New evidence of mantle heterogeneity beneath the Hyblean Plateau (southeast Sicily, Italy) as inferred from noble gases and geochemistry of ultramafic xenoliths

Abstract We analyzed major and trace elements, Sr and Nd isotopes in ultramafic xenoliths in Miocenic age Hyblean diatremes, along with noble gases of CO2-rich fluid inclusions hosted in the same products. The xenoliths consist of peridotites and pyroxenites, which are considered to be derived from the upper mantle. Although the mineral assemblage of peridotites and their whole-rock abundance of major elements (e.g., Al2O3 = 0.8–1.5 wt.%, TiO2 = 0.03–0.08 wt.%) suggest a residual character of the mantle, a moderate enrichment in some incompatible elements (e.g., LaN/YbN = 9–14) highlights the presence of cryptic metasomatic events. In this context a deep silicate liquid is considered the me…