Vol. 53 | 2023

A whole-rock data set for the Skaergaard intrusion, East Greenland

DATA ARTICLE | SHORT
Published June 16, 2023
Christian Tegner
+
Lars Peter Salmonsen
+
Marian B. Holness
+
Charles E. Lesher
+
Madeleine C. S. Humphreys
+
Peter Thy
+
Troels F. D. Nielsen
+
DATA ARTICLE | SHORT
Published June 16, 2023
Mountains
Abstract
Supplementary Files
Downloads
References
Keywords

Skaergaard intrusion, Layered mafic intrusion, Bulk-rock geochemical data, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Christian Tegner, Lars Peter Salmonsen, Marian B. Holness, Charles E. Lesher, Madeleine C. S. Humphreys, Peter Thy, Troels F. D. Nielsen

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

GEUS Bulletin is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal published by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS). This article is distributed under a CC-BY 4.0 licence, permitting free redistribution and reproduction for any purpose, even commercial, provided proper citation of the original work. Author(s) retain copyright over the article contents. Read the full open access policy.

Abstract

We report a compilation of new and published whole-rock major and trace element analyses for 646 samples of the Skaergaard intrusion, East Greenland. The samples were collected in 14 stratigraphic profiles either from accessible and well-exposed surface areas or from drill core, and they cover most regions of the intrusion. This includes the Layered Series, the Upper Border Series, the Marginal Border Series and the Sandwich Horizon. The geochemical data were obtained by a combination of X-ray fluorescence and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. This data set can, for example, be used to constrain processes of igneous differentiation and ore formation. 

Keywords

Skaergaard intrusion, Layered mafic intrusion, Bulk-rock geochemical data, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Christian Tegner, Lars Peter Salmonsen, Marian B. Holness, Charles E. Lesher, Madeleine C. S. Humphreys, Peter Thy, Troels F. D. Nielsen

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

GEUS Bulletin is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal published by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS). This article is distributed under a CC-BY 4.0 licence, permitting free redistribution and reproduction for any purpose, even commercial, provided proper citation of the original work. Author(s) retain copyright over the article contents. Read the full open access policy.

Supplementary Files

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Read More In This Issue

An annual collection of articles submitted to GEUS Bulletin and published throughout 2023. Published online only. This issue is open until the end of 2023. 

Cover photo: satellite image is from the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel data 2023, as featured in Karlsson et al. 2023: A data set of monthly [...]

