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Subsurface natural hydrogen accumulations that can be economically and safely recovered are a major target of the present roadmap towards the use of hydrogen as an alternative and C-free energy resource. The existence of H 2 -rich reservoirs in ophiolites, where H 2 is produced via serpentinization, was theoretically predicted based on the intensity of gas seeps in Turkey and Albania. Here, we examine the geological bases supporting the potential existence of H 2 reservoirs within ophiolites in general, also considering available data on ophiolitic petroleum reservoirs, and we document a direct observation of a H 2 -rich accumulation within an ophiolite. We studied the case of a borehole, drilled in the 1970s for metal mining exploration purposes within the Tișovița–Iuți ophiolite, in Romania, which accidentally encountered pressurized gas with ∼29 vol% H 2 at a depth of about 800 m. We reconstructed the geometry of the ophiolite sequence in correspondence with the well and suggested that the reservoir is within cataclastic dunite near the tectonic contact between layered dunite and the harzburgite-dunite peridotites; the upper, non deformed portion of serpentinized layered dunite, likely with the contribution of tonalite veins, acted as a fluid trap. Although plugged, we detected H 2 leakage from this well and from a second well in the same area, with H 2 concentrations exceeding 100 ppmv in the air and 0.1 mg H 2 /L in the water within the wellhead open casing. We propose a broad conceptual model in which deformed, fractured, and non-deformed, impermeable sections of serpentinized peridotites can determine ophiolitic H 2 -rich reservoirs and traps, respectively, as factors that shall be considered in the guidelines for H 2 reservoir exploration. • Direct observation of pressurized H 2 -rich reservoir in ophiolite (Romania). • Potential reservoirs and cap rocks in ophiolites. • H 2 leakage observed in the abandoned wells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybridization of the lunar mantle during the overturn (sinking) of Fe- and Ti–rich ilmenite-bearing clinopyroxenite cumulates (IBC) in the lunar interior is called upon to explain the high TiO2 abundances of lunar basalts. Chemical reactions that occur after juxtaposition of IBC and mantle peridotite are poorly constrained. We experimentally investigated these reactions in experiments that adjoin an IBC glass against presynthesized dunite in a reaction couple at temperatures of 1100–1300 °C and pressures of 0.5–2.02 GPa for 0.33–31.66 h. These conditions produced experiments near to well above the solidus temperature of the IBC. Near solidus experiments produce garnet in the IBC at 2 GPa. Supersolidus experiments exhibit dissolution of olivine material into the IBC melt and the formation of clinopyroxene at the IBC melt-dunite interface. Dunite dissolution is attributed to the olivine undersaturated composition of the IBC melt. In both near- and supersolidus experiments, compositional variations produced by solid-state diffusion across the IBC melt-dunite interface are observed. When pressure increases, temperature decreases, or IBC melts become closer to olivine saturation, dissolution slows, and the effects of solid-state diffusion in the dunite become more evident. Similar chemical exchange reactions would occur in the lunar mantle as downwelling IBC and lunar peridotites are juxtaposed by cumulate overturn. Hybridized lunar mantle sources are expected to contain 47–84% normative peridotite and 16–53% IBC. Simple numerical simulations suggest that in addition to dissolution–precipitation reactions, mechanical mixing may be required to produce volumetrically significant hybridized mantle sources over geologically-relevant timescales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxygen crystallising was obtained from olivine, chromite separates from host rock samples, and gabbro from ultramafic cumulates, harzburgite, and dunite samples collected from tectonites of the Guleman ophiolites. The study includes the oxygen isotope compositions from the Guleman ophiolite and the evolutionary scenarios of geochemical and isotopic signatures. The olivine and chromitite δ18Oolivine/chromite and δ18Omelt values point out these minerals and melt isotopic compositions similar to mantle values and rich, heavy stable isotopes. The highest δ18Ochromite isotopic composition values indicate that as the heavy isotope in the melt increases, the concentration in the mineral increases. Excluding a dunite sample, the values of the δ18Owhole rock of the dunite and pyroxenite samples are similar to mantle values. The gabbro samples have higher δ18Owhole rock values than the two harzburgites. Hereby, the chromite formations are the later fractional crystallisation products than olivine and dunites due to the lowering of δ18O. The lower oxygen isotopic composition in studied samples than the normal mantle values, and these values point out subducted hydrothermally alteration. The higher δ18O isotopic compositions could be explained by serpentinization on the ocean floor at low temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Olivine from the dunite of the Guli pluton crystallized from olivine–melanephelinite magma at temperatures above 1260°C according to the melt inclusion study. The melts were enriched with volatile components (S, CO2, F, H2O, slightly Cl) and contained high amount of incompatible elements. In addition, olivine hosts sporadic inclusions of picrite-basalt composition, which are close to picrite–meimechite melts preserved in chromite from dunite according to literature data. This suggests the influx of picrite–meimechite melts and their mixing with melanephelinite magma during the formation of dunites in the magma chamber. Based on the indicator ratios of incompatible elements, these melts and melanephelinite magma had different sources, which were located in undepleted mantle at different depths and derived through different degree of partial melting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: The use of amendments to immobilize metals in polluted soils is a widely accepted remediation approach, and in the framework of the circular economy, amendments produced from mining and/or biomass waste have gained relevance. However, the application of such amendments can also mobilize metalloids. Here we propose the combination of nanoscale zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI) with dunite (mining waste) and compost for the remediation and restoration of soil affected by high concentrations of As and metals. Methods: To this end, we treated pots containing the polluted soil with combinations of dunite, compost, and nZVI for 75 days. In addition, Sinapis alba was used to evaluate the effects of the amendments on pollutant accumulation in the plant. The mobility of the pollutants was monitored through TCLP extraction and by sampling pore water. Furthermore, pH, available P, and cation exchange capacity (CEC) were also determined. Results: Dunite application led to the immobilization of metals, and supplied Mg, thus improving CEC. On the other hand, compost increased nutrient content, and also promoted plant growth. However, this amendment caused a dramatic increase in As accumulation in the plants. Finally, the application of nZVI in combination with the other two amendments was found to be the most appropriate strategy since it not only prevented As mobilization and accumulation but also added nutrients to the soil, thus promoting plant growth. Conclusion: The combination of nZVI with dunite mining waste and compost proved effective for the remediation of soil simultaneously polluted by As and metals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the lithospheric subcontinental mantle (SCLM) sampled in the Calatrava Volcanic Field (CVF) shows refertilization by alkaline metasomatic agents. The Cerro Pelado and El Palo ultramafic xenolith suites record the best evidence of this type of metasomatism in this volcanic field. Several groups of peridotite (lherzolite, wehrlite, and dunite) and pyroxenite (clinopyroxenite and websterite) xenoliths have been distinguished. Despite having scarce phlogopites and amphiboles as modal metasomatic phases, all studied xenoliths present a variable cryptic metasomatism, highlighted by the strong Fe-Ti enrichment and fractionated REE patterns in the most evolved wehrlite and pyroxenite varieties. They show a common trend of an Fe-Ti-Ca increase, whereas the pyroxenites are more depleted in Fe compared to the lherzolites and wehrlites. Trace-element (REE and multi-trace) patterns are roughly similar among them, suggesting different interactions and refertilization degrees by alkaline silicate melts. The same Sr–Nd isotopic EAR composition, combined with trace-element chemistry of metasomatic xenolith phases and phenocrysts from the Calatrava volcanics, highlights the main role of this magmatism in percolation processes beneath Central Iberia. These mantle xenoliths also show variable amounts of interstitial glass that originated by in situ partial melting, favored by the enriched chemical nature of cryptically metasomatized clinopyroxene during their volcanic transport. This alkaline-refertilized mantle type represents the main domain within the SCLM beneath Central Iberia, as was also recorded in other Western European Cenozoic volcanic fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An electron microprobe study was carried out on olivine, clinopyroxene, and oxy-spinel occurring in basalts and dunite xenoliths from the archipelagos of the Azores, the Canary Islands, and Cape Verde. By comparing our results with previously published data from the volcanic islands of Macaronesia, we confirmed the validity of the compositions of olivine, clinopyroxene, and oxy-spinel as geochemical tracers. The origin of olivine, i.e., crystallized in the lithospheric mantle or in volcanic rocks, was successfully discriminated. Olivine from Lanzarote dunite xenoliths, which represent fragments of the mantle transported to the surface by host magmas, exhibited higher Fo% values (Fo91.02 to Fo91.94) and a different distribution of minor elements Ca, Ni, and Mn (CaO up to 0.42 wt%, NiO 0.07–0.41 wt%, MnO 0.06–0.3 wt%) when compared with olivine occurring as phenocrysts in basaltic lavas from the Macaronesian islands. The highly variable forsterite contents (Fo75.1 to Fo94.4) in olivine from gabbro and peridotite xenoliths found across the islands of Macaronesia were attributed to fractional crystallization that started in a deep magma reservoir, suggesting that these xenoliths represent cumulate rocks and not mantle fragments. Alternatively, these xenoliths may have been affected by the interaction with metasomatic fluids. The composition of clinopyroxene phenocrysts was used to decipher formation conditions under extensional tectonics. Their composition suggests that the host lavas have an alkaline to calc-alkaline signature. Furthermore, clinopyroxene euhedral shapes and compositions suggest an origin by fractional crystallization in a closed magmatic system. The composition alone of oxy-spinel from Macaronesian basalts and xenoliths was not sufficient to draw conclusions about the geodynamic environment where they were formed. Nevertheless, the relationship between oxy-spinel and olivine crystallized in equilibrium was successfully used as oxybarometers and geothermometers. The oxy-spinel–olivine pairs show evidence that the basaltic lavas were crystallized from melts with higher oxygen fugacity and different cooling histories than those of the mantle xenoliths, as the latter crystallized and re-equilibrated much slower than the basalts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A humite group mineral, Ti-bearing hydroxylclinohumite, referred to natural compact water-containing magnesian silicates (DHMS phases) was found for the first time in podiform chromitites. The finding was made in chrome ores of the Paity Plateau located in the northern part of the Voikar–Synya ultramafic massif of the Polar Urals. Chromitites deposited in the dunite body located at the contact of apoharzburgite amphibole–olivine–antigorite and amphibole–enstatite–olivine metamorphic rocks containing nonserpentinized harzburgite relics. According to the optical data and chemical composition, this mineral