zone forming the subophitic domains. At decreasing temperatures, the subophitic domains continue to crystallize, finally forming a well-connected framework. Evolved, residual melt is finally trapped within the subophitic network, crystallizing at near-solidus conditions to the granular matrix. Another important textural feature in Hole 1256D gabbros is the presence of microgranular domains which are interpreted as relics of stoped/assimilated sheeted dikes (transformed to "granoblastic dikes" by contact metamorphism). All these different domains can be observed in close association, often at the thin section scale, demonstrating the extremely complex petrological record of combined crystallization/assimilation processes ongoing in the axial melt lens. Very similar gabbros with a marked spotty/patchy appearance, and bearing the same close association of lithological domains as observed at Site 1256, are known in the so-called "varitextured gabbro" unit from the Oman Ophiolite located at the same structural level, between cumulate gabbros and granoblastic dikes. The close petrological similarity of the gabbro/dike transition between both IODP Hole 1256D and the Oman ophiolite suggests that in situ fractionation and dike assimilation/contamination are major magmatic processes controlling the dynamics and fossilization of the axial melt lens at fast spreading oceanic ridges.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-00644798
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00644798
DOI : 10.1029/2011GC003655

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Société géologique de France
Résumé : New-Caledonia island consists of an ultramafic nappe thrusted over a continental and arc-derived basement as the result of the closure of a back-arc basin during the upper Eocene. The morphology of New-Caledonia is mostly characterized by its elongated shape and rectilinear coastline. Indeed, the western and eastern edges of the island are delineated by N140 trending normal faults that are well imaged on seismic lines. Major tectonic lineaments onland, including the scarps corresponding to the main boundary of the ultramafic nappe, also trend N140 suggesting a morphotectonic control by faults having similar kinematics (longitudinal flexure-fault of previous authors). We provide detailed observations from some of these scarps demonstrating indeed that these are not erosional features in origin. We explore the possibility that such surfaces do represent major tectonic limits that accommodated extension and significant tectonic thinning of both the peridotite nappe and its basement. Remnants of a complex extensional fault zone, 200 m wide, are still preserved along the western scarp of the Mont Dore mountain, close to Noumea city. The deformed zone is composed of an early shallow dipping detachment fault, some decimeters thick, offset by a group of late high angle normal faults and is bounded by cataclastic breccias that progressively pass into the fractured host peridotite. The late high angle fault zones have been the site of important syn-tectonic fluid circulation and are underlined by cm-thick silica infills bearing vertical striae. Typical morphology of the main scarps with break of slope is related to the combination of high angle normal faults and low angle detachment. Similar shallow dipping detachment surfaces have been observed along the east coast of southern New-Caledonia as well as within the ultramafic nappe itself and its basement. This study confirms that N140 oriented, large fault zones, with pure-normal to transtensional component of displacement, controlled the morphotectonic evolution of New-Caledonia at the regional scale, after the obduction of ophiolite nappe at the end of the Eocene. Such a fact has to be taken into account when attempting to reconstruct the post-obduction evolution of the island and more particularly when considering the development and distribution of the Ni-rich lateritic surfaces.
EISSN: 1777-5817

hal-00411855
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411855
DOI : 10.2113/gssgfbull.179.3.315

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
We report on microstructural data obtained by optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy concerning the crystallographic relationships of serpentine minerals with their host olivine in two contrasting situations. In the first case, mesh-textured lizardite (liz) is developed in a standard 60% serpentinized oceanic harzburgite from the Oman ophiolite where olivine converts to columnar lizardite. The joined columns are perpendicular to the basal plane (001)(liz), corresponding to the pseudofibres observed optically. The plane (001)(liz) is locally parallel to the narrow boundary ol-liz; thus column orientations register the interface of serpentinization. The ol-liz relationships are not strictly topotactic, but reflect preferred cracking orientations in olivine, parallel to (010)(ol). In the second case, antigorite (atg) develops in a rare sample of antigorite schist in a kimberlite from Moses Rock (Colorado Plateau), representative of a suprasubduction-zone mantle wedge. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images along [010](atg) show domains of very regular modulation with a 43 center dot 5 A wavelength (m = 17, where m is the number of silicate tetrahedra along the wave), with few defects, indicative of HP-HT antigorite, and also heavily kinked regions as fingerprints of strong tectonic shear. TEM imaging and electron diffraction patterns reveal two topotactic relationships between antigorite and olivine: [100](atg)//[010](ol) and < 100 >(atg)//< 100 >(ol); the planes in contact are (001)(atg)//(100)(ol) and (001)(atg)//(010)(ol), respectively. The [010](atg)//[001](ol) and antigorite lamellae are parallel to the forsterite b-axis. In both cases, the topography of olivine-serpentine interfaces is controlled by open fluid pathways along microcracks oriented according to the anisotropy of the olivine aggregate. In the cases studied, the serpentine aggregate exhibits a preferred orientation inherited from that of the peridotite. These results have some relevance to the seismic anisotropy of serpentinized mantle. Anisotropy of propagation of seismic waves as a result of the olivine fabric is maintained and reinforced with the development of lizardite. Conversely, the development of antigorite produces a trench-parallel fast S-wave polarization and an anisotropy that is lowered at low degrees of serpentinization and then increased with increasing serpentinization.
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-00456061
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00456061
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egp049

