431

TheCanadianMineralogist
Vol. 37,pp.43r-442(1999)

GEOCHEMISTRYANDTEXTURES
OF METASOMATIC
COMBSANDORBICULES
IN ULTRAMAFIC
ROCKS,NAMEWLAKE,MANITOBA

THOMAS MENARDI, CHRISTOPHER K. RIDGWAY,

HAROLD H. STOWELL ANDC. MICHAEL LESHER2
Departmentof Geology,Universityo;fAlabama,Tuscaloosa,
Alabama35187-0338,U.S.A

Aesrnacr

Metasomatic alteration of ultramafic rocks with igneous orbicular textures from the Namew Lake Ni-Cu mine 60 km south
of Flin Flon, Manitoba, has produced metamorphic comb and orbicular textures. These textures occur in a 3-m-thick concordant
layer ofultramafic rock that occurs within polymetamorphic Early Proterozoic gneisses.The ultramafic rocks were fractured into
blocks and altered during amphibolite-facies metamorphism, producing taic + dolomite in the cores of blocks, a 2-cm-thick layer
of tremolite displaying comb textures perpendicular to boundaries of the biocks, and a rind of phlogopite. Trends of gain or loss
of elementsvary from zone to zone and were controlled in part by the minerals in the zone. For example, the REE were removed
during the alteration of igneous minerals to talc + carbonate, whereas heavy REE were preferentially enriched in the tremolite
zone and subsequentlydepleted in the phlogopite zone. The original igneous orbicules are elliptical, 24 cmin size, and have
rinds with thin, concentric shells of fine-grained cbromian magnetite. The orbicules originally had a core of olivine and pyroxene
and a rim of olivine, now partially replaced by metamorphic tremolite, phlogopite, and serpentine.The matrix between these
orbicules now contains metamorphic tremolite and phlogopite, and minor serpentine,magnetite, and sulfide In the centers of
some blocks, orbicules and their matrix have been replaced by talc + dolomite Near the edgesof theseblocks, however, the cores
of orbicules contain talc + dolomite, the rims have radiating tremolite, and the matrix is phlogopite. Thus, the orbicules were
apparently a barrier to fluid flow, possibly the consequenceof textural differences between the orbicules and the matrix.

Keywords: metasomatism,comb, orbicule, compositional alteration, fluid flow, ultramafic, metapyroxenite, Namew Lake Ni Cu
deposit, Manitoba.

SOMMAIRE

Nous d6crivons l'alt6ration m6tasomatiquede roches ultramafiques contenant une textue ign6e orbiculaire et provenant du
gisement d Ni-Cu de Namew Lake, situd i 60 km au sud de Flin Flon, au Manitoba, et leurs textures m6tamorphiquesen peigne
et orbiculaires Ces textures se trouvent dans une couche ultramafique concordantede 3 m d'6paisseurdans des gneiss
polym6tamorphiques d'dge prot6rozoique pr6coce. Les roches ultramafiques ont 6t6 coup6esen blocs et alt6r6es au cours d'un
m6tamotphisme au facids amphibolite, ce qui a produit talc + dolomite dans le coeur des blocs, un liser6 de 2 cm d'6paisseur de
tr6molite ayant une texture en peigne perpendiculaire d la bordure des blocs, et une couche externe de phlogopite. Les bilans
d'enrichissement ou d'appauvrissementd'6l6ments varient d'une zone d I'autre, et auraient6te rdgis en partie par I'assemblagede
min6raux. Par exemple, les terres rares ont 6td lessivdesau cours de la transformation des min6raux primaires d I'assemblagetalc
+ carbonate,tandis que les terres rares lourdes ont 6t6 enrichies de prdf6rence dans la zone iLrr6molite et par la suite appauvnes
dans la zone ) phlogopite Les orbicules originelles sont elliptiques, enlre 2 et 4 mm de diambtre, et ont des bordures faites de
minces couches concentriquesde magn6tite chromifdre ) grains fins Les orbicules contenaient d 1'origine un coeur d'olivine et
de pyroxdne et une bordure d'olivine, maintenant partiellement remplac6spar l'assemblage trdmolite + phlogopite + serpentine
La matrice entre ces orbicules contient maintenant tr6molite et phlogopite, et un peu de serpentine,magn6tite, et sulfures Au
centredeceftainsblocs,lesorbiculesetleurmatriceont6t6remplac6esparl'assemblagetalc+dolomite Prdsdesborduresdeces
blocs, par conffe, les coeurs des orbicules contiennent talc + dolomite, les bordures contiennent des amasfibroradi6s de trdmolite,
et la matrice est phlogopitique. Les orbicules auraient donc cr66 une entrave au flux de flurde, peut-Otred cause de diffdrences
texturales entre les orbicules et la matrice

(Traduit par la R6daction)

Mots-c16s:mdtasomatose,texture en peigne, orbicule, alt6ration de la composition, flux de fluide, ultramafique, m6tapyrox6nite,

gisement de Ni-Cu de Namew Lake, Manitoba.

