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Mineral chemical evidence for extremely magnesian subalkaline melts from the Antarctic extension of the Karoo large igneous province

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Abstract

We present a comprehensive mineral chemical dataset (∼400 analyses) on subalkaline meimechitic (Mg-number = 74–80) and ferropicritic (Mg-number = 67–69) dike samples from the Antarctic extension of the Karoo large igneous province (LIP) in Vestfjella, western Dronning Maud Land. Some of the meimechites, previously considered to be cumulates from ferropicritic magmas, are characterized by forsteritic olivine (with core composition up to Fo92) that is in, or close to Fe-Mg equilibrium with the host rock. The olivines are subhedral to euhedral, contain Ti-rich (volcanic) spinel inclusions, have a high CaO content (≥0.19 wt. %), and are thus unlikely to represent xenocrysts from mantle peridotite. Igneous amphibole is found in olivine-hosted, crystallized melt inclusions, indicating that the parental magmas had a H2O content of 1–2 wt. %. The olivine data suggests generation of extremely MgO-rich (up to 25 wt. %) melts during the Karoo magmatism. Based on our petrogenetic modeling, such melts are likely to have originated from the partial melting of garnet peridotite at high pressures (5–6 GPa) and mantle potential temperatures (>1,600°C) that are compatible with the involvement of a mantle plume in the generation of the Karoo LIP. A geochemical comparison of the Vestfjella meimechites with meimechites from the Siberian Traps LIP and the assumed komatiitic parental melts of the Horingbai picrites (Paraná-Etendeka LIP) reveals key similarities, suggesting that all these suites were generated from broadly similar sources and/or by similar melting processes in anomalously hot subcontinental mantle.

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Acknowledgements

The comments of Liya Kogarko and an anonymous reviewer, and the editorial remarks by Lalou Gwalani, Edward Sarmiento, and Johann Raith helped to improve the manuscript and are greatly appreciated. Nicholas Arndt, Sébastien Pilet, Sally Gibson, and Colin Devey thoughtfully provided useful suggestions on an earlier draft of the manuscript and guided us towards a more focused treatment of the subject. The linguistic form was checked by the staff of Aakkosto Tmi. We thank the FINNARP crew for assiduous field assistance during Antarctic expeditions. Helena Korkka prepared high-quality thin sections and Bo Johanson, Lassi Pakkanen, and Marjaleena Lehtonen (Geological Survey of Finland) provided invaluable support with the mineral analyses. This work was supported by the Academy of Finland (grant numbers: 210640 to J.H. and 129910 to A.L.) and is a contribution to IPY project “Plates and Gates” (#77; Eol 1264).

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  1. Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Jussi S. Heinonen

  2. Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 17, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Arto V. Luttinen

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  1. Jussi S. Heinonen
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Heinonen, J.S., Luttinen, A.V. Mineral chemical evidence for extremely magnesian subalkaline melts from the Antarctic extension of the Karoo large igneous province. Miner Petrol 99, 201–217 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-010-0115-9

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