ELSEVIER Lithos, 34 (1995) 41-59 Meimechites: highly magnesian lithosphere-contaminated alkaline magmas from deep subcontinental mantle N. Arndt’, K. Lehnert’, Y. Vasil’ev® ‘Gbosciences HPR 4461 CNRS, Université de Rennes, 35042 Rennes cédex, France "Max Planck-Institut fr Chemie, Postfach 3060, $8020 Mainz, Germany “Institute of Geology and Geophysics, USSR Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia Received 3 October, 1993; revised and accepted 18 February, 1994 Abstract Meimechites are highly magnesian alkaline lavas from the Meimecha-Kotuj region of northern Siberia. They contain abundant large phenocrysts of olivine and smaller grains of chromite in a matrix of smaller olivine grains, titanian clinopyroxene, ilmenite, altered glass, and in most but not all cases, biotite. A small proportion of the larger olivine grains have a pronounced parallel parting or show irregular and patchy extinction or kink bands: these are interpreted as xenocrysts. ‘Abundances of MgO range from 8 10 40 wt.%, SiO> is low (40-43 wt.%) and FeO (to 16 wt.%) and K,0 are high (1-3 wt.%). Trace elements concentrations are generally high and strongly fractionated, ranging from prim- itive mantle values for the heavy rare earth elements to 100 times greater for incompatible elements such as Rb, Nband La. Isotopic compositions indicate a depleted source: “Nd/'**Nd ranges from 0.51262 0 0.51282 (initial eg Values +2.8 to +5.9): inital 'Sr/"Sr values are between 0.70299 and 0.70338, ‘Compositions of olivine phenocrysts and xenocrysts vary from Foy to Foy,,and compositions of smaller matrix grains from Fog, to Foy. These values indicate that these rocks formed from highly magnesian liquids: maximum ‘MgO contents of these liquids are calculated to have been atleast 25 w'.%, and perhaps as high as 29 wi.%. The high levels of incompatible trace elements and the strongly fractionated patterns are explained by very low degree-melting (~ 1%) of a source with primitive mantle abundances, or low-degree melting (~7%) of an en- riched source. The very high MgO contents in such low-degree melts indicates that the site of melting was very deep, as much as 200 km, and either in the lowermost continental lithosphere or in the underlying asthenosphere. ‘The melting probably was linked with the arrival of the mantle plume that was the source of Siberian basaltic flood volcanism. The olivine xenocrysts, however, were most likely picked up by the magma during its passage through the lithosphere. The composition of the meimechites is therefore a consequence of melting under unusual condi- tions, with contributions from several mantle sources. 1. Introduction of igneous rocks of Le Maitre et al. (1989) we find the simple definition “an ultramafic vol- “Meimechite” (or maimechite or meyme- _canic rock composed of olivine phenocrysts in a chite, as itis also written) is one of those terms _groundmass of olivine, clinopyroxene, magne- designed, it seems, to confuse or annoy every ge- _tite and glass”. This definition also includes many ologist who is not an igneous petrologist and a _picrites and komatiites. If we recognise that mica specialist of alkaline rocks. In the classification _is also present in the groundmass of many mei- (0024-4937/95/$09.50 © 1995 Elsevier Science BLV. All rights reserved ‘SSDI0024-4937(94)00032-8‘mechites, the list could be extended further to in- clude ultramafic lamproites and lamprophyres. The chemical compositions of meimechites re- semble those of kimberlites (except for lower H,0 and much lower CO;), and this led to the suggestion that the two were intrusive and extru- sive equivalents of the same type of magma. Such a comparison has been criticized by Dawson (1971) on the grounds that meimechites lack the carbonate minerals and textural features char- acteristic of kimberlites. To distinguish meimechites from other MgO- rich volcanic rocks we need to consider their chemical compositions. According to Le Maitre et al. (1989) komatiites, picrites and meime- chites all have MgO contents greater than 18 w'.% whereas lamproites and lamprophyres generally, though not always, have lower MgO contents. In picrites Na,O-+K,0> I wt.