Academic literature on the topic 'Petrology Dunite'

A method was developed for the quantitative estimation of the content of trapped melt in various dunite types and the composition of this melt on the basis of the major- and trace-element characteristics of the dunites and compositions of their chrome spinels. Our approach is advantageous over the method based on clinopyroxene geochemistry and clinopyroxene–melt partition coefficients for the contents of the light REE and more incompatible elements in melt, comparable with it for the middle REE, and possibly less accurate for the heavy REE and Sr. The estimated mean contents of trapped melt in dunites from ophiolite and concentrically zoned complexes are 1.0–1.5 wt %, which is probably typical of various dunite types, including cumulate dunites from layered complexes. These values are an order of magnitude higher than previous estimates. The correspondence between the compositions of calculated trapped melts in dunites and real natural melts indicates that the estimated contents of trapped melt in dunites are realistic, and the mineral–melt partition coefficients that were used in our calculations are valid for the complexes considered in this paper. In general, the proposed method is suitable for serpentinized dunites, including dunitic serpentinites.

The Andaman Ophiolite, India, is located at the southeastern end of the Tethyan ophiolites. We examine petrology and mineralogy of two lherzolites and a completely serpentinized dunite associated with lherzolite from the middle Andaman Island. Major and trace element compositions of minerals in the lherzolites suggest their residual origin after low-degree of partial melting with less flux infiltration, and are similar to those of abyssal peridotites recovered from mid-ocean ridges. The dunite with spinels having low-Cr/(Cr + Al) ratio was formed by interaction between peridotite and mid-ocean ridge basalt-like melt. The 87Sr/86Sr and 143Nd/144Nd isotopic systematics of clinopyroxenes of the two lherzolites are consistent with MORB-type mantle source. Petrology and light rare earth element (LREE)-depleted patterns of clinopyroxene from the studied lhezolites are the same as those from some of the western Tethyan ophiolites. The age-corrected initial εNd values of the Tethyan lherzolite clinopyroxenes with LREE-depleted patterns are likely to be consistent with the depleted mantle evolution line.

AbstractGroup I xenoliths, orthopyroxene-rich and orthopyroxene-free, contain Cr-spinel and clinopyroxene ± phlogopite, and occur together with Group II clinopyroxenites ± Ti-spinel ± phlogopite in K-mafic pyroclastics southeast of Gees. The petrography and clinopyroxene chemistry of orthopyroxene-rich (opx-rich sub-group) Group I xenoliths is consistent with an ‘original’ harzburgitic mantle that has been transformed to lherzolite by the addition of endiopside. In harzburgites, orthopyroxenes are reacting to diopside + olivine + alkali-silicate melt, and, by inference, the orthopyroxene-free (opx-free subgroup) Group I, dunite-wehrlite series can be linked to the opx-rich sub-group via this reaction. Progressive enrichment of dunitic material in endiopside-diopside has resulted in the formation of wehrlite. Phlogopite is titaniferous and occurs as a trace mineral in opx-rich, Group I xenoliths, whereas substantial phlogopite vein-networks are confined to the opx-free sub-group (dunite-wehrlite series). Interstitial, alkali-felsic glass occurs are veins within, and as extensions of, the phlogopite networks. Clinopyroxenes in phlogopite-veined xenoliths are decreased in Mg/(Mg + FeTotal) (mg) and Cr and increased in Ti, Al and Ca, compared with clinopyroxenes in xenoliths which have trace phlogopite. It is proposed that harzburgitic and dunitic mantle has been infiltrated by a Ca- and alkalirich, hydrous silicate melt rather than an ephemeral carbonatite melt. Dunite has been transformed to phlogopite wehrlite by the invasion of a Ca-, Al-, Ti- and K-rich, hydrous silicate melt. Ca-activity was high initially in the melt and was reduced by clinopyroxene precipitation. This resulted in enhanced K-activity which led to phlogopite veining of clinopyroxene-rich mantle. Group II phlogopite clinopyroxenites contain Ti-spinel and salites that are distinct in their Ti, Al and Cr contents from endiopsides and diopsides in Group I xenoliths. It is unlikely that these Group II xenoliths represent the culmination of the infiltration processes that have transformed dunite to wehrlite, nor can they be related to the host melt. These xenoliths may have crystallised from Ca- and K-bearing, hydrous silicate melts in mantle channelways buffered by previously precipitated clinopyroxene and phlogopite. Gees lherzolites contain pyroxenes and spinel with distinctly lower Al contents than these same minerals in lherzolites described previously from other West Eifel localities, which may reflect a distinctive lithology and/or processes of modification for the Gees mantle.

