Examples of SIMS geochemical and petrologic applications
One of our first applications addressed to the study of pyroxenes and amphiboles from the Proterozoic Ikasaulak intrusive complex (SE Greenland) (Vannucci et al., 1991a) allowed for the interpretation of petrogenetic processes involving the interaction between melts of mantle origin and crustal magmas, in the presence of significant fluid activity.
The ion microprobe was used in the geochemical study of REE and other trace elements in cpx of spinel lherzolites and pyroxenites from the island of Zabargad (Red Sea), in the characterisation of deep magmatic processes and metasomatic events, as well as in the investigation of trace-element partition in "subsolidus" reactions, such as the garnet breakdown (Vannucci et al., 1991b; Piccardo et al., 1993; Vannucci et al., 1993a). The important point is that the SIMS study in pyroxenes and plagioclases has revealed complex geochemical histories which were not recorded by the whole rock system (Fig. 1).
| Fig. 1- The data from Zabargad samples indicate that both orthopyroxene and plagioclase have unusual trace-element abundances. Most noticeable are REE in opx, which shows strongly fractionated patterns (HREE/LREE > 1000), with Yb contents exceeding 100 x C1 (chondrite). Zr (30 ppm), Sc (672 ppm) and Y (from 39 up to 60 ppm) are high as well. Plagioclase occurs at the thin rims between opx and sp. Its overall REE level is high, mildly LREE-depleted, and the size of positive Eu anomaly is small, extremely low its Sr content. It is suggested that these trace-element abundances are inherited from a precursor garnet (Vannucci et al., 1993a). |
The use of the ion microprobe in the investigation of trace elements in silicate phases has allowed the fundamental steps of evolutionary processes of the mantle in the northern Apennine to be drawn (Vannucci et al., 1993b; Rampone et al., 1993,1995,1996).
SIMS analysis in sub-continental spinel peridotites (External Ligurides) confirmed the existence of depletion in Ti and Zr in clinopyroxenes, but we found that this is compensated by enrichments in coexisting orthopyroxene. Therefore Ti, Zr in cpx cannot be used as exclusive factors to deduce the existence of mantle sectors depleted in high field strength elements (Fig. 2), a feature that would place important constraints on models of lithospheric growth.
| Fig. 2- C1-chondrite normalised REE, Ti and Zr concentrations for: orthopyroxene (opx), clinopyroxene (cpx) and bulk rock (bulk) calculated by mass balance. a. sample ER-R3/3; b. sample ER-N1/4 (Rampone et al., 1991). |
Zoning studies by SIMS in clinopyroxenes and garnets from gabbroic rocks of the mafic Ivrea-Verbano Complex contributed to understanding low-crust petrogenetic processes evidencing, moreover, the existence of a Eu positive anomaly in clinopyroxenes of primary origin, and, as such, related to the geochemical characteristics of original melts (Mazzucchelli et al., 1992a,b). The existence in the deep crust of hybrid melts having a positive Eu anomaly may be important for the Eu balance between the lower and upper crust.
The capability of SIMS in the investigation of REE in clinopyroxenes of mantle xenoliths, pointed out the relationship among chemical composition, inter- and intra-granular homogeneity and petrographic structure (Vannucci et al., 1994). SIMS data, if compared with those obtained by INAA and IDMS, have shown the inadequacy of the only bulk techniques in the study of complex geochemical processes, such as subsolidus reactions or interaction with fluids and melts. For a proper understanding of geochemical processes in the mantle we suggested that SIMS investigations in thin section be made prior to mineral selection for subsequent elemental and isotopic analysis by ID.
Micro-textural investigations have been related to SIMS data on cpx from blue schists and eclogitized Fe-Ti gabbros from Ligurian Alps, and important constraints have been derived for the trace-element distribution at high-P/low-T conditions (Messiga et al., 1995) in the metamorphic reactions.
