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 AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
We image the lithospheric and upper asthenospheric structure of western continental Yemen with 24 broadband stations to evaluate the role of the Afar plume on the evolution of the continental margin and its extent eastwards along the Gulf of Aden. We use teleseismic tomography to compute relative P-wave velocity variations in southwestern Yemen down to 300 km depth. Published receiver function analysis suggest a dramatic and localized thinning of the crust in the vicinity of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, consistent with the velocity structure that we retrieve in our model. The mantle part of the model is dominated by the presence of a low velocity anomaly in which we infer partial melting just below thick Oligocene flood basalts and recent off-axis volcanic events (from 15 Ma to present). This low velocity anomaly could correspond to an abnormally hot mantle and could be responsible for dynamic topography and recent magmatism in western Yemen. Our new P-wave velocity model beneath western Yemen suggests the young rift flank volcanoes beneath margins and on the flanks of the Red Sea rift are caused by focused small-scale diapiric upwelling from a broad region of hot mantle beneath the area. Our work shows that relatively hot mantle, along with partial melting of the mantle, can persist beneath rifted margins after breakup has occurred.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-01015496
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01015496
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01015496/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01015496/file/Korostelev_etal_GGG_2014.pdf
DOI : 10.1002/2014GC005316