Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Laboratory models have been conducted to improve our understanding of the role that the resistance of the slab to bending and its coupling to the ambient mantle play in subduction dynamics over geological time scales. Our models are set up with a viscous plate of silicone (lithosphere) subducting under negative buoyancy in a viscous layer of glucose syrup (mantle). For our study, the lithosphere/upper mantle viscosity contrast has been systematically varied, from similar to 10 to similar to 10(5) in order to explore the parameter space between weak and strong slab dynamics. We found that subduction is characterized by a retreating mode for viscosity ratios > 10(4), by the coexistence of a retreating mode and an advancing mode for viscosity ratios between similar to 10(4) and similar to 10(2), and quasi-stationary, Rayleigh-Taylor like behaviour for ratios < 10(2). By combining our experimental results and kinematic data from current subduction zones in four reference frames which differ in the amount of net rotation, we infer that a lithosphere/upper mantle viscosity contrast of 150-500 is necessary to obtain realistic trench/subducting plate velocity ratios as well as the variability of subduction styles observed in nature.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00412008
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00412008
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.04.006

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
The strength of the lithospheric mantle controls the mode of lithosphere deformation: the presence or absence ofa high strength brittle mantle respectively leads to localized or distributed rifting. However, first order geophysicaldata question the existence of such a brittle mantle. Here we use 2-D finite-element large strain modelling toquantify the impact of a ductile localizing mantle – instead of brittle – in triggering continental rifting. As a novelty,the mantle rheology considers the effect of grain boundary sliding during strain-induced grain size reduction,which may promote a significant strength drop and subsequent strain localization at low mantle temperature (<700-800°C). Our results reveal that such ductile localizing mantle implies varying modes of continental rifting thatmainly depend on both the amount of weakening in the ductile mantle and the strength of the lower ductile crust. Amedium to strong lower crust implies coupling between the upper crust and ductile localizing mantle, yielding tonarrow continental rifting. In contrast, a weak lower crust implies decoupling between the upper crust and ductilelocalizing mantle, giving rise to a switch from distributed faulting at incipient strain to localized faulting at largestrain. Ductile strain localization in the lithospheric mantle is therefore sufficient to trigger continental rifting,although a critical amount of weakening is required. Such ductile localizing mantle provides a relevant geologicaland mechanical alternative to the brittle mantle. It moreover provides a wider variety of modes of upper crustalfaulting that are commonly observed in nature.
EGU General Assembly 2014
Vienne, Austria

insu-01565161
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01565161

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : Differentiation of the Earth's mantle and formation of continental and oceanic crust occur principally through partial melting and extraction of basaltic melt. Among the mantle rocks occurring at the Earth's surface, as tectonically-emplaced massifs, abyssal peridotites or xenoliths, the harzburgites (< 5% clinopyroxene) are widely considered as refractory mantle residues left after extraction of a basaltic component. In contrast, the most fertile lherzolites (15% clinopyroxene) are generally regarded as pristine mantle, only weakly affected by partial melting. In this paper we present new convergent structural and geochemical data from the Lherz massif, the type-locality of lherzolite, indicating that the lherzolites from Lherz do not represent pristine mantle. Detailed structural mapping clearly shows that the lherzolites are secondary rocks formed at the expense of the harzburgites. Variations of major, minor and trace elements through the harzburgite–lherzolite contacts indicate that the lherzolites were formed through a refertilization process involving interaction of refractory, lithospheric mantle with upwelling asthenospheric partial melts. Combined with previously published indications of refertilization in orogenic peridotites, our new observations in Lherz suggest that most lherzolite massifs represent secondary (refertilized) rather than pristine mantle. Together with geochemical data on mantle xenoliths, this indicates that melt transport and melt-rock reaction play a key role on the rejuvenation and erosion of the lithospheric mantle.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00406433
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00406433
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2007.05.026

