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Microdiamonds in metamorphic rocks are a signature of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism that occurs mostly at continental collision zones. Most UHP minerals, except coesite and microdiamond, have been partially or completely retrogressed during exhumation; therefore, the discovery of coesite and microdiamond is crucial to identify UHP metamorphism and to understand the tectonic history of metamorphic rocks. Microdiamonds typically occur as inclusions in minerals such as garnet. Here we report the discovery of microdiamond aggregates in the matrix of a metapelite from the Nishisonogi unit, Nagasaki Metamorphic Complex, western Kyushu, Japan. The Nishisonogi unit represents a Cretaceous subduction complex which has been considered as an epidote–blueschist subfacies metamorphic unit, and the metapelite is a member of a serpentinite mélange in the Nishisonogi unit. The temperature condition for the Nishisonogi unit is 450 °C, based on the Raman micro-spectroscopy of graphite. The coexistence of microdiamond and Mg-carbonates suggests the precipitation of microdiamond from C–O–H fluid under pressures higher than 2.8 GPa. This is the first report of metamorphic microdiamond from Japan, which reveals the hidden UHP history of the Nishisonogi unit. The tectonic evolution of Kyushu in the Japanese Archipelago should be reconsidered based on this finding.

The Neoproterozoic Korab Kansi mafic-ultramafic intrusion is one of the largest (100 km2) intrusions in the Southern Eastern Desert of Egypt. The intrusion consists of Fe-Ti-bearing dunite layers, amphibole peridotites, pyroxenites, troctolites, olivine gabbros, gabbronorites, pyroxene gabbros and pyroxene-hornblende gabbros, and also hosts significant Fe-Ti deposits, mainly as titanomagnetite-ilmenite. These lithologies show rhythmic layers and intrusive contacts against the surrounding granites and ophiolitic-island arc assemblages. The wide ranges of olivine forsterite contents (Fo67.9-85.7), clinopyroxene Mg# (0.57–0.95), amphibole Mg# (0.47–0.88), and plagioclase compositions (An85.8-40.9) indicate the role of fractional crystallization in the evolution from ultramafic to mafic rock types. Clinopyroxene (Cpx) has high REE contents (2–30 times chondrite) with depleted LREE relative to HREE, like those crystallized from ferropicritic melts generated in an island-arc setting. Melts in equilibrium with Cpx also resemble ferropicrites crystallized from olivine-rich mantle melts. Cpx chemistry and its host rock compositions have affinities to tholeiitic and calc-alkaline magma types. Compositions of mafic-ultramafic rocks are depleted in HFSE (e.g. Nb, Ta, Zr, Th and U) relative to LILE (e.g. Li, Rb, Ba, Pb and Sr) due to the addition of subduction-related hydrous fluids (rich in LILE) to the mantle source, suggesting an island-arc setting. Fine-grained olivine gabbros may represent quenched melts approximating the primary magma compositions because they are typically similar in assemblage and chemistry as well as in whole-rock chemistry to ferropicrites. We suggest that the Korab Kansi intrusion crystallized at temperatures ranging from ~700 to 1100 °C from ferropicritic magma derived from melting of metasomatized mantle at

The interaction between migrating melts and the upper mantle largely affects the composition of the ascending melt and residual peridotites. In island arcs, melt-rock interactions and products which involved highly depleted mantle peridotites are still largely undocumented despite their petrological importance. In this contribution, the petrographic and geochemical signatures of refractory and refertilized peridotites comprising the mantle section of the southern Palawan Ophiolite, Philippines are investigated. The peridotites are dominantly comprised of residual spinel harzburgites with minor dunite and plagioclase peridotites. Spinel harzburgites are similar to other highly depleted residual mantle materials of other suprasubduction zone ophiolites. Plagioclase peridotites, which are cut by gabbroic intrusions, preserve distinct petrological characteristics indicating melt-rock interaction. The melts preserved as gabbroic dikes have signatures transitional between mid-ocean ridge and island arc, and are comparable to back-arc basin lavas. We therefore propose that the plagioclase peridotites were formed due to the reaction between highly depleted mantle peridotites beneath an intraoceanic arc and migrating BABB-like magmas possibly during the incipient stages of back-arc rifting.

