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The paper discusses data on the elemental composition and 87Sr/86Sr, and δ18O isotopic ratios of feldspar megacrysts collected from lava flows, tuffs, and cinders of three volcanic fields in the Baikal rift system: Iya–Uda, Vitim, and Khamar-Daban, which are located within the early Precambrian, Riphean, and Paleozoic crustal blocks, respectively. Megacrysts are hosted in trachybasalts in the Iya–Uda and Khamar-Daban fields and in basanites in the Vitim field. Megacrysts belong to the following three compositional groups of minerals: (i) plagioclase in lavas of the Iya–Uda field, (ii) anorthoclase in lava flows, tuffs, and cinders of the Khamar-Daban and Vitim fields, and (iii) sanidine in the Vitim field. Elemental and isotope data suggest that megacrysts crystallized in volcanic chambers at different depth levels: anorthoclase crystallized from the most primitive magma with mantle-derived isotopic signatures at subcrustal depth levels, plagioclases were produced in deep crustal chambers during the interaction between mantle-derived magma and crustal rocks, and sanidine was captured from the upper crustal rocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Garnet megacryst with a multiphase inclusion from intraplate alkali basalts of the Shavaryn Tsaram (Tariat, Mongolia) was the object of the study. This unusual aggregate consists of porous glass, Ti‐rich biotite, orthopyroxene, spinel, clinopyroxene, olivine, and ilmenite. WinTWQ 2.32 thermodynamic simulation of this system revealed a few intervals of equilibrium. Pressure and temperature adjustment reflected in the paragenetic minerals of the melt pocket. The capture of already crystallised garnet megacryst was at P = 0.8–1 GPa and T = 1120–1160°C. Mineral crystallisation inside the melt pocket, accompanied by external inputs, occurred at P = 0.75–0.95 GPa; T = 790–1120°C. Symplectite assemblage formed in the garnet megacryst due to decomposition at (P = 0.55–0.7 GPa; T = 850–930°C). The study of the oxygen isotope content in primary garnet and biotite of the melt pocket showed that the δ18OVSMOW values are the same and correspond to that of typical mantle xenoliths. However, the chemical and microcomponent composition of the melt pocket minerals reveals a material that differs from basalts and peridotites. Thus, it has been revealed that the multiphase inclusion in the garnet megacryst formed not only on account of the garnet's substance, but also due to the entrapped material of the Earth's interior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article considers xenocrysts and megacrysts hosted in the rocks of Early Cretaceous olivine-basalt-basanite-nephelinite association that outcropped in the erosion crater of Makhtesh Ramon (Natural Reserve of Mishmar ha-Nagev, Israel). This magmatic rock association contains a wide spectrum of xenoliths trapped at different crustal levels. These are upper mantle, lower and upper crustal xenoliths. Mantle xenoliths are represented by peridotites, olivine clinopyroxenites, clinopyroxenites, olivine websterites, websterites and their amphibole-bearing analogues. Lower crustal xenoliths are mafic granulites, such as metagabbros and plagioclasites, whereas upper crustal xenoliths are the fragments of Neoproterozoic tuffs. Xenocrysts and megacrysts are the fragments of xenoliths that chipped from them on their way to the surface. Alterations in xenoliths, xenocrysts and megacrysts caused by the host melt constitute a common petrographic feature. Xenocrysts and megacrysts are mainly represented by minerals that are compatible with the magmatic rock association. These are olivine, clinopyroxene, amphibole, nepheline, plagioclase, anorthoclase, apatite, magnetite and spinel. The xenocrysts of quartz and orthopyroxene are incompatible with the SiO2-undersaturated host rock of this magmatic association. Main reasons determining the interaction between magma and xenoliths include rapid decompression, metamorphism and metasomatism. Xenocrysts are subjected to metamorphism that corresponds to high-temperature facies of contact metamorphism, up to the partial melting of xenocrysts. Metasomatism is directed at equalising the compositions of xenocrysts and eponymous minerals that crystallised from the host melt. There are several important criteria adopted to identify xenocrysts and distinguish them from phenocrysts. These are partial melting, solid-phase decomposition, decrystallisation of primary (before-trapping) textures, recrystallisation and self-faceting of initially xenomorphic grains into the crystals with perfect habits. The chemical composition of xenocrysts has mineral and geochemical indications of xenogenic origin, as well as the signs of a newly-formed substance.

To provide new insights into the interaction of ultramafic alkaline melts with the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, we present results of a petrographical-mineralogical study of ilmenite-bearing mantle xenoliths from the Grib kimberlite, Archangelsk, Russia along with results from reaction experiments between harzburgite and Fe–Ti bearing carbonate–silicate melts similar to aillikite. The compositions of orthopyroxene, ilmenite and garnet from our mantle xenoliths are similar to compositions of minerals of the low-Cr megacryst suite from different kimberlite occurrences worldwide including the Grib kimberlite as well as minerals from sheared lherzolite xenoliths captured by the Grib kimberlite. This suggests that ilmenite-bearing xenoliths, megacrysts, and sheared lherzolite xenoliths could have a common origin and/or formed under similar conditions. The reaction experiments were performed at 4 GPa and 1200 °C with varying proportions of aillikite (0, 10, and 50 wt%) that reacted with harzburgite. The experimental runs with 10% and 50% aillikite resulted in two layers within the capsule, with an ilmenite-bearing reaction zone at the contact between aillikite and harzburgite, and an ilmenite-free zone characterized by higher garnet and clinopyroxene abundances. An increase of aillikite melt is directly correlated with increasing TiO2 and decreasing Cr2O3 contents and Mg# values in the mineral phases, most significantly for pyroxenes. Overall, the experiments produce a chemical gradation of minerals from Cr-rich (Fe–Ti-poor) to Cr-poor (Fe–Ti-rich) which is strikingly similar to the chemical gradation observed in minerals from natural mantle-derived xenoliths from kimberlites. In summary, comparison of our experimental data with natural samples indicates possible links between the generation of megacrysts and Ti-rich metasomatism of the lithospheric mantle by ultramafic alkaline (aillikite-related) melts and their possible evolution towards kimberlites. Our results illustrate the importance of melt-rock ratios in generating the mineralogical and chemical diversity in mantle xenolith suites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major and trace element compositions of garnet, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, phlogopite, and ilmenite from garnet peridotite, ilmenite-bearing peridotite (dunites), and clinopyroxene–phlogopite xenoliths, as well as megacrysts of these minerals from the Grib kimberlite, Arkhangelsk diamond province, Russia, have been analyzed. These data are used to propose a model for mantle metasomatism of lithospheric mantle by kimberlite melts, including their generation and evolution, geochemical enrichment of depleted lithosphere mantle, and formation of megacrystic assemblage. The lithospheric mantle beneath the