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
B-type olivine fabrics are pervasive within highly depleted dunites of the small-sized Imono peridotite body located within the subduction-type Sanbagawa metamorphic belt of the southwest Japan arc. The dunites contain various microstructures, ranging from porphyroclastic to fine-grained intensely sheared textures. The Mg/(Mg+Fe) atomic ratios (Fo number) of olivine within these dunites are consistently around 0.9, as are the Cr/(Cr+Al) atomic ratios (Cr number) of chromian spinel, suggesting their evolution from a highly depleted magma (boninite). These data provide strong thermal constraints on the formation of the highly depleted dunites,as their formation requires hot, hydrous, shallow mantle (> 1250 degrees C at < 30 km depth) in the mantle wedge. Because the Sanbagawa metamorphic belt finally entrained these peridotites during progressive retrogression, B-type olivine fabrics probably developed in the fore-arc side of the subduction zone, above or along the subducting slab, possibly in association with dehydration fluids derived from the slab. The previously documented small magnitude of S-wave splitting can be explained by the seismic properties of B-type peridotites within an anisotropic layer of approximately several kilometers in thickness, oriented by flow parallel to the subducting slab, under maximum temperatures of 880-1030 degrees C depending on the flow stress. These findings indicate that such a B-type layer could constitute a dominant source of seismic S- and P-wave anisotropy in mantle wedge regions. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00412594
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00412594
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.06.014

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Analogue and numerical models have shown that the strength of the lithospheric mantle controls the mode of lithosphere deformation. In extension, the presence or absence of a high strength brittle mantle respectively leads to localized or distributed rifting. However, first order geophysical data question the existence of such a brittle mantle. Here we use 2-D finite-element large strain modelling to quantify the impact of a ductile localizing mantle - instead of brittle - in triggering continental rifting. As a novelty, the mantle rheology considers the effect of grain boundary sliding during strain-induced grain size reduction, which may promote a significant strength drop and subsequent strain localization at low mantle temperature (< 700-800 °C). Our results reveal that such ductile localizing mantle implies varying modes of continental rifting that mainly depend on both the amount of weakening in the ductile mantle and the strength of the lower ductile crust. A medium to strong lower crust implies coupling between the upper crust and ductile localizing mantle, yielding to narrow continental rifting. In contrast, a weak lower crust implies decoupling between the upper crust and ductile localizing mantle, giving rise to a switch from distributed faulting at incipient strain to localized faulting at large strain. Ductile strain localization in the lithospheric mantle is therefore sufficient to trigger continental rifting, although a critical amount of weakening is required. Such ductile localizing mantle provides a relevant geological and mechanical alternative to the brittle mantle. It moreover provides a wider variety of modes of upper crustal faulting that are commonly observed in nature.
ISSN: 0040-1951

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
insu-00924254
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00924254
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00924254/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00924254/file/Gueydan_precigout_2014_Tectonophysics.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2013.11.029

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP): Policy B - Oxford Open Option A Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Peridotite xenoliths exhumed by Quaternary alkaline magmatism in the Tahalgha district, southern Hoggar, represent fragments of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath the boundary between the two major structural domains of the Tuareg Shield: the ‘Polycyclic Central Hoggar’ to the east and the ‘Western Hoggar’, or ‘Pharusian Belt’, to the west. Samples were collected from volcanic centres located on both sides of a major lithospheric shear zone at 4°35' separating these two domains. Although showing substantial variations in their deformation microstructures, equilibrium temperatures and modal and chemical compositions, the studied samples do not display any systematic changes of these features across the 4°35' fault. The observed variations rather record small-scale heterogeneities distributed throughout the study area and reflecting the widespread occurrence of vein conduits and metasomatized wall-rocks related to trans-lithospheric melt circulation during the Cenozoic. These features include partial annealing of pre-existing deformation microstructures, post-deformation metasomatic reactions, and trace-element enrichment, coupled with heating from 750–900°C (low-temperature lherzolites) to 900–1150°C (intermediate-T lherzolites and high-T harzburgites and wehrlites). Trace-element modelling confirms that the range of rare earth element (REE) variations observed in the Tahalgha clinopyroxenes may be accounted for by reactive porous flow involving a single stage of basaltic melt infiltration into a light REE (LREE)-depleted protolith. Whole-rock compositions record the final entrapment of disequilibrium metasomatic melts upon thermal relaxation of the veins–wall-rock system. The striking correlations between equilibrium temperatures and trace-element enrichment favor a scenario in which the high-temperature peridotites record advective heat transport along melt conduits, whereas the intermediate- and low-temperature lherzolites reflect conductive heating of the host Mechanical Boundary Layer. This indicates that the lithosphere did not reach thermal equilibrium, suggesting that the inferred heating event was transient and was rapidly erased by thermal relaxation down to the relatively low-temperature present-day geotherm. The low-T (<900°C) deformed lherzolites (porphyroclastic to equigranular) are characterized by only incipient annealing and LREE-depleted clinopyroxene compositions. They were only weakly affected by the Cenozoic events and could represent relatively well-preserved samples from rejuvenated Pan-African lithosphere. Extensive lithospheric rejuvenation occurred either regionally during the Pan-African orogeny, as a result of lithospheric delamination or thermomechanical erosion after thickening, or more locally along the meridional shear zones. The low-T Tahalgha lherzolites are comparable with lherzolites from Etang de Lherz, southern France, interpreted as lithospheric mantle rejuvenated by melt-induced refertilization during a late stage of the Variscan orogeny.
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-01107410
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01107410
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egu056

