Multi-stage formation of the Feragen ophiolite, Norway: Implication from petrology and geochemistry of peridotites and chromitites and its potential for prospecting
Tian Qiu,
Fa-hui Xiong,
David G. Gee,
Yuan Li,
Jing-sui Yang
Affiliations
Tian Qiu
Center for Advanced Research on the Mantle (CARMA), Key Laboratory of Deep-Earth Dynamics of Ministry of Natural Resources, Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, Guangzhou 511458, China
Fa-hui Xiong
Center for Advanced Research on the Mantle (CARMA), Key Laboratory of Deep-Earth Dynamics of Ministry of Natural Resources, Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, Guangzhou 511458, China; Key Laboratory of Depositional Mineralization and Sedimentary Minerals, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China; Corresponding author: (Fa-hui Xiong)
David G. Gee
Orogen Dynamics Department of Earth Sciences Uppsala University Villavagen 16, Uppsala SE-75236, Sweden
Yuan Li
Center for Advanced Research on the Mantle (CARMA), Key Laboratory of Deep-Earth Dynamics of Ministry of Natural Resources, Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China
Jing-sui Yang
Center for Advanced Research on the Mantle (CARMA), Key Laboratory of Deep-Earth Dynamics of Ministry of Natural Resources, Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, Guangzhou 511458, China; School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
ABSTRACT: The ultramafic massif of Feragen, which belongs to the eastern ophiolitic belt of Norway, has abundant amounts of chromite ores. Recent studies have revealed a complex melt evolution in a supra-subduction zone (SSZ) environment. This study presents new whole-rock major element, trace element, and platinum-group element chemistry to evaluate their petrogenesis and tectonic evolution. Harzburgites have high CaO, Al2O3, TiO2, MgO, and REE contents corresponding to abyssal peridotites, whereas dunites have low CaO, Al2O3, TiO2, MgO, and REE contents corresponding to SSZ peridotites. The Cr# and TiO2 of chromian spinels in the harzburgites suggest as much as about 15%–20% melting and the dunites are more depleted with > 40% melting. The harzburgites and the dunites and high-Cr chromitites represent, respectively, the products of low-degree partial melting in a back-arc setting, and the products of melt-rock interaction in a SSZ environment. The calculated ƒO2 values for dunites and high-Cr chromitites (−0.17 – +0.23 and +2.78 – +5.65, respectively and generally above the FMQ buffer) are also consistent with the interaction between back-arc ophiolites with oxidized boninitic melts in a SSZ setting.