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Re–Os isotopic evidence for a lower crustal origin of massif-type anorthosites

Nature volume 405, pages 781–784 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

Massif-type anorthosites are large igneous complexes of Proterozoic age. They are almost monomineralic, representing vast accumulations of plagioclase with subordinate pyroxene or olivine and Fe–Ti oxides—the 930-Myr-old Rogaland anorthosite province in southwest Norway1 represents one of the youngest known expressions of such magmatism. The source of the magma and geodynamic setting of massif-type anorthosites remain long-standing controversies in Precambrian geology, with no consensus existing as to the nature of the parental magmas or whether these magmas primarily originate in the Earth's mantle or crust. At present, massif-type anorthosites are believed to have crystallized from either crustally contaminated mantle-derived melts that have fractionated olivine and pyroxenes at depth2 or primary aluminous gabbroic to jotunitic melts derived from the lower continental crust3. Here we report rhenium and osmium isotopic data from the Rogaland anorthosite province that strongly support a lower crustal source for the parental magmas. There is no evidence of significantly older crust in southwest Scandinavia and models invoking crustal contamination of mantle-derived magmas fail to account for the isotopic data from the Rogaland province. Initial osmium and neodymium isotopic values testify to the melting of mafic source rocks in the lower crust with an age of 1,400–1,550 Myr.

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Figure 1: Isotopic data from Rogaland.
Figure 2: Modelling of crustal residence time for a lower crustal source derived from a mantle source with γOs = 0.
Figure 3: Modelling of a primary lower crustal source versus lower crustal contamination of a primary mantle-derived magma in γOs–ε Nd space.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support for Re–Os isotopic studies at Monash University derive from the Monash University Research Fund, the Australian Crustal Research Centre, and the Australian Research Council. The research reported here was supported by the Norwegian Research Council.

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Author notes

  1. David D. Lambert

    Present address: Division of Earth Sciences, National Science Foundation, Arlington, Virginia, 22230, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology and Mineral Resources Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, 7491, Norway

    Henrik Schiellerup & Tore Prestvik

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, PO Box 28E, Monash University, Melbourne, 3800, Victoria, Australia

    David D. Lambert & Jannene S. McBride

  3. Department of Geology, University of Bergen, Bergen, 5007, Norway

    Brian Robins

  4. Geological Survey of Norway, Trondheim, 7491, Norway

    Rune B. Larsen

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  1. Henrik Schiellerup
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Correspondence to Henrik Schiellerup.

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Schiellerup, H., Lambert, D., Prestvik, T. et al. Re–Os isotopic evidence for a lower crustal origin of massif-type anorthosites. Nature 405, 781–784 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35015546

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