We present paleostress analyses of dike swarms intruded during the subduction initiation in the northern Oman Ophiolite to understand the tectonomagmatic environment. Five swarms of subparallel dikes extending WNW-ESE are 1–5 km in width and are spaced every 5 km N-S. Each swarm has a core of 100% sheeted dikes 1–2 km in width, which emanated from the dunite-wherlite-clinopyroxenite-gabbronorite-diorite-tonalite complexes below and intruded through V1 and into V2 extrusive rocks. Individual dike strikes are varied but generally subparallel to the overall trend of the swarm. Paleostress analyses indicate subvertical σ1, ∼σ2, and subhorizontal σ3 with high magma pressures, resulted in the mutually intrusive, extensional shear dikes and abrupt changes in dike strike at high angles. These occurrences suggest intrusions under a more compressive environment compared to the extensional stress field that formed the N-S–striking sheeted dikes of V1 spreading stage. Most E-W–striking dikes possess both boninitic and tholeiitic geochemistry. The latter resemble the V1 flows and dikes with affinities of mid-ocean ridge basalt. Some tholeiitic dikes strike N-S, which are mutually intrusive to E-W–striking dikes. Tholeiitic dikes are more intensely altered than boninite, suggesting their older ages. Conversion of the stress field from a N-S–running spreading axis to inextensional E-W–running rift zones associated with the change in magma geochemistry agree with the relatively compressive V2 arc above a forced subduction zone, which originated from intraoceanic thrusting caused by the clockwise rotation of a microplate including the future northern ophiolite.

Multiple generations of amphibole may form in the lower crust due to magmatism and metamorphism during the development of oceanic core complexes. We investigated the occurrence and chemical compositions of amphibole in gabbro mylonites from the medial area of the Godzilla Megamullion along the Parece Vela Rift in the Philippine Sea. The samples contain brown and green amphiboles with a variety of different textures that may have different origins. The brown amphibole occurs mainly as blebs in clinopyroxene porphyroclasts (Bleb amphibole), the rims around clinopyroxene porphyroclasts (Coronitic amphibole), and as porphyroclasts and fine-grained amphibole within the matrix (Matrix amphibole). The trace element and Cl contents of the bleb and green amphiboles indicate magmatic and metamoprhic origins, respectively. The bleb amphibole is interpreted to have crystallized from a hydrous silicate melt derived from an oxide gabbro-forming melt prior to retrograde metamorphism. In contrast, the compositions of the coronitic amphibole and matrix amphibole vary between those of typical magmatic and metamorphic amphiboles, suggesting that the amphibole-forming reactions were continuously retrogressive. Retrograde metamorphism is generally interpreted to have involved seawater-derived fluids, but the trace element contents of the coronitic and matrix amphiboles do not differ significantly from those of the original minerals (i.e., clinopyroxene and plagioclase). One sample of gabbro mylonite (KH07–02-D18–1) contains amphiboles with high concentrations of light rare earth elements, indicating a large influx of externally derived LREE-enriched fluids. These fluids are interpreted to have formed from an interaction between hydrous silicate melt with LREE-enriched composition and seawater-derived fluid. Our results suggest that multiple phases of melt–fluid infiltration occurred during the development of the detachment fault at the Godzilla Megamullion.

A Paleogene accretionary complex, the Mineoka–Setogawa belt is distributed adjacent to the northern portion of the collision zone between Honshu and Izu–Bonin–Mariana (IBM) arcs in central Japan, c...

