Olivine as an indicator of polygenic assemblage of inclusions from Late Cenozoic volcanic rocks in the Tunka Valley, Baikal Rift Zone

Abstract

Research subject. Olivine of deep-seated inclusions from Late Cenozoic volcanic rocks of the Tunka valley.Materials and methods. Electron probe microanalysis of minerals with determination of calcium in olivine by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). A complex of methods of quantitative chemical analysis for determination of major oxides in rocks.Results. Deep-seated nodules from Late Cenozoic volcanic rocks in the Tunka Valley characterize the root part of the Slyudyanka metamorphic subterrane, formed during collisional accretion of the Khamar-Daban terrane to the Siberian paleocontinent in the Early Paleozoic and reactivated in the Late Cenozoic. From bulk compositions of deep-seated nodules, groups of xenoliths (restites, rocks closed to the primitive mantle composition, and metasomatites) and cognate rocks (magmatic and magmatic-metasomatic genesis) were distinguished. The polygenetic character of this assemblage is designated by variations of major and trace-element abundances in olivine. In olivine of xenoliths, forsterite (Fo) ranges from 86 to 91% under abundances of NiO – 0.2–0.5, MnO – 0.1–0.2, and CaO < 0.16 wt %. In olivine of magmatic rocks and those of mixed (magmatic-metasomatic) genesis, Fo decreases to 64% with a decrease in NiO (Ni/Mg ratio) and an increase in MnO and CaO. Magmatic olivine shows 0.16–0.21 wt % MnO and about 0.1 wt % CaO, in contrast to olivine of magmatic-metasomatic genesis, enriched in these oxides to 0.5 wt % and 0.45 wt %, respectively, with an increase in the Mn/Fe and Ca/Fe ratios. Olivine trends of the shallow polygenetic assemblage of inclusions are emphasized when compared with those of the deeper ones from volcanic rocks of the Vitim and Oka plateaus that represent a transition from the garnet to the spinel-pyroxene facies in mantle peridotites.Conclusion. Olivine compositions are indicative of the shallow origin of peridotite and pyroxenite nodules from the crust and crust–mantle transition in the root part of the Slyudyanka collision zone reactivated in the Late Cenozoic.