Whole-rock Rare Earth Element (REE) abundances have been determined in six samples of metabasites from the Pennidic Adula nappe in the area of Soazza (Mesolcina Valley, Switzerland). The samples cover a broad range of mineralogical composition from eclogite to epidote amphibolite through simplectitic garnet amphibolite. Two main eclogitic phases, clinopyroxene and garnet, have also been analysed for REE and other trace elements by SIMS (CNR-IGG, Pv). The chondrite-normalized REE patterns of the omphacites are all bell-shaped with the maximum value corresponding to Sm or Eu (Eu/Eu*=1.02-1.18). The normalized REE patterns of the garnets display a general enrichment in M-HREE relative to LREE (CeN/SmN ~ 2·10-3, for SmN= 4-14, CeN/YbN= 1-7·10-4, for YbN= 26-220) that compares well with those of eclogitic garnets from various metamorphic complexes. The REE concentrations obtained for cpx and grt are consistent with the estimated temperature of equilibration and with the classification of the whole-rocks as eclogites of group B (Aurisicchio et al., 1985). In the Fig. 3a, b chondrite-normalized REE patterns are shown for samples 78-AM-12 and 75-AM-48 (see Bocchio et al., 2000 for details).
| Fig. 3a, b- REE abundances in whole-rock samples of eclogites shown with those of cpx and grt (obtained by SIMS at CNR-IGG, Pv) on a chondrite-normalized plot (Nakamura, 1974). Solid symbols: whole rock; open symbols: greek cross (cpx), Saint-Andrew’s cross (grt). |
In the area of Gorduno near Bellinzona, Central Alps, Switzerland, well preserved eclogites crop out only at the margin of the garnet peridotite massif of Alpe Arami (AA). These bodies of eclogite were not derived from cognate mafic layers of mantle origin, and their thermal evolution is different from that inferred for the peridotite. Some questions are still open about the P-T evolution of AA eclogites, and the data given in literature cover a broad range of variation. We have investigated the bulk composition and the clinopyroxene-garnet trace-element distribution in a sample of eclogite from a lens occurring at the rim of the peridotite body. SIMS analyses on REE (see Fig. 4), Ti, V, Cr, Y, Sr, Zr, Sc were carried out on the two major rock-forming minerals, i.e., clinopyroxene (cpx) and garnet (grt). We found that: i) the trace-element abundance in garnet and clinopyroxene may be strongly influenced by the major-element composition; ii) their distribution within both mineral phases is inhomogeneous. In particular, their highly variable contents highlight the complex evolution of the AA eclogite and emphasise the existence, at least for some elements and at a very local scale, of a chemical disequilibrium, also confirmed, in an independent way, by a significant difference in ð18O between clinopyroxene and garnet (more info at Bocchio et al., 2004).
| Fig. 4- REE abundances in 70-AM-10 whole-rock (Greek crosses) shown with those obtained with the ion microprobe (SIMS) at CNR-IGG, Pv, in selected grt (solid circles) and cpx (open circles) on a C1-normalized plot (Anders & Grevesse, 1989) (see Bocchio et al., 2004 for details). |
An Archean orogenic peridotite massif exposed on Otrøy Island (Norway) contains coarse polycrystalline garnets with pyroxene in two microstructural positions, i.e., inter-crystalline small grains and intra-crystalline tiny needles (Fig. 5) that were recently investigated in terms of REE at our ion microprobe, in the frame of a collaborative research project among Utrecht University, CNR-IGG (Pavia) and Free University in Amsterdam.
| Fig. 5- Photomicrograph of crystallographically oriented, prismatic intra-crystalline pyroxene needles in garnet (plane polarised light). Note the tiny dimensions of the needles, whose SIMS analysis resulted to be at the limits of the instrumental capabilities, in terms of both spatial (few-mm size) and compositional (<< 1mg/g REE) resolution (Spengler et al., 2006). |
Some garnets with relics of both microstructures have exceptionally poor concentrations of middle-REE (Fig. 6a, with chondrite normalised Dy/Yb of less than 0.07), an effect typical for the extraction of large amounts of melt (= 30%) during deep melting.The extremely light-REE-depleted nature of all analysed clinopyroxene minerals (Fig. 6a, with chondrite normalised Ce/Sm <0.08) clearly establishes that no pyroxenes were in contact with a metasomatising melt or fluid, nor crystallised directly from a melt, all processes that would produce significantly less light-REE depletion (Fig. 6b). The pyroxenes have thus inherited their light-REE-depleted character from a majoritic precursor.
| Fig. 6- C1-chondrite normalised mineral REE data from Otrøy orogenic peridotites and mantle xenoliths. (a) Inter- and intra-crystalline clinopyroxene (green shaded), corresponding polycrystalline garnet (red shaded) and porphyroclastic matrix garnet (red lines) show a strong depletion in light-REE and matrix garnet also in middle-REE in contrast to (b) mineral REE data from high-temperature xenoliths, thought to be in chemical equilibrium and from a garnet-websterite lens on Otrøy, interpreted to be crystallised from a melt. Labels in Fig. 6(a): † SIMS, ‡ LA-ICP-MS data. |
Such decompression microstructures revealed that this mantle fragment was exhumed from depths = 350 km close to that of the Mantle Transition Zone (410 km).
