Metasomatism of the off-cratonic lithospheric mantle beneath Hangay Dome, Mongolia: Constraints from trace-element modelling of lherzolite xenoliths

Abstract

Abstract Interactions of hydrous fluid and melt with dry mantle rocks are known to result in metasomatic alteration of the lithospheric mantle. Here we investigate such interactions that occurred beneath the Hangay Dome, Mongolia, in 22 mantle xenoliths, which were recovered from Cenozoic basalts at the Tsagan, Zala, Horgo, and Shavaryn-Tsaram localities near the village of Tariat. The xenoliths are medium- to coarse-grained spinel lherzolites that exhibit variable degrees of reaction with silicate melt and fluid (indicated by their Fe- and LREE-enrichment and the presence of secondary clinopyroxene, amphibole, phlogopite, apatite, and sulfide). According to their normalized REE patterns and microstructures, the spinel lherzolites were divided into three groups. Group 1 lherzolites contain LREE-depleted clinopyroxene and whole-rock compositions, exhibit a greater number of preserved deformation textures, and are the least affected by metasomatism. These lherzolites are interpreted to represent the sub-continental lithosphere before the rejuvenation processes that occurred during the Cenozoic. Group 3 lherzolites are characterized by partial annealing of pre-existing textures, and LREE-enrichment in clinopyroxenes and whole-rock compositions compared to Group 1 lherzolites. Group 3 lherzolites are interpreted to be the result of the interaction of depleted lithospheric mantle with a basaltic melt during the Cenozoic. The lack of correlation between the intensity of metasomatism, the degree of annealing, and the calculated temperatures of the lherzolites suggests that the Cenozoic basaltic melt percolation postdates the static recrystallization. Group 2 lherzolites exhibit characteristics from both Groups 1 and 3. Numerical modelling of the interaction between depleted lherzolites and basaltic melts evidences that: (i) a single initial liquid may fractionate to produce a range of element patterns: the observed spectrum of REE compositions of the Tariat lherzolites cannot have resulted from simple mixing of basaltic melt with a depleted mantle rocks; instead, it can be explained by chromatographic fractionation during reactive porous melt flow; (ii) highly fractionated element patterns are derived from conventional initial melt compositions and do not imply the existence of exotic melts; and (iii) strong element fractionation can be produced along short distances even at the thin section and mineral scale; this opposes the view that long percolation distances are required to produce significant chromatographic effects: the clinopyroxene core-rim disequilibrium demonstrates that REE variations in clinopyroxene rims were acquired in response to interactions with a more evolved REE-rich melt.