Abundances of Ag and Cu in mantle peridotites and the implications for the behavior of chalcophile elements in the mantle

Because of the effects of secondary processes, the abundances of chalcophile elements, notably S, Se, but also Cu and the PGE in many peridotite xenoliths are variable and lower than in peridotite massifs. Refertilization of peridotite may change abundances of chalcophile and lithophile elements in peridotite massifs, however, this seems to mostly occur in a systematic way. Correlations with lithophile and chalcophile elements and the overlapping mean Cu/Ag ratios of peridotites and ocean ridge basalts are used to constrain abundances of Ag and Cu in the BSE at 9 ± 3 (1s) ng/g and 30 ± 6 μg/g (1s), respectively. The very different extent of depletion of Ag and Cu in the BSE cannot be explained by low pressure-temperature core formation if currently available metal-silicate partitioning data are applied.