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD European Geosciences Union
Résumé : This study presents a unique database of 172 plagioclase Crystallographic Preferred Orientations (CPO) of variously deformed gabbroic rocks. The CPO characteristics as a function of the deformation regime (magmatic or crystal-plastic) are outlined and discussed. The studied samples are dominantly from slow- and fast-spread present-day ocean crust, as well as from the Oman ophiolite. Plagioclase is the dominant mineral phase in the studied samples. Plagioclase CPOs are grouped into three main categories: Axial-B, a strong point alignment of (010) with a girdle distribution of [100]; Axial-A, a strong point maximum concentration of [100] with parallel girdle distributions of (010) and (001); and P-type, point maxima of [100], (010), and (001). A majority of CPO patterns are Axial-B and P-type, in samples showing either magmatic or crystal-plastic deformation textures. Axial-A CPOs are less common; they represent 21% of the samples deformed by crystal-plastic flow. Although fabric strength (ODF J index) does not show any consistent variation as a function of the CPO patterns, there is a significant difference in the relationship between the ODF and pole figures J indices; the magmatic type microstructures have high (010) pole figures J indices, which increase linearly with ODF J index, whereas the high [100] pole figures J indices of plastically deformed samples vary in a more scattered manner with ODF J index. The multistage nature of plastic deformation superposed on a magmatic structure compared with magmatic flow, and the large number of possible slip-systems in plagioclase probably account for these differences. Calculated seismic properties (P wave and S wave velocities and anisotropies) of plagioclase aggregates show that anisotropy (up to 12% for P wave and 14% for S wave) tends to increase as a function of ODF J index. In comparison with the olivine 1998 CPO database, the magnitude of P wave anisotropy for a given J index is much less than olivine, whereas it is similar for S wave anisotropy. Despite a large variation of fabric patterns and geodynamic setting, seismic properties of plagioclase-rich rocks have similar magnitudes of anisotropy. There is a small difference in the aggregate elastic symmetry, with magmatic microstructures having higher orthorhombic and hexagonal components, whereas plastic deformation microstructures have a slightly higher monoclinic component, possibly correlated with predominant monoclinic simple shear flow in plastically deformed samples. Overall, plots for CPO strength (ODF J index), pole figure strength, CPO symmetry and seismic anisotropy show significant scattering. This could be related to sampling statistics, although our database is a factor of ten higher than the olivine database of 1998, or it could be related to the low symmetry (triclinic) structure of plagioclase resulting in the addition of degrees of freedom in the processes creating the CPOs.
ISSN: 1869-9510

hal-00963439
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00963439
DOI : 10.5194/se-4-511-2013

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) are the most abundant magmas produced on Earth. They are widely studied to infer mantle compositions and melting processes. However, MORB liquids are also the complex end-product of a variety of intra-crustal processes such as partial or fractional crystallization, melt–rock interaction, and contamination. Deciphering the relative contribution of these different processes is of first-order importance. Contamination at ocean crustal levels is likely, and may occur at magma chamber margins where fresh magmas can interact with previously hydrothermally altered rocks. Characterizing the composition of this crustal contaminant component is critical if we are to understand the relative importance of each component in the resulting MORB liquid.Here we present the results of experiments designed to reproduce the processes occurring at oceanic magma chamber roofs, where crustal contamination should be most extensive, by melting a representative sample of the sheeted dike complex. Anatectic melts thus produced are likely to represent the principal crustal contaminant in MORB. These melts were characterized for major and trace elements, showing B, Zr, Hf, and U enrichment, and Sr, Ti, and V depletion relative to original MORB liquids. In comparison to the starting material, relative element fractionations are observed in the anatectic melts, with enrichments of: U relative to Ba, Nb, and Th; LREE and MREE relative to Sr; and Zr–Hf relative to LREE. Bulk partition coefficients for element partitioning during magma chamber roof anatexis are derived and proposed as valuable tools for tracking MORB contamination.Comparison with natural samples from the East Pacific Rise and the Oman ophiolite shows that anatectic melts can crystallize in situ to form oceanic plagiogranite intrusions, and that residual assemblages associated with the hydrous partial melting stage are represented by hornfelsic dikes and enclaves (also named granoblastic basalts). We now recognize these as commonplace at the root of the sheeted dike complex both at present-day and fossil oceanic spreading centers.
ISSN: 0024-4937

