G. Demarchi

Evidence of mantle metasomatism and heterogeneity from peridotite inclusions of northeastern Brazil and Paraguay

Abstract Textural-petrographic features, major and trace elements and mineral chemistry are reported for spinel-peridotite xenoliths from northeastern Brazil (NE-suite) and Paraguay (PY-suite). Variation trends defined by bulk rock and mineral chemistry are consistent with the effects of variable degree of high-pressure melting for both suites. The PY-suite strongly differs from the NE-suite by its very high contents of incompatible elements. This different whole-rock chemistry is related to the presence of glassy-microcrystalline blebs which are interpreted as remains of pre-existing hydrous phases of metasomatic origin. The difference between the two suites is also recorded in the chemistry of pyroxenes and spinels, which develop along different variation patterns. Although the suites partially overlap in their ranges of mg opx (Mg/(Fe 2+ + Fe 3+ ) ratio in orthopyroxenes), the PY-suite is, on the average, more mg opx rich (residual) than the NE-suite. Within the PY-suite a rough positive correlation exists between degree of residuality and degree of metasomatic effects. The sharp differences between the NE-suite and the PY-suite imply mantle heterogeneity on regional scale, whereas the variability within each suite is essentially related to different degrees of melting and/or metasomatism and imply mantle heterogeneity on local scale.

Inter- and intra-crystalline temperature and pressure estimates on pyroxenes from NE Brazil mantle xenoliths

Merciers thermobarometer (Mercier 1980) and Saxenas thermometer (Dal Negro et al. 1982) were applied to single pyroxenes of both porphyroclastic (PF) and protogranular (PR) spinel peridotitic nodules enclosed in alkaline products related to necks of North-Eastern Brazil. Intercrystalline temperatures obtained using both orthopyroxene (opx) and clinopyroxene (cpx) compositions were in agreement, and were lower in protogranular than in porphyroclastic nodules (1051±57 and 1266±19°C respectively). In contrast, pressure estimates using cpx and opx were conflicting, in particular as regards PF nodules. In fact for PF nodules cpx compositions point to 27–32 kbar (mean 29±2) whereas opx compositions point to 17–19 kbar (mean 18±1). Conversely, PR nodule cpx and opx compositions point to similar values 17–24 and 15–18 kbar respectively (mean 19±4). The result obtained for PF nodules using cpx composition clearly contrasts with petrographic evidence and it is due to the peculiar composition of PF cpx (e.g. low Ca content, from 0.645 to 0.737 atoms per formula unit, a.f.u.) that strongly affects the barometric formulation. The PR and PF cpxs reveal similar mean intracrystalline temperature estimates (712±112 and 778±217°C, respectively). These, considering the difference of about 200°C in the intercrystalline temperature estimates, indicate that the exchange cation reaction between the M1 and M2 sites was a faster process in PF than in PR cpx, favoured by the low Ca content of PF cpx. Thus alternatively, the composition of PF cpx, characterized by a high rate of Ca » Mg substitution in the M2 site, may not affect the intercrystalline temperature. Therefore the difference of about 200°C found in intercrystalline temperatures between PR and PF cpxs, in spite of their same pressure values, may be interpreted as indicating an anomalous temperature gradient in the region.

Effects of Ca-Mg substitution in C2/c pyroxene structure on natural clinopyroxenes from spinel peridotite nodules (Pico Cabugi, Brazil)

X-ray crystal structure refinements and microprobe analyses of clinopyroxenes from two suites of spinel-peridotite nodules are compared for an understanding of the structural response to a decrease in Ca content. The kinking of the tetrahedral chain (O3-O3-O3 angle) of the C2/c structure associated with decreased Ca content shows behavior similar to that observed for the A-tetrahedral chain of the P21/c structure. Contemporaneously the occupancy of the M2′ split site increases. In addition, as a consequence of the low Ca content, the M2 polyhedron dominates the structural rearrangement of the clinopyroxenes considered here.