Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : Siberian cratonic mantle
International audience
The processes that control water distribution in nominally anhydrous minerals from peridotites are twofold. Melt depletion will remove water while metasomatism can potentially add water to these minerals. These processes can lead to a wide range of outcomes in water contents, which in turn could play a role in mantle rheology and long-term cratonic root stability. To examine these complexities, water concentrations in minerals from well-characterized peridotites from the Udachnaya kimberlite in the central Siberian craton were analyzed by FTIR. The peridotites span a complete top to bottom cross-section of typical cratonic lithospheric mantle (2-7 GPa and 700-1400 °C). Diffusion modeling of water content profiles across olivine grains shows that water loss during decompression is limited to the 100 μm rims of olivines; the cores preserved their mantle water contents. Water contents range from 6 to 323 ppm wt H2O in olivine, 28-301 ppm H2O in orthopyroxene (opx), 100-272 ppm H2O in clinopyroxene (cpx) and 0-23 ppm H2O in garnet. Melting modeling cannot reproduce the high water contents of cratonic mantle peridotites and any potential partial melting trend must have been erased by later events. The water contents of minerals, however, are correlated with modal abundances of clinopyroxene and garnet, bulk rock FeO, TiO2 and SiO2 as well as with light and middle rare earth elements in clinopyroxene and garnet. These relationships are best interpreted as interaction of residual, melt-depleted peridotites with silicate melt, which produced modal and cryptic metasomatism. Importantly, the water enrichment in the Siberian cratonic mantle took place prior to kimberlite magmatism and eruption. Water addition by metasomatism occurred from pressures >4 GPa all the way to the base of the cratonic root below central Siberia, but was limited to shallower levels (<5 GPa) in the Kaapvaal cratonic lithosphere. The difference in olivine water contents at the deepest levels of the Kaapvaal (<5 ppm H2O) and Siberian (6-323 ppm H2O) cratonic roots may be linked to oxygen fugacity and resulting fluid speciation or, alternatively, to reaction with different metasomatic agents. Calculated viscosities for the deepest Udachnaya samples are similar to those inferred for the asthenosphere. If these xenoliths are representative of the deep cratonic lithosphere, water is not as important a parameter as previously thought in the strength of cratonic lithosphere, otherwise the cratonic root beneath Udachnaya would have been delaminated. Alternatively, the metasomatic xenoliths may not be representative of the Siberian cratonic root and kimberlites preferentially sample cratonic mantle lithosphere material located near, and metasomatized by, melt conduits, which served as channels for upward migration of water-rich melts and fluids including kimberlites. In that case, the cratonic root overall still may have relatively low water contents, which in addition to its less metasomatized (more refractory) and thereby buoyant nature, still play a role in making it strong enough to resist delamination by the surrounding asthenosphere.
ISSN: 0016-7037

hal-01053920
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053920
DOI : 10.1016/j.gca.2014.04.011

