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Preferred and modelled bulk composition of the Skaergaard intrusion are compared to coeval basaltic compositions in East Greenland and found to relate to the second evolved cycle of Geikie Plateau Formation lavas and coeval Skaergaard-like dikes in major and trace element (Mg# ∼45, Ce/Nb ∼2·5, (Dy/Yb)N ∼1·35), and precious metal composition (Pd/Pt ∼3, Au/Pt ∼2) as well as in age (∼56 Ma). Successful comparisons of precious metal compositions only occur with Skaergaard models based on mass balance. The bulk liquid of the intrusion evolved along the liquid line of descent to immiscibility between Si- and Fe-rich silicate liquids after ∼90% of crystallization (F = ∼0·10) in agreement with experimental constraints. Immiscibility led to accumulation and fractionation of the Fe-rich silicate melt in the mushy floor of the intrusion and continued accumulation of granophyre component in the remaining bulk liquid. The composition of plagioclase in the precious metal mineralized gabbro and modelling of Pd/Pt and Au/Pt in first formed droplets of sulphide melt suggest that sulphide saturation was reached in interstitial melts in crystal mushes in the floor and roof and in bulk liquid with a composition equivalent to that of the bulk liquid at lower UZa times and after crystallization of 82–85% of the bulk liquid (F = 0·19–0·16). Prior to sulphide saturation in UZa type melt, the precious metals ratios of the bulk liquid were controlled by the loss of Pt relative to Pd and Au in agreement with the low empirical and experimental solubility of Pt of ∼9ppb compared to a much higher value for Pd and Au. The relative timing between sulphide saturation (F = ∼0·18) and immiscibility between silicate melts (F = ∼0·10) and modelled precious metal ratios underpin the proposed multi-stage model for the mineralization, advocating initial accumulation in the mushy floor of the magma chamber controlled by sulphide saturation in mush melts rather than bulk melt, followed by redistribution of precious metals in a macro-rhythmic succession of gabbroic layers of the upward migrating crystallization zone.

This paper presents a new high-precision zircon U–Pb geochronological view on the crystallization and assembly process of one of the most important and intensely studied intrusive bodies on Earth—the Skaergaard intrusion in East Greenland. With analytical uncertainties of a few tens of thousands of years, we were able to resolve several important events during cooling of this intrusion. Initial cooling of the shallowly intruded ∼300 km3 of tholeiitic basaltic magma from liquidus to zircon saturation at ∼1000 °C is recorded by a precise zircon crystallization age of 55.960±0.018 Ma of an intercumulus gabbroic pegmatite in the lower portion of the intrusion. Based on this zircon crystallization age and a published cooling model we estimate the “true” age of emplacement to be ∼56.02 Ma. The last portions of Skaergaard appear to crystallize completely ∼100 ka after emplacement as recorded by abundant ∼55.91–55.93 Ma zircons in the Sandwich Horizon (SH), where lower and upper solidification fronts met. Intrusion of an isotopically distinct new magma batch, the ∼600 m thick Basistoppen Sill, into the solidified upper portion of Skaergaard, happened at 55.895±0.018 Ma, suggesting close timing between crystallization of evolved rocks around the SH and intrusion of the Basistoppen Sill. The novel result of this work is the demonstration that zircons in the SH, >100 m below the Basistoppen contact, have a bimodal age distribution, with the youngest population of 55.838±0.019 Ma postdating intrusion of the Basistoppen Sill by 57±37 ka. Oxygen isotope analyses reveal that SH zircons are low and heterogeneous with respect to δ18O. These results support the proposed conclusion that the SH crystallized twice: it was fully crystalline, then hydrothermally-altered by low-δ18O surface waters and subsequently partially remelted, triggered by heat of the Basistoppen Sill. The low-degree partial melt generated during remelting partially migrated upward by intergranular compaction-driven flow, explaining the existence of the most incompatible trace element rich horizon, ∼100 m above SH. As the Skaergaard intrusion is also the most classic example of a shallow meteoric hydrothermal system, this work documents the alternating processes in a life of an intrusion with periods of hydrothermal cooling, heating by new intrusions, and related remelting events, which cause the generation of low-δ18O magmas. Our precise temporal framework for intrusion crystallization also provides constraints for the timing of coeval flood basalt volcanism and its synchronicity with the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum.

Forward modeling based on an experimental investigation successfully duplicated main features of the gabbros in the Skaergaard layered series [Thy, P., Lesher, C.E., Nielsen, T.F.D., and Brooks, C.K. 2006. Experimental constraints on the Skaergaard liquid line of descent. Lithos 92, 154–180.]. The foundation for the modeling was equilibrium melting experiments that were controlled by temperature and oxygen fugacity at low-pressure conditions. The experimental techniques and methods were chosen to represent a reasonable approximation to the inferred emplacement and crystallization conditions of the Skaergaard intrusion. The dike rocks used as starting materials define a strong differentiation trend that represents the Skaergaard liquid line of descent. This suite of dikes allowed liquidus conditions to be defined for a range of composition and temperature. The initial redox conditions were chosen based on measured and calculated estimates for the gabbros of interest. The melting experiments defined liquidus and subliquidus conditions that were used to understand crystallization of the lower and middle zones of the Skaergaard layered series, and can be extrapolated to the upper zone gabbros assuming perfect fractional crystallization. The forward modeling reproduces the cryptic variation seen in the main gabbro minerals (olivine, augite, plagioclase) well into the upper zone and provides reasonable liquidus temperatures and compositions. It can be shown that based on the assumption of Fe–Ti oxide modes in the middle and upper zones, a range of oxygen fugacity trends can be obtained. We repeat our previous conclusion that iron depletion and strong reduction in oxygen fugacity in the upper zone are only feasible for very high Fe–Ti oxide modes that exceed the experimental evidence as well as the observations from the gabbros. A strong drop in oxygen fugacity in the upper zone requires a significant sink for Fe–Ti oxides that so far has not been identified. We thus reject Morse's [Morse, S.A., 2008. Principles of applied experimental igneous petrology: a comment on “Experimental Constraints on the Skaergaard liquid line of descent” by Thy, Lesher, Nielsen, and Brooks, 2006, Lithos 92: 154–180. Lithos 105, pp. 395−399.] contention that we violated in our original study established principles of applied experimental igneous petrology. Such principles dictate that experimental and forward models are carefully tested against field observations before petrologic processes can be verified.