Arkhangelsk diamond province, from its base (depth ~180–210 km) to a depth of ~100–120 km (corresponding to a pressure of 3.5 GPa) experienced extensive metasomatism along the main kimberlite melt channel. Petrography of the peridotite xenoliths indicates a progressive refertilization of depleted harzburgite into garnet lherzolite, phlogopite–garnet wehrlite, and clinopyroxene–phlogopite rocks. Metasomatic refertilization occurred shortly before the capture of these xenoliths by the kimberlite melt. The model melt compositions calculated from garnet–clinopyroxene equilibria in different types of xenoliths and megacrysts show that alkaline–carbonate–ultramafic kimberlite melt acted as a metasomatic agent in the sheared peridotite at the base of the lithospheric mantle. High-Ti garnet and high-Cr clinopyroxene megacrysts in the middle part of the lithospheric mantle, as well as the main volume of garnet lherzolite xenoliths were formed in geochemical equilibrium with the kimberlite melts, which demonstrate an increase of silicate components and fractionation of Fe–Ti phases. The modification could be related to the interaction of ascending carbonate-rich protokimberlite melts with surrounding lithospheric mantle. The similarities in the compositions of garnet, clinopyroxene, phlogopite, and ilmenite megacrysts with minerals of peridotite xenoliths in the Grib kimberlite suggest that these megacrysts are disintegrated fragments of coarsest grained metasomatized garnet lherzolite, ilmenite-bearing peridotite, and clinopyroxene-phlogopite mantle rocks or formed under the same conditions as xenoliths or directly crystallized from metasomatic melts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xenocrysts and megacrysts hosted in the rocks of Early Cretaceous olivine-basalt-basanite-nephelinite association that outcropped in erosion crater of Makhtesh Ramon (Natural Reserve of Mishmar ha-Nagev, Israel) are the topic of the current research. Magmatic rock association contains the wide spectrum of xenoliths trapped at different crustal levels. These are upper mantle, lower, and upper crustal xenoliths. Mantle xenoliths are represented by peridotites, olivine clinopyroxenites, clinopyroxenites, olivine websterites, websterites and their amphibole-bearing analogs. Lower crustal xenoliths are mafic granulites, such as metagabbros and plagioclasites, upper crustal xenoliths are the fragments of Neoproterozoic tuffs. Xenocrysts and megacrysts are fragments of xenoliths that chipped from them during their transportation to the surface. Different rate of xenoliths, xenocrysts, and megacrysts alteration by host magma and late fluids is a common petrographic particularity. The fluid alteration occurred at phreatomagmatic stage of magma crystallization. Alteration is observed by the appearance of new textures and products of reactional interaction. Xenocrysts and megacrysts are mainly represented by minerals that compatible with rock magmatic association. These are olivine, clinopyroxene, amphibole, nepheline, plagioclase, anorthoclase, apatite, magnetite, and spinel. Xenocrysts of quartz and orthopyroxene are incompatible to host rock magmatic association under-saturated in SiO2. Main reasons determining interaction between magma and xenolith are rapid decompression, metamorphism and metasomatism. Xenocrysts are subjected to metamorphism that corresponds to high-temperature facies of contact metamorphism, up to the partial melting of xenocrysts. Metasomatism is smoothing out the composition of xenocrysts to the composition of the same minerals that crystallized from host melt. There are several important criterions, which permit to identify xenocrysts and divide them from phenocrysts. These are partial melting, solid-state decomposition, recrystallization of primary (before-trapping) textures, recrystallization and self-faceting of initially anhedral grains into the crystals with perfect habit. Chemical composition of xenocrysts has both mineral - geochemical indications of xenogenic origin and new-formed sings of alteration.

To provide new insights into the origin and evolution of kimberlitic magmas with different diamond concentrations from the Arkhangelsk diamond province in north-western Russia, we examined the major- and trace-element compositions of ilmenite from diamondiferous kimberlite of the Grib pipe and diamond-barren kimberlites from the Kepino cluster (Stepnaya and TsNIGRI–Arkhangelskaya pipes). Ilmenite from diamond-barren kimberlites shows lower Mg, Ti, Cr, Ni and Cu concentrations with increase in both Fe3+ and Fe2+ and Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf, Zn and V concentrations. The main differences between kimberlites with different diamond contents are the Nb and Zr concentrations and their correlation patterns with Mg and Cr concentrations. Ilmenite from the Grib kimberlite has Zr concentrations <110 ppm, whereas ilmenite from the Kepino kimberlites has Zr concentrations >300 ppm. Ilmenite crystallisation within the Grib kimberlite occurred under increasing oxygen fugacity (fO2), which may reflect assimilation of mantle peridotite by the kimberlitic magmas. Ilmenite from the Kepino kimberlites suggests its crystallisation under constant fO2, with the ilmenite composition being controlled by processes of fractional crystallisation of megacrystic minerals. These assumptions were confirmed with assimilation–fractional crystallisation calculations. On the basis of obtained data, we developed a model for the evolution of the kimberlitic magmas for both diamondiferous and barren kimberlites. The diamond-bearing kimberlitic magmas were generated under intense interaction of kimberlitic magmas with the surrounding lithospheric mantle. It may be that during early modification of the lithospheric mantle by kimberlitic magmas as well as with kimberlitic magmas' local stretching and swift ascent, the capture of the mantle xenoliths was favoured over the crystallisation of phenocrysts. The formation of barren kimberlitic magmas may have occurred when the lithospheric mantle in the vicinity of ascending magmas was already geochemically equilibrated with them. It also is possible that the magma's ascent slowed under conditions of dominantly compressive stresses with crystallisation of olivine and other megacrystic phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present petrography and mineral chemistry for both phlogopite, from mantle-derived xenoliths (garnet peridotite, eclogite and clinopyroxene–phlogopite rocks) and for megacryst, macrocryst and groundmass flakes from the Grib kimberlite in the Arkhangelsk diamond province of Russia to provide new insights into multi-stage metasomatism in the subcratonic lithospheric mantle (SCLM) and the origin of phlogopite in kimberlite. Based on the analysed xenoliths, phlogopite is characterized by several generations. The first generation (Phl1) occurs as coarse, discrete grains within garnet peridotite and eclogite xenoliths and as a rock-forming mineral within clinopyroxene–phlogopite xenoliths. The second phlogopite generation (Phl2) occurs as rims and outer zones that surround the Phl1 grains and as fine flakes within kimberlite-related veinlets filled with carbonate, serpentine, chlorite and spinel. In garnet peridotite xenoliths, phlogopite occurs as overgrowths surrounding garnet porphyroblasts, within which phlogopite is associated with Cr-spinel and minor carbonate. In eclogite xenoliths, phlogopite occasionally associates with carbonate bearing veinlet networks. Phlogopite, from the kimberlite, occurs as megacrysts, macrocrysts, microcrysts and fine flakes in the groundmass and matrix of kimberlitic pyroclasts. Most phlogopite grains within the kimberlite are characterised by signs of deformation and form partly fragmented grains, which indicates that they are the disintegrated fragments of previously larger grains. Phl1, within the garnet peridotite and clinopyroxene–phlogopite xenoliths, is characterised by low Ti and Cr contents (TiO 2 < 1 wt.