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The formation age of the Siberian cratonic mantle is not well established as yet. Re–Os data on various mantle-derived materials have shown that it contains Archaean components, but the reported Re-depletion ages show a broad variation range (3.4 to 1 Ga) and are commonly ≤ 2 Ga for peridotite xenoliths. We report Hf and Nd isotope data for cpx and garnet separated from nine refractory spinel and garnet peridotite xenoliths from the Udachnaya kimberlite. The cpx from low-opx spinel harzburgites show extremely high εHf values, from + 607 to + 2084, which testify to long-term evolution of these rocks with high Lu/Hf ratios, consistent with their residual origin and near absence of post-melting enrichments in the Lu–Hf system. Such high εHf values are unusual for cpx from other cratonic peridotites and are higher than those reported for depleted cpx in off-cratonic peridotites. The clinopyroxenes from low-opx spinel harzburgites yield Hf model ages from 1.9 to 1.7 Ga while the cpx from high-opx spinel harzburgites yield Hf model ages from 3.0 to 1.9 Ga. When plotted together, they define a Lu/Hf isochron with an age of 1.80 Ga, which we consider as a robust estimate of the formation age (melt extraction event) because it is obtained on residual rocks that show no evidence for HREE and Hf enrichments and because the model ages for three out of four individual samples are similar to each other. The cpx have high εNd of + 94 to + 123, which are inconsistent with their low Sm/NdPM of < 1 and yield no meaningful age estimates. The consistently high, positive εNd in these cpxs can be interpreted in terms of long-term evolution of refractory peridotites with high Sm/Nd, followed by relatively recent LREE enrichments.We infer that a significant part of the lithospheric mantle in the central Siberian craton may have been formed during a major event (or a series of events) at around 1.8 Ga. Older ages reported for the central Siberian craton may refer to less common materials from cratonic or other domains formed in the Archaean that were later incorporated into the cratonic roots. The transition from the “Archaean” to “modern” tectonic regimes in Siberia and possibly elsewhere may have taken place at 1.8–1.9 Ga rather than at ~ 2.5 Ga, i.e. in the second half of the Paleoproterozoic rather than at the Archaean–Proterozoic boundary, at which time the asthenospheric mantle became generally too cold to experience high-degree melting on a large scale. The ~ 1.8 Ga formation age of the Siberian cratonic mantle is coeval with that for a major part of the ancient continental crust in the central Siberian craton. The temporal crust–mantle links may be explained either by the generation of the initial source materials for continental crust in the same melting event that formed the residual peridotites or, alternatively, by subduction and melting of pre-existing proto-lithosphere destabilized by a major mantle upwelling that formed the residual mantle.
ISSN: 0009-2541

hal-01115519
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01115519
DOI : 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2014.10.018

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
Mongolia represents the northernmost area affected by the India–Asia collision, and it is actively deformed along transpressive belts closely associated with large-scale strike-slip faults. The active and past mantle flow beneath this region is, however, poorly known. In order to investigate deep mantle deformation beneath central Mongolia and its relation with the surrounding major structures such as the Siberian craton, the Gobi–Altay belt and the Baikal rift, a NS-trending profile of broadband seismic stations has been deployed in the summer 2003 from the southern Siberian craton to the Gobi–Altay range, crossing the entire Hangay dome. Mantle flow is deduced from the splitting of teleseismic shear waves such as SKS phases. In eastern Mongolia, the permanent station ULN in Ulaanbaatar reveals the presence of two anisotropic layers, the upper one being oriented NE–SW, close to the trend of lithospheric structures and the lower one NW–SE, close to the trend of Eurasia absolute plate motion. Along the NS profile in central Mongolia, seismic anisotropy deduced from SKS splitting reveals a homogeneous NW–SE trending structure, fully consistent with the observations made in the Altay–Sayan in western Mongolia. The observed delay times of 1.5 to more than 2.0 s favor consistent mantle flow over large mantle thicknesses. Since the lithosphere is less than 100 km thick beneath central Mongolia and since the observed fast directions are parallel to the trend of the lithospheric structures but also close to the trend of the absolute plate motion, we propose that both the lithosphere and the asthenosphere may join their anisotropic effects beneath central Mongolia to explain the large delay times. Although GPS vectors represent the instantaneous displacement of the Earth's surface and SKS splitting the time and vertical integration of finite strain at depth, we use the opportunity of the dense geodetic measurements available in this region to discuss the anisotropy pattern in term of present-day deformation. In the Eurasia-fixed reference frame, GPS and SKS both depict a similar trend beneath central Mongolia, suggesting a lithospheric block “escaping” toward the east that could orient olivine a-axes in the upper mantle, within a transpressive tectonic regime. A different behaviour is observed in western Mongolia: the GPS vectors trend NS, close to the regional compression direction, whereas the fast SKS directions trend EW, suggesting a tectonic regime close to a mode of axial shortening, generating the development of an EW-trending foliation at depth. We therefore propose that Mongolia is a place where active and frozen lithospheric deformation may add their effects, together with the sublithospheric flow. In the three sources of anisotropy inferred, a fundamental role is played by the Siberian craton that acted as an undeformable core of the continent through time: the frozen Paleozoic and Mesozoic structures wrap around the craton, building up the fast anisotropic direction pattern; the present-day sublithospheric flow induced by the plate motion is likely deflecting around its deep roots; finally, the present-day tectonic regime appears to be controlled by the presence of the craton to the north.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00407853
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00407853
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00407853/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00407853/file/Barruol_SKS_Mongolia_EPSL2008_hal.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.07.027