The Palaeogene Kangerlussuaq Intrusion (∼50 Ma) of East Greenland displays concentric zonation from quartz-rich nordmarkite (quartz syenite) at the margin, through pulaskite, to foyaite (nepheline syenite) in the centre; modal layering and igneous lamination are locally developed but there are no internal intrusive contacts. This is an apparent violation of the phase relations in Petrogeny's Residua System. We propose that this intrusion is layered, grading from quartz syenite at the bottom to nepheline syenite at the top. Mineral and whole-rock major and trace element data and Sr–Nd–Hf–Pb isotope data are presented that provide constraints on the petrogenesis of the intrusion. Radiogenic isotope data indicate a continuously decreasing crustal component from the quartz nordmarkites ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr = 0·7061; ɛ Ndi = 2·3; ɛ Hfi = 5·2; 206 Pb/ 204 Pb meas = 16·98) to the foyaites ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr = 0·7043–0·7044; ɛ Ndi = 3·8–4·9; ɛ Hfi = 10·7–11·1; 206 Pb/ 204 Pb meas = 17·78–17·88); the foyaites are dominated by a mantle isotopic signature. The average Mg-number of amphibole cores becomes increasingly primitive, varying from 26·4 in the nordmarkites to 57·4 in the pulaskites. Modal layering, feldspar lamination and the presence of huge basaltic xenoliths derived from the chamber roof, now resting on the transient chamber floor, demonstrate bottom-upwards crystallization. The intrusion cannot, therefore, have formed in a system closed to magmatic recharge. The lack of gneissic xenoliths in the nordmarkites suggests that most contamination took place deeper in the crust. In the proposed model, the nordmarkitic magma formed during crustal assimilation in the roof zone of a large, silica-undersaturated alkali basaltic/basanitic, stratified magma chamber, prior to emplacement in the uppermost crust. The more primitive syenites, terminating with foyaite at the top of the intrusion, formed as a consequence of repeated recharge of the Kangerlussuaq Intrusion magma chamber by tapping less contaminated, more primitive phonolitic melt from deeper parts of the underlying chamber during progressive armouring of the plumbing system.

The Kangerlussuaq Intrusion in East Greenland is concentrically zoned from quartz nordmarkite (quartz syenite) at the margin, through pulaskite, to foyaite (nepheline syenite) in the centre, with no apparent intrusive contacts. The δ18O values of coexisting minerals are consistent with oxygen isotope equilibrium at magmatic temperatures. Most of the intrusion formed from low-δ18O magma; magma δ18O values generally increased upwards from about 3.3 ‰ in the quartz nordmarkites to 5.6 ‰ in the foyaites. The lowest magma δ18O value of about −1.0 ‰ is from the upper part of the nordmarkites, where there is a high concentration of foundered basaltic xenoliths (stoped from the roof of the intrusion). The amphiboles in the syenites have δD values that range from those typical of hydrous mantle-derived minerals to much lower values (−86 to −157 ‰), as do whole-rock samples of xenolith and country rock (−125 to −148 ‰). The low magma δ18O and δD values are consistent with continuous incorporation, exchange and upward escape of low-δ18O and δD fluids released from stoped basaltic roof material. Mass balance suggests that the integrated amount of water involved was 7 wt% of the volume of the magma, but locally reached 30 wt% water. The requirement for large amounts of water with low δ18O value is satisfied only if the foundered basalt contained most of its water in cavities as opposed to hydrous minerals. Even with this requirement, the volume of stoped basalt would have been equal to the volume of the magma. Repeated recharge of the residual magma with progressively less contaminated silica undersaturated melt resulted in a gradual shift across the low-pressure thermal divide. Crystallisation was suppressed by the depression of the liquidus due to water saturation of the residual magma (pH2O ~1 kbar).

