Re-evaluation of magma compositions and processes in the uppermost Critical Zone of the Bushveld Complex

Abstract

AbstractA detailed geochemical study is presented of the uppermost Critical Zone, especially of the footwall and hanging wall to the Merensky Reef, at Impala Platinum Mines in the Bushveld Complex. The approximately 100 m-thick sequence below the Merensky Reef consists of 13 distinct layers which have sharp boundaries. They are adcumulates with varying proportions of cumulus plagioclase, orthopyroxene and chromite.Experimental studies on the composition of coexisting orthopyroxene liquid indicate that the magma which produced this sequence contained between 4 and 6% MgO. The magma from which the Merensky Reef formed was more evolved than the footwall magma.Significant variations exist for both the En content of orthopyroxene and mg# number of whole-rock analyses in short vertical sections. Pyroxenite and norite always have higher values than anorthosite. Extremely sharp breaks in these values correlate with changes in modal proportions, and argue against both significant fractionation within the studied interval, and infiltration metasomatism. Quantitative modelling shows that the entire footwall section could have contained pyroxene with a uniform primary composition of En82, and that all the variation now observed reflects the effect of reaction with trapped magma.Two independent methods for determining the proportion of trapped liquid are presented, based on mg# number and incompatible element abundances. Both yield a uniform proportion in all samples of approximately 10%. Immiscible sulphide liquid from the Merensky Reef can be shown to have infiltrated downwards for <5 m, despite its high density contrast with silicate magma, very low viscosity and low crystallization temperature. Residual silicate magma would have had even more restricted mobility. The migration of residual liquid or fluid through pothole structures in the floor of the Merensky Reef is not supported by the present data.