Summary
Dykes of carbonate rocks, that cut gneisses in the Lowder-Mudiah area of southern Yemen, consist of dolomite and/or calcite with or without apatite, barite and monazite. Petrographic observations, mineralogical, XRF and ICP-MS analyses reveal that some of the carbonate rocks are derived from sedimentary protoliths, whereas others are magmatic calcio- and magnesio-carbonatites some of which are mineralized with barite-monazite. The interbanded occurrence and apparent contemporary emplacement of these different rock types within individual dykes, backed by Sr–Nd isotope evidence, are interpreted to show that intrusion of mantle-derived carbonatite magma was accompanied by mobilization of crustal marbles. That took place some 840 Ma ago but the REE-mineralization is dated at ca. 400 Ma.
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Le Bas, M., Ba-bttat, M., Taylor, R. et al. The carbonatite-marble dykes of Abyan Province, Yemen Republic: the mixing of mantle and crustal carbonate materials revealed by isotope and trace element analysis. Mineralogy and Petrology 82, 105–135 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-004-0056-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-004-0056-2