Chromite in the mantle section of the Oman Ophiolite: Implications for the tectonic evolution of the Oman Ophiolite

Abstract

Chromite in the Oman ophiolite is located in the mantle section of the ophiolite sequence and forms abundant small podiformdeposits throughout the length of the ophiolite (Rollinson, 2005).The Oman ophiolite has an exposed mantle section of ca 10 000 km2, and contains ca 200 chromitite bodies. Most are less than 10 000 tonnes and a only a few are >30 000 tonnes (Boudier and Al-Rajhi, 2014). We have examined these deposits in eight different areas of the ophiolite (Figure 1, Rollinson and Adetunji, 2013a), two of which we have studied in great detail – in WadiRajmi in the north of Oman (Rollinson, 2008) and atMaqsad in the south(Rollinson and Adetunji, 2013b).