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Petrology of ultramafic xenoliths from Madeira island

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

J. Munha ,
T. Palacios ,
N. D. Macrae  and
J. Mata
J. Munha
Affiliation:
Departmento de Geologia, Faculdade de Ciencias, Universidade de Lisboa, Bloco C2, 5° Piso, 1700 Lisboa, Portugal
T. Palacios
Affiliation:
Departmento de Geologia, Faculdade de Ciencias, Universidade de Lisboa, Bloco C2, 5° Piso, 1700 Lisboa, Portugal
N. D. Macrae
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada
J. Mata
Affiliation:
Departmento de Geologia, Faculdade de Ciencias, Universidade de Lisboa, Bloco C2, 5° Piso, 1700 Lisboa, Portugal
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Abstract

Ultramafic xenoliths from Madeira island are divided into dunite/websterite/wehrlite/clinopyroxenite (DWWC) and harzburgite/lherzolite suites; the harzburgite/lherzolite xenoliths show abundant deformational features and are more refractory (Fo = 90–91) than the DWWC suite (Fo = 77–88).

DWWC xenoliths are spinel-bearing olivine ± orthophyroxene cumulates with intercumulus clinopyroxene and rare plagioclase, amphibole and phlogopite. Mineral chemistry and geothermobarometric data indicate that DWWC xenoliths crystallized at 1150–1300 °C from Madeiran alkalic basalts and accumulated in magma reservoir(s) located 36–45 km beneath the island.

The harzburgite/lherzolite xenoliths are composed of olivine + orthopyroxene + spinel ± clinopyroxene ± (rare) phlogopite and display alkali feldspar or clinopyroxenite veins and crystal aggregates. The complex thermal evolution recorded by these xenoliths and the close similarity of clinopyroxene REE contents and calculated fO2 values in both harzburgites and DWWC cumulates are attributed to recent infiltration of the harzburgites by melts trapped or crystallized within the mantle; these features, and the refractory bulk chemistry of the harzburgite/lherzolite suite, support the interpretation that these xenoliths represent depleted oceanic lithosphere variously modified by magmatism associated with the genesis of Madeira island. The association of these upper mantle xenoliths with cumulates crystallized from Madeiran magmas (DWWC) suggests that the harzburgite/lherzolite suite originated in the uppermost mantle above magma storage zone(s), probably near the boundary between the mantle and the overlying oceanic crust.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 127 , Issue 6 , November 1990 , pp. 543 - 566
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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