Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Relatively iron-rich lherzolite xenoliths of the Cr-diopside suite: A guide to the primary nature of anorogenic tholeiitic andesite magmas

  • Published:
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A relatively Fe-rich lherzolite xenolith (mg=79) in analcimite from Spring Mount, New South Wales, belongs to the Cr-diopside inclusion suite and accordingly may be assigned an accidental, upper mantle origin. More Mg-rich variants, transitional to the most common Cr-diopside xenoliths (mg=88–92), are also upper mantle components. The relative abundance of Mg-rich xenoliths may reflect factors controlling xenolith preservation in higher temperature lavas. Significant inhomogeneity with respect to Mg/Fe is indicated for the upper mantle, thereby greatly expanding the spectrum of possible primary melts. The abundance of ‘evolved’ volcanics in continental flood ‘basalt’ provinces in considered in terms of this proposal. Least squares mixing calculations suggest that anorogenic tholeiitic andesites may represent primary magmas in their own right, formed by partial melting of relatively Fe-rich lherzolite.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbott, M.J.: Petrology of the Nandewar Volcano, N.S.W., Australia. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 20, 115–134 (1969)

    Google Scholar 

  • Aoki, K., Kushiro, I.: Some clinopyroxenes from ultramafic inclusions in Dreiser Weiher, Eifel. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 18, 326–337 (1968)

    Google Scholar 

  • Aoki, K., Prinz, M.: Chromian spinels in lherzolite inclusions from Itinomegata, Japan. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 46, 249–256 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • Basu, A.R., MacGregor, I.D.: Chromite spinels from ultramafic xenoliths. Geochim. Gosmochim. Acta 39, 937–945 (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  • Best, M.G.: Kaersutite-peridotite inclusions and kindred megacrysts in basanitic lavas, Grand Canyon, Arizona. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 27, 25–44 (1970)

    Google Scholar 

  • Best, M.G.: Contrasting types of chromium-spinel peridotite xenoliths in basanitic lavas, western Grand Canyon, Arizona. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 23, 229–237 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • Binns, R.A., Duggan, M.B., Wilkinson, J.F.G.: High-pressure megacrysts in alkaline lavas from northeastern New South Wales. Am. J. Sci. 269, 132–168 (1970)

    Google Scholar 

  • Carmichael, I.S.E.: The petrology of Thingmuli, a Teriary volcano in eastern Iceland. J. Petrol. 5, 435–460 (1964)

    Google Scholar 

  • Carmichael, I.S.E., Nicholls, J.: Iron-titanium oxides and oxygen fugacities in volcanic rocks. J. Geophys. Res. 72, 4665–4687 (1967)

    Google Scholar 

  • Carmichael, I.S.E., Turner, F.J., Verhoogen, J.: Igneous petrology, p. 739. New York: McGraw-Hill 1974

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, N.A.: An experimental study of spinel clinopyroxenite xenoliths from the Duncansby Ness vent, Caithness, Scotland. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 51, 223–230 (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cordani, U.G., Vandoras, P.: Basaltic rocks of the Paraná Basin. In: Problems in Brazilian Gondwana geology (J.J. Bigarella et al., eds.), pp. 207–231. Curitiba, Brazil 1967

  • Cox, K.G.: The Karroo volcanic cycle. J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 128, 311–336 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, K.G., Johnson, R.L., Monkman, L.J., Stillman, C.J., Vail, J.R., Wood, D.N.: The geology of the Nuanetsi igenous province. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, Ser. A, 257, 71–218 (1965)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, K.G., Macdonald, R., Hornung, G.: Geochemical and petrographic provinces in the Karroo basalts of southern Africa. Am. Mineralogist 52, 1451–1474 (1967)

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickey, J.S.: Partial fusion products in alpine-type peridotites: Serrania de la Ronda and other examples. Mineral. Soc. Am. Spec. Papers 3, 33–49 (1970)

    Google Scholar 

  • Duggan, M.B.: The mineralogy and petrology of the southern portion of the Tweed Shield Volcano, northeastern New South Wales. Ph. D. Thesis (unpubl.) University of New England, Armidale, N.S.W. 1974