To discuss the nature of the compositional heterogeneity of the peridotite massifs of the Polar Urals (Russia), the geochemical study by LA-ICP-MS of pyroxenes and amphiboles from these mantle formations was performed. The trace element compositions in clinopyroxenes indicate the existence of the mantle protolith of two types. The first protolith type, represented by lherzolites and diopside harzburgites, was originated from the partial melting (5%–10%) under the spinel fades conditions, while the second one, represented by diopside harzburgites, was formed under the polybaric partial melting (17%–19%) under garnet and spinel fades conditions. Subsequently, the mantle peridotite protolith was subject to fluid-induced partial melting in the suprasubduction setting that was resulted in the formation of harzburgites. Being affected by penetrating melts and fluids peridotites experienced the refertilization (LREE enrichment of clinopyroxenes) and high-temperature hydratation with subsequent development of pargasite and Mg amphibole. The high-T fluid-induced metamorphism at the subduction zone was accompanied by the formation of metaperidotites with clinochlore and REE-depleted tremolite.

Some arc magmas reside in the uppermost mantle and the lower crust. Their deep-seated behavior determines the composition of magmas that erupt at the surface. Mafic-ultramafic xenoliths newly found in Sabtang island, Batanes group of islands of the Luzon arc record subarc processes. The xenolith suite is comprised mainly of dunites, orthopyroxenites, clinopyroxenites, hornblendites, and gabbros, all hosted in basaltic to andesitic lavas. Petrographic characteristics suggest the metasomatic formation of orthopyroxenites and hornblendites from dunites and clinopyroxenites, respectively. The apparently primary minerals are homogeneous in composition. Olivine is relatively magnesian (Fo82–90) and chromian spinel is rich in Cr# (=Cr/[Cr + Al], around 0.7) in dunites. Clinopyroxene is relatively magnesian (Mg# = Mg/[Mg + Fe2+] = 0.73–0.93) in clinopyroxenites and gabbros, and plagioclase is highly anorthitic (An89–98) in the gabbros. The primary mineral assemblage reflects crystallization of olivine and spinel followed by clinopyroxene all occurring in the uppermost mantle and lower crust of the Luzon arc. The orthopyroxenes and amphiboles were metasomatically produced at the expense of olivine and clinopyroxene, respectively. Clinopyroxene in the xenoliths is in equilibrium with the magmas that formed the Sabtang volcanics. They have relatively elevated contents of large-ion lithophile elements and light-rare-earth elements, which suggest derivation from an enriched mantle. The Sabtang xenoliths evidence the very active modification of the subarc mantle-crust boundary zone by mantle-derived magmas and slab-derived melts/fluids so that the mineral assemblage of the resultant rocks is similar to that of the predominant recent magma.

Highly carbonated mantle xenoliths have been found in rift-related alkaline basalts at the Wadi Natash area in the southern part of the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Although all olivine and most orthopyroxene was replaced by carbonate and/or quartz, textural and mineral chemical features show that they are plagioclase-free spinel peridotites (lherzolite to harzburgite). Cr and Mg numbers (Cr#, Mg#) of Cr-spinel vary from 0.06 to 0.45 and 0.73 to 0.81, respectively. The correlation between Cr# and Mg# of the Cr-spinel in the studied xenoliths is weakly negative and its TiO2 content is slightly higher than in abyssal peridotite that was not affected by melt injection. The chemistry of ortho- and clinopyroxene suggests enstatite and chromian diopside compositions, respectively, with distinct signatures of a sub-continental mantle source. In particular, the Na2O contents (>1.0 wt%) and AlVI/AlIV ratios (1.2–2.6) of chromian diopside suggest such an origin. Two-pyroxene geothermometry indicates a temperature of about 900 °C, which is slightly lower than that of ordinary spinel peridotite xenoliths from other rift zones. It is evident that the studied peridotite xenoliths had experienced mantle processes (e.g. decompression melting, magma upwelling and metasomatism) at higher pressure than abyssal peridotites. The trace-element chemistry of clinopyroxene, e.g. high LREE/HREE ratios {(Ce/Yb)n = 7}, high LREE contents (>3.6 ppm and up to 30.0 ppm Ce) and high Sr between >85.6 ppm and 466 ppm, indicates metasomatic alteration of the peridotite. Clinopyroxene in one sample has very low Ti/Eu and high LREE/HREE ratios. Clinopyroxene with (Ce/Yb)n higher than 3–4 and Ti/Eu ratio lower than 1500 may have experienced carbonatite or carbonate-rich melt metasomatism prior to their incorporation into the host basalt. The basalt itself is almost devoid of any carbonatization and hence the studied mantle peridotites were carbonatized before the generation of the basaltic magma but following an earlier event of K-metasomatism as indicated by the presence of phlogopite. The studied peridotites from the Wadi Natash area were altered by a carbonate-rich melt during a rifting stage. The results of the present paper indicate that the Natash basalts with their peridotite xenoliths extruded along transversal fractures of the NW-trending Nuqra-Kom Ombo-Kharit continental rift on its western shoulder in the south Eastern Desert of Egypt.

