Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
A subject of continuing debate is how the Earth's lithospheric portion of the upper mantle has remained the thickest (> 200 km) and oldest (> 3 Gy) beneath cratons and is yet surrounded by a vigorously convecting asthenosphere. It is generally admitted that water is a key parameter in the strength and longevity of cratonic roots, because olivine, the main phase of the lithospheric mantle, becomes stronger if its water content decreases. Expanding upon the work presented in Novella et al. (2015) and Taylor et al. (2016), we report new water contents for additional olivine inclusions in diamonds together with the trace-element composition for all olivine inclusions, as well as for mantle xenoliths from various kimberlite pipes located on the Siberian craton. The olivine diamond inclusions from this study have systematically low-water contents (< 50 ppmw H2O), moderate to high forsterite (e.g., Fo91–94) contents and low Ni, Co, and Zn ppm contents (e.g., < 2848, < 108, and < 47 ppm, respectively). In contrast, olivines from Siberian craton mantle xenoliths have a wide range of water contents (6–323 ppmw H2O) and extend to lower-Fo (91–92), Ni, Co, and Zn-rich compositions, compared to the diamond inclusions. Depleted incompatible trace-element concentrations in olivine (0.1–0.001 × Primitive Mantle) advance our hypothesis for the protogenetic origins for the majority of Siberian diamond inclusions. These observations are consistent with the peridotite xenoliths as representing a part of the cratonic lithosphere that has experienced melt re-fertilization, which has also transported water. The olivine diamond inclusions, on the other hand, preserve “micro-samples” of an initial, dry cratonic lithosphere, mostly resulting from melting events. These inclusions are likely sourced from the initial cratonic mantle lithosphere, which thereby, resisted delamination over time, due to its buoyancy and strength, imparted from melt and water depletion, respectively. And thus, our data provides a major argument that the kimberlite-hosted mantle xenoliths may be more metasomatized than common rocks at the base of the Siberian and other cratonic roots away from kimberlite fields.
ISSN: 0024-4937

hal-01467731
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01467731
DOI : 10.1016/j.lithos.2016.07.023

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
A suite of eclogite xenoliths from the Roberts Victor kimberlite (South Africa) is remarkable for its high abundances of base metal sulfides (BMS; up to 2 modal %). However, while sulfides are nearly ubiquitous in Type I eclogites (garnet > 0.07% Na2O), Type II eclogites (garnet < 0.07% Na2O) systematically lack sulfides. Two different sulfide assemblages are recognised within the Type I xenolith suite. Both populations are polyphase Cu-Ni-Fe sulfides, one characterised by the pyrrhotite (Po) + pentlandite (Pn) + chalcopyrite (Cp) assemblage and the other by the smythite/violarite (Smy/Vi) + (Ni)pyrite (Py) + Cp assemblage. The latter is the most abundant assemblage and reflects the supergene alteration of the "primary" Po + Pn + Cp assemblage. This process overprints the original composition of the sulfides by remobilising elements such as S, Fe, Ni, Se and Te. In the Type I eclogites, BMS occur as inclusions within silicates (garnet and clinopyroxene) and as interstitial grains. No chemical differences were observed between enclosed and interstitial sulfides. However, their relative abundances are correlated, indicating a similar origin. The Po + Pn + Cp assemblage is identical to eclogitic sulfides previously described in some Roberts Victor diamonds. Silicate-enclosed sulfides could appear to be early phases, but they are restricted to the outer parts of the silicate grains, suggesting a late incorporation during partial recrystallisation of silicate phases, induced by fluid-rock percolation-reaction during a metasomatic event. Positive whole-rock correlations between Se and (La/Sm)N⁎ and between Cu and ΣLREEN⁎ indicate a direct link between sulfide content and the enrichment of Mg + incompatible elements in the Type I eclogites, further supporting a metasomatic origin of the sulfide component. Similarly, a negative correlation between ΣLREEN⁎ and Cucpx implies that the metasomatic agent was at least partially composed of S-rich fluid (e.g. H2S, SO2) that reacted with the rock and leached Cu out of the silicates. The coupling between sulfides and LREE in the Type I eclogites, as well as the absence of sulfides and metasomatic features (e.g. unequilibrated grain boundaries, melt pockets, fluid inclusions, phlogopite) in the Type II eclogites, demonstrate that Type II eclogites did not undergo such a metasomatic event and therefore may represent the less-modified protoliths of Type I eclogites.
ISSN: 0009-2541

hal-00903856
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00903856
DOI : 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2013.06.015