We present new mineral and whole-rock compositions and Sr–Nd–Hf–Pb–O–H isotope data on samples from the Kangerlussuaq Alkaline Complex (∼ 1000 km2) in central East Greenland, part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province. This complex mainly consists of the Kangerlussuaq Intrusion but includes at least 13 separate satellite intrusions emplaced in the uppermost crust close to the unconformity between Archaean gneisses and overlying Palaeogene flood basalts. The complex is divided into (i) older satellite intrusions (∼ 55–53 Ma) composed of multiple syenites and granites and minor gabbros and peridotites, (ii) the voluminous Kangerlussuaq Intrusion (∼ 50 Ma), which displays a gradual transition from quartz syenites (nordmarkites) at the margin to nepheline syenites (foyaites) in the centre, and (iii) younger satellite intrusions (∼ 47–45 Ma) of minor syenites, granites and diorites concentrated southeast of the Kangerlussuaq Intrusion. The complex displays a temporal evolution in which SiO2 decreases (74–56 wt.%) and total alkalis (6–16 wt.%), amphibole Na + K content, 206Pb/204Pbmeas, eNdi and eHfi (+ 3 to + 11) increase from the older intrusions through the nepheline syenites. This is followed by a reversal to higher silica (62–73 wt.%) and lower total alkalis (9–12 wt.%), amphibole Na + K content, 206Pb/204Pbmeas, eNdi and eHfi (− 13 to + 2) in the younger satellite intrusions. Temporal changes in the location of magma plumbing systems and in magma production rates played a profound role in controlling silica content, alkalinity and degree of crustal contamination during development of the complex. Phonolitic magma was only generated after prolonged magmatism had shielded the conduits from interaction with country rock. The parental magmas were probably basanitic to alkali olivine basaltic in composition. The older satellite intrusions and the Kangerlussuaq Intrusion have low δ18O magma values (− 1 to + 6‰) compared to the younger, more crustally contaminated, satellite intrusions (+ 4.5 to + 7‰). It appears that the magmas only had sufficient over-pressure to intrude the basalt cover when larger volumes of less contaminated trachyte magma were produced, resulting in the generation of low-δ18O magmas due to dehydration of hydrothermally altered basalt xenoliths.

Dunitic xenoliths from late Palaeogene, alkaline basalt flows on Ubekendt Ejland, West Greenland contain olivine with 100 × Mg/(Mg + Fe), or Mg#, between 92.0 and 93.7. Orthopyroxene has very low Al2O3 and CaO contents (0.024–1.639 and 0.062–0.275 wt%, respectively). Spinel has 100 × Cr/(Cr + Al), or Cr#, between 46.98 and 95.67. Clinopyroxene is absent. The osmium isotopic composition of olivine and spinel mineral separates shows a considerable span of 187Os/188Os values. The most unradiogenic 187Os/188Os value of 0.1046 corresponds to a Re-depletion age of ca. 3.3 Gy, while the most radiogenic value of 0.1336 is higher than present-day chondrite. The Os isotopic composition of the xenoliths is consistent with their origin as restites from a melt extraction event in the Archaean, followed by one or more subsequent metasomatic event(s). The high Cr# in spinel and low modal pyroxene of the Ubekendt Ejland xenoliths are similar to values of some highly depleted mantle peridotites from arc settings. However, highly depleted, arc-related peridotites have higher Cr# in spinel for a given proportion of modal olivine, compared to cratonic xenolith suites from Greenland, which instead form coherent trends with abyssal peridotites, dredged from modern mid-ocean ridges. This suggests that depleted cratonic harzburgites and dunites from shallow lithospheric mantle represent the residue from dry melting in the Archaean.

Precise Re-Os dating of molybdenite from the Malmbjerg and Flammefjeld rift-related porphyry molybdenum deposits indicates that they are among the youngest magmatic events (25.8 ± 0.1 and 39.7 ± 0.2 Ma) in their respective areas of the East Greenland rifted continental margin. An 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age for biotite from the Malmbjerg granite stock (25.7 ± 0.3 Ma) demonstrates that molybdenite mineralization is essentially concurrent with granite emplacement. Further, the identical ages obtained by argon and Re-Os geochronology suggest that for the youngest events in a region, Re-Os and argon-based methods produce similar age results, whereas this is generally not the case for older ore-forming events that have been thermally overprinted. In the latter case, disturbance of argon systematics produces ages younger than those determined by Re-Os. Both deposits postdate continental breakup and the associated flood volcanism episode at 56 to 54 Ma. We suggest that the Malmbjerg and Flammefjeld molybdenum deposits formed during later periods of lithospheric uplift, which, at least in the case of Malmbjerg, may have been related to plate tectonic reorganization of the Northeast Atlantic Ocean basin. This uplift may have caused decompression mantle melting and renewed generation of mafic magma that led to crustal anatexis and the establishment of major hydrothermal systems. The suggestion that molybdenum mineralization occurred at times of late uplift of a volcanic rifted margin may be useful in prospecting.

We present compositional data on a 1,250-m-thick sequence of sparsely porphyritic lavas that comprise the Geikie Plateau Formation, part of the ~55-Ma break-up-related flood basalts in East Greenland. Major element compositions are relatively restricted (6.3–7.6 wt% MgO; 2.2–2.4 wt% TiO2), with two excursions to more evolved compositions (2.4–3.4 wt% TiO2) that are similar to the inferred parental magma of the nearby Skaergaard Intrusion. Major and trace element calculations show that fractional crystallisation is the principal control on magma compositions, and the cyclical sequential variations imply regular magma chamber replenishment events. Isotopic data indicate minor crustal assimilation, but with different contaminants for the main group (amphibolitic gneiss) and evolved cycles (granulitic gneiss). Rifting episodes may have allowed more primitive magmas to ascend to shallow crustal levels and subsequently fractionate to more evolved compositions in a separate chamber, which was perhaps similar to the source of the Skaergaard Intrusion.

The rifted volcanic margin of East Greenland has remained a major area for field studies and the development of models for the dynamics of plume-related continental break-up since the start of the Danish Lithosphere Centre (DLC) in 1994. The studies cover a range of disciplines and geological processes from the early development of pre-break-up basin formation and sedimentation over the main phase of basaltic magmatism to the late stages of alkaline magmatism and structural re-equilibration. The East Greenland field activities in the summer of 2000, collectively referred to as EG 2000, were facilitated by a logistic platform provided by support from Statens Naturvidenskabelige Forskningsråd (SNF, the Danish Natural Science Research Council) and the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum (BMP) in Nuuk, Greenland for the retrieval of 6 km of drillcore from the Skaergaard intrusion. During 1989 and 1990 mineral exploration had resulted in drilling of more than 15 km of core through the classic layered gabbros. The logistic platform also provided support for DLC and Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) field work and projects throughout the Kangerlussuaq region and on the Blosseville Kyst (Fig. 1), as well as mineral exploration and petroleum company activities.