Abstract Two picrite flows from the SW rift zone of Mauna Loa contain xenoliths of dunite, harzburgite, lherzolite, plagioclase-bearing lherzolite and harzburgite, troctolite, gabbro, olivine gabbro, and gabbronorite. Textures and olivine compositions preclude a mantle source for the xenoliths, and rare earth element concentrations of xenoliths and clinopyroxene indicate that the xenolith source is not old oceanic crust, but rather a Hawaiian, tholeiitic-stage magma. Pyroxene compositions, phase assemblages and textural relationships in xenoliths indicate at least two different crystallization sequences. Calculations using the pMELTS algorithm show that the two sequences result from crystallization of primitive Mauna Loa magmas at 6 kbar and 2 kbar. Independent calculations of olivine Ni–Fo compositional variability in the plagioclase-bearing xenoliths over these crystallization sequences are consistent with observed olivine compositional variability. Two parents of similar bulk composition, but which vary in Ni content, are necessary to explain the olivine compositional variability in the dunite and plagioclase-free peridotitic xenoliths. Xenoliths probably crystallized in a small magma storage area beneath the rift zone, rather than the large sub-caldera magma reservoir. Primitive, picritic magmas are introduced to isolated rift zone storage areas during periods of high magma flux. Subsequent eruptions reoccupy these areas, and entrain and transport xenoliths to the surface.

The objective of this research was to determine the size, shape, activity of dunes, petrological characteristics, and provenance of sand in the Winnemucca Dune Complex (WDC). Methods and procedures included the extraction of weather records from meteorological stations, generating surficial landform maps, measuring dune advancement from historical aerial imagery, and field sampling of sand for laboratory inspection of grain size and mineralogical composition. Grain size parameters and textural classification of dune sand were determined using a Laser Granulometer and GRADISTAT v.8 (Blott & Pye 2001). The mineralogical composition and physical classification of dune sand was analyzed using fine powder X-ray Diffractometry and stained standard thin sections. Results were plotted on ternary diagrams with Quartz-Feldspar-Lithic (Folk 1974) and Quartz-Alkali feldspar-Plagioclase (Streckeisen 1976, 1978) overlays.

Measurements from surficial landform maps estimate wind-blown deposits are distributed on 472.2 square kilometers of terrain. Active dunes are universally dominated by unique configurations of intermediate shaped barchan and parabolic dunes. For the purpose of this study these features were termed as barchanbolic. WDC is primarily covered by 6 crescentic complexes, 1 large sand sheet, and discontinuous sets of compound barchanbolic-parabolic dune fields. The crescentic complexes are composed of closely spaced barchanoidal and transverse ridges with occasional star dunes. Between the complexes are repetitive sequences of compound and individual barchanbolic-parabolic dunes that laterally radiate towards the bounding perimeter of WDC. Sand sheets, ramps, climbing, descending, cliff-top, and lee dunes are also present along mountain crests and hillsides. Sand sheets (56.3 square kilometers) and active dunes (162 square kilometers) extend across 218.3 square kilometers which constitutes 46.2% of the wind-blown deposits in WDC. Since the year 1980 sand dunes have been advancing at maximum rates from 1.6 to 6.9 meters per year on an azimuth of 35-130 degrees. Rose diagrams and historical wind records verify the sand dunes reach peak advancement rates during the warm season months of April to the middle of July. During this time of year the strongest winds prevail from west-southwest when the daily maximum wind speed is near 7 meters per second. Measurements of sand dune advancement rates from the years 1980-2012 show eolian activity has spatiotemporally fluctuated within the complex.

