Christopher I. Chalokwu

Simulation of primary phase relations and mineral compositions in the Partridge River intrusion, Duluth Complex, Minnesota: implications for the parent magma composition

In order to describe the composition and crystallinity of the initial (parental) magma of the Partridge River intrusion of the Keweenawan Duluth Complex, and thereby understand the mode of emplacement and solidification of the intrusion, we have applied a numerical simulation technique called geochemical thermometry (Frenkel et al. 1988). The parental magma was a low-alumina, high-Ti-P olivine tholeiite similar to typical Keweenawan low-alumina, high-Ti-P basalts associated with the Duluth Complex and from the nearby Portage Lake area of the Lake Superior region. The parental magma was emplaced as a crystal-liquid suspension, followed by chilling of an evolved, leading edge ferrodioritic liquid in the basal zone of the intrusion. The conditions of emplacement at the present crustal location were ∼1,150°C, 2 kbar, and fO2 slightly above the wustite-magnetite (WM) buffer. The main differentiation process after emplacement was the sorting and redistribution of plagioclase and olivine crystals on a local scale accompanied by less efficient convection and minor settling of olivine. Calculated crystallization sequence for the parental magma is olivine+plagioclase (1,240°C)→olivine+plagioclase+magnetite (1,146°C, WM+0.5)→olivine+plagioclase+magnetite+augite (1,140°C, WM+0.5). The calculated compositions of the cumulus olivine and plagioclase in equilibrium with the parent magma at 1,150°C are Fo66.7±1.1 and An64.5±2.5, respectively, and are similar to the estimated average composition of primary olivine (Fo69.1±2.8) and the average composition of plagioclase core (An66.3±2.8) measured in drill core samples through the intrusion (Chalokwu and Grant 1987).

Epidote-amphibolite to amphibolite facies transition in the southern Appalachian Piedmont: P-T conditions across the garnet and cale-silicate isograds

Amphibolites occur in three distinct localities (Hudson Rapids, Davis Mill, and Lindsey Creek) in the west-central Georgia part of the Uchee belt, southern Appalachian Piedmont. Epidote-amphibolite facies assemblage (plagioclase [An24-36] + hornblende + epidote + sphene + quartz) at the Davis Mill occurrence gives way to the amphibolite assemblage (calcic plagio-clase [An33-88] + hornblende + garnet + epidote + ilmenite + quartz) at Hudson Rapids. Mineral chemistries indicate that the transition was controlled by increasing pressure and unusual bulk compositions. Equilibrium mineral assemblages record temperatures ranging from 610 to 780 °C at the garnet isograd, and from 570 to 634 °C close to the calc-silicate isograd. Estimated pressures range from 7 to 9.25 ±2 kbar. These P-T conditions are consistent with a thickened crustal section caused by emplacement of the Piedmont allochthon, followed by isobaric cooling (or isothermal compression), and the formation of symplectites of epidote + amphibole around plagioclase + clinopyroxene.

Open-system magma chamber process in the Freetown Complex of Sierra Leone: evidence from Zone 3

The ˜ 7 km thick Freetown layered complex of Sierra Leone consists of four zones each composed of a cyclically layered sequence of troctolite, gabbro, olivine gabbro, gabbronorite, and anorthosite. The complex is thought by previous workers to have solidified in situ from a single parental magma without stratigraphic changes in mineral compositions. Evidence for cryptic variation is presented based on electron microprobe analyses of mega-unit Zone 3. Two reversals in olivine forsterite content, plagioclase anorthite content, and 100 Mg/(Mg Fe 2 ) in clinopyroxene match the variations of Ni in olivine and Cr in clinopyroxene. These changes are consistent with a magma chamber that was open to periodic influxes of new magmas, and the mixing of new and fractionated resident magmas. Expansion of the magma chamber is thought to have occurred at 2000 m, corresponding to the level of a major influx.

Geochemical characteristics and KAr ages of rare-metal bearing pegmatites from the Birimian of southeastern Ghana