I Presentaddress:Department of Geology and Geophysics,University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4. E-ruail ctclclress:
tmenard@geo.ucalgary.ca
/- Present address: Mineral Exploration Research Centre, Department of Earth Sciences, Laurentian University, Sudbury,
Ontario P3E 2V7.
432 THE CANADIAN MINERALOGIST

lNrnoouctloN reactions during subsequent metamorphism liberated

fluids (Evans 197'7).In conftast, ultramafic rocks at the
Igneous comb and orbicular textures are uncommon, Namew Lake mine were not serpentinizedduring early
but are well documented(Knopf 1908, Eskola 1938, metamorphism, and the reactions of primary minerals
Leveson 1966, Moore & Lockwood 1973, Papunen to talc, carbonate,ffemolite, and phlogopite progressed
1985,Yazgan & Mason 1988, Symes & Bevan 1987, only where and when fluids had access(Menard e/ al.
Sinclair & Richardson 1992, Ort 1992). Although there 1996). Ultramafic rocks emplacedin crustal settingsare
was some debate about the origin of combs and usually significantly different in composition than sur-
orbicules, including a possible metamorphic or metaso- rounding rocks, and consequentlyare commonly altered
matic origin (Leveson 1963, Thompson & Giles 1974), during metamorphism.This alteration producesa series
current opinion is that they reflect igneous crystalliza- of metasomaticreaction-zoneson both sidesof the con-
tion processes(Enz et al. 1979). In this paper, we de- tact, containing mineral assemblages that vary with
scribe ultramafic rocks from Namew Lake, Manitoba, metamorphic grade (Philips & Hess 1936, Chidester
that originally contained igneous orbicules. The rocks 1962. Jahns 1967, Frost 1975, Evans 1977, Sanford
were altered during metasomatism, which produced 1982, Dymek et al. 1988). Metasomatic alteration of
metamorphic comb textures that cross-cut the igneous ultramafic rocks has been treated theoretically and ex-
orbicules and intensified compositional differentiation perimentally by Korzhinskii (1970), Brady (1977),
of the orbicules. Metasomatic reaction-zonesin the ul- Balashov & Lebedeva(1991),andZharikov & Zaraisky
tramafic rocks are used to assessthe compositional (1991). The individual reaction-zonesmay be mono-
changes that occurred during metamorphism. mineralic if local equilibrium is attained and reactions
proceedto completion. The production ofreaction zones
RsvrEw op rup LrrnBlrune containing only one or two minerals requires and dem-
onstrateslransportof mosl elements.
Igneous combs and orbicules
Gsolocrcer- Serrtxc
Comb textures in igneous rocks occur at the margins
of some magma chambers,in which alternating layers The Namew Lake Fe-Ni-Cu sulfide deposit is lo-
of crystals oriented perpendicular or parallel to the cated 60 km south of Flin Flon, Manitoba (Fig. 1). The
chamber wall resemble combs in cross section (Moore Namew Lake mine operatedfrom 1988 to 1993, during
& Lockwood 1973,Donaldson1971,Berg1980).Comb which time 2.57 million tonnes of Fe-Ni-Cu sulfide
textures are locally associatedwith orbicules, in which ores grading 1.79VoNi andQ.63% Cu were mined. The
similar pattemsof crystal growth occurredaround a core ore is hosted by a metapyroxenite sill enclosedin Early
of some material. The cores of the orbicules may be Proterozoic orthogneisses,which are nonconformably
single crystals, rock fragments, or comb fragments, and overlain by Ordovician sediments (Pickell 1987). The
the type of core material may vary within a group of geology of the Early Proterozoicbasementnear Namew
orbicules (Eskola 1938). Thus, the type of core material Lake has been discussedby Leclair et al. (1993) and
was unimportant becauseit apparently only provided a Menard et al. (1996). In addition to orthogneissesand
surfacefor nucleation. Orbicules have been reported in minor metapyroxenitesexposedin the mine, intermedi-
plutonic igneous rocks ranging from felsic to ultramafrc ate to mafic metavolcanic rocks and minor metasedim-
in composition (Leveson 1966, Papunen 1985,Yazgan entary rocks occur within a few kilometers of the mine
& Mason 1988, Symes & Bevan 1987, McKinney & below the Ordovician cover. The nearest outcrop of
Mugler 1992),brxarerare in volcanic rocks (Ort 1992). Early Proterozoic rocks is the Flin Flon greenstonebelt
Combs and orbicules indicate preferential growth of (Fig. 1), which includes Amisk Group volcanic rocks
crystals on pre-existing surfaces, in contrast with ho- and Missi Formation sediments (Bruce 1918, Stauffer
mogeneousgrowth throughout a magma chamber. One et al. 1975,Bailes & Syme 1989,Stauffer 1990,Syme
mechanism that could lead to their formation is super- & Bailes 1993).
heating of the magma by the addition of fluid or other con- The petrology, geochemistry,and structural geology
taminant that would lower the liquidus temperature of of the Namew Lake deposit have been described by
the magma and melt existing crystal nuclei (Donaldson Menard et al. (1996). The Namew Lake pyroxenite host
1977, Vemon 1985, Ort 1992).Subsequentsupercool- unit is a sill 8 to 25 m thick and25O m long that con-
ing at the edgeof the magmachamberwould causerapid tains cumulus olivine + orthopyroxene + spinel + sul-
nucleation and growth of crystals on the few available fide and intercumulus clinopyroxene. The footwall
surfaces(Moore & Lockwood 1973, Donaldsonl9TT). ultramafic slll, ca.200 m structurally below the Namew
Lake pyroxenite, is 0.5 to 5 m thick, more than 1200 m
Metasomatism of ultramafic rocks long, and contains mineral assemblagessimilar to the
Namew Lake pyroxenite, as well as the comb and or-
Many metamorphosed ultramafic rocks were bicular textures describedhere. The difference in thick-
serpentinized early in their metamorphic history, and nessand possible difference in cooling history between
 METASOMATIC COMBS AND ORBICULES. NAMEW LAKE. MANITOBA 433

