Melting of a subduction-modified mantle source: A case study from the Archean Marda Volcanic Complex, central Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia

Subduction processes on early earth are controversial,with some suggestions that tectonics did not operate until the earth cooled to a sufficient point around the Archean–Proterozoic boundary. One way of addressing this issue is to examine well-preserved successions of Archean supracrustal rocks. He...

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Main Authors: Morris, P., Kirkland, Chris
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier BV 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/8031
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author Morris, P.
Kirkland, Chris
author_facet Morris, P.
Kirkland, Chris
author_sort Morris, P.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Subduction processes on early earth are controversial,with some suggestions that tectonics did not operate until the earth cooled to a sufficient point around the Archean–Proterozoic boundary. One way of addressing this issue is to examine well-preserved successions of Archean supracrustal rocks. Here we discuss petrography, wholerock chemical and isotopic data combined with zircon Hf isotopes from andesites, high-magnesium andesites (HMA), dacites, high-magnesium dacites (HMD), rhyolites and coeval felsic intrusive rocks of the c. 2730 Ma Marda Volcanic Complex (MVC) in the central Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia. We demonstrate that these rocks result from melting of a metasomatized mantle source, followed by fractional crystallization in a crustal magma chamber. Contamination of komatiite by Archean crust, to produce the Marda Volcanic Complex andesites, is not feasible, as most of these crustal sources are too radiogenic to act as viable contaminants. The εNd(2730) of MVC andesites can be produced by mixing 10% Narryer semi-pelite with komatiite, consistentwith modelling using Hf isotopes, but to achieve the required trace element concentrations, the mixture needs to be melted by about 25%. The most likely scenario is the modification of a mantle wedge above a subducting plate, coeval with partial melting, producing volcanic rocks with subduction signatures and variable Mg, Cr and Ni contents. Subsequent fractionation of cognate phases can account for the chemistry of dacites and rhyolites.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-80312017-09-13T16:02:56Z Melting of a subduction-modified mantle source: A case study from the Archean Marda Volcanic Complex, central Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia Morris, P. Kirkland, Chris Isotopes Marda Volcanic Complex Petrogenesis Geochemistry Archean Subduction processes on early earth are controversial,with some suggestions that tectonics did not operate until the earth cooled to a sufficient point around the Archean–Proterozoic boundary. One way of addressing this issue is to examine well-preserved successions of Archean supracrustal rocks. Here we discuss petrography, wholerock chemical and isotopic data combined with zircon Hf isotopes from andesites, high-magnesium andesites (HMA), dacites, high-magnesium dacites (HMD), rhyolites and coeval felsic intrusive rocks of the c. 2730 Ma Marda Volcanic Complex (MVC) in the central Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia. We demonstrate that these rocks result from melting of a metasomatized mantle source, followed by fractional crystallization in a crustal magma chamber. Contamination of komatiite by Archean crust, to produce the Marda Volcanic Complex andesites, is not feasible, as most of these crustal sources are too radiogenic to act as viable contaminants. The εNd(2730) of MVC andesites can be produced by mixing 10% Narryer semi-pelite with komatiite, consistentwith modelling using Hf isotopes, but to achieve the required trace element concentrations, the mixture needs to be melted by about 25%. The most likely scenario is the modification of a mantle wedge above a subducting plate, coeval with partial melting, producing volcanic rocks with subduction signatures and variable Mg, Cr and Ni contents. Subsequent fractionation of cognate phases can account for the chemistry of dacites and rhyolites. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/8031 10.1016/j.lithos.2013.11.016 Elsevier BV restricted
spellingShingle Isotopes
Marda Volcanic Complex
Petrogenesis
Geochemistry
Archean
Morris, P.
Kirkland, Chris
Melting of a subduction-modified mantle source: A case study from the Archean Marda Volcanic Complex, central Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia
title Melting of a subduction-modified mantle source: A case study from the Archean Marda Volcanic Complex, central Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia
title_full Melting of a subduction-modified mantle source: A case study from the Archean Marda Volcanic Complex, central Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia
title_fullStr Melting of a subduction-modified mantle source: A case study from the Archean Marda Volcanic Complex, central Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia
title_full_unstemmed Melting of a subduction-modified mantle source: A case study from the Archean Marda Volcanic Complex, central Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia
title_short Melting of a subduction-modified mantle source: A case study from the Archean Marda Volcanic Complex, central Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia
title_sort melting of a subduction-modified mantle source: a case study from the archean marda volcanic complex, central yilgarn craton, western australia
topic Isotopes
Marda Volcanic Complex
Petrogenesis
Geochemistry
Archean
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/8031