KIMBERLITE-LIKE ROCKS OF THE URIK-IYA GRABEN, EASTERN SAYAN REGION: MINERAL COMPOSITION, GEOCHEMISTRY AND FORMATION CONDITIONS

Abstract

The study of the Bol’shaya Tagna alkaline-carbonatite massif and adjacent areas was focused on the mineral and chemical compositions of minerals, the distribution of petrogenic and trace elements in pyroxene-free alkaline picrites in veins and dikes dated at the late Riphean (circa 645 Ma), and comparison with the Bushkanai kimberlite-picrite dike. Phenocrysts in the pyroxene-free picrites are represented by olivine (replaced with serpentine) and phlogopite; the bulk is formed by serpentine, phlogopite, monticellite, calcite, etc .; xenocrysts of pyrope and chrome diopside are absent. Phlogopite and Cr-spinel from the picrites are chemically similar to these minerals in kimberlites, but the evolution of the spinel compositions corresponds to the titanomagnetite trend; monticellite is depleted in forsterite (Mg2SiO4). The rocks contain strontianite, burbankite, titanium andradite, calcirtite and Mn-ilmenite, which are not typical of kimberlites, but are inherent in carbonate-bearing ultramafic lamprophyres, ayllikites. The pyroxene-free picrites have low contents (wt %) of SiO2 (28.4‒33.2), Al2O3 (3.2‒5.6), and Na2O (0.01‒0.05); relatively high contents of TiO2 (2.0‒3.3), and К2О (0.45‒1.33); varying contents of MgO (16.1‒24.1), СаО (12.9‒22.8), СО2 (1.1‒12.2), Ni (260‒850 ppm), and Cr (840‒2200 ppm); and Mg#=0.73‒0.80. The contents of Th, U, Nb, Ta, La, and Ce in the veins are approximately two orders higher than those in the primitive mantle; the spectra of trace elements differ from the spectra of the South African and Yakuian kimberlites. In the pyroxene-free picrites and the rocks of the Bushkanai dike, the Nb/U, Nb/Th, Th/Ce, La/Nb, and Zr/Nb ratios are similar to those in ocean island basalts (OIB) and thus give evidence of the leading contribution of the recycled component into the source melt. In experiments conducted to investigate melting of carbonated garnet lherzolite, the pyroxene-free alkaline picrites melted at 5–6 GPa.