Petrological-geochemical comparison of three Mesozoic igneous provinces in South Africa (Karoo Province) and East Antarctica (Queen Maud Land (QML) and Ferrar) confirms the inferred relation of the Ferrar Igneous Province, which is extended for over 3000 km along the margin of the East Antarctic, with the Mesozoic Karoo–Maud plume. Magmatic source in all three regions is characterized by pronounced negative Nb and Ta anomalies. The same features are also typical of magma sources of ancient (Late Proterozoic and Early Paleozoic) dikes within the Mesozoic Ferrar Igneous Province. This compositional similarity is explained by their derivation from a single long-lived source represented by the lithosphere of the East Antarctic Craton. The Ferrar magmatic rocks are also peculiar in the predominant development of low-Ti basalts, which are generated from depleted (through repeated melting) sublithospheric mantle source enriched in potassium during paleosubduction (fluid enrichment). The formation of the Ferrar Igneous Province was related to the lateral spread of the Karoo–Maud plume (as a megaapophysis from the main zone of its manifestation) during melting of metasomatically modified Gondwanian mantle in the vicinity of the Pacific paleosubduction zone. Specific fluid-mediated conditions led to the enrichment of primary melts of the Ferrar Province in large ion lithophile elements such as U, Th, and Rb. Variations of isotope composition of these melts define mixing trends from a mantle source close in composition to the enriched magmas of the Karoo and QML provinces (87Sr/86Sr: 0.708, 143Nd/144Nd: 0.5122, 206Pb/204Pb: 18.2, 207Pb/204Pb: 15.6, 208Pb/204Pb: 37.6) to a source with elevated 206Pb/204Pb: 20.5, 207Pb/204Pb: 15.7, 208Pb/204Pb: 40.3, 87Sr/86Sr: 0.716 and lowered 143Nd/144Nd: 0.5124, which was formed owing to the fluid enrichment of mantle in the paleosubduction zone. The isotope composition of ancient magmas located in the Ferrar Igneous Province falls in the composition field of Mesozoic igneous rocks of the Karoo and QML provinces.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)509-529
Number of pages21
JournalGeochemistry International
Volume60
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jun 2022

    Scopus subject areas

  • Geophysics
  • Geochemistry and Petrology

    Research areas

  • Ferrar igneous province, geochemistry of lithophile elements, isotope composition of melts, Karoo–Maud plume

ID: 95752545