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Eclogites and garnet pyroxenites from Kimberley, Kaapvaal craton, South Africa: their diverse origins and complex metasomatic signatures

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Abstract

We describe the petrography and mineral chemistry of sixteen eclogite and garnet pyroxenite xenoliths from the reworked Boshof road dump (Kimberley) and define three groups that stem from different depths. Group A, the shallowest derived, has low HREE (heavy rare earth element) abundances, flat middle to heavy REE patterns and high Mg# [= 100·Mg/(Mg + Fe)]. Their protoliths probably were higher pressure cumulates (~ 0.7 GPa) of mainly clinopyroxene (cpx) and subordinate orthopyroxene (opx) and olivine (ol). Group B1 xenoliths, derived from the graphite/diamond boundary and below show similarities to present-day N-MORB that were modified by partial melting (higher Mg# and positively inclined MREE (middle REE) and HREE (heavy REE) patterns of calculated bulk rocks). Group B2 samples from greatest depth are unique amongst eclogites reported so far worldwide. The calculated bulk rocks have humped REE patterns with very low La and Lu and prominent maxima at Sm or Eu and anomalously high Na2O (up to 5 wt%) which makes protolith identification difficult. The complex trace element signatures of the full spectrum of Kimberley eclogites belie a multi-stage history of melt depletion and metasomatism with the introduction of new phases especially of phlogopite (phlog). Phlogopite appears to be characteristic for Kimberley eclogites and garnet peridotites. Modelling the metasomatic overprint indicates that groups A and B1 were overprinted by volatile- and potassium-rich melts probably by a process of chromatographic fractionation. Using constraints from other metasomatized Kimberley mantle rocks suggest that much of the metasomatic phlogopite in the eclogites formed during an intense episode of metasomatism that affected the mantle beneath this region 1.1 Gyr ago.

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Acknowledgements

The authors profited from the continuous help and support in the laboratory, in the field, and through discussions by Heidi E. Hoefer, Jan Heliosch, Vlad Matjuschkin, Yan Luo, Sarah Woodland, Chiranjeeb Sarkar and Jeffrey W. Harris. We particularly appreciate Jock Robey’s help and support in making contact in the right places and in collecting the valuable specimens with us. Dr. Zhaochu Hu provided the opportunity and help for the trace element analysis of phlogopites at the State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan). The valuable input of Sébastien Pilet and two anonymous reviewers, the guest editor David B. Snyder and the editor-in-chief Lutz Nasdala is highly appreciated. This research was supported by funding from the Canada Excellence Research Chairs program and by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (BR1012/33-1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 550081, China

    Qiao Shu

  2. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, 126 ESB, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E3, Canada

    Qiao Shu & D. Graham Pearson

  3. Institut für Geowissenschaften, Mineralogie, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Altenhöferallee 1, D-60438, Frankfurt, Germany

    Gerhard P. Brey

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  1. Qiao Shu
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Correspondence to Qiao Shu.

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Editorial handling: D. B. Snyder

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Shu, Q., Brey, G.P. & Pearson, D.G. Eclogites and garnet pyroxenites from Kimberley, Kaapvaal craton, South Africa: their diverse origins and complex metasomatic signatures. Miner Petrol 112 (Suppl 1), 43–56 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-018-0595-6

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