Mafic and ultramafic intrusions in East Greenland adjacent to the offshore Greenland‐Iceland ridge were emplaced 5‐9 My after continental breakup at 55 Ma [1]. Rare earth element (REE) concentrations determined by secondary ion mass spectrometry are reported for cumulus clinopyroxene from these intrusions, and the data are used to estimate REE abundance in equilibrium melts using available partitioning data. Estimated equilibrium melts from intrusions have strongly fractionated REE patterns with Nd=Dy(N) in the range 2 to 5.6 and Yb=Dy(N) 0.55 to 0.92, similar to values for coeval basalts. These melts have markedly higher Nd=Dy(N) than earlier breakup related flood basalts. The moderately low Yb=Dy(N) for the post-breakup volcanism is indicative of residual garnet in the source, while their high Nd=Dy(N) ratios can best be explained by aggregating low degree melts from a light-REE-enriched garnet- and spinel-bearing mantle source. We also report He, Sr, and Nd isotopic data for the intrusions. The highest 3 He= 4 He ratios (>10 R=Ra) are found in the samples whose REE data reflect the largest proportion of melts from a garnet-bearing source, and having Sr and Nd isotopic compositions identical with the radiogenic Sr and unradiogenic Nd isotope end of the Iceland compositional field. There is no indication of a MORB-type mantle in the source of the intrusions. We postulate that post-breakup volcanism along the East Greenland coastline reflects the increasing proximity of the mantle plume to the East Greenland continental margin. The low degree of melting at high mean pressure inferred for the parental melts for the intrusions may reflect re-thickening of the lithosphere, which in turn was caused by the vigorous volcanism during breakup, with accompanying depletion of upper mantle and underplating of the crust at the continental margin. © 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

A new collection of mantle xenoliths in Tertiary dykes from the Wiedemann Fjord area in Southeast Greenland shows that this part of the central Greenland craton is underlain by highly depleted peridotites. The samples are mostly spinel harzburgites with highly forsteritic olivines (Fo 87–94 , average Fo 92.7 ). This, together with unusually high modal olivine contents (70–>95%), places the Wiedemann harzburgites in a unique compositional field. Relative to depleted Kaapvaal harzburgites with comparable Fo in olivine, the Wiedemann samples have considerably lower bulk SiO 2 (average 42.6 wt% versus 44–49 wt%). Spinel compositions are similar to those in other sub-cratonic harzburgites. Pyroxene equilibrium temperatures average 850°C, which is above an Archaean cratonic geotherm at an inferred pressure of 1–2 GPa, but low enough so that it is unlikely that the xenoliths represent residual peridotites created during Tertiary magmatism. Among mantle samples, the Wiedemann harzburgites are, in terms of their bulk composition, most similar to harzburgites from the ophiolites of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and New Caledonia (NC). One hypothesis is that the Wiedemann harzburgites, along with PNG and NC harzburgites, formed via dissolution of pyroxene from previously depleted peridotites, possibly beneath a volcanic arc. If so, higher spinel Cr/Al in Wiedemann samples may reflect a deeper origin compared to PNG and NC peridotites. Alternatively, using proposed primitive mantle compositions as a protolith, the Wiedemann harzburgites can be modeled as the residue after extraction of some 40% melt. The composition of this calculated hypothetical melt in terms of CaO, Al 2 O 3 , FeO, MgO and SiO 2 is similar to published experimental data on high degree melts of peridotite at 2–3 GPa. Munro-type komatiites lie close to these calculated and experimental melts but are slightly displaced towards low degree experimental melts at higher pressure (e.g., 6 GPa). We conclude that the Wiedemann harzburgites formed as a residue after about 40% melting, and that they may represent shallow, refractory residues after polybaric melting initiated at pressures ≥7 GPa and continuing to relatively low pressures (2–3 GPa or less). Extraction and aggregation of polybaric melts would produce liquids similar to Munro-type komatiites.

Polymineralic aggregates composed of clinopyroxene, Fe-Ti oxide minerals, apatite and accessory K-feldspar, biotite, and amphibole are enclosed in cumulus plagioclase grains in the Middle Zone of the Skaergaard intrusion. The chemistry of the minerals in the aggregates, and the textural relations between the aggregates and the host plagioclase grains indicate that they represent inclusions of the contemporaneous melt of the Skaergaard intrusion. Through mass balance calculations a quantitative estimate of the melt composition for this level in the intrusion can be obtained, and this estimate confirms that the silica content in the Middle Zone melt was similar to, or possibly even lower than, the silica content in the initial Skaergaard melt, and relatively enriched in iron.

