Origin of nelsonite and Fe–Ti oxides ore of the Damiao anorthosite complex, NE China: Evidence from trace element geochemistry of apatite, plagioclase, magnetite and ilmenite

•The Damiao nelsonite and Fe–Ti oxides ore occur as irregular inclined stratiform-like or lentoid or veins, and are in sharp contact with the anorthosite and gabbronorite; with “net-texture” ore well developed indicates their immiscibility-derived origin.•The Fe–Ti oxide ore and nelsonites and mangerite were produced by crystallization of Fe–Ti–P-rich and SiO2-rich magmas, respectively, due to liquid immiscibility that occurred when the highly evolved ferrodioritic magma mixed with new pulses of primary magma.•The Fe–Ti–P rich magma firstly fractionated magnetite, ilmenite and apatite, and secondly generated the nelsonite and Fe–Ti oxide ore by gravitational differentiation. The residual magma may have then fractionated plagioclase and clinopyroxene, forming the Damiao gabbro-nelsonite.

Nelsonite and Fe–Ti oxides ore are common in Proterozoic massif-type anorthosites and layered intrusions. Their geneses have long been controversial, with existing hypotheses including liquid immiscibility between Si-rich and Fe–Ti–P-rich melts and gravitational fractionation among apatite, magnetite, ilmenite and silicates. In this paper, we report detailed field geology and mineral geochemical studies of the nelsonite and Fe–Ti oxides ore from the Damiao anorthosite complex, NE China. Geological observations indicate that the nelsonite and Fe–Ti oxides ore occur as irregularly inclined stratiform-like or lensoid or veins, and are in sharp contact with the anorthosite and gabbronorite. The widespread veins and lenses structure of the Damiao nelsonite and Fe–Ti oxides ore in the anorthosite indicates their immiscibility-derived origin. The apatite in the nelsonite and gabbronorite shows evolution trends different from that in the gabbronorite in the diagrams of Sr versus REEs and Eu/Eu*, suggesting that petrogenesis of the nelsonite and gabbronorite is different from the gabbronorite. Compared with the gabbronorite, the nelsonite and Fe–Ti oxides ore have magnetite high in Cr, plagioclase high in Sr and low in An, and apatite high in Sr, low in REEs with negative Eu anomaly. The evidence permits us to propose that the Damiao Fe–Ti oxides ore/nelsonite and gabbronorite were derived from different parental magmas. The gabbronorite was formed by solidification of the interstitial ferrodioritic magma in the anorthosite, which was the residual magma after extensive plagioclase and pyroxene crystallization and was carried upward by the plagioclase crystal mesh. In contrast, the Fe–Ti oxides ore and nelsonites and mangerite were produced by crystallization of the Fe–Ti–P-rich and SiO2-rich magmas, respectively, due to the liquid immiscibility that occurred when the highly evolved ferrodioritic magma mixed with newly replenished magmas. The variation from Fe–Ti oxides ore to nelsonite and gabbro-nelsonite upwards (as apatite content increases with height) in the steeply inclined Fe–Ti oxides orebodies suggest that gravity fractionation may have played important roles during the crystallization of the Fe–Ti–P-rich magma.