    Google Scholar 

  • Duggan, M.B., Wilkinson, J.F.G.: Tholeiitic andesite of high-pressure origin from the Tweed Shield Volcano, northeastern New South Wales. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 39, 267–276 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, D.J.: High-pressure cognate inclusions in the Newer Volcanics of Victoria. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 58, 149–180 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey, F.A., Green, D.H.: The mineralogy, geochemistry and origin of lherzolite inclusions in Victorian basanites. Geochim. Gosmochim. Acta 38, 1023–1059 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • Fujii, T.: Solubility of Al2O3 in enstatite coexisting with forsterite and spinel. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Year Book 75, 566–571 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghose, N.C.: Composition and origin of Deccan basalts. Lithos 9, 65–73 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, D.H.: Composition of basaltic magmas as indicators of conditions of origin: application to oceanic volcanism. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, Ser. A 268, 707–725 (1971)

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, D.H.: Conditions of melting of basanite magma from garnet peridotite. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 17, 456–465 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, D.H.: Experimental testing of ‘equilibrium’ partial melting of peridotite under water-saturated, high-pressure conditions. Canad. Mineralogist 14, 255–268 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, D.H., Edgar, A.D., Beasley, P., Kiss, E., Ware, N.G..: Upper mantle source for some hawaiites, mugearites and benmoreites. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 48, 33–43 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, D.H., Ringwood, A.E.: The genesis of basaltic magmas. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 15, 103–190 (1967)

    Google Scholar 

  • Herzberg, C.T., Chapman, N.A.: Clinopyroxene geothermometry of spinel-lherzolites. Am. Mineralogist 61, 626–637 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchison, R., Chambers, A.L., Paul, D.K., Harris, P.G.: Chemical variation among French ultramafic xenoliths —evidence for a heterogeneous upper mantle. Mineral. Mag. 40, 153–170 (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  • Irving, A.J.: Pyroxene-rich ultramafic xenoliths in the Newer Basalts of Victoria. Neues Jahrb. Mineral. Abhandl. 120, 147–167 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ishibashi, K.: Petrochemical study of basic and ultrabasic inclusions in basaltic rocks from northern Kyushu, Japan. Mem. Fac. Sci. Kyushu Univ. Ser. D 20, 85–146 (1970)

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, E.D., Wright, T.L.: Xenoliths in the Honolulu Volcanic Series. J. Petrol. 11, 405–430 (1970)

    Google Scholar 

  • Jamieson, E.G.: Evidence on the evolution of basaltic magma at elevated pressures. Nature 212, 243–246 (1966)

    Google Scholar 

  • Konda, T.: Deccan basalts at Mahabaleshwar, India. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 51, 235–262 (1971)

    Google Scholar 

  • Knutson, J.: Petrology and geochemistry of igneous rocks in the Comboyne Plateau-Lorne Basin area, N.S.W. Ph.D. Thesis (unpubl.) Macquarie University, North Ryde, N.S.W. 1975

    Google Scholar 

  • Knutson, J., Green, T.H.: Experimental duplication of a highpressure megacryst/cumulate assemblage in a near-saturated hawaiite. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 52, 121–132 (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuno, H.: Mafic and ultramafic nodules in basaltic rocks of Hawaii. Geol. Soc. Am. Mem. 115, 189–234 (1969)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuno, H., Aoki, K.: Chemistry of ultramafic nodules and their bearing on the origin of basaltic magmas. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 3, 273–301 (1970)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kushiro, I.: Origin of some magmas in oceanic and circum-oceanic regions. Tectonophysics 17, 211–223 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kushiro, I., Shimizu, N., Nakamura, Y.: Compositions of coexisting liquid and solid phases formed upon melting of natural garnet and spinel lherzolites at high pressures: a preliminary report. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 14, 19–25 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kutolin, V.A., Frolova, V.M.: Petrology of ultrabasic inclusions from basalts of Minusa and Transbaikalian regions (Siberia, USSR). Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 29, 163–179 (1970)

    Google Scholar 

  • Leterrier, J., La Roche, H., Ruegg, N.R.: Composition chimique et parenté tholéiitique de roches basaltiques du Bassin du Parana. Compt. Rend. 274, 1772–1775 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • Littlejohn, A.L., Greenwood, H.J.: Lherzolite nodules in basalts from British Columbia, Canada. Canad. J. Earth Sci. 11, 1288–1308 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald, G.A., Katsura, T.: Chemical composition of Hawaiian lavas. J. Petrol. 5, 82–133 (1964)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason, D.R.: The geology of the Kyogle district, northeastern New South Wales. B.Sc. (Hons) Thesis (unpubl.) University of New England, Armidale, N.S.W. 1969

    Google Scholar 

  • McBirney, A.R., Williams, H.: Geology and petrology of the Galapagos Islands. Geol. Soc. Am. Mem. 118, p. 197 (1969)