%, Cr 2 O 3 < 1 wt.% and Mg# = 100 × Mg/(Mg + Fe) > 92) typical of primary peridotite phlogopite in mantle peridotite xenoliths from global kimberlite occurrences. They formed during SCLM metasomatism that led to a transformation from garnet peridotite to clinopyroxene–phlogopite rocks and the crystallisation of phlogopite and high-Cr clinopyroxene megacrysts before the generation of host-kimberlite magmas. One of the possible processes to generate low-Ti-Cr phlogopite is via the replacement of garnet during its interaction with a metasomatic agent enriched in K and H 2 O. Rb–Sr isotopic data indicates that the metasomatic agent had a contribution of more radiogenic source than the host-kimberlite magma. Compared with peridotite xenoliths, eclogite xenoliths feature low-Ti phlogopites that are depleted in Cr 2 O 3 despite a wider range of TiO 2 concentrations. The presence of phlogopite in eclogite xenoliths indicates that metasomatic processes affected peridotite as well as eclogite within the SCLM beneath the Grib kimberlite. Phl2 has high Ti and Cr concentrations (TiO 2 > 2 wt.%, Cr 2 O 3 > 1 wt.% and Mg# = 100 × Mg/(Mg + Fe) < 92) and compositionally overlaps with phlogopite from polymict breccia xenoliths that occur in global kimberlite formations. These phlogopites are the product of kimberlitic magma and mantle rock interaction at mantle depths where Phl2 overgrew Phl1 grains or crystallized directly from stalled batches of kimberlitic magmas. Megacrysts, most macrocrysts and microcrysts are disintegrated phlogopite fragments from metasomatised peridotite and eclogite xenoliths. Fine phlogopite flakes within kimberlite groundmass represent mixing of high-Ti-Cr phlogopite antecrysts and high-Ti and low-Cr kimberlitic phlogopite with high Al and Ba contents that may have formed individual grains or overgrown antecrysts. Based on the results of this study, we propose a schematic model of SCLM metasomatism involving phlogopite crystallization, megacryst formation, and genesis of kimberlite magmas as recorded by the Grib pipe. Image 1 • Phlogopites from mantle xenoliths and kimberlite from the Grib pipe are studied. • Phlogopites were divided into two main groups: low-Ti-Cr and high-Ti-Cr. • Low-Ti-Cr phlogopite formed during mantle metasomatism before kimberlitic magma generating. • This metasomatism led to a transformation from garnet peridotite to clinopyroxene–phlogopite rocks. • High-Ti- Cr phlogopite is the product of kimberlitic magma and mantle rock interaction at mantle depths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kimberlites from the Diavik and Ekati diamond mines in the Lac de Gras kimberlite field contain abundant large (>1 cm) clinopyroxene (Cr-diopside) and garnet (Cr-pyrope) crystals. We present the first extensive mineral chemical dataset for these megacrysts from Diavik and Ekati and compare their compositions to cratonic peridotites and megacrysts from the Slave and other cratons. The Diavik and Ekati Cr-diopside and Cr-pyrope megacrysts are interpreted to belong to the Cr-rich megacryst suite. Evidence for textural, compositional, and isotopic disequilibrium suggests that they constitute xenocrysts in their host kimberlites. Nevertheless, their formation may be linked to extensive kimberlite magmatism and accompanying mantle metasomatism preceding the eruption of their host kimberlites. It is proposed that the formation of megacrysts may be linked to failed kimberlites. In this scheme, the Cr-rich megacrysts are formed by progressive interaction of percolating melts with the surrounding depleted mantle (originally harzburgite). As these melts percolate outwards, they may contribute to the introduction of clinopyroxene and garnet into the depleted mantle, thereby forming lherzolite. This model hinges on the observation that lherzolitic clinopyroxenes and garnets at Lac de Gras have compositions that are strikingly similar to those of the Cr-rich megacrysts, in terms of major and trace elements, as well as Sr isotopes. As such, the Cr-rich megacrysts may have implications for the origin of clinopyroxene and garnet in cratonic lherzolites worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study (U-Th)/He dating of the Penglai zircons, which occur as abundant megacrysts in Neogene alkaline basalts in northern Hainan Province, south-eastern China, was undertaken. A weighted mean age of 4.06 ± 0.35 Ma (2 s) with a mean square weighted deviation ( MSWD) of 1.79 was obtained from eighteen fragments of four zircon megacrysts using single-crystal laser fusion He determinations and the U-Th isotope dilution ( ID) method. The (U-Th)/He ages are consistent, homogeneous and systematically slightly younger than the preferred 206Pb/238U age of 4.4 ± 0.1 Ma (95% confidence interval) determined by ID- TIMS and subsequently published U-Pb results. The U-Pb isotopic system in zircon has a high closure temperature of ~ 900 °C, and the preferred U-Pb age may record both the time since eruption and the zircon residence time in the magma chamber. In contrast, the closure temperature of the zircon (U-Th)/He system is ~ 190 °C and the zircon megacrysts were brought quickly to the surface by the host basaltic magma. Thus, the (U-Th)/He age represents the timing of the eruption. Based on the unlimited quantity, large grain size, mostly weak broad zoning, rapid cooling and homogenous (U-Th)/He ages, we consider the Penglai zircons suitable for use as a reference material in (U-Th)/He isotope geochronology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The Bulkur garnets derived from the deep subcontinental mantle of northeastern Siberia. • Garnet megacrysts record large-scale melt metasomatism near LAB. • Diamondiferous harzburgites rare due to pervasive melt referzilization. • Refertilized lherzolites and eclogites compose SCLM in the diamond window. • Similar mantle sources of garnets and diamond placers of northeastern Siberia. Although the diamond potential of cratons is linked mainly to thick and depleted Archean lithospheric keels, there are examples of craton-edge locations and circum-cratonic Proterozoic terranes underlain by diamondiferous mantle. Here, we use the results of comprehensive major and trace-element studies of detrital garnets from diamond-rich Late Triassic (Carnian) sedimentary rocks in the northeastern Siberia to constrain the thermal and chemical state of the pre-Triassic mantle and its ability to sustain the diamond storage. The studied detrital mantle-derived garnets are dominated by low- to medium-Cr lherzolitic (∼45%) and low-Cr megacrystic (∼39%) chemistries, with a significant proportion of eclogitic garnets (∼11%), and only subordinate contribution from harzburgitic garnets (∼5%) with variable Cr 2 O 3 contents (1.2–8.4 wt.