Abstract
This study carried out a comprehensive review of mantle-derived garnet peridotites on the basis of their garnet-spinel compositional relationships. The P-T estimates of the garnet peridotites of both orogenic and xenolithic derivations confirm previously established two garnet-spinel transition (GST) zones. Results of natural samples and experimental studies of all the garnet peridotites plot below the first GST at low P (<2 GPa). The second GST at high P (6–10 GPa), obtained from the experimental system (MgO-Cr2O3-SiO2), was firstly evidenced from natural samples in this study and may imply a challenge to our understanding of Cr-rich and Al-poor mineral phase transition under ultrahigh P condition. Based on the data and our estimates, we propose the existence of another GST within the garnet peridotite discontinuous zone and a potential spinel-phase peridotite zone in the upper mantle.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References Cited
Asimov, P. D., Hirschmann, M. M., Ghiorso, M. S., et al., 1995. The Effect of Pressure Induced Solid-Solid Phase Transitions on Decompression Melting of the Mantle. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 59: 4489–4506
Chen, L., Zheng, T. Y., Xu, W. W., 2006. A Thinned Lithospheric Image of the Tanlu Fault Zone, Eastern China: Constructed from Wave Equation Based Receiver Function Migration. Journal of Geophysical Research, 111: 1–15
Falloon, T. J., Green, D. H., 1988. Anhydrous Partial Melting of Peridotite from 8 to 35 kb and the Petrogenesis of MORB. Journal of Petrology, (Suppl.): 379–414
Fan, Q. C., Liu, R. X., Xie, H. S., et al., 1997. Experimental Study of Spinel-Garnet Phase Transition in Upper Mantle and Its Significance. Science in China (Ser. D), 27: 109–114
Gasparik, T., Newton, R. C., 1984. The Reversed Alumina Contents of Orthopyroxene in Equilibrium with Spinel and Forsterite in the System MgO-Al2O3-SiO2. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 85: 186–196
Green, D. H., Ringwood, A. E., 1967. The Stability Field of Aluminous Pyroxene Peridotite and Garnet Peridotite and Their Relevance in Upper Mantle Structure. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 3: 151–160
Griffin, W. L., O’Reilly, S. Y., 1987. Is the Continental Moho the Crust-Mantle Boundary? Geology, 15: 241–244
Hales, A. L., 1969. A Seismic Discontinuity in the Lithosphere. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 7: 44–46
Klemme, S., O’Neill, H. S. C., 2000. The Effect of Cr on the Solubility of Al in Orthopyroxene: Experiments and Thermodynamic Modelling. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 140: 84–98
Klemme, S., 2004. The Influence of Cr on the Garnet-Spinel Transition in the Earth’s Mantle: Experiments in the System MgO-Cr2O3-SiO2 and Thermodynamic Modeling. Lithos, 77: 639–646
LaTourette, T. K., Kennedy, A. K., Wasserburg, G. J., 1993. Thorium-Uranium Fractionation by Garnet: Evidence for a Deep Source and Rapid Rise of Oceanic Basalts. Science, 261: 739–742
MacGregor, I. D., 1965. Stability Fields of Spinel and Garnet Peridotites in the Synthetic System MgO-CaO-Al2O3-SiO2. Year b.-Carnegie Institute Washington, 64: 126–134
MacKenzie, J. M., Canil, D., Johnston, S., et al., 2005. First Evidence for Ultrahigh-Pressure Garnet Peridotite in the North American Cordillera. Geological Society of America, 33: 105–108
Menzies, M. A., Chazot, G., 1995. Fluid Processes in Diamond to Spinel Facies Shallow Mantle. Journal of Geodynamics, 20: 387–415
O’Hara, M. J., Richardson, S. W., Wilson, G., 1971. Garnet-Peridotite Stability and Occurrence in Crust and Mantle. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 32: 48–68
O’Neill, H. S. C., 1981. The Transition between Spinel Lherzolite and Garnet Lherzolite, and Its Use as a Geobarometer. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 77: 185–194
Pavlenkova, N. I., 1997. General Features of the Upper Mantle Structure from Seismic Data. In: Fuchs, K., ed., Upper Mantle Heterogeneities from Active and Passive Seismology. Kluwer Academic Publishing, Netherlands. 225–236