The presence of Fe- and Si-rich liquids found as melt inclusions in apatite and olivine in the Upper Zone of the Skaergaard intrusion, East Greenland, demonstrates the occurrence of liquid immiscibility in the late-stage evolution of tholeiitic magmas in a plutonic setting. However, it remains unclear at which stage of crystallization unmixing began. To constrain the onset and the petrological importance of liquid immiscibility in the Skaergaard and tholeiitic magmas in general, we have studied crystallized melt inclusions entrapped in early primocryst plagioclase. Such melt inclusions become abundant from the top of the Lower Zone and upwards in the Layered Series, in primocryst plagioclase of composition An54^26. The daughter phase assemblage is the same in all the inclusions, although the modal proportions of the daughter phases are highly variable: plagioclase (42^59%), clinopyroxene (28^41%), ilmenite (4^9%), magnetite (3^10%), apatite (1^9%) and accessory phases (51%). Accordingly, the bulk compositions of reheated and homogenized melt inclusions show large variations in SiO2 (40^54 wt %), FeO t (7^23 wt %), P 2O5 (0^1 ·9 wt %) and K2 O( 0^2·8 wt %), and have variable CaO/Al2O3 ratios.These variations are best explained by trapping of varying proportions of immiscible iron- and silica-rich melts and demonstrate that liquid immiscibility started in the upper part of the Lower Zone. We conclude that a significant part of the Skaergaard intrusion crystallized from an emulsion of Fe- and Si-rich immiscible melts.The heterogeneous trapping of a mixture of Fe- and Si-rich immiscible liquids in primocryst plagioclase indicates that the dispersed droplets in the Lower and Middle Zones were smaller than the size of the inclusion (5500mm). In the Upper Zone, most of the inclusions in apatite are composed of the conjugate end-member liquids, indicating a larger size for the dispersed droplets. Metre-sized pods and layers of melanogranophyre in the upper part of the intrusion are believed to represent pooled bodies of the immiscible Si-rich liquid. Differentiation of an emulsified magma must be considered in petrogenetic models for the Skaergaard intrusion.

Troctolite blocks with compositions akin to the Hidden Zone are exposed in a tholeiitic dyke cutting across the Skaergaard intrusion, East Greenland. Plagioclase in these blocks contains finely crystallised melt inclusions that we have homogenised to constrain the parental magma to 47.4–49.0 wt.% SiO2, 13.4–14.9 wt.% Al2O3 and 10.7–14.1 wt.% FeOT. These compositions are lower in FeOT and higher in SiO2 than previous estimates and have distinct La/SmN and Dy/YbN ratios that link them to the lowermost volcanic succession (Milne Land Formation) of the regional East Greenland flood basalt province. New major- and trace element compositions for the FG-1 dyke swarm, previously taken to represent Skaergaard magmas, overlap with the entire range of the regional flood basalt succession and do not form a coherent suite of Skaergaard like melts. These dykes are therefore re-interpreted as feeder dykes throughout the main phase of flood basalt volcanism.

Solutions of H2O−NaCl−CH4 occur in fluid inclusions enclosed by quartz, apatite and feldspar from gabbroic pegmatitites, anorthositic structures and intercumulus minerals within the Skaergaard intrusion. The majority of the fluid inclusions resemble 10 μm diameter sub-to euhedral negative crystals. A vapour phase and a liquid phase are visible at room temperature, solids are normally absent. The salinity of the fluids ranges from 17.5 to 22.8 wt.% NaCl. CH4, which comprises less than six mole percent of the solution, was detected in the vapour phase of the fluid inclusions with Raman microprobe analysis. Homogenization of the fluid inclusions occurred in the liquid phase in the majority of the fluid inclusions, though 10% of the inclusions homogenized in the gas phase. Thermodynamic consideration of the stability of feldspars + quartz, and the C−O−H system, indicates that the solutions were trapped at temperatures between 655 and 770°C, at oxygen fugacities between 1.5 and 2.0 log units below the QFM oxygen buffer. Textural evidence and the composition of the solutions suggest that the fluids coexisted with late-magmatic intercumulus melts and the melts which formed gabbroic pegmatites. These solutions are thought to have contributed to late-magmatic metasomatism of the primocryst assemblages of the Skaergaard intrusion.

The gabbros of the Tertiary Kap Edvard Holm Layered Serieshave a stratigraphic thickness of more than 5000 m. Earlier work has shown that the range in cumulus mineral compositions is restricted (plagioclase An81—An51; olivine Fo85—Fo66; pyroxenes Ca43Mg46Fe11 to Ca43Mg37Fe20). Field evidence of magma injections is common, which together with the restricted range in mineral chemistry suggests that the magma chamber was frequently replenished by a less fractionated magma. A detailed study of a 600 m section (900–1500 m) in the Lower Layered Series reveals a period of crystallization when the magma chamber behaved as a closed system (900–1300 m). The rocks formed during this periodare well-laminated olivine–gabbros (900–110 m), which evolved to well-laminated oxide-gabbros (1100–1300 m). Compositional trends in the cumulusminerals are towards more evolved compositions (plagioclase An64—An58, pyroxene Mg# from 80 to 76) with stratigraphic height. From 1300 m to 1500 m, granular olivine-gabbros dominate, with moreprimitive mineral compositions (plagioclase An67—An76, pyroxene Mg# from 78 to 82). The transition olivine–gabbro to oxide-gabbro at 1100m is a consequence of fractional crystallization, and it is shown how changes in activities of FeO and Fe203 in the magma are reflected in the total iron content of plagioclases.The transition from oxide-gabbro to olivine-gabbro at 1300 m results from replenishment by less evolved basaltic magma. On the basis of calcic pyroxene chemistry and the mineral crystallization sequence it is concluded that the Kap Edvard Holm Layered Series crystallized from a tholeiitic magma similar to MORB. Melanogabbroic units occur throughout the intrusion as discordant to subconcordant sill-like bodies 0.2–2.0 m thick. The melanogabbroic units consist of Cr-rich augite-olivine-plagioclase heteradcumulates and contain deformed mica crystals of pre-emplacement origin. These units crystallized from a wet, MgO-rich magma which was injected into the layered host gabbros after the formation of the cumulus pile, but before the magma was completely solidified.The Kap Edvard Holm Layered Series has several parallels with the plutonic part of ophiolite sequences. These include: cumulus mineral assemblage, compositions of the minerals and the restricted range in compositions with stratigraphic height; field evidence of repeated replenishment of basaltic magma; dyke swarms overlying the roof zone of the magma chamber; and the existence of a late intrusive suite of wet, MgO-rich magma. These parallels suggest that the processes involved in the formation of the Kap Edvard Holm Layered Series were similar to those involved in the formation of the crustalpart of many ophiolites and beneath present-day spreading ridges. The Kap Edvard Holm Layered Series is therefore believed to represent a shallow-level magma chamber which acted as a reservoir for basaltic flows at the continental margin during the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean.