%). Low-Cr megacrysts display uniform, "normal" rare-earth element (REE) patterns with no Eu/Eu* anomalies, systematic Zr and Ti enrichment (mainly within 2.5–5), which are evidence of their crystallization from deep metasomatic melts. Lherzolitic (G9) garnets exhibit normal or humped to MREE-depleted sinusoidal REE patterns and elevated Nd/Y (up to 0.33–0.41) and Zr/Y ratios (up to 7.62). Rare low- to high-Cr harzburgitic (G10) garnets have primarily "depleted", sinusoidal REE-patterns, low Ti, Y and HREE, but vary significantly in Zr-Hf, Ti and MREE-HREE contents, Nd/Y (within 0.1–2.4) and Zr/Y (1.53–19.9) ratios. The observed trends of chemical enrichment from the most depleted, harzburgitic garnets towards lherzolitic (including high-Ti high-Cr G11-type) garnets and megacrysts result from either voluminous high-temperature metasomatism by plume-derived silicate melts or recurrent mobilization of less voluminous kimberlitic or related carbonated mantle melts, rather than the initially primitive, fertile nature of the Proterozoic SCLM. Calculated Ni-in-garnet temperatures (primarily within ∼1150–1250 °C) indicate their derivation from at least ∼220 km thick Cr-undersaturated lithosphere at the relevant Devonian to Triassic thermal flow of ∼45 mW/m2 or cooler. We suggest the existence of rare harzburgitic domains in the primarily lherzolitic diamond-facies SCLM beneath the northeastern Siberian craton at least by Triassic, whereas the abundance of eclogitic garnets, predominance of E-type inclusions in placer diamonds and specific morphologies argue for diamondiferous eclogites occurring within a ∼50–65 kbar diamond window of the Olenek province by the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of research of symplectites from the Shavaryn-Tsaram (Hangaj plateau, Mongolia) and Bartoj (Dzhida basaltic field, Russia) alkali basaltic rocks are presented. The symplectite compositions and structures were studied, and the physical and chemical parameters at which primary megacrysts were transformed into secondary mineral assemblages were defined. It is established that both garnet megacrysts and garnet-clinopyroxene aggregates were formed at pressures of 10-13 kbar and temperatures over 1300°C. The transformation of garnet into minerals of the secondary assemblage is considered as solid state water assisted resorption of garnet at a depth corresponding to pressures of 4-8 kbar and temperatures ranging from 1000 to 1300°C. The kelyphitic rims on the garnet megacrysts resulted from melting of the megacrysts at the contact with the hosting alkali basaltic rock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiments at 20–97 GPa and 2000 K in the system CaO–MgO–TiO2–SiO2 constrain phase relations involving Mg-rich and Ca-rich perovskite solid solutions at conditions relevant to the Earth's deep Transition Zone and lower mantle. Bulk compositions were investigated with molar Ti/(Ti + Si) up to 0·5 within the quasi-ternary ‘perovskite plane’, which is defined by a reciprocal solution among the components MgSiO3, MgTiO3, CaSiO3, and CaTiO3. Multi-anvil experiments at 20 GPa and 2000 K on bulk compositions within the plane produce akimotoite coexisting with Ca-perovskites that lie close to the CaSiO3–CaTiO3 join. Higher-pressure experiments using a laser-heated diamond anvil cell constrain the position of a two-perovskite field that extends into the perovskite plane from the solvus along the MgSiO3–CaSiO3 binary join, where limited mutual solubility exists between MgSiO3 and CaSiO3 perovskites. On the join MgSiO3–MgTiO3, MgTiO3 solubility in MgSiO3 perovskite increases with pressure, with MgSi0·8Ti0·2O3 perovskite stable at ∼50 GPa. Limited reciprocal solution at ∼25 GPa results in an expansive two-perovskite field that occupies much of the Si-rich portion of the perovskite plane. Solution of Ti into Mg-rich and Ca-rich perovskites enhances the solubility of reciprocal Ca and Mg components, respectively. Increase in pressure promotes reciprocal solution, and the two-phase field collapses rapidly with pressure toward the MgSiO3–CaSiO3 join. We find that a single-phase, orthorhombic perovskite with near equimolar Ca and Mg is stable in a composition with Ti/(Ti + Si) of only 0·05 at 97 GPa, requiring that by this pressure the two-phase field occupies a small area close to the MgSiO3–CaSiO3 join. On the basis of experiments at∼1500 K, temperature has only a mild effect on the position of the Ca-rich limb of the solvus. Ca(Ti,Si)O3 mineral inclusions in deep sublithospheric diamonds could not have formed in equilibrium with Mg-perovskite owing to their virtual lack of MgSiO3 component at pressures of Mg-perovskite stability, but may have equilibrated with Transition Zone MgSiO3-rich phases at lower pressures; this observation can be extended generally to near-endmember CaSiO3 inclusions. On an iron-free basis, the average bulk compositions of clinopyroxene–ilmenite and orthopyroxene–ilmenite megacrysts from kimberlites plot in single-perovskite fields at pressures greater than about 45 and 65 GPa, respectively, when projected onto the perovskite plane. We predict that the effect of iron will not be large, and estimate that single-phase perovskites may form at somewhat lower pressures than in the iron-free system. Thus, the origin of pyroxene–ilmenite megacrysts from single-phase perovskite solutions in the lower mantle is plausible on the basis of phase relations, although a lower pressure magmatic origin appears more likely. Deeply subducted Ti-rich lithologies such as ocean-island basalt will crystallize a single perovskite rather than a two-perovskite assemblage beginning at pressures of ∼80 GPa. Normal mid-ocean ridge basalt and primitive mantle peridotite are expected to remain within a two-phase perovskite field until Mg-perovskite transforms to post-perovskite. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Water content, mineral chemistry, and oxidation state of clino- and orthopyroxene xenocrysts and megacrysts were investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy--including focal plane array (FPA) detector mapping, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and electron microprobe. Various tectonic settings, ages, and modes of emplacement are represented by 23 samples from 6 areas (Massif Central, France; Letseng, Lesotho; Colorado, U.S.A.; Kakanui, New Zealand; Oahu, Hawaii; and New South Wales, Australia). The xenocrysts are from both garnet and spinel peridotites--including lherzolite and harzburgite varieties-and one sample of clinopyroxenite. Water contents vary between ~10 and 600 wt ppm. Samples from Massif Central, Colorado, Kakanui, and Hawaii have high water contents: 180-600 wt ppm. The samples from Lesotho and New South Wales have considerably lower amounts: ~10-300 wt ppm. Water contents of xenocrysts and megacrysts from New South Wales vary within a narrow range (clinopyroxene: ~50 wt ppm, orthopyroxene: 15-20 wt ppm), whereas the water content of the Lesothian samples scatter considerably. No significant correlations are observed between water content, mineral chemistry, or oxidation state of the samples. FPA mapping reveals homogenous dis- tribution of water in the pyroxene lattice. The results are compared to available literature and research on water diffusion in natural mantle pyroxene. Altogether, the data suggest that water in pyroxene found in fresh peridotite xenoliths partly reflects the water content of the mantle source region. On the other hand, variable mineral chemistry and water contents of megacryst pyroxenes indicate processes such as magmatic equilibration, magma mixing, and contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We present an integrated microsampling trace element and isotopic study of primary minerals within the Jos kimberlite, Canada, in order to observe how different phases record progressive crustal interaction in the evolving kimberlite. Identification of the least contaminated phases provides the best information on