    Google Scholar 

  • McDougall, I.: Geochemistry and origin of basalt of the Columbia River Group, Oregon and Washington. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 87, 777–792 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mercier, J-C.C.: Single-pyroxene geothermometry and geobarometry. Am. Mineralogist 61, 603–615 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mercier, J-C.C., Nicolas, A.: Textures and fabrics of upper-mantle peridotites as illustrated by xenoliths from basalts. J. Petrol. 16, 454–487 (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mori, T.: Geothermometry of spinel lherzolites. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 59, 261–279 (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  • Muir, I.D.: Differentiation and pyroxene relations in the Deccan Trap. In: West Commemoration Volume, pp. 394–404. Faridabad: Today and Tomorrow's Printers and Publishers 1970

    Google Scholar 

  • Mysen, B.: Partitioning of iron and magnesium between crystals and partial melts in peridotite upper mantle. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 52, 69–76 (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mysen, B.O.: Experimental determination of some geochemical parameters relating to conditions of equilibration of peridotite in the upper mantle. Am. Mineralogist 61, 677–683 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Musen, B., Boettcher, A.L.: Melting of a hydrous mantle: II. Geochemistry of crystals and liquids formed by anatexis of mantle peridotite at high pressures and high temperatures as a function of controlled activities of water, hydrogen and carbon dioxide. J. Petrol. 16, 549–593 (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mysen, B.O., Heier, K.S.: Petrogenesis of eclogites in high grade metamorphic gneisses, exemplified by the Hareidland eclogite, Western Norway. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 36, 73–94 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mysen, B.O., Kushiro, I.: Compositional variation of coexisting phases with degree of melting of peridotite under upper mantle conditions. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Year Book 75, 546–555 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls, I.A., Ringwood, A.E.: Effect of water on olivine stability in tholeiites and the production of SiO2-saturated magmas in the island arc environment. J. Geol. 81, 285–300 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nockolds, S.R.: Average chemical compositions of some igneous rocks. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 65, 1007–1032 (1954)

    Google Scholar 

  • Obata, M.: The solubility of Al2O3 in orthopyroxenes in spinel and plagioclase peridotites and spinel pyroxenite. Am. Mineralogist 61, 804–816 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Presnall, D.C.: Alumina content of enstatite as a geobarometer for plagioclase and spinel lherzolites. Am. Mineralogist 61, 582–587 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ringwood, A.E.: The chemical composition and origin of the earth. In: Advances in earth sciences, P.M. Hurley, ed., pp. 287–356. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press 1966

    Google Scholar 

  • Ringwood, A.E.: Composition and petrology of the Earth's mantle, p. 618. New York: McGraw-Hill 1975

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodgers, K.A., Brothers, R.N.: Olivine, pyroxene, feldspar, and spinel in ultramafic nodules from Auckland, New Zealand. Mineral. Mag. 37, 375–390 (1969)

    Google Scholar 

  • Roeder, P.L., Emslie, R.F.: Olivine-liquid equilibria. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 29, 275–289 (1970)

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, H.R., Jackson, E.D.: Linear island chains in the Pacific: Result of thermal plumes or gravitational anchors? J. Geophys. Res. 78, 8634–8652 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • Snavely, P.D., Maceod, N.S., Holly, C.W.: Miocene tholeiitic basalts of coastal Oregon and Washington and their relations to coeval basalts of the Columbia Plateau. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 84, 387–424 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuckless, J.S., Irving, A.J.: Strontium isotope geochemistry of megacrysts and host basalts from southeastern Australia. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 40, 209–213 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sukheswala, E.N., Poldervaart, A.: Deccan basalts of the Bombay area, India. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 69, 1475–1494 (1958)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland, F.L.: High-pressure inclusions in tholeiitic basalt and the range of lherzolite-bearing magmas in the Tasmanian volcanic province. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 24, 317–324 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, R.N.: Evidence for a chemical discontinuity near the basalt-“andesite” transition in many anorogenic volcanic suites. Nature 236, 106–110 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, R.N.: Primary basalts and magma genesis I. Skye, north-west Scotland. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 45, 317–341 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, R.N.: Primary basalts and magma genesis II. Snake River Plain, Idaho, U.S.A. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 52, 213–232 (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  • Tilley, C.E., Thompson, R.N.: Melting and crystallization relations of the Snake River Basalts of southern Idaho, U.S.A. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 8, 79–92 (1970)

