The Skaergaard Layered Series, Part VII: Sr and Nd Isotopes |
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| Authors: | McBIRNEY ALEXANDER R; CREASER ROBERT A |
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| Institution: | 1 DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, EUGENE, OR 97403-1272, USA
2 DEPARTMENT OF EARTH AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA, EDMONTON, ALTA.,T6G 2E3 CANADA |
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| Abstract: | The initial isotopic ratios of strontium and neodymium in theSkaergaard Layered Series vary both vertically and laterally,on every scale from the intrusion as a whole down to coexistingminerals in a single rock. The magma that filled the Skaergaardchamber was contaminated to various degrees with the metamorphicrocks through which it rose and was never completely homogenizedafter being intruded. The contamination was most pronouncedin contact zones and aureoles around rare xenoliths. The greaterconcentrations of lithophile trace elements in the Upper BorderSeries was previously attributed to assimilation of buoyantfragments of gneiss that collected under the roof, but mostof the rocks of the Upper Border Series are isotopically indistinguishablefrom those of the Layered Series. It is doubtful, therefore,that this part of the intrusion assimilated much more of themetamorphic basement than did the rest of the magma. Similarly,the marked increase in the concentrations of excluded elementsin the upper part of the Layered Series is not matched by achange in the isotopic character of the rocks and cannot beattributed to a later influx of new magma. Analyses of mineralsseparated from rocks with exceptionally mafic or felsic modalcompositions revealed marked inhomogeneities in the isotopiccompositions of their constituent minerals. For example, coexistingplagioclase and pyroxene from closely associated anorthositesand pyroxenites have very different initial isotopic ratiosof both strontium and neodymium. The same is true of mafic andfelsic layers in modally graded gabbros. These differences areunrelated to the low-temperature alteration shown by oxygenisotopes. They must have been introduced when the original gabbrowas largely crystallized and underwent local metasomatic replacementby nearly mono-mineralic mafic and felsic assemblages. KEY WORDS: Nd isotopes; Skaergaard; Sr isotopes |
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