belongs to Ti-bearing hydroxylclinohumite, because it contains TiO2 (up to 5.64 wt %) and is absolutely devoid of F. The OH-group in the mineral is confirmed by the Raman spectrum generally corresponding to the hydroxylclinohumite standard. According to the geothermometry results, this mineral was formed in chromitites of the Polar Urals at a temperature of 668–740°C and, probably, a pressure of 20–25 kbar. Hence, chromite ores were generated (recrystallized) under high-pressure conditions. In other words, the chromite ore occurrences in the northern part of the Voikar–Synya massif developed, apparently, in the suprasubduction environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ultramafic Kukes Massif is located in the eastern part of the Mirdita ophiolite (N Albania), which is recognised as representing Supra-Subduction lithosphere. It comprises a thick (0.8-2.5 km) dunite zone containing abundant occurrences of chromite ores and is cut by orthopyroxenitic and clinopyroxenitic veins. In this paper we focus on the genesis and evolution of olivine and chromite forming dunite in the northern part of the Kukes Massif. The chemical composition of minerals in dunites is highly variabile and apparent at outcrop scale. The most significant changes are recorded by olivine, which contains over 90 Fo in the host dunite but decreases to 87.5 in proximity of clinopyroxenitic veins. The composition of spinel is also sensitive to the presence of veins: in host dunite its Cr# is over 80 (chromite type I), whereas the presence of veins causes its decrease to 68 (type II). Clinopyroxene in vein-forming clinopyroxenite has Mg# from 86 to 92 and is Al-rich (Al2O3 0.8-2.6 wt. %). Orthopyroxene forms orthopyroxenites (Mg# 90-93, Al2O3 0.2-1.6 wt. %), but also screens (Mg# 83-91, Al2O3 0.8-2.4 wt. %) at the contact between clinopyroxenite veins and the host dunite. The thick dunitic sequence at Kukes must have been formed as a result of intensive percolation of possibly boninitic melt through parental harzburgite. Another step in the evolution of the Kukes massif was related to intrusion of the pyroxenitic veins. These melts were not equilibrated with the host dunite and led to metasomatic modification of chromite and olivine, increasing Al2O3 content in former (from 6-8 up to 18 wt. %) and decreasing Fo (extremely from 92 to 87.5) in the latter. The process is evident proximal to clinopyroxenite veins, but a subtle effect is also recorded in the chemical composition of dunite contacting orthopyroxenite, leading to increase in Fe2O3 content. Metasomatism modified the composition of dunites in a zone of 0.5 m around pyroxenites. Our studies indicate a multistage evolution of the SSZ peridotites and show that its deciphering requires careful mineralogical examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyroxenite veins are commonly observed in the mantle section of ophiolites, reflecting a variety of melts that percolate through the mantle, react, and finally crystallize in the lithosphere. To better understand the formation mechanism of the pyroxenite veins and associated peridotites, we conducted an integrated petrological and geochemical study of a suite of orthopyroxenite, websterite, and composite clinopyroxenite–orthopyroxenite veins in residual peridotites from the Dazhuqu ophiolite (Southern Tibet, China). Both orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene in pyroxenites are characterized by high Mg#, low Al2O3 concentrations, and depleted patterns of incompatible trace elements. This suggests that parental melts of the pyroxenites could be formed by re-melting of a previously depleted mantle source. We observed systematic variations in the major and trace element compositions of clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene across the pyroxenite–harzburgite sequences. Through trace element modeling, we have established a model for the formation of pyroxenite veins and associated harzburgites. According to this model, hydrous and aggregated melts were expelled from the tip of the dunite channels and subsequently injected into the lithosphere via fractures. The infiltrating melts then underwent diffusional loss of water into the residual harzburgites within the asthenosphere, which in turn promoting partial melting of the harzburgite. The pyroxenite veins were formed by mixing the infiltrating channel melt and matrix melt derived from partially molten harzburgite. This formation model can be applied to explain the pyroxenite–harzburgite and dunite–pyroxenite–harzburgite sequences in the Yarlung-Tsangbo ophiolite and other ophiolites around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reported data for Lu, Hf mass fractions and 176Hf/177Hf isotopic ratios of mafic‐ultramafic rock reference materials (RMs) are rare at present, hampering the comparison of data quality between difference laboratories. Herein, we measured the Lu and Hf mass fractions and the 176Hf/177Hf isotopic ratios of ten mafic‐ultramafic rock RMs, including OKUM (komatiite), WPR‐1 (serpentinised peridotite), NIM‐N (norite), NIM‐P (pyroxenite), UB‐N (serpentinised peridotite), JP‐1 (peridotite), NIM‐D (dunite), MUH‐1 (serpentinised harzburgite), HARZ01 (harzburgite), DTS‐2b (dunite), which contain extremely low amounts of Lu and Hf (Lu, 2–150 ng g−1; Hf, 5–500 ng g−1). All measurements were conducted on a Neptune Plus multi‐collector inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometer employing an Aridus II desolvator inlet system and Jet sample/X skimmer cone configuration. The following RMs, OKUM, WPR‐1, UB‐N, JP‐1, NIM‐D, HARZ01 and DTS‐2b, have 176Hf/177Hf precision of less than 60 ppm (2s) at test portions of 0.06 to 0.3 g, and are good ultramafic RMs for Lu‐Hf systems. In contrast, significant Hf mass fraction and isotopic variability were observed in NIM‐N, NIM‐P and MUH‐1 at test portion masses of 0.1 to 0.3 g. Collectively, our study provides a new database that can be used by the geochemical community for evaluating the Lu‐Hf system of mafic‐ultramafic rocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detection and quantification of metal sulfides in host rocks by electrical measurements have been priorities for field and laboratory studies, motivated by mineral prospecting and fundamental interest in the mantle structure or core/mantle differentiation, among other reasons. Here, we reanalyze electrical data for a dunite host with added FeS or Fe-S-Ni (Saxena et al. 2021), and report additional experimental runs along with electron microprobe analyses. The applied pressure was 2 GPa; impedance spectra were acquired while annealing at 1023 K (below the metal-sulfide solidus), and while varying temperature from 570 to 1650 K. Addition of 6.5 or 18 vol% FeS strongly enhances conductivity of the bulk sample compared with that of the dunite host, though values are 100–100 000 times less than those of pure FeS. These results indicate that most metal sulfide content is not part of a viable conductive path, even for the 18 vol% quantity. Nevertheless, the relatively high conductivity and weak temperature dependence of the 18 vol% sample reveal that contiguous paths of solid or molten FeS span the electrodes. The sample with 6.5 vol% sulfide also exceeds the percolation threshold for temperatures as low as ~100 K below the eutectic melting point, likely because FeS softens. Conductivity is nearly unchanged upon crossing the eutectic temperature, however a decline over 1400–1500 K reveals that the 6.5 vol% molten FeS forms a fragile electrical network in dunite. Samples with Fe50S40Ni10 or Fe40S40Ni20 (at%) are less conductive than pure dunite at temperatures below ~1450 K. This surprising result, likely caused by a reducing influence of Fe or Ni metal, does not support the use of FeS as an analog for compositions with nickel or excess metal. Our findings suggest that probing the electrical network of metal sulfides as solids complements other studies focused on connectivity of molten metal sulfides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A centimeter-sized fragment of dunite, the first recognized fragment of Moon mantle material, has been discovered in the lunar highlands breccia meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 11421. The dunite consists of 95% olivine (Fo83), with low-Ca and high-Ca pyroxenes, plagioclase, and chrome spinel. Mineral compositions vary little across the clast and are consistent with chemical equilibration. Mineral thermobarometry implies that the dunite equilibrated at 980 ± 20 °C and 0.4 ± 0.1 gigapascal (GPa) pressure. The pressure at the base of the Moon's crust (density 2550 kg/m3) is 0.14–0.18 GPa, so the dunite equilibrated well into the Moon's upper mantle. Assuming a mantle density of 3400 kg/m3, the dunite equilibrated at a depth of 88 ± 22 km. Its temperature and depth of equilibration are consistent with the calculated present-day selenotherm (i.e., lunar geotherm). The dunite's composition, calculated from mineral analyses and proportions, contains less Al, Ti, etc., than chondritic material, implying that it is of a differentiated mantle (including cumulates from a lunar magma ocean). The absence of phases containing P, Zr, etc., suggests minimal involvement of a KREEP component, and the low proportion of Ti suggests minimal interaction with late melt fractionates from a lunar magma ocean. The Mg/Fe ratio of the dunite (Fo83) is significantly lower than models of an overturned unmixed mantle would suggest, but is consistent with estimates of the bulk composition of the Moon's mantle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The petrogenesis of the mafic-ultramafic layered rocks of the Bushveld Complex, i.e., the Rustenburg Layered Suite (RLS) remains uncertain despite more than a century of intensive research. An investigation of a 100 km strike section in the Eastern Limb has led us to propose that igneous layering in the lowermost part of the RLS developed from a succession of intrusive events. Zonal boundaries and geochemical discontinuities are explained by radical switches in the composition of parental magmas. Magmas were sourced from deep staging chambers, and we find no evidence for the existence of a large magma reservoir in the shallow crust. At the base of the RLS is the Marginal Sill Phase (MSP), a stacked sequence of noritic-gabbronoritic and pyroxenitic sills that form a continuum with the syn-Bushveld sills in the floor rocks. The MSP does not constitute the chilled carapace of a magma chamber and the postulated so-called "B1" (tholeiitic) parental magmas have little direct bearing on the overlying components of the RLS. The Lower Zone (LZ) reflects a switch to ultramafic parental magmas. Magmas were fed into isolated subchambers, each of which has a unique igneous stratigraphy. The primary component of the LZ is an adcumulate comprised of >98.5 modal % orthopyroxene (En87-83) and from which Cr-spinel is conspicuously absent. Chemical equilibrium was maintained as the orthopyroxene-saturated magmas were intruded, not as sills, but as thin magma laminae. The increments of magma laminae matched the rate of batch crystallisation, and there is no evidence of a fractionated residue having been ejected. In a later phase of magmatism, peridotite magmas were injected into the floor rocks, where they formed complexly layered peridotite intrusions with their anastomosing groups of sills. Formation of peridotite bodies such as the Aapiesdoorndraai Intrusion with distinct layers of dunite, harzburgite and olivine orthopyroxenite (Fo92-83) (+Cr-spinel) result from near-equilibrium crystallisation of the olivine- and Cr-spinel-saturated magmas. Some peridotite sills stepped up through the thermal aureole and intruded the earlier-formed MSP and LZ, crystallising as syn-magmatic sills with broadly similar compositions. Development of the trough-like subchambers with thick sequences of the MSP and LZ triggered extensive deformation and thermal metamorphism of the floor rocks. Sinking of subchambers was compensated by intervening domes and upwarps, the crests of which reveal tectonically thinned sequences of the MSP and from which the LZ is absent. This early phase of syn-Bushveld tectonism [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sukinda ultramafic complex in India comprises precisely two areas: Kaliapani (KLPN) and Katpal (KTPL). These areas consist of