    Google Scholar 

  • Varne, R.: On the origin of spinel lherzolite inclusions in basaltic rocks from Tasmania and elsewhere. J. Petrol. 18, 1–23 (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  • Vilminot, J.-C.: Les enclaves de peridotite et de pyroxénolite à spinelle dans le basalte du Rocher du Lion (Chaîne du Devès, Haute-Loire). Bull. Soc. Franc. Minéral. Crist. 88, 109–118 (1965)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wass, S.Y.: Oxides of low pressure origin from alkali basaltic rocks, Southern Highlands, N.S.W., and their bearing on the petrogenesis of alkali basaltic magmas. J. Geol. Soc. Australia 20, 427–447 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • Waters, A.C.: Stratigraphic and lithologic variations in the Columbia River basalt. Am. J. Sci. 259, 583–611 (1961)

    Google Scholar 

  • Waters, A.C.: Basalt types and their tectonic associations: Pacific Northwest of the United States. Am. Geophys. Union Geophys. Mon. 6, 158–170 (1962)

    Google Scholar 

  • West, W.D.: The petrography and petrogenesis of forty-eight flows of Deccan Trap penetrated by borings in western India. Nat. Inst. Sci. India Trans. 4, 1–56 (1958)

    Google Scholar 

  • White, R.W.: Ultramafic inclusions in basaltic rocks from Hawaii. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 12, 245–314 (1966)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, J.F.G.: Mineralogical, geochemical, and petrogenetic aspects of an analcite-basalt from the New England district of New South Wales. J. Petrol. 3, 192–214 (1962)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, J.F.G.: The magmatic affinities of some volcanic rocks from the Tweed Shield Volcano, S.E. Queensland-N.E. New South Wales. Geol. Mag. 105, 275–289 (1968)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, J.F.G.: Garnet clinopyroxenite inclusions from diatremes in the Gloucester area, New South Wales, Australia. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 46, 275–299 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, J.F.G.: An Al-spinel ultramafic-mafic inclusion suite and high-pressure megacrysts in an analcimite and their bearing on basaltic magma fractionation at elevated pressures. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 53, 71–104 (1975a)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, J.F.G.: Ultramafic inclusions and high pressure megacrysts from a nephelinite sill, Nandewar Montains, north-eastern New South Wales, and their bearing on the origin of certain ultramafic inclusions in alkaline volcanic rocks. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 51, 235–262 (1975b)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, J.F.G.: Some subcalcic clinopyroxenites from Salt Lake Crater, Oahu, and their petrogenetic significance. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 58, 181–202 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, J.F.G.: Petrogenetic aspects of some alkali volcanic rocks. J. Proc. Roy. Soc. N.S. Wales 110, 117–138 (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, J.F.G., Duggan, N.T.: Some tholeiites from the Inverell area, New South Wales, and their bearing on low-pressure tholeiite fractionation. J. Petrol. 14, 339–348 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilshire, H.G., Binns, R.A.: Basic and ultrabasic xenoliths from volcanic rocks of New South Wales. J. Petrol. 2, 185–208 (1961)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilshire, H.G., Pike, J.E.N.: Upper mantle diapirism: evidence from analogous features in alpine peridotites and ultramafic inclusions in basalt. Geology 3, 467–470 (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilshire, H.G., Shervais, J.W.: Al-augite and Cr-diopside ultramafic xenoliths in basaltic rocks from the western United States. Phys. Chem. Earth 9, 257–272 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, T.L.: Chemistry of Kilauea and Mauna Loa lava in space and time. U.S. Geol. Surv. Profess. Papers 735, 1–40 (1971)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, T.L., Doherty, P.C.: A linear programming and least squares computer method for solving petrologic mixing problems. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 81, 1995–2008 (1970)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, T.L., Grolier, M.J., Swanson, D.A.: Chemical variation related to the stratigraphy of the Columbia River basalt. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 84, 371–386 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, University of New England, 2351, Armidale, New South Wales

    J. F. G. Wilkinson

  2. Department of Geology, University of Western Australia, 6009, Neulands, Western Australia

    R. A. Binns

Authors
  1. J. F. G. Wilkinson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. A. Binns
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wilkinson, J.F.G., Binns, R.A. Relatively iron-rich lherzolite xenoliths of the Cr-diopside suite: A guide to the primary nature of anorogenic tholeiitic andesite magmas. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 65, 199–212 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00371060

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00371060

Keywords

Search

Navigation