Petrology of ultramafic xenoliths from Kishyuku Lava, Fukue-jima, Southwest Japan

Abstract

 Ultramafic xenoliths are found in Kishyuku Lava, Fukue-jima, Southwest Japan. These include spinel lherzolite, harzburgite and dunite, as well as pyroxenite. The compositions of the constituent minerals of the peridotite xenoliths are in the range of upper mantle peridotites. Variable Cr/(Cr+Al) ratios (0.1–0.5) of spinel, together with a limited range in olivine composition (Fo₉₀–Fo₉₂), indicate that the xenoliths are derived from slightly to highly depleted residual mantle. The combination of previously published clinopyroxene-olivine geothermobarometry and clinopyroxene-orthopyroxene geothermometry applied to the xenoliths yields a high geotherm of 1070° C at 1.0 GPa up to 1200° C at 2.2 GPa. Existence of such depleted upper mantle is compatible with the existing model of asthenospheric injection during the rifting of the Northeast China and the Japan Sea. The high geotherm is caused by thermal perturbation due to the injection of the hot asthenosphere and/or post-rifting uprise of mantle diapirs since 11 Ma.