This peridotite massif represents one of the deepest kilometre-size mantle rock units discovered at the Earth's surface. The recognition of this extraordinary depth of origin enables the detailed study of the deep Earth now at the surface, in terms of the spatial relationship of different rock types that may vary from the deep Upper Mantle. Such studies have been impossible so far on mantle xenoliths (see Spengler et al., 2006 for details).
More than ca 100 km3 of nearly homogeneous crystal-poor phonolite and ca 100 km3 of slightly zoned trachyte were erupted 39 ka during the Campanian Ignimbrite super eruption, the most powerful in the Neapolitan area. Partition coefficients –determined by SIMS for the first time in CI alkaline rocks-, equilibrium mineral assemblages, glass compositions and texture were used to reconstruct compositional, thermal and pressure gradients in the pre-eruptive reservoir as well as timing and mechanisms of evolution towards magma chamber overpressure and eruption. Our petrologic data indicate that a wide sill-like trachytic magma chamber was active under the Campanian Plain at 2.5 kbar before CI eruption (Pappalardo et al., 2008).
The main results are the following: thermal exchange between high liquidus (1199°C) trachytic sill and cool country rocks caused intense undercooling, driving a catastrophic and fast (102 years) in situ fractional crystallization and crustal assimilation that produced a water oversaturated phonolitic cap and an overpressure in the chamber that triggered the super eruption. This process culminated in an abrupt reservoir opening and in a fast single-step high decompression.
Sanidine phenocrysts crystal size distributions reveal high differentiation rate, thus suggesting that such a sill-like magmatic system is capable of evolving in a very short time and erupting suddenly with only short-term warning (see Pappalardo et al., 2008, for details).
| Fig. 7- Patterns of partition coefficients for A) sanidine, B) plagioclase, C) clinopyroxene for CI pumice. Legend: square = Ds/l for least-evolved CI pumice; circles = Ds/l for most-evolved CI pumice (Pappalardo et al.,2008) |
The SIMS technique has been used in the characterization of three types of ultramafic xenoliths from the Hyblean area (Sicily). The nature and abundance of some fluid–mobile elements in glasses and hydrous minerals (especially the Ca-poor glass, with B = 59 ppm, Li = 27 ppm, Ba = 700 ppm and phlogopite, with Ba = 8465 ppm, Sr = 260 ppm, F = 5700 ppm) suggest that some hydrous fluids may derive from hydrothermally altered oceanic crust. Conversely, metasomatizing silicate melts probably have a deep-seated origin. These results confirm previous suggestions on the key role of mantle metasomatism in the origin of some alkaline Hyblean magmas (Scribano et al., 2009).
The occurrence of these trachytic glasses lends support to petrologic models suggesting that partial melting of a hydrothermally altered, brine-rich oceanic crust induced by shallow-seated basic intrusions can produce primary trachytoid melts. This may explain the “Daly-gap” characterizing some oceanic within-plate volcanoes (Viccaro et al., 2009).
We investigated the origin of the complementary exsolution microstructure in the Grt-Pyx solid solution system; that is, Grt lamellae in Pyx after superaluminous precursor Pyx [tschermakitic Pyx, namely Pyx rich in ‘Tschermak’ component], from an orogenic peridotite at Xugou, in the Su-Lu UHP metamorphic belt, eastern China. We focused on the mineral microstructural record, the major and trace element chemistry of exsolved and reconstructed precursor mineral phases, and element diffusivity.
Our new results on the Su-Lu samples show that exsolution in the Grt^Pyx solid solution system in orogenic peridotites preserves more information about the history of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) beneath eastern China than has been currently recognized (Spengler et al., 2012).
