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Fred’s Flow (Canada) and Murphy Well (Australia): thick komatiitic lava flows with contrasting compositions, emplacement mechanisms and water contents

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Abstract

Two Archaean komatiitic flows, Fred’s Flow in Canada and the Murphy Well Flow in Australia, have similar thicknesses (120 and 160 m) but very different compositions and internal structures. Their contrasting differentiation profiles are keys to determine the cooling and crystallization mechanisms that operated during the eruption of Archaean ultramafic lavas. Fred’s Flow is the type example of a thick komatiitic basalt flow. It is strongly differentiated and consists of a succession of layers with contrasting textures and compositions. The layering is readily explained by the accumulation of olivine and pyroxene in a lower cumulate layer and by evolution of the liquid composition during downward growth of spinifex-textured rocks within the upper crust. The magmas that erupted to form Fred’s Flow had variable compositions, ranging from 12 to 20 wt% MgO, and phenocryst contents from 0 to 20 vol%. The flow was emplaced by two pulses. A first ~20-m-thick pulse was followed by another more voluminous but less magnesian pulse that inflated the flow to its present 120 m thickness. Following the second pulse, the flow crystallized in a closed system and differentiated into cumulates containing 30–38 wt% MgO and a residual gabbroic layer with only 6 wt% MgO. The Murphy Well Flow, in contrast, has a remarkably uniform composition throughout. It comprises a 20-m-thick upper layer of fine-grained dendritic olivine and 2–5 vol% amygdales, a 110–120 m intermediate layer of olivine porphyry and a 20–30 m basal layer of olivine orthocumulate. Throughout the flow, MgO contents vary little, from only 30 to 33 wt%, except for the slightly more magnesian basal layer (38–40 wt%). The uniform composition of the flow and dendritic olivine habits in the upper 20 m point to rapid cooling of a highly magnesian liquid with a composition like that of the bulk of the flow. Under equilibrium conditions, this liquid should have crystallized olivine with the composition Fo94.9, but the most magnesian composition measured by electron microprobe in samples from the flow is Fo92.9. To explain these features, we propose that the parental liquid contained around 32 wt% MgO and 3 wt% H2O. This liquid degassed during the eruption, creating a supercooled liquid that solidified quickly and crystallized olivine with non-equilibrium textures and compositions.

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Acknowledgments

CS acknowledges support from the Université Joseph Fourier during her Master project. NTA acknowledges support from BEGDy project of the Agence Nationale de Recherche and a research grant from the Institut National des Sciences de l’Univers (INSU) of the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) SJB acknowledges support from CSIRO Minerals Down Under National Research Flagship. Jochen Hoefs is thanked for editorial handling, Allan Wilson, Michael Lesher and an anonymous reviewer are thanked for providing comments that significantly improved the manuscript. Colin Donaldson, an anonymous reviewer, Mike Cheadle and Hugh Rollinson are thanked for reviews and constructive criticism of an earlier version of the manuscript. Jesse Robertson is thanked for discussion. Catherine Chauvel, Sarah Bureau, Francis Coeur and Claire Duchemin are thanked for assistance in sample preparation and the analysis of trace elements in Grenoble, and Dr. Greg Hitchen for microprobe analysis at CSIRO in Perth.

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Correspondence to Coralie Siégel.

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Communicated by J. Hoefs.

Electronic supplementary material

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410_2014_1084_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Supplementary material 1: Field maps indicating the location of Murphy Well Flow; a) Regional location of the Murphy Well Flow; b) Close-up satellite image from Google Earth corresponding to c) geological map of the Murphy Well area, Edjudina. a) and c) are modified after Lewis and Williams (1973). (PDF 304 kb)

410_2014_1084_MOESM2_ESM.pdf

Supplementary material 2: Sketch diagrams of several komatiitic units and the variation of MgO versus depth. This figure highlights the general differentiation of komatiitic bodies. Modified after this study, Gole and Hill (1990) and Lesher (1989). (PDF 691 kb)

410_2014_1084_MOESM3_ESM.doc

Supplementary material 3: Major element analyses (wt%) of samples from Fred’s Flow and the Murphy Well Flow. (DOC 90 kb)

Supplementary material 4: Trace element analyses (concentrations in ppm). (DOC 55 kb)

Supplementary material 5: Description of the uppermost 20 meters of Fred’s Flow. (DOC 47 kb)

Supplementary material 6: Description of the Murphy Well Flow. (DOCX 15 kb)

Supplementary material 7: Microprobe analyses of olivine from the Murphy Well Flow. (DOC 105 kb)

Supplementary material 8: Well log description for the uppermost 20 m of Fred’s Flow. (PDF 303 kb)

410_2014_1084_MOESM9_ESM.pdf

Supplementary material 9: Schematic illustration of the emplacement of Fred’s Flow. 1) Emplacement of the first 20 m pulse with formation of a spinifex-textured top; 2) engulfment of the spinifex textured-top by a more voluminous second pulse. (PDF 95 kb)

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Siégel, C., Arndt, N., Barnes, S. et al. Fred’s Flow (Canada) and Murphy Well (Australia): thick komatiitic lava flows with contrasting compositions, emplacement mechanisms and water contents. Contrib Mineral Petrol 168, 1084 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-014-1084-5

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