Geochemical constraints on the origin of the Hegenshan ophiolite, Inner Mongolia, China

Abstract

The Hegenshan ophiolite in Inner Mongolia is a remnant of oceanic lithosphere of probable Devonian age. The ophiolite consists of several blocks composed chiefly of serpentinized ultramafic rocks with lesser amounts of troctolite and gabbro, and sparse lavas and dikes. The ultramafic rocks consist chiefly of depleted harzburgite and minor dunite and are interpreted as mantle tectonites. In the Hegenshan block dunite is relatively abundant and is typically associated with podiform chromitite. Both the chromite ore and the residual chromites in this body are relatively aluminous with average Cr numbers of 44-54. A few small chromite bodies and some of the residual chromites have much higher Cr numbers (72-76). Several blocks have well-layered cumulate sequences of gabbro and troctolite. Sheeted dikes are absent but small mafic dikes are common in some of the ultramafic sections. Most of the mafic dikes have flat chondrite-normalized REE patterns and are strongly depleted in incompatible elements, similar to depleted tholeiites from immature island arcs. The basaltic lavas of the Hegenshan ophiolite have two distinctly different chemical signatures-one similar to the mafic dikes and one similar to ocean island basalts. The entire complex was probably formed within an island arc-marginal basin system that was later accreted to the southern margin of the Siberian Altaids.