In Ottolini et al. (2012) we present the results of an investigation of well RN-17 at Reykjanes geothermal system (Reykjanes Peninsula, SW-Iceland). We show that the adoption of micro-spot Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) together with bulk-rock techniques, such as X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), and Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (TIMS) carried out on 10 basaltic drill-cuttings over a depth of 3,000 m gives us insights into the geochemical characteristics of the well. Whole rock and mineral phases, i.e., plagioclase, clinopyroxene, epidote and amphibole, indicate that the rocks pertaining to the cuttings were affected by hydrothermal alteration that has been able to modify significantly the Sr isotope ratios and the concentration of K, Rb, Cs, Ba and B. Seawater/rock ratio, evaluated for 87Sr/86Sr, achieved its maximum for the shallow cutting RN-17-650, decreasing although not systematically with depth, with the minimum value for the deep cutting RN-17-2800. Moreover, the occurrence of Na-rich plagioclase, epidote and amphibole down to the well bottom are evidence of the persistence of fluid/rock interaction at depth.
| Fig. 8- C1-chondrite-normalized REE patterns for selected whole rock (WR) cuttings and core-sample from well RN-17 and RN-19 (Reykjanes geothermal system), respectively. Normalisation values from Anders & Grevesse (1989). All the REE data for our samples fall in the range of Icelandic tholeiites (grey field, from literature). See Ottolini et al. (2012) for details. |
Mantle xenoliths collected from Fuerteventura, one of the easternmost Canary Islands, exhibit a complex evolutionary history comprising events of depletion, serpentinization, dehydration and melt metasomatism. Each of these events left imprints on both the texture and chemistry of the xenoliths. Extensive partial melting is shown by complete lack of primary clinopyroxene, the ultra-refractory trace element composition of orthopyroxene porphyroclasts, and low heavy rare earth element contents as compared with abyssal peridotites sampled along mid-ocean ridges and oceanic fracture zones, in the xenoliths least affected by later metasomatism.
In many xenoliths the original orthopyroxene porphyroclasts and some olivines are replaced by fibrous aggregates of orthopyroxene and/or large, deformed olivine porphyroclasts with mottled rims with stringy glass and fluid inclusions. Such features are very rare in ocean island xenoliths.
The stringy glasses were extensively analysed by the ion micro-probe Cameca IMS 4f at CNR-IGG, Pavia, in terms of trace and volatile elements (H, F and Cl). Unusually high H2O and Cl concentrations, together with very high H2O/Ce and Cl/K ratios in interstitial glasses, suggest that the fibrous orthopyroxene formed by local serpentinization by hot seawater. The volume increase accompanying the serpentinization caused extensive fracturing of adjacent olivine porphyroclasts.
The most likely scenario for local mantle invasion by hydrous fluids is along deep faults and fractures caused by tectonic movements along the continent–ocean transition during the early phases of the opening of the Atlantic Ocean. The peridotites were later (probably during the Canary Islands magmatism) dehydrated, causing the serpentine minerals to be replaced by porous domains of fibrous orthopyroxene. Hydrous fluids released by the deserpentinization escaped into neighbouring and overlying rocks leaving trails of fluid inclusions along fractures and grain boundaries causing mottled rims and zones in olivine porphyroclasts. During the Canary Islands magmatism the upper mantle beneath Fuerteventura was also infiltrated by enriched silicate magmas that caused different degrees of Fe–Ti-metasomatism. A higher degree of melt metasomatism in rocks with fibrous orthopyroxene and mottled olivine than in the massive harzburgites strongly suggests that the sublithospheric Canarian magmas reused serpentinized extensional faults during their rise to the surface. The strongest degree of melt metasomatism appears to have resulted in the formation of lherzolites, wehrlites, and dunites (see Neumann et al., 2015 for details).
