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Petrogenesis of ultramafic and mafic rocks of the Thompson Nickel Belt, Manitoba

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Abstract

Abundant sill-like bodies of serpentinized ultramafic rocks, with associated nickel sulfide deposits, are found on the western side of the Thompson Nickel Belt near the Moak Lake-Setting Lake cataclastic fault zone. The ultramafic rocks range in composition from dunite to orthopyroxenite and feature variable alteration. Chemical variation across the bodies is suggestive of in-situ differentiation controlled mainly by olivine and orthopyroxene. Relative abundances of some elements, incompatible for olivine and orthopyroxene, suggest a parental liquid of komatiitic affinity. Ultramafic and mafic rocks are petrogenetically linked. A high degree of partial melting of mantle material and subsequent low-pressure crystal fractionation are responsible for the spectrum of composition from ultramafic to mafic.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, University of Ottawa, K1N 6N5, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    A. Dogan Paktunc

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  1. A. Dogan Paktunc
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Publication 19-84, Ottawa-Carleton Centre for Geoscience Studies

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Paktunc, A.D. Petrogenesis of ultramafic and mafic rocks of the Thompson Nickel Belt, Manitoba. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 88, 348–353 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00376760

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00376760

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