Description:
This paper presents new data on geochemistry of rare-earth and high-field-strength elements in
the upper mantle peridotite (spinel lherzolites) and pyroxenite (amphibole clinopyroxenites, garnet
clinopyroxenites, websterites, and garnet websterites) xenoliths collected from Quaternary volcanoes
of the north-western part of Spitsbergen Island, Svalbard Archipelago. The fractionating of HFSE in
the peridotites and pyroxenites, and the effect of temperature on the equilibration distribution of these
elements between minerals of spinel lherzolites have been investigated based on geochemical features
of rocks and minerals, obtained by ICP MS and SIMS. It has been concluded that fractionation of Nb,
Ta, Zr, Hf, and Ti occurs in the upper part of the continental lithospheric mantle under the conditions
that exist at depth corresponding to the Moho discontinuity (at the temperature from 730 to 1180 °C
and pressures from 1.3 to 2.7 GPa). These conditions correspond to those of the phase transition of
spinel peridotites into garnet peridotites in the CMAS systems. It is most likely that the degree of partial
melting and the thermodynamic conditions of this process are the main factors regulating fractionation
of HFSE. The fractionation of these elements in the mantle of north-west Spitsbergen is noticeably
different than in the mantle beneath Early Precambrian cratons.