%; in komatiites and meimechites Na,O+K;0 1 wid. So, the rock type can be defined, but does any- thing useful come out of such an exercise? What purpose is served by making a distinction be- tween a special type of olivine-rich volcanic rock that is found only in the Meimecha-Kotui Prov- ince of Siberia (Fig. 1), and other types of pi- crite? How could a detailed petrological-chemi- cal study of these rocks be justified? In recent years great effort has been made to identify primary melts from the mantle. A goal of this research has been to define the composi- tion and nature of the mantle source or sources, and the conditions and site of partial melting. In ‘oceanic regions, the problem is relatively straightforward. Mid-ocean ridge basalts form by melting at shallow depths of upwelling upper mantle, and oceanic island basalts (O1B) form by melting at greater depths. There is general agreement that mantle plumes are instrumental in the formation of OIB and constitute a major source of melt, but discussion surrounds the ex- tent of involvement and the role of oceanic lith- ‘osphere (Hofmann and White, 1982; Chauvel et al., 1992; Woodhead, 1992; Dupuy et al., 1993). In continental regions the situation is less clear because of the complexity of the continental lith- osphere, and our poor understanding of the tec- Arndt etal. /Lithos 341995) 41-59 tonic processes that lead to mafic magmatism in such regions. For major eruptions of high-vol- ‘ume continental flood basalts, it seems likely that a plume is commonly involved, but whether the ‘magma comes mainly from the plume or asthen- osphere, or from the lithosphere, is a subject of debate (Arndt and Christensen, 1992; Gallagher and Hawkesworth, 1992). For the normally less voluminous sequences of alkali volcanics asso- ciated with continental rifting, there is little doubt that mantle upwelling provoked by the rifting is a cause of melting, but it is difficult to decide which part of the mantle is the source. When it comes to low-volume volcanic sequences with little direct relation to rifting, the processes are even less obvious. A major part of the problem involves separating those aspects of the chemical and petrological character of the rock that are in- herited directly from the source, from those ac- quired during partial melting or fractional crys- tallization, which may or may not be accompanied by contamination. It is in this con- text that meimechites are interesting, because, with their high MgO and Ni contents, high Mg numbers and forsterite-rich olivine, they meet all the criteria normally used to identify a primary mantle melt. More particularly, and unlike the rocks normally erupted in continental settings, their MgO contents are high enough to corre- spond to magmas produced by melting at very high pressures, at or near the base of the conti- nental lithosphere, at depths of around 100-200 km. In this paper we use the results of a detailed petrological-chemical study of a suite of mei- ‘mechites to answer a range of questions concern- ing the nature of the source, the processes that affect a magma as it traverses the lithosphere, and the tectonic processes that lead to the formation of highly magnesian alkaline magmas in a conti- nental setting. 2. Geological setting Meimechites come from the Meimecha-Kotuj province at the northeast margin of the Archean ‘Anabar shield in the northern Siberian platform (Fig. 1). The region contains a wide variety of1. Arndt etal. Lithos 34 (1995) 41-59 a Ovatemary deposts [EB Ana volcanes, moimochites EJ Tractybasalts ieee HH) Ana porte, nophottes Fig. 1, Map showing the geology of the Meimecha-Kotui Province of Siberia ({rom the compilation of Butakova, 1974). The inset shows is location inthe northern part of Siberia, alkaline rocks, both extrusive and intrusive (Ye- gorov et al., 1961; Butakova, 1974; Vasil’yev and Zolotukhin, 1975; Zolotukhin and AYMukhamedov, 1988). Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic rocks are intruded by plugs, dykes and massifs which range in composition from ul- tramafic (peridotites, kimberlites) through mafic (ijolites, gabbros) to carbonatites. The largest intrusion is the Guli massif, which has an out- crop area of 2000 km?. The volcanic rocks also have a wide variety of compositions: the list of varieties recognised by Russian geologists through field and chemical studies includes al- kali basalts, ankaramites, nephelinites and lim- burgites, melilitites, trachytes, andesites and phonolites, as well as meimechites and alkaline picrites. ‘The age of the alkaline rocks is constrained by the age of the sedimentary rocks that they in- trude or overlie (lower Tertiary), and by an “°Ar/ Ar age of 245.51.2 (1a) Ma obtained by laser-incremental heating of biotite from a mei- ‘mechite flow (Czamanske et al., 1993). This age is the same, within error, as a U-Pb zircon age of 2484 Ma (Campbell et al., 1992) obtained for the Siberian continental flood basalts, which ‘cover an area of some 3X 10° km? immediately to the southwest of the Meimecha-Kotuj prov- ince. The “meimechite province” is clearly re- lated spatially and chronologically to the Sibe- rian plume “event.” 