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Melting experiments were performed on a silica-rich peridotite composition at 10-17 GPa to determine majoritic garnet-melt partition coefficients (D) for major and trace elements. Our results show that D for many elements, including Na, Sc, Y and rare earth elements (REE), varies significantly with increasing pressure or proportion of majorite component. Lu and Sc become incompatible at 17 GPa, with D decreasing from 1.5 at 10 GPa to 0.9 at 17 GPa. As predicted from lattice strain, log D for isovalent cations entering the large site of majoritic garnet exhibits a near-parabolic dependence on ionic radius. Our data are used to refine a previously published predictive model for garnet-melt partitioning of trivalent cations, which suffered from a lack of calibration in the 10-20 GPa range. Our results suggest that Archean Al-depleted komatiites from Barberton (South Africa) may have been generated by partial melting of dry peridotite at depths between 200 and 400 km. We also speculate that transition zone diamonds from Kankan (Guinea), which contain inclusions of majoritic garnet, may have formed from the partial reduction of CO2-rich magmas that subsequently transported them to the surface. This hypothesis would provide an explanation for the REE patterns of majoritic garnet trapped within these diamonds, including Eu anomalies. Finally, we show that segregation of majoritic garnet-bearing cumulates during crystallisation of a deep Martian magma ocean could lead to a variety of Lu/Hf and Sm/Nd ratios depending on pressure, leading to a range of ε143Nd and ε176Hf isotope signatures for potential mantle sources of Martian rocks.
ISSN: 0024-4937

hal-00767567
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00767567
DOI : 10.1016/j.lithos.2012.06.013

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Diamond-bearing UHP metamorphic rocks witness for subduction of lithospheric slabs into the mantle and their return to shallow levels. In this study we present U–Pb and trace elements analyses of zircon and rutile inclusions from a diamond-bearing garnet megacryst collected in a mélange unit exposed on the northern margin of Africa (Edough Massif, NE Algeria). Large rutile crystals (up to 300 μm in size) analyzed in situ provide a U–Pb age of interpreted as dating the prograde to peak subduction stage of the mafic protolith. Trace element analyses of minute zircons (≤30 μm) indicate that they formed in equilibrium with the garnet megacryst at a temperature of 740–810 °C, most likely during HP retrograde metamorphism. U–Pb analyses provide a significantly younger age of attributed to exhumation of the UHP units. This study allows bracketing the age of UHP metamorphism in the Western Mediterranean Orogen to the Oligocene/early Miocene, thus unambiguously relating UHP metamorphism to the Alpine history. Exhumation of these UHP units is coeval with the counterclockwise rotation of the Corsica–Sardinia block and most likely resulted from subduction rollback that was driven by slab pull.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-01622789
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622789
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2017.06.043

