Abstract
Stable isotope information, though potentially helpful in identification of protolith material and investigation of superimposed fluid-rock interactions, are sparsely represented in the granulite literature. Here we report 86 new whole-rock 18O/16O analyses of granulite xenoliths from alkali basalt localities in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. The data for 71 samples of igneous origin form a well-defined population with an unexpectedly high average value of +7.5 ± 1.4‰. For some granulite xenolith suites, correlations between oxygen and radiogenic isotope systems are strong, whereas for others no covariation is observed. Overall, even radiogenically primitive samples lack δ18O values appropriate to mantle-derived magmas, which are the suspected progenitors of the mafic granulites studied. We therefore suggest that the O-isotope composition of the lower crust has been modified, through the introduction of surficially-dervived 18O, on a scale not previously recognised.
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Fowler, M.B., Harmon, R.S. (1990). The Oxygen Isotope Composition of Lower Crustal Granulite Xenoliths. In: Vielzeuf, D., Vidal, P. (eds) Granulites and Crustal Evolution. NATO ASI Series, vol 311. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2055-2_25
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2055-2_25
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