Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The subcontinental lithospheric mantle evolves through time due to tectonic events and processes as static recrystallization and melt percolation. To constrain the extent of these processes in the South Patagonian subcontinental mantle lithosphere we performed a microstructural and Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) study of a suite of 35 peridotite xenoliths brought to the surface by Plio-Pleistocene alkaline volcanic rocks from Gobernador Gregores and Pali Aike. All samples show a well-developed olivine and pyroxene crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO), consistent with deformation by dislocation creep with dominant activation of [100]{0kl} in olivine. The coarse granular or tabular textures and the low density of intracrystalline deformation features indicate that deformation was followed by annealing under static conditions. The xenoliths also show microstructural evidence of multiple episodes of reactive melt percolation. Neither annealing nor melt percolation erased the olivine CPO, which has [010]-fiber, [100]-fiber and orthorhombic patterns in Pali Aike xenoliths and essentially [010]-fiber and orthorhombic patterns in Gobernador Gregores xenoliths. Seismic properties calculated based on the CPO and modal compositions are, however, rather homogeneous, with fast S-wave polarization and P-wave propagation parallel to the [100] olivine axis. The variation in the olivine CPO solely changes the minimum S-wave birefringence direction, which is normal to the foliation for axial-[010] olivine CPO. Average samples for the two localities, obtained by adding up the individual samples CPO data in a common reference frame, show, however, a 'normal' upper mantle anisotropy with a maximum S-wave birrenfringence of ca. 5% at high angle to the both the maximum [010] and [100] axes concentrations, that is in the foliation, but normal to the lineation, and a minimum birefringence at low angle to the [100] maximum, that is parallel to the lineation.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01053500
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053500
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2014.02.017

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Most kimberlites contain abundant dunitic nodules. These are centimetre-sized, rounded and multi-grained assemblages of xenocrystic olivine with a wide range of compositions (Fo83 to Fo94). The absence of orthopyroxene and other mantle minerals and the range of olivine compositions have been attributed to reaction between mantle peridotite and (proto)kimberlitic fluid or melt, but the timing of the reaction is a subject of debate. In a kimberlite from the Kangamiut region of Greenland, nodule cores are surrounded by fine-grained outer margins with near-constant Fo contents (∼Fo88) but highly variable minor element contents (e.g. 500–2500 ppm Ni). These margins crystallized from the kimberlite melt and we show that their compositions can be explained by crystallization of olivine alone, if a high partition coefficient for Ni between melt and olivine (DNi > 20) is assumed. Orthopyroxene assimilation is not required, removing the constraint that its dissolution occurred during ascent of the kimberlite magma. Within some nodules, in addition to the usual core-to-margin gradients, we observe asymmetric compositional changes (variable Fo but near-constant minor element contents) across mobile grain boundaries. These changes document fluid percolation at the grain scale that occurred during dynamic recrystallization in the deforming lithospheric mantle. We note that chemical gradients associated with mobile grain boundaries are observed in olivines that cover the entire compositional range of the nodules, and propose that fluid-assisted dynamic recrystallization took place in dunite that was already compositionally heterogeneous. Reaction between peridotite and protokimberlitic melt or fluid and dissolution of orthopyroxene thus occurred within the lithospheric mantle, immediately (a few days) prior to the ascent of the kimberlite melt and the entrainment of the dunite nodules. We propose that the grain boundary zones probably mimic, at a fine scale, the fluid–peridotite interaction that caused, at a larger scale, orthopyroxene dissolution and formation of compositionally diverse olivine in kimberlites.
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-01277963
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01277963
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egv054

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

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

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The lithospheric mantle is intrinsically heterogeneous and anisotropic. These two properties govern the repartition of deformation, controlling intraplate strain localization and development of new plate boundaries. Geophysical and geological observations provide clues on the types, ranges, and characteristic length scales of heterogeneity and anisotropy in the lithospheric mantle. Seismic tomography points to variations in geothermal gradient and hence in rheological behavior at scales of hundreds of km. Seismic anisotropy data substantiate anisotropic physical properties consistent at scales of tens to hundreds of km. Receiver functions imply lateral and vertical heterogeneity at scales < 10 km, which might record gradients in composition or anisotropy. Observations on naturally deformed peridotites establish that compositional heterogeneity and Crystal Preferred Orientations (CPOs) are ubiquitous from the mm to the km scales. These data allow discussing the processes that produce/destroy heterogeneity and anisotropy and constraining the time scales over which they are active. This analysis highlights: (i) the role of deformation and reactive percolation of melts and fluids in producing compositional and structural heterogeneity and the feedbacks between these processes, (ii) the weak mechanical effect of mineralogical variations, and (iii) the low volumes of fine-grained microstructures and difficulty to preserve them. In contrast, olivine CPO and the resulting anisotropy of mechanical and thermal properties are only modified by deformation. Based on this analysis, we propose that strain localization at the plate scale is, at first order, controlled by large-scale variations in thermal structure and in CPO-induced anisotropy. In cold parts of the lithospheric mantle , grain size reduction may contribute to strain localization, but the low volume of fine-grained domains limits this effect.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01277174
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01277174
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2015.07.026

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD IODP
Résumé : The Superfast Spreading Crust campaign, echoing long-standing ocean lithosphere community endeavors, was designed to help us understand the formation, architecture, and evolution of ocean crust formed at fast spreading rates. Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 335, "Superfast Spreading Rate Crust 4" (13 April-3 June 2011), was the fourth scientific drilling cruise of the Superfast Spreading Crust campaign to Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Hole 1256D. The expedition aimed to deepen this basement reference site several hundred meters into the gabbroic rocks of intact lower oceanic crust to address the following fundamental scientific questions: Does the lower crust form by subsidence of a crystal mush from a high-level magma chamber (gabbro glacier), by intrusion of sills throughout the lower crust, or by some other mechanism? How does melt percolate through the lower crust, and what are the reactions and chemical evolution of magmas during migration? Is the plutonic crust cooled by conduction or hydrothermal circulation? What are the role and extent of deeply penetrating seawater-derived hydrothermal fluids in cooling the lower crust and the chemical exchanges between the ocean crust and the oceans? What are the relationships among the geological, geochemical, and geophysical structure of the crust and, in particular, the nature of the seismic Layer 2-3 transition? What is the magnetic contribution of the lower crust to marine magnetic anomalies?
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00688990

hal-00688990
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00688990
DOI : 10.2204/iodp.pr.335.2011