HR: 11:20h
AN: V32A-05 [Abstracts]
TI: What are the differences between preserved vs. delaminated lower crust? Evidences from the
Kohistan arc
AU: * Jagoutz, O E
EM: Oliver.Jagoutz@geo.unibe.ch
AF: Institute for Geology, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 1+3, Bern, 3012, Switzerland
AU: Müntener, O
EM: Othmar.Muntener@unil.ch
AF: Institute of Mineralogy, University of Lausanne, Anthropole, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland
AU: Burg, J
EM: Burg@erdwethz.ch
AF: Department of Earth Science, ETH Zurich, Clausiusstr, Zurich, 8092, Switzerland
AU: Schmidt, M
EM: max.schmidt@erdw.ethz.ch
AF: Department of Earth Science, ETH Zurich, Clausiusstr, Zurich, 8092, Switzerland
AU: Ulmer, P
EM: peter.ulmer@erdw.ethz.ch
AF: Department of Earth Science, ETH Zurich, Clausiusstr, Zurich, 8092, Switzerland
AB:
Delamination and foundering of the deep continental lithosphere into the mantle is an important crust forming
mechanisms and might have implication for the formation of mantle heterogeneities. For example it is generally
assumed that delamination of lower crust forms an enriched component within the mantle. However, the
preserved lower continental crust is not complement to the upper crust. Therefore, if delamination is a significant
crust forming process for the upper continental crust the delaminating crust must differ in mineralogy and
composition from the preserved lower crust. A natural but unfortunate consequence of delamination is that the
foundered crust is generally lost and therefore direct observations are scare. Consequently our knowledge of the
composition and mineralogy of the preserved vs delaminated lower crust remains rather illusive. However, within
the Kohistan arc (NE Pakistan) two mantle-crust sections (the Jijal and the Chilas section) are preserved which
are markedly different in mineralogy. We describe lithologies of these sections and argue that fractionation
mechanisms that produced them document two liquid lines of descent with largely differing initial water contents.
We propose that the upper, non-sedimentary CC is dominantly formed by hydrous high-pressure fractionation of
complementary garnet-pyroxene-amphibole-rich cumulates preserved in the Jijal section. In contrast, the lower
crust of the Chilas section is formed by "less-hydrous" parental melts. Density considerations indicate that
whereas the "Chilas lower crust" will be preserved over geological timescale the garnet-rich "Jijal lower crust" can
delaminate and sink back into the mantle.
The Chilas lower crust has a bulk composition remarkably similar to the bulk lower crust estimates. Contrasting
the high density Jijal lower crust is strongly depleted in incompatible elements but has positive anomalies of Sr,
Pb, and Eu and high Ba/Nb. If such a hydrous composition is transferred back into the depleted upper mantle its
isotopic evolution can explain certain characteristics of intra plate magmatism.
DE: 8413 Subduction zone processes (1031, 3060, 3613, 8170)
SC: Volcanology, Geochemistry, Petrology [V]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting