Iron and magnesium isotope fractionation in oceanic lithosphere and sub-arc mantle: Perspectives from ophiolites

- First combined Fe and Mg isotopic study of ophiolite.
- Large Fe isotopic variation in ophiolitic rocks.
- Coupled Fe and Mg isotope fractionation during mantle melting and metasomatism.

We present high-precision Fe and Mg isotopic data for the Purang ophiolite, southwestern Tibet, representing the first combined Fe and Mg isotopic study of the oceanic lithosphere hitherto. The δ56Fe and δ26Mg values of the ophiolitic peridotite, dunite and gabbro vary from −0.209 to 0.187‰ and from −0.28 to −0.14‰, respectively. The average δ56Fe of the peridotites is −0.030±0.143‰ (2SD, n=17), a value indistinguishable from abyssal peridotites and chondrites, and lower than oceanic basalts. The average δ26Mg value of the peridotites is −0.20±0.10‰, a value slightly higher than both chondrites and oceanic basalts. Correlations between δ56Fe and indices of partial melting indicate fractionation of 0.323‰ in δ56Fe between the oceanic lithospheric mantle and the overlying mafic crust during an early episode of partial melting, presumably beneath a spreading centre. Subsequent metasomatism in a supra-subduction zone caused elevated oxygen fugacity and heavy Fe isotopic compositions in the oceanic lithospheric mantle. The dunite with high Ba/La, a proxy for oxygen fugacity, and high δ56Fe values was likely formed during this process of sub-arc mantle-melt interaction. The negatively coupled Fe-Mg isotopic variations of the Purang ophiolite indicate that Mg isotope fractionation may also occur during high-temperature mantle processes. The observed isotopic variations among different lithologies in the ophiolite may satisfactorily account for the isotopic differences between arc lavas and mantle peridotites with respect to oceanic basalts, thus providing implications for crust-mantle differentiation.