Mafic lower crustal xenoliths from the northwestern part of the Arabian Plate

Petrological and geochemical data for a suite of mafic granulitic xenoliths in Quaternary alkali basalts from the northwestern part of the Arabian plate (NE-Jordan) indicate that these xenoliths represent gabbroic cumulates crystallized at lower crustal pressures. The xenolith mineral assemblages and geothermometry on coexisting minerals suggest equilibration conditions between 6 and 8 kbar and 720-880°C. The xenoliths are a part of a lower crustal gabbroic intrusive complex that underlies the Arabian shield, and may represent the mafic roots of a Pan-African arc complex of Arabia. -Author