Search

We conducted crystal-fabric analyses of peridotites within the Horoman peridotite complex in the Hidaka metamorphic belt, Hokkaido, Japan. Over fifty oriented peridotite samples were collected and analyzed for olivine fabric strength (J -index) and crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs). The peridotites contained four olivine CPOs: A, E, D, and AG types. We confirmed that olivine CPOs presented a transitional distribution from E to A to AG type from south to north. Previous experimental studies have demonstrated that E type CPO can merge under hydrous conditions. In addition, magnetotelluric observations suggested that the subducting oceanic plate supplies pore fluid to the basal thrust in the region (the Hidaka Main Thrust). Therefore, we infer that the E type CPO was originated from a local water infiltration event. AG type CPO, on the other hand, was considered as a secondary product enhanced by the synkinematic melts in the northern (geological upper) part, combined with the pressure-temperature path inferred by previous petrological studies. Furthermore, we reconstructed the senses of shear strain using the microstructure and olivine crystal-fabrics. Then we built the tectonic history of the Horoman peridotite complex integrating the structural development of the Hidaka metamorphic belt. • Senses of shear strain were reconstructed using olivine CPOs. • Local water infiltration was inferred by combining the olivine CPOs and previous magnetotelluric observations. • The tectonics of the Horoman peridotite complex was constructed using that of the Hidaka Metamorphic Belt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the structural and petrological characteristics of mantle peridotites in relation to the rock-hydrous melt reaction found in the Hayachine ultramafic complex, NE Japan. We conducted sampling, microstructural observations, crystal-orientation analyses, and major element composition analyses of the major constituent minerals in the peridotites. We used 17 serpentinized peridotites that preserved better mantle textures. The peridotites are composed of lherzolite to harzburgite, consisting of olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, amphibole, and spinel. The peridotites were classified into two textures according to olivine grain size: coarse-grained (ca. 2–3 mm) and fine-grained (ca. 0.3–0.5 mm). Fine-grained peridotites were newly found in this study and were characterized by aggregates of orthopyroxene and amphibole with a large number of spinel inclusions. Based on olivine crystal-preferred orientation (CPO), we found that the coarse-grained peridotites were further classified into Group 1 (A type CPO) and 2 (AG type CPO) and the fine-grained peridotites were accordingly classified into Group 3 (weak CPO). The systematic continuity in the chemical compositions of the minerals suggests that Group 1 peridotites partially melted to form Group 2 peridotites, followed by Group 3 peridotites, due to further reaction of Group 2 peridotites with hydrous melts. These textural and chemical variations in the peridotites could have resulted from rock-hydrous melt reactions under back-arc spreading and subsequent processes. • Hayachine peridotites were developed in mantle under the back-arc spreading. • Fine-grained peridotites were newly discovered in Hayachine ultramafic complex. • Variations of Hayachine peridotites resulted from rock-hydrous melt reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the microstructures and crystal-fabrics of peridotites within a large area (6 ×5 km) of the Horoman peridotite pomplex in the Hidaka metamorphic belt of Hokkaido, Japan. Thirteen peridotite samples were analyzed for olivine and orthopyroxene grain sizes, fabric strength (J-index), and crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs). Mean grain sizes of olivine and orthopyroxene were ranged in 295–497 µm and in 257–537 µm, respectively. The olivine fabric strength values decreased from the lower to the upper part of the complex, whereas the orthopyroxene fabric strength values showed no systematic trends. The peridotites contained three different olivine CPOs, previously known as A, E, and AG types. Combined with a previous study, we found that olivine CPOs showed a transitional distribution from E to A to AG type from south to north. E type peridotites occur at the basement of the complex in the south, suggesting that local water infiltration might occur at the basement of the complex. The A type peridotites occurred mainly in the middle of the studied area and subsequently the AG type peridotites occurred towards the north. Moreover, we calculated the seismic properties of peridotite as olivine 100% aggregates and mixed (olivine and orthopyroxene) aggregates. It showed that orthopyroxene CPOs reduce P-wave anisotropies of peridotite (0.2–2.2%) without modification of the P-wave