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Cratons represent the oldest preserved lithospheric domains. Their lithosphere (lithospheric mantle welded to overlying Precambrian crystalline basement) is considered to be particularly robust and long-lived due to the protecting presence of buoyant and rigid “keels” made up of residual harzburgites. Although the cratons are mostly assumed to form in the Archaean, the timing of their formation remains poorly constrained. In particular, there are very few datasets describing concurrently the age of both the crustal and mantle portions of the lithosphere. In this study, we report new U–Pb ages and Hf isotope compositions for zircons in crustal xenoliths from the Udachnaya kimberlite in the central Siberian craton; this dataset includes samples from both the upper and lower portions of the crust. The zircon ages agree well with model melt-extraction Re–Os ages on refractory peridotite xenoliths from the same pipe; taken together they allow an integrated view of lithosphere formation. Our data reveal that the present day upper crust is Archaean, whereas both the lower crust and the lithospheric mantle yield Paleoproterozoic ages. We infer that the deep lithosphere beneath the Siberian craton was not formed in a single Archaean event, but grew in at least two distinct events, one in the late Archaean and the other in the Paleoproterozoic. Importantly, a complete or large-scale delamination and rejuvenation of the Archaean lower lithosphere (lower crust and lithospheric mantle) took place in the Paleoproterozoic. This further demonstrates that craton formation can be a protracted, multi-stage process, and that the present day crust and mantle may not represent complementary reservoirs formed through the same tectono-magmatic event. Further, deep cratonic lithosphere may be less robust and long living than often assumed, with rejuvenation and replacement events throughout its history.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-01467648
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01467648
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2016.09.046

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
We report new textural and chemical data for 10 garnet peridotite xenoliths from the Udachnaya kimberlite and examine them together with recent data on another 21 xenoliths from the 80-220 km depth range. The samples are very fresh (LOI near zero), modally homogeneous and large (>100 g). Some coarse-grained peridotites show incipient stages of deformation with <10 % neoblasts at grain boundaries of coarse olivine. Such microstructures can only be recognized in very fresh rocks, because fine-grained interstitial olivine is strongly affected by alteration, and may have been overlooked in previous studies of altered peridotite xenoliths in the Siberian and other cratons. Some of the garnet peridotites are similar in composition to low-opx Udachnaya spinel harzburgites (previously interpreted as pristine melt extraction residues), but the majority show post-melting enrichments in Fe and Ti. The least metasomatized coarse peridotites were formed by 30-38 % of polybaric fractional melting between 7 and 4 GPa and ≤1-3 GPa. Our data together with experimental results suggest that garnet in these rocks, as well as in some other cratonic peridotites elsewhere, may be a residual mineral, which has survived partial melting together with olivine and opx. Many coarse and all deformed garnet peridotites from Udachnaya underwent modal metasomatism through interaction of the melting residues with Fe-, Al-, Si-, Ti-, REE-rich melts, which precipitated cpx, less commonly additional garnet. The xenoliths define a complex geotherm probably affected by thermal perturbations shortly before the intrusion of the host kimberlite magmas. The deformation in the lower lithosphere may be linked to metasomatism.
ISSN: 0010-7999

hal-00941252
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00941252
DOI : 10.1007/s00410-013-0855-8

