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This study evaluates in detail the mineral chemistry, wholerock and mineral separate Os-isotope compositions of distinct platinumgroup mineral (PGM) assemblages in an isolated chromitite pod at Harold's Grave which occurs in mantle tectonite in the Shetland Ophiolite Complex (SOC), Scotland. This was the first ophiolite sequence worldwide that was shown to contain ppm levels of all six platinum-group elements (PGE) in podiform chromitite, including the contrasting type localities found here and at Cliff. At Harold's Grave the primary PGM assemblage is composed mainly of laurite and/or Os-rich iridium and formed early together with chromite, whereas the secondary PGM assemblage dominated by laurite, Osrich laurite, irarsite, native osmium and Ru-bearing pentlandite is likely to reflect processes including in-situ serpentinization, alteration during emplacement and regional greenschist metamorphism. The osmium isotope data define a restricted range of 'unradiogenic' 187Os/188Os values for coexisting laurite and Os-rich alloy pairs from 'primary' PGM assemblage (0.12473-0.12488) and similar 'unradiogenic' 187Os/188Os values for both 'primary' and 'secondary' PGM assemblages (0.1242±0.0008 and 0.1245±0.0006, respectively), which closely match the bulk 187Os/188Os value of their host chromitite (0.1240±0.0006). The unprecedented isotopic similarity between primary or secondary PGM assemblages and chromitite we report suggests that the osmium isotope budget of chromitite is largely controlled by the contained laurite and Os-rich alloy. This demonstrates that closed system behaviour of the Re- Os isotope system is possible, even during complex postmagmatic hydrothermal and/or metamorphic events. The preserved mantle Os-isotope signatures provide further support for an Enstatite Chondrite Reservoir (ECR) model for the convective upper mantle and are consistent with origin of the complex as a Caledonian ophiolite formed in a suprasubduction zone setting shortly before obduction. |
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