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TEXTURAL AND MICROANALYSIS OF IGNEOUS ROCKS: TOOLS ...

TEXTURAL AND MICROANALYSIS OF IGNEOUS ROCKS: TOOLS ...

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over short time spans but may be easily overlooked in whole-rock compositional<br />

studies. I suggest this variation is consistent with subtle variations in partial<br />

melting of a heterogeneous mantle source that consisted of relatively depleted<br />

and relatively enriched components (c.f., [50, 72, 119]) Subtle variations in partial<br />

melting are consistent with enhanced mantle flow and complex mantle dynamics<br />

in the near ridge hotspot environment as discussed by Pearce [114]. The nature<br />

of the depleted component in Detroit Seamount basalts is prominent in tholei-<br />

itic basalts from Site 884, and perhaps most prominent in the cm-size plagioclase<br />

phenocrysts. These large crystals have low Sr parent magmas suggesting they<br />

were less evolved than their host basalt. A fruitful continuation of this research<br />

would be to conduct Sr and Pb isotope studies on these large crystals by in-situ<br />

microdrilling (e.g., [39]) or plagioclase separation (e.g., [16]).<br />

5.1.3 Elan Bank, Kerguelen Plateau<br />

The main objective of this study was to elucidate the timing and dynamics of<br />

crustal contamination of a basaltic magma. This was done via a compositional mi-<br />

croanalytical dissection of plagioclase phenocrysts in two Elan Bank basaltic lavas<br />

- one contaminated with crust (Unit 10), and the other relatively uncontaminated<br />

(Unit 4; as reported by [75]).<br />

Plagioclase crystals from Units 4 and 10 exhibit narrow ranges of 87 Sr/ 86 SrI<br />

that overlap their respective Site 1137 upper and lower group basalts reported<br />

by Ingle et al. [75], which indicates that crustal assimilation was not an ongoing<br />

process during plagioclase dominated partial crystallization. Crustal rocks (garnet<br />

biotite gneiss clasts) recovered during drilling at Site 1137 are plausible crustal<br />

assimilants and have distinctly radiogenic 87 Sr/ 86 SrI (> 0.784) [74]. If these in fact<br />

218

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