Magnesium isotope constraints on the role of recycled carbonate-rich sediments in the formation of ultrapotassic magmatic rocks at a continental arc setting

The formation of orogenic ultrapotassic magmatism in a subduction setting is still unclear as it requires various co-processing mechanisms. To address this problem, especially to investigate the role of carbonate metasomatism in the mantle source, whole-rock Mg-Sr-Nd isotopic compositions have been measured for ultrapotassic magmatic rocks from the Central Pontides arc, northern Turkey, one of the rare examples of subduction-related ultrapotassic magmatism. These ultrapotassic rocks have relatively low (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)_i (0.70461–0.70687) and ε_Nd(t) (0.3 to 2.6) values and display much lower δ²⁶Mg values (−0.73 ‰ to −0.19 ‰) than the normal mantle. The petrological and geochemical characteristics of the Pontide Ultrapotassic rocks (PUR) indicate that the low δ²⁶Mg values do not result from surficial weathering, diffusion, or magmatic differentiation, but rather reflect the presence of distinct metasomatizing agent in their mantle source. The low Hf/Hf*, Ti/Ti*, Fe/Mn and Ti/Eu ratios, high Ca/Al and (Na₂O + K₂O)/TiO₂ ratios, and lack of significant correlations between δ²⁶Mg and Fe/Mn or (Gd/Yb)_N suggest that the low δ²⁶Mg values cannot be reconciled with the contribution of recycled carbonated eclogites, but are induced by the addition of carbonate-rich sediments to their mantle source. This interpretation is also supported by the significant (La/Yb)_N vs. Ti/Eu and Hf/Sm vs. CaO/Al₂O₃ correlations for the ultrapotassic rocks. Using two end-member mixing calculations of MgSr isotopic compositions, the mantle source of PUR is constrained to contain varying proportions of carbonates, mostly of dolomite composition. The addition of carbonate-rich sediments to the mantle may have occurred at depths of 100–150 km as indicated by the trace element compositions of PUR. In this regard, the enrichment of K and other large ion lithophile elements in the ultrapotassic rocks can be induced by the contribution of silicic sediments. Meanwhile, carbonatitic melts can be formed through the partial melting of carbonate-rich sediments in the subducting oceanic slab, which then reacts with the overlying mantle to form carbonated peridotite that serves as the source of ultrapotassic rocks with low-δ²⁶Mg, low-silica, and high LREEs. This study reports for the first time the Mg isotope data of ultrapotassic rocks formed in a continental arc setting and documents that carbonate-rich sediments play an important role in creating such rocks. Future work is needed to test whether this process is common in both oceanic arc and continental arc settings.