550

Hudson

Manitoba

54"
r02" 101'
Frc. 1 Location map of the Namew Lake mine in northern Manitoba. Subdivision of the basement into terranes in the area
covered by Ordovician sediments (shaded) is from Leclair et al. (1993).

these two units may explain why orbicules are found
only in the footwall ultramafic sill.
Structure and metamorphism
Five eventsof deformation and three eventsof meta-
morphism have been recognized in the Namew Lake
area (Menard et al. 1996). The footwall ultramafic sill
and sheetsof tonalite and granodiorite were emplaced
prior to or during Dl and were deformed into gneisses
at upper-amphibolite-facies conditions dtring Dy D2
produced broad, upright synforms, antiforms, and
domes of the interlayered tonalitic, granodioritic, and
metavolcanic gneisses.D3 involved boudinage of ultra-
434 THE CANADIAN MINERALOGIST

mafic rocks at middle-amphibolite-faciesconditions and by dikes and veins, and was variably altered. In loca-
emplacementof granitic pegmatite dikes. D4 was a ductile tion 1 (on the -320 m level), the blocks have a core of
shearingeventrecognizedat the edgeofthe orebody,and talc + dolomite , a l- to 2-cm-thick rim of comb-textured
D5 was a minor event that involved brittle faulting. Some amphibole, and l- to 3-cm-thick rinds of phlogopite
of theseeventsmay be phasesof a continuousevent. foliated parallel to the contact (Figs. 2, 3). The zone
The three metamorphic events each produced dis- boundariesmigrated toward the center of the blocks, as
tinct assemblagesand mineral compositions in the ul- shown by overgrowth textures at the boundaries be-
tramafic rocks (Menard et al. 1996). The earliest tween zones(Fig. 3).
recognized metamorphism, Mr, produced pargasitic
amphibole that parlially replaced the igneous minerals
during D1. The second-recordedmetamorphism, M3,
occurred during D3 and produced alteration to talc +
carbonate,to tremolite, and subsequentlyto phlogopite.
In the Namew Lake pyroxenite, these stagesinvolved
TABLE I WHOLE.ROCK COMPOSITIONS OF COMBS, ORBICL'LES,
partial replacement of older igneous and metamorphic AND TIIE NAMEWLAKE PYRO)GNTTE. MANITOBA
assemblages,whereas in the footwall ultramafic sill,
thesestagesinvolved nearly completereplacement,pro-
Analysis | 2 745
ducing a set of monomineralic or bimineralic zones.M5 TM94679 1M947607 TM94760A TM947608 Tl\D4517
metamorphism produced minor serpentinein the ultra- igt ott +
Tlc Crb Tr Bt NL pxte
analy realc maly recalc analy rualc maly rdc maly rwlc
mafic rocks. Because of the poor preserrrationof M1
assemblages,we concentratehere on M3 assemblages.
sio, 400 453 50 5 554 5 t 9 54.7 393 4l2A 415 4a27
Tio" 0t2 014 0 . 1 3 0 1 4 008 008 064 067 025 029
MBrnoos ao, 239 27 3 0 4 3 3 3 305 32 r4,9 1565 614 715
CrrOt 045 052 029 032 0 5 1 0-54 016 017 032 038
Fqo, 1120 0 947 0 721 O 122 0 126 0
Samples were collected at two locations from un- NfrO 015 018 007 008 023 024 019 020 014 016
derground exposures of the footwall ultramaf,rc sill rn Mgo 3l | 352 280 307 225 237 183 192 218 253
FeO 0 109 916 646 115 0 926
the Namew Lake mine. These locations are along strike CaO 367 417 019 021 958 1007 061 064 727 846
from one another and differ mainly in the degree of Naro 035 038 018 02 031 033 041 043 039 045
KrO 033 038 0 3 3 0 3 6 0 58 06 9'lO lO2 020 023
metasomatic alteration. Selected whole-rock samples LOI 795 0 575 0 205 0 085 0 360 0
were analyzed at X-ray Assay Labs in Don Mills, PO' 011 013 0,09 010 00E 008 0t0 0l 004 005
Ontario, by a combination of wavelength-dispersionX- s 030 0 012 0 ozt 0 001 0 233 0

