Mantle-triggered intrusions in the western Central Asian Orogenic Belt: implications for the fertilisation of the crust in Tian Shan, Uzbekistan

Mantle intrusive rocks (lamproites and basalts) were collected from different units of the Uzbek Tian Shan, Central Asia to investigate xenoliths and xenocrysts aiming at tracking the shallow or deep nature of the mantle source. Whole-rock geochemistry and petrography revealed that these rocks are mostly of basaltic composition and may contain various exotic materials. These rocks originate from composite mantle magmas; they often result from the mixing between an evolved primary melt and more primitive melts, as indicated by the composition and textures of clinopyroxenes. Olivine, orthopyroxene and spinel mineral geochemistry from xenocrysts and lherzolitic xenoliths is consistent with a shallow mantle source (spinel lherzolite). Trace element content of clinopyroxenes shows LREE depletion supporting the removal of the magma from an undepleted sub-continental lithospheric mantle. The latter one is heterogenous, though and some parts recorded evidence of intense metasomatism. The upwelling asthenospheric magmas, emplacing in trans-lithospheric structures, were probably directly transferred into the crust or just below the crust, without significantly changing the geochemical composition of the sub-continental lithospheric mantle.