3. Field characteristics Russian geologists have traditionally distin- guished two types of alkaline mafic-ultramafic volcanic rock — meimechite and picrite— using,“4 N. Arndt etal. /Lithos 34 (1995) 41-59 combination of field, petrographic and geo- chemical characteristics. The basic criterion is the abundance of total alkalis, picrites having more than | wt.% Na,O+K,0. In our sample suite, there is a close correlation between total alkalis and MgO or olivine content. The meimechites have more than 25 wt.% MgO and more than about 30% modal olivine, the picrites less. It will bbe shown later that the two rock types are part of single suite, and that the distinction is some- what arbitrary, but the terms will be retained at this stage to aid the petrological description. ‘The picritic flows are 3-10 m thick and are characterized by coarse columnar jointing and amygdaloidal sections that occupy the upper half or third of each flow. The lower parts are mas- sive, porphyritic lava. Outcrops of meimec are generally poor and fragmentary and little can be said about the morphologic features of the flows. In some examples, flow boundaries can be inferred from layers of tapilli tuff, but the rocks are strongly altered near these boundaries, and provide little information. Certain outcrops dis- play internal layers 10-100 em thick, defined by variations in the abundance and size of olivine crystals. ‘Meimechites and picrites also occur as dykes that intrude both the meimechitic lavas and in- trusive rocks at the margin of the Guli massif. ‘The dykes form rectilinear, linked or branching bodies that vary in thickness from a few centi- metres to about 2 m, and can be traced along strike for tens of metres. They have thick aphan- itic chilled margins which in some cases occupy up toa third of the dyke thickness. Interior zones are enriched in olivine phenocrysts, and some contain internal bands of olivine of contrasting sizes 4. Petrography and mineral compositions 4.1. Olivine The striking aspect of the meimechites and cites, both the lavas and the dyke rocks, is the size, the abundance and the character of their ol- ivine phenocrysts (Fig. 2a). Every sample con- tains from 10 to 70% olivine phenocrysts (Table 1). Grain size is generally large, about 4-5 mm ‘on average, with some samples containing single crystals as much as 2 em across. Much smaller olivine grains are present in the matrix. Habits of the olivine phenocrysts are variable. Simple, subhedral to euhedral grains with slightly rounded margins are most common, but a vari- able proportion of grains in many samples are ‘more complex and commonly form clusters of two or more grains with different optical orien- tations. Some of these have a pronounced paral- lel parting, others show irregular and patchy ex- tinction, or kink bands (Fig. 2c): they thus resemble grains in other picrites that have been interpreted as xenocrysts (Cox, 1987; Bou 1991). In certain picritic (low MgO) samples from the Meimecha-Kotuj province, olivine grains appear to have reacted with the host ‘magma: their shapes are irregular, their contacts are diffuse, and they appear to have acted as the site of nucleation of crystals of clinopyroxene and biotite (Fig. 2d). The overall impression is that many of these olivine grains are xenocrysts de- rived from solid, previously-deformed ultra- ‘mafic rock. It is difficult to estimate the propor- tion of such grains. Those with obvious diagnostic features are relatively uncommon, but in view of the recent demonstration by Boudier (1991) that euhedral olivine grains can form by Fig. 2. Photomicrographs of meimechites and picrtes. (a) large euhedral olivine phenocrysts ina fine-grained matrix (meime- ‘cite dyke, sample 24-4); (b) relatively coarse grained matrix with elongate clinopyroxene grains, abundant opaques and a biotite grain (centre). An altered olivine phenocryst isin the top right (picrte dyke, sample 199); (c) Lange olivine xenocryst ‘displaying kink bands (meimechite dyke, sample 29-1); (4) Olivine phenocryst that appears to have interacted with matrix, as indicated by zone of fine-grained reaction minerals and border of biotite (pirite dyke sample 178 g — not analysed); (€) Chill ‘margin of pirite dyke. A thin band of picrite with abundant small olivine phenocrysts cus across coarser olivine porphyry. It is turn cut by aphanitc picite (sample 46-5); (f) Coarse-grained matrix of picrite dyke 178R. Equant to elongate clinopyroxene (high rli, mid grey), abundant opaquet (black), perovskite (high-relif, dark grey granules), bi (white); (8) Olivine phenocrysts and amygdules in meimechite lava sample 26-4N. Arndt eta. /Lithos 34(1995) 41-59 4s1N. Amd et al. Lithos 34 (1995) 41-59 ‘Table 1: Modal compositions of meimechites and picrites Sane Be, ass Bea Tia 450% Rock ype a