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A redox profile of the Slave mantle and oxygen fugacity control in the cratonic mantle

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Abstract

The authors report a redox profile based on Mössbauer data of spinel and garnet to a depth of 210 km from mantle xenoliths of the northern (N) and southeastern (SE) Slave craton (northern Canada). The profile transects three depth facies of peridotites that form segments of different bulk composition, represented by spinel peridotite, spinel–garnet peridotite, low-temperature garnet peridotite, high-temperature garnet peridotite, and pyroxenite. The shallow, more depleted N Slave spinel peridotite records lower oxygen fugacities compared to the deeper, less depleted N Slave spinel–garnet peridotite, consistent with their different spinel Fe3+ concentrations. Garnet peridotites show a general reduction in Δlog fO2 (FMQ)s with depth, where values for garnet peridotites are lower than those for spinel–garnet peridotites. There is a strong correlation between depletion and oxygen fugacity in the spinel peridotite facies, but little correlation in the garnet peridotite facies. The strong decrease in Δlog fO2 (FMQ) with depth that arises from the smaller partial molar volume of Fe3+ in garnet, and the observation of distinct slopes of Δlog fO2 (FMQ) with depth for spinel peridotite compared to spinel–garnet peridotite strongly suggest that oxygen fugacity in the cratonic peridotitic mantle is intrinsically controlled by iron equilibria involving garnet and spinel.

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Fig. 1a, b
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Notes

  1. The updated formulation incorporates a revised SiO2 activity based on the reaction Mg2SiO4+SiO2=Mg2Si2O6 calculated from thermodynamic data of Holland and Powell (1998), which results in a Δlog fO2 increase of approximately 0.5 log-bar units for all of our samples compared to the original formulation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J.K. Russell and D. Canil for discussions on various aspects of the study, and C. Sluggett for sample preparation. Various versions of the manuscript were improved through detailed reviews by A.B. Woodland and D. Canil. We are indebted to H. Cookenboo, Canamera Ltd, De Beers Canada and Mountain Province Ltd. for access to xenoliths from Slave kimberlites. Funding for this research was supported partly by an NSERC research grant to MGK (2000-current).

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  1. Bayerisches Geoinstitut, Universität Bayreuth, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany

    C. McCammon

  2. Geological Sciences Division, Earth and Ocean Sciences, The University of British Columbia, 6339, Stores Road, Vancouver, Canada

    M. G. Kopylova

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  1. C. McCammon
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  2. M. G. Kopylova
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Correspondence to C. McCammon.

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McCammon, C., Kopylova, M.G. A redox profile of the Slave mantle and oxygen fugacity control in the cratonic mantle. Contrib Mineral Petrol 148, 55–68 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-004-0583-1

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