ray-fluorescencespectrometry(for major and minor el- Total 98 I 100 9E2 100 983 100 974 r@ 966 100
ements),inductively coupled plasma - optical emission 442 1.3X 139 127 141
61 691 42 461 42
spectrometry (ICP-OES: Li, Sc, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr, Y, Co 97084066 06101940
Mo, Ag, Pb), direct-coupled plasma - optical emission Ni 1 3 6 0 0 7170596 o 4r4 0 11100 0
Cu 3040700250 o 4 04420 0
spectrometry@CP-OES: Be, B, V, Ge, Sc), inductively Za 960'790114 02300650
coupled plasma - mass spectrometry (ICP-MS: Ga, Rb 9 102 ll l2l 2l 221 265 278 3 35
Sr 55 623 2 22 20 211 45 472 51 s93
rare-earth elements), instrumental neutron activation 7 19 1 ll 12 t25 3 32 6 70
Y
gamma-ray spectrometry (INAA: Au, Cr, As, Se, Br, Zt 31 35I 34 173 28 295 123 1290 28 326
Nb 5 57 6 66 5 53 32 336 2 23
Cs, Hf, Ta, W, Th, U), wet chemistry (Hg), atomic ab- 1.6 27 2 8 1 5 3 1 6I 24 2.4
la 89 l0 I l5
sorption specffophotometry (AAS: Cd, In), and induc- Ce 2t2 240 36 40 72 76 326 342 57 66
12 36 38 0 9 lt
tive-combustion titration (S). Selected minerals were Pt 27 31 05 06 ll
't37
Nd 117 133 24 26 6 63 144 44 51
analyzed using a JEOL 8600i5 electron-probe micro- Sm 27 31 05 06 2l 22 21 22 1,2 14
analyzer at the Universiry of Alabama with 15 to 120 Eu o6 075 008 009 047 049 046 04t 041 048
Gd 222505062 2l 1 6 1 7 14 16
nA specimen current, 15 kV accelerating voltage, and Tb 03 03 <01 <01 03 03 02 02 02 02
20 to 60 s count times. Analytical precision at the 1o ry 13 15 03 03 19 2 07 07 14 16
Ho 0n 025 <005 <005 035 037 0l 0l 028 033
level is of the order of 2Vofor most major elementsand 07 01 0l I ll 03 03 0E 09
Et 06
107ofor most minor elements.Recent studies(e.9., Xie Tm <ol <01 <01 <01 02 02 <01 <01 01 0l
Yb 06 01 01 0,1 I 11 03 03 08 09
& Kerrich 1995a.b) have shown that mixed acid disso- 016 005 005 0l 01
Lu o08 009 <005 <005 015
lutions prior to ICP-MS may not completely dissolve Hf < 0 . 2 < 0 2 05 06 06 06 53 56 04 05
zircon, so the Hf data reported here may be less accu- Th 12 14 05 06 <02 <2 33 35 <02 <O2
U 08 09 06 07 < 0I <01 29 30 <01 <01
rate than the other data. Samplesof known composition
were submitted to check accuracy of data. =
amly- nw uulytical values; raalc = iBlws rmlculated to l00p/o oxides; igD orb
orbiqrls ultrauufic rock with igreou tqtu$ (Fig 6); Tlc + clt = talc + @bonat
Blocrs A\D CoMBs (Fig. 3); Tr = fiemolite me
rcne ofultmrfic bl@k whw it displsys mb txtws
of re bloclc Bt = biotite rcre of w bloclg NL pxite = lqst altered Nuw Lske