References

  • Andersen, J.C.Ø., Rasmussen, H., Nielsen, T.F.D. & Rønsbo, J.C. 1998: The Triple Group and the Platinova gold and palladium reefs in the Skaergaard Intrusion: stratigraphic and petrographic relations. Economic Geology 93, 488–509. https://doi.org/10.2113/gsecongeo.93.4.488
  • Holness, M.B., Humphreys, M.C.S., Namur, O., Andersen, J.C.Ø., Tegner, C. & Nielsen, T.F.D. 2022: Crystal mush growth and collapse on a steep wall: the Marginal Border Series of the Skaergaard Intrusion, East Greenland. Journal of Petrology 63, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egab100
  • Holness, M.B., Tegner, C., Namur, O. & Pilbeam, L. 2015: The earliest history of the Skaergaard magma chamber: a textural and geochemical study of the Cambridge drill core. Journal of Petrology 56, 1199–1227. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egv034
  • Holness, M.B., Tegner, C., Nielsen, T.F.D. & Charlier, B. 2017: The thickness of the mushy layer on the floor of the Skaergaard magma chamber at apatite saturation. Journal of Petrology 58, 909–932. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egx040
  • Hoover, J.D. 1989: Petrology of the Marginal Border Series of the Skaergaard Intrusion. Journal of Petrology 30, 399–439. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/30.2.399
  • Humphreys, M.C.S. & Holness, M.B. 2010: Melt-rich segregations in the Skaergaard Marginal Border Series: tearing of a vertical silicate mush. Lithos 119, 181–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2010.06.006
  • Irvine, T.N. 1982: Terminology for layered intrusions. Journal of Petrology 23, 127–162. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/23.2.127-a
  • Irvine, T.N., Andersen, J.C.Ø. & Brooks, C.K. 1998: Included blocks (and blocks within blocks) in the Skaergaard Intrusion: geological relations and the origins of rhythmic modally graded layers. Geological Society of America Bulletin 110, 1398–1447. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1998)110<1398:IBABWB>2.3.CO;2
  • Jochum, K.P., Weis, U., Schwager, B., Stoll, B., Wilson, S.A., Haug, G.H., Andreae, M.O. & Enzwiler, J. 2016: Reference values following ISO guidelines for frequently requested rock reference materials. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research 40, 333–350. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-908X.2015.00392.x
  • Keays, R.R. & Tegner, C. 2016: Magma chamber processes in the formation of the low-sulphide magmatic Au-PGE mineralization of the Platinova Reef in the Skaergaard intrusion, East Greenland. Journal of Petrology 56(12), 2319–2339. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egv075
  • McBirney, A.R. 1989: Geological map of the Skaergaard Intrusion, East Greenland, 1:20 000. Department of Geology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA.
  • McBirney, A.R. 1995: Mechanisms of differentiation in the Skaergaard intrusion. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 152, 421–435. https://doi.org/10.1144/gsjgs.152.3.0421
  • McBirney, A.R. 1996: The Skaergaard intrusion. In: Cawthorn, R.G. (ed.): Layered intrusions. Pp. 147–180. Amsterdam: Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-2894(96)80007-8
  • McBirney, A.R. 2002: The Skaergaard Layered Series. Part VI. Excluded trace elements. Journal of Petrology 43, 535–556. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/43.3.535
  • McKenzie, D. 2011: Compaction and crystallization in Magma chambers: towards a model of the Skaergaard intrusion. Journal of Petrology 52(5), 905–930. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egr009
  • Namur, O., Humphreys, M.C.S. & Holness, M.B. 2013: Lateral reactive infiltration in a vertical gabbroic crystal mush, Skaergaard Intrusion, East Greenland. Journal of Petrology 54, 985–1016. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egt003
  • Namur, O., Humphreys, M.C.S. & Holness, M.B. 2014: Crystallisation of interstitial liquid and latent heat buffering in solidifying gabbros: Skaergaard Intrusion, Greenland. Journal of Petrology 55, 1389–1427. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egu028
  • Naslund, H.R. 1984: Petrology of the Upper Border Series of the Skaergaard Intrusion. Journal of Petrology 25, 185–212. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/25.1.185
  • Nielsen, T.F.D. 2004: The shape and volume of the Skaergaard Intrusion, Greenland: implications for mass balance and bulk composition. Journal of Petrology 45, 507–530. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egg092
  • Nielsen, T.F.D., Andersen, J.C.Ø., Holness, M.B., Keiding, J.K., Rudashevsky, N.S., Rudashevsky, V.N., Salmonsen, L.P., Tegner, C. & Veksler, I.V. 2015: The Skaergaard PGE and gold deposit: the result of in situ fractionation, sulphide saturation, and magma chamber scale precious metal redistribution by immiscible Fe-rich melt. Journal of Petrology 56, 1643–1976. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egv049
  • Pedersen, J.M., Ulrich, T., Whitehouse, M.J., Kent, A.J.R. & Tegner, C. 2021: The volatile and trace element composition of apatite in the Skaergaard intrusion, East Greenland. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 176, 102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-021-01861-x
  • Salmonsen, L.P. & Tegner, C. 2013: Crystallisation sequence of the Upper Border Series of the Skaergaard Intrusion: revised subdivision and implications for chamber-scale magma homogeneity. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 165, 1155–1171. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-013-0852-y
  • Tegner, C. 1997: Iron in plagioclase as a monitor of the differentiation of the Skaergaard Intrusion. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 128, 45–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s004100050292
  • Tegner, C., Andersen, T.B., Kjøll, H.J., Brown, E.L., Hagen-Peter, G., Corfu, F., Planke, S. & Torsvik, T.H. 2019: A mantle plume origin for the Scandinavian Dyke Complex: a piercing point for the 615 Ma plate reconstruction of Baltica. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 20, 1075–1094. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GC007941
  • Tegner, C. & Cawthorn, R.G. 2010: Iron in plagioclase in the Bushveld and Skaergaard intrusions: implications for iron contents in evolving basic magmas. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 159, 719–730. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-009-0450-1
  • Tegner, C., Thy, P., Holness, M.B., Jakobsen, J.K. & Lesher, C.E. 2009: Differentiation and compaction in the Skaergaard Intrusion. Journal of Petrology 50, 813–840. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egp020
  • Thy, P., Tegner, C. & Lesher, C.E. 2009: The Skaergaard liquid line of descent revisited. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 157, 735–747. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-008-0361-6
  • Thy, P., Tegner, C. & Lesher, C.E. In press: Petrology of the Skaergaard Layered Series. GEUS Bulletin 56, 8327. https://doi.org/10.34196.v53.8327
  • Wager, L.R. & Brown, G.M. 1968: Layered Igneous Rocks. 588 pp. Edinburgh and London: Oliver and Boyd.
  • Wager, L.R., Brown, G.M. & Wadsworth, W.J. 1960: Types of igneous cumulates. Journal of Petrology 1, 73–85. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/1.1.73
  • Wager, L.R. & Deer, W.A. 1939: Geological investigations in East Greenland. Part III. The petrology of the Skaergaard Intrusion. Kangerdlussuaq, East Greenland. Meddelelser Om Grønland 105, 352 pp.