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Rare earth element mobility during laterization of mafic rocks of the Oman ophiolite

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Abstract

Eleven samples representing a sequence of progressive alteration through a laterite profile of Upper Cretaceous age developed on a layered gabbro from the Oman ophiolite have been analyzed for their rare earth element (REE) contents. The results provide new insights into the fractionation and vertical movement of REEs during the laterization of mafic parent rocks. Compared to the fresh parent rock, from the same section nearly flat chondrite-normalized REE patterns are observed in the saprolite zone, while light REE (LREEs: La-Nd)-enriched patterns characterize the oxide and clay zones. The altered gabbro shows a depletion in middle REEs (MREEs: Sm-Ho) compared to its unaltered counterpart. A negative cerium (Ce) anomaly is observed in the upper part of the altered gabbro, while the lower part appears to be depleted in Ce. The similarity in the LREE-enriched fractionation patterns throughout the alteration profile suggests that the REE fractionation process is independent of the total REE content of the parent rock.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the SQU Department technicians (College of Science, SQU, Oman) Saif Al Maamari for XRD analysis, Hamdan Al-Zidi and Hilal Al-Zidi for crushing and pulverizing the rocks, and Prof. Steve Ehrenberg for reading the manuscript. This work has been supported by Sultan Qaboos University internal grant (IG/SCI/ERTHS/07/03).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 36, Al-Khod 123, Muscat, Oman

    Salah Al-Khirbash & Sobhi Nasir

  2. 4, Rue de Marlenheim, 67000, Strasbourg, France

    Khadija Semhi

  3. Carrer dels Àngels 4-2-1, 08001, Barcelona, Spain

    Laurent Richard

  4. GeoConsultancy Center, Muscat, Oman

    Abdulrahman Al-Harthy

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  1. Salah Al-Khirbash
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  2. Khadija Semhi
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  4. Sobhi Nasir
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  5. Abdulrahman Al-Harthy
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Correspondence to Salah Al-Khirbash.

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Al-Khirbash, S., Semhi, K., Richard, L. et al. Rare earth element mobility during laterization of mafic rocks of the Oman ophiolite. Arab J Geosci 7, 5443–5454 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-013-1189-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-013-1189-6

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