Chromian spinels in mafic–ultramafic mantle dykes: Evidence for a two-stage melt production during the evolution of the Oman ophiolite

This paper describes a comprehensive study of the chromian spinels present in mafic–ultramafic dykes cropping out along the mantle section of the Oman ophiolite. We studied about 1100 samples in thin section and with the electron microprobe. Chromian spinel is almost ubiquitous in primitive dykes (high-Mg# troctolites and pyroxenites) and less common in more differentiated ones (olivine gabbros and gabbronorites). The Cr#, TiO2 content, and other compositional parameters are well correlated to the nature and composition of the co-genetic silicate assemblage. Chromian spinel composition contributes to establish that the mantle dykes of Oman are more or less evolved cumulates that crystallised from two main types of primary melts: tholeitic melt similar to Mid-Ocean Ridge basalts (MORB; 0.45 < Cr# < 0.63; 0.3 < Mg# < 0.6; TiO2 up to2 wt.%), and more silicic melts issued from a highly depleted mantle source, similar to boninitic–andesitic melts that preferentially form in subduction zone settings (0.35 < Cr# < 0.80; 0.1 < Mg# < 0.7; TiO2 up to 0.2 wt.%). The chromian spinel composition presents a higher variability than the associated silicates and allows us to further unravel the petrological evolution and segmentation of the Oman ophiolite. The composition of chromian spinel in mantle dykes and in the spatially related residual harzbugites display well correlated variations at the scale of the Oman ophiolite. This shows that these two lithologies share a common magmatic history, even if, strictly speaking, they cannot be related through direct parent–daughter relationships. The Cr# is on average higher, and the TiO2 lower in the NW than in the SE, consistent with an increasing influence of “marginal” magmatic processes in the NW, while the southeastern area has petrological characteristics closer to those of an “open” ocean. In this southeastern part, compositional variations of the chromian spinel are correlated to structural characteristics related to the spreading history: the distribution of the Cr# around a former mantle diapir cropping out in the Maqsad area is concentric, with the highest values in the centre of this structure, consistent with higher degrees of partial melting of the mantle. On the other hand, unusually low Cr# – diagnostic of a low melting degree – in a ridge-parallel band of about 20 km to the northeast of the Maqsad area can be related either to temporal variations in the partial melting degree or to off-axis magmatic activity.