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : Primary arc melts may form through fluxed or adiabatic decompression melting in the mantle wedge, or via a combination of both processes. Major limitations to our understanding of the formation of primary arc melts stem from the fact that most arc lavas are aggregated blends of individual magma batches, further modified by differentiation processes in the sub-arc mantle lithosphere and overlying crust. Primary melt generation is thus masked by these types of second-stage processes. Magma-hosted peridotites sampled as xenoliths in subduction zone magmas are possible remnants of sub-arc mantle and magma generation processes, but are rarely sampled in active arcs. Published studies have emphasised the predominantly harzburgitic lithologies with particularly high modal orthopyroxene in these xenoliths; the former characteristic reflects the refractory nature of these materials consequent to extensive melt depletion of a lherzolitic protolith whereas the latter feature requires additional explanation.Here we present major and minor element data for pristine, mantle-derived, lava-hosted spinel-bearing harzburgite and dunite xenoliths and associated primitive melts from the active Kamchatka and Bismarck arcs. We show that these peridotite suites, and other mantle xenoliths sampled in circum-Pacific arcs, are a distinctive peridotite type not found in other tectonic settings, and are melting residues from hydrous melting of silica-enriched mantle sources. We explore the ability of experimental studies allied with mantle melting parameterisations (pMELTS, Petrolog3) to reproduce the compositions of these arc peridotites, and present a protolith (‘hybrid mantle wedge’) composition that satisfies the available constraints. The composition of peridotite xenoliths recovered from erupted arc magmas plausibly requires their formation initially via interaction of slab-derived components with refractory mantle prior to or during the formation of primary arc melts. The liquid compositions extracted from these hybrid sources are higher in normative quartz and hypersthene (i.e., they have a more silica-saturated character) in comparison with basalts derived from prior melt-depleted asthenospheric mantle beneath ridges. These primary arc melts range from silica-rich picrite to boninite and high-Mg basaltic andesite along a residual spinel harzburgite cotectic. Silica enrichment in the mantle sources of arc-related, subalkaline picrite-boninite-andesite suites coupled with the amount of water and depth of melting, are important for the formation of medium-Fe (‘calc-alkaline’) andesite-dacite-rhyolite suites, key lithologies forming the continental crust.
ISSN: 0016-7037

hal-01553520
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01553520
DOI : 10.1016/j.gca.2016.09.030

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Transmission electron microscopy observations on olivine crystals deformed at moderate (≤1273 K) temperature evidenced dislocations interactions explaining the hardening observed in the experiments, but also recovery mechanisms by the absorption or emission of point defects. Thus we investigate the possibility that, at geological strain-rates, these recovery processes allow steady-state deformation by dislocation creep at low to moderate temperatures in the lithospheric mantle. We test this hypothesis using a 2.5-D dislocation dynamics (DD) model, which combines dislocation glide and recovery by climb. This model shows that diffusion-controlled recovery processes allow for steady-state deformation by dislocation creep in the lithospheric mantle at stresses <500 MPa. For stresses of 50–200 MPa, steady-state strain-rates of 10−15 s−110−15 s−1 may be attained at temperatures as low as 900 K. Fitting of the DD model produces a flow law, which represents a lower bound for the lithospheric mantle strength, since the models describe the deformation of an olivine single crystal in an easy slip orientation. Comparison of strain-rates and Moho temperatures inferred for different geodynamic environments and the predictions of this model-based flow law implies, nevertheless, that, except in incipient rifts, most of the observed deformation may be produced by stress levels ≤200 MPa, consistent with those inferred to be produced by convection. This convergence suggests that the present models, which explicitly calculate the time-dependent dislocation dynamics, may provide a correct first order estimate of the mechanical behaviour of the lithospheric mantle, which cannot be derived directly from any existing data.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-01277178
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01277178
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01277178/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01277178/file/Boioli.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2015.10.012