propagation patterns. • Various olivine CPeOs occur along with various microstructures within a large peridotite massif. • Olivine CPOs were transitionally distributed from south to north. • Seismic anisotropies of peridotite decreased in 0.2–2.2% by orthopyroxene CPOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs) of olivine within natural peridotites are commonly depicted by pole figures for the [100], [010], and [001] axes, and they can be categorized into five well-known fabric types: A, B, C, D, and E. These fabric types can be related to olivine slip systems: A with (010)[100], B with (010)[001], C with (001)[001], D with {0kl}[100], and E with (001)[100]. In addition, an AG type is commonly found in nature, but its origin is controversial, and could involve several contributing factors such as complex slip systems, non-coaxial strain types, or the effects of melt during plastic flow. In this paper we present all of our olivine fabric database published previously as well as new data mostly from ocean floor, mainly for the convergent margin of the western Pacific region, and we introduce a new index named Fabric-Index Angle (FIA), which is related to the P-wave property of a single olivine crystal. The FIA can be used as an alternative to classifying the CPOs into the six fabric types, and it allows a set of CPOs to be expressed as a single angle in a range between −90° and 180°. The six olivine fabric types have unique values of FIA: 63° for A type, −28° for B type, 158° for C type, 90° for D type, 106° for E type, and 0° for AG type. We divided our olivine database into five tectonic groups: ophiolites, ridge peridotites, trench peridotites, peridotite xenoliths, and peridotites enclosed in high-pressure metamorphic rocks. Our results show that although our database is not yet large enough (except for trench peridotites) to define the characteristics of the five tectonic groups, the natural olivine fabrics vary in their range of FIA: 0° to 150° for the ophiolites, 40° to 80° for the ridge peridotites, −40° to 100° for the trench peridotites, 0° to 100° for the peridotite xenoliths, and −40° to 10° for the peridotites enclosed in high-pressure metamorphic rocks. The trench peridotites show a statistically unimodal distribution of FIA consisting of the high peak equivalent of the A type, but with some FIAs close to the AG and D types. The variations in the olivine fabrics in the trench peridotites could result from variations in deformation within the supra-subduction uppermost mantle, possibly related to evolution of the mantle since the subduction initiation of the Pacific plate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Spinel peridotite xenoliths from the Ichinomegata Volcano (NE Japan) have distinct foliations defined by compositional layering between olivine-rich and pyroxene-rich layers as well as lineations defined by elongated spinel grains. Crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs) of olivine are consistent with slip on (010)[100] and {0kl}[100]. The angles between the foliation and the olivine slip planes decrease with increasing values of the J-index (i.e. CPO strength). Such composite planar relationships within the peridotite xenoliths could result from shearing in the uppermost mantle, so that shear strains can be estimated by the angles between the foliation and the olivine slip plane in terms of simple shear strain (0.31–4.26). From these observations, we argue that a suite of the peridotite xenoliths recorded a rare snapshot of uppermost-mantle flow related to back-arc spreading during the opening of the Japan Sea. The peridotite xenoliths with higher J-indices (i.e. higher shear strain) tend to have slightly lower minimum temperatures, possibly defining a vertical strain gradient in the uppermost mantle section at the time of the volcano's eruption. The CPO data have been used to calculate the seismic properties of the xenoliths at PT conditions obtained from geothermobarometry, and are compared to field geophysical data from the literature. Our results are consistent with a roughly EW-oriented fastest P-wave propagation direction in the uppermost mantle beneath the northeast part of the Japan arc. Average samples are calculated based on three different structural reference frames; horizontal plane parallel to 1) foliation, 2) the plane containing the maximum concentration of olivine [100], and 3) P-wave maximum direction. S-wave anisotropy deduced from CPOs requires a reasonable thickness of the anisotropic layer (24.1–26.6km), and the structural reference frame does not have significant effect on the estimation of thickness. Consequently, Ichinomegata peridotites record a long and complicated tectonic history; they preserve deformation ‘frozen in’ during back-arc spreading and this deformation also has an effect on present-day mantle flow. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Fizh massif, Oman Ophiolite, contains a ductile shear zone at the Moho Transition Zone. The dunites in the shear zone are classified based on microstructures into coarse granular texture, medium-grained texture, mylonite, and ultramylonites toward a gabbro contact. The average grain size of olivine decreases toward the shear zone, which contains a zone of high strain (∼15 m wide). The proportion of hydrous minerals (amphibole and chlorite) in the shear zone show an increase toward the gabbro contact, suggesting that water infiltrated the shear zone from the gabbro contact. Equilibrium temperatures indicate a higher deformation temperature (∼900 °C) outside of the high strain zone compared with inside this zone (∼750 °C). Under these geochemical and temperature conditions, the temporal evolution of olivine crystal-preferred orientations (CPO) indicates the following continuous deformation scenario. First, deformation by dislocation creep under higher temperatures resulted in slip by D-type and then weak E-type (001)[100] slip. Next, deformation by dislocation creep under lower temperatures and higher stress conditions produced a C-type (100)[001] CPO. Finally, superplastic deformation by grain boundary sliding resulted in a random CPO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Harzburgites obtained from the oldest crust–mantle section in the Philippine Sea plate ( ) along the landward slope of the southern Izu–Ogasawara Trench, preserve mantle fabrics formed during the infancy of the subduction zone; that is during the initial stages of Pacific plate subduction beneath the Philippine Sea plate. The harzburgites have relatively fresh primary minerals despite of their heavy serpentinizations, and show inequigranular interlobate textures, and crystal preferred orientation patterns in olivine (001)[100] and Opx (100)[001]. The harzburgites have the characteristics of residual peridotites, whereas the dunites, obtained from the same location as the harzburgites, provide evidence for the earliest stages of arc volcanism during the inception of subduction. We propose that the (001)[100] olivine patterns began forming in immature fore-arc mantle with an increase in slab-derived hydrous fluids during the initial stages of subduction in in situ oceanic island arc. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Intense serpentinization within the Machinoyama ultramafic body, eastern-most part of the Yakuno ophiolite in the Paleozoic Maizuru belt, SW Japan, resulted in the development of block-in-matrix structure in the brittle regime, possibly associated with exhumation along a fault. Various microstructures are heterogeneously distributed throughout peridotite blocks in a serpentinite matrix. The microstructures are classified into four domains according to olivine grain size: coarse (1.0–1.5mm), medium (0.5–1.0mm), small (0.2–0.5mm), and fine-grained (0.01mm). Even in a single peridotite block, the medium-, small- and fine-grained domains occur at various scales. In particular, the fine-grained domain occurs in thin zones that cut across the other domains. These observations suggest that deformation in the peridotites before the serpentinization was partitioned into anastomosing zones during progressive inhomogeneous non-coaxial shear, resulting in the simultaneous development of a range of microstructures from the coarse-grained domain to the small-grained domain. Olivine crystal-preferred orientations tend to be weaker with decreasing olivine grain size, indicating a change in deformation mechanism from dislocation creep to grain-size-sensitive creep. Moreover, the fine-grained domains contain much more second phase than the small-grained domain even in the same sample, suggesting the role of the second phases on strain localization during dynamic recrystallization of olivine. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Relicts of deformed lithospheric mantle have been identified within serpentinites and weathered peridotites recovered from nine dredge sites and one submersible dive site from across the Godzilla Megamullion, which was emplaced at the now-extinct Parece Vela Rift in the Parece Vela Basin, a back-arc basin in the Philippine Sea. The serpentinites consist dominantly of lizardite ± chrysotile and magnetite with minor relict primary minerals that include pyroxene, spinel, and rare olivine. The weathered peridotites consist of pyroxene, spinel, lizardite ± chrysotile, and magnetite as well as weathering products of olivine. These rocks were classified in hand specimen into three types with different structures: massive, foliated, and mylonitic. In thin-section the serpentine minerals show no sign of deformation, whereas relict primary minerals show evidence of plastic deformation such as undulose extinction, kink bands, dynamic recrystallization, and weak to moderate crystallographic preferred