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Water in the Cratonic Mantle: Insights from FTIR Data on Lac De Gras Xenoliths (Slave Craton, Canada)The mantle lithosphere beneath the cratonic part of continents is the deepest (> 200 km) and oldest (>2-3 Ga) on Earth, remaining a conundrum as to how these cratonic roots could have resisted delamination by asthenospheric convection over time. Water, or trace H incorporated in mineral defects, could be a key player in the evolution of continental lithosphere because it influences melting and rheology of the mantle. Mantle xenoliths from the Lac de Gras kimberlite in the Slave craton were analyzed by FTIR. The cratonic mantle beneath Lac de Gras is stratified with shallow (<145 km) oxidized ultradepleted peridotites and pyroxenites with evidence for carbonatitic metasomatism, underlain by reduced and less depleted peridotites metasomatized by kimberlite melts. Peridotites analyzed so far have H O contents in ppm weight of 7-100 in their olivines, 58 to 255 in their orthopyroxenes (opx), 11 to 84 in their garnet, and 139 in one clinopyroxene. A pyroxenite contains 58 ppm H2O in opx and 5 ppm H2O in its olivine and garnet. Olivine and garnet from the deep peridotites have a range of water contents extending to higher values than those from the shallow ones. The FTIR spectra of olivines from the shallow samples have more prominent Group II OH bands compared to the olivines from the deep samples, consistent with a more oxidized mantle environment. The range of olivine water content is similar to that observed in Kaapvaal craton peridotites at the same depths (129-184 km) but does not extend to as high values as those from Udachnaya (Siberian craton). The Slave, Kaapvaal and Siberian cratons will be compared in terms of water content distribution, controls and role in cratonic root longevity.
Document ID
20140013141
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Abstract
Authors
Peslier, Anne H.
(Jacobs Technology, Inc. Houston, TX, United States)
Brandon, Alan D.
(Houston Univ. Houston, TX, United States)
Schaffer, Lillian Aurora
(Houston Univ. Houston, TX, United States)
O'Reilly, Suzanne Yvette
(MacQuarie Univ. Sydney, Australia)
Griffin, William L.
(MacQuarie Univ. Sydney, Australia)
Morris, Richard V.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Graff, Trevor G.
(Jacobs Technology, Inc. Houston, TX, United States)
Agresti, David G.
(Alabama Univ. Birmingham, AL, United States)
Date Acquired
October 22, 2014
Publication Date
January 1, 2014
Subject Category
Geophysics
Report/Patent Number
JSC-CN-32099
Report Number: JSC-CN-32099
Meeting Information
Meeting: AGU Fall Meeting
Location: San Francisco, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: December 15, 2014
End Date: December 19, 2014
Sponsors: American Geophysical Union
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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