Acid-basic net-veined or pillowed dykes and intrusive bodies are small but important components in the felsic complexes of the Tertiary magmatic province in East Greenland. In Astrophyllite bay in the Snout Series syenite intrusion at the margin of the Kangerdlugssuaq syenite intrusion basic trachyandesite melis invade and melt the host of Archaean granitic gneisses. Pillows of trachyandesite are chilled to the surrounding felsic anatectic melt. Tue felsic melt is not granitic but syenitic in composition. Element distributions between the chilled basic and felsic melts suggest that the anatectic melt was transformed to a syenitic composition by diffusion between the two contacting melts.

Mantle xenoliths were found in Tertiary alkaline (basanitic) lavas on Ubekendt Ejland in West Greenland in the mid 1970s by J.G. Larsen. Microprobe analyses of olivine, pyroxene and spinel in two mantle xenoliths, suggested that the xenoliths on Ubekendt Ejland are highly depleted and have high modal olivine contents, and low modal orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene (Larsen 1982). In this respect the mantle xenoliths from Ubekendt Ejland are very similar to the spinel harzburgites from Wiedemann Fjord, in the Tertiary volcanic province of East Greenland (Brooks & Rucklidge 1973; Bernstein et al. 1998). Larsen (1981) also reported dykes containing mantle nodules and a varied suite of cumulates and megacrysts, one of which has subsequently been dated to 34.1 ± 0.2 Ma (Storey et al. 1998) The basalt flow that carries the xenoliths is from what is defined as the Erqua Formation which occurs at the top of the lava succession in western Ubekendt Ejland (Fig. 1; Drever & Game 1948; Larsen 1977a, b). The basalts have not been dated, but are younger than 52.5 Ma, which is the date obtained for the underlying formation (Storey et al. 1998). During July 1997, we spent three weeks collecting xenoliths and prospecting for xenolith-bearing dykes in the Uummannaq district of central West Greenland. The field work resulted in an extensive collection of xenoliths from an alkaline basalt flow described by Larsen (1977a, b), as well as the discovery of a dyke carrying a large number of ultramafic xenoliths of various origins.

Previously published platinum group element (PGE) and rare earth element data (REE) from a sample suite of the Palaeogene flood basalts of the East Greenland rifted margin are used to approximate primary magma compositions by numerical models of mantle melting. Both high-Ti and low-Ti basalts are found intercalated in the coastal section “the Sortebre Profile” in central East Greenland, and the apparent lack of mixing between the two series indicates coexistence of two geographically separated melting regions and plumbing systems during continental breakup above the Palaeogene Iceland plume. The lavas show little or no sign of crustal contamination and the limited variation in La/Sm and Cu/Pd ratios can be interpreted to reflect mantle source composition and melting processes. Numerical modelling indicate that the low-Ti series formed by F~20% melting in a columnar melting regime from a slightly depleted upper mantle source with a relatively normal S-content (~180 ppm S). In contrast, the high-Ti series formed by much lower degrees of melting (F~6%) in a spreading-related, triangular melting regime from a relatively S-poor (~100 ppm S) source. The low-Ti suite was S-undersaturated at the stage of melt segregation from a shallow mantle source due to the high degree of melting. In contrast, the high-Ti suite probably formed from a S-poor source where some low degree melt batches were S-saturated at the stage of deep segregation in distal parts of the triangular melting regime. This suite shows a geochemical high pressure garnet-signature and adiabatic decompression could therefore have played a role in keeping the mantle-derived S in solution before Fe-enrichment related to fractional crystallisation also increased the S-capacity of these melts.

