Origin of sapphirine-bearing garnet-orthopyroxene granulites : possible hydrothermally altered ocean floor

• BABA S.

  Department of Natural Environment, University of the Ryukyus

• Shinjo Ryuichi

  Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, University of the Ryukyus

• Windley Brian F.

  Department of Geology, University of Leicester

抄録

Sapphirine is a metamorphic mineral that forms in the deep crust in rocks with distinctive bulk compositions, in particular high concentrations of Mg and Al. This study investigates a thin, discontinuous layer of sapphirine-bearing garnet-orthopyroxene (SGO) granulite within a Palaeoproterozoic mafic granulite together with metamorphosed mafic and ultramafic rocks, micaceous rocks rich in magnetite and pyrite, and marble. All of these rocks occur within a low-strain zone in the Lewisian complex of South Harris, NW Scotland. Data on mineral compositions and major, trace, and rare earth element (REE) patterns provide evidence for the origin of the precursor of the SGO granulite. The host mafic granulite has a trace element signature and REE pattern comparable with that of E-type MORB. The chemical abundances of Nb, Ta, La, Ce, Nd, Zr, Hf, Ti, and V in the SGO granulite, except for one sample that records total element loss, are similar to those of the host mafic granulite; however, in terms of whole-rock element abundances, the former is relatively enriched in MgO and depleted in CaO, Na_2O, MnO, Sr, and Eu. Elements within the SGO granulite that were apparently unaffected by hydrothermal alteration-V, Y, Zr, and Cr-are within the range of values observed in the host mafic granulite. Sm-Nd whole-rock isotope systematics suggest that both the host mafic granulite and SGO granulite were metamorphosed at 〜1.9 Ga, and the Nd initial ratio is consistent with a MORB source at that time. There is no significant difference in the Nd values of the two rock types, suggesting that they originally belonged to the same protolith. Chemical trends within a narrow zone between the SGO and host rock granulite suggest that the former was derived from a basaltic precursor of the latter by a process of infiltration metasomatism, comparable with the chemical exchange that takes place when hydrothermal fluids in present-day oceanic crust pass through vents in a "recharge zone." The geological and chemical relations observed in the South Harris rocks are consistent with the following model: hydrothermally altered oceanic basaltic crust was trapped in an accretionary wedge and subducted, followed by granulite-facies metamorphism in a deep continental environment during arc-continent collision. This is the first report of hydrothermally altered oceanic crust that was converted to sapphirine-bearing granulite deep in the continental crust.

収録刊行物

• Polar Science

  Polar Science 2 87-107, 2008

  国立極地研究所

キーワード

• Sapphirine-bearing granulite
• Hydrothermal alteration
• Accretionary wedge
• Lewisian complex
• Palaeoproterozoic

詳細情報

• CRID: 1571417127219455616
• NII論文ID: 110006914990
• NII書誌ID: AA12240481
• ISSN: 18739652
• 本文言語コード: en
• データソース種別:
  • CiNii Articles
  • KAKEN