During
D3deformation
andmetamorphism,
thetbot- ffiffffiTf,##%ftffi"1t#'SffiHltrti"6iiH:
wall ultramafic sill was fractured into blocks bounded onlgoition
 METASOMATIC COMBS AND ORBICULES. NAMEW LAKE. MANITOBA
zoned
orbicule;
Frc 2. Sketch of a block of the footwall ultramafic sill show-
ing the distribution of metasomatic reaction zones The
sketch is not to scale: blocks are 1-2 m wide, and orbicules
areca.2crnwide. The geometry and mineral textures show
that these zones progressed in toward the center of the
block. Material was transferred in both directions across
zone boundaries. Orbicules in the block contain mineral
assemblagesthat vary with position in the block
Composition of the least-altered footwall
ultramafic sill
Compositions of the relatively unaltered footwall
ultramafic sill from location 2 (on the -262 m level) and
of the metasomatic reaction-zonesfrom location 1 are
listed in Table l. Continuity of the unit and similarity of
texturessuggestthat the original composition of the rock
was the same in the two exposures. Loss on ignition
(LOI) is highest in sampleswith the leastM3 amphibole
and phlogopite, and reflects abundantM3 talc or M5 ser-
pentine (or both). The complete replacement of previ-
ous minerals by the M3 assemblagessuggeststhat M1
alteration can be safely ignored. The primary igneous
compositions were modified by amphibolitization dur-
ing M y steatization,carbonatization,amphibolitization,
and biotitization during M3, and by serpentinization
during M5. The major oxides and minor and trace ele-
ments have been recalculated to ljoEo volatile-free in
order to compensate for variable hydration and
carbonatization. Comparing the least-altered samples,
435
which best preserve the original igneous composition
(Table l; Menard et al. 1996), the footwall ultramafic
sill contains lower Si (4244 wt Vo SiO2 recalculated),
Ti, Al, Fe, S, Cu, and Ni than the Namew Lake pyrox-
enite, and higher Mg (33-35 wtVo MgO recalculated),
Ca. Cr. and Sr.
Compositions of alteration Tones
Figure 4 shows compositional changesin the alter-
ation zones as the ratios of the volumes of elementsin
one assemblageto the volume in the preceding assem-
blage. The volumes are obtained by dividing the com-
positions by the density of the sample (Gresens 1967).
The diagrams showing enrichment or depletion show
apparentrelative mobilities among elements,plotted in
groups with geochemical similarities. If alteration pro-
ceededat a constant volume, immobile elementswould
plot at a ratio of 1. On the other hand, if the volume
changed during alteration, immobile elements would
have ratios greaterthan 1 (volume decrease)or lessthan
I (increase).We make no a priori assumption that al-
teration must have proceededat constant mass or con-
stant volume, but examine the relative differences
among the elements.
Aluminum, Ti, and Zr exhibit relatively constant
interelement ratios and are distributed in different
phases,so they are interpreted to have been among the
least-mobile elements in the alteration zones (Fig. a).
Alteration to talc + carbonatechangedA1, Ti, andZrby
a factor of 1 to 1.3 times, suggestingminor loss in vol-
ume of up to 23Vo.Alteration to tremolite changedthem
by a factor of 0.5 to 0.8 times, suggestinga gain in vol-
ume of 25 to ljjEo. Alteration to phlogopite changed
them by a factor of 5 to 9 times, suggestingmajor loss
in volume of 8V89Vo.
Alteration of the igneous assemblageto talc + car-
bonate involved gain of Si and loss of Na, Sr, Ca, Cu,
Ni, and approximately 9OVoof the rare-earth elements
(REE) (Fig. 4A). In addition, the mineral assemblage
demonstratesaddition of H2O and CO2. The REE likely
were hosted by igneous minerals, which were com-
pletely removed, and apparently talc, carbonate, and
accessoryphasescould not accommodatethe REE.In-
terpretation of the REE as immobile would lead to in-
ference of dramatic changes in mass and volume (and
mobility of Al, Ti, andZr).Instead, it appearsthat the
small amounts of REE in the rock were mobilized dur-
ing metasomatism.Figure 5 shows a chondrite-normal-
ized plot of the REE in the various alteration-zonesfor
comparison with other data sets.
Alteration of talc + carbonateto tremolite (Fig. aB)
involved addition of K, Na, Ca, Mn, Cu, Cr, and the
REE (especially the heavy REE. It also involved loss
of CO2, as required by the mineral assemblages.The
elements added to the tremolite zone are mainly those
that could be incorporated in tremolite. Mobility of Cr
is consistentwith petrographicobservationsofchromite
436

FIc. 3 Photomicrograph of the edge of an ultramafic block displaying talc + carbonatein

the core, a zone of tremolite with a comb texture, and phlogopite at the edge Tremolite
is interpreted to have overgrown talc + carbonate, and phlogopite, to have overgrown
tremolite. In some other samples, the boundary between zones is gradational. Plane-
polarized light.