Rare nickel hydroxide-hydroxyl carbonate, theophrastite (Ni(OH)2)-zaratite (Ni3(CO3)(OH)4&middot, 4H2O) aggregates were found from a partially serpentinized dunite from Fujiwara, the Sanbagawa metamorphic belt of high-pressure intermediate type, Japan. The dunite was regionally metamorphosed within the Sanbagawa subduction complex of Cretaceous age. The theophrastite-zaratite aggregate from Fujiwara most typically occurs in association with nickel sulfides, which form a composite grain with awaruite and magnetite within an antigorite-rich part of the rock. The theophraste-zaratite formed possibly together with millerite (NiS) from heazlewoodite (Ni3S2). This represents a partial desulfurization of heazlewoodite, which contains or interlocks with laths of antigorite, suggesting their cogenesis. The desulfurization occurred at an early stage of, or during, exhumation of the subduction complex toward the surface, where sulfur was oxidized and removed as sulfate ions. Serpentinization of olivine has not been associated with the formation of theophrastite-zaratite, and an oxidized condition has been kept at this post-serpentinization stage. The sulfate ions liberated in part precipitated anhydrite where calcium was available in the surrounding rocks. This shows one of the shallow migration pathways of sulfur in the subduction zone, especially to the forearc area.

Plagioclase-impregnated mantle harzburgites from Setogawa area in the Circum-Izu Massif Serpentine Belt (of Miocene in age), central Japan, contain chromian spinel (chromite) grains that have minute globular inclusions composed of micas, amphiboles and pyroxenes. They are similar in texture and chemistry to those in chromitites as well as in some plutonic rocks, such as dunites and troctolites, form the Moho transition zone (MTZ). The Setogawa harzburgite host is similar in petrography and geochemistry to the MTZ harzburgite from the Oman ophiolite, and is possibly a low-pressure restite after melt-assisted partial melting or reaction with a percolating magma. The orthopyroxene-melt reaction, which is essentially responsible for producing those rocks from the peridotite (harzburgite), can precipitate chromian spinel as well as generate chemically heterogeneous melts along decomposing orthopyroxenes. The spinel-hosted melt inclusions in podiform chromitites are most frequently trapped at the reaction front between the spinel-oversaturated, spinel-loaden magma and mantle orthopyroxene (=harzburgite). The spinel-loaden magma had been produced via the same reaction at lower levels and moved upward. The spinel quickly overgrows to include chemically heterogenous melt drops, some of which are high in Cr/Al ratio and precipitate high-Cr spinel via reaction with the wall spinel. The chemical character (Cr/Al ratio) of podiform chromitites would be determined by the accumulative contribution from the melt derived from orthopyroxene decomposition during the passage of the melt through the upper mantle. We can speculate that the chromian spinel grains containing similar melt inclusions from the stratiform chromitite are transported as xenocrysts of mantle origin. The parental magma for layered intrusions possibly reacted with the peridotite when it passed through the mantle before arriving at a crustal magma chamber, showing a possible genetic linkage between the podiform and stratiform chromitites.

