Carbonate inclusions in Lower Cretaceous picrites from the Hončova hůrka Hill (Czech Republic, Outer Western Carpathians): Evidence for primary magmatic carbonates?

• Published in: International journal of earth sciences : Geologische Rundschau Vol. 104; no. 5; pp. 1299 - 1315
• Main Authors: Kropáč, Kamil, Dolníček, Zdeněk, Buriánek, David, Urubek, Tomáš, Mašek, Vlastimil
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.07.2015
• Subjects: Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Geochemistry; Geology; Geophysics/Geodesy; Mineral Resources; Original Paper; Sedimentology; Structural Geology; Outer Western Carpathians; Magma evolution; Magmatic carbonate; Carbonated silicate melt; Picrite; Teschenite association
• ISSN: 1437-3254; 1437-3262
• DOI: 10.1007/s00531-015-1152-8

Porphyritic picrites from the Hončova hůrka site in the Silesian Unit (Western Carpathians) are composed mostly of olivine phenocrysts enclosed in a black fine-grained groundmass, which consists of clinopyroxene, biotite, magnetite, chlorite, feldspars, and zeolites. The rocks are variably affected by hydrothermal alteration. The freshest samples contain potentially primary igneous calcite and aragonite, which occur as globular inclusions hosted by olivine phenocrysts, or as fillings of the miarolitic cavities in the picrite groundmass. In this paper, we try to clarify the nature of investigated carbonates using the combination of several petrological methods. Based on the texture, mineral composition, and relationship to the alteration patterns of the host mineral, we distinguished three basic types of inclusions: carbonate inclusions, silicate inclusions, and a combined type consisting of both carbonate and silicate domains. Only the fresh olivine-hosted round carbonate globules can contain the primary igneous calcite. These globules cannot represent immiscible carbonatite melt since they lack Si, alkalis, and other essential components (e.g. P, F, Cl, and S) present in natural carbonate melts. Instead, they can be interpreted as product of equilibrium crystallization of calcite from carbonated silicate melt (i.e. crystal cumulates). In contrast, the calcite–aragonite assemblage in inclusions hosted by altered olivine and in miaroles most probably originated during recrystallization of primary calcite during late-magmatic or post-magmatic stages or is related to the superimposed hydrothermal alteration.