WDC sand was observed to have distinguishing textural attributes. Sediments from active dunes were mesokurtic, symmetrical, and trended towards moderately well sorted medium sand. Sediments from stable dunes were mesokurtic and trended towards moderately sorted fine sand but varied in skew from symmetrical to fine. Micro-stereoscopic inspection of bulk samples, thin sections, and the QFL ternary diagram revealed that sand traveling down the sediment transport corridor will physically weather from a White to Grey & Very Pale Brown Litharenite into a Very Dark Grey to Light Yellowish Brown & Pale Brown Feldspathic litharenite sand. The QAP ternary analysis and X-ray Diffractometry demonstrated that during the processes of dune stabilization and mineralogical maturation of sand the relative weight percent of total Quartz will increase (20 to 68%) and the percent relative abundance of lithic material will decrease (100 to 45%). Feldspar minerals were plentiful and ranged from 32 to 80 relative weight percent. The mineralogical maturity of sand when interpreted by the ratio of Quartz to Feldspar grades the maturation as low to fractionally intermediate. The QAP ternary diagram demonstrates there are distinct mineralogical differences within the sand and that mixing of sediments from various supply sources have contributed to its composition. Similar to findings from the Mojave Desert (Zimbelman & Williams 2002) the abundance of Feldspar and lack of Quartz enrichment in WDC dune sand may imply the mineralogical maturity is directly inherited from the parent material. The lack of Quartz enrichment also indicates WDC is geologically young and most likely has not endured extended periods of inactivity. Prominent angular to subangular grains in WDC sediments suggest dune sand has not been transported over extremely long distances. Potential sediment supply sources for dune sand may include the Jungo terrane, Comforter Basin Formation, McDermitt-Santa Rose volcanic field, and sedimentary deposits from Lake Lahontan.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2004.
Includes bibliographical references.
Observations at mid-ocean ridges indicate that magmas are focused to the ridge axis by a network of porous dunites in near chemical isolation. This thesis investigates several of the outstanding questions regarding the mechanisms of melt transport and its effects on the shallow mantle. Chapter 1 details the current understanding of melt migration from observations at mid-ocean ridges and ophiolites. Chapter 2 uses the size distribution and abundance of dunites measured in the Oman ophiolite to place limits on the potential mechanisms by which dunites form and subsequently estimate the flux of chemically unequilibrated melt which a network of dunites can supply. Chapter 3 characterizes the chemical composition of dunites and harzburgites from Oman to further constrain the process by which dunites form and relates the observed trends within dunites to variations in the time-integrated melt/rock ratio. Chapter 4 examines the microstructures of peridotites in Oman to constrain the deformation mechanisms which determine the viscosity of shallow mantle. Chapter 5 is a numerical investigation of advection beneath ridges incorporating the rheology inferred from the observed microstructures. Chapter 6 integrates the conclusions of the previous chapters, reevaluating the potential melt flux through dunites and constraining the permeability of the shallow mantle.
by Michael Geoffrey Braun.
Ph.D.

L'etude cartographique en depit d'un tectonique complexe, a permis d'observer de bas en haut: sequence mantelique (harzburgites a enclaves dunitiques); sequence cumulative (dunite principale, plastiquement deformee, wchrlites, pyroxenites, gabbros et plangiogranites)

“Serpentine” is used both as the name of a rock and the name of a mineral. Mineralogists use “serpentine” as a group name for serpentine minerals. Petrologists refer to rocks composed mostly of serpentine minerals and minor amounts of talc, chlorite, magnetite, and brucite as serpentinites. The addition of “-ite” to mineral names is common practice in petrologic nomenclature. For instance, quartzite is a name for a rock made up mostly of quartz. Serpentinites are rocks that form as a result of metamorphism or metasomatism of primary magnesium–iron silicate minerals. This entails the replacement of the primary silicate minerals by magnesium silicate serpentine minerals and the concentration of excess iron in magnetite. “Mafic” is a euphonious term derived from magnesium and ferric that is used for dark colored rocks rich in ferromagnesian silicate minerals. “Ultramafic” is used when the magnesium–ferrous silicate minerals compose >90% of the total rock. Olivine, clinopyroxene, and orthopyroxene are the minerals in primary ultramafic rocks, with minor amounts of plagioclase, amphibole, and chromite. Ultrabasic has been used by some geologists in referring to ultramafic rocks. The most common ultramafic rocks are harzburgite, containing <75% olivine and 25% orthopyroxene; dunite, with 100% olivine; and lherzolite, which has 75% olivine, 15% orthopyroxene, and >10% clinopyroxene, with or without plagioclase. Very small amounts of chromite are present in all of the mantle ultramafic rocks (Coleman 1971). The alteration of primary ultramafic rocks to serpentine mineral assemblages is incremental due to episodic invasion of water into the ultramafic rock. It is difficult to distinguish and map the gradations from primary ultramafic rock to serpentinite. Because of this difficulty in distinction, we prefer to use the term ultramafic or serpentinized peridotite for all gradations to serpentinite. Pedologists and botanists commonly group serpentinites with primary ultramafic rocks and refer to these substrates as serpentine because all of them have similar chemical compositions. As will become apparent later, there is great variability in the mineralogical compositions of these rocks and the soils derived from them.