Formation and Modification of the Shallow Sub-continental Lithospheric Mantle: a Review of Geochemical Evidence from Ultramafic Xenolith Suites and Tectonically Emplaced Ultramafic Massifs of Western and Central Europe |
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| Authors: | DOWNES H |
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| Institution: | BIRKBECK/UCL RESEARCH SCHOOL OF GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL SCIENCES, BIRKBECK COLLEGE, MALET STREET, LONDON WC1E 7HX, UK |
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| Abstract: | The petrology and geochemistry of shallow continental lithosphericmantle (SCLM) can be studied via (1) tectonically emplaced ultramaficmassifs and (2) mantle xenoliths entrained in alkaline magmas.Data from these two separate sources are used to identify processesthat have formed and modified the SCLM. In western and centralEurope where the continental crust consolidated in Phanerozoictimes, both sources of information are available for study.Rock types found in ultramafic massifs in Europe are generallysimilar to those found in ultramafic xenolith suites. The mostfrequent lithology is anhydrous spinel lherzolite, grading towardsharzburgite. Massifs reveal pyroxenite layering, harzburgitebands and cross-cutting mafic and ultramafic dykes. The PhanerozoicEuropean SCLM xenoliths and massifs show broad mineralogicaland chemical similarities to Phanerozoic continental spinelperidotites world-wide. The main process that controls the geochemistryof the SCLM is depletion by removal of basaltic melt. Differencesfrom this norm reflect significantly different processes inthe SCLM, such as interaction with melts and fluids. Such processesprobably gave rise to hornblendite veins and pyroxenite layers,although the latter have also been interpreted as recycled oceaniccrust. Rare earth element data for whole-rock peridotites andtheir constituent clinopyroxenes show a variety of patterns,including light rare earth element (LREE) depletion as a resultof removal of basaltic melt, LREE enrichment caused by metasomatism,and U-shaped REE patterns that are probably due to interactionwith carbonatite melts. Extended mantle-normalized incompatibletrace element patterns for whole rocks show enrichment in Rband Ba in peridotites considered to have been subduction-metasomatized,whereas those considered to be carbonate-metasomatized havestrong negative anomalies in Zr, Nb and Hf. Mantle amphibolesare strongly enriched in LREE when found in veins, but can beLREE depleted if they are interstitial. Radiogenic isotope ratiosfor xenoliths and massifs largely overlap, although the xenolithsshow a significant clustering around a ‘plume-component’identical to the Neogene alkaline magmatism of Europe. Thiscomponent is lacking in the massifs, most of which were emplacedinto the crust before the onset of Neogene plume activity. Infiltrationof carbonatite melts is observed petrographically in some xenolithsand evidenced by low Ti/Eu ratios in bulk rocks, but is veryrare. The effect of passage of hydrous fluids from subductingslabs is also seen in some suites and massifs, being exhibitedmainly as unusual Sr and Pb isotope ratios, although enrichmentin K, Rb and Ba, and the presence of modal phlogopite, may alsopoint to subduction-metasomatism. KEY WORDS: peridotites; xenoliths; orogenic massifs; Europe |
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