Me Me MgO (we) 308 3598S olvine(tota) ea 555857 ‘pheno ovine 673 4s Sar 112 54.8113 ‘mate 219 26 278 56 293 73 263 75 amyodlos 0.0 00 177109 219 66 76.33 x Olvine 27 03 - om ena 24 < Blotte oo = Magnet 16 = Chromite oo = Gus an Senge ieee? ion S000 47-3 i70R Toes Bock ype MM Me ca D 2 MgO (wee) [38s aS sada SCC 17 oWvingtoi) | 562 480586 982.8 170 prenoolvine | 52.1 98 472 79 581 91 36.9 85 105 14 a7 138 19 matrix 36.896 44.7106 387 94 63.1 85 71.3 93 1 88.7 21 amyodes [12 1277 3320 0000 83 32 2 00 00 = Ove 67 7 = om 451 28 22 Z Blotte 0.0 08 2a Magnet] 284 13 oe = Chromte 00 08 0 = Gass 20.1 42 os ‘oie: numbers iv Race ae Slandaré devaions ( €gma) corrosion and overgrowth of xenocrysts, it must bbe recognised that the original proportion may have been larger. ‘Sample 46-5 was taken from the margin of a picrite dyke that was chilled against a medium- grained olivine porphyritic picrite (Fig. 2e). ‘There are two parallel layers within the chilled border zone. In the first, which cuts across the olivine porphyry, the rock contains about 30% of small (<1 mm) euhedral olivine phenocrysts in a fine-grained matrix. At the margin of the scc- ond layer, which cuts the first, the rock is vir- tually aphanitic, with very sparse, sporadically distributed euhedral olivine phenocrysts (Fi 2c). Within | cm of the margin, the abundance of olivine increases to about 20%. These pheno- cerysts are cuhedral and oriented parallel to the contact, presumably during flowage of the magma. Thus there appears to be firm evidence of two types of olivine in these rocks. (a) Olivine that crystallized from a host magma, for which we will use Cox's (1987) term crystallizate. This type of olivine forms euhedral, isolated, simple pheno- crysts (as in many samples, but most notably in sample 46-5), as well as the smaller grains in the ‘matrix. (b) xenocrysts, the commonly deformed or corroded grains which were added to the mei- ‘mechites and picrites from another source. Electron microprobe analyses of olivine and other minerals are presented in Table 2 and Fig. 3. The larger olivine phenocrysts have relatively ‘uniform compositions and are unzoned except for very thin, Fe-rich margins. The total range in composition of the phenocrysts is Foss to Fovs, which compares with Fos, to Fos: for smaller grains in the matrix. In certain samples the total range is very small: sample 29-1 contains pheno- crysts with compositions ranging from Fos, 4 to Fos2« and matrix olivines only slightly less magnesian, from Foro to Fos: s. Other samples display a much larger variation: sample 1985-5Arndt ea. / Litho 34(1995) 41-50 ” Table 2: Mineral compositions ‘Oe = Grenie mss ess ass mes ues 0303 | ss Me wa | oss 4060 3957 8000 3906 41.86 40.25 3078] aaa S28 “OSB 100 ppm; 5% for elements with 10-100 ppm; and 10% or worse for elements with 1-10 ppm, Agreement be- tween the two data sets was very good for Ni and Sr (average difference ~2%); adequate for Cu, Zn, Cr, Rb and Zr (difference 10% or less: poor for Ba, Nb, ¥ and V (difference 15-25%) Many of the discrepencies may arise from prob- Jems with calibration for those samples with high trace element concentrations. In Table 3, data from Kennnes are quoted, except for V. In this case the Mainz data are thought to be more ac- curate because they fit better with an olivine control line that passes through the measured compositions of olivine phenocrysts (a useful measure of analytical reliability in olivine por- phyritic rocks — Bickle et a., 1993; Arndt, 1994; Renner et al., 1994). Rare earth elements were analysed by ICP at Royal Holloway and Redford College Some samples were also analysed by HPLC at the Max- Planck-Institut in Mainz (Cassidy, 1988). With the exception of elements such as Lu, Yb, Dy which are poorly analysed by HPLC, agreement is good (see duplicate analyses in Fig. 7); the data probably are accurate to within 5%. Neodymium and Sr isotopic compositions ‘were measured on a Finnigan-MAT 262 mass spectrometer at Géosciences Rennes. Chemical techniques are slightly modified from White and Patchett (1984). Neodymium analyses were made in static mode and ''Nd/'“*Nd was nor- malized to “*Nd/"*Nd=0.7219. When the first set of analyses were run, the procedure gave a 'ONd/"4Nd value of 0.511760+8 (2c) for the La Jolla Nd standard. This value is well below the accepted value of 0.511850, probably be- cause of deterioration of the Faraday cups. Sam- ples measured under these conditions were cor- rected by adding 0.00009 to the measured values. When a second set of measurements was made following replacement of the cups, the La Jolla standard gave a correct value of 0.511849. The sample 1985/3 was measured before and after the change of cups: the corrected value from the first measurement (0.512744 5) agrees well with the ‘uncorrected measurement made after the change (0.512757+5). Strontium analyses were also ‘made in static mode. For these measurements the standard NRS 987 gave a value of 0.710111 +10 which is very close to the accepted value of 0.710250. 