recrystallization in the M3 tremolite zone in the Namew
Lake pyroxenite (Menard et al. 1996).
Alteration of amphibole to phlogopite (Fig. 4C) in-
volved addition of Rb, K, and Ba, and loss of Ca, Mg,
Mn, Fe, S, Cu, Ni, and the middle and heavy REE. The
large loss in volume involved in replacing amphibole
by phlogopite (interpreted above) implies substantial
dehydration.The elementsaddedto the phlogopite zone
are mainly those that could be incorporated in phlogo-
pite. Other elements,especially Ca and the heavy REE
that had been incorporated in tremolite, were removed.
Interpretation of the direction in which elementsmoved
is somewhat uncertain, but an interpretation for some
elementsis shown in Figure 4D. Material may have been
transported through the zones, but was added or re-
moved at reaction fronts, which moved inward toward
the center of blocks. COz and H2O added at the igneous
rock - talc + carbonateboundary must have come from
outside the system, and CO2 removed at the talc + car-
bonate- tremolite boundary was removed from the sys-
tem. The Cr and middle and heavy REE addedto form
the tremolite zone may have been transported inward
from the tremolite - phlogopite boundary. Ca, Sr, Cu,
and Zn added to the ffemolite zone may have been mo-
bilized from the igneous rock - talc + carbonatebound-
ary, whereas K and Rb were brought in from outside
the ultramafic block. This transport of elementsin both
directions is termed bimetasomatism. K and other al-
kali metals in phlogopite must have come from outside
the system, becausethey generally have very low con-
centrationsin ultramafic rocks. The Cu and S lost from
the ultramafic rocks likely were depositedin chalcopy-
rite veins observedto cross-cut the gneissosity.
Onercur-ss
Orbicules occur in the footwall ultramafrc sill in both
locations where the sill was exposedin the Namew Lake
mine. We distinguish three types of orbicules on the
basis of their mineral assemblages: 1) orbicules that
preserve some igneous minerals, 2) homogeneous
orbicules that contain only metamorphic minerals, and
3) zoned orbicules that contain only metamorphic min-
erals.
Orbicules with igneous textures
The footwall ultramafic sill at location 2 (on the
-262mlevel) preservessomeigneousminerals and con-
tains randomly distributed orbicules (Fig. 6). The sill is
similar in this location to that at location 1 (described
above), but displays less intense alteration. The
orbicules are ellipsoidal, 24 cm in diameter, and have
a distinct core, mantle, and rind. The core of the
orbicules contains small (0.3 mm) grains of olivine
(Foss so,800-1200 ppm Ni) partially altered to M5 ser-
pentine and Mlamphibole (see below). The mantle of
the orbicules contains olivine (Fos3-es)partially altered
to M5 serpentine.Serpentinepreferentially replacedoli-
vine along cracks, but olivine grains are optically con-
 METASOMATIC COMBS AND ORBICULES. NAMEVr' LAKE. MANITOBA 43"1

g 1.0

0.1
10

talc + carbonate ---* tremolite

10.0

E1 . 0
T

0.1
Fe, Mg, Ca, Na, Sr, Fe, Mg, Ni, Co,
Ni, REE COZ Cu, H2O

Hzo
Si, H2O, CO2 K, Rb, Sr, K, Rb, BA

Ftc. 4. Enrichment or depletion diagrams showing compositional alteration as ratios of

the composition of one zone to that of the previous zone (corrected for density). The
elements are grouped by charge and ordered according to decreasing ionic radius.
Dashedlines indicate zero change in mass,assuming that Al, Ti, and Zr were immobile.
A. Alteration from the least-alteredsample to talc + carbonate.B. Alteration from talc
+ carbonateto amphibole. C Alteration from amphibole to phlogopite. D. Sketch show-
ing interpreted movement of elements in the alteration zones (not to scale). Material is
added or removed (black arrows) from the reaction-zone boundaries, which moved in
the direction of the white anows
438

100 ous orbicules from other locations, in which olivine

-x-rgneous
grains in the orbicule mantle grew outward from the core
+talc+carb zone (Eskola 1938, Thompson & Giles 1974). The rind of
+amphibole zone the orbicules contains Ms serpentine and concentric
s10
.F +biotite zone shells of fine-grained chromian magnetite and chromite
(Fig. 6). Faint pseudomolphic textures suggestthat the
\4-4-4-*
o seryentine likely replaced olivine that appearsto have
been oriented tangentially to the edge of the orbicules.
A1
Some shells of oxide grains continue around the
orbicules, but others merge with each other. The thick-
estportions of the shellslikely indicate that the orbicules
grew faster on those sides.The matrix betweenorbicules
0.1
LaCe Pr NdSmEu Gd DvHo Er YbLu consists of metamorphic amphibole + phlogopite with
minor chlorite and serpentineand igneous chalcopyrite
FIG. 5. REE normaiized to chondrites (Taylor & Mclennan and magnetite (Fig. 68).
1985) showing loss ofREE from the inner talc + carbonate The amphibole in the orbicule cores and in the ma-
zone, addition of heavy REE in the amphibole zone, and trix contains abundant inclusions of fine-grained mag-
loss of heavy REE in the phogopite zone The upturn of Lu netite and chromite. Similar amphibole was found in the
in the talc + carbonate zone may be within analytical un- Namew Lake pyroxenite, where Ml pargasitic amphib-
certainties associatedwith the detection limit. ole replaced clinopyroxene that surrounded olivine
(Menard et al. 1996). Thus, the orbicule core may have
been a fragment of pyroxenite prior to metamorphism.
tinuous across the cracks. Thus, olivine grains were Likewise, the phlogopite displays compositionsand tex-
originally 3-mmJong crystals affanged radially in the tures similar to those in M3 phlogopite in the Namew
orbicules. Similar textures have been described in isne- Lake pyroxenite.

