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Archean to Middle Proterozoic evolution of Baltica subcontinental lithosphere: evidence from combined Sm–Nd and Lu–Hf isotope analyses of the Sandvik ultramafic body, Norway

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Abstract

Combined Sm–Nd and Lu–Hf age and isotope data indicate that Mg- and Cr-rich ultramafic rocks at Sandvik, Western Gneiss Region (WGR), Norway, originated from depleted Archean lithospheric mantle that was chemically and physically modified in Middle Proterozoic time. The Sandvik outcrop consists of garnet peridotite and garnet-olivine pyroxenite and thin garnet pyroxenite layers. These contain two principal mineral assemblages: an earlier porphyroclastic assemblage of grt + opx + cpx ± ol (1,200–1,000°C, 40–50 kbar) and a later kelyphitic assemblage of grt + spl + am ± opx ± ol (700–750°C; 12–18 kbar). A CHUR Hf model age indicates a period of melt extraction at ca. 3.3 Ga for garnet peridotite, reflecting extremely high Lu/Hf ratios and very radiogenic present-day 176Hf/177Hf (εHf=+2,165). Lu–Hf garnet-cpx-whole rock ages of two olivine-bearing samples (garnet peridotite and garnet-olivine pyroxenite) from the outcrop are ca. 1,255 Ma, whereas two olivine-free garnet pyroxenites yield Lu–Hf ages of ca. 1,185 Ma. All Sm–Nd garnet-cpx-whole rock ages of these samples are significantly younger (ca. 1,150 Ma for garnet peridotite and ca. 1,120 Ma for garnet pyroxenite). The isotope systematics indicate that the Lu–Hf ages represent cooling from an earlier period of formation/recrystallization for garnet peridotite whereas they probably reflect formation/recrystallization ages of the garnet pyroxenite. The Sm–Nd ages and isotope systematics of the garnet peridotite samples are consistent with an episode of LREE metasomatism, perhaps facilitated by a fluid of carbonatitic composition that strongly decoupled Sm–Nd and Lu–Hf. The Sm–Nd ages of the garnet pyroxenite may represent either LREE metasomatism or cooling, and, like the peridotites, Lu–Hf ages are older than Sm–Nd ages. The age data, as well as the inferred Nd isotope composition of the fluid that affected the olivine-bearing samples, suggest that these rocks were not in contact during the LREE metasomatic event. Moreover, the pyroxenite layers cannot have been emplaced as magmas into the host peridotite. The pyroxenite layers are interpreted to be tectonically juxtaposed with the host olivine-bearing samples sometime after 1,150 Ma but before development of kelyphite.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Rene Wiesli for maintaining the MC-ICP-MS at UW-Madison. We also thank Dr. John Fournelle who assisted us with electron microprobe analyses at UW-Madison. This research was supported by National Science Foundation grant EAR-0309853 (CMJ) and the UW-Madison Morgridge Graduate Fellowship (TJL). Reviews and criticisms by Hannes Brueckner and Aaron Cavosie and journal reviewers P. Jonathan Patchett and Peter Kelemen resulted in significant improvements to this manuscript.

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  1. Thomas J. Lapen

    Present address: Geosciences Department, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204, USA

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  1. Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1215 W. Dayton St., Madison, WI, 53704, USA

    Thomas J. Lapen, L. Gordon Medaris Jr, Clark M. Johnson & Brian L. Beard

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Lapen, T.J., Medaris, L.G., Johnson, C.M. et al. Archean to Middle Proterozoic evolution of Baltica subcontinental lithosphere: evidence from combined Sm–Nd and Lu–Hf isotope analyses of the Sandvik ultramafic body, Norway. Contrib Mineral Petrol 150, 131–145 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-005-0021-z

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