Contamination of the Bushveld Complex (South Africa) magmas by basinal brines: Stable isotopes in phlogopite from the UG2 chromitite

Abstract

Abstract There is abundant evidence for significant H2O in evolved melts from the platinum-rich UG2 chromitite and the Merensky Reef of the Bushveld Complex (South Africa), but there is no consensus about the source of H2O. We report triple-oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios of interstitial, late-magmatic phlogopite from three localities of the UG2 layer. The phlogopite yielded δD values of −43 to −23, which is >30 higher than previously known from Bushveld rocks and far above the mantle values of ~−75. The phlogopite triple-oxygen isotope ratios are the first to be reported for Bushveld rocks, with values of Δ′17O0.5305 (17O excess relative to the reference line 0.5305) from –0.069 to –0.044 (δ18O 5.2–6.2). The oxygen data support existing models of as much as 30%–40% contamination of mantle-derived magmas in the lower to middle crust. However, the high δD values require a second step of contamination, which we attribute to brines from the marine sediments in the Transvaal Basin at the emplacement level.