Frc 6 lgneous orbicules. A. Photomicrograph showing tex-

tures in the orbicules, with a distinct rind marked by con-
centric shells of chromite and magnetite grains. The bound-
ary between the core and mantle is defined as the location
where olivine grains change from small and equant to big-
ger and elongatein radial orientations B. Photomicrograph
showing detail of the core of the orbicule, wrth M1
amphibole surrounding olivine grains that were partially
altered to Ms serpentine, with minor magnetite and
chromite. This texture replaces an igneous texture inter-
preted as representative of a pyroxemte. Plane-polarized
light. C Photomicrograph showing detail of the orbicule
mantle and rind. The rind is composedof shells of magnet-
ite and chromite and M5 serpentine that replaced olivine.
The matrix is now composed of M1 tremolite that replaced
pyroxene, M3 phlogopite, and minor chlorite, setpentine,
sulfides, and oxides. Plane-polarized light.
 METASOMATIC COMBS AND ORBICULES. NAMEW LAKE. MANITOBA
The above features suggestthat olivine + chromite
in the mantle and rim crystallized on fragments of oliv-
ine-bearing pyroxenite The resulting orbicular textures
suggestheterogeneouscrystallization and a lack ofother
sites of crystallization in the magma. Subsequentcrys-
tallization of pyroxene and accumulation of minor sul-
fide between orbicules suggest that crystallization
continued at lower temperaturesand that sulfide satura-
tion occurred after growth of the orbicules. The origin
of the cores of the orbicules remains enigmatic, how-
ever. They may be exotic fragments transported from
elsewhere by the magma, but this seemsunlikely be-
cause there are few other ultramafic rocks nearby. A1-
ternatively, they may have crystallized from the same
magma that later produced the rest of the footwall uttra-
mafic sill In the secondscenario,an early pulse of flow
in the magmatic conduit could have crystallized olivine
and then accumulated pyroxene along the walls, and a
later pulse could have brought fresh magma that tore
fragments off the conduit wall. Cooling of this second
pulse would have crystallized olivine + chromite as
mantles and rinds of orbicules, followed by pyroxene +
sulfides in the matrix.
Homogeneousorbicules
Homogeneous orbicules occur in the centers of
blocks at location 1 (Fig. 2). These orbicules and rheir
439
matrix are composedof talc + dolomite and minor phlo-
gopite, chlorite, calcite, serpentine,oxides, and sulfides
(Fig. 7). In some samples,talc was patially replacedby
M5 serpentine.The orbicules are ellipsoidal, 2- to 4-cm
in size, and have a rind with thin, concentric shells of
fine-grained chromian magnetite.Variations on a milli-
meter scaleof mineral modes and sizesof talc and dolo-
mite grains replace an igneous texture similar to that
displayed in the igneous orbicules (Fig. 7). These simr-
larities indicate an igneous origin for all of the orbicules
and suggestthat the differencesin observedassemblages
of minerals reflect metasomatic alteration.
M etasomatically zoned o rbic ules
Compositionally zoned orbicules occur near the
edgesofthe blocks in location I (Fig. 8). They contain
a core of talc + dolomite and a rim of radiating tremo-
lite within a matrix of phlogopite. Tremolite grains dis-
play metamorphic comb textures in the orbicule rims.
At the inside of the tremolite zone, tremolite overgrew
talc + dolomite, whereasat the outside ofthe zone,phlo-
gopite patially replaced tremolite, demonstrating that
the zone boundaries migrated toward the center of the
orbicules. Tremolite grains display minor compositional
zoning, with Al, Na, and Fe/(Fe + Mg) decreasingto-
ward the sidesof the grains and toward the center of the
orbicules, which also suggestsgrowth inward. Grains
FIG. 7. Homogeneous orbicules. A. Hand sample showing
orbicules with talc + carbonatein the core, rim. and matrix.
The locations of orbicules are marked by relict shells of
magnetite and chromite, similar to those shown in Figure
6 The texture of olivine grains in the rim of the orbicule
was replaced by variations in mode of talc and carbonate
Coins for scale is 21 mm in diameter. B. Photomicrograph
showing homogeneous orbicules composed of talc + car-
bonate in a matrix of talc + carbonate. This sample also
contains minor Mt phlogopite. Plane-polarized light C.
Photomicrograph showing detail of the rim of a taic + car-
bonate orbicule with shells of magnetite and chromite
grains. Cross-polarized light
440 THE CANADIAN MINERALOCIST