5.2. Major elements The chemical compositions of these rocks have several highly unusual aspects. The predominant major-element characteristics are moderate to high MgO (8-40 w1.%) and relatively low Si02 (40-43 w1.%) combined with high FeO (to al- ‘most 16 wt.%), low Na;O (less than 0.5 wt.% in all but three picritic samples) and relatively high K,0 (as much as 1 wt.% in meimechites and 3 wt.% in picrites). Abundances of TiO; are very high, varying between 1 and 6 wt.%, a range very similar to that of Al,Os. There is continuous variation from meimechite to picrite and the dis- tinction between the two rock types of rack seems arbitrary. The rocks are potassic (K,0/Na,0_mo- lar=0.2 to 27, average 4.0) and peraluminous ((K,0+Na,0)/A1203= <0.1 to 1.4, average 0.3). Despite their low SiO, contents, most are silica saturated and have hypersthene in the norm: only the three least magnesian picrites contain normative feldspathoid. In variation diagrams (Figs. 4-6), most ele- ments define linear trends. As MgO decreases from 40 to 8 wt.%, FeO contents first increase then remain approximately constant. In the same interval, Ni and Cr contents decrease, and the concentrations of most other elements increase. Diagrams presenting SiO;, Na,O and K,0 data show large scatter, probably due to secondary mobility of these elements. Sobolev etal. (1991) found that melts trapped in olivine grains in meimechites have higher Na;O contents than whole rocks with similar MgO contents, and theyN- Arndt etal. /Lithos 34 (1995) 41-59 1 ” a eee AigO3 °° [sio,] : ° “a 7 “ef ‘ ae . » shoe NagO] . : 0 om * ° 2+ asin ope. 2 : [CaO] . 9 K20] : ° ; se A ° 7 LP aaat . vw » » wo wo © © © » 0 9 MgO (wt.%) iaieshce Pre MgO (wt.%) = Oye ou Oye eum Fig. 4. Diagrams illustrating the variations in the abundances of some major elements in meimechitesand in melt inclusions in ‘olivine grains (from Sobolev tal, 1991). concluded there had been systematic Na loss from the samples. 5.3. Trace elements Abundances of moderately to highly incom- patible trace elements are very high, reaching 1750 ppm Sr, 790 ppm Zr, and 190 ppm Ce in the most evolved rocks (Tables 3, 4 and Fig. 6). Mantle-normalized trace element patterns (Fig. 7) show relatively smooth trends and strong en- richment of the more incompatible elements. Overall levels of Nb or La range from 30 to 100 times primitive mantle values and correlate moderately well with MgO contents (see, for ex- ample, Sr and Zr vs. MgO, Fig. 6). There are pronounced negative anomalies at K (Fig. 7) and variable depletion of Rb and Sr, part of which may be due to element mobility during altera- tion. Most patterns also show small positive anomalies at Zr, Ti and Y. 5.4. Isotopes The isotopic compositions of Nd in the seven analysed samples have a relatively restricted range (Table 5, Fig. 8). '"°Nd/"*Nd ranges from 0.51262 to 0.51282: there is a correlation with ‘Sm/Nd with a slope corresponding to age of about 600 Ma. This value is some 350 my. greater than the U-Pb zircon result of Campbell et al. (1992) and probably has no age signifi-2 1. Arndt etal. /Lithos 34 (1995) 41-89 ‘ FeO "8 whe 10 ‘ 1 s 1s 2s 35 45 38 4000 = i 3000 fo a5 rane won om f oe ga ° 1000 |- rer ot Ni o beer 5 5 3 35 45 58 MgO (wt%) Fig. 5. Diagrams illustrating the variations in FeO, Ni and MgO in meimechites and olivines. Also shown are the compositions of meit inclusions in olivine grains (from Sobolev et al., 1991) and fractionation trends calculated assum ting liquid with 25 w.% MgO. The relationship between the Ni partition coefficient and the MgO content of the liquid is from Arndt (1986), cance. Initial éy values calculated for the erup- tion age of 250 Ma range from +2.8 to +5.9. Measured *’Sr/*Sr are between 0.70326 and 0.70402; calculated initial ratios between 0.70299, and 0.70338. There is no correlation between "sr/**Sr and Rb/Sr. 6. Discussion 6.1. Liquid compositions and within-suite variations The relation between rock and olivine com- positions are shown in Fig. 3. The following fea- tures should be noted: (a) Although matrix ol- ivine is generally less magnesian than phenocrystic olivine, the ranges overlap widely. (b) The least-magnesian sample with unaltered olivine (47-3) contains phenocrystic and matrix grains poorer in forsterite than the other seven samples, suggesting that it crystallized from a less magnesian liquid. There is no correlation be- tween bulk MgO (or Mg#) and forsterite con- tent for the other seven samples. However, the phenocryst (crystallizate) population in each sample displays a range of forsterite contents: they apparently crystallized from liquids, or were derived from rocks, that had variable composi-1N- Arndt etal. /Lithos 34 (1995) 41-59 3 2000 000 - es Sr 000 ae . & 1200 1000 | 8 “ee 00 le +03 2 eno 1000 | OY 00 a : des 7 . wore Zr 2 00 2 aad +. 