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 : 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
Talc is a hydrous magnesium rich layered silicate that is widely disseminated in the Earth from the seafloor to over 100 km depth, in ultra-high pressure metamorphism of oceanic crust. In this paper we determine the single crystal elastic constants at pressures from 0 to 12 GPa of talc triclinic (C 1¯) and monoclinic (C2/c) polytypes using ab initio methods. We find that talc has an extraordinarily high elastic anisotropy at zero pressure that reduces with increasing pressure. The exceptional anisotropy is complemented by a negative Poisson's ratio for many directions in crystal space. Calculations show that talc is not only one of very few common minerals to exhibit auxetic behaviour, but the magnitude of this effect may be the largest reported so far for a mineral. The compression (Vp) and shear (Vs) wave velocity anisotropy is 80% and 85% for the triclinic polytype. At pressures where talc is known be stable in the Earth (up to 5 GPa) the Vp and Vs anisotropy is reduced to about 40% for both velocities, which is still a very high value. Vp is slow parallel to the c-axis and fast perpendicular to it. This remains unchanged with increasing pressure and is observed in both polytypes. The shear wave splitting (difference between fast and slow S-wave velocities) at low pressure has high values in the plane normal to the c-axis, with a maximum near the alow asterisk-axis in the triclinic and the b-axis in the monoclinic polytype. The c-axis is the direction of minimum splitting. The pattern of shear wave splitting does not change significantly with pressure. The volume fraction of talc varies between 11 and 41% for hydrated mantle rocks, but the lack of data on the crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) precludes a detailed analysis of the impact of talc on seismic anisotropy in subduction zones. However, it is highly likely that CPO can easily develop in zones of deformation due to the platy habit of talc crystals. For random aggregates of talc, the isotropic Vp, Vs and Vp/Vs ratio have significantly lower values than those of antigorite and may explain low-velocity regions in the mantle wedge. Vp/Vs ratios are more complex in anisotropic media because there are fast and slow S-waves, resulting in Vp/Vs1 and Vp/Vs2 ratios for every propagation direction, making interpretation difficult in deformed polycrystalline talc with a CPO. Talc on the subduction plate boundary can strongly influence guided wave velocity as CPO would develop in this region of intense shearing. The very low coefficient of friction (< 0.1) of talc above 100 °C could also explain silent earthquakes at shallow depths (ca 30 km) along the subduction plate boundaries, frequently responsible for tsunami.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00411481
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411481
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.07.047

