Dataset of wehrlitization process: insights from X-ray Micro-CT of Mt. Vulture (southern Italy) mantle xenoliths

The study of textural and chemical characteristics of mafic minerals from mantle xenoliths is essential to investigate the nature of the upper mantle in a continental geodynamic context, melts generation and their effects related to mantle metasomatism. Particular textures in mantle minerals, inclusions or secondary veins of different nature (silicates vs carbonates), bubbles, represent petrographic tools to investigate these processes within the mantle. Petrographic 2D thin sections might overlook these mineralogical features, and 3D textural analysis through X-ray computed microtomography (micro-CT) are crucial to overcome these limitations.

We focused on the Mt. Vulture volcano (southern Italy) rare mantle xenoliths, brought to the surface by a melilitite-carbonatite magma (141 ka), with particular emphasis to spinel-wehrlite xenoliths and wehrlitization processes that is located close to an area of intense CO2 degassing associated to catastrophic earthquakes.

Preliminary results showed interesting 3D textural distributions within the studied xenoliths-forming mantle minerals. In particular, the micro-CT allowed to furnish new constrains on the relationship between fluids entrapment and migration, and structural discontinuities. Indeed, some minerals (especially those from the wehrlite xenoliths) showed a well-correlated distribution of fluid inclusions along the secondary fracturing planes.

This publication results from work conducted under the transnational access/national open access action at Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia – Osservatorio Vesuviano (INGV-OV) and supported by WP3 ILGE - MEET project, PNRR - EU Next Generation Europe program, MUR grant number D53C22001400005. The author thanks also Gianmarco Buono and Lucia Pappalardo for their support during the analyses and the post processing process.