| Fig. 9(b),(d)- Average REE abundances in glass in Fuerteventura xenoliths, obtained by SIMS, normalized to primordial mantle (PM) (Neumann et al., 2015) for the samples investigated. The compositions of basaltic dykes in Fuerteventura (pink fields; Ahijado et al., 2001) are shown for comparison. |
The mid-ocean ridge (MOR)-type gabbroic sequences from the Internal Ligurian ophiolites include olivine-rich troctolite lenses up to tens of metres thick. For one of these lenses, a portion of metre-scale thickness characterized by skeletal to dendritic olivines (harrisites) was observed near the contact with host gabbros. Spinels from the olivine-rich troctolites locally include Ti-pargasite to kaersutite frequently associated with phlogopite to Na-phlogopite. Spinel-hosted amphibole displays rare earth element (REE) patterns characterized by a negative Eu anomaly, thereby recording a magmatic process associated with plagioclase segregation. The amphiboles show variable depletion of light REE (LREE) relative to middle REE (MREE), and heavy REE (HREE) that are weakly enriched to depleted with respect to MREE. Crystallization of the inclusion-bearing spinels is attributed to cooling of hybrid melts that originated by interaction between primitive melts and gabbro-related melts relatively rich in SiO2 and incompatible elements. Clinopyroxene and amphibole from the harrisites show extensive variability for trace element compositions, albeit characterized by subparallel incompatible element patterns. This chemical variability was most probably acquired in response to rapid crystal growth related to undercooling of the harrisite parental melt. We propose that the melt undercooling was related to interaction of a primitive melt batch with a gabbroic crystal mush (Renna et al., 2016 in press).
| Fig. 10- Thin-section photomicrographs: (a) the analysed spinel-hosted amphibole inclusion from olivine-rich troctolite MA5 (reflected light); (b) the analysed spinel hosted amphibole inclusion from olivine rich troctolite RV5 (reflected light); (c) multiphase inclusion of amphibole and dark mica in pegmatoid dendritic olivine (sample MA11); (d) anhedral amphibole associated with apatite along the contact between dendritic pegmatoid olivine and plagioclase (sample MA11). Crosses in (a) and (b) correspond to ion microprobe spot analysis locations (Renna et al., 2016, in press). |
We studied a partially serpentinized peridotite xenolith, found in the diatreme tuff-breccia deposit at Valle Guffari (Hyblean Plateau, southeastern Sicily, Italy), which is representative of the Hyblean peridotite xenolith suite. We also considered all published (21) whole-rock analyses of Hyblean peridotites, to investigate the metasomatizing effects of seawater-related hydrothermal fluids in the Hyblean basement, an in-situ remnant of the ultraslow-spreading Permian Tethys. In detail, we analyzed the serpentine veins by different techniques (scanning electron microscopy-SEM, electron-probe microanalysis-EPMA, micro-Raman spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction-XRPD) to determine the crystal-chemical composition and the structure of the veins. In addition, secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) was applied to measure the abundance of trace elements. Serpentine veins are made up of two Fe-rich polytypes, chrysotile 2Mc1 and lizardite 1T. The chondrite normalized rare earth element compositions of both serpentine polytypes are lower than 1, except for a modest light rare earth element (LREE) enrichment, and also in some fluid-mobile elements (FME: B, Rb, Sr, U). Conversely, the whole-rock composition of the studied peridotite xenolith is enriched with LREE and other trace elements (B, Sr,P, Th,U, Pb), like most Hyblean peridotites. The REE and multi-element patterns of Hyblean peridotites are akin to those of hydrothermal sediments from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and St. Demetrio hill (northern Hyblean Plateau), and abyssal peridotites (serpentinites) whose trace element abundance is generally ascribed to melt–rock interaction.
The integrated interpretation of the data and the documentation of hydrothermal minerals [(Na,S)-rich apatite, carbonates] in serpentine veins indicate that serpentinization-related hydrothermal fluids do have a primary role in metasomatism (mainly for the abundance of LREE and high field strength elements—HFSE) of ancient (Permian Tethys) and modern abyssal peridotites (see Manuella et al., 2016 for details).
| Fig. 11- (a) REE patterns of Hyblean serpentines (Hyblean chrysotile—HC-series, Hyblean lizardite—HL-series), obtained by the ion microprobe Cameca IMS 4f at CNR-IGG (Pv), compared with abyssal serpentines from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) and Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) (Augustin et al., 2012; Frisby et al., 2016a; Kodolányi et al., 2012; Rouméjon et al., 2015) and hydrothermal fluids from the Rainbow (36° 14′ N) and Logatchev (14° 45′ N) vent fields (Douville et al., 2002), normalized to chondrite (C1; Lyubetskaya and Korenaga, 2007). (b) Multi-element patterns of Hyblean serpentines compared with abyssal serpentines from MAR and hydrothermal fluids from the Rainbow and Logatchev fields, normalized to primordial mantle (PM; Lyubetskaya and Korenaga, 2007) (see Manuella et al., 2016). |
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