Ultramafic lavas and high-Mg basaltic dykes from the Othris ophiolite complex, Greece

Abstract

We evaluate the petrography and geochemistry of an unusual suite of subduction-related Phanerozoic high-MgO rocks from the Othris ophiolite complex in Greece, some of which have previously been described as komatiitic lavas. In particular, we study ultramafic, olivine-phyric lavas from the Agrilia area and high-Mg basaltic dykes from the Pournari area. We seek to define primary magmatic MgO contents and initial liquidus temperatures as well as the differentiation sequence and cooling rates experienced by the lavas and dykes. One of our goals is to relate the Othris case to known komatiite and boninite occurrences and to address whether Othris documents an important new constraint on the temporal evolution of ambient mantle temperature, plume-related magmatism, and subduction of oceanic lithosphere. We conclude that, despite whole-rock MgO contents of 31–33 wt%, the olivine-phyric lavas at Agrilia had an upper limit liquid MgO content of 17 wt% and are therefore picrites, not komatiites. The Agrilia lavas contain the unusual Ti-rich pyroxenoid rhönite; we discuss the significance of this occurrence. In the case of the Pournari high-Mg dykes, the distinctive dendritic or plumose clinopyroxene texture, though it resembles in some ways the classic spinifex texture of komatiites, is simply evidence of rapid cooling at the dyke margin and not evidence of extraordinarily high liquidus temperatures. We correlate the dendritic texture with disequilibrium mineral chemistry in clinopyroxene to constrain the cooling rate of the dyke margins.

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