Geochemical characteristics and new eruption ages of ruby-related basalts from southeast Kenya

Tawatchai CHUALAOWANICH; Chakkaphan SUTTHIRAT; Visut PISUTTHA-ARNOND; Christoph HAUZENBERGER; Chinghua LO; Tongyi LEE; Punya CHARUSIRI

doi:10.1007/s12583-014-0482-y

Volume 25 Issue 5

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Journal of Earth Science > 2014 > 25(5): 799-821.

Tawatchai CHUALAOWANICH, Chakkaphan SUTTHIRAT, Visut PISUTTHA-ARNOND, Christoph HAUZENBERGER, Chinghua LO, Tongyi LEE, Punya CHARUSIRI. Geochemical characteristics and new eruption ages of ruby-related basalts from southeast Kenya. Journal of Earth Science, 2014, 25(5): 799-821. doi: 10.1007/s12583-014-0482-y

Citation:

Tawatchai CHUALAOWANICH, Chakkaphan SUTTHIRAT, Visut PISUTTHA-ARNOND, Christoph HAUZENBERGER, Chinghua LO, Tongyi LEE, Punya CHARUSIRI. Geochemical characteristics and new eruption ages of ruby-related basalts from southeast Kenya. Journal of Earth Science, 2014, 25(5): 799-821. doi: 10.1007/s12583-014-0482-y

Citation:

Tawatchai CHUALAOWANICH, Chakkaphan SUTTHIRAT, Visut PISUTTHA-ARNOND, Christoph HAUZENBERGER, Chinghua LO, Tongyi LEE, Punya CHARUSIRI. Geochemical characteristics and new eruption ages of ruby-related basalts from southeast Kenya. Journal of Earth Science, 2014, 25(5): 799-821. doi: 10.1007/s12583-014-0482-y

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Geochemical characteristics and new eruption ages of ruby-related basalts from southeast Kenya

doi: 10.1007/s12583-014-0482-y

1.
Department of Geology, Chulalongkorn University, Patumwan, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand
2.
Department of Mineral Resources, Rama VI Rd., Ratchathewi, Bangkok, 10160, Thailand
3.
Department of Earth Sciences, Karlz-Fan University of Graz, Graz, A-8010, Austria
4.
Department of Geoscience, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan
5.
Department of Earth Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, 10677, Taiwan

More Information

Corresponding author: Chakkaphan SUTTHIRAT, c.sutthirat@gmail.com chakkaphan.s@chula.ac.th
Received Date: 18 May 2014
Accepted Date: 15 Aug 2014
Publish Date: 01 Oct 2014

Abstract

Abstract

Two ruby-related basaltic fields were recently discovered in the southeast region of Kenya, exposed in the Nguu and Ngulai Hills vicinities. These fields host abundant deep-seated xenoliths, including corundum-bearing granulites. The basalts are alkaline affinity having compositions from foidrite to basanite. The Ngulai basalts have a wider range of SiO₂ (38.2 wt.%–44.8 wt.%) covering those of the Nguu basalts (38.7 wt.%–42.3 wt.%). This overlapping behavior also holds for other major oxides and trace elements, e.g., Al₂O₃, Na₂O, K₂O, Cr, Ni, Rb and Ga. The overall OIB-like incompatible patterns with strong K depletion and slight spike of Ti enrichment signatures imply low degrees of partial melting of the upper mantle region source induced under a mantle plume-related process. The K-depletion signature indicates a residual K-bearing phase still retained in the source domain. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns exhibiting strong LREE enrichment without Eu anomalies suggest that plagioclase fractionation is insignificant. New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages indicate eruption events occurred during the Pleistocene times, which are around 2 Ma for the Ngulai basalts and 0.9 to 1.6 Ma for the Nguu basalts. Clinopyroxene-basalt thermobarometric calculations yield the equilibrium P-T ranges of ~8-29 kbar and 1 200–1 450 ℃.
- ruby-related Cenozoic basalt,
- Ar/Ar age,
- corundum-bearing xenolith,
- Kenya,
- Nguu,
- Ngulai

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References(76)

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