Petrology of the Hili Manu lherzolite,East Timor |
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| Authors: | R F Berry |
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| Institution: | Geology Department , University of Tasmania , Hobart, Tas., 7001 |
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| Abstract: | A spinel lherzolite body outcrops as a fault block on the north coast of East Timor. The most common rock‐type in this body is a clinopyroxene‐poor lherzolite, but there are smaller proportions of clinopyroxene‐rich lherzolite and harzburgite. The dominant mineral assemblage is olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, spinel and calcic amphibole. Low‐temperature hydrous minerals are restricted in distribution. The chemical composition of the peridotite is closely similar to mantle‐derived spinel lherzolite nodules and some alpine peridotites. The internal variation of the peridotite suggests variable depletion by some combination of partial melting and liquid contamination of the residua, in a CO2‐rich system at 10–15 kb (1000–1500 MPa). Three solid‐state events are indicated by geothermometry. The earliest event is recorded by coarse exsolution lamellae of orthopyroxene in clinopyroxene porphyro‐clasts. These grains formed at 1250°C. A later granoblastic texture equilibrated at 1100°C, and finally the rocks were mylonitised at 800–1000°C and 8–20 kb (800–2000 MPa). The peridotite is probably a sample of the oceanic mantle trapped between the Java Trench and the Inner Banda Arc. Its emplacement on Timor is not related to obduction, but may be due to transcurrent faulting between the Asian and Australian plates. |
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