We describe mineralogy of magnetite deposits concentrated within a nonconformity surface between Aniba serpentinites and overlying limestones in the Southern Oman ophiolite and discuss their origin to understand iron mobility during serpentinization, with special reference to factors controlling the magnetite-orebody sizes. The Aniba magnetite deposits occur in several forms such as fibrous crystals, oval or rounded grains, strings and cluster shapes, in fine-grained iron-rich chlorite and calcite matrices. The chromian spinel (Cr# = 0.38–0.56) within the magnetite deposits is similar in texture, mode of occurrence and chemical composition to that in the underlying serpentinized harzburgites (chromian spinel Cr# = 0.37–0.50), and plots in the space of abyssal peridotites. The mineral chemistry of chromian spinel, olivine and clinopyroxene (Cpx) suggested that the Aniba harzburgites are refractory residue after high-degree (15–25%) partial melting and are similar to abyssal harzburgites from a normal ridge segment. This is confirmed by a Cpx trace-element character with high depletion in light rare earth elements (LREE), Ta and Zr relative to heavy REE. The iron of our magnetite deposits was possibly derived from two sources: one is an essentially internal source of iron from the breakdown of Fe-rich serpentines after olivine during low-T serpentinization (

International audience; A stratiform chromite ore body crops out in the lower part of the dunitic mantle-crust transition zone (DTZ) that developed at the top of a mantle diapir in the Maqsad area in the Oman ophiolite. It is made of layers ranging in thickness from a few mm to a maximum of 3 m, and in modal composition from massive to antinodular and disseminated ore. The ore body is about 50 m thick and its lateral extent does not exceed several hundred meters. The layering dips gently to the southeast, parallel to that of the overlying gabbroic cumulates. The chromite composition is typical of a MORB kindred - moderate XCr (100 x Cr/(Cr + Al) atomic ratio), ranging from 48 to 60, and relatively high TiO2 content, ranging from about 0.3 to 0.5 wt% -, a characteristic shared by most lithologies issued from the igneous activity of the Maqsad diapir. The silicate matrix is essentially made of slightly serpentinized olivine with minor clinopyroxene and rare pargasitic amphibole, orthopyroxene and garnet. This strongly contrasts with the nature of the mineral inclusions mostly made of the assemblage amphibole-orthopyroxene-mica, enclosed in the chromite grains and represented in abundance all along the ore body whatever the ore grade. The inclusions demonstrate the involvement of a silica- and water-rich melt and/or fluid, in addition to MORB, in the early stages of chromite crystallization. The chemical composition of chromite, silicate matrix, together with the one of silicate inclusions display well-defined evolutions vertically along the stratiform chromitite. At the scale of the ore body, the compositional trends are independent of the ore concentration but the major kinks in these trends are well-correlated with levels of magmatic breccias. This shows that abrupt chemical changes can be attributed to sudden melt ± fluids injection events followed mainly by melt-fluid-rock interaction and in a lesser extent by quieter evolution by fractional crystallization. At the thin section scale, second order chemical variations, essentially in the Mg# (100 Mg/(Mg þ Fe2þ) atomic ratio) of chromite and Fo of olivine, are clearly attributable to re-equilibration between these two solid phases, possibly in the presence of an interstitial melt/fluid.

Mantle melts provide a window on processes related to global plate tectonics. The composition of chromian spinel (Cr-spinel) from mafic-ultramafic rocks has been widely used for tracing the geotectonic environments, the degree of mantle melting and the rate of mid-ocean ridge spreading. The assumption is that Cr-spinel’s core composition (Cr# = Cr/(Cr + Al)) is homogenous, insensitive to post-formation modification and therefore a robust petrogenetic indicator. However, we demonstrate that the composition of Cr-spinel can be modified by fluid/melt-rock interactions in both sub-arc and sub-mid oceanic mantle. Metasomatism can produce Al-Cr heterogeneity in Cr-spinel that lowers the Cr/Al ratio, and therefore modifies the Cr#, making Cr# ineffective as a geotectonic and mantle melting indicator. Our analysis also demonstrates that Cr-spinel is a potential sink for fluid-mobile elements, especially in subduction zone environments. The heterogeneity of Cr# in Cr-spinel can, therefore, be used as an excellent tracer for metasomatic processes., Chromian-spinel from mafic-ultramafic rocks is used as a reliable geotectonic and mantle melting indicator. Here, the authors argue that this only works partially – it can be used to assess information on mantle metasomatic processes but not petrogenesis.

