Petrogenesis of Garnet Pyroxenite and Spinel Peridotite Xenoliths of the Tell-Danun Alkali Basalt Volcano, Harrat As Shamah, Syria

Abstract

A suite of samples, including kaersutite and ilmenite megacrysts, spinel peridotites, garnet pyroxenites, and the alkali basalts that host them, have been studied in an effort to better constrain the mineralogy and chemistry of the subcontinental mantle beneath the central portion of the Arabian plate. Kaersutite megacrysts are classified as Type-A high-pressure precipitates of the alkali basalt host, which transported these xenoliths to the surface and extruded them during formation of the Tell-Danun volcano, southwestern Syria. Ilmenite megacrysts are classified as Type-B megacrysts and could not have precipitated from the alkali basalts presently sampled. Instead, they were derived from a magma that was enriched in the rare-earth elements (REE) by ca. four times and depleted in Zr and Hf, compared to the alkali basalts. Garnet pyroxenites from the Tell-Danun volcanic field yield temperatures and pressures of 946-1045° C and 8-10 kbar, respectively. These xenoliths likely were precipitated as dikes or along walls of conduits at depths of 24-30 km in the lower crust and/or upper mantle beneath the Arabian plate. Spinel peridotites last were equilibrated at temperatures of 755-1080° C and pressures from 10-20 kbar (30-60 km depth) and could represent samples of a mantle that has been depleted by a prior partial melting event. Many spinel peridotites also contain evidence (specifically in concave-upward REE patterns) of a subsequent enrichment event. However, the age and timing of this depletion, and of the subsequent enrichment event, are not known. This event could have occurred as a consequence of the entrainment of the xenoliths in the LREE- enriched alkali basalts or could have occurred prior to alkali basalt volcanism via metasomatic processes.