Tectonic implications of the hydrated garnet peridotites near Mt Kinabalu, Sabah, East Malaysia

Hydrated garnetiferous peridotites form part of an ultramafic complex in the Mt Kinabalu area of Sabah, East Malaysia. Garnet peridotites are associated with abundant spinel lherzolites and rare plagioclase-bearing spinel lherzolites. The complex is in fault contact with the surrounding Tertiary strata. High-temperature peridotite mineral assemblages are overprinted by lower temperature hydrous assemblages characterized by abundant hornblende which is found filling interstices or thin veinlets. The small amounts of K, Na, Cl and F in the hornblende suggest that the metasomatic fluid may have been depleted in these elements. Carbon dioxide-rich, incompatible element-enriched, fluids are not thought to be the cause of the metasomatism since metasomatic phlogopite and carbonates, commonly reported from garnet peridotites and metasomatized alpine-type ultramafic rocks, are absent. The Mt Kinabalu garnet peridotites represent part of the sub-crustal mantle beneath Kalimantan which was metasomatized during ascent due to tectonism. The metasomatic fluid, poor in incompatible elements and H₂O-rich, may have been introduced into a sub-continental mantle wedge after dehydration of a subducted oceanic slab.