Melting and Melt Segregation in the Mantle Wedge above a Subduction Zone: Evidence from the Chromite-bearing Peridotites of the Miyamori Ophiolite Complex, Northeastern Japan

Chromite-bearing peridotites of the Ordovician Miyamori ophiolitecomplex exhibit spatial mineralogical variations on scales rangingfrom several centimeters to a few kilometers. The largest variationscorrespond to the entire structure of the complex, which featuresa layered zone of interstratified harzburgite, wehrlite, andvarious pyroxenites sandwiched between zones of unlayered harzburgiteand dunite containing only minor pyroxenite bands. All zonesexhibit the same deformation microstructures, tabular equigranularto porphyroclastic textures, and strong mineral aggregate lineation.Harzburgite from the unlayered zones is characterized by olivinevalues of 100Mg/(Mg+Fe)=91–93.5 and chromite values of100Cr/(Cr+Al+Fe³⁺)=40–75. These variables exhibit a positivecorrelation, which is typical of harzburgites and lherzolitesfrom the basal units of ophiolites and from xenoliths in alkalibasalts and kimberlites. The harzburgite is therefore interpretedas a residue from partial melting in the mantle. By contrast,harzburgite in the interlayered zone features olivine valuesof 100Mg/(Mg+Fe)=88–92 and chromite values of 100Cr/(Cr+Al+Fe3+)=40–60,and in this case the variables tend to show a negative correlationin any given locality and they partly overlap data from theintercalated wehrlite and dunite. The harzburgite of the layeredzone is interpreted as residual mantle that reacted with evolvedmelts that then crystallized as wehrlite and dunite. The harzburgitein the unlayered zones is more refractory than that in the layeredzone, even after removing effects of reaction. This differencecan be explained either by enhanced partial melting and meltextraction in the unlayered zones, possibly owing to the preferentialintroduction of a waterrich fluid, or by melt segregation fromthe unlayered zones and transfer to the layered zone in responseto a piezometric pressure gradient and compaction of a solidresidual matrix. Mineralogical evidence suggests that evolvedmelts migrated through conduits formed in the layered zone byfracturing or diapirism.     

Thermal History of the Horoman Peridotite Complex: A Record of Thermal Perturbation in the Lithospheric Mantle

The ascent history of the Horoman peridotite complex, Hokkaido,northern Japan, is revised on the basis of a detailed studyof large ortho- and clinopyroxene grains 1 cm in size (megacrysts)in the Upper Zone of the complex. The orthopyroxene megacrystsexhibit distinctive M-shaped Al zoning patterns, which werenot observed in porphyroclastic grains less than 5 mm in sizedescribed in previous studies. Moreover, the Al and Ca contentsof the cores of the orthopyroxene megacrysts are lower thanthose of the porphyroclasts. The Upper Zone is inferred to haveresided not only at a higher temperature than previously suggestedbut also at a higher pressure (1070°C, 2·3 GPa) thanthe Lower Zone (950°C, 1·9 GPa), in the garnet stabilityfield, before the ascent of the two zones. The Horoman complexprobably represents a 12 ± 5 km thick section of lithosphericmantle with an 10 ± 8°C/km vertical thermal gradient.The current thickness of the Horoman complex is 3 km, whichis a result of shortening of the lithospheric mantle by 0·25± 0·1 during its ascent. The Upper Zone appearsto have experienced a heating event during its ascent throughthe spinel stability field, with a peak temperature as highas 1200°C. The effect of heating decreases continuouslytowards the base of the complex, and the lowermost part of theLower Zone underwent very minor heating at a pressure higherthan 0·5 GPa. The uplift and associated deformation,as well as heating, was probably driven by the ascent of a hotasthenospheric upper-mantle diapir into the Horoman lithosphere. KEY WORDS: Horoman; P–T trajectory; thermal history; Al diffusion in pyroxene; geothermobarometry     

On the thermodynamics of the oceanic general circulation: entropy increase rate of an open dissipative system and its surroundings