orientations. Therefore, the serpentinites and weathered peridotites result from the static replacement and weathering of previously ductile-deformed peridotite. Given their location close to or on the detachment surface that exposed them, the relicts of peridotite provide evidence of deformation in the lithospheric mantle that could be related to the formation and emplacement of the Godzilla Megamullion in the Parece Vela Rift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Garnet clinopyroxenites occur within foliated dunite in the Higashi-akaishi peridotite mass, located within the subduction-type high-pressure/low-temperature Sanbagawa metamorphic belt. The garnet clinopyroxenites contain 3–80% garnet, and garnet and clinopyroxene are homogeneously distributed. Garnet crystals contain extensive, regular dislocation arrays and dislocation networks, suggesting that dislocation creep was the dominant deformation mechanism. Analyses of crystallographic orientation maps indicate similar grain sizes and aspect ratios for garnet and clinopyroxene, regardless of modal composition, indicating that these minerals deformed with similar degree of plasticity. Moreover, indexes of crystallographic fabric intensity (i.e., J-index and M-index) for both garnet and clinopyroxene tend to increase with increasing modal composition of garnet. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis revealed that water content in garnet is ∼60ppm, whereas that in clinopyroxene is ∼70ppm. Olivine crystal-preferred orientations in the Higashi-akaishi peridotite mass, characterized by [001] (010), are thought to have developed during deformation under wet conditions. Consequently, we argue that the presence of water could act to enhance garnet plasticity during deformation. The results reveal contrasting influences of water on the deformation of garnet and diopside: under wet conditions compared with dry, the strain rate increases by two orders of magnitude for garnet but by an order of magnitude for diopside. Given the influence of water on the creep strength of garnet, garnet within the Higashi-akaishi mass may have become significantly as weak as clinopyroxene during deformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mohelno peridotite is a medium-sized ultramafic body (2 km × 4 km in size) enclosed in the Gföhl granulites in the eastern part of the Bohemian Massif. It consists mainly of coarse spinel peridotite (harzburgite and dunite); garnet peridotite occurs only in the sheared and deformed margins of the body. To decipher the origin and history of this mantle-derived peridotite, we determined the mineral chemistry by electron microprobe analysis and olivine fabric patterns by the electron backscattered diffraction method for each rock type. We found two distinct types of olivine fabric (crystal-preferred orientation; CPO) in the peridotite, which can be correlated with the mineralogy and thermal history of each. The olivine CPO in coarse-grained spinel peridotite shows a strong concentration of [100] slightly oblique to the lineation and [010] and [001] girdles normal to the lineation (which is the so-called {0kl}[100] pattern typical of medium-temperature deformation). Olivine in coarse-grained garnet peridotite, on the other hand, shows a strong concentration of [010] normal to the foliation and a concentration of [100] parallel to the lineation (which is the so-called (010)[100] pattern typical of high-temperature deformation). These fabric patterns become diffuse as the grain size is reduced for each mineralogical type. We interpret the development of these contrasting fabric patterns and mineralogical types based on the pressure–temperature history of each rock type determined by applying published geothermometers and geobarometers to the constituent minerals. Starting from a high-temperature (>1200°C) spinel peridotite, during exhumation and cooling in contact with surrounding granulites, the marginal part of the body was transformed to garnet peridotite, whereas the interior remained in the spinel-peridotite facies because cooling was slower inside the body. Because of the slow cooling and continuous deformation in the interior of the body, the original high-temperature fabric pattern in the spinel peridotite was converted to a lower-temperature type. The high-temperature fabric was preserved only at the margin of the body where cooling was more rapid. Reduction of grain size that occurred during later, low-temperature, deformation partly obliterated the high-temperature fabric patterns for both garnet and spinel peridotites. The initial rapid cooling at high temperatures associated with deformation probably occurred after the mantle peridotite was emplaced within the crustal granulites, which implies that the spinel- to garnet-peridotite transformation took place in the continental crust. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Seismic anisotropy is a powerful tool for detecting the geometry and style of deformation in the Earth’s interior, as it primarily reflects the deformation-induced preferred orientation of anisotropic crystals. Although seismic anisotropy in the upper mantle is generally attributed to the crystal-preferred orientation of olivine, the strong trench-parallel anisotropy (delay time of one to two seconds) observed in several subduction systems is difficult to explain in terms of olivine anisotropy, even if the entire mantle wedge were to act as an anisotropic source. Here we show that the crystal-preferred orientation of serpentine, the main hydrous mineral in the upper mantle, can produce the strong trench-parallel seismic anisotropy observed in subduction systems. High-pressure deformation experiments reveal that the serpentine c-axis tends to rotate to an orientation normal to the shear plane during deformation; consequently, seismic velocity propagating normal to the shear plane (plate interface) is much slower than that in other directions. The seismic anisotropy estimated for deformed serpentine aggregates is an order of magnitude greater than that for olivine, and therefore the alignment of serpentine in the hydrated mantle wedge results in a strong trench-parallel seismic anisotropy in the case of a steeply subducting slab. This hypothesis is also consistent with the presence of a hydrous phase in the mantle wedge, as inferred from anomalously low seismic-wave velocities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: B-type olivine fabrics are pervasive within highly depleted dunites of the small-sized Imono peridotite body located within the subduction-type Sanbagawa metamorphic belt of the southwest Japan arc. The dunites contain various microstructures, ranging from porphyroclastic to fine-grained intensely sheared textures. The Mg/(Mg+Fe) atomic ratios (Fo number) of olivine within these dunites are consistently around 0.9, as are the Cr/(Cr+Al) atomic ratios (Cr number) of chromian spinel, suggesting their evolution from a highly depleted magma (boninite). These data provide strong thermal constraints on the formation of the highly depleted dunites, as their formation requires hot, hydrous, shallow mantle (>1250 °C at <30 km depth) in the mantle wedge. Because the Sanbagawa metamorphic belt finally entrained these peridotites during progressive retrogression, B-type olivine fabrics probably developed in the fore-arc side of the subduction zone, above or along the subducting slab, possibly in association with dehydration fluids derived from the slab. The previously documented small magnitude of S-wave splitting can be explained by the seismic properties of B-type peridotites within an anisotropic layer of approximately several kilometers in thickness, oriented by flow parallel to the subducting slab, under maximum temperatures of 880–1030 °C depending on the flow stress. These findings indicate that such a B-type layer could constitute a dominant source of seismic S- and P-wave anisotropy in mantle wedge regions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We retrieved samples of peridotite from a dredge haul (KH92-1-D2) collected during Cruise KH92-1 undertaken by the research vessel (R/V) Hakuho in 1992 at the landward trench slope of the southern Mariana Trench (11°41.16′N, 143°29.62′E; depth 6594–7431 m), which is the deepest ocean in the world. Ten of 30 retrieved samples possessed both a foliation and lineation, as assessed from 46 thin sections of various orientations and observations of hand samples. The samples showed marked variation in microstructure, ranging from coarse (>5 mm) equigranular and intensely elongated textures to finer (<1 mm) porphyroclastic and fine-grained equigranular textures. Olivine fabrics also varied among the different samples, with (010)[100] and (010)[001] patterns (termed A- and B-type, respectively) observed in samples with coarse textures and no clear patterns observed in samples with fine textures. Even though the peridotite samples were retrieved from a single dredge site, some contain primary tectonic microstructures and some contain secondary microstructures. Recent bathymetric and topographic analyses indicate that the lithosphere in this region is as thin as 20 km. Such a thin lithosphere may have been intensely deformed, even perhaps in the ductile regime, during fore-arc extension; consequently, the observed variations in microstructure within the peridotite samples probably reflect the complex tectonic evolution of the southern Mariana region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Structural and fabric analysis of the well-exposed Hilti mantle section, Oman ophiolite, suggests that shear zone development, which may have resulted from oceanic plate fragmentation, was influenced by pre-existing mantle fabric present at the paleo-ridge. Detailed structural