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : Carbon emission at volcanic centers requires a constant balance between output (mostly by volcanism, either at plate boundaries or intraplate) and input (mostly at trench settings) of carbon from and to the Earth's mantle. The form of carbon that resides in the mantle is controlled by depth (pressure) and oxygen fugacity, the latter in turn depending on the depth and the concentration of iron in the mantle. In the shallow, lithospheric mantle, carbon is likely to be present in the oxidized form of CO2 (except under cratons where carbon is reduced to graphite or diamond). Below approximately 90 km, in the asthenosphere, the oxidized form of carbon is carbonate, either mineral or melt, depending on the thermal regime. At depths greater than approximately 150 km, the asthenospheric mantle is too reducing for carbon to stay in its oxidized form and only diamond is present, unless there is sufficient hydrogen to form reduced C–H fluids. Hence, the region located in the depth range of 90 to 150 km deep is where carbonatitic melts can most likely be produced and impregnate the surrounding mantle through metasomatism. The upper bound of this region is called the carbonate ledge. This limit prevents carbonate (either solid or molten) from ascending because of degassing and CO2 liberation. The lower bound is a redox front where redox melting (that is, melting caused by oxidation) may take place in an ascending portion of carbon-containing mantle. Carbonatite eruptions and presence of carbonate mineral inclusions in deep-seated diamonds provide evidence that these boundaries can be trespassed in some cases.An analysis of the experimental data that has bearing on silicate melting in the presence of carbon further shows that the carbonate ledge is a melting curve with a negative or flat Clapeyron (dP/dT) slope. In the carbonated ultrabasic (peridotite) systems, the carbonate ledge is located between ~ 2–3 GPa. The ledge divides the pressure–temperature space into a region of low-pressure silicate melt production, and a high-pressure region where carbonatites can be produced. Carbonatitic melts in equilibrium with mantle peridotite have compositions close to dolomitic (approximately equal amounts of Ca and Mg) with a general trend of becoming markedly more magnesian with increasing pressure. Calcic carbonatites may be stable at pressures < 2 GPa if clinopyroxene is absent. At mantle transition zone pressure range, there seems to be a melting temperature decrease (negative fusion slope), which may be caused by the stabilization of majoritic garnet.The carbonated basic (broadly eclogitic) system is more complex than the peridotitic one, because of the strong control of bulk silicate composition on melting temperatures, and hence, on melt composition. In carbonated eclogite systems, we propose that the effect of bulk composition upon all observed features can perhaps be related to silica super-saturation, or lack thereof. In some cases, high calcium (> 80 mol% CaCO3) melts can be produced, making the melting of carbonated eclogites an appealing scenario for the genesis of calcio-carbonatites in the Earth's mantle. Comparison with modeled pressure–temperature paths of subducted oceanic lithosphere shows that fusion of carbonated eclogite at depths shallower than 200 km should be expected for hot (Cascadian-type) subduction thermal regimes. On the other hand, in the case of cooler thermal regimes (Honshu-type, for instance), subducted carbonates may be stable to greater depths in Earth at trench settings, depending on the bulk composition of the system.Furthermore, high-pressure experiments show evidence of a continuum among carbonatitic, kimberlitic, melilititic, and basaltic liquids, for increasing melting degree of carbonated peridotite. This continuum has not been documented in the case of fusion of carbonated eclogite. It may be present, however, when certain sediments are fused, although the silicate melts are granitic to rhyodacitic instead of being kimberlitic in composition. Additional high-pressure work on phase relations in the simple binary system CaCO3–MgCO3 and specific focus on oxide solubility in the vapor phase have the potential to further clarify phase relations on complex silicate–carbonate systems at mantle conditions.
ISSN: 0009-2541

hal-01277770
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01277770
DOI : 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2015.05.018

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Type I and Type II eclogite xenoliths from the Roberts Victor kimberlite (South Africa) show marked differences in terms of microstructures, mineralogy, major-and trace-element compositions and oxygen-isotope compositions. The unequilibrated microstructures of Type I eclogites, their typical accessory assemblages (phologopite, diamond, sulphides, fluid inclusions) and the ubiquitous presence of "melt pockets" in garnets provide strong evidence of metasomatism. Type II eclogites systematically lack such features and are microstructurally more equilibrated. Type I eclogites are more magnesium-rich than most Type II (mean Mg# = 0.56 vs. 0.46), while Type II eclogites are generally more Ca-rich (mean CaO = 9 vs. 12 wt%) and Fe-rich (mean FeO = 10 vs. 12 wt%). Type I eclogites are systematically enriched in LREE, Sr, Ba, alkali elements, HFSE, Th and U compared to the more depleted Type II eclogites. Calculated trace-element patterns of fluids in equilibrium with Type I eclogites are closely similar to those of volatile-rich small-volume mantle melts in the carbonatite-kimberlite spectrum commonly inferred to be responsible for mantle metasomatism. Although oxygen isotopes are often used to argue for a subduction origin of mantle eclogites, correlations between delta O-18 of garnet and typical metasomatic tracers suggest that the metasomatic process also has shifted the oxygen-isotope compositions of the Type I eclogites toward heavier values. Roberts Victor Type I eclogites thus carry the imprint of a metasomatic process that strongly modified their major-element, trace-element and isotopic compositions, while the more pristine Type II eclogites escaped this modification. Therefore, attempts to constrain the origin of Roberts Victor eclogites should not be based on the much more abundant Type I eclogites, which retain little geochemical memory of their protoliths. The most suitable materials for such investigations may be the less metasomatised, but more rare, Type II eclogites.
ISSN: 0016-7037

hal-00669867
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00669867
DOI : 10.1016/j.gca.2011.08.035