between orbicules was altered to amphibole and subse-

quently to phlogopite, and these alteration fronts pro-
gressively affected the interior of orbicules. Thus, the
orbicules appearto have formed a local barrier to fluid
flow during metasomatic alteration to amphibole and
phlogopite. One possibility is that the shells of oxides
formed the barrier, but this seems unlikely because
grains of magnetite and chromite that decoratethe rims
of orbicules are discontinuous, and becausethey were
overgrown by amphibole and incorporatedas inclusions
without apparent effect on growth of the amphibole.
Another possibility is that permeability was controlled
by slight differences in the size and shapeof grains of
talc and carbonatein the orbicules comparedwith those
in the matrix, differences that likely were inherited from
the original igneous textures.

CoNct-usIoNs

Compositions, textures, and mineral assemblagesin

the footwall ultramafic sill in the Namew Lake mine
were extensively modified during metamorphism. Af-
ter the sill broke into blocks, the edgesof blocks served
as fluid pathways, and the blocks were metasomatized
from the outside inward. Metamorphism produced a
series of metasomatic reaction-zones: relatively unal-
tered ultramafic rock, talc + carbonate,tremolite, and
phlogopite. Growth of tremolite in this event produced
Frc. 8. Compositionallyzonedorbicules.A. Photomicro- metamorphic comb-textures, with grains elongate par-
graphof orbiculesdisplayingtalc + carbonate in the core, allel to directions of fluid transport. The metasomatism
tremolitein the rim in a radialorientation,andphlogopite initially homogenized igneous orbicules, but subse-
in the matrix.The geometryindicatesthat the matrix be- quently produced new compositional zonation in the
tweenorbiculeswas preferentiallyreplacedfirst, and orbicules,reflecting differencesin permeability between
metasomatic zonesprogressed in towardthe centerof the orbicules and the matrix.
orbicules.Theorbiculesapparently formedabarrierto fluid Metasomatism of the ultramafic rocks involved mo-
flow. B Photomicrograph showingdetail of the rim of a
bility of nearly all componentsof the system.The mag-
compositionally zonedorbicule.Relictshellsof magnetite
from
andchromitewereovergrownby tremoliteorientedradially nitudes and trendsofcompositional changesvaried
aroundthe orbicule.Plane-polarized light. zone to zone during the same metamorphic event. The
REE, for example, were removed from the talc + car-
bonatezone, whereasthe heavy REE were preferentially
incorporated in the amphibole zone, but not in the phlo-
of magnetite and chromite included within tremolite gopite zone. Although it is possible that the minerals
preserve the pattern of shells displayed in the previous produced in the metasomaticreactionswere determined
samples, and are the last remnants of the igneous tex- by mobility of a few major elements,the suite of minor
ture. The matrix is composed of phlogopite in some and trace elementsgained or lost in each zone was con-
samplesand of phlogopite + amphibole in others, along trolled in part by the minerals involved. Metasomatism
with minor chlorite, magnetite, and serpentine. The of ultramafic rocks at middle-amphibolite-facies condi-
textures sftongly suggest that growth of tremolite and tions in which alteration in the successivestageswas
subsequentgrowth of phlogopite produced new com- incomplete (such as in the Namew Lake pyroxenite)
positional variation in orbicules that had been homoge- may be expected to produce compositions that are a
neous. combination of those shown here.

Pnrnweys oF FLUrDFLow AcrNowtsocsNasNTs

The geometry ofthe alteration zonesand the textures This work was carried out during geological investi-
of mineral overgrowths show that metamorphic fluid gationsof the Namew Lake mine funded by Hudson Bay
traveled along the edges of blocks and flowed into the Exploration and Development Company Ltd. and
blocks from all sides. In a similar manner. the matrix Outukumpu Mines Ltd. We thank the staff of Hudson
 METASOMATIC COMBS AND ORBICULES. NAMEW LAKE. MANITOBA
Bay Exploration and Development Company for their
cooperation and assistance during this project, and in
particular David Price, James Pickell, Peter Oshust, and
J.J. O'Donnell. This paper has benefitted from reviews
by Dugald Carmichael, Rob Kerrich, Graham Nixon,
Jack Rice, and an anonymous revrewer.
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