0 200 7 \ : ° ° 10 20 30 40 so. ° ° » ” “ so MgO (wt. 96) MgO (wt. %) Meimechite Picrite = Dyke = Lava Fig. 6 Diagrams illustrating the variations Tabla 4: Rare earth elements + Dyke Lava the abundances of some trace elements in meimechites. tions. (c) With the exception of two grains in sample 29-1, all olivine data plot below the line representing the forsterite contents of olivine in equilibrium with meimechite liquids (the latter calculated assuming Kd™*-f*=0.30, and [Same 28.1 1905/5 264378 1100 Wes 17eR so S09 vasa] [Rock ype] MOM MOM > A la 20.5 180s 26. Tao 90.8 62.2 66.4 4 lce 45307 717 165.7 199.7 131.8 122.7 183, lm 87 48 82 187 214 148 139 21 Ina 238 199 328 73.9 88.7 565 55.4 83.1 Ise Bey 131 167 90 96 16. les eerie 7) craeaal cent ce7i ye) los 26027 47 oa me 61 72 102) Ire os - = ieee eee ea loy - 48 30 ei 78 37 47 64 lve 02 02 06 oo 12 06 07 al le os 08 10 ve 26 10 15 19) ITm or = = oo oy oo oe oS lve Seen os et) tO ae i" Saerrskis o2 03 01 02 0 'MO™ meimochite ke; WL molnoctio lava: PO - peiba ke; ML ple Tava Fe? =0.1xFe total). This probably means that they all contain excess olivine, either as pheno- cerysts or xenocrysts. (d) The most forsterite-rich olivine grains (Fos) would have crystallized from a liquid with Mg ~80, or ~29 wt.% MgO,s4 N. Arndt etal. /Lithas 34 (1995) 41-59 ROK NO La Ce Sr Pr Mi Smir By GITi Wo Y Er Yo Ls Fig. 7. Mantle-normalized trace clements in meimechites and, picrites. Normalizing values are from Hofmann (1988). if this liquid had an FeO content comparable to the meimechites. For the most magnesian ma- trix olivine (Fos, s), the equilibrium liquid had ‘a Mg of about 0.76 corresponding to ~ 25 wt.% MgO. For the Foy, olivine phenocrysts in sample 43-3, the corresponding values are Mg#<0.70 and MgO< 18 wt.%. Olivine therefore provides a record of crystallization from silicate liquids with a wide range of highly magnesian compositions. The grains identified as xenocrysts have a composition typical of olivine in peridotite nod- ules, peridotite massifs and other samples of solid ‘mantle material. This composition (Foso) lies within the range of compositions of matrix and phenocryst olivine in all but the least magnesian sample. This coincidence, which contrasts mark- edly with the situation in picrites and tess magnesian rocks, means that compositional cri- teria cannot be used to distinguish between crys- tallizates and xenocrysts derived from a mantle source. The fact that some apparently unde- formed grains identified as crystallizates have higher forsterite contents that the xenocrysts is further evidence for highly magnesian liquids, and evidence against the concept that the high ‘MgO contents of the rocks are due simply to ol- ivine accumulation. Much of the variation of major and trace ele- ‘ment compositions of the meimechite-picrite suite is consistent with fractional crystallization ‘or accumulation of olivine (crystallizate or xen- ‘ocryst). For the incompatible elements, trends in variation diagrams (Fig. 4) intercept the MgO axis between 47 and 50 wt.%, values that corre- spond to the MgO contents of olivine pheno- cerysts, In the MgO vs. FeO and Ni diagrams (Fig. 5), the whole-rock trends intercept the trends of olivine compositions at Foyc, which again corre- sponds to the composition of the phenocrysts. ‘The decrease in Cris explained by crystallization of a small amount (<1%) of chrome spinel, the second liquidus phase identified from the petrography. Calculated paths of olivine fractionation or accumulation are shown in Fig. 5. If the initial liquid is assumed to have had 25 wt.% MgO, the composition of the most evolved sample (178 k) can be explained by about 25% olivine fraction- ation, and the composition of the most magne- sian sample (595b) by the accumulation of about 65% olivine. When the variation in liquid com- positions and the complications arising from the presence of xenocrysts are taken into account, it is more reasonable to consider a range of starting liquids and more complex combinations of frac- tionation and accumulation. We note, however, that there is no evidence for the involvement of minerals other than olivine and minor chromite, and we repeat our conclusion that the olivine ‘compositions, particularly that of matrix oliv- ine, provide firm evidence of liquids with atleast 25 w.