Analyses of Li and Li isotopes in serpentinized peridotites have been performed using Thermo‐Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (TIMS) and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) techniques on samples collected from the southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR). In the bulk samples, Li concentrations range from 0.6 to 8.2 ppm, while whole rock δ 6 Li values range from −2.9 to −14‰. In situ analyses display a greater range in both Li concentration (0.1–19.5 ppm) and Li isotopic composition (−27 to +19‰), with the serpentinized portions having higher Li concentrations than the associated relict phases. These variations may reflect changes in Li partitioning and isotopic fractionation between serpentine and fluid with temperature and water/rock ratio. They may also be explained by changes in the composition of the serpentinizing fluid over the course of serpentinization. As the serpentine forms by interaction with a circulating fluid, it preferentially removes 6 Li, causing the Li in the fluid to become isotopically heavier. The isotopic composition of the initial hydrothermal fluid is dominated by basalt‐derived Li, which easily overwhelms the very low Li content originally present in seawater. As this fluid circulates through ultramafic rocks, it induces the formation of serpentine that incorporates this mantle‐derived Li. Hence, Li in serpentine is mainly derived from oceanic crust rather than from seawater and serpentinization involves Li recycling within this crust. Consequently, Li isotopes are good tracers of the hydrothermal contribution in serpentinizing fluid. These results imply that serpentinized peridotites are probably only a minor sink of oceanic Li.
A large collection of gneissic amphibolites was recovered by two close dredge hauls from the deepest part of the north facing slope of the transverse ridge forming the south wall of the Vema Fracture Zone. Serpentinites and various types of gabbroic rocks ranging from undeformed slightly uralitized gabbros and norites to flaser and mylonitic gabbros were associated with the gneissic amphibolites (in the shallowest of the dredge hauls). Petrological studies indicate that the amphibolites were derived from similar gabbroic rocks that reequilibrated under stress in the conditions of the amphibolite facies. On the other hand, the associated meta‐gabbros display sequences of secondary minerals, indicating complex cooling and cataclastic histories without reaching metamorphic equilibrium. We tentatively suggest that the gneissic amphibolites and associated metagabbros formed in a vertical shear zone generated in oceanic layer 3 by tectonism associated with the Vema Fracture Zone. Hydrothermal circulation of seawater along the highly permeable shear zone was activated by magmatic intrusions. K/Ar dating suggests, within relatively large analytical uncertainties, that the amphibolite metamorphism took place 10 m.y. ago, i.e., at a time when the dredging sites were located in the vicinity of the spreading center.
Caracterisation des zonations existant a l'interieur des coussins spilitiques tant du point de vue structural que chimique. Processus a l'origine de la differenciation chimique que l'on y observe. Nature originelle des laves dont derivent ces spilites. Eventuelles modifications chimiques subies par les coussins sous l'influence du metamorphisme.
Most of Earth's present-day crust formed at mid-ocean ridges. High-precision uranium-lead dating of zircons in gabbros from the Vema Fracture Zone on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge reveals that the crust there grew in a highly regular pattern characterized by shallow melt delivery. Combined with results from previous dating studies, this finding suggests that two distinct modes of crustal accretion occur along slow-spreading ridges. Individual samples record a zircon date range of 90,000 to 235,000 years, which is interpreted to reflect the time scale of zircon crystallization in oceanic plutonic rocks.
