Origin of fine‐grained peridotite xenoliths from Iraya volcano of Batan Island, Philippines: deserpentinization or metasomatism at the wedge mantle beneath an incipient arc?

Abstract

Abstract Peridotite xenoliths from the subarc mantle, which have been rarely documented, are described from Iraya volcano of the Luzon arc, the Philippines, and are discussed in the context of wedge‐mantle processes. They are mainly harzburgite, with subordinate dunite, and show various textures from weakly porphyroclastic (C‐type) to extremely fine‐grained equigranular (F‐type). Textural characteristics indicate a transition from the former to the latter by recrystallization. The F‐type peridotite has inclusion‐rich fine‐grained olivine and radially aggregated orthopyroxene, being quite different in texture from ordinary mantle‐derived peridotites previously documented. Despite their strong textural contrast, the two types do not show any systematic difference in modal composition. The harzburgite of C‐type has ordinary mantle peridotite mineralogy; olivine is mostly Fo91–92 and chromian spinel mostly has Cr#s (= Cr/[Cr + Al] atomic ratios) from 0.3 to 0.6. Olivine is slightly more Fe‐rich (Fo89–91) and spinel is more enriched in Cr (the Cr#, 0.4–0.8) and Fe 3+ in F‐type peridotites than in C‐type harzburgite. Orthopyroxene in F‐type peridotites is relatively low in CaO (<1 wt%), Al 2 O 3 (<2 wt%) and Cr 2 O 3 (<0.4 wt%). The F‐type peridotite was possibly formed from the C‐type one by recrystallization including local dissolution and precipitation of orthopyroxene assisted by fluid (or melt) of subduction origin. Textural characteristics, however, indicate a deserpentinization origin from abyssal serpentinite of which protolith was a C‐type peridotite. In this scenario the initial abyssal serpentinite was possibly dehydrated due to an initiation of magmatic activity beneath an incipient oceanic arc like Batan Island. The F‐type peridotite is characteristic of the upper mantle of island arc, especially of incipient arc.