Petrological and mineralogical characterizationsofjadeite-bearing rocksfrom the Mikabu greenstones in the Shimonita area, Kanto Mountains, Central Japan

Jadeite-bearing meta-basalt occur within a greenstone complex at the southern margin of the Mikabu greenstones in the Shimonita area, northern Kanto Mountains, Central Japan. The greenstone complex shows a block-in-matrix structure consisting of small, sporadically occurring greenstone blocks (jadeite-bearing meta-basaltic lavas, jadeite-free pargasite rocks, and jadeite-free garnet-epidote rocks) embedded within a matrix of actinolite rocks. The complex has been interpreted as a tectonic meá lange composed of allochthonous metamorphic blocks within the Mikabu greenstones. However, both the greenstone blocks and actinolite rocks preserve original igneous or pyroclastic textures without the deformation structures commonly seen in tectonic melanges. The concentrations of high field strength (HFS) elements within the jadeite-bearing lavas indicate that these rocks are alkali basalts derived from oceanic island basalt (OIB). The composition of these lavas is similar to that of OIB blocks in the Mikabu greenstones in Shikoku, western Japan. The whole-rock chemical composition of the lavas reveals higher Na₂O concentrations (max. 10.1 wt%) than in unmetamorphosed Hawaiian OIB alkali basalts. The actinolite rocks of the matrix show a pyroclastic texture and contain relic Ca-pyroxenes. The concentrations of HFS elements and pyroxene chemistry of the actinolite rocks indicate an origin from tholeiitic MORB, similar in composition to typical Mikabu greenstones in the Kanto Mountains and Shikoku. These observations strongly suggest that the greenstone complex is not a tectonic melange comprising allochthonous meta-morphic rocks within a matrix of Mikabu greenstones, but that the entire complex consists of Mikabu greenstones. Therefore, the complex was subjected to Sanbagawa metamorphism after a Na-enrichment event; jadeite grew in Na-rich blocks during the metamorphism.