The rôle of thermodynamics in the oceanic general circulation is investigated. The ocean is regarded as an open dissipative system that exchanges heat and salt with the surrounding system. A new quantitative method is presented to express the rate of entropy increase for a large‐scale open system and its surroundings by the transports of heat and matter. This method is based on Clausius's definition of thermodynamic entropy, and is independent of explicit expressions of small‐scale dissipation processes. This method is applied to an oceanic general circulation model, and the entropy increase rate is calculated during the spin‐up period of the model. It is found that, in a steady‐state, the entropy increase rate of the ocean system is zero, whereas that of the surroundings shows positive values, for both heat and salt transports. The zero entropy increase rate of the ocean system represents the fact that the system is in a steady‐state, while the positive entropy increase rate in the surroundings is caused by irreversible transports of heat and salt through the steady‐state circulation. The calculated entropy increase rate in the surroundings is 1.9×10¹¹ W K⁻¹, and is primarily due to the heat transport. It is suggested that the existence of a steady‐state dissipative system on the Earth, from a living system to the oceanic circulation, has a certain contribution to the entropy increase in its nonequilibrium surroundings.     

The role of exchange reactions in oxygen isotope fractionation during CAI and chondrule formation

Abstract— The role of oxygen isotope exchange during evaporation and condensation of silicate melt is quantitatively evaluated. Silicate dusts instantaneously heated above liquidus temperature are assumed to cool in gas and experience partial evaporation and subsequent recondensation. The results show that isotopic exchange effectively suppresses mass‐dependent O‐isotope fractionation even if the degree of evaporation is large, which is the fundamental difference from the case without isotopic exchange. The final composition of silicate melt strongly depends on the initial abundance of oxygen in the ambient gas relative to that in silicate dust, but not on the cooling rate of the system. The model was applied to O‐isotope evolution of silicate melts in isotopically distinct gas of the protoplanetary disk. It was found that deviation from a straight mixing line toward the δ¹⁸O‐rich side on the three‐oxygen isotope diagram is inevitable when mass‐dependent fractionation and isotopic exchange take place simultaneously; the degree of deviation depends on the abundance of oxygen in an ambient gas and isotopic exchange efficiency. The model is applied to explain O‐isotopic compositions of igneous CAIs and chondrules.     

Orogenic Lherzolites and Mantle Processes: Editorial

The papers in this thematic issue of Journal of Petrology weredelivered at the Fourth International Workshop on Orogenic Lherzolitesand Mantle Processes, which was held in Samani, Hokkaido, Japan,between August 26 and September 3, 2002. Fifty oral presentationswere given and 45 posters were displayed during the meeting,and the research papers in this issue provide an     

Mechanism of Crystal Redistribution in a Sheet-like Magma Body: Constraints from the Nosappumisaki and Other Shoshonite Intrusions in the Nemuro Peninsula, Northern Japan

Processes of crystal separation in a magma heavily laden withcrystals without phase change are investigated from observationson frozen magma systems: Nosappumisaki and other shoshoniteintrusions in the Nemuro peninsula, Japan, for which the originof the crystals and the initial conditions are well constrained.The Nosappumisaki intrusion is 120 m in thickness and extendsfor more than 1·5 km. It exhibits a wide range of lithologicalvariation, principally as a result of crystal redistributionafter intrusion. Crystals in each lithology can be clearly dividedinto two kinds according to their composition and texture: thosepresent before the intrusion of the magma (‘phenocrysts’)and those that crystallized in situ after intrusion. From thevertical change in mode and size of ‘phenocrysts’,it is shown that (1) augite ‘phenocrysts’ were rapidlydeposited, with little overgrowth after intrusion, by significantcoagulation or clustering on a time-scale of more than a fewyears, and (2) plagioclase ‘phenocrysts’, definitelydenser than the melt but concentrated in the upper level, floatedby counter flow of massive deposition of augite ‘phenocrysts’.These results indicate that in a magma heavily laden with crystalsof a few millimeters in size (>20 vol. %), crystal–crystaland crystal–melt interaction play an important role inthe separation of crystals from the host melt. KEY WORDS: magma chamber; sill; crystal settling; plagioclase flotation; Nosappumisaki