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Kimberlites of the Udachnaya-East pipe (Siberia) include a uniquely dry and serpentine-free rock type with anomalously high contents of chlorine (Cl ≤ 6.1 wt%), alkalies (Na2O + K2O ≤ 10 wt%) and sulfur (S ≤ 0.50 wt%), referred to as a “salty” kimberlite. The straightforward interpretation is that the Na-, K-, Cl- and S-rich components originate directly from a carbonate-chloride kimberlitic magma that is anhydrous and alkali-rich. However, because brines and evaporites are present on the Siberian craton, previous studies proposed that the kimberlitic magma was contaminated by the assimilation of salt-rich crustal rocks. To clarify the origin of high Cl, alkalies and S in this unusual kimberlite, here we determine its sulfur speciation and isotopic composition and compare it to that of non-salty kimberlites and kimberlitic breccia from the same pipe, as well as potential contamination sources (hydrothermal sulfides and sulfates, country-rock sediment and brine collected in the area). The average δ34S of sulfides is − 1.4 ± 2.2‰ in the salty kimberlite, 2.1 ± 2.7‰ in the non-salty kimberlites and 14.2 ± 5.8‰ in the breccia. The average δ34S of sulfates in the salty kimberlites is 11.1 ± 1.8‰ and 27.3 ± 1.6‰ in the breccia. In contrast, the δ34S of potential contaminants range from 20 to 42‰ for hydrothermal sulfides, from 16 to 34‰ for hydrothermal sulfates, 34‰ for a country-rock sediment (Chukuck suite) and the regional brine aquifer. Our isotope analyses show that (1) in the salty kimberlites, neither sulfates nor sulfides can be simply explained by brine infiltration, hydrothermal alteration or the assimilation of known salt-rich country rocks and instead, we propose that they are late magmatic phases; (2) in the non-salty kimberlite and breccia, brine infiltration lead to sulfate reduction and the formation of secondary sulfides – this explains the removal of salts, alkali-carbonates and sulfates, as well as the minor olivine serpentinization; (3) hydrothermal sulfur was added to the kimberlitic breccia, but not to the massive kimberlites. In situ measurements of sulfides confirm this scenario, clearly showing the addition of two sulfide populations in the breccia (pyrite-pyrrhotites with average δ34S of 7.9 ± 3.4‰ and chalcopyrites with average δ34S of 38.0 ± 0.4‰) whereas the salty and non-salty kimberlites preserve a unique population of djerfisherites (Cl- and K-rich sulfides) with δ34S values within the mantle range. This study provides the first direct evidence of alkaline igneous rocks in which magmatic sulfate is more abundant than sulfide. Although sulfates have been rarely reported in mantle materials, sulfate-rich melts may be more common in the mantle than previously thought and could balance the sulfur isotope budget of Earth's mantle.
ISSN: 0009-2541

hal-01571982
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01571982
DOI : 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2016.10.037

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Société Géologique de France
Résumé : Xenoliths brought up by kimberlite magmas are rare samples of otherwise inaccessible lithospheric mantle. Eclogite xenoliths are found in most cratons and commonly show a range of mineral and chemical compositions that can be used to better understand craton formation. This study focuses on five new kyanite-bearing eclogites from the Udachnaya kimberlite pipe (367±5 Ma). They are fine-to coarse-grained and consist mainly of “cloudy” clinopyroxene (cpx) and garnet (grt). The clinopyroxene is Al,Na-rich omphacite while the garnet is Ca-rich, by contrast to typical bi-mineral (cpx+grt) eclogites that contain Fe- and Mg-rich garnets. The Udachnaya kyanite eclogites are similar in modal and major element composition to those from other cratons (Dharwar, Kaapvaal, Slave, West African). The kyanite eclogites have lower REE concentrations than bi-mineral eclogites and typically contain omphacites with positive Eu and Sr anomalies, i.e. a “ghost plagioclase signature”. Because such a signature can only be preserved in nonmetasomatised samples, we infer that they were present in the protoliths of the eclogites. It follows that subducted oceanic crust is present at the base of the Siberian craton. Similar compositions and textures are also seen in kyanite eclogites from other cratons, which we view as evidence for an Archean, subduction-like formation mechanism related to craton accretion. Thus, contrary to previous work that classifies all kyanite eclogites as type I (IK), metasomatized by carbonatite/kimberlitic fluids, we argue that some of them, both from this work and those from other cratons, belong to the non-metasomatized type II (IIB). The pristine type IIB is the nearest in composition to protoliths of mantle eclogites because it contains no metasomatic enrichments.
ISSN: 0037-9409

hal-01622617
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622617
DOI : 10.1051/bsgf/2017008

