A structural classification of podiform chromite orebodies from southern New Caledonia results in a division of deposits into three major types: discordant, subconcordant, and concordant, with penetrative structures (foliation and lineation) in the enclosing peridotite. Discordant deposits are very irregular in shape and clearly crosscut banding and foliation. Subconcordant deposits are generally tabular in shape and lie within 10 degrees to 25 degrees in strike and/or dip to the foliation. Concordant deposits are also tabular and lie parallel to foliation in peridotite; pyroxene lineation in host peridotite always indicates the elongation direction of these deposits. Within subconcordant and discordant deposits, chromite lineations are often oblique to those in the surrounding rocks; they follow local variations in the orebody shape and indicate possible deposit extensions at depth. The classification of chromite bodies corresponds to three stages of increasing deformation, as evidenced by chromite ore textures. Discordant deposits which are the least deformed are characterized by primary textures such as the nodular one, the foam texture, the chromite net, and the occluded silicate texture. Within subconcordant and mainly concordant deposits, massive, disseminated, and antinodular ores show evidence of strong deformation. The lack of geochemical distinctions between the different deposit types supports such an hypothesis.These chromite deposits in ophiolitic harzburgites are thought to have been formed beneath an oceanic spreading ridge. If the discordant pods are considered as representative of the original situation, it is proposed that the chromite has crystallized and has been dynamically concentrated along steep conduits traversing the enclosing harzburgite and feeding a magma chamber. Next the chromite-enriched pipes are caught up by plastic deformation in the mantle and tectonically reoriented toward the foliation.The chromite deposits in the Massif du Sud are located within a domain about 1.5 km thick in the harzburgites and dunite zones. This domain is limited upward by the first cumulates and gabbros and downward by the transition to a different plastic flow regime in the harzburgites.Finally, some guides to chromite prospecting and exploration are cited, applicable at different geologic scales and based on lithologic and structural criteria.
Sedimentary sorting produces alternating shales and sandstones with complementary chemistries. The preferential partitioning of quartz and zircon in the coarse-grained fraction of the sediments results in a strong fractionation between $$SiO_{2}$$, Zr, and other components ($$Al_{2}O_{3}, TiO_{2}$$ ...). As a consequence, shales may be defined chemically as having higher $$Al_{2}O_{3}/SiO_{2}$$ and $$TiO_{2}/Zr$$ ratios than their source rocks; sandstones have the opposite characteristics and vary in composition according to the maturity of their source and the intensity of sorting processes. Most sedimentary suites display a good correlation between $$Al_{2}O_{3}/SiO_{2}$$ and $$TiO_{2}/Zr$$. This result is used to evaluate an average bulk composition for recent clastic materials and to model their composition on a ternary Al-Ti-Zr diagram. Because the $$Al_{2}O_{3}/TiO_{2}$$ ratio of igneous rocks is highly sensitive to magmatic differentiation, igneous and sedimentary trends crosscut in the Al-Ti-Zr diagram. In the case of strongly peraluminous granites (SPG), genetic models based on crustal melting and restite separation are in conflict with the observed Al-Ti-Zr relations because: (1) most SPG suites are displaced toward low $$TiO_{2}/Zr$$ ratios when compared to their potential metasedimentary sources, and (2) many SPG are too rich in Zr and Ti to be produced from calc-alkaline felsic sources in the restite model. These features suggest that the bulk Zr and Ti budget of SPG is dominated by (relatively hot) melt contributions, not by recycled solid materials.
Rb-Sr whole-rock isochron ages and Sr and Nd isotopic ratios have been determined for Youngju and Andong granites in the northeastern Yeongnam Massif, Korea. Six samples of Youngju granites yield an isochron age of 267 ± 27 Ma with an initial Sr ratio of 0.71505 ± 0.00026. Seven samples of Andong granites give an isochron age of 361 ± 41 Ma and an initial Sr ratio of 0.70944 ± 0.00011. The isochron ages indicate that Youngju and Andong granites were emplaced in middle Permian and late Devonian of late Paleozoic, respectively. Calculated εSr (T) and εNd (T) values at 267 Ma for Youngju granites are 152.2∼156.4 and -19.7∼-18.0, and those values at 361 Ma for Andong granites are 73.8∼79.7 and -11.4∼-8.0. Model ages of Youngju and Andong granites are 2.4∼3.3 Ga and 1.4∼1.8 Ga, respectively, suggesting that the Youngju granitic magma was derived from highly LREE-enriched lower crust formed in Late Archean, whereas the Andong granitic magma from slightly LREE-enriched lower crust formed in Proterozoic. Initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of the granites in Ogcheon Belt and Yeongnam Massif display a broad range, but have two peaks around 0.709 and 0.715 regardless of emplacement age. It is likely that these two kinds of sources which are isotopically different have widely existed in the lower crust of Ogcheon Belt and Yeongnam Massif.
The Devonian (ca. 385–360 Ma) Kola Alkaline Province includes 22 plutonic ultrabasic–alkaline complexes, some of which also contain carbonatites and rarely phoscorites. The latter are composite silicate–oxide–phosphate–carbonate rocks, occurring in close space-time genetic relations with various carbonatites. Several carbonatites types are recognized at Kola, including abundant calcite carbonatites (early- and late-stage), with subordinate amounts of late-stage dolomite carbonatites, and rarely magnesite, siderite and rhodochrosite carbonatites. In phoscorites and early-stage carbonatites the rare earth elements (REE) are distributed among the major minerals including calcite (up to 490 ppm), apatite (up to 4400 ppm in Kovdor and 3.5 wt.% REE2O3 in Khibina), and dolomite (up to 77 ppm), as well as accessory pyrochlore (up to 9.1 wt.% REE2O3) and zirconolite (up to 17.8 wt.% REE2O3). Late-stage carbonatites, at some localities, are strongly enriched in REE (up to 5.2 wt.% REE2O3 in Khibina) and the REE are major components in diverse major and minor minerals such as burbankite, carbocernaite, Ca- and Ba-fluocarbonates, ancylite and others. The rare earth minerals form two distinct mineral assemblages: primary (crystallized from a melt or carbohydrothermal fluid) and secondary (formed during metasomatic replacement). Stable (C–O) and radiogenic (Sr–Nd) isotopes data indicate that the REE minerals and their host calcite and/or dolomite have crystallized from a melt derived from the same mantle source and are co-genetic.