a sequence of lithotypes, including orthopyroxenite, dunite, serpentinite, and chromitite, displaying a rhythmic layering of rocks. These rocks exhibit a cumulate texture and stand out due to their elevated Mg# (78.43–93.20), Cr (905.40–58,799 ppm), Ni (193.81–2790 ppm), Al2O3/TiO2 (27.01–74.06), and Zr/Hf (39.81–55.24) ratios, while possessing lower TiO2 contents (0.01–0.12 wt%). These ultramafics, characterized by low Ti/V (0.83–19.23) and Ti/Sc (7.14–83.72) ratios, negative anomalies of Zr, Hf, Nb, and Ti in a primitive mantle-normalized spider diagram, indicate that the ultramafics originate from a depleted mantle source. Furthermore, the presence of enriched LREE compared to HREE, a negative Eu anomaly, and enrichment of Th, U, and negative Nb anomalies suggest a subduction setting. The whole-rock geochemical data reveal high levels of MgO, Cr, and Ni, as well as low TiO2 and CaO/Al2O3 ratios and high Al2O3/TiO2 ratios. Moreover, the mineral chemistry data of the ultramafic rocks show high-Mg olivine (Fo 90.9−94.1) in dunite, high-Mg orthopyroxene (En 90.4–90.7) in orthopyroxenite, and high Cr# (0.68–0.82) and low Mg# (0.40–0.54) in chromite, alongside significant Al2O3 (9.93–12.86 wt%) and TiO2 (0.20–0.44 wt%) contents in the melt. Such geochemical characteristics strongly suggest that the Sukinda ultramafic originates from the fractional crystallization of a boninitic parental magma, which is derived from the second-stage melting in a depleted metasomatized mantle source within a supra-subduction zone tectonic setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microstructural relationship between olivine and clinopyroxene is significant in recovering the mantle evolution under clinopyroxene-saturated melting conditions. This study focuses on olivine/clinopyroxene-related ultramafic rocks (dunite, wehrlite, olivine clinopyroxenite, and clinopyroxenite) in the Ells Stream Complex of the Red Hills Massif. (Olivine) clinopyroxenites have an A/D-type olivine crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) whereas peridotites have various olivine CPO types. B-type olivine CPO was newly discovered, which may have been generated under hydrous conditions. The discovery of B-type CPO means that all six olivine CPO types could exist in a single research area. Clinopyroxene CPOs also vary and have weaker deformation characteristics (e.g., lower M index and weaker intracrystalline deformation) than olivine; thus, they probably melted and the clinopyroxene-rich ultramafic bands existed as melt veins. Irregular clinopyroxene shapes in the peridotites and incoherent olivine and clinopyroxene CPOs ([100]OL and [001]CPX are not parallel) also indicate a melted state. The dominant orthorhombic and LS-type CPOs in olivine and clinopyroxene imply that simple shear was the main deformation mechanism. Such complicated microstructural characteristics result from the overprinted simple shear under high temperatures (>1000 °C) and hydrous melting environments until the melt-frozen period. This case study is helpful to better understand the olivine and clinopyroxene relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Dovyren Intrusive Complex (Northern Baikal region, 728 ± 3 Ma) includes the dunite–troctolite–gabbronorite Yoko–Dovyren massif (YDM) associated with a sequence of underlying mafic-to-ultramafic sills, locally demonstrating interbedding relations with the most primitive rocks of the pluton. These sills and apophyses contain sulfide mineralization ranging from globular to net-textured and massive ores. Major types of the YDM cumulates and sulfide mineralization were examined for their PGE contents and Re-Os isotopic systematics. The ten analyzed samples included chilled and basal rocks, poorly mineralized troctolite, PGE-rich anorthosite, as well as three samples from a thick ore-bearing apophysis DV10 connected with the YDM. These samples yielded a Re-Os isochron with an age of 759 ± 36 Ma and an initial 187Os/188Os of 0.1309 ± 0.0026 (MSWD = 110), which is in consistent with the previously reported U–Pb zircon age. It is shown that being recalculated to γOs(t) at t = 728 Ma, these isotopic compositions demonstrate three clusters regarding the relationship between γOs(t) and 187Re/188Os: (i) the chilled gabbronorite (YDM) and subcontact olivine gabbronorite (DV10) yielded the most radiogenic values of γOs(t) 10.5 and 10.0 among basal ultramafics, (ii) plagiodunite, troctolite, and sulfide ores showed lower radiogenic compositions, with γOs(t) ranging from 7.3 to 8.7, (iii) olivine gabbronorite, plagioperidotite, and one sample of PGE-rich anorthosite yield very primitive γOs(t) in the range 4.5 to 5.6 (on average 5.2 ± 0.6). The lowest values of γOs(t) for the least fractionated rocks of the YDM suggest a primitive mantle source, formed from a partly contaminated Neoarchean protolith, which is considered to be anomalous in Upper Riphean due to very low εNd(t) of −16 for the most primitive Dovyren magma (Fo88-parent). The highest values of γOs(t) and relative enrichment in the 34S isotope in the chilled gabbronorite (YDM) and subcontact olivine gabbronorite (DV10) evidence that their primitive to evolved magmatic precursors could be affected by a metamorphic fluid enriched in radiogenic 187Os, originating in the exocontact halo due to the thermal decomposition of pyrite from the dehydrated country rocks. This is consistent with the second-stage contamination of the Dovyren magma by the hosting crustal rocks (probably of 10 wt% shists), generating more evolved Fo86-parent magma with higher εNd(t) of −14. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous empirical and experimental studies have documented the consumption of orthopyroxene and production of clinopyroxene in mantle peridotite during carbonatite metasomatism, whereas little attention has been paid to whether and how olivine is compositionally modified through the same process of carbonatite metasomatism. Here, we present the discovery of well-preserved reaction features in olivine from typical calciocarbonatites from Sri Lanka. The olivine grains experienced serpentinization along the cracks and in their rims and are generally surrounded outwardly by serpentine, tremolite and diopside zones. The inner serpentine zone is dominated by serpentine with tiny magnetite, whereas the mantle tremolite zone is characterized by euhedral tremolite and intergrowth of dolomite with small amounts of serpentine relics and diopside. The outer diopside zone shows spongy texture and commonly encloses olivine, serpentine, tremolite and dolomite, which are also observed in interstitial diopside grains in the carbonatites. Compositional profile analyses reveal that these olivine grains display decreasing FeO and increasing MgO contents and thus elevating Fo values from their cores to the reaction rims, while the serpentine inherits compositions from the olivine. Elemental mapping images demonstrate outward diffusion of Si and Mg in the serpentine zones and contribution of Ca from carbonatite melts during tremolite formation. Further interaction with carbonatite melts produced Si- and Mg-poor and Ca-rich diopside relative to the reactant tremolite. These observations suggest that the interaction with carbonatite melts first transformed olivine to diopside through serpentinization, followed by tremolitization. The diopside formed through olivine-carbonatite melt interaction is anomalously depleted in Na and Al and enriched in Ca, which are distinct from those generated in interactions between orthopyroxene and both carbonatite and silicate melts. This implies that for the first time some wehrlites and clinopyroxenites in the mantle might originate from intense interaction between peridotites (including dunite) and carbonatite melts. This mechanism can be invoked to explain the formation of other global occurrences of wehrlite and clinopyroxenite suites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Orogenic peridotite is an important component of orogenic belts and retains crucial information on mantle magmatic activity, slab subduction, and melt or fluid metasomatism. To determine the source of the mantle‐derived parental magma of the peridotite and to investigate the metasomatism that it experienced, we undertook an integrated study of the petrography, whole‐rock major‐ and trace‐element compositions, in situ zircon U‐Pb geochronology, and mineral major‐and trace‐element compositions of an early Paleozoic ultramafic complex in the North Wulan area of North Qaidam. The Halihatu ultramafic–mafic complex is composed of dunite, pyroxene peridotite, and gabbro, which are characteristic of Alaskan‐type complexes. The dunite yields a weighted mean 206Pb/238U age of 479 ± 5 Ma (MSWD = 0.7), which reflects the age of the metasomatism rather than the crystallization age of the ultramafic magma. The peridotites have high Mg# (89.8–91.8) and Cr contents (2419–5190 ppm), low Al2O3 (0.20–1.68 wt%) and Ni (289–1012 ppm) contents, and high olivine Fo contents (87–91), suggesting a large degree (∼15%–22%) of partial melting of lithospheric ultramafic rocks followed by variable degrees of fractional crystallization of olivine and pyroxene. This is consistent with estimates of 15%–22.3% partial melting calculated using the Cr# of spinel crystals and with the low Yb (0.04–0.33 ppm) and Y (0.72–1.29 ppm) contents of clinopyroxene crystals. Whole‐rock trace‐element patterns show enrichment in large ion lithophile elements and depletion in high field strength elements, along with high Al2O3 (2.10–6.47 wt%) and low TiO2 (0.01–0.21 wt%) contents of clinopyroxene crystals, suggesting an arc magma cumulate trend. These features, along with the high olivine Fo contents (87–91 ppm), imply that the Halihatu peridotite is an Alaskan‐type crustal cumulates derived from Mg‐rich hydrous basaltic melts. The high estimated fO2 (FMQ +1.97 to FMQ +3.81) further supports the idea that they formed in an arc setting. The Ni/Co and Ni/Mn ratios and cumulate textures of the olivine, quenched boundaries between mafic and felsic melts, and the occurrence of tremolite and phlogopite reflect interactions between the Halihatu peridotite and injected silicate and carbonatitic melts in the lower crust. Therefore, we propose a new cumulate‐infiltration model for the petrogenesis of Alaskan‐type ultramafic complexes, which improves our understanding of the nature of Alaskan‐type continental arc root. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Zhaheba ophiolite is an ocean relic of the Zhaheba-Aermantai oceanic slab, a branch of the early Paleozoic Paleo-Asian Ocean. The peridotites consist mainly of harzburgite, lherzolite and minor dunite, chromitite. This study describes the whole-rock geochemistry and mineral chemistry of the Zhaheba peridotite and chromitite for the purpose of constraining their tectonic environment and genesis. The major oxides and the trace element concentrations of the peridotites are comparable with abyssal peridotite, but fall outside the field of SSZ (suprasubduction zone) peridotite and the fore-arc peridotite. The massive chromites belong to the high-Cr group, with an average Cr# (Cr/(Cr + Al)) atomic ratio) value of chromian spinel of 0.77, whereas the average Mg# value is 0.60. The disseminated chromites give a lower concentration of Cr2O3 (38.96–42.15 wt.%, average 40.35 wt.%) and lower Cr# values (0.50–0.56, average 0.53), but slightly higher contents of MgO (13.23 wt.