Petrological, Geochemical and Sr-Nd-O Isotopic Constraints on the Origin of Garnet and Spinel Pyroxenites from the Moldanubian Zone of the Bohemian Massif
Abstrakt
Garnet pyroxenites, spinel pyroxenites, and eclogites in the Moldanubian Zone of the Bohemian Massif form layers and lenses in mantle-derived peridotites that are enclosed by migmatitic gneisses and granulites. We have analysed major and trace elements, and Sr, Nd and oxygen isotopes for a suite of pyroxenites, which vary in composition and origin, from nine localities (Becvary, Horni Bory, Drahonin, Nihov, Mohelno, Nove Dvory, Horni Kounice, Karlstetten and Meidling-im-Tal) in the Gfohl Unit and Kutna Hora Complex.
Based on conventional geothermobarometry, most pyroxenites yield a restricted range of temperatures (similar to 875-975 degrees C) over a wide span of pressures (similar to 1.0-3.0 GPa). The pyroxenite suite exhibits large variations in elemental and isotopic compositions, reflecting its complex origin and evolution.
Based on the rare earth element (REE) compositions of clinopyroxene (Cpx), three types of pyroxenite can be distinguished: Type A with a light REE (LREE)-depleted patterns, Type B with an LREE-enriched pattern and Type C with a convex-upward REE pattern. Such REE patterns reflect derivation of the melts from depleted (Type A) and enriched (Types B and C) mantle sources.
Pyroxenites from eight localities originated as high-pressure crystal cumulates from transient basaltic melts migrating through the lithospheric mantle. In contrast, pyroxenites at the Becvary locality represent fragments of metamorphosed gabbroic cumulates from oceanic crust.
For the pyroxenite suite as a whole, a positive correlation between Sr/Nd and Eu/Eu*, radiogenic Sr-87/Sr-86 and negative epsilon(Nd) values in clinopyroxene, and variable delta O-18 values in coexisting garnet argue for the presence of a crustal component in the parental pyroxenite melts.