kimberlite source geochemistry. We also carried out an analogue study on an olivine melilitite from Saltpetre Kop, South Africa, examining a similar mineral suite, with the addition of melilite. The two studies show that all phases except phenocryst olivine show some evidence of crustal modification. Perovskite has recently been used as a proxy for source isotope composition. Although perovskite may provide a better constraint on the isotopic composition of the kimberlite than the whole rock, it does not necessarily provide the best constraint on the source region. The lower initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio recorded by early crystallising phases in the kimberlite is similar to those of the low-Cr megacryst suite, strengthening the genetic relationship between kimberlite activity and megacryst formation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: New data on geochemistry of incompatible trace elements (Nb, Zr, Hf, Ti, Y, REE) in garnets (Ga) and clinopyroxenes (Cpx) from deformed high-temperature garnet lherzolites, harzburgites, and garnet megacrysts from the Udachnaya pipe are presented. According to textures and petrographic composition, the deformed Ga-bearing peridotites are subdivided into coarse- and fine-porphyroclastic. Rocks of the first type (Ga-lherzolites) are enriched in Ga and Cpx (up to 30% each); among them, there are xenoliths with deformed Ga, Cpx, and Ol megacrysts. Deformed fine-porphyroclastic peridotites (Ga-lherzolites and Ga-harzburgites) are depleted in Ga (≤10%) and Cpx (≤3–5%). Four Ga megacrysts are typical of a Cr-poor association (0.33–1.63% Cr2O3; 0.56–1.05% TiO2; Mg# = 0.67–0.86). Garnets from deformed high-temperature coarse-porphyroclastic Ga-lherzolites are similar in geochemistry to Ga megacrysts: Their chondrite-normalized REE curves rise smoothly from La to Yb, and their spidergrams show peaks of Nb, Zr + Hf, and Ti. The narrow marginal zones of Ga grains from Ga-lherzolites are enriched in LREE. The peaks of HFSE in the Ga curves are smoothed out. The element patterns of garnet from fine-porphyroclastic Ga-lherzolites and Ga-harzburgites show a sinusoidal distribution of REE and Zr + Hf and Ti minima on the spidergrams. The element patterns of Cpx from both types of rocks are nearly the same: The curves are convex in the field of LREE, drastically drop from Nd to Yb, and have minima of Nb, Zr + Hf, and Ti. The curves of melts (L) equilibrated with Ga (calculated from partition coefficients) show a drastic enrichment in LREE and peaks of Nb, Zr + Hf, and Ti for garnet from deformed coarse-porphyroclastic lherzolites and megacrysts. The L curves of fine-porphyroclastic lherzolites and harzburgites have distinct minima of Zr + Hf and more sharply slope from Nd to Yb. The L curves of Cpx have minima of Nb, Zr + Hf, and Ti and lie near the field of basaltoid kimberlites from the Udachnaya pipe. All these data are consistent with the model of percolative fractional crystallization. The matter of mantle plume arrived from the mantle transition zone might have been the source of asthenospheric liquids inducing specific magmatic metasomatism at the continental lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary. The source material was enriched in majorite and silicate-perovskite or in ancient oceanic crustal matter. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The megacryst suite of the Grib kimberlite pipe (Arkhangelsk province, Russia) comprises garnet, clinopyroxene, magnesian ilmenite, phlogopite and garnet-clinopyroxene intergrowths. Crystalline inclusions, mainly of clinopyroxene and picroilmenite, occur in garnet megacrysts. Ilmenite is characterized by a wide range in the contents of MgO (10.6–15.5 wt.%) and Cr2O3 (0.7–8.3 wt.%). Megacryst garnets show wide variations in Cr2O3 (1.3–9.6 wt.%) and CaO (3.6–11.0 wt.%) but relatively constant MgO (15.4–22.3 wt.%) and FeO (5.2–9.9 wt.%). The pyroxenes also show wide variations in such oxides as Cr2O3, Al2O3 and Na2O (0.56–2.95; 0.86–3.25; 1.3–3.0 wt.%, respectively). The high magnesium and chromium content of all these minerals puts them together in one paragenetic group. This conclusion was confirmed by studies of the crystalline inclusions in megacrysts, which demonstrate similar variations in composition. Low concentration of hematite in ilmenite suggests reducing conditions during crystallization. P–T estimates based on the clinopyroxene geothermobarometer (Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 139 (2000) 541) show wide variations (624–1208 °C and 28.8–68.0 kbars), corresponding to a 40–45 mW/m2 conductive geotherm. The majority of Gar-Cpx intergrowths differ from the corresponding monomineralic megacrysts in having higher Mg contents and relatively low TiO2. The minerals from the megacryst association, as a rule, differ from the minerals of mantle xenoliths, but garnets in ilmenite-bearing peridotite xenoliths are compositionally similar to garnet megacrysts. The common features of trace element composition of megacryst minerals and kimberlite (they are poor in Zr group elements) suggest a genetic relationship. The origin of the megacrysts is proposed to be genetically connected with kimberlite magma-chamber evolution on the one hand and with associated mantle metasomatism on the other. We suggest that, depending on the primary melt composition, different paragenetic associations of macro/megacrysts can be crystallized in kimberlites. They include: (1) Fe–Ti (Mir, Udachnaya pipes); (2) high-Mg, Cr (Zagadochna, Kusova pipes); (3) high-Mg, Cr, Ti (Grib pipe). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Kimberlites from Southern Africa, along with their low-Cr megacrysts, have unusual Hf–Nd isotopic characteristics. Group I and Transitional kimberlites define arrays trending oblique to, and well below, the Nd–Hf isotope ‘mantle array’, defined by oceanic basalts, i.e. they have negative ΔɛHf values. Group I kimberlites have ΔɛHf values varying from −1.2 to −10.1. Low-Cr megacryst suites from individual Group I kimberlites have compositions that overlap those of their host kimberlites. The trend for all Group I kimberlite megacrysts (ΔɛHf values −1.0 to −9.0) shows a striking correspondence to that of the Group I kimberlite field. Group II kimberlites and their low-Cr megacrysts plot on or close to the mantle Nd–Hf array (ΔɛHf values 3.6 to −2.6). The data indicate a genetic link between kimberlites and the low-Cr megacryst suite. The negative ΔɛHf characteristics of Group I kimberlites and their megacrysts require a source component that is ancient (>1 Ga), and has evolved with low time-integrated Lu/Hf relative to Sm/Nd. Our preferred option is that this component originates beneath the lithosphere, from a reservoir of ancient, deeply subducted oceanic basalt that became incorporated into the convecting mantle source region for Group I and Transitional kimberlites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although aphyric tholeiites were discharged from nearly the same fissures during 1940 and 1962 eruptions of Miyake-jima volcano, some of the 1940 rocks are characterized by the presence of anorthite (to 3 cm) and olivine (to 4 mm) megacrysts. We focus on the assemblage and composition of crystal-clots to discuss magmatic processes, because minerals in the same type of clots must have crystallized at the same time. Three types of clots are identified, megacryst (M), basaltic (B; 1190–1175°C) and andesitic (A; 1150–1080°C). The M-type crystal-clots are characterized by anorthite (An87–96) and olivine (Fo78–86) megacrysts. Major