%) and Mg# (0.61) than the massive chromites. In the diagrams of Cr#-Mg#, NiO-Cr# and TiO2-Cr#, the massive chromites fall in the field of boninite, and the disseminated chromite in the peridotite plot fall in the field of abyssal peridotite and mid-oceanic ridge basalt (MORB). The massive chromitites, with high-Cr, display a boninite affinity, whereas the disseminated chromite plot in the high-Al and abyssal peridotite type field may be generated by the extension of the Zhaheba ocean in the MOR environment then experienced deep subduction and exhumation. The calculated degrees of partial melting for the massive chromites are 21%−22%, and for the disseminated chromites in peridotites the degrees are 17%−18%. The calculated values of fO2 for the massive chromites range from −1.44 to +0.20, and the values for the disseminated chromites range from −0.32 to +0.18. The inferred parental melt composition for massive chromitite falls in the field of boninite in an arc setting, whereas the disseminated chromite in peridotites are in the field of a MORB setting. This indicates that the parental magmas of the former were more refractory than the latter. A two-stage evolution model for the chromites was proposed, in which disseminated chromites were first formed in an MOR environment and then modified by later-stage melts and fluids, and formed massive chromites were formed in an SSZ setting during intra-oceanic subduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The podiform chromitite found within the Luobusha ophiolite comprises characteristic nodules and massive chromitites. However, the exact origin of these formations remains a topic of ongoing debate. In this study, the microstructures of olivine and chromite are investigated to unravel their formation processes and shed light on the associated geodynamic mechanisms. EBSD analysis provides insights into chromitite and host peridotite deformation mechanisms. Olivine grains in the host dunite and nodular chromite exhibit crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs) with D-type fabrics, which show a girdle distribution in the [010] and [001] axes, normal to the foliation plane of the sample. The massive and disseminated chromitite displays B-type and C-type olivine fabric, with a concentration of [001] axes parallel to the lineation of the sample. Crystal plastic deformation can be observed in the Luobusha chromite grains, highlighting intercrystalline deformation processes. Small grains lacking misorientation observed in the massive chromitite are likely attributed to heterogeneous nucleation. Chromite nodules are found to be a patchwork of subgrains with various orientations and high-angle boundary misorientation. The formation of Luobusha chromitite involves deep-seated crystallization, followed by amalgamation, and subsequent deformation within the mantle peridotite. These findings distinguish Luobusha chromitite from other ophiolitic chromite deposits, offering valuable insights into the deformation history and formation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We measured He and Ar in fresh peridotites from the Twin Sisters massif, Washington USA. 3He/4He ratios measured on >35 samples are highly variable (∼0.8 to ∼6 times the atmospheric ratio, R A). Step-heating of a subset of these samples in every case reveals a low 3He/4He component (∼1 R A) released at <1000 °C and a high 3He/4He component (>3 R A) above that temperature, but these components are not effectively isolated by crushing and powder fusion analysis. He-Ar systematics indicate an intimate association of two fluid-inclusion hosted components in the peridotites. The first is a ∼6 R A mantle component that is released at higher temperatures during step heating and is more abundant in dunite bands than surrounding harzburgites. The second component, released at low temperatures, has a 3He/4He ratio of 1.0 ± 0.5 R A, atmospheric 40Ar/36Ar, and 4He/40Ar far above atmospheric. It appears to be a mixture of mantle and radiogenic He sources introduced during obduction-related serpentinization, sometimes invisible, by surface-derived waters enriched with deeply-sourced helium. These data indicate that mantle noble gas signatures can be retained in lithospheric peridotites against both diffusive loss and radiogenic ingrowth over at least 108 year timescales, likely due to concentration and immobilization of He in fluid inclusions. However, the mantle signature can be greatly modified by pervasive and potentially cryptic fluid alteration during emplacement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many alkaline complexes, large amounts of ultramafic rocks occur together with carbonatites, melilitolites and other alkaline silicate rocks. There is an ongoing debate if and how these contrasting lithologies were formed by differentiation of a common, mantle-derived silicate magma or rather by metasomatic processes between carbonatite and country rocks. In order to find petrological evidence for one or the other, two key examples, the Gardiner (E Greenland) and Kovdor (Russia) complexes are compared in this study. Despite their similar tectonic setting and succession of rock types, they show significant differences in the texture and mineral composition of ultramafic rocks. Ultramafic rocks from Kovdor include calcite- and biotite-rich dunites and pyroxenites without typical cumulate textures. They consist of Ni-poor forsterite, Cr-poor diopside and Ni-Cr-poor spinel and are possibly metasomatic reaction products between mantle-derived carbonatite melts and silicic host rocks. Similar ultramafic rocks are associated with carbonatites e. g. at Palabora (South Africa), Afrikanda (Russia), and Salitre (Brazil). In contrast, the ultramafic rocks from Gardiner show well-preserved cumulate textures and consist of Ni-rich forsterite, Cr-rich diopside as well as Cr-Ni-Ti-rich spinel and also contain F-Cl-rich apatite. They record an increase in aSiO2 from dunite to pyroxenite at similar f O2 (ΔFMQ ~ +1.2, with FMQ = fayalite-magnetite-quartz buffer), indicating that these rocks represent cumulates of an evolving, moderately oxidized mafic melt derived from a Ti-rich mantle source, similar to other rocks of the North Atlantic igneous province. In contrast to systems like Kovdor where carbonatite metasomatism is likely dominant, Ti-rich parental silicate magmas can abundantly crystallize Ti phases, as recorded by massive perovskite cumulates in Gardiner melilitolites. This can effectively scavenge HFSE from the magmatic system early in its evolution and likely explains HFSE-barren carbonatites at Gardiner, while those from Kovdor are highly HFSE-enriched. In summary, the results of our study provide strong textural and mineral chemical evidence that ultramafic rocks in alkaline complexes can be of both cumulate and metasomatic origin; the specific type has an important bearing on their HFSE enrichment and on the types of ores present in such complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents petrographic, mineralogical, and geochemical data on dunites, pyroxenites, peridotites, and gabbroids of the Kamchatsky Mys ophiolite. These data were acquired to distinguish cogenetic assemblages of igneous rocks, gain an insight into their geodynamic settings, and test various criteria of genetic links between the different magmatic rocks of ophiolites. The ultramafic and mafic rocks are shown to belong to two series, which differ in the compositions of the primary minerals, bulk rocks, and estimated trapped melts. The rocks of these series are found out to have been produced by geochemically different melts in different geodynamic settings, and during different episodes of mantle magmatism. The rocks of the high-Ti series (gabbro of the Olenegorsk massif, dunite and melanogabbro xenoliths in them, and vein gabbro in these xenoliths) crystallized from N-MORB melts in an oceanic spreading center. The rocks of the low-Ti series (dunite, pyroxenite, and gabbro veins in the residual spinel peridotites of the Mount Soldatskaya massif, as well as pyroxenite, peridotite, and gabbro alluvium and diluvium in the central and western parts of the peninsula) crystallized from water-rich boninite melts in relation to initial subduction magmatism. Taken into account the absence of boninite lavas from the Kamchatsky Mys ophiolite, the plutonic ultramafic rocks (including the rocks of the veins) might be the only evidence of subduction boninitic magmatism in the ophiolites. It was demonstrated that conclusions about the geodynamic settings of plutonic ultramafic and mafic rocks and recognition of cogenetic relations of these rocks with spatially associated basalts are more reliable when derived from the compositions of the trapped melts, which are estimated from their bulk geochemistry and primary mineral compositions, than when they are based on the mineral compositions only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hundred years after the discovery of the Merensky Reef in 1924, it is appropriate to present the new mineral andrieslombaardite in honour of Andries Frederik Lombaard who was instrumental in its discovery. Andrieslombaardite, RhSbS, was first described as an unknown mineral from placer deposits associated with the Tulameen Alaskan-Uralian type complex, British Colombia, Canada (Raicevic and Cabri, 1976) but has since been reported from several other deposits including the platiniferous Driekop, Mooihoek, and Onverwacht pipes in the eastern Bushveld Complex, South Africa.The mineral and the name were approved by the Commission on New Minerals Nomenclature and Classification (CNMNC) of the International Mineralogical Association (IMA no. 2022-076) based on data in the co-type samples from Onverwacht and a co-type sample from the Yubdo stream, Birbir River, Ethiopia. Andrieslombaardite in the Onverwacht sample is a single 8 x 20 μm grain attached to laurite in a matrix of altered silicate and Fe-oxyhydroxide minerals. In the Yubdo samples, there are many grains of pale brownish gray andrieslombaardite up to 25 x 55 μm in size, included in Pt-Fe alloys, some associated with erlichmanite, and others attached to bornite and chalcopyrite. The reflectance values (R%) measured in air and in oil at the COM wavelengths are 48.3 and 33.0 (470 nm), 49.3 and 34.0 (546 nm), 51.0 and 35.9 (589 nm), and 51.8 and 36.7 (650 nm). The colour values x, y, Y, λd, and Pe in air are 0.317, 0.322, 50.3, 580, and 3.2, and in oil are 0.319, 0.324, 35.6, 579, and 4.5. The composition of andrieslombaardite is ideally RhSbS, but it contains variable amounts of Fe, Pt, Pd, and Ir that may substitute for Rh. The mineral is cubic with unit-cell dimensions of a = 6.0278(4) Å, V = 219.01(6) Å3 and Z = 4. It was synthesised at 400 and 550°C using stoichiometric elemental amounts. It is a member of the cobaltite group. The mineralisation of the intrusive dunite pipes was probably introduced at high temperatures, under magmatic conditions. The primary assemblages were to a certain degree overprinted and redistributed by low-temperature hydrothermal fluids. The Pt-Fe alloys from Yubdo containing PGM inclusions such as andrieslombaardite in the YubdoAlaskan-type complex were formed at some post-magmatic stage owing to PGE remobilisation during hydrothermal or metamorphic episodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Appalachian Mountains of Vermont, USA, variably serpentinized ultramafic rocks mark the Ordovician Taconic orogenic suture zone. These ultramafic rocks provide evidence for several alteration events that occurred during Appalachian orogenesis. The largest of these ultramafic bodies occurs as a partially serpentinized meta-dunite located in East Dover, Vermont. Whole-rock X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and electron microprobe data on variably serpentinized meta-dunite samples are interpreted with respect to several processes including fluid/melt-rock interaction in the mantle, serpentinization, and subsequent regional metamorphism. We report the first discovery of nickel arsenide minerals hosted in this meta-dunite, as well as rare occurrences of platinum-group mineral inclusions in chromitite. Although the platinum-group minerals and chromitite are rare, their occurrence and chemistry suggest that they formed by fluid/ melt-rock interaction during partial melting events that produced the dunite, likely in a supra- subduction zone setting. Arsenic minerals are rare in un-serpentinized samples but are ubiquitous in highly serpentinized samples, which suggests that most of the arsenic was introduced into the ultramafic rocks during serpentinization. Whole-rock geochemical analyses also indicate that highly serpentinized samples contain the highest concentrations of arsenic. The discovery of arsenic minerals identifies a potential source to explain elevated arsenic in groundwater in Vermont, which is a serious health concern in places where wells have been drilled in serpentinite bedrock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The east-west extended Sivas Basin in central-eastern Anatolia is a foreland basin that formed after the obduction of the Tethyan ophiolite during the late Cretaceous and is also a north-verging fold-and-thrust belt. The basement rocks of the basin represent mainly sedimentary (Mesozoic platform-type carbonates) and