The mantle sections of four Neotethyan ophiolite bodies viz. Nagaland, Manipur, Andaman island and Rutland island lie along the eastern margin of the Indian plate. Among the at least two existing ophiolite belts in this region, all of these four ophiolite bodies belong to the western ophiolite belt. The major and trace element signatures of the constituent minerals of mantle peridotites of these ophiolites suggest that the samples from Nagaland, Manipur bear unequivocal signatures of abyssal peridotites. The compositional spectrum observed in them is within the limit of anhydrous melting of a MORB mantle source under reasonable melting condition. The Andaman ophiolite although overall characterizes the same, however, some mantle peridotites from this ophiolite might have experienced a hydrous melting event. The Rutland samples are distinct, showing signatures attesting to their forearc origin. The compositional spectrum observed in Nagaland, Manipur and a group of Andaman samples are grossly similar with samples recovered from Philippine Sea basins. Accordingly, interpretation regarding the geotectonic setting for the origin of these ophiolites straddles between mid-ocean ridge (MOR) and back-arc. If they truly represent their origin at MOR setting then the plagiogranites in these places showing arc affinity likely represent a later arc-related event, without having much connotation to the age of these ophiolites. Alternatively this study establishes a back-arc origin of these ophiolites.

Magnetite bodies of the Late Cretaceous Nain ophiolite melange (Central Iran) are hosted by a small volume of a serpentinized peridotite nappe. These ore bodies and their host peridotites have been studied in detail with respect to their mode of occurrence, petrography and mineral chemistry. The investigated ore deposits consist of m-scale lenses and pods of massive magnetite rocks exposed along a semi-brittle shear zone between pervasively serpentinized harzburgites, upper one with higher-Cr# [=Cr/(Cr + Al), 0.6–0.7] spinel and lower one with lower Cr# (0.5). Silicate mesostasis of the ore bodies is composed of stringy serpentine and chlorite. Cr-spinel grains are occasionally found dispersed within the magnetite rocks. Serpentines of the host serpentinized harzburgites show mesh and bastite textures, and were in part replaced by fibrous serpentine showing an interpenetrating texture. The Cr-spinels show a wide range of Cr# (0.5–0.7) and Mg# [=Mg/(Mg + Fe2+), 0.5–0.7], low TiO2 contents (

We describe some unusual metaperidotites that form a mega-block in thermally metamorphosed sediments adjacent to a granitic intrusion in the Nagasawa area, SW Japan, to investigate mobility of elements in a peridotite-sediment-fluid system. The critical mineral assemblage of the metaperidotite is olivine + talc + antigorite, indicating a univariant reaction at ∼500 °C. The metaperidotites contain chromian spinels as well as up to 5% of sulfides (pyrrhotite and pentlandite with limited solid solutions) that form composite grains with magnetite. The host sediments contain detrital chromian spinels. The olivines in the metaperidotites have low contents of NiO (0.1–0.2 wt%), almost irrespective of variable Fo contents (85–92). The chromian spinels in the metaperidotites have high values of Cr# (0.9–1.0) [Cr# = Cr/(Cr + Al)], and low values of Mg# (∼0.2) [Mg# = Mg/(Mg + Fe 2+ )] and Y Fe ( Fe = Fe 3+ /(Fe 3+ + Cr + Al)]. They contain appreciable amounts of ZnO (∼1 wt%) and low contents of CoO and NiO. The detrital chromian spinels in the metasediments have intermediate values of Cr# (0.4–0.8) and low values of Mg# (∼0) and Y Fe (∼0), but they have high contents of ZnO (up to 10 wt%). The olivines in the peridotites contain inclusions of high-Cr# chromian spinel rather than magnetite. The peculiar characteristics of the Nagasawa metaperidotites and hornfelses resulted from a contact metamorphic event at ∼500 °C that was accompanied by interactions between peridotite and sediment that were facilitated by circulating hydrothermal fluids. The mobile zinc in these fluids was possibly derived from the sediments.