hal-01115500
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01115500
DOI : 10.1016/j.lithos.2014.05.018

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Highly siderophile element concentrations (HSE: Re and platinum-group elements (PGE)) are presented for gabbros, gabbroic eclogites and basaltic eclogites from the high-pressure Zermatt-Saas ophiolite terrain, Switzerland. Rhenium and PGE (Os, Ir, Ru, Rh, Pt, Pd) abundances in gabbro- and eclogite-hosted sulphides, and Re-Os isotopes and elemental concentrations in silicate phases are also reported. This work, therefore, provides whole rock and mineral-scale insights into the PGE budget of gabbroic oceanic crust and the effects of subduction metamorphism on gabbroic and basaltic crust. Chondrite-normalised PGE patterns for the gabbros are similar to published mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB), but show less inter-element fractionation. Mean Pt and Pd contents of 360 and 530 pg/g, respectively, are broadly comparable to MORB, but gabbros have somewhat higher abundances of Os, Ir and Ru (mean: 64, 57 and 108 pg/g). Transformation to eclogite has not significantly changed the concentrations of the PGE, except Pd which is severely depleted in gabbroic eclogites relative to gabbros (similar to 75% loss). In contrast, basaltic eclogites display significant depletion of Pt (>= 60%), Pd (>85%) and Re (50-60%) compared with published MORB, while Os, Ir and Ru abundances are broadly comparable. Thus, these data suggest that only Pt, Pd and Re, and not Os, Ir and Ru, may be significantly fluxed into the mantle wedge from mafic oceanic crust. Re-Os model ages for gabbroic and gabbroic eclogite minerals are close to age estimates for igneous crystallisation and high-pressure metamorphism, respectively, hence the HSE budgets can be related to both igneous and metamorphic behaviour. The gabbroic budget of Os, Ir, Ru and Pd (but not Pt) is dominated by sulphide, which typically hosts >90% of the Os, whereas silicates account for most of the Re (with up to 75% in plagioclase alone). Sulphides in gabbroic eclogites tend to host a smaller proportion of the total Os (10-90%) while silicates are important hosts, probably reflecting Os inheritance from precursor phases. Garnet contains very high Re concentrations and may account for >50% of Re in some samples. The depletion of Pd in gabbroic eclogites appears linked, at least in part, to the loss of Ni-rich sulphide. Both basaltic and gabbroic oceanic crust have elevated Pt/Os ratios, but Pt/Re ratios are not sufficiently high to generate the coupled Os-186-Os-187 enrichments observed in some mantle melts, even without Pt loss from basaltic crust. However, the apparent mobility of Pt and Re in slab fluids provides an alternative mechanism for the generation of Pt- and Re-rich mantle material, recently proposed as a potential source of Os-187-Os-186 enrichment.
ISSN: 0016-7037

hal-00420072
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00420072
DOI : 10.1016/j.gca.2008.11.036

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Chromitite pods in the Mayarí-Cristal ophiolitic massif (eastern Cuba) were formed in the Late Cretaceous when island arc tholeiites and MORB-like back-arc basin basalts reacted with residual mantle peridotites and generated chromite-rich bodies enclosed in dunite envelopes. Platinum-group minerals (PGM) in the podiform chromitites exhibit important Os-isotope heterogeneities at the kilometric, hand sample and thin section scales. 187Os/188Os calculated at the time of chromitite crystallization (~90 Ma) ranges between 0.1185 and 0.1295 (γOs = −7.1 to +1.6, relative to enstatite chondrite), and all but one PGM have subchondritic 187Os/188Os. Grains in a single hand sample have initial 187Os/188Os that spans from 0.1185 to 0.1274, and in one thin section it varies between 0.1185 and 0.1232 in two PGM included in chromite which are only several millimeters apart. As the Os budget of a single micrometric grain derives from a mantle region that was at least several m3 in size, the variable Os isotopic composition of PGM in the Mayarí-Cristal chromitites probably reflects the heterogeneity of their mantle sources on the 10-100 m scale. Our results show that this heterogeneity was not erased by pooling and mingling of individual melt batches during chromitite crystallization but was transferred to the ore deposits on mineral scale. The distribution of the Os model ages calculated for PGM shows four main peaks, at ~100, 500, 750 and 1,000 Ma. These variable Os model ages reflect the presence of different depleted domains in the oceanic (Pacific-related) upper mantle of the Greater Antilles paleo-subduction zone. The concordance between the age of crystallization of the Mayarí-Cristal chromitites and the most recent peak of the Os model age distribution in PGM supports that Os in several grains was derived from fertile domains of the upper mantle, whose bulk Os isotopic composition is best approximated by that of enstatite chondrites; on the other hand, most PGM are crystallized by melts that tapped highly refractory mantle sources.
ISSN: 0010-7999