mapping in the mantle section revealed a gently undulating structure with an east–west flow direction. A NW–SE strike-slip shear zone cuts across this horizontal structure. The crystal preferred orientation (CPO) of olivine within the foliation is dominated by (010) axial patterns rather than more commonly observed (010)[100] patterns, suggesting that the horizontal flow close to the Moho involved non-coaxial flow. Olivine CPO within the shear zone formed at low temperature is characterized by (001)[100] patterns and a sinistral sense of shear. The olivine CPO becomes weaker with progressive mylonitization and accompanying grain size reduction, and ultimately develops into an ultra-mylonite with a random CPO pattern. The olivine [010]-axis is consistently sub-vertical, even where the horizontal foliation has been rotated to a sub-vertical orientation within the shear zone. These observations suggest that the primary mechanical anisotropy (mantle fabric) has been readily transformed into a secondary structure (shear zone) with minimum modification. This occurred as a result of a change of the olivine slip systems during oceanic detachment and related tectonics during cooling. We propose that primary olivine CPO fabrics may play a significant role in the subsequent structural development of the mantle. Thus, the structural behavior of oceanic mantle lithosphere during subduction and obduction may be strongly influenced by initial mechanical anisotropy developed at an oceanic spreading center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microstructures and olivine crystal fabrics were studied in amphibole-bearing peridotite samples obtained from the Marion Fracture Zone of the Southwest Indian Ridge by dredge D19 of the 1984 PROTEA Expedition Leg 5 cruise of the RV Melville. The peridotites show various textures ranging from extremely fine-grained well-layered ultramylonites to heterogeneously strained tectonites. Electron back-scatter diffraction analyses revealed that olivine crystal-preferred orientations (CPOs), which are developed primarily in coarse granular peridotites in the mantle, become weaker with an increasing degree of grain-size reduction from coarser to finer grains, for both porphyroclastic and matrix olivine grains. However, two well-layered ultramylonites are characterized by bimodal CPOs of (010)[001] (B type) and (001)[100] (E type) or a strong maximum of [010] normal to the foliation and girdle patterns of both [100] and [001] on the foliation plane (i.e., an axial [010] pattern or AG type). Moreover, spinel grains within these well-layered ultramylonites have not only been broken down to form olivine and amphibole by hydrous reactions, but have also been fractured and their fragments pulled apart in the fine-grained matrix. These features indicate that shear deformation occurred as increasing stress under hydrous conditions during the final stage of deformation, which enabled the local occurrence of low-temperature plastic deformation, resulting in the development of a CPO and a foliation within the ultramylonites. • Various textures occur along with various olivine CPOs within amphibole-bearing peridotites. • Two well-layered ultramylonites have bimodal olivine CPOs despite of their fine grain sizes. • Low-temperature plasticity could induce bimodal olivine CPOs within the ultramylonites [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mantle deformation processes leading to seafloor spreading are often difficult to infer due to the highly serpentinized and weathered state of most abyssal peridotites. We investigated the development of high-temperature crystal-plastic deformation and lower temperature mylonitization processes in relatively fresh (<50% modal serpentine) and ultra-fresh (<1% serpentine) mantle peridotites derived from the heterogeneous mantle in the sparsely magmatic zone of ultraslow-spreading Gakkel Ridge system by analyzing 12 peridotites from two dredge sites (<1 km apart). Microstructurally, these 12 peridotites consist of seven high- T deformed samples and five mylonites. Modally, the 12 samples include harzburgites, lherzolites, an olivine websterite, and a plagioclase-bearing lherzolite. Based on their mineral major and trace element compositions, the lherzolites, harzburgites, and olivine websterite are residual peridotites. The lherzolites containing clinopyroxenes with flat REE patterns likely underwent refertilization with a high influx of melt. The plagioclase-bearing lherzolites probably formed by subsolidus reaction after the partial melting process. Microstructural observations support that high- T crystal-plastic deformation (most likely at temperatures exceeding 1000 °C) was active in the peridotites of the high- T deformation group, accommodating mantle flow beneath the Gakkel Ridge. The identified melt refertilization process may have contributed to the formation of [010]-fiber olivine fabrics in these peridotites. Mylonitic microstructures, decreasing fabric strength and grain-size reduction of olivine suggest that mylonitization occurred under relatively low-temperature mantle conditions (~800 °C) and probably accommodated strain localization. Water did not greatly affect the peridotites during the development of the shear zones, although amphibole with "dusty" zones developed in one mylonitic peridotite after mylonitization, indicating that late-stage metasomatism occurred locally within the shear zone. This low- T mylonitization is likely to have affected mantle peridotites of this region independently of petrogenetic processes. The development of these deformation processes in Gakkel Ridge suggests a shift from flow in the uppermost mantle to shear zone formation in the rift valley walls. • Complex partial melting and refertilization developed in the heterogeneous mantle. • Peridotites later underwent mantle-flow to shear-zone plastic deformation. • Deformation in peridotites developed independent of petrogenetic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The interaction of hydrous fluids and melts with dry rocks of the lithospheric mantle inevitably modifies their viscoelastic and chemical properties due to the formation of compositionally distinct secondary phases. In addition, melt percolation and the associated metasomatic alteration of mantle rocks may also facilitate modification of the pre–existing rock texture and olivine crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) and thus seismic properties. Here we explore the relationship between mantle metasomatism, deformation and seismic anisotropy using subduction–related mantle xenoliths from the Penghu Islands, western Taiwan. The investigated xenoliths have equilibrated at upper lithospheric mantle conditions (879 °C to 1127 °C) based on pyroxene geothermometry and show distinct variations in clinopyroxene chemical composition, texture and olivine CPO allowing for the classification of two distinct groups. Group 1 xenoliths contain rare earth element (REE) depleted clinopyroxene, show a porphyroclastic texture and olivine grains are mostly characterized by [100]–axial pattern symmetries. In contrast, REE-enriched clinopyroxene from Group 2 xenoliths occur in a fine–grained equigranular texture and coexisting olivine frequently displays [010]–axial pattern symmetries. The clinopyroxene compositions are indicative of cryptic and modal to stealth metasomatic alteration of Group 1 and Group 2 xenoliths, respectively. Furthermore, the observed olivine [100]–axial pattern of Group 1 xenoliths reflects deformation by dislocation creep at high temperature, low pressure and dry conditions, whereas olivine [010]–axial patterns of Group 2 xenoliths imply activation of olivine [001] glide planes along preferentially wet (010) grain boundaries. This correlation indicates that the variation in olivine CPO symmetry from [100]– to [010]–axial pattern in Penghu xenoliths results from deformation and intra-crystalline recovery by subgrain rotation during metasomatic alteration induced by melt percolation. The microstructural observations and olivine CPO combined with petrological and geochemical data suggest that Group 1 xenoliths preserve microstructural and chemical characteristics of an old, probably Proterozoic lithosphere, while Group 2 xenoliths record localized Miocene deformation associated with wall–rock heating and metasomatism related to melt circulation. Furthermore, the observed transition of olivine CPO from [100]–axial pattern to [010]–axial pattern by deformation in the presence of variable melt fractions and associated metasomatic alteration can be inferred to modify the physical properties of mantle rocks. Highlights • Correlation of xenolith textures and metasomatism with olivine fabric symmetries • Olivine [100]– to [010]–axial symmetry transition during deformation in the presence of melt • Impact of mantle metasomatism on seismic properties [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The uppermost mantle in back arc regions is the site of complex interactions between partial melting, melt percolation, and fluid migration. To constrain these interactions and evaluate their consequences on geochemical cycles, we carried out an in situ trace element and water study of a suite of spinel peridotite xenoliths from two regions of the Japan back arc system, Ichinomegata (NE Japan) and Oki-Dogo (SW Japan), using LA-ICPMS and FTIR spectrometry, respectively. This study provides the first full dataset of trace element and hydrogen compositions in peridotites including analyses of all their main constitutive silicate minerals: olivine, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene. The Ichinomegata peridotites sample a LREE-depleted refractory mantle (Mg# olivine = 0.90; Cr# spinel = 0.07–0.23; Yb clinopyroxene = 