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : "Tectonically emplaced" mantle rocks include subcontinental, suboceanic, and subarc mantle rocks that were tectonically exhumed from the upper mantle and occur:(i) as dispersed ultramafic bodies, a few meters to kilometers in size, in suture zones and mountain belts (i.e., the "alpine," or "orogenic" peridotite massifs - De Roever (1957), Thayer (1960), Den Tex (1969));(ii) as the lower ultramafic section of large (tens of kilometers) ophiolite or island arc complexes, obducted on continental margins (e.g., the Oman Ophiolite and the Kohistan Arc Complex - Coleman (1971), Boudier and Coleman (1981), Burg et al. (1998));(iii) exhumed above the sea level in ocean basins (e.g., Zabargad Island in the Red Sea, St. Paul's islets in the Atlantic and Macquarie Island in the southwestern Pacific - Tilley (1947), Melson et al. (1967), Varne and Rubenach (1972), Bonatti et al. (1981)).The "abyssal peridotites" are samples from the oceanic mantle that were dredged on the ocean floor, or recovered from drill cores (e.g., Bonatti et al., 1974; Prinz et al., 1976; Hamlyn and Bonatti, 1980).Altogether, tectonically emplaced and abyssal mantle rocks provide insights into upper mantle compositions and processes that are complementary to the information conveyed by mantle xenoliths (See Chapter 2.05). They provide coverage to vast regions of the Earth's upper mantle that are sparsely sampled by mantle xenoliths, particularly in the ocean basins and beneath passive continental margins, back-arc basins, and oceanic island arcs.Compared with mantle xenoliths, a disadvantage of some tectonically emplaced mantle rocks for representing mantle compositions is that their original geodynamic setting is not exactly known and their significance is sometimes a subject of speculation. For instance, the provenance of orogenic lherzolite massifs (subcontinental lithosphere versus upwelling asthenosphere) is still debated (Menzies and Dupuy, 1991, and references herein), as is the original setting of ophiolites (mid-ocean ridges versus supra-subduction settings - e.g., Nicolas, 1989). In addition, the mantle structures and mineralogical compositions of tectonically emplaced mantle rocks may be obscured by deformation and metamorphic recrystallization during shallow upwelling, exhumation, and tectonic emplacement. Metamorphic processes range from high-temperature recrystallization in the stability field of plagioclase peridotites ( Rampone et al., 1993) to complete serpentinization (e.g., Burkhard and O'Neill, 1988). Some garnet peridotites record even more complex evolutions. They were first buried to, at least, the stability field of garnet peridotites, and, in some cases to greater than 150 km depths ( Dobrzhinetskaya et al., 1996; Green et al., 1997; Liou, 1999). Then, they were exhumed to the surface, dragged by buoyant crustal rocks ( Brueckner and Medaris, 2000).Alternatively, several peridotite massifs are sufficiently well preserved to allow the observation of structural relationships between mantle lithologies that are larger than the sampling scale of mantle xenoliths. It is possible in these massifs to evaluate the scale of mantle heterogeneities and the relative timing of mantle processes such as vein injection, melt-rock reaction, deformation, etc... Detailed studies of orogenic and ophiolitic peridotites on centimeter- to kilometer-scale provide invaluable insights into melt transfer mechanisms, such as melt flow in lithospheric vein conduits and wall-rock reactions (Bodinier et al., 1990), melt extraction from mantle sources via channeled porous flow ( Kelemen et al., 1995) or propagation of kilometer-scale melting fronts associated with thermalerosion of lithospheric mantle ( Lenoir et al., 2001). In contrast, mantle xenoliths may be used to infer either much smaller- or much larger-scale mantle heterogeneities, such as micro-inclusions in minerals ( Schiano and Clocchiatti, 1994) or lateral variations between lithospheric provinces ( O'Reilly et al., 2001).The abyssal peridotites are generally strongly affected by oceanic hydrothermal alteration. Most often, their whole-rock compositions are strongly modified and cannot be used straightforwardly to assess mantle compositions (e.g., Baker and Beckett, 1999). However, even in the worst cases the samples generally contain fresh, relic minerals (mainly clinopyroxene) that represent the only available direct information on the oceanic upper mantle in large ocean basins, away from hot-spot volcanic centers. In situ trace-element data on clinopyroxenes from abyssal peridotites provide constraints on melting processes at mid-ocean ridges (Johnson et al., 1990).In this chapter, we review the main inferences on upper mantle composition and heterogeneity that may be drawn from geochemical analyses of the major elements, lithophile trace elements, and Nd-Sr isotopes in tectonically emplaced and abyssal mantle rocks. In addition we emphasize important insights into the mechanisms of melt/fluid transfer that can be deduced from detailed studies of these mantle materials.
Treatise on Geochemistry Update12.04

hal-00407944
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00407944
DOI : 10.1016/B0-08-043751-6/02004-1

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We explore the relations between deformation, annealing, and melt percolation during rifting and the effect of these processes on seismic anisotropy by analyzing the microstructures and crystal preferred orientations (CPO) in a suite of mantle xenoliths from Mega, in the southern end of the Ethiopian rift. Previous geochemical studies on these xenoliths showed evidence for interactions with variable melt types and volumes during the rifting process. The peridotites have dominantly coarse-porphyroclastic microstructures, but coarse granular or partially recrystallized microstructures also occur. The olivine CPO, characterized by orthorhombic to fiber-[100] patterns and moderate intensities, the common occurrence of (100) tilt walls, and the predominance of <0vw> rotation axes accommodating low angle misorientations in olivine support deformation by dislocation creep with dominant activation of the [100](010) system. Annealing (static recrystallization) of variable intensity followed this deformation. Modal enrichment in pyroxenes in > 60% of the studied peridotites corroborates extensive, but spatially heterogeneous reactive melt percolation leading to refertilization of the lithospheric mantle beneath the southern Ethiopian rift. The common interstitial shapes of the pyroxenes and lack of correlation between the pyroxenes and the olivine CPOs in many samples suggest that part of the refertilization is post-kinematic. However, there is no simple relation between reactive melt percolation and annealing of the olivine deformation microstructure. Comparison with data from other xenolith localities points to changes in the metasomatic imprint in the lithospheric mantle along the East African rift system correlated with the evolution in the rift maturity. Seismic properties averaged over all samples show typical lithospheric mantle patterns with fast propagation of P- and polarization of the fast S-waves parallel to the lineation. The anisotropy is moderate (< 6% for P-waves and < 4% for S-waves), implying that aligned melt must contribute to the strong seismic anisotropy measured in the Main Ethiopian rift, north of Mega.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01355918
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01355918
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2016.05.027