hal-00822742
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00822742
DOI : 10.1007/s00410-010-0575-2

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Several recent studies have documented that reactions between melt and crystal mush in primitive gabbroic rocks (via reactive porous flow) have an important control in the formation of the lower oceanic crust and the evolution of MORBs. In this context, olivine-rich rocks can form either by fractional crystallization of primitive melts or by open system reactive percolation of pre-existing (possibly mantle-derived) olivine matrix. To address this question, we performed in-situ trace element analyses (by LA-ICP-MS) of olivine from the Erro-Tobbio ophiolite Unit (Ligurian Alps), where mantle peridotites show gradational contacts with an hectometer-scale body of troctolites and plagioclase wehrlites, and both are cut by later decameter-wide lenses and dykes of olivine gabbros. Previous studies inferred that troctolites and olivine gabbros represent variably differentiated crystallization products from primitive MORB-type melts. Olivines in the three rock types (mantle peridotites, troctolites, olivine gabbros) exhibit distinct geochemical signature and well-defined elemental correlations. As expected, compatible elements (e.g. Ni) show the highest concentrations in peridotites (2580–2730 ppm), intermediate in troctolites (2050–2230 ppm) and lowest in gabbros (1355–1420 ppm), whereas moderate incompatible elements (e.g. Mn, Zn) show the opposite behaviour. By contrast, highly incompatible elements like Zr, Hf, Ti, HREE are variably enriched in olivines of troctolites, and the enrichment in absolute concentrations is coupled to development of significant HFSE/REE fractionation (ZrN/NdN up to 80). AFC modelling shows that such large ZrN/NdN ratios in olivines are consistent with a process of olivine assimilation and plagioclase crystallization at decreasing melt mass, in agreement with textural observations. In-situ trace element geochemistry of olivine, combined with microstructural investigations, thus appears a powerful tool to investigate reactive percolation and the origin of olivine-rich rocks in the lower oceanic crust.
ISSN: 0016-7037

hal-01419938
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01419938
DOI : 10.1016/j.gca.2016.06.029

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
During ODP Leg 209, a magma-starved area of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) was drilled in the vicinity of the Fifteen-Twenty Fracture Zone (FZ) that offsets one of the slowest portions of the spreading ridge. We present here the results of a bulk rock multi-elemental study of 27 peridotites drilled at Sites 1272 and 1274 (to the south and the north of the FZ, respectively). The peridotites comprise mainly of harzburgites with minor dunites. Clinopyroxene (Cpx), which is interstitial and interpreted as secondary, is observed in Site 1274 peridotites. Sites 1272 and 1274 peridotites have low Al2O3 contents (<= 1 anhydrous wt.%), high Mg# (>91.5), and bulk rock trace elements compositions mostly below 0.1 x primitive mantle (PM). These peridotites, and in particular Site 1272 peridotites, represent the most depleted peridotites yet sampled at a slow spreading ridge. Their compositions indicate high degrees of partial melting and melt extraction. A single open-system melting event (melting plus percolation of melts produced within upwelling mantle) can explain their highly depleted yet linear chondrite-normalized REE patterns, characterized by a steady depletion from HREE to LREE. Late melt-rock reactions and precipitation of Cpx explains the slightly less depleted compositions of Site 1274 peridotites. Hence, the differences in composition between Sites 1272 and 1274 peridotites do not provide evidence for regional variations in the degrees of partial melting from the south to the north of the FZ. The occurrence of highly refractory peridotites in the Fifteen-Twenty area suggests we sampled a more actively convecting mantle than generally supposed below slow spreading centers.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00412001
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00412001
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2007.11.058