late Cretaceous Divriği ophiolitic complex. As the ophiolitic rocks are affected by intense tectonic processes, field-based mapping studies require long processes and costs. The study tests to reveal the lithological features of the ophiolitic complex outcropping around the Ulaş district of the Sivas Province using remote sensing methods and techniques. Due to arid climatic conditions and rare vegetation cover in the region, almost all outcrops of the basin rocks can be separated by spectral enhancement methods easily. Band ratio (BR), spectral indices (SI), decorrelation stretch (DS), principal component analysis (PCA), and support vector machine (SVM) on Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data were used in this research. BR, PCA, DC, and SI techniques clearly distinguish the Divriği Ophiolitic Complex from the basement and cover sedimentary rocks. SVM distinguishes the chromite-bearing dunites from the other ophiolite-related rock units. According to image analysis performances, it has been observed that the rocks of the Divriği ophiolitic complex can be differentiated in more detail compared to a 1/100.000 scaled geological map of the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The active Sagaing fault in Myanmar defines the boundary between the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate and causes seismic damage in the major cities of Myanmar. Small bodies of serpentinite occur along the fault. We for the first time investigated the highly sheared serpentinite bodies in the Sheinmagar area and Yega Inn area along the Sagaing fault. Extensively sheared/brecciated serpentinites and related rocks, such as talc and/or chlorite-bearing rocks contains small rock fragments of serpentinites. Serpentine texture and mineral chemistry indicate that the protolith of these serpentinites were mainly harzburgite with minor amounts of dunite, some of which are cut by gabbroic veins. No shape-preferred orientation of the antigorite is present, indicating that the serpentinization was occurred under relatively static conditions. Protolith and serpentine minerals are similar to those of the jadeitite-bearing serpentinites in the north of the Sagaing fault (the Jade Mine belt). Chemical variations of spinels in the studied area are within the compositional range of forearc peridotites and those in the mantle section of nearby ophiolites. After the formation of antigorite serpentinite under static conditions, these serpentinites were subsequently, but locally deformed, probably due to the activity of the Sagaing fault, resulting in the formation of serpentinite schist/brecciated rock. The presence of the less-deformed antigorite serpentinite in the sheared/brecciated zone indicates the strain localization mainly along the surrounding serpentine-talc (±chlorite) schistose rocks, which is probably formed by the reaction between serpentinite and country rocks. Further studies are needed to better understand whether the distribution of serpentinized peridotites cause variations in the activity of the Sagaing fault. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ophiolite magnesite deposits are among the main sources of magnesite, a raw material critical for the EU. The present work focuses on magnesite occurrences at Kymasi (Evia Island, Greece), in close spatial association with chromitite within the same peridotite massif, and on the relationship between ultramafic rocks and late magnesite veins. Chromitite lenses are hosted within dunite, in contact with a partially serpentinized peridotite cut by magnesite veins. Close to the veins, the peridotite shows evidence of carbonation (forming dolomitized peridotite) and brecciation (forming a serpentinite–magnesite hydraulic breccia, in contact with the magnesite veins). Spinel mineral chemistry proved to be crucial for understanding the relationships between different lithologies. Spinels within partially serpentinized peridotite (Cr# 0.55–0.62) are similar to spinels within dolomitized peridotite (Cr# 0.58–0.66). Spinels within serpentinite–magnesite hydraulic breccia (Cr# 0.83–0.86) are comparable to spinels within dunite and chromitite (Cr# 0.79–0.84). This suggests that older weak zones, such as dunite channels, were reactivated as fluid pathways for the precipitation of magnesite. Magnesite stable isotope composition, moreover, points towards a meteoric origin of the oxygen, and to an organic source of carbon. The acquired data suggest the following evolution of Kymasi ultramafic rocks: (i) percolation of Cr-bearing melts in a supra-subduction mantle wedge within dunite channels; (ii) obduction of the ophiolitic sequence and peridotite serpentinization; (iii) uplift and erosion of mantle rocks to a shallow crustal level; (iv) percolation of carbon-rich meteoric waters rich at shallow depth, reactivating the dunite channels as preferential weak zones; and (v) precipitation of magnesite in veins and partial brecciation and carbonation of the peridotite host rock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the geological map (1:10.000) of the Montecastelli Pisano area, where (i) the relationships between Neogene-Quaternary transfer and normal faults have been carefully mapped (Sheet 1), and (ii) the mantle sequence of the Ligurian Ocean has been analysed (Sheet 2). Fault analyses allowed to define: (i) NE-trending fault system (left-lateral strike- to oblique-slip faults) belonging to a transfer shear zone; and (ii) NW-trending normal to oblique-slip faults. Their evolution is framed in the extensional tectonics affecting the Northern Apennines since Early-Middle Miocene. The ophiolite complex is constituted by serpentinized spinelharzburgite with minor serpentinized dunite channels cut by gabbro dykes. A km-scale cataclastic zone cut the mantle section, locally hosting Cu-Fe mineralization. The goal of this work is to present the distribution of the main fractures affecting an area where the occurrence of ophiolite can favor the success of the CO2 reinjection project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minor ultramafic (dunite) and mafic (gabbroic) rock occurrences are exposed in South Andaman Island, Bay of Bengal. Dunite is in contact with serpentinite, while gabbroic rocks are in contact with the pyroxenite. Petrographic analysis using a petrographic microscope, major and trace element [including rare earth elements (REE)] analysis using an X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer and the High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (HR-ICPMS), and mineral chemistry using an Electron Probe Micro-Analyzer (EPMA) were performed on selected ultramafic and mafic rocks. Petrographically, dunite is composed of olivine, clinopyroxene, and orthopyroxene, while olivine, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, and calcic plagioclase are present in olivine–gabbronorite. The bulk rock elemental relationship (Zr versus P2O5 and TiO2 versus Zr/P2O5) indicate that the dunite and olivine–gabbronorite are tholeiitic in composition. The clinopyroxene with high Mg# [Mg2+/(Mg2+ + Fe2+)] and lower TiO2 content is present in dunite, whereas the clinopyroxene with high Mg# and high TiO2 content exists in olivine–gabbronorite. Cr2O3 versus Mg# in the clinopyroxene relationship and negative Nb, Ta, and Ti anomalies in these rocks imply high pressure arc related peridotite mantle source. Our results suggest that the dunite and gabbroic rocks were also intruded in the Andaman Ophiolitic suite of rocks during earlier subduction setting in Late Cretaceous time. Further, it is suggested that these ophiolites have been obducted on to the leading edge of the Eurasian continent during the Mid–Eocene to Late Oligocene event, prior to the current tectonically active Andaman–Java subduction, which was initiated in the Late–Miocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alaskan-type of plutonic complexes represent arc magma chambers and they occur throughout the earth's history from Archean to Phanerozoic periods around the globe. The ultramafic rocks from these complexes commonly contain spinels of varied chemistry, especially rich in Cr, Fe, and Ti coupled with low-Al contents when compared to the spinels from oceanic or continental rift domains. An attempt is made here to study Thenmudiyanur Mafic–Ultramafic Complex (TMUC) from the Belur Shear Zone (BLSZ) in the northeastern margin of Southern Granulite Terrane, located about 20 km SW of Tiruvannamalai Town. The important lithologies of TMUC include dunites, peridotites and pyroxenites surrounded by metagabbros and amphibolites. The dunites and peridotites are highly serpentinized with well-preserved cumulate olivines along with magnesite, chrome spinel and clinopyroxenes. The mineral chemistry of olivines represents higher forsterite (Fo88–90) and Mg# 87–90 [100×Mg/(Mg+Fe2+)] contents. The gradational contact within the rock types, compositional variations and cumulate nature of mineralogical characteristics suggest fractional crystallization of magma from a single parental source. The chrome spinels from these lithologies represent higher Cr# [100×Cr/(Cr+Al)] that ranges from 65 to 86 along with lower MgO (1.06–4.57 wt%) and MnO (<1 wt%) contents. The presence of chrome spinels together with olivine in dunites as well as peridotites and clinopyroxene mineral chemistry from pyroxenites reveal arc signatures for the evolution of TMUC, which seems to be similar to that of the Alaskan-type. Considering the tectonic setting and the age relationships of adjacent lithologies, it is opined that the TMUC might have evolved during the Neoproterozoic period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IODP Expedition 357 drilled 17 shallow sites scattered over ~ 10 km in the west to east spreading direction across the Atlantis Massif oceanic core complex (OCC, MAR, 30 ºN). Mantle exposed in the footwall of the Atlantic Massif OCC is nearly wholly serpentinized (80–100%) harzburgite and subordinate dunite. A recent whole-rock chemistry study by Whattam et al. (Chemical Geology 594. 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2021.120681, 2022) subdivides Atlantis Massif peridotites into: Type I fluid–rock dominated serpentinite, which exhibits almost nil evidence of melt-impregnation or silica metasomatism; Type II melt–rock dominated, mafic melt-impregnated serpentinite; and Type III melt–rock dominated Si-metasomatized serpentinite. In this study, on the basis of EPMA, three kinds of Cr–spinel are distinguished in Expedition 357 serpentinite: (I) primary, unmetamorphosed mantle array, (II) low-Ti metamorphosed, and (III) high-Ti melt reacted. All Cr–spinel of western site Type I serpentinite is unmetamorphosed (n = 34) and comprises 68% of all unmetamorphosed Cr–spinel. Metamorphosed Cr–spinel (n = 100) are the most abundant and occur in the central and eastern site Type II and Type III serpentinite, whereas melt-reacted Cr–spinel and chromite are restricted to the central sites and occur predominantly in serpentinized dunite. Estimates of the degree of melt extraction of Type I serpentinite using F = 10ln(spinel Cr#) + 24 are ~ 9–17%. Fugacity calculations of primary, unmetamorphosed Cr–spinel yield Δlog(fO2)FMQ of − 1.7 to + 1.0 and calculations using olivine–spinel Mg–Fe exchange thermometry yield a mean closure temperature of 808 ± 39 °C. Mafic melt-impregnation resulted in Cr–spinel with anomalously high TiO2 of 0.27–0.68 wt.% and production of Ti-rich chromite (up to 1.23 wt.% TiO2). Greenschist facies metamorphism (< 500 °C) resulted in Mg–Fe2+ exchange between Cr–spinel and forsterite and anomalously low Cr–spinel Mg#; higher degrees of amphibolite facies metamorphism (~ 500–700 °C) also resulted in anomalously high Cr# due to Al–Cr exchange. As has been previously established, significant Al loss from chromite cores above 550 °C is the result of equilibration with fluids in equilibrium with chlorite, which may be valid for our samples. On the basis of Cr–spinel vs. whole-rock compositions, a clear relationship exists between melt-impregnation and metamorphism of central and eastern serpentinite, which we postulate to be the result of heat associated with magma injection and subsequent localized contact metamorphism. To our knowledge, such a relation between mafic melt-impregnation of peridotite and metamorphism (of peridotite) has not previously been established in general and specifically for the Atlantis Massif peridotite. Closure temperatures of 440–731 °C of metamorphosed Cr–spinel approximate greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archean Serpentinised dunite is important not only for understanding the evolution of the ultramafic deposit of magnesium, but also serves as a possible sink material for the carbon dioxide sequestration. Future anti-pollution measures may include sequestering of waste CO2 as magnesite (MgCO3) by processing ultramafic rocks to obtain reactable Mg. For the first time, the Raman spectroscopic investigation of dunite is presented from the Karya, Sargur supracrustals (3Ga) Greenstone Belt. The Raman spectra of the sample reveal abundant presence of serpentine. Polymorphs of serpentine: lizardite, antigorite and chrysotile exhibit typical intense band at 685–692 cm−1 in the Raman spectrum. The Raman peaks in this study also indicates the presence of chromite and magnesite. The lunar dunite 72415, one of the oldest lunar samples of the Mg-suite, contains chromite symplectites indicative of crystallization at 40–50 km rather than at a shallow depth of <1 km, also having a olivine content of about 85%. The present study showed the dunite has about 85% olivine, which is almost identical to the Martian dunite, meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 2737 is the second known chassignite, an olivine-rich igneous rock with mineral compositions and isotopic ratios that suggest it formed on Mars. NWA 2737 consists of ∼ 85% vol. The present study on the Karya dunite of Sargur supracrustals (3 Ga) greenstone belt, Western Dharwar Craton Karnataka, indicates a possibility of using this as a terrestrial analogue material for improving the Martian surface mineralogy and occurrence of hydrous minerals and life support system in Mars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The features of morphology and composition of accessory Cr-spinels from four ophiolitic peridotite massifs of the Southern Urals are considered. Massifs are localized in the Main Uralian Fault zone (Nurali, Mindyak), at its junction with the Sakmar zone (Kempirsai) and in the northern part of the Zilair zone (Kraka). The Kraka, Nurali and Mindyak massifs are composed mainly of lherzolites with subordinate harzburgites and dunites, while harzburgites predominate in the Kempirsai massif and dunites with large chromitite deposits are significantly developed in its southeastern part. The PT–fO2 formation conditions of lherzolites correspond to the upper mantle below a rift structure: temperature of 700–1000 °C, pressure of 5–12 kbar, and oxygen fugacity varying from –2 to + 0.5 ΔFMQ. The compositional variations of Cr-spinels from primitive lherzolite (Cr# 0.15–0.30, Mg#0.6–0.8) to harzburgite (Cr# 0.3–0.6, Mg#0.5–0.7) and dunite (Cr# 0.6–0.8, Mg#0.4–0.7) and the increase in Mg# value of olivine are a result of synchronous processes of partial melting and plastic flow of the material in the upper mantle. Four main morphological Cr-spinel types are distinguished in lherzolites: (1) fine rods and lamellae within silicate grains and along their boundaries, (2) anhedral and holly-leaf grains closely intergrown with restitic olivine and enstatite, (3) anhedral and subhedral grains in an assemblage with plagioclase and diopside and (4) euhedral grains in dunites. The formation of type 1 grains is interpreted as a result of deformation-induced segregation of trace elements on structural defects of silicates with consequent crystallization of newly formed minerals. The advanced stages of solid-phase transformation produce the larger anhedral and holly-leaf grains in peridotites and euhedral grains in dunites (types 2 and 4 grains). The decompression replacement of a precursor high-pressure mineral (garnet?) is suggested for the formation of the Cr-spinel–plagioclase aggregates. The subhedral and euhedral grains in the assemblage with plagioclase and clinopyroxene could have formed as a result of crystallization from percolating melts or their reaction with restite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the ultramafic area of Spain, a high quantity of petrographic entities is present. Data on the variability among populations of hyperaccumulation are scarce. We investigated Alyssum serpyllifolium subsp. malacitanum for variations in eleven elements among populations growing in different ultramafic massifs in different petrographic entities (dunites, harzburgite-pyroxenic dunite, harzburgite-lherzolite, pyroxenite, and serpentinites). Samples of leaves and soils were collected from the ultramafic outcrops of Sierra Bermeja and Sierra de Mijas (Andalusia, Spain). The concentrations of Ni, Fe, Mg, Si, Cr, Co, Sr, Mn, Cu, Zn, and Ba and the bioaccumulation factors (BAF) were determined. Although analysis of variance of the data for each element revealed considerable variation in soil chemistry (for Fe, Mg, Sr, and Ba) among the different petrographic entities, population-level variation with regard to the hyperaccumulation in the leaves was not detected. BAF values >1 were obtained for Sr and Ni depending on the petrographic entities. The correlation detected between the concentration of Ni in leaves and concentration in soil is relevant. The population-level variation obtained in the BAF values for Sr and Ni provides comprehensive information on the natural variation of hyperaccumulation. The BAF obtained for Ba is an important result for phytomining. To date, studies of hyperaccumulation in plant tissues on ultramafic rocks have not considered the great diversity of petrographic entities in the world's outcrops. One of them is the one that we studied in Spain with more than eight petrographic entities and different soils. Our hypothesis is that the different chemical compositions of the soils in ultramafic rocks significantly affect the hyperaccumulation of metals by specialized plants, which may have consequences for phytomining. For this purpose, individuals, populations, and different soils have been tested and the results have been subjected to the corresponding statistical tests. The obtained knowledge reflects the different behavior of the studied plant not only for the Ni: the obtained results for Sr and for Ba revealed interesting results for the hyperaccumulation in Alyssum of both metals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chromitites associated with intensely altered dunites and harzburgites from fourteen different localities in the Islahiye ophiolites (SE Anatolia) is reported here for the first time. These chromitites were observed as lenticular and banded bodies with disseminated and massive textures and containing magnesiochromite grains with the following composition: Cr2O3 = 58.91–59.74 wt%, Al2O3 = 10.85–11.20 wt%, and TiO2 = 0.09–0.13 wt%. The Mg# [Mg/ (Mg + Fe2+)] values of magnesiochromite from the Islahiye ophiolite range between 0.52 and 0.60 and their Cr# [Cr/ (Cr + Al)] values vary from 0.7802 to 0.7844. These contents vary with a constant pattern, coincident with the estimated parental liquids that have originated from the derivative of a single bulk of boninitic magma together with Al, Ti-poor, and Cr-rich initial contents. The chromitites are serpentinised in almost all parts of the study area, and harzburgite and dunite can be observed in different locations. Although the overall composition of platinum group elements (PGE) in most examined chromitites varies between 97 and 191 ppb, three chromitites from the Islahiye region present enrichments in overall PGE (up to 214 ppb). The mineralogical and geochemical features of chromitites from the Islahiye region exhibit a robust similarity to podiform chromitites in the mantle fragment of supra–subduction zone type ophiolitic bodies. The estimated parental magmas of the investigated chromites are consistent with the differentiation of arc-related melts and do not suggest an oceanic spreading centre tectonic environment. The Islahiye chromites are enriched in IPGE (Ir, Os, Ru), with the occasional presence of Ru and Ir and higher Os contents in chromite. Furthermore, we did not find any platinum group minerals (PGM) associated with the serpentine silicate sample matrix, which would have stated a secondary enrichment in PGEs. All chromitites in the investigated region have high Cr and low Ti values, are defined as magnesiochromite and were crystallised from a characteristic boninitic magma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of Hawaiian magmatic storage and transport systems in response to variations in magma supply over the course of volcano lifespan can have a significant influence on the type and amount of wallrock material that is assimilated by ponded melts prior to eruption. Understanding this plumbing evolution is therefore critical for evaluating the extent to which such melt/wallrock interaction affects the geochemical signals of Hawaiian basalts. We have examined mineral major and trace element and Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf-Os-O isotope variations in a suite of cumulate and lower Pacific crust xenoliths from the Ka'ūpūlehu flow, Hualālai Volcano, Hawai'i in order to constrain the depths of magma storage during Hualālai shield- and post-shield-stage volcanism and the effects of edifice and Pacific crust assimilation. Xenoliths range from 1- and 2-pyroxene gabbros to dunites. Pressures of equilibration for gabbroic and pyroxenitic xenoliths, calculated using two-pyroxene and clinopyroxene-only thermobarometry, suggest that most xenoliths, including both shield- and post-shield-stage cumulates, formed within the Pacific lower crust, at pressures >0.24 GPa. However, two gabbros record lower equilibration pressures (<0.2 GPa) and may have formed within the volcanic edifice. Dunite xenoliths also appear to have formed at shallower depths than most gabbro and pyroxenite xenoliths, inconsistent with a single liquid line of descent. These results indicate that, although shallow (intra-edifice) magma chambers are active during Hawaiian shield-stage volcanism, some magmas also pond and fractionate within or near the base of the Pacific crust during the shield stage. Mass and energy constrained geochemical modeling suggests that ponded melts are likely to assimilate significant quantities of wallrock material, with the mass ratio of assimilated material to crystals fractionated approaching one, regardless of depth of ponding. Elevated 187Os/188Os in some evolved post-shield-derived xenoliths are consistent with assimilation of lower Pacific crust, and low δ18O in xenoliths recording shallow equilibration pressures are consistent with edifice assimilation. However, the effects of assimilation on other radiogenic isotopes appear to be limited in most xenoliths and, by inference, in erupted basalts. Melt–wallrock reaction also appears to have modified the composition of the local Pacific crust. Although plagioclase from the lower oceanic crust record unradiogenic Sr-isotopes similar to mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB), pyroxene Sr-Nd-Hf and whole-rock Os-isotopes have been variably affected by interaction with Hawaiian melts, resulting in a hybrid isotopic composition intermediate between MORB and Hawaiian shield-stage basalts. These hybrid isotopic compositions are qualitatively similar to Hawaiian rejuvenation-stage basalts. Similar hybridization is likely to have altered the isotopic composition of the Pacific lithospheric mantle. Therefore, Pb-isotope differences between MORB and rejuvenation-stage Hawaiian melts do not preclude melt generation within the Pacific lithosphere or asthenosphere. The isotopic signatures of rejuvenation-stage basalts may represent a unique depleted component within the Hawaiian plume, as suggested by previous studies, but requires additional investigation in light of these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel data from mineralogical studies of the peridotite xenoliths from the Komsomol'skaya–Magnitnaya kimberlite pipe, Upper Muna field, Siberian craton, are presented. The mineral composition of 170 peridotite xenoliths (dunites, harzburgites, and lherzolites) is investigated. Based on these studies, it has been established that the lithospheric mantle beneath the Upper Muna kimberlite field is composed mainly of garnet and chromite-bearing dunites, harzburgites, and subordinate amounts of granular garnet lherzolites. The high proportion of peridotites with high-Mg olivines (Fo > 93 mol %) indicates the highly depleted nature of the lithospheric mantle peridotites. Based on the geochemical studies of the garnets, it has been found that the diamondiferous lithospheric keel underwent a low degree of metasomatic modification, mainly with the participation of carbonatite fluids/melts. Using the data on clinopyroxene monomineral geothermobarometry, it has been established that the thickness of the lithosphere in the area of the Upper Muna field at the time of kimberlite magmatism (~360 Ma) was about 220 km and the interval of the diamond window was about 95 km (from 125 to 220 km). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: A growing body of work indicates that continental subsurface rocks host a substantial portion of the Earth's biosphere. However, the activities of microbial cells inhabiting pore spaces and microfractures in subsurface rocks remain underexplored. Here, we develop and optimize microcosm assays to detect organic acid transformation activities of cells residing in mafic to ultramafic igneous rocks. Application of this assay to gabbro core from the Stillwater Mine, Montana, USA, revealed maximal methane production from acetate at temperatures approximating that of the mine. Controls show that these activities are not due to contamination introduced during drilling, exhumation, or laboratory processing of the core. The assay was then applied to rocks cored from the Samail Ophiolite, Oman, which is undergoing low‐temperature serpentinization. Production of (i) carbon dioxide from acetate and formate and (ii) methane from formate were detected in a dunite/harzburgite rock core interfacing pH 9.6 waters, and estimates of microbial activities were up to three orders of magnitude higher in the rock core pore space than in corresponding waters. The detection of endolithic microbial activities in igneous rocks has implications for life detection on other planetary bodies where similar rock types prevail, such as Mars, Europa and Enceladus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kimberlites carry a dense cargo of olivine. Although normally referred to as macrocrysts, much of this olivine is present as multigrain xenoliths of dunite. Because of their well-rounded outlines, we refer to these objects as 'nodules' and apply the term to both multigranular and monogranular varieties. Although compositions within each nodule are very uniform, the entire population displays an enormous variation in Fo content (100*Mg/(Mg + Fe), cation proportions), from close to Fo95 to about Fo82. The change is continuous, and there is no indication of separate Fo-rich and Fo-poor populations. Likewise, the sizes, internal textures and habits of Fo-rich and Fo-poor olivines are indistinguishable. Fo-poor nodules have compositions like those of olivines of the megacryst suite, and they share similar sizes and internal structures. We propose that the dunite nodules in kimberlites and olivines of the megacryst suite have a common origin. In our interpretation, almost all olivines in kimberlites, except for the marginal rims and rinds, are fragments of dunite that was produced during interaction between mantle peridotite and CO2-rich fluid. Analogues of this process can be found in ophiolites where dunite is the product of reaction between basaltic magma and peridotite. In situ reactive crystallization eliminated pyroxene, leaving only olivine with Fo contents ranging from higher to lower Fo than in the host peridotite. This interaction occurred near the base of the lithosphere and not during transit of kimberlite towards the surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Muskox intrusion in Nunavut, Canada, is one of the archetype mafic layered intrusions globally. It represents a sub-volcanic magma reservoir to flood basalts of the 1.27 Ga Mackenzie large igneous province (LIP), which also includes the coeval Coppermine River flood basalts and Mackenzie dike swarm. Discovered in 1956, the Muskox intrusion was the target of a scientific drilling program in 1963 by the Geological Survey of Canada that yielded an unprecedented composite section of a terrestrial layered intrusion. The intrusion, which is funnel-shaped in cross section and forms a shallowly northward-plunging elongate body, comprises a keel dike, marginal zone, layered series, and roof zone. The 150–500 m-wide and 60 km-long (as exposed) gabbronoritic keel dike, which is not a direct feeder to the Muskox intrusion, is essentially a wide Mackenzie dike constituting early injections of crystal-rich magmas prior to emplacement of the main components of the Muskox intrusion. The 100–200 m-thick marginal zone, defined by a thin interval (<10 m) of contaminated granophyre-bearing gabbronorite at the contact, followed inward by uncontaminated feldspathic olivine-orthopyroxene cumulates (peridotites), formed incrementally during progressive inputs of magma that in turn produced the layered series. The 1800 m-thick layered series is dominated by olivine-rich ultramafic cumulates (dunite, olivine clinopyroxenite) with the upper part containing more variable and fractionated ultramafic-mafic cumulates (peridotite, websterite, orthopyroxenite, gabbronorite). Rocks of the layered series are grouped into four megacycles, based on differences in the relative crystallization order of primocrysts, and 25 cyclic units are recognized with each representing the partial crystallization sequence of a single sill-like injection of magma. The presence of fine-scale layering, layer disruption, and irregular structures restricted to the uppermost layers of megacycles is evidence for dynamic processes that mark the onset of major magma filling stages and new megacycles. Interstitial granophyre patches in gabbronoritic cumulates from the uppermost cyclic units may record the products of silicate liquid immiscibility in these more differentiated rocks. Feldspathic rocks without cumulus textures (granophyre-bearing gabbros, mafic granophyres, granophyres ± brecciated roof rocks) form a complex heterogeneous roof zone, produced by localized melting of the overlying roof, that formed a gravitationally stable, buoyant Si-rich cap above the layered cumulates below. Accommodation space for the development of the nearly 2 km thickness of ultramafic-mafic cumulates, exposed over 60 km and potentially extending >100 km to north in the subsurface, was provided by downward displacement along reactivated basement faults during each major magma injection. A newly recognized 250–300 m-thick "basal zone" of feldspathic peridotites and overlying magmatic breccias that outcrops just north of the Coppermine River may represent the initial stage of Muskox magmatism above the previously consolidated keel dike. Cumulates from the layered series correlate geochemically with a distinctive suite of basaltic andesites from the lowermost 400 m of the 1000 m-thick September Creek member of the Copper Creek Formation, the stratigraphically lowest part of the regionally extensive >3 km-thick Coppermine River Group flood basalts. The Muskox intrusion is interpreted as a high-level magma reservoir where crystals (mostly olivine) accumulated following transit of crustally contaminated basaltic magmas early in the emplacement sequence of the Mackenzie LIP. Eruption of subsequent Coppermine River basalts (upper September Creek, Stony Creek, Burnt Creek members) utilized alternate conduit systems and extensive shallow to mid-crustal magma reservoirs to the north underlying the apical graben that represent stacks of amalgamated and differentiated cumulates up to 10 km thick. The Mackenzie LIP, with a low-latitude, near-equatorial setting in the Mesoproterozoic, would have been associated with significant global environmental impacts due to volatile release (e.g., CO 2 , SO 2) from the voluminous flood basalts (>1.5 × 106 km3) and widespread degassing from their plutonic counterparts at depth, including a thick magma underplate in the lower crust. Although a geochronological framework does not yet exist for the Muskox intrusion and Mackenzie LIP, a wealth of potential dating targets from all magmatic components, intrusive and extrusive, has been identified. The Muskox intrusion is an ideal natural laboratory to test hypotheses concerning the evolution of large, open-system magma reservoirs in the Earth's crust and linkages to contemporaneous flood basalts, dike swarms, and paleoenvironmental changes. • Review of Muskox intrusion, part of 1.27 Ga Mackenzie large igneous province (LIP). • Sub-volcanic layered intrusion formed by repeated sill-like injections of magma. • Muskox ultramafic-mafic cumulates linked to earliest Coppermine River flood basalts. • New insights into emplacement and crystallization of open-system magma reservoirs. • Implications for magma plumbing systems to LIPs and paleoenvironmental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micromechanical models suggest that the onset of anelastic relaxation in polycrystalline olivine, critical to interpretation of the seismic wave attenuation and dispersion in the upper mantle, should be a mild dissipation peak caused by elastically accommodated grain-boundary sliding. Such behavior has been tentatively invoked to explain both a short-period shear modulus deficit and a dissipation plateau poorly resolved at 900–700 °C in previous forced-oscillation experiments on fine-grained dunite tested within mild-steel jackets. However, these observations may have been complicated by the austenite to ferrite plus cementite phase transition in the jacket material, compliance associated with interfacial Ni 70 Fe 30 foils, and modeling of the mechanical properties of polycrystalline alumina as control specimen. To investigate the influence of these complications within the experimental setup and provide forced-oscillation data of better quality especially at moderate temperatures, we have conducted further forced-oscillation tests for which we removed the interfacial foils, employed single-crystal sapphire as reference sample, and used alternative jacket materials (stainless steel or copper) which experience no phase transition during the staged cooling. The newly acquired forced-oscillation data, although broadly consistent with the previous results, differ significantly especially in temperature sensitivity, and allow refinement of an appropriate Burgers creep-function model. A mild dissipation peak superimposed on monotonic dissipation background during the onset of anelastic relaxation in dry, melt-free and fine-grained dunite has now been consistently observed at temperatures of ∼950–1050 °C and seismic periods of 1–1000 s. Such a dissipation peak with relaxation strength 0.02 ± 0.01 is attributed to elastically accommodated grain-boundary sliding. The high activation energy (> 600 kJ/mol) of viscoelastic behavior involving both dissipation and related dispersion suggests that grain-boundary diffusion may be limited by interfacial reaction within grain boundaries. The reduced relaxation strength makes it difficult to attribute the oceanic lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary to water-mediated elastically accommodated grain-boundary sliding. [Display omitted] • Improvement of experimental methodology for forced-oscillation testing has enabled precise characterization of the onset of anelastic relaxation in melt-free, dry and fine-grained dunite. • A mild dissipation peak superimposed on monotonic dissipation background has been newly and consistently observed during the onset of anelastic relaxation in the dunite samples, attributable to elastically accommodated grain-boundary sliding. • The seismological impact of elastically accommodated grain-boundary sliding in dunite appears to be minor and insufficient to account for seismological observations of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary in the Earth's upper mantle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyroxenite veins and dikes are commonly observed in the mantle section of ophiolites. Because of their mantle occurrence, these pyroxenites are free from crustal contamination and offer a unique opportunity for studying mantle compositions and melt–rock interaction processes. We conducted an integrated petrological and geochemical study of a suite of composite orthopyroxenite, websterite, and