The early Eocene Skaergaard intrusion of Greenland includes enormous numbers of rocks of both exotic and cognate origins. The lower parts of the Marginal Border Series contain abundant fragments of feldspathic peridotite that are possibly autoliths, intermixed with occasional xenoliths of Precambrian gneiss and metasomatized Cretaceous–Paleocene sediments derived from adjoining country rocks. The Upper Border Series includes one exceptionally large block of gneiss (several hundred meters across), and numerous smaller fragments, these originating from the intrusion9s footwalls, plus a few pieces of peridotite. The Layered Series contains countless autoliths of troctolite, gabbroic anorthosite, and oxide (magnetite-ilmenite) gabbro, broken from parts of the Upper Border Series that have otherwise been lost to erosion; at the upper midlevel of its western half, it contains a few xenoliths of basalt, derived probably from the now-eroded (Eocene) roof of the intrusion. A distinctive postintrusion composite basaltic dike at one place contains 40 or more xenoliths of troctolite, olivine gabbro, and gabbroic anorthosite that may represent parts of the Layered Series still hidden at depth. The Layered Series autoliths range from fragments a few centimeters on a side to blocks more than 400 m across, and they typically are coarser grained than their host cumulates, being in this respect more like Upper Border Series rocks. The autoliths are spread stratigraphically through the lower 70% of the exposed 2500 m thickness of the Layered Series and are generally concentrated in three broad stratigraphic zones. Their physical relationships to their host rocks—particularly the way they indent older layers beneath and are covered by younger layers above—provide abundant evidence that there was generally a sharp, well-defined interface between the top of the cumulate pile and the main body of magma in the intrusion while the Layered Series was forming. The distribution of the autoliths between and through the well-known, rhythmic, thin, modally graded layers shows that these layers were spread by magmatic currents; and their relations to the more extensive macrorhythmic layering suggest that it too was significantly shaped by currents. Many of the larger autoliths are crudely layered internally, and in places it is evident that their stratification existed before they broke loose; therefore, it must have formed in the Upper Border Series. One particularly large block of oxide gabbro exhibits extraordinarily well-developed modal and textural layering and includes small troctolitic autoliths of an earlier generation, and it provides evidence that currents also spread crystalline materials across the top of the magma body. Many of the very small autoliths in the Layered Series are highly anorthositic in composition, apparently because they were leached of mafic minerals, and some of the larger blocks show local patchy internal replacement by anorthosite. Most large blocks show little sign of postaccumulation modification, and some have thin, fine-grained augite-rich rims or rinds, demonstrating that even though they were out of thermal and chemical equilibrium with their host cumulates, they still were effectively armored against extensive chemical change. Also documented is a large block that was cut by several early basaltic dikes before it broke free from the top of the intrusion; these early dikes transgress small anorthositic replacement pipes in the block, showing that the replacement process also occurred in the upper border environment. Two mechanisms are described whereby graded cumulate layers can be sorted and deposited by magmatic crystal-liquid suspension currents. One, involving density surge currents, has been advocated previously; the other is a new concept based on boundary flow separation and reattachment vortex cells. The two mechanisms are used in complementary ways to illustrate the formation of (1) some of the principal Skaergaard structures involving blocks and layers; (2) modally graded layers in the Layered Series that rhythmically alternate with uniform layers; and (3) modally sorted layers in the Upper Border Series featuring “underside draping” beneath small included blocks. Explanations are provided for (1) why plagioclase did not float away from the tops of graded layers even though it was less dense than the liquid, and (2) how the liquid part of a current was fractionated away from the crystalline materials. Modal and grain-size data from Skaergaard intrusion graded layers are shown to be in excellent accord with characteristics predicted for layers sorted by currents; a synthesis diagram is presented illustrating how all the above processes may have functioned in concert in the intrusion.

Volcanic rifted margins have voluminous magmatic constructions at continent-ocean transitions including thick sequences of flood basalts, dike swarms, and mafic plutons developed in crustal-scale flexures. In the Tertiary East Greenland volcanic rifted margin, upper crustal dilation and flexure were accommodated by extensive faulting, locally pervasive cataclastic deformation, and pseudotachylyte generation. The widespread distribution and large volumes of pseudotachylyte suggest that regional seismogenic faulting was vigorous during rapid crustal subsidence, dike intrusion, and the start of sea-floor spreading.

When a tholeiitic liquid differentiates, it may give rise to either iron-poor, silica-rich (rhyolitic) differentiates or to iron-rich, silica-poor differentiates, as found in the Skaergaard intrusion. Iron-rich differentiated liquids are rare among erupted rocks, but are found in small quantities from several localities at divergent plate margins. Among the Tertiary basalts and intrusions in East Greenland, normal erupted basalts may be mixtures of primitive liquid and differentiated iron-rich liquid, which exists at depth but normally does not reach the surface because of its high density. The evolved liquids of the Skaergaard intrusion were of this kind. Data from mid-oceanic ridges confirm this view. We believe that iron-rich differentiated liquids, despite their scarcity on the surface, are much more voluminous at depth, as picrites, at the other side of the density minimum attained during liquid evolution, are thought to be. The trend toward iron enrichment develops when the tholeiitic magma differentiates in a closed system at a relatively low oxidation state, whereas the trend toward silica enrichment and iron depletion occurs when the magma has interacted with the oxidized and hydrated surroundings in the crust.

The whole-rock geochemistry and mineral chemistry of six samples of Lower Cretaceous tholeiitic basalt from Franz Josef Land, U.S.S.R., have been studied. Geochemical criteria indicate that the basalts are initial rifting tholeiites characterised by low contents of Ti and other H-elements, suggesting derivation from a depleted mantle source. These tholeiites formed during a Lower Cretaceous rifting stage in the formation of the Arctic Ocean basin, most likely the opening of the Canada Basin.

SummaryThe Kangerdlugssuaq late dike swarm, which strikes at a high angle to the well-known East Greenland coastal swarm, is described and chemical analyses presented. The basic members are characterized by a high potassium content. A variety of kaersutite-bearing gabbroic inclusions in one member of this swarm is described in detail and microprobe analyses of clinopyroxenes, amphiboles, plagioclases, sheet silicates, and spinel minerals are presented. On the basis of this evidence it is deduced that these inclusions derive from a cumulate sequence formed at depths of between 5 and 10 km beneath the Lower Tertiary land surface. It is likely that fractionation of such assemblages causes a transition, at relatively low pressure, from undersaturated to oversaturated compositions, but the products appear to be quantitatively minor.

