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The relative depletion of high field strength elements (HFSE), such as Nb, Ta and Ti, on normalised trace-element plots is a geochemical proxy routinely used to fingerprint magmatic processes linked to Phanerozoic subduction. This proxy has increasingly been applied to ultramafic-mafic units in Archaean cratons, but as these assemblages have commonly been affected by high-grade metamorphism and hydrothermal alteration/metasomatism, the likelihood of element mobility is high relative to Phanerozoic examples. To assess the validity of HFSE anomalies as a reliable proxy for Archaean subduction, we here investigate their origin in ultramafic rocks from the Ben Strome Complex, which is a 7 km2 ultramafic-mafic complex in the Lewisian Gneiss Complex of NW Scotland. Recently interpreted as a deformed layered intrusion, the Ben Strome Complex has been subject to multiple phases of high-grade metamorphism, including separate granulite- and amphibolite-facies deformation events. Additional to bulk-rock geochemistry, we present detailed petrography, and major- and trace-element mineral chemistry for 35 ultramafic samples, of which 15 display negative HFSE anomalies. Our data indicate that the magnitude of HFSE anomalies in the Ben Strome Complex are correlated with light rare earth-element (LREE) enrichment likely generated during interaction with H2O and CO2-rich hydrothermal fluids associated with amphibolitisation, rather than primary magmatic (subduction-related) processes. Consequently, we consider bulk-rock HFSE anomalies alone to be an unreliable proxy for Archaean subduction in Archaean terranes that have experienced multiple phases of high-grade metamorphism, with a comprehensive assessment of element mobility and petrography a minimum requirement prior to assigning geodynamic interpretations to bulk-rock geochemical data.

The Morro do Onça suite is a package of ultramafic rocks in the southern São Francisco Craton, Brazil. Owing to the complete alteration of primary silicate minerals, the Morro do Onça suite has been the subject of diverging interpretations, including: part of a retrogressed eclogite-facies Paleoproterozoic ophiolite/accretionary wedge or an Archean komatiite flow(s). In this paper, we utilize spinel-group mineral chemistry—alongside field mapping, petrography, silicate mineral chemistry and bulk-rock geochemistry—to decipher the magmatic and metamorphic evolution of the Morro do Onça suite. A komatiite origin is supported by the identification of spinifex-textured layers, as well as primary spinel-group mineral compositions (mean Cr-number = 79; mean TiO2 = 0.3 wt%) and chondrite-normalized bulk-rock rare-earth element values ([Sm–Lu]N = 1.2–5.1). Metamorphism reached mid/upper amphibolite-facies and was likely responsible for Al mobility on mineral and bulk-rock scales, demonstrating that the bulk-rock Al/Ti proxy commonly used to classify komatiites is susceptible to alteration. Thus, the Morro do Onça komatiites record variable bulk-rock Al/Ti values (17–47) that overlap with both Munro- (Al/Ti = 22) and Weltevreden-type (Al/Ti = 30) komatiites. Based on immobile trace-element ratios ([Gd/Lu]N = 0.6–2.0) and primary spinel-group mineral compositions, we classify the Morro do Onça komatiites as Weltevreden-type. Mesoarchean komatiites related to mantle plume-magmatism are now recognized throughout the southern São Francisco Craton, potentially suggesting that its precursor lithosphere was continuous during this Era.