Inheritance and refertilization of Upper Mantle rocks in Alpine type orogens and rift systems: what and why

Abstract:

Mantle peridotites and their serpentinized counterparts from ocean-continent transition zones (OCT's) and (ultra-) slow spreading ridges question a series of ‘common beliefs’ that have been applied to understand Alpine-type collisional orogens in the framework of the ophiolite concept. I will show that inherited mantle signatures play a key role for the interpretation of ophiolites, and similar processes are relevant for present-day passive margins.

Field data and petrology demonstrates that ancient, thermally undisturbed, pyroxenite-veined subcontinental mantle formed parts of the ocean floor next to thinned continental crust. These heterogeneities might comprise an ancient subduction component. Mantle upwelling and decompression melting during rifting forms partial melts that enter a thick conductive lithospheric mantle and inevitably leads to freezing of the melt and refertilization of the lithospheric mantle. Mafic bodies (gabbros, basalts) are small and discontinous. The abundance of plagioclase peridotites in the Alpine ophiolites and elswhere along rifted margins are interpreted as recorders of refertilization processes related to thinning and exhumation of mantle lithosphere. Similar features are found (ultra-) slow spreading ridges. Another important result is the discovery of extremely refractory Nd-isotopic compositions with highly radiogenic ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd, which indicates that partial melting processes and Jurassic magmatism in the Western Tethys are locally decoupled. Although the isotopic variability along ridges is generally explained by mantle heterogeneities such as pyroxenites, an alternative is that these depleted domains represent snapshots of melting processes that are related to Permian and/or even older crust forming processes, and during the most recent decompression they were unffected by (further) melting. Similarly, refractory rocks from rifted margins and (ultra-) slow spreading ridges have been interpreted to represent ancient melting, mainly based on Os-isotopic studies. If the dimensions of mantle exhumation and the formation of proto-oceanic crust (refertilized domains) can be compared to passive margins such as Iberia-Newfoundland or the Australian - Antartic margins, true oceanic crust might form later than is generally assumed.