7.8–13.3 × C1-chondrite, and La/Yb clinopyroxene = 0.003–0.086 × C1-chondrite), characterized by Th-U positive anomalies and constant values of Nb/Ta. The composition of the studied Ichinomegata samples is consistent with that of an oceanic mantle lithosphere affected by cryptic metasomatic interactions with hydrous/aqueous fluids (crypto-hydrous metasomatism). In contrast, the Oki-Dogo peridotites have low Mg# olivine (0.86–0.93) and a broad range of compositions with clinopyroxene showing “spoon-shaped” to flat, and LREE-enriched patterns. They are also characterized by their homogeneous compositions in the most incompatible LILE (e.g., Rb clinopyroxene = 0.01–0.05 × primitive mantle) and HFSE (e.g., Nb clinopyroxene = 0.01–2.16 × primitive mantle). This characteristic is interpreted as resulting from various degrees of melting and extensive melt-rock interactions. FTIR spectroscopy shows that olivine in both Ichinomegata and Oki-Dogo samples has low water contents ranging from 2 to 7 ppm wt. H 2 O. In contrast, the water contents of pyroxenes from Ichinomegata peridotites (113–271 ppm wt. H 2 O for orthopyroxene, and 292–347 ppm wt. H 2 O for clinopyroxene) are significantly higher than in Oki-Dogo peridotites (9–35 ppm wt. H 2 O for orthopyroxene, and 15–98 ppm wt. H 2 O for clinopyroxene). This indicates a relationship between melt-rock interaction and water concentrations in pyroxenes. Our study suggests that the water content of the Japan mantle wedge is controlled by the late melt/fluid/rock interactions evidenced by trace element geochemistry: a mechanism triggered by magma-rock interactions may have acted as an efficient dehydrating process in the Oki-Dogo region while the Ichinomegata mantle water content is controlled by slab-derived crypto-hydrous metasomatism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dislocation recovery experiments were conducted on pre-deformed olivine single crystals at 1450 to 1760 K, room pressure, and oxygen partial pressures near the Ni–NiO buffer to determine the annihilation rates for [100] and [001] dislocations on the (010) plane. Olivine single crystals were first deformed to activate the desired slip systems under simple shear geometry and then annealed at target conditions. The edge and screw dislocations with Burgers vectors, b , of [100] and [001], respectively, both elongated in the [001] direction were produced by the deformation. The dislocation annihilation rate constants of both types of dislocations are identical within 0.3 log unit. The activation energies for both dislocations are also identical, i.e., ∼400 kJ/mol, which is also identical to that of the Si self-diffusion coefficient. This correspondence suggests that olivine dislocation creep controlled by a diffusion-controlled process under low-stress and high-temperature conditions. This study offers a potential insight into the formation of AG-type fabric in olivine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microstructural investigations of mantle xenoliths from the Mt. Melbourne area were undertaken to reveal the origin of S-wave splitting beneath northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. The six analyzed peridotites contain various deformation features. The rotated olivine maxima of [100] and [010] into horizontal and vertical orientations, respectively, are classified into five samples with a D-type crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) and one sample as an A-type CPO. The D-type olivine fabric can be explained by multiple slip systems of {0kl}[100] at low-temperature and high-stress conditions; therefore, both compressional and extensional regimes during subduction and rifting, respectively, could be applied in this study. With an assumption that olivine a -axes are aligned along the direction of mantle flow to form maximum S-wave splitting, the observed delay time of 0.9–1.3 s beneath northern Victoria Land can be partially explained by the anisotropy in the mantle peridotites. The remaining seismic anisotropy can be explained by the presence of melt pockets trapped along tectonic faults that developed perpendicular to the fast S-wave splitting direction. This study therefore demonstrates that the NE–SW-trending S-wave splitting beneath northern Victoria Land, Antarctica, results from the existence of both mantle peridotites as well as melt pockets trapped along the tectonic faults. • We first report origin of S-wave splitting below northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. • Limited recrystallization and low partial melting suggest a weak metasomatism. • The D-/A-type olivine CPOs are quantitatively defined by shape factor K and FIA. • D-type olivine CPO forms by slip systems of {0 kl}[100] at low-T and high stress. • The observed delay time is explained by both mantle peridotites and melt pockets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]