Petrological characteristics of podiform chromitites and associated peridotites of the Pan African Proterozoic ophiolite complexes of Egypt |
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| Authors: | Ahmed Hassan Ahmed Shoji Arai Abdel Kadar Attia |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan, JP;(2) Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute (CMRDI), P.O. Box 87, Helwan, Cairo, Egypt, EG |
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| Abstract: | Mafic-ultramafic fragments of a dismembered ophiolite complex are abundant in the late Precambrian Pan African belt of the
Eastern Desert of Egypt and north-east Sudan. The ultramafic bodies in the Eastern Desert of Egypt are mostly characterised
by the harzburgite–dunite–chromitite association. Because of their severe metamorphism, almost all primary silicates were
converted to secondary minerals and we use the chrome spinel as a reliable petrogenetic indicator. The podiform chromitite
deposits are common as small and irregularly shaped masses in the central and southern parts of the Eastern Desert. They strongly
vary in texture, degree of alteration and chemical composition of chrome spinel. The podiform chromitites exhibit a wide range
of composition from high Cr to high Al varieties. The Cr of chrome spinel ranges from 0.65 to 0.85 in dunite, quite similar
in the high-Cr chromitite, whereas it is around 0.5 in harzburgite. Primary hydrous mineral inclusions, amphibole and phlogopite,
in chrome spinel are reported for the first time from the Pan African Proterozoic podiform chromitites. The petrological characteristics
of Pan African podiform chromitites and associated peridotites of Egypt are similar to those of Phanerozoic ophiolites. The
Proterozoic podiform chromitites may have formed in the same way as the Phanerozoic ones, namely by melt-harzburgite reaction
and subsequent melt mixing. The similarity of the mantle section of the late Proterozoic and the Phanerozoic ophiolites suggests
that the thermal conditions controlling genesis of the crust–mantle system basically have not changed since the late Proterozoic
era. The Pan African harzburgite is very similar to abyssal peridotite at fast-spreading ridges, and the high-Cr, low-Ti character
of spinel in chromitite and dunite indicates a genetic link with a supra-subduction zone setting. The late Proterozoic ophiolites
of Egypt are possibly a fragment of oceanic lithosphere modified by arc-related magmatic rocks, or a fragment of back-arc
basin lithosphere.
Received: 26 October 1999 / Accepted: 28 June 2000 |
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