Deserpentinization and high-pressure (eclogite-facies) metamorphic features in the Eoarchean ultramafic body from Isua, Greenland

[Display omitted] •Eclogite facies conditions from the Eoarchean Isua complex in Greenland.•Ol + Atg + Ti-Chn + Ti-Chu formed through deserpentinization and HP metamorphism.•Metamorphic evolution comparable to modern subduction zone channel. Discontinuous chains of ultramafic rock bodies form part of the 3800–3700 Ma Isua Supracrustal Belt (ISB), hosted in the Itsaq Gneiss Complex of southwestern Greenland. These bodies are among the world’s oldest outcrops of ultramafic rocks and hence an invaluable geologic record. Ultramafic rocks from Lens B in the northwestern limb of ISB show characteristics of several stages of serpentinization and deserpentinization forming prograde and retrograde mineral assemblages. Ti-rich humite-group minerals such as titanian chondrodite (Ti-Chn) and titanian clinohumite (Ti-Chu) often occur as accessory phases in the metamorphosed ultramafic rocks. The Ti-rich humite minerals are associated with metamorphic olivine. The host olivine is highly forsteritic (Fo96-98) with variable MnO and NiO contents. The concentrations of the rare-earth elements (REE) and high-field strength elements (HFSE) of the metamorphic olivine are higher than typical mantle olivine. The textural and chemical characteristics of the olivine indicate metamorphic origin as a result of deserpentinization of a serpentinized ultramafic protolith rather than primary assemblage reflecting mantle residues from high-degrees of partial melting. The close association of olivine, antigorite and intergrown Ti-Chn and Ti-Chu suggests pressure condition between ∼1.3–2.6 GPa within the antigorite stability field (