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
Wasilewski et al. (1979) concluded that no magnetic remanence existed in the uppermost mantle and that even if present, such sources would be at temperatures too high to contribute to long wavelength magnetic anomalies (LWMA). However, new collections of unaltered mantle xenoliths indicate that the uppermost mantle could contain ferromagnetic minerals. 1. The analysis of some LWMA over cratons and forearcs suggest magnetic sources in the uppermost mantle. 2. The most common ferromagnetic phase in the uppermost mantle is stoichiometric magnetite. Assuming a 30 km-thick crust, and crustal and mantle geotherms of 15 °C/km and 5 °C/km, respectively, the 600 °C Curie temperature implies a 30 km-thick layer of mantle. 3. The uppermost mantle is cooler than 600 °C in Archean and Proterozoic shields (> 350 °C), subduction zones (> 300 °C) and old oceanic basins (> 250 °C). 4. Recently investigated sets of unaltered mantle xenoliths contain pure magnetite inclusions in olivine and pyroxene formed in equilibrium with the host silicate. 5. The ascent of mantle xenoliths occurs in less than a day. Diffusion rates in olivine suggest that the growth of magnetite possible within this time frame cannot account for the size and distribution of magnetite particles in our samples. 6. Demagnetization of natural remanent magnetization (NRM) of unaltered mantle xenoliths unambiguously indicates only a single component acquired upon cooling at the Earth's surface. This is most easily explained as a thermoremanent magnetization acquired by pre-existing ferromagnetic minerals as xenoliths cool rapidly at the Earth's surface from magmatic temperatures, acquired during ascent. 7. Modern experimental data suggest that the wüstite-magnetite oxygen buffer and the fayalite-magnetite-quartz oxygen buffer extend several tens of km within the uppermost mantle. 8. The magnetic properties of mantle xenoliths vary consistently across tectonic settings. In conclusion, the model of a uniformly non-magnetic mantle should be revisited. Keywords
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01053923
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053923
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2014.01.004

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
This study presents microstructural evidence for deformation-controlled melt organization and for changes in olivine deformation associated with the presence of melt in an 80 m vertical section of the crust-mantle transition zone in the Oman ophiolite. This zone represents an 'end member' case for analyzing feedbacks between deformation and melt distribution in the upper mantle, since it experienced strong shear strains in presence of large melt fractions. It is characterized by a subhorizontal compositional layering at the mm to meter scale, from weakly impregnated dunites to olivine-rich gabbros, which parallels a pervasive foliation containing a strong stretching lineation. The parallelism between the compositional layering and the foliation, the diffuse limits of the layers, the alignment of elongated plagioclase-rich aggregates devoid of internal deformation structures with the elongation of olivine crystals in the dunitic layers, and the sharp compositional changes across some, but not all layer limits suggest deformation plays an essential role on the development of the layering. The variation on a mm-scale of the olivine crystal preferred orientation (CPO) symmetry as a function of the modal content: from axial-[100] symmetry in layers with <70% modal olivine to axial-[010] in more gabbroic levels (<40% olivine), which is repeated over the entire section, implies deformation in presence of variable melt fractions. Axial-[100] olivine CPO in olivine-rich layers is consistent with deformation by dislocation creep under high temperature, low pressure, dry conditions. Axial-[010] olivine CPO patterns imply additional sliding along preferentially wetted (010) grain boundaries, increase in the activity of [001] glide, or transpression localized in the melt-rich layers. Since the change in CPO symmetry is not accompanied by dispersion, instantaneous melt fractions must have remained <30-40% in all layers. The continuous variation in olivine CPO symmetry with decreasing olivine content implies therefore that the former depends on the cumulated strain in presence of melt rather than on the instantaneous melt fraction.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00795508
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00795508
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2012.10.003