% MgO. This conclusion is in agreement with the re- sults of the experimental studies of Sobolev etal. (1991). By determining the homogenisation temperatures and bulk compositions of melt in- clusions trapped in olivine grains, these authors1. Arndt etal. /Lithos 34 (1995) 41-59 8s Samole] [/*7gn) (na) ena] ("ao) (sr wy, Tva) ("Na ad 7 Br, Zant [a ‘O14 07038829 0.70338 125 Jal 012 osizer6es s9| 0.25 07039888 0.70299 178k {a} 0.11 051274385 48] 0.07 0.70349811 0.70324 264 |b] 0.11 0.51273144 4.5 | <0.01 0.703269 0.70322 594 |b] 0.10 051262125 2.6 | 0.17 0.70396211 0.70336 599 Jal 0.11 051271324 4.3 | 0.23 0.70402210 0.70320 1985/3] 0.11 051274485 47 | <0.01 0.70324811 0.70320 1985/3 |b] 0.11 051275745 SO 1985/5 |b 051272025 0.19 0.70370#10 0.70302 Notes: Sm/Nd and RB/Sr calculated from data in Tables 2, 3 2 - measured before replacement of Faraday cups b~ measured after replacement of Faraday cups (see text) [Ep mm sr ; f ~ealeiated inital ratio at 250 Ma sine § . § 7 _ = 2 ae | 6 —) i “are aro Orme | Tee 5 €Nd 4 3 soe 2 a a 8731/8651 Fig. 8, Nad. and isotopic compositions uf wince a prt In the nse they are compared with the compositions ofthe ‘Baroy volcanics and male nodules rom the Baikal iftzae (onoy eta, 1992) and with the Sitrian ood basalts (Wooden eral, 1993).56 N. Arndt et a. /Lithos 34(1995) 41-59 estimated that the MgO contents of meimechite liquids ranged between 20 and 28%. 6.2. Origin of primary liquids ‘There are two principal ways to generate highly magnesian magmas — high degrees of mantle melting or melting at great depth. For koma- tiites, and picrites at oceanic ridges, both pro- cesses are implicated. The source (a plume in most cases) is unusually hot: it starts to melt when it intersects the mantle solidus at great depth, and it continues to melt until the magma segregates at shallower depth (Herzberg and ‘Ohtani, 1988; McKenzie and Bickle, 1988; Nis- bet etal., 1993; Amdt, 1994). The result is high- percentage mantle melt with a high MgO content but relatively low concentrations of elements in- compatible with common mantle minerals. Such an origin is unlikely for meimechites be- cause of their high concentrations of incompati- ble elements. We show in Fig. 9 the results of melting calculations: (a) of a source with abun- dances of selected minor and trace elements like that of primitive mantle and (b) a source rela- tively enriched in incompatible elements. The first could be taken to represent a source in a plume or in the asthenospheric mantle; the sec- ‘ond a source in the lithospheric mantle. From the figure it is evident that unless the source was more enriched than source (b), the degree of melting was lower than about 7%. There are cer- tainly some parts of the mantle with higher con- centrations of incompatible elements, but rocks with such compositions are relatively rare and probably do not make up a large proportion of the mantle. Therefore, unless the meimechites form by selective melting of unusual, isolated Parts of the mantle, the degree of partial melting was low. Under these conditions, their high MgO contents clearly place the site of melting at great depth. It is difficult to constrain further the condi- tions of melting: appropriate experimental data do not exist, and the parameterisation used by e.g. McKenzie and O'Nions (1991) cannot be applied to such unusual, alkaline, probably hy- drous magma. However. by extrapolation from experiments carried out at lower pressures, it seems likely that the melting took place at pres- sures greater than 60 kbar, corresponding to a depth of around 180 km (Sobolev et al., 1991) From available, admittedly incomplete, data (Zorin and Viadimirov, 1989; Sobolev et al., 1991) it appears that the lithosphere beneath this part of Siberia was thick, at least 150 km and perhaps as much as 230 km. When combined with the inferred depth of melting, this raises the possibility of two alternative sources of the mei- mechite magmas — the base of the lithosphere, or the underlying mantle, 6.3. Lithospheric or asthenospheric source? Although trace-element or isotopic data are commonly used to address this question, the ap- proach provides only ambiguous results for the meimechites. As shown above, the degree of trace element enrichment of these rocks can be ex- plained equally well by low-degree melting of a Primitive source of a type representative of the asthenosphere or a plume, or by a moderate per- centage of melting of a more enriched source, as might be found in the lithosphere. A distinctive feature of the trace element pattern of the mei- mechites — their relative depletion of Rb, Ba and K — can also be explained in different ways. In the case of lithosphere