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Major element composition of the lithospheric mantle under the North Atlantic craton: Evidence from peridotite xenoliths of the Sarfartoq area, southwestern Greenland

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Abstract

The composition and thermal state of the lithospheric mantle under the North Atlantic craton was investigated using a suite of peridotite xenoliths from the diamond-bearing Sarfartoq kimberlite dike swarm of southwestern Greenland. Elevated olivine and whole-rock Mg# (>0.9) attest to the refractory nature of the Sarfartoq mantle showing comparable degrees of depletion to other cratonic roots. Modal analyses indicate that the Sarfartoq mantle is not typified by the orthopyroxene enrichment observed in the Kaapvaal root, but shows more affinity with the Canadian Arctic (Somerset Island), Tanzania, and East Greenland (Wiedemann Fjord) peridotites. The Sarfartoq peridotites have equilibrated at temperatures and pressures ranging from 660 to 1,280 °C and from 2.2 to 6.3 GPa, and define a relatively low mantle heat flow of 13.2±1 mW/m2. In addition, the lithospheric mantle underneath the Sarfartoq area is compositionally layered as follows: (1) an internally stratified upper layer (70 to 180 km) consisting of coarse, un-deformed, refractory garnet-bearing and garnet-free peridotites and, (2) a lower layer (180 to 225 km) characterized by fertile, CPX-bearing, porphyroclastic garnet lherzolites. The stratification observed in the upper refractory harzburgite layer (70–180 km) is reflected by an increase in fertility (e.g., decrease in olivine abundance and forsterite content) with depth. The sharp nature of the boundary between the upper and lower layers may indicate multistage growth of the lithospheric mantle.

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Acknowledgements

Dia Met Minerals Inc. and De Beers Exploration Canada are acknowledged for providing samples for this study as well as permission to publish and partial financial support. M.B. acknowledges FCAR (Formation des Chercheurs et l'Aide a la Recherche) Bourse de Recherche en Milieu Pratique program for a doctorate scholarship. R.K.S. acknowledges NSERC and FCAR for funding. J.-C. Mareschal (GEOTOP) is acknowledged for numerous discussions on mantle heat flows. Comments from Roberta Rudnick, Stephan Bernstein, and two anonymous reviewers improved the quality of this contribution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Museum, Øster Voldgade 5–7, 1350 , Copenhagen, Denmark

    Martin Bizzarro

  2. Danish Lithosphere Centre, Øster Voldgade 10 L, 1350 , Copenhagen, Denmark

    Martin Bizzarro

  3. GEOTOP Centre, Universite du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, H3C 3P8 , Canada

    Ross K. Stevenson

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  1. Martin Bizzarro
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Correspondence to Martin Bizzarro.

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Editorial responsibility: T.L. Grove

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Bizzarro, M., Stevenson, R.K. Major element composition of the lithospheric mantle under the North Atlantic craton: Evidence from peridotite xenoliths of the Sarfartoq area, southwestern Greenland. Contrib Mineral Petrol 146, 223–240 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-003-0499-1

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