Geodynamic implications of ophiolitic chromitites in the La Cabaña ultramafic bodies, Central Chile

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dc.contributor.authorGonzález-Jiménez, José María
dc.contributor.authorBarra, Fernando
dc.contributor.authorWalker, Richard J.
dc.contributor.authorReich, Martin
dc.contributor.authorGervilla, Fernando
dc.date.accessioned2022-01-05T15:10:23Z
dc.date.available2022-01-05T15:10:23Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.description.abstractChromitites (>80% volume chromite) hosted in two ultramafic bodies (Lavanderos and Centinela Bajo) from the Palaeozoic metamorphic basement of the Chilean Coastal Cordillera were studied in terms of their chromite composition, platinumgroup element (PGE) abundances, and Re-Os isotopic systematics. Primary chromite (Cr# = 0.64–0.66; Mg# = 48.71– 51.81) is only preserved in some massive chromitites from the Centinela Bajo ultramafic body. This chemical fingerprint is similar to other high-Cr chromitites from ophiolite complexes, suggesting that they crystallized from arc-type melt similar to high-Mg island-arc tholeiites (IAT) and boninites in supra-subduction mantle. The chromitites display enrichment in IPGE (Os, Ir, Ru) over PPGE (Rh, Pt, Pd), with PGE concentrations between 180 and 347 ppb, as is typical of chromitites hosted in the mantle of supra-subduction zone (SSZ) ophiolites. Laurite (RuS2)-erlichmanite (OsS2) phases are the most abundant inclusions of platinum-group minerals (PGM) in chromite, indicating crystallization from S-undersaturated melts in the subarc mantle. The metamorphism associated with the emplacement of the ultramafic bodies in the La Cabaña has been determined to be ca. 300 Ma, based on K-Ar dating of fuchsite. Initial 187Os/188Os ratios for four chromitite samples, calculated for this age, range from 0.1248 to 0.1271. These isotopic compositions are well within the range of chromitites hosted in the mantle section of other Phanaerozoic ophiolites. Collectively, these mineralogical and geochemical features are interpreted in terms of chromite crystallization in dunite channels beneath a spreading centre that opened a marginal basin above a supra-subduction zone. This implies that chromitite-bearing serpentinites in the metamorphic basement of the Coastal Cordillera are of oceanic-mantle origin and not oceanic crust as previously suggested. We suggest that old subcontinental mantle underlying the hypothetical Chilenia micro-continent was unroofed and later altered during the opening of the marginal basin. This defined the compositional and structural framework in which the protoliths of the meta-igneous and meta-sedimentary rocks of the Eastern and Western Series of the Chilean Coastal Cordillera basement were formed.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThis research was funded by FONDECYT project #1110345 and the project CGL2010-15171 funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science.en_US
dc.identifierhttps://doi.org/10.13016/fl1q-vo56
dc.identifier.citationhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00206814.2014.947334en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/28270
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherTaylor & Francis Group - International Geology Reviewen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtCollege of Computer, Mathematical & Natural Sciencesen_us
dc.relation.isAvailableAtGeologyen_us
dc.relation.isAvailableAtDigital Repository at the University of Marylanden_us
dc.relation.isAvailableAtUniversity of Maryland (College Park, MD)en_us
dc.relation.ispartofseriesInternational Geology Review;
dc.subjectchromite; ophiolite; marginal basin; Chile; Chileniaen_US
dc.titleGeodynamic implications of ophiolitic chromitites in the La Cabaña ultramafic bodies, Central Chileen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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