melting, the feature could bbe inherited directly from anomalies in the source: such anomalies are present in the Mc- Donough’s (1992) estimate of the composition of average continental lithospheric mantle. However, the presence in the residue of a small amount of phlogopite (0.1%) provides an alter- native explanation that could apply to melting of the asthenospheric or plume source. The mei- mechites do not have negative Nb-Ta anoma- lies, but this too provides no contraint because such anomalies are absent both from the asthen- spheric mantle (as estimated from the compo- sitions of oceanic basalts (Hofmann et al., 1986) and from typical lithospheric mantle (Me- Donough, 1992). Not even the isotopic data discriminate clearly between a lithospheric and asthenospheric source. The positive és values and low initial "'Sr/*Sr could be taken as evidence of a de- pleted asthenospheric or plume source, but 1o-1. Arndt et al. Lithos 34 (1995) 41-39 sl (Snae oie boen ea] ~— —— _— an EN ee Se ea Te a STREET a er 3 Fig. 9. Calculated compositions of liquids produced by batch melting of two mantle peridotite sources. The first has primitive ‘mantle concentrations (Hofmann, 1988) ofthe trace elements considered in the calculation; the second has concentrations like those in McDonough’s (1992) estimate of the composition of contines ithospheric mantle, In the first case the proportions ‘of minerals inthe residue were a follows: 01-39%; opx—3U%; epx-1U% and garnet-5%; in the second, ol-39%; opx~30%; cPX- 9%, garnet-5% and biotite-1%. Partition coefficients are listed below. Ro Be KO Th Nooo la Sr No Ze TO; sy at 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.010 px 0.002 0.002 0.002 -«0.001_-« 0.002 0.002 0.002 0.002.002 0.002 0.020 cpx 0.002 0.002 0025 0.002 0020 0.050 0.100 0200-0300 0.40008 garmet 0.001 0.001 0.005.-—0.001-«0.005 0.020 S102 OS 200 dion 8 4 20 oor 1 00501 0205 od nov et al. (1992) have shown that ultramafic nodules in Bartoy volcanic rocks from the Baikal rift zone, some 1500 km southeast of the Mei- mecha-Kotui Province, have depleted isotopic ‘compositions (Fig. 8 inset). This indicates that at least some parts of the sub-Siberian litho- spheric mantle had isotopic compositions ap- propriate for a source of the meimechites. On the other hand, the meimechite compositions lie on the extension of a linear trend defined by the iso- topic compositions of Siberian flood basalts. The low éxg -high initial Sr/"Sr end of this trend was interpreted by Lightfoot et al. (1990), Sharma et al. (1992) and Wooden et al. (1993) as resulting from crustal contamination; the other end of the trend was thought to represent a man- tle end member. In view of the large volume of ‘basalt erupted during the Siberian episodes, these authors suggested that a mantle plume was the principal source of magma. The position of the ‘meimechites at the end of the flood-basalt trend ‘might then be taken as evidence that the alkaline rocks were also derived from the plume. The identification of olivine xenocrysts is an- other aspect of the puzzle. They may be restitic and derived from the meimechite source, either asthenospheric or lithospheric. On the other hand, the evidence of disequilibrium between ol- ivine and host magma suggests that this is not always the case. We have concluded that the mei: mechites formed by melting at depths of 200 km ‘or greater: the xenocrysts could have been picked up by the magma during its passage, from source to base of the crust, through tens of kilometers of lithospheric mantle. It is difficult to determine what other material might have been picked up during this interaction. ‘The spatial and chronological association be-38 N. Arndt etal. /Lithos 34 (1995) 41-59 tween the meimechites and flood basalts provide what is perhaps the best constraint on their ori- gin. The meimechites erupted 246 m.y. ago, just after the peak of flood volcanism at 248 Ma, and at the fringe of the flood basalt province. It is highly probable that the source of heat for mei- mechite formation was the plume, but the site of ‘melting is still not resolved. Two alternatives a (a) the meimechites formed by low-degree melt- gin the cooler fringes of the plume itself or (bb) they result from melting of the lithosphere pro- voked by transfer of heat from the plume. The latter process is the same as that advocated by Gallagher and Hawkesworth (1992) for the gen- ration of flood basalts. Further constraints on the compositions of the ‘two mantle end-members might be provided by studies of mantle nodules and of plume-derived magmas, and Re-Os isotopic investigations (currently underway) may also yield important information. 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