Data for basaltic rocks dredged on the Reykjanes Ridge and Jokulbanki off the southwest coast of Iceland are presented. The rocks from the Reykjanes Ridge, which are identified as recent lavas, are olivine tholeiites and quartz tholeiites very similar to those formerly described from this region. The heterogeneous Jokulbanki dredges were identified as erratics. In the light of the present and other recent data on tholeiitic rocks from Iceland and the Reykjanes Ridge, a distinct chemical gradient, together with increased scatter across Iceland is demonstrated for certain incompatible elements. This is in accordance with the mantle plume theory.

The fission track method has become acceptable in geochronology, not only in straightforward dating of igneous and metamorphic events but also in stratigraphic studies by the dating of ash layers1,2, the elucidation of crustal uplift history3–7, and in archaeology8. Such studies have mostly used accessory minerals such as apatite, sphene and zircon, whose track-retentive properties are well documented. However, fission tracks can be developed and observed under the optical microscope in most minerals9–11. We report here on reconnaissance studies of fission track dating of zeolites, a complex group of tectosilicates, which is, for example, widely developed in basaltic rocks after their emplacement by later stage processes. We describe the etching conditions for some zeolites, in particular the minerals chabazite, stilbite and heulandite12 and detail the track recording and retention characteristics for chabazite, with particular reference to fossil hydrothermal systems in the Faeroe Islands.

This paper reviews the timing of volcanic and epeirogenic events in the North Atlantic area during the Palaeogene with special emphasis on East Greenland. An appraisal of existing radiometric ages leads to the conclusion that onshore volcanism was of an episodic nature, being either limited to, or concentrated around, the following ages: 65 m.y. (anomaly 30), 60 m.y. (anomaly 26), 55 m.y. (anomaly 24), 50 m.y. (anomaly 21), 35 m.y. (anomaly 13) and 28 m.y. (anomaly 9?). In some cases (55 and 35 m.y.) these episodes appear to correspond to widespread plate tectonic events, in other cases (50 and 35 m.y.) to more localized epeirogenic movements. A consideration of the physiography of East Greenland shows that at least two epeirogenic events have been significant. One of these raised a dome 300 km across and 4 km above its surroundings and the other elevated a plateau of regional extent some 2.5 km above sea level. A variety of evidence tentatively dates these events to 50 m.y. and 35 m.y. respectively. The recognition and dating of these events is a contribution towards an understanding of the fine-scale sequence of events during continental break-up and subsequent ocean basin development. The conclusions are tentative due to inadequate data at the present time, especially from the offshore area.

Astrophyllite has been found in alkalic pegmatite dykes on the two sides of Kangerdlugssuaq t~ord. At the eastern locality, Kraemers Island, the dyke is silica oversaturated and the astrophyllite occurs in a broad tabular crystal habit. The dyke at the western locality, Bagnaesset, is silica undersaturated and the astrophyllite occurs in elongated prisms of acicular habit. Electron probe analyses of the crystals of the two habits have shown systematic chemical differences which not onty relate to Mn and Ti compositional variations, but also reveal departures from ideal stoichiometry in varying degrees. Based on this latter feature a model involving polysomatism has been constructed which may explain the differences in crystal habit. Two Tertiary alkalic pegmatite astrophyllite- bearing dykes in the Kangerdlugssuaq region of East Greenland were identified in the 1977 field season. A small number of samples were collected at this time, but a much more comprehensive collection was made when the localities were re- visited in 1979. At the second visit, dynamite was used to assist in obtaining adequate amounts of fresh material. The dykes are located at Bagnaesset and Kraemers Island, on the west and east sides, respectively of Kangerdlugssuaq Fjord. Fig. 1 contains maps indicating the precise locations of these dykes which are separated by a distance of about 10 km. The Kraemers Island dyke cuts a quartz-bearing syenite and is believed to be genetically related to this body. The dyke on Bagnaesset cuts both gneisses and a quartz-bearing syenite and its genetic relationships are unclear. In the silica-saturated Kraemers Island dyke astrophyllite has a broad tabular crystal habit with a reddish coppery lustre, whereas in the under- saturated Bagnaesset dyke it shows an elongated prismatic to acicular habit and a darker and more brassy colour. The variations in the crystal habit have been considered in relation to the mineral

Lamprophyric dikes, mainly of camptonite/monchiquite affinities occur in the Wiedemanns Fjord area. One example contains a complex assemblage of olivine-orthopyroxene-chrome spinel nodules, megacrysts of kaersutite, diopside, strongly reverse-zoned green salite and various spinel phases. Microprobe analyses are presented for all these phases and for the lilac-coloured titansalites and strongly-coloured kaersutites of the groundmass. It is concluded that these minerals record evolution under various P, T and oxidation regimes during the formation of a lamprophyric parent magma. The nodules provide evidence for deep fractures in this area supposedly associated with early rifting in the North Atlantic.

ICELAND, a site of anomalous heat flow, volcanism and topography, may represent the surface expression of a rising mantle plume1–10. Gass has suggested that evidence that mantle plumes drive the movement of lithospheric plates may be demonstrated in the Red Sea area11–13. Geochemical effects of the Afar plume, located at the triple junction formed by the Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and Ethiopian rifts, are also striking14.

The North Atlantic has been a key area since Vine [1] demonstrated the regularity of the magnetic anomalies along the Reykjanes Ridge while Iceland and the transverse ridge extending from the Faeroes to East Greenland represent the trace of a hot spot generated throughout the development of this part of the North Atlantic. It is our intention here to review the chemistry of oceanic tholeiites such as are recovered from abyssal parts of the mid-ocean rift system, contrast them with those of hot spot areas such as Iceland, and try to trace the chemical development of these lavas throughout the 60 m.y. spreading history. In addition the alkaline lavas of the area will be briefly described.