mafic minerals of the B-type and A-type crystal-clots are olivine-clinopyroxene without magnetite, and pyroxenes with magnetite, respectively. The 1940 megacryst-bearing rocks contain all the three types of clots, whereas 1940 megacryst-free rocks contain only A-type and B-type. However, megacrysts and M-type clots show petrographic features such as kink-bands of olivine, spherical olivines in anorthite, and wide homogeneous cores of anorthite, suggesting that these minerals may not be comagmatic phenocrysts but xenocrysts. Chemical compositions and crystal size distribution plots of these crystals are identical to those of plutonic xenoliths erupted from one of the 1940 fissure. Thus, we concluded that megacrysts and M-type clots are xenocrysts derived from the same sources as plutonic xenoliths. We consider that the magma plumbing system of the 1940 eruption consists of a deeper basaltic magma storage system and a shallower andesitic one. The plutonic body might be located under the northeastern part of the volcano between two magma storage systems. The basaltic magma captured plutonic xenoliths, and then mixed with the andesitic magma during the 1940 eruption. Whether erupted rocks contain xenocrysts or not must depend on the spatial relationship between ascending basaltic dykes and location of the deep-seated plutonic body. On the other hand, the 1962 ejecta contain only A-type crystal-clots, indicating that only shallower andesitic magma was discharged. Although anorthite megacrysts are often recognized in island-arc tholeiites, calcic plagioclase could crystallize not from nearly dry tholeiites but from H2O-saturated conditions. This could be achieved by closed system differentiation and/or addition of H2O from the crust, such as plutonic conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Helium isotope compositions of the mantle xenoliths and megacrysts in the Cenozoic basalts in the eastern China were measured. The samples were collected from Ludao of Heilongjiang, Huinan and Jiaohe of Jilin, Kuandian of Liaoning, Hannuoba of Hebei, Nüshan of Anhui, Dingan of Hainan. The3He/4He ratios of the mantle xenoliths and megacrysts from the most areas were about 1 × 10-5, and were similar to those of the MORB, thus reflecting the characteristics of the MORB-typed depleted mantle. The3He/4He ratios of the mantle xenoliths from Jiaohe were 4.8×10-6 and the3He/4He ratios of xenoliths from Hannuoba vary from 0.15× 10-6 to 7.4 ×10-6, obviously lower than those of the MORB, and even lower than the atmospheric helium isotope ratios, indicating that the continental mantle was strongly replaced in Jiaohe and Hannuoba areas. The helium isotope compositions of the mantle xenoliths and megacrysts in the same region vary in a very wide range. It is inferred that the mantle xenoliths and megacrysts were from different parts of the continental mantle. There were not necessary origin relations between the mantle xenoliths, megacrysts and their host basalts. An extremely high3He/4He ratio of garnet megacryst from Hannuoba, Hebei was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Models for a xenocryst origin for kimberlite olivines emphasise the similarity between their core compositions and those in mantle peridotites. While this permits a xenocryst origin, it does not provide proof , as magmas generated in equilibrium with mantle olivines could, in principle, crystallize initial olivines matching those in the source region. Further, in several kimberlites, there is a striking disparity between the compositional range of olivine cores and that in associated mantle peridotite xenoliths from the same locality. Olivine-liquid Mg-Fe exchange coefficients and Ni partition coefficients permit equilibrium between Mg-rich mantle olivines (Mg # ~ 94–93) and magmas matching kimberlite bulk rock compositions. Glass inclusions in olivine megacrysts from the Monastery kimberlite, with compositions which overlap the range of archetypal Group I kimberlites, were interpreted to represent original liquids trapped at pressures of 4.5–6 GPa. These glass inclusions provide direct petrographic support for primitive melts matching kimberlite bulk chemistry in the lower SCLM. A majority of kimberlitic olivines show normal (decreasing Mg #) core to rim zonation. Cores of normal-zoned kimberlitic olivines are typically homogeneous, but collectively define a field with a range in Mg # and invariant or slightly decreasing Ni towards more Fe-rich compositions. The most Mg-rich cores of normal-zoned olivines typically have Mg # in the range 94–93, but there are marked differences in the Fe-rich extreme of the normal-zoned population between different kimberlite clusters. Olivine rims typically define a field characterized by steeply decreasing Ni, coupled with invariant or slightly increasing or decreasing Mg #, which invariably overlaps the Fe-extreme of core compositions of the relatively Mg-rich, normal-zoned olivines. Consequently, while there is a sharp inflection in chemical gradient between the respective fields of cores and rims, they nevertheless define a continuous compositional field. Trace element modelling demonstrates that these zonation patterns can be explained in terms of a Raleigh crystallization model. Most, if not all kimberlites are characterized by a subordinate group of olivine macrocrysts with cores that are Fe-rich relative to the field for rims, and thus show reverse zonation, which are interpreted to be linked to the Cr-poor megacryst suite. Rare Mg-rich olivines (relative to rims), have high-pressure inclusions of garnet, clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene. When present, such inclusions often show disequilibrium features such as internal chemical zonation. This points to a very short mantle residence time prior to entrainment by the host kimberlite, indicating a link to the Cr-rich megacryst suite rather than mantle peridotites. In addition to a variable, but generally subordinate proportion of olivines derived from Cr-poor and Cr-rich megacrysts, xenocrysts derived from disaggregated mantle peridotites will undoubtedly be present. While their proportions are difficult to quantify, the collective evidence points to a cognate origin for a majority of kimberlitic olivines. A kimberlite magma ascent model is proposed which provides a framework for understanding both olivine compositional variation and apparently enigmatic internal and external olivine morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The garnet megacrysts of Gore Mountain contain former melt inclusions. • Quartz and feldspar polymorphs commonly found as crystallization products of the trapped melt. • Melt production at ultrahigh temperature conditions (≥940 °C) as result of H 2 O-present melting of a lower crustal gabbro. • First instance of TTG embryos found in their mafic source rock. • Their mismatched signature suggests that trace elements may not be diagnostic of depth of melting and geodynamic setting. The garnet megacrysts of Gore Mountain (Adirondacks, US) are world-renown crystals due to their size, up to 1 m in historical record, which makes them the largest known garnets on the planet. We show here that they are also host to the first primary inclusions of trondhjemitic melt found in natural mafic rocks. The petrological and experimental investigation of the inclusions, coupled with phase equilibrium modelling, shows that this melt is the result of H 2 O-fluxed partial melting at T > 900 °C of a lower crustal gabbro. The compositional similarity between the trondhjemitic melt inclusions and