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
The Transbaikal region extends over several hundreds of kilometres east of the Baikal Rift System. It is characterized by a number of sub-parallel Mesozoic grabens or half grabens generally filled with late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous clastic sediments interbedded with coal layers (1). Similar basins occur on an even larger area spanning from the Transbaikal region down to Korea implying a large-scale extensional process affecting most of the Amuria plate during the Mesozoic. In the Transbaikal region, the normal faults controlling the edges of the Mesozoic basins are generally superimposed to Palaeozoic ductile shear zones implying a strong localisation of the extensional deformation on inherited structures. Recent studies, associated to our own fieldwork demonstrated that some of the faults were again activated (2), still as extensional faults, during the Tertiary or Quaternary, and that some of them are presently active. The closure of the Mongol-Okhotsk ocean separating the Siberian plate from the Amurian block during the Mesozoic corresponds to a major event in the growth process of the East Asian continent. The oceanic suture zone is situated on the southern edge of the Transbaikal region and its roughly SW-NE direction is parallel to the basins (3). The timing of the closure of the Mongol-Okhotsk ocean is still highly debated: while sedimentological and tectonic data suggest that the oceanic closure and the following collision occurred in early Middle Jurassic (4), paleomagnetic studies advocate for a Early Cretaceous collision (5). Furthermore, several other questions remain on the localization, the size and the fate of the relief that most probably formed during the collision between the Amuria block and the Siberian craton. In order to answer those questions we used low temperature thermochronology data associated to tectonic, sedimentology and palinology to investigate the evolution of the Transbaikal grabens from Mesozoic to Present. Tectonic and thermochronology data provide evidences of exhumation and erosion along the eastern edge of the Siberian craton during the Middle Jurassic as well as a potential continuum of deformation between the Mesozoic extension and the initiation of the Baikal Rift System (6). Sedimentology and palinology reveals that the sediments deposited in the Transbaikal basin did not registered large-scale compressive deformation during or after their Late Jurassic - Early Cretaceous deposition and that they do not correspond to the dismantling of a strong compressive relief.
Geophysical Research Abstracts
Vienne, Austria

insu-00810487
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00810487

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The dating of the uplift onset of the Mongolian mountain ranges, the northernmost relief associated with the India-Eurasia convergence, is a fundamental issue to better understand the mechanisms of propagation of the Cenozoic transpressive deformation in Central Asia. Using apatite fission tracks we determined the timing and strain rates of the tectonics affecting the Gurvan Bogd system, in the Gobi-Altay, since the Middle Mesozoic to the Late Cenozoic. The region was firstly affected by a Lower-Middle Jurassic tectonic phase, characterized by a vertical crustal movement larger than 2 km. Then followed a protracted period without major crustal vertical movements until the last uplift phase. The peneplanation of the Jurassic relief produced an erosional surface that has undergone negligible denudation or sedimentation for more than 100 Ma. This same surface corresponds to the present summit plateaux of the massifs, standing about 2000 m above the surrounding region, which corresponds to the vertical movement produced by the ongoing uplift. Modelling of fission track data from the massifs of Ih Bogd and Baga Bogd shows that this uplift phase probably started at 5 ± 3 Ma. The Gobi-Altay mountain range appears therefore as one of the youngest mountain ranges in Central Asia, which is consistent with the idea of a northward propagation of the transpressional deformation from the Himalayan front to the Siberian craton. The Cenozoic uplift rate of the massifs is estimated to be between 0.25 and 1 mm/yr, which is slightly higher than the upper Pleistocene vertical slip rates of the bordering faults. This suggests that thrust faults observed within the massifs would increase the uplift rate inside the massifs compared to the uplift rate determined at their boundaries.
ISSN: 0012-821X

insu-00191116
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00191116
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2007.04.047