Abstract:
Part one presents the results of Ar-Ar dating of amphiboles and compared to U-Pb and Rb-Sr age data. Systematic differences of 15 Ma were found in the ages determined with the different methods. Field relations and a cooling model show, however, that this timegap is geologically not resonable. In fact, in the last years a modification of the 40K decay constant was discussed in the literature. In these papers, a revision in the range of 1.5 % toward older ages is discussed, which is exactly the difference between the Ar-ages and the others. Therefore, we corrected our Ar-ages in this direction. This means for the Ilímaussaq intrusion, that the intrusion of the different melt batches is not resolvable with the current dating methods and occurred within at mot 10 Ma.
Part two presents and discusses the results of sodalite analyses from a sodalite-rich rock from the roof of the intrusion. It was found, that the onset of the sodalite crystallisation occurred at a deeper level than the final intrusion level. At this stage, the sodalite-forming melt was in equilibrium with a fluid rich in hydrocarbons. At a later stage, a second aqueous fluid with a medium to high salinity exsolved from the melt, which marks the development towards more oxidising conditions. Using the sulphur content and the Cl/Br ratio, a two-stage evolution of the sodalite-bearing rock was shown.
Part three focuses on amphiboles from a strongly layered rock from the bottom of the magma chamber. This layering recurs several times, which can be explained by cyclic changes in the liquidus temperature of the melt caused by pressure changes. Similar to the afore-mentioned roof rocks, systematic changes in the mineral chemistry of the amphiboles were detected. These chemical treads are, however, relatively weak developed, which is explained by the relatively small amount of crystals formed from the melt at each crystallisation cycle. The thickness and the modal mineralogy of the layers can be modelled assuming crystallisation from a large part of the magma chamber.