Abstract The pegmatite-aplite rocks at Mankwadzi (Ejisimanku Hills) in southeastern Ghana are part of the pegmatite district that extends from Cape Coast to Winneba along the Atlantic coastline. The pegmatites are associated with the Cape Coast granite complex and were intruded during the waning phase of the Eburnian Orogeny (∼2.0 Ga). Three muscovite separates from pegmatite give KAr retention ages of 1909 ± 13 Ma , 1965 ± 13 Ma and 2019 ± 14 Ma. A biotite separate from granite yields a KAr age of 1907 ± 13 Ma. These ages are similar to KAr dates previously reported for the Cape Coast granites, indicating that the granites and pegmatites are coeval and probably genetically linked. The pegmatites are enriched in Li, Be, Nb and Sn and considerably impoverished in Rb, Th, Y and REEs. Microscopic examination of quartz from the pegmatites shows a large number of low salinity fluid inclusions that can be divided into two types: (1) one-phase liquid or gas-filled inclusions; and (2) two-phase liquid-vapour inclusions, with the vapour occupying 2–5% of the volume. The homogenisation temperature of the fluid inclusions clusters between 129 and 144°C. These homogenisation temperatures lead to an inferred entrapment temperature of ∼300°C at a pressure of ∼2.5 kbar, which is estimated for the metamorphism of host hornblende schists. The pegmatite fluid inclusions are interpreted as being secondary to the quartz hosts.

Magma dynamics at the base of an evolving mafic magma chamber: Incompatible element evidence from the Partridge River intrusion, Duluth Complex, Minnesota, USA

Abstract A characteristic feature of the Partridge River intrusion of the Keweenawan Duluth Complex is the approximately fivefold to ninefold increase in the concentrations of incompatible elements in the lower zone compared with cumulates stratigraphically higher. The concentrations of incompatible elements decrease from the lower zone upward to steady state values, which is ascribed to variations in the proportions of trapped liquid rather than variable degrees of fractional crystallization of a single parental magma. The calculated average composition of trapped liquid using our algorithm is similar to typical Keweenawan low-alumina, high Ti P basalts associated with the Duluth Complex but is different from the leading edge ferrodioritic liquid quenched in the chilled margin of the intrusion. This difference suggests that the chilled margin does not represent the original (parental) magma composition from which the whole intrusion solidified, and that the enrichment of incompatible elements may be related to the local flotation of magmatic suspensions. To test the latter hypothesis numerically, we have used heat-mass transfer models, assuming a sheet-like magma chamber, to calculate the parameters of the model that best reproduce the observed distribution of incompatible elements in a mush zone at the base of the Partridge River intrusion. The results indicate that a mush zone enriched in the incompatible elements is produced if the velocity of movement of the lower solidification front into the magma body was less than the floating velocity of the bulk crystal mush. The dynamic parameters that best reproduce the observed distribution of incompatible elements include a magma emplacement pressure of 2 kbar, critical crystallinities of 50–68% in the mush zone from which the liquid is being expelled, and an emplacement temperature of ∼ 1160°C for the initial magma.

Petrology of the Freetown Layered Complex, Sierra Leone: Part I. Stratigraphy and Mineral-Chemical Evidence for Multiple Magma Injection

The Freetown layered complex, located on the western coast of Sierra Leone, is a rift-related tholeiitic intrusion associated with the Jurassic (∼193 Ma) opening of the Atlantic Ocean at midlatitude. The complex is ∼ 60 km long, 14 km wide, and 7 km thick along a major E-W traverse extending from Waterloo to York. Gravity data and dips of laminations in the layered rocks suggest that the intrusive complex is lopolithic in shape, with some parts presently being submarine. The exposed rocks consist of a rhythmically layered sequence of troctolite, olivine gabbro, gabbronorite, gabbro, and anorthosite. The complex has been divided into four zones delineated by (1) topographic expression, whereby the base of each zone forms a scarp, and the top forms dip slopes and strike valleys; and (2) cyclical repetition of rock types (Wells, 1962). A new detailed stratigraphic section along the Waterloo-York traverse is presented, in which Zone 3 is subdivided into an upper 2000-m-thick anorthosite-gabbro interval and a ...

Geochemistry, petrogenesis, and tectonic setting of amphibolites from the southernmost exposure of the Appalachian Piedmont

The Uchee belt of the southern Appalachian Piedmont consists of a sequence of amphibolite, amphibolitic gneiss, and gneissic calc-silicate surrounded by highly strained mylonitic rocks associated with motion along the Bartletts Ferry-Goat Rock fault system. Amphibolites from three major localities within the belt, the Hudson Mill Rapids, Davis Mill, and Lindsey Creek localities, have been analyzed for their major-and trace element chemistry. The mafic amphibolites are concluded to have been derived from intrinsically basaltic protoliths, as determined by the presence of patchy zoning in relict igneous plagioclase, normative mineralogy, Niggli trends, and a variety of diagnostic geochemical criteria. Davis Mill amphibolites are characterized by high REE abundances and flat REE pattern [

Constraints on the location of the Carolina/Avalon terrane boundary in the southernmost exposed Appalachians, western Georgia and eastern Alabama

(La/Yb)_{N} = 1.3 to 2.3