Robinson, J. A. C., Wood, B. J., 1998. The Depth of the Garnet/Spinel Transition in Fractionally Melting Peridotite. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 164: 277–284
Salters, V. J. M., 1996. The Generation of Mid-Ocean Ridge Basalts from the Hf and Nd Isotope Perspective. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 141: 109–123
Salters, V. J. M., Hart, S. R., 1989. The Hafnium Paradox and the Role of Garnet in the Source of Mid-Ocean-Ridge Basalts. Nature, 342: 420–422
Schiano, P., Eiler, J. M., Hutcheon, I. D., et al., 2000. Primitive CaO-Rich, Silica-Undersaturated Melts in Island Arcs: Evidence for the Involvement of Clinopyroxene-Rich Lithologies in the Petrogenesis of Arc Magmas. Geochemistry, Geophysic, Geosystems, 1: 1999GC000032
Sen, G., Keshav, S., Bizimis, M., 2005. Hawaiian Lithosphere and Magmas: Composition and Thermal Characteristics of the Lithosphere beneath Oahu: Insights from Mantle Xenoliths. American Mineralogist, 90: 871–887
Shimamura, H., Asada, T., 1976. Apparent Velocity Measurements on Oceanic Lithosphere. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 13: 15–22
Stachel, T., Harris, J. W., 1997. Syngenetic Inclusions in Diamond from the Birim Field (Ghana)—A Deep Peridotitic Profile with a History of Depletion and Re-enrichment. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 127: 336–352
Stachel, T., Harris, J. W., Brey, G. P., et al., 2000. Kankan Diamonds (Guinea): II. Lower Mantle Inclusion Parageneses. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 140: 16–27
Stachel, T., Viljoen, K. S., Brey, G. P., et al., 1998. Metasomatic Processes in Lherzolitic and Harzburgitic Domains of Diamondiferous Lithospheric Mantle—REE in Garnets from Xenoliths and Inclusions in Diamonds. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 159: 1–12
Su, B. X., Zhang, H. F., Sakyi, P. A., et al., 2010a. Compositionally Stratified Lithosphere and Carbonatite Metasomatism Recorded in Mantle Xenoliths from the Western Qinling (Central China). Lithos, 116: 111–128
Su, B. X., Zhang, H. F., Tang, Y. J., et al., 2010b. Geochemical Syntheses among the Cratonic, Off-Cratonic and Orogenic Garnet Peridotites and Their Tectonic Implications. International Journal of Earth Sciences, doi: 10.1007/s00531-010-0527-0
Su, B. X., Zhang, H. F., Wang, Q. Y., et al., 2007. Spinel-Garnet Phase Transition Zone of Cenozoic Lithospheric Mantle beneath the Eastern China and Western Qinling and Its T-P Condition. Acta Petrologica Sinica, 23: 1313–1320 (in Chinese with English Abstract)
Su, B. X., Zhang, H. F., Ying, J. F., et al., 2009. Nature and Processes of the Lithospheric Mantle beneath the Western Qinling: Evidence from Deformed Peridotitic Xenoliths in Cenozoic Kamafugite from Haoti, Gansu Province, China. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 34: 258–274
Walter, M., Katsura, T., Kubo, A., et al., 2002. Spinel-Garnet Lherzolite Transition in the System CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 Revisited: An In Situ X-Ray Study. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 66: 2109–2121
Webb, S. A. C., Wood, B. J., 1986. Spinel-Pyroxene-Garnet Relationship and Their Dependence on Cr/Al Ratio. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 77: 185–194
Xu, Y. G., Lin, C. Y., Shi, L. B., et al., 1995. Upper Mantle Geotherm for Eastern China and Its Geological Implications. Science in China (Ser. B), 38: 1482–1492
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This study was supported by the Special Research Project of the State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. 1008), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 90714008).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Su, B., Zhang, H., Asamoah, S.P. et al. Garnet-spinel transition in the upper mantle: Review and interpretation. J. Earth Sci. 21, 635–640 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-010-0117-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-010-0117-x