pyroxene-bearing dunite veins from the Xiugugabu ophiolite located on the western segment of Yarlung–Zangbo Suture Zone. The dunite is separated from the host peridotite by a layer of pyroxenite, forming a composite vein system. Systematic variations in major, minor, and trace element compositions in minerals across the composite veins are observed. Two generations of orthopyroxenes in the pyroxenites are characterized by high Mg#, low TiO2 concentrations, and depleted patterns of incompatible trace elements. Clinopyroxenes in the pyroxenites are characterized by high Mg#, low contents of TiO2 and Na2O, spooned shaped REE patterns, and a negative Zr anomaly. Through major and trace element modeling, we showed that both orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene were in equilibrium with melts with different compositions. This hypothesis is further confirmed by distinct initial Nd and Hf isotope ratios in the two pyroxenes. A model for the formation of composite pyroxenite veins is developed, whereby hydrous and silica-rich melts percolate along the margins of a dunite channel. The orthopyroxenite was formed by the reaction between a hydrous, silica-rich melt and the surrounding peridotite. The websterite is formed by reactive crystallization of a hybrid melt produced by mixing silica-rich melt and the melt formed by remelting of previously depleted peridotite in the deeper part of the mantle column. The extremely enriched Nd–Hf isotope compositions of the pyroxenite veins (εNd = −20.3 to +11.5 and εHf = −13.2 to +25.3, 125 million years ago) can be explained by the addition of ancient, recycled sediments to the mantle source in a supra-subduction setting. Based on the low-Cr# spinel in the Xiugugabu dunites (Cr# = 19–50) and the depleted nature of the parental melt of the Xiugugabu pyroxenites, we deduced that the formation of pyroxenites postdate the formation of the Xiugugabu ophiolite at ~125–130 Ma. Collectively, results from this study have provided support to the hypothesis that the Xiugugabu ophiolite experience a two-stage evolution, i.e. firstly formed in a mid-ocean ridge setting and subsequently modified in a supra subduction zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cr-spinel [(Mg, Fe2+)(Cr, Al, Fe3+)2O4)] is a common mineral in the ultramafic core of the Duke Island complex in southeastern Alaska, US. Cr-spinel grains with an unmixed texture have been observed in dunite and wehrlite of the complex. Inhomogeneous Cr-spinel with a ratio of Cr/(Al + Cr + Fe3+) <0.37 is prominent in dunite. The inhomogeneous Cr-spinel consists of two completely different compositions: Al-rich Cr-spinel, and Fe3+-rich Cr-spinel with a wide range of Cr content (from 11.8 wt.% to 28.6 wt.% Cr2O3). The unmixed texture is complex, and three subtypes of inhomogeneous Cr-spinel are recognized: TypeB1 Cr-spinel showing complete separation, crystallographically oriented type B2 Cr-spinel, and irregular Al-rich Cr-spinel rimmed type B3 Cr-spinel. The unmixed texture was achieved by an unmixing process at around 600 °C due to the miscibility gap of spinel between Al-rich and Fe3+-rich phases. The unmixed patterns of inhomogeneous Cr-spinel are controlled by the initial chemical composition, grain size of the initial spinel, and the cooling process. We propose that the initial composition of inhomogeneous Cr-spinel was formed by the interaction of high-temperature fluid and olivine; Cr-spinel that experienced unmixing may be a useful proxy to unveil the activity of high-temperature fluid in the formation of Alaskan-type complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concrete structures perform poorly when withstanding thermal shock events, usually requiring repair or replacement after one single instance. In certain industries (such as petrol, metallurgic and ceramics), these events are not only likely but frequent, which represents a considerable financial burden. One option to solve this issue would be to decrease the heating rate imposed onto the concrete material through the use of a protective surface layer. In this work, the suitability of dunite and microgabbro as protective materials is explored through X-ray diffraction, thermal dilation, optical microscopy, X-ray microtomography, thermo-gravimetric analysis and a compressive test. Further, the thermal dilation was used as an input to simulate a composite concrete-rock wall and the respective stresses caused by a thermal shock event. The dehydration of chrysotile in dunite and the decomposition of analcime, chamosite and pumpellyite in microgabbro were both favourable for the performance of the stones in the desired application. The thermal stability and deformation were found in the range of what can be applied directly on concrete; however, it was clear that pre-heating treatment results in a far more durable system in a cyclic thermal load situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Melt extraction from the partially molten mantle is among the fundamental processes shaping the solid Earth today and over geological time. A diversity of properties and mechanisms contribute to the physics of melt extraction. We review progress of the past ∼25 years of research in this area, with a focus on understanding the speed and style of buoyancy-driven melt extraction. Observations of U-series disequilibria in young lavas and the surge of deglacial volcanism in Iceland suggest this speed is rapid compared to that predicted by the null hypothesis of diffuse porous flow. The discrepancy indicates that the style of extraction is channelized. We discuss how channelization is sensitive to mechanical and thermochemical properties and feedbacks, and to asthenospheric heterogeneity. We review the grain-scale physics that underpins these properties and hence determines the physical behavior at much larger scales. We then discuss how the speed of melt extraction is crucial to predicting the magmatic response to glacial and sea-level variations. Finally, we assess the frontier of current research and identify areas where significant advances are expected over the next 25 years. In particular, we highlight the coupling of melt extraction with more realistic models of mantle thermochemistry and rheological properties. This coupling will be crucial in understanding complex settings such as subduction zones. Mantle melt extraction shapes Earth today and over geological time. Observations, lab experiments, and theory indicate that melt ascends through the mantle at speeds ∼30 m/year by reactively channelized porous flow. Variations in sea level and glacial ice loading can cause significant changes in melt supply to submarine and subaerial volcanoes. Fluid-driven fracture is important in the lithosphere and, perhaps, in the mantle wedge of subduction zones, but remains a challenge to model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gevers himself describes his very first task, mapping the geology of the Stormberg region in the Eastern Free State, South Africa, "sleeping in a tent-wagon drawn by fourteen donkeys" (Gevers [8], p. 12). Gevers spent most of his career at the University of the Witwatersrand, and this institution's archives have a wealth of biographical information on Gevers assembled during his thirty-four-year stint in the geology department. Who's Who in Mineral Names: Traugott Wilhelm Gevers (1900-1991) The mineral was named by Eugen F. Stumpfl in honor of Traugott Wilhelm Gevers, a professor of economic geology at the University of the Witwatersrand (fig. 1). [Extracted from the article]

In this contribution, we present the petrological characteristics and pressure–temperature–deformation (P–T–D) history of the Dalrymple Amphibolite in Palawan Island, Philippines. This unit occurs below the residual mantle peridotites of the Palawan Ophiolite composed of interlayered dunite and harzburgite. The Dalrymple Amphibolite is predominantly composed of high‐grade metamafic blocks with minor metasedimentary units surrounded by a highly sheared hybridized matrix (kyanite + Ca‐amphibole + biotite + ilmenite ± garnet). Zr‐in‐rutile geothermometry and quartz‐in‐garnet geobarometry of the garnet amphibolite block reveal the P–T conditions of the prograde metamorphism from ~625°C, 11.5 kbar to ~700°C, 13 kbar. Zr‐in‐rutile geothermometer and the TZARS geobarometer (clinozoisite + rutile + quartz = anorthite + titanite + H2O) further indicate comparable peak metamorphic conditions for the amphibolite and epidote amphibolite (~605–710°C, 10–13 kbar) blocks. Geothermobarometry of the matrix surrounding the blocks reveals similar peak metamorphic conditions of ~700°C and 13 kbar to the garnet amphibolite blocks. The paleogeothermal gradient preserved in the Dalrymple Amphibolite (~16°C/km) and its block‐in‐matrix structure are atypical of metamorphic soles and are more akin to high‐T mélange complexes interpreted to have formed during incipient subduction. These P–T estimates and its block‐in‐matrix structure suggest that the Dalrymple Amphibolite likely represents the slab–mantle wedge interface of a young arc complex already transitioning from the much warmer paleogeothermal gradients of the slab–mantle wedge interface when subduction was first initiated. The similar peak metamorphic conditions constrained in the matrix and the metamafic blocks in the Dalrymple Amphibolite indicate that the matrix‐forming deformation started before the sequence reached peak metamorphic conditions at depths of around 45 km. Furthermore, the petrological and geochemical characteristics of this block‐in‐matrix sequence and the multiple generation of cross‐cutting veins reveal the complex processes that occur in the slab–mantle wedge interface of an arc in its infancy. Our results highlight the prevalence of Ca‐amphibole and kyanite over phyllosilicates (e.g., chlorite and serpentine) in the mélange matrix, mixing of crustal components along the slab–mantle wedge interface promoted by multiple deformation events and the ubiquity of fluids throughout its history. Subduction zones with similar geothermal gradients (e.g., warm subduction zones) possibly share these petrological characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The study compares the mineral maps derived from Clementine and Moon Mineralogical Mapper data. • Research highlights superiority of M3 data in delineating additional minerals. • Linear spectral unmixing estimates relative abundance of different minerals. • Relative abundance of minerals is used to identify different rocks. • Role of geological structures is hypothesised for the genesis of these rocks. In this study, we have implemented a band shape algorithm (BSA) to identify the surface distribution of different minerals on parts of the Aristarchus Plateau using selected bands of Clementine and hyperspectral Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) data. BSA mineral maps derived using spectral bands of Clementine and M3 sensors could determine broadly similar surface distribution of minerals in the study area. Here we show that M3 based BSA mineral map could detect additional mineralogical details in selected places, especially around Vallis Schroteri, Aristarchus etc. areas. Therefore, we implemented linear spectral un-mixing (LSU) method on hyperspectral bands of M3 data using the reference spectra of Reflectance Experiment Laboratory (RELAB) to estimate the relative abundance of different minerals in above-mentioned areas. Based on the relative abundance of minerals in the LSU map, we could infer the presence of different rocks such as dunite/troctolite, norite, harzburgite, olivine-pyroxenite in those sites of the study area. The relative abundance of each mineral in a particular place was used as the basis for delineating specific rock in that place of the study area. These mineralogically diverse rocks with distinct proportions of mafic mineral and plagioclase content are exposed along a lunar structure that has been delineated using Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) data. We hypothesize that some of these rocks might have formed by a magmatic differentiation process triggered by the structure by separating magma from the crystallized rocks and allowing the magma to compositionally evolve to produce different rocks under the influence of syn-magmatic structural activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]