tonalitic–trondhjemitic–granodioritic (TTGs) melts makes these inclusions a direct natural evidence that melting of mafic rocks generates TTG-like melts, and provides us with the possibility to clarify processes responsible for the formation of the early continental crust. These TTG embryos represent the trondhjemitic end-member of the melts whose emplacement at upper crustal levels, after being modified by mixing and crystallization-related processes, leads to the formation of the TTG terranes. Moreover, our study shows how the melt from H 2 O-fluxed melting of mafic lower crust has mismatched major and trace element signatures, previously interpreted as evidence of melting at very different pressures. This poses serious limitations to the established use of some chemical features to identify the geodynamic settings (e.g. subduction versus thickened crust) responsible for TTGs generation and the growth of early crust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Megacrysts, principally anorthoclase, Fe-rich biotite, clinopyroxene, magnetite, zircon and apatite, occur in alkali basaltic hosts at a number of Scottish localities. These minerals occur, not only as discrete, and composite megacrysts, but also as polycrystalline syenite (anorthoclasite) xenoliths. Composite xenoliths provide evidence that the anorthoclasites may occur as (pegmatitic) veins traversing pyroxenitic wall-rocks which may themselves be localized metasomatized peridotites within the shallow mantle. The anorthoclasites crystallized from highly trace element enriched melts which, in the case of the most geochemically extreme samples, were also peraluminous. Ion microprobe analyses show that the peraluminous (corundum-bearing) anorthoclasites comprise light rare earth element (LREE)-enriched alkali feldspars together with corundum and Nb-rich oxides (ilmenorutile, samarskite, yttro-niobate and columbite). The high contents of incompatible elements, together with oxygen isotope data, indicate crystallization of these syenitic facies from felsic melts, possibly originating through partial melting of metasomatized mantle lithologies. The aluminous character may be explained in terms of preferential loss of alkalis in fugitive carbonatitic fractions separated from the felsic melts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Major element, trace element and Sr−Nd−Pb isotopic compositions of ultramafic xenoliths and megacrysts from the continental Cameroon line provide evidence for metasomatism of the upper most lithospheric mantle by enriched melts during the Mesozoic The megacrysts probably crystallized within the lower continental crust from melts similar to the host magmas. All the xenoliths originated as depleted residues after the extraction of basaltic melts, but some indicate evidence of interaction with enriched partial melts before entrainment. The U−Pb isotopic data on garnet are consistent with cooling through >900°C at >300 Ma. The Sm−Nd isotope systematics in constituent phases appear to have been in equilibrium on a xenolith scale at the time of entrainment, indicating derivation from mantle that remained at temperatures >600°C until eruption. Spinel therzolies that show simple light rare earth element (LREE) depletions are characterized by isotopic compositions that are comparable with, but slightly more depleted than Atlantic N-MORB, suggesting that the unmetasomatized sub-continental lithosphere of the Cameroon line may be isotopically similar to that of sub-oceanic lithosphere. The Nd-depleted mantle model ages of these xenoliths are consistent with late Proterozoic depletion, similar in age to much of the overlying continental crust. In contrast, samples that have LREE-enriched clinopyr-oxenes (La/Yb =4.7–9.4) contain trace amounts of amphibole, are enriched in U and have more radiogenic Pb and Sr. These xenoliths yield U−Pb and Sm−Nd model ages consistent with Mesozoic enrichment, in agreement with the age of enrichment of the source regions of the basalts, as deduced from Pb isotopic compositions. Clinopyroxenes record three orders of magnitude enrichment in U and LREE accompanied by progressive K depletion associated with the growth of trace amphibole, with K/U ratios that range from 12000 to 1. The ratios of the trace elements thought to have similar bulk D in mantle melting, Ce/Pb, Ba/Rb and Nd/Sr ratios, display regional variations related to the time integrated history of enrichments indicated by Nd isotopic compositions. Mass balance calculations suggest that the melts responsible for the most recent enrichment of the lithosphere had higher La/Yb and U/Pb than Cameroon line host magmas, and were probably the product of small degrees of partial melting associated with the earliest stages of the breakup of Pangea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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• Compositional diversity of pyroxenite xenoliths and clinopyroxene megacrysts in Saghro nephelinites is shown. • Mg-number and Cr 2 O 3 contents of clinopyroxene increase from kaersutite-bearing clinopyroxenites to olivine clinopyroxenites. • Chemical compositions of clinopyroxene are used to identify the parental melt of pyroxenite xenoliths and megacrysts. • Crystallization of pyroxenite xenoliths and clinopyroxene megacrysts at a wide range of pressure (0.3−0.8 GPa). A suite of mafic pyroxenite xenoliths and clinopyroxene megacrysts was brought to the surface by Cenozoic nephelinites of the Jbel Saghro Volcanic Field (Anti-Atlas, Morocco). The large population of samples was subdivided into five groups: (i) clinopyroxenites sensu stricto; (ii) olivine clinopyroxenites; (iii) mica-bearing clinopyroxenites; (iv) kaersutite-bearing clinopyroxenites; (v) clinopyroxene megacrysts. These xenoliths display a cumulate texture (adcumulate, heteradcumulate with poikilitic clinopyroxene including olivine). The clinopyroxenes have the composition of augite and show an appreciable variation of MgO (7.02–14.80 wt.%), TiO 2 (0.58–5.76 wt.%) and Al 2 O 3 (2.81–12.38 wt.%) contents in grains. The clinopyroxenes are characterized by convex upward chondrite-normalized REE patterns, they display very similar trace element compositions with low contents of incompatible elements such as Rb (0−0.9 ppm), Ba (0.1–8.3 ppm), Th (0.1−0.3 ppm), U (0.01−0.04 ppm) and Nb (1.3–3.2 ppm). REE contents of the calculated melts in equilibrium with the clinopyroxene megacrysts and clinopyroxene from pyroxenite xenoliths are similar to those of the nephelinites exposed in Jbel Saghro. Crystallization temperatures of pyroxenite xenoliths and clinopyroxene megacrysts range from 950 °C to 1150 °C. Clinopyroxene barometry yielded pressure of crystallization ranging from 0.4 to 0.8 GPa for pyroxenite xenoliths and 0.3 to 0.7 GPa for clinopyroxene megacrysts. This pressure range is in agreement with pyroxenite xenoliths and clinopyroxene megacrysts being crystallized from their parental melts at the lower and upper crust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents new data on mineralogy, geochemistry, and Sr-Nd-Pb isotope systematics of Late Cenozoic eruption products of Uguumur and Bod-Uul volcanoes in the Tesiingol field of Northern Mongolia, with implications for the magma generation conditions, magma sources, and geodynamic causes of volcanism. The lavas and pyroclastics of the two volcanic centers are composed of basanite, phonotephrite, basaltic trachyandesite, and trachyandesite, which enclose spinel and garnet peridotite and garnet-bearing pyroxenite xenoliths; megacrysts of Na-sanidine, Ca-Na pyroxene, ilmenite, and