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
This study analyses the interactions between deformation and reactive fluid and melt percolation, and their effects on sub-arc mantle seismic properties based on microstructural observations on mantle xenoliths extracted by the Tubaf and Edison seamounts close to the Lihir Island, in the Papua New Guinea archipelago. These xenoliths sample an oceanic lithosphere, which has experienced high-temperature deformation in the presence of fluids or melts. This was followed by metasomatism under static conditions. Syn-kinematic percolation of reactive Si-rich melts or fluids in peridotites has produced pyroxene-enrichment, grain size reduction, and dispersion of olivine crystal preferred orientation (CPO). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses show that olivine has very low water contents (1-4 wt. ppm H2O), similar to spinel peridotites from other subduction zones. These low values may record both low water solubility in olivine at low pressure and dehydration during transport and exhumation. Water contents in pyroxenes are highly variable and likely result from spatially heterogeneous melt or fluid percolation. Analysis of olivine CPO indicates dominant activation of both (010)[100] and (001)[100] slip systems, which are characteristic of deformation under high temperature, low stress, low pressure and low to moderate hydrous conditions. Fast S-wave polarization and P- and Rayleigh propagation directions are thus parallel to the mantle flow direction. The pyroxene enrichment by melt-rock reactions is accompanied by dispersion of olivine CPO and induces a significant decrease of the maximum S-wave and P-wave anisotropy in the peridotites. The calculated seismic properties also show that the lowest Vp/Vs ratios (< 1.7) mapped in fore-arc mantle may only be explained by taking in consideration the CPO-induced elastic anisotropy of the peridotites.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00950058
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00950058
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2013.09.024

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
At Cima di Gagnone, garnet peridotite and chlorite harzburgite lenses within pelitic schists and gneisses correspond to eclogite-facies breakdown products of hydrated peridotites and are suitable for studying dehydration of serpentinized mantle. Thermobarometry and pseudosection modelling yield peak temperatures of 750-850°C and pressures <3 GPa. The minimum temperature recorded by the garnet peridotite corresponds to the maximum conditions experienced by the chlorite harzburgite, suggesting that these rocks recrystallized cofacially at ∼800°C. Alternatively, they might have decoupled during subduction, as achieved in tectonically active plate interface boundaries. The major and rare earth element (REE) variability of the peridotites was mostly acquired during pre-subduction mantle evolution as a result of partial melting and reactive melt flow. The ultramafic suite is also characterized by fluid-mobile element enrichments (B, Pb, As, Sb, Cs, Li, U, Be), which confirm derivation from variably serpentinized protoliths. Similarity in the U, Pb, B, Li and Sr contents of the Gagnone peridotites to present-day oceanic serpentinites suggests that these elements were partly taken up during initial serpentinization by seawater-derived fluids. Positive Be, As and Sb anomalies suggest involvement of fluids equilibrated with crustal (metasedimentary) reservoirs during subsequent subduction metamorphism and peridotite entrainment in (meta)sediments. Fluid-mobile element enrichment characterizes all peak eclogitic minerals, implying that multiple hydration events and element influx pre-dated the eclogite-facies dehydration. Peak anhydrous minerals retain B, Li, As and Sb concentrations exceeding primitive mantle values and may introduce geochemical anomalies into the Earth's mantle. The relatively low contents of large ion lithophile elements and light REE in the Gagnone peridotites with respect to much higher enrichments shown by metasomatized garnet peridotite pods hosted in migmatites (Ulten Zone, Eastern Alps) suggest that the crustal rocks at Gagnone did not experience partial melting. The Gagnone garnet peridotite, despite showing evidence for chlorite dehydration, retains significant amounts of fluid-mobile elements documenting that no partial melting occurred upon chlorite breakdown. We propose that the Gagnone ultramafic rocks represent a prime example of multi-stage peridotite hydration and subsequent dehydration in a plate interface setting.
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-01054319
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01054319
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egt068

