Trace element geothermometry and geospeedometry for cumulate rocks:
Quantitative constraints on thermal and magmatic processes during
igneous crust formation
Abstract
Cumulate rocks record the magmatic and cooling processes during
formation of Earth’s igneous crust. Extracting the information of these
two processes from mineral records, however, is often convoluted by
various extents of diffusive resetting during cooling subsequent to main
stages of crystallization. Accordingly, for cumulate rocks at diffusive
closure, the apparent “equilibrium” temperatures derived from
geothermometers are generally lower than the crystallization
temperatures. Using analytical or numerical models, geospeedometers can
extract cooling rates from the closure temperatures (or profiles) but
only if the initial temperatures are determined independently. Here I
summarize the general framework of geothermometry and geospeedometry
from a trace element perspective. The Mg and REE-based exchange
geothermometers for mafic cumulate rocks are reviewed as examples of the
geothermometer design. Based on the observed differential diffusive
closures of Mg and REE in oceanic gabbros, I outline a general
resolution to uniquely determine the initial crystallization temperature
and cooling rate of a cumulate rock. The basic idea is further
demonstrated using the recently developed Mg-REE coupled geospeedometer
for mafic cumulate rocks. Finally, I use the Hess Deep gabbros as a case
study to show that this two-element coupled geospeedometer is
particularly useful to delineate the igneous accretion and cooling
styles during crust formation. This two-element (or multi-element)
coupled approach outlined here can also be readily extended for decoding
comprehensive thermal histories of other petrological systems at various
geological settings or other rocky planetary bodies.