Petrogenesis of fertile mantle peridotites from the Monte del Estado massif (Southwest Puerto Rico): a preserved section of Proto-Caribbean lithospheric mantle?

Authors

  • C. MARCHESI Géosciences Montpellier UMR 5243, CNRS-Université Montpellier II, Place E. Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France. Instituto andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, CSiC-Universidad de Granada. Avenida de las Palmeras 4, 18100 Armilla (Granada), Spain. Marchesi E-mail: claudio@iact.ugr-csic.es
  • W.T. JOLLY Department of Earth Sciences, Brock University, St Catharines. Ontario L2S 3A1, Canada
  • J.F. LEWIS Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The George Washington University. Washington DC 20052, U.S.A.
  • C.J. GARRIDO Instituto andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, CSiC-Universidad de Granada. Avenida de las Palmeras 4, 18100 Armilla (Granada), Spain. Marchesi E-mail: claudio@iact.ugr-csic.es
  • J.A. PROENZA FERNANDEZ epartament de Cristal·lografia, Mineralogia i dipòsits Minerals, Facultat de Geologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB). Martí i Franquès s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
  • E.G. LIDIAK Department of Geology and Planetary Science, University of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh PA 15269, U.S.A.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1344/105.000001713

Keywords:

Abyssal peridotite, Fractional melting, Ophiolite, Proto-Caribbean plate, Puerto Rico

Abstract

The Monte del Estado massif is the largest and northernmost serpentinized peridotite belt in southwest Puerto Rico. It is mainly composed of spinel lherzolite and minor harzburgite with variable clinopyroxene modal abundances. Mineral and whole rock major and trace element compositions of peridotites coincide with those of fertile abyssal mantle rocks from mid ocean ridges. Peridotites lost 2-14 wt% of relative MgO and variable amounts of CaO by serpentinization and seafloor weathering. HREE contents in whole rock indicate that the Monte del Estado peridotites are residues after low to moderate degrees (2-15%) of fractional partial melting in the spinel stability field. However, very low LREE/HREE and MREE/HREE in clinopyroxene cannot be explained by melting models of a spinel lherzolite source and support that the Monte del Estado peridotites experienced initial low fractional melting degrees (~ 4%) in the garnet stability field. The relative enrichment of LREE in whole rock is not due to alteration processes but probably reflects the capture of percolating fluid/melt fractions or the crystallization of sub-percent amounts of hydrous minerals (e.g., amphibole, phlogopite) along grain boundaries or as microinclusions in minerals. We propose that the Monte del Estado peridotite belt represents a section of ancient Proto-Caribbean (Atlantic) lithospheric mantle originated by seafloor spreading between North and South America in the Late Jurassic- Early Cretaceous. This portion of oceanic lithospheric mantle was subsequently trapped in the forearc region of the Greater Antilles paleo-island arc generated by the northward subduction of the Caribbean plate beneath the Proto-Caribbean ocean. Finally, the Monte del Estado peridotites belt was emplaced in the Early Cretaceous probably as result of the change in subduction polarity of the Greater Antilles paleo-island arc without having been significantly modified by subduction processes

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2011-11-30

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