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Pervasive melt percolation reactions in ultra-depleted refractory harzburgites at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 15° 20′N: ODP Hole 1274A

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Abstract

ODP Leg 209 Site 1274 mantle peridotites are highly refractory in terms of lack of residual clinopyroxene, olivine Mg# (up to 0.92) and spinel Cr# (∼0.5), suggesting high degree of partial melting (>20%). Detailed studies of their microstructures show that they have extensively reacted with a pervading intergranular melt prior to cooling in the lithosphere, leading to crystallization of olivine, clinopyroxene and spinel at the expense of orthopyroxene. The least reacted harzburgites are too rich in orthopyroxene to be simple residues of low-pressure (spinel field) partial melting. Cu-rich sulfides that precipitated with the clinopyroxenes indicate that the intergranular melt was generated by no more than 12% melting of a MORB mantle or by more extensive melting of a clinopyroxene-rich lithology. Rare olivine-rich lherzolitic domains, characterized by relics of coarse clinopyroxenes intergrown with magmatic sulfides, support the second interpretation. Further, coarse and intergranular clinopyroxenes are highly depleted in REE, Zr and Ti. A two-stage partial melting/melt–rock reaction history is proposed, in which initial mantle underwent depletion and refertilization after an earlier high pressure (garnet field) melting event before upwelling and remelting beneath the present-day ridge. The ultra-depleted compositions were acquired through melt re-equilibration with residual harzburgites.

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Acknowledgments

This research used samples and data supplied by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP). ODP is sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and participating countries under management of Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI), Inc. We thank D. Brunelli for discussion, and B. Boyer for his assistance with the SIMS analyses. Comments from two anonymous reviewers are gratefully acknowledged. Funding for this research was provided by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Institut National des Sciences de l’Univers (Programme Dynamique et Evolution de la Terre Interne).

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  1. Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS UMR7160 Minéralogie—Pétrologie, 61 rue Buffon, 75005, Paris, France

    Monique Seyler & J. -P. Lorand

  2. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA

    H. J. B. Dick

  3. Laboratoire de Tectonophysique, CNRS UMR 5568, Université de Montpellier 2, Place Eugène Bataillon, Montpellier Cedex 05, 34095, France

    M. Drouin

  4. Université Lille1, UFR Sciences de la Terre, Bât. SN5, Villeneuve d’Ascq cedex, 59655, France

    Monique Seyler

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  1. Monique Seyler
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  2. J. -P. Lorand
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Correspondence to Monique Seyler.

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Communicated by T.L. Grove.

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Seyler, M., Lorand, J.P., Dick, H.J.B. et al. Pervasive melt percolation reactions in ultra-depleted refractory harzburgites at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 15° 20′N: ODP Hole 1274A. Contrib Mineral Petrol 153, 303–319 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-006-0148-6

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