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
IODP Site U1309 was drilled at Atlantis Massif, an oceanic core complex, at 30 degrees N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). We present the results of a bulk rock geochemical study (major and trace elements) carried out on 228 samples representative of the different lithologies sampled at this location. Over 96% of Hole U1309D is made up of gabbroic rocks. Diabases and basalts cross-cut the upper part of the section; they have depleted MORB compositions similar to basalts sampled at MAR 30 degrees N. Relics of mantle were recovered at shallow depth. Mantle peridotites show petrographic and geochemical evidence of extensive melt-rock interactions. Gabbroic rocks comprise: olivine-rich troctolites (>70% modal olivine) and troctolites having high Mg# (82-89), high Ni (up to 2300 ppm) and depleted trace element compositions (Yb 0.06-0.8 ppm); olivine gabbros and gabbros (including gabbronorites) with Mg# of 60-86 and low trace element contents (Yb 0.125-2.5 ppm); and oxide gabbros and leucocratic dykes with low Mg# (<50), low Ni (similar to 65 ppm) and high trace element contents (Yb up to 26 ppm). Troctolites and gabbros are amongst the most primitive and depleted oceanic gabbroic rocks. The main geochemical characteristics of Site U1309 gabbroic rocks are consistent with a formation as a cumulate sequence after a common parental MORB melt, although (lack of systematic) downhole variations indicate that the gabbroic series were built by multiple magma injections. In detail, textural and geochemical variations in olivine-rich troctolites and gabbronorites suggest chemical interaction (assimilation?) between the parental melt and the intruded lithosphere. Site U1309 gabbroic rocks do not represent the complementary magmatic product of 30 degrees N volcanics, although they sample the same mantle source. The bulk trace element composition of Site U1309 gabbroic rocks is similar to primitive MORB melt compositions; this implies that there was no large scale removal of melts from this gabbro section. The occurrence of such a large magmatic sequence implies that a high magmatic activity is associated with the formation of Atlantis Massif. Our results suggest that almost all melts feeding this magmatic system stays trapped into the intruded lithosphere.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00413562
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00413562
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.12.034

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
We show here that the Amalaoulaou complex, in the Pan-African belt of West Africa (Gourma, Mali), corresponds to the lower and middle sections of a Neoproterozoic intra-oceanic arc. This complex records a 90-130-Ma-long evolution of magmatic inputs and differentiation above a subducting oceanic slab. Early c. 793 Ma-old metagabbros crystallised at lower crustal or uppermost mantle depths (25-30 km) and have geochemical characteristic of high-alumina basalts extracted from a depleted mantle source slightly enriched by slab-derived sedimentary components ((La/Sm)(N) < 1; epsilon(Nd): +5.4-6.2; Sr-87/Sr-86: 0.7027-0.7029). In response to crustal thickening, these mafic rocks were recrystallised into garnet-granulites (850-1,000A degrees C; 10-12 kbar) and subject to local dehydration-melting reactions, forming trondhjemititic leucosomes with garnet-clinopyroxene-rutile residues. Slightly after the granulitic event, the arc root was subject to strong HT shearing during partial exhumation (detachment faults/rifting or thrusting), coeval with the emplacement of spinel- and garnet-pyroxenite dykes crystallised from a high-Mg andesitic parental magma. Quartz and hornblende-gabbros (700-660 Ma) with composition typical of hydrous volcanic rocks from mature arcs ((La/Sm)(N): 0.9-1.8; epsilon(Nd): +4.6 to +5.2; Sr-87/Sr-86: 0.7028-0.7031) were subsequently emplaced at mid-arc crust levels (similar to 15 km). Trace element and isotopic data indicate that magmas tapped a depleted mantle source significantly more enriched in oceanic sedimentary components (0.2%). Exhumation occurred either in two stages (700-660 and 623 Ma) or in one stage (623 Ma) with a final exhumation of the arc root along cold P-T path (550A degrees C, 6-9 kbar; epidote-amphibolite and greenschist facies conditions) during the main Pan-African collision event (620-580 Ma). The composition of magmas forming the Cryogenian Amalaoulaou arc and the processes leading to intra-arc differentiation are strikingly comparable to those observed in the deep section of exposed Mezosoic oceanic arcs, namely the Kohistan and Talkeetna complex. This evolution of the Amalaoulaou oceanic arc and its accretion towards the West African craton belong to the life and closure of the Pharusian Ocean that eventually led to the formation of the Greater Gondwana supercontinent, a similar story having occurred on the other side of the Sahara with the Mozambique Ocean.
ISSN: 0010-7999

hal-00639447
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00639447
DOI : 10.1007/s00410-011-0624-5