Lithos paper: PGE geochemistry of Cenozoic basalts (by Gang Zeng)

Continental basalts have complicated petrogenetic processes, and their chemical compositions can be affected by multi-staged geological evolution. Compared to lithophile elements in basalts, chalcophile elements including Ni, platinum-group elements (PGEs) and Cu are sensitive to sulfide segregation and fractional crystallization during the evolution of mantle-derived magmas and can provide constraints on the genesis of continental basalts. Cenozoic intra-continental alkaline basalts in the Nanjing basaltic field, eastern China were precisely analyzed for PGEs contents in this study. Variations of elemental ratios indicate the crustal contamination is a potential process to induce the sulfide saturation and removal, and xenolith–magma interaction are also responsible for the variable PGE compositions of alkaline basalts.

Variations in Ce/Pb, Na/Ti and Pd/Ir for Cenozoic alkaline basalts in Nanjing basaltic field

(Zeng G, Huang X W, Zhou M F, et al. Using chalcophile elements to constrain crustal contamination and xenolith-magma interaction in Cenozoic basalts of eastern China[J]. Lithos, 2016.)