Abstract
Several ultramafic enclaves found within the Eoarchean Itsaq Gneiss Complex (IGC) in southern West Greenland have previously been interpreted as representing mantle relicts. However, as Archean ultramafic rocks are frequently overprinted by metamorphism and late-stage metasomatism, it can be difficult to distinguish between peridotites representing mantle residues or primitive crustal cumulates. Therefore, detailed evaluation of individual Eoarchean peridotite occurrences is required to better constrain their origin. Here, we present new petrological observations and geochemical data for the >3.8 Ga Narssaq Ultramafic Body (NUB) in the IGC of SW Greenland. The NUB ultramafic rocks have high FeOt and Cr contents with flat chondrite-normalized trace element patterns and positive Cr-Mg correlations, which distinguish them from mantle rocks. In addition, the variations in olivine and spinel compositions are consistent with a fractional crystallization process. The above geochemical features suggest that the ultramafic rocks of NUB cannot be explained as mantle residues. Instead, their major element compositions are related to the spatially associated tholeiitic amphibolites, indicating that these ultramafic rocks likely represent crustal cumulates derived from high-Mg magmas. This interpretation is supported by thermodynamic modeling using MELTS, which shows that the compositions of the ultramafic rocks in the NUB can be reproduced via fractional crystallization of local high-Mg tholeiitic basalts, involving the accumulation of olivine, spinel, and possibly clinopyroxene, in conjunction with trapped melt. The NUB ultramafic rocks can thus form as a natural consequence of fractional crystallization of regular highly magnesian tholeiitic magmas, making a cumulate origin the simplest explanation for Eoarchean peridotites in general. This also implies that the formation of the NUB did not involve refertilization of subduction-like components as previously assumed, and thus did not require subduction to have taken place in the Eoarchean.
Originalsprog | Engelsk |
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Artikelnummer | 118508 |
Tidsskrift | Earth and Planetary Science Letters |
Vol/bind | 625 |
Antal sider | 13 |
ISSN | 0012-821X |
DOI | |
Status | Udgivet - 2024 |
Bibliografisk note
Funding Information:This study forms part of the PhD-thesis of Lingyu Zhang. The fieldwork and research were funded by VILLUM FONDEN through Grant VKR18978 awarded to Kristoffer Szilas, and by the China Scholarship Council (No. 202006170037 ) awarded to Lingyu Zhang. Ikuya Nishio is thanked for constructive comments on the initial manuscript. We sincerely thank Hugh Rollinson and Jean Bédard for their in-depth and very constructive reviews, which greatly improved the resulting paper. We thank Frederic Moynier for the editorial handling.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s)