Evidence of melting, melt percolation and deformation in a supra-subduction zone (Marum ophiolite complex, Papua New Guinea)

New geochemical and microstructural data are presented for a suite of ultramafic rocks from the Marum ophiolite in Papua New Guinea. Our results describe a piece of most depleted mantle made essentially of dunite and harzburgite showing compositions of supra-subduction zone peridotite. Strong olivine crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs) in dunite and harzburgite inferred the activation of both (001)[100] and (010)[100] slip systems, which are activated at high-temperature and low-stress conditions. Clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene CPOs inferred the activation of (100)[001] and (010)[001] slip systems, which are common for pyroxenes deformed at high temperature. This plastic deformation is interpreted to have developed during the formation of the Marum ophiolite, prior to melt percolation. The orientation of the foliation and olivine [100] slip directions sub-parallel to the subduction zone indicates that mantle flow was parallel to the trench pointing a fast polarisation direction parallel to the arc. This provides new evidence that fast polarisation direction parallel to the arc could be caused by anisotropic peridotite and not by olivine [001] slip. After its formation, Marum ophiolite has been fertilised by diffuse crystallisation of a low proportion of clinopyroxene (1-2%) (P1) and formation of cm-scale ol-clinopyroxenite and ol-websterite veins cross-cutting the foliation (P2). This percolating melt shows silica-rich magnesian affinities (boninite-like) related to supra-subduction zone in a young fore-arc environment. The peridotite has also been percolated by a melt with more tholeiite affinities precipitating plagioclase-rich wehrlite and thin gabbroic veins (P3); these are interpreted to form after the boninitic event. The small proportion of newly crystallised pyroxene in the dunite shows similar orientation of crystallographic axes to the host dunite (ol parallel to cpx-opx). In contrast, the pyroxenes in ol-clinopyroxenite, ol-websterite and the thin gabbroic veins in the wehrlite, record their own orientation with axes at 45°-60° to olivine axes. Our results indicate that for low melt proportion the crystallisation is governed by epitaxial growth, and when the proportion of melt is higher the newly formed minerals record syn-kinematic crystallisation. This switch of crystallographic axes orientation of newly formed minerals indicates a reorientation of the constraints during the boninitic and tholeiitic melts event probably due to a variation of lateral mantle flow within the fore-arc area. The variation of the crystallographic axes orientation could be an indicator for the development of a young fore-arc mantle in supra-subduction zone