almandine-grossular-pyrope garnets; and carbonate phases. The rocks are enriched in LILE and HFSE, show strongly fractioned REE spectra, and are relatively depleted in U and Th. The low contents of U and Th in Late Cenozoic volcanics from Northern and Central Mongolia represent the composition of a magma source. The presence of carbonate phases in subliquidus minerals and mantle rocks indicates that carbon-bearing fluids were important agents in metasomatism of subcontinental lithospheric mantle. The silicate-carbonate melts were apparently released from eclogitizied slabs during the Paleo-Asian and Mongol-Okhotsk subduction. The parent alkali-basaltic magma may be derived as a result from partial melting of Grt-bearing pyroxenite or eclogite-like material or carobantized peridotite. The sources of alkali-basaltic magmas from the Northern and Central Mongolia plot different isotope trends corresponding to two different provinces. The isotope signatures of megacrysts are similar to those of studied volcanic centers rocks. The P-T conditions inferred for the crystallization of pyroxene and garnet megacrysts correspond to a depth range from the Grt-Sp phase transition to the lower crust. Late Cenozoic volcanism in Northern and Central Mongolia may be a response to stress propagation and gravity instability in the mantle associated with the India-Asia collision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 3 stages of Mg-ilm crystallization: asthenospheric, lithospheric mantle, lithospheric crust. • Asthenospheric proto-kimberlite melt was parental for fractional crystallization of low-Cr megacryst minerals. • MgO & Cr 2 O 3 contents in Mg-ilm were increased while clastic lithospheric material was assimilated. We present new major element geochemical data, and review the existing data for ilmenite macrocrysts, megacrysts, as well as ilmenite in mantle xenoliths from four diamondiferous kimberlite fields in the Yakutian province. This combined data set includes 10,874 analyses of ilmenite from 94 kimberlite pipes. In the studied samples we identify various different ilmenite compositional distributions (e.g., "Haggerty's parabola", or "Step-like" trends in MgO-Cr 2 O 3 bivariate space), which are common to all kimberlites from a given cluster, but the compositional distributions differ between clusters. We propose three stages of ilmenite crystallization: (1) Mg-Cr poor ilmenite crystallising from a primitive asthenospheric melt (the base of Haggerty's parabola on MgO-Cr 2 O 3 plots). (2) This primitive asthenospheric melt was then modified by the partial assimilation of lithospheric material, which enriched the melt in MgO and Cr 2 O 3 (left branch of Haggerty's parabola). (3) Ilmenite subsequently underwent sub-solidus recrystallization in the presence of an evolved kimberlite melt under increasing oxygen fugacity (ƒO 2) conditions (right branch of Haggerty's parabola in MgO-Cr 2 O 3 plots). Significant differences in the ilmenite compositional distribution between different kimberlite fields are the result of diverse conditions during subsequent ilmenite crystallization in a kimberlite melt ascending through the lithospheric mantle, which have different textures and compositions beneath the studied kimberlite fields. We propose that a TiO 2 fluid formed due to immiscibility of an asthenospheric melt with low Cr and high Ti contents. This fluid infiltrated lithospheric mantle rocks forming Mg-ilmenite. These features indicate a genetic link between ilmenite and the host kimberlite melt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is devoted to the systematization of the composition of xenogenic olivine from kimberlites as the main mineral composing the lithospheric mantle. Based on data on the composition of olivines from xenoliths and megacrysts from kimberlites, a general division into four types is proposed: olivines of ultrahigh-temperature (HTP-1), high-temperature (HTP-2) and low-temperature (LTP) peridotites, as well as olivines of low-chromium megacryst association (MCA). The separation scheme uses the CaO content as an indicator of the formation temperature and the Mg/(Mg + Fe) ratio as an indicator of the degree of enrichment in olivines. In contrast to Al, the Ca content in olivines from cratonic peridotites is high enough to use only EPMA when applying the proposed scheme. According to this scheme the study of more than 1500 individual olivine xenocrysts from a number of kimberlite bodies of the Siberian platform was made. It revealed three characteristic distributions of olivine types: without high-temperature differences (Obnazhennaya pipe), with significant development of HTP-2 (Olivinovaya and Vtorogodnitsa pipes), and with a significant development of HTP-1 (Dianga pipe). Only the latter type of distribution is characterized by the presence of a noticeable amount of megacryst association olivines. The study of other minor elements (TiO2 and NiO) in olivines allowed us to propose a model for the formation of high-temperature olivines of two different types due to the interaction of megacryst melt of various fractionation stages on depleted rocks of the lithospheric mantle. HTP-2 olivines arose upon exposure to a fractionated melt of the late stages of crystallization, and HTP-1 olivines appeared upon exposure to unfractionated (less enriched with incompatible components) megacryst melt at higher temperatures of the initial stage of crystallization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymineralic inclusions in megacrysts have been reported to occur in kimberlites worldwide. The inclusions are likely the products of early kimberlite melt(s) which invaded the pre-existing megacryst minerals at mantle depths (i.e., at pressures ranging from 4 to 6 GPa) and crystallized or quenched upon emplacement of the host kimberlite. The abundance of carbonate minerals (e.g., calcite, dolomite) and hydrous silicate minerals (e.g., phlogopite, serpentine, chlorite) within polymineralic inclusions suggests that the trapped melt was more volatile-rich than the host kimberlite now emplaced in the crust. However, the exact composition of this presumed early kimberlite melt, including the inventory of trace elements and volatiles, remains to be more narrowly constrained. For instance, one major question concerns the role of accessory alkali-halogen-phases in polymineralic inclusions, i.e., whether such phases constitute a common primary feature of kimberlite melt(s), or whether they become enriched in late-stage differentiation processes. Recent studies have shown that polymineralic inclusions react with their host minerals during ascent of the kimberlite, while being largely shielded from processes that affect the host kimberlite, e.g., the assimilation of xenoliths (mantle and crustal), degassing of volatiles, and secondary alteration. Importantly, some polymineralic inclusions within different megacryst minerals were shown to preserve fresh glass. A major conclusion of this review is that the abundance and mineralogy of polymineralic inclusions are directly influenced by the physical and chemical properties of their host minerals. When taking the different interactions with their host minerals into account, polymineralic inclusions in megacrysts can serve as useful proxies for the multi-stage origin and evolution of kimberlite melt/magma, because they can (i) reveal information about primary characteristics of the kimberlite melt, and (ii) trace the evolution of kimberlite magma on its way from the upper mantle to the crust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]