Deserpentinization and high-pressure (eclogite-facies) metamorphic features in the Eoarchean ultramafic body from Isua, Greenland

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Documents

  • Juan Miguel Guotana
  • Tomoaki Morishita
  • Ikuya Nishio
  • Akihiro Tamura
  • Tomoyuki Mizukami
  • Kenichiro Tani
  • Yumiko Harigane
  • Szilas, Kristoffer
  • D. Graham Pearson
Discontinuous chains of ultramafic rock bodies form part of the 3800–3700 Ma Isua Supracrustal Belt (ISB), hosted in the Itsaq Gneiss Complex of southwestern Greenland. These bodies are among the world’s oldest outcrops of ultramafic rocks and hence an invaluable geologic record. Ultramafic rocks from Lens B in the northwestern limb of ISB show characteristics of several stages of serpentinization and deserpentinization forming prograde and retrograde mineral assemblages. Ti-rich humite-group minerals such as titanian chondrodite (Ti-Chn) and titanian clinohumite (Ti-Chu) often occur as accessory phases in the metamorphosed ultramafic rocks. The Ti-rich humite minerals are associated with metamorphic olivine. The host olivine is highly forsteritic (Fo96-98) with variable MnO and NiO contents. The concentrations of the rare-earth elements (REE) and high-field strength elements (HFSE) of the metamorphic olivine are higher than typical mantle olivine. The textural and chemical characteristics of the olivine indicate metamorphic origin as a result of deserpentinization of a serpentinized ultramafic protolith rather than primary assemblage reflecting mantle residues from high-degrees of partial melting. The close association of olivine, antigorite and intergrown Ti-Chn and Ti-Chu suggests pressure condition between ∼1.3–2.6 GPa within the antigorite stability field (
Original languageEnglish
Article number101298
JournalGeoscience Frontiers
Volume13
Issue number1
Number of pages13
ISSN1674-9871
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

    Research areas

  • Titanian chondrodite, Titanian clinohumite, Isua supracrustal belt, UHP, Deserpentinization

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