Phenocryst-bulk rock composition relations of abyssal tholeiites and their petrogenetic significance

In order to infer equilibrium phase relations of abyssal tholeiites, olivine, plagioclase, augite, and pigeonite tholeiites from the ocean floor are plotted in terms of the CIPW norm proportions in the tetrahedron olivine-plagioclase-diopside-quartz. The phase relations of abyssal tholeiites have a general similarity in form to those of the experimentally studied relevant systems. Experimental studies on natural basalts allow the pressure of crystallization for abyssal tholeiitic magmas to be evaluated approximately. It appears that the pressure at which the phenocryst-stage crystallization of abyssal tholeiites takes place is as high as 2 or 3 kbar, provided that abyssal tholeiitic magmas are ‘dry’.Abyssal tholeiites could be derived from liquids that are in equilibrium with Ca-poor pyroxene in the pressure range of about 5–8 kbar. Major element chemistry of abyssal tholeiites is incompatible with the view that these tholeiitic basalts are derived from picritic magma by olivine fractionation.     

SIMS determination of trace element partition coefficients between garnet, clinopyroxene and hydrous basaltic liquids at 2–7.5 GPa and 1080–1200°C

Trace element partition coefficients (D's) for up to 13 REE, Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf, Sr and Y have been determined by SIMS analysis of seven garnets, four clinopyroxenes, one orthopyroxene and one phlogopite crystallized from an undoped basanite and a lightly doped (200 ppm Nb, Ta and Hf) quartz tholeiite. Experiments were conducted at 2–7.5 GPa, achieving near-liquidus crystallization at relatively low temperatures of 1080–1200°C under strongly hydrous conditions (5–27 wt.% added water). Garnet and pyroxene D_REE show a parabolic pattern when plotted against ionic radius, and conform closely to the lattice strain model of Blundy and Wood (Blundy, J.D., Wood, B.J., 1994. Prediction of crystal–melt partition coefficients from elastic moduli. Nature 372, 452–454). Comparison, at constant pressure, between hydrous and anhydrous values of the strain-free partition coefficient (D₀) for the large cation sites of garnet and clinopyroxene reveals the relative importance of temperature and melt water content on partitioning. In the case of garnet, the effect of lower temperature, which serves to increase D₀, and higher water content, which serves to decrease D₀, counteract each other to the extent that water has little effect on garnet–melt D₀ values. In contrast, the effect of water on clinopyroxene–melt D₀ overwhelms the effect of temperature, such that D₀ is significantly lower under hydrous conditions. For both minerals, however, the lower temperature of the hydrous experiments tends to tighten the partitioning parabolas, increasing fractionation of light from heavy REE compared to anhydrous experiments.

Three sets of near-liquidus clinopyroxene–garnet two-mineral D values increase the range of published experimental determinations, but show significant differences from natural two-mineral D's determined for subsolidus mineral pairs. Similar behaviour is observed for the first experimental data for orthopyroxene–clinopyroxene two-mineral D's when compared with natural data. These differences are in large part of a consequence of the subsolidus equilibration temperatures and compositions of natural mineral pairs. Great care should therefore be taken when using natural mineral–mineral partition coefficients to interpret magmatic processes.

The new data for strongly hydrous compositions suggest that fractionation of Zr–Hf–Sm by garnet decreases with increasing depth. Thus, melts leaving a garnet-dominated residuum at depths of about 200 km or greater may preserve source Zr/Hf and Hf/Sm. This contrasts with melting at shallower depths where both garnet and clinopyroxene will cause Zr–Hf–Sm fractionation. Also, at shallower depths, clinopyroxene-dominated fractionation may produce a positive Sr spike in melts from spinel lherzolite, but for garnet lherzolite melting, no Sr spike will result. Conversely, clinopyroxene megacrysts with negative Sr spikes may crystallize from magmas without anomalous Sr contents when plotted on mantle compatibility diagrams. Because the characteristics of strongly hydrous silicate melt and solute-rich aqueous fluid converge at high pressure, the hydrous data presented here are particularly pertinent to modelling processes in subduction zones, where aqueous fluids may have an important metasomatic role.     

Origin and crystallization history of Permian tholeiites from the Saar-Nahe trough,SW Germany

The Hirschberg and Rödern diatremes, within the Permian Saar-Nahe trough, SW Germany, are composed chiefly of basaltic tuffs, with associated small intrusions of K-rich tholeiites. Several tholeiite bodies carry 2–20 mm crystals of magnesian clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene, the latter containing up to 5.5% Al₂O₃ and often extensively resorbed and rimmed by fine-grained olivine and clinopyroxene. Experimental duplication of these pyroxenes has been achieved under conditions of Pload=6–10 kb, T=1280–1080° C and 2–4 wt.-% H₂O, confirming that they represent a rare occurence of high pressure phenocrysts in tholeiitic basalts.These conditions of pyroxene crystallization also place constraints on processes of magma generation, indicating that the tholeiites originated by partial melting of unusually hydrous peridotite mantle (0.4–0.8% H₂O) beneath a relatively thin continental crust (maximum thickness approximately 30 km). Water present in the mantle at the site of magma generation may have been derived from the dehydration of oceanic lithosphere prior to the formation of the Saar-Nahe trough. This lithosphere probably underwent subduction at the margin of the Palaeozoic European continent during the Hercynian cycle of sedimentation, andesitic volcanism and folding. The termination of this cycle was followed by a period of basin-range type tensional faulting, leading to the formation of the Permian basins of present-day Central Europe, and widespread bimodal basalt/rhyolite volcanism.     

Melt/harzburgite reaction in the petrogenesis of tholeiitic magma from Kilauea volcano, Hawaii

We use the results of elevated pressure melting experiments to constrain the role of melt/mantle reaction in the formation of tholeiitic magma from Kilauea volcano, Hawaii. Trace element abundance data is commonly interpreted as evidence that Kilauea tholeiite is produced by partial melting of garnet lherzolite. We experimentally determine the liquidus relations of a tightly constrained estimate of primary tholeiite composition, and find that it is not in equilibrium on its liquidus with a garnet lherzolite assemblage at any pressure. The composition is, however, cosaturated on its liquidus with olivine and orthopyroxene at 1.4 GPa and 1425 °C, from which we infer that primary tholeiite is in equilibrium with harzburgite at lithospheric depths beneath Kilauea. These results are consistent with our observation that tholeiite primary magmas have higher normative silica contents than experimentally produced melts of garnet lherzolite. A model is presented whereby primary tholeiite forms via a two-stage process. In the first stage, magmas are generated by melting of garnet lherzolite in a mantle plume. In the second stage, the ascent and decompression of magmas causes them to react with harzburgite in the mantle by assimilating orthopyroxene and crystallizing olivine. This reaction can produce typical tholeiite primary magmas from significantly less siliceous garnet lherzolite melts, and is consistent with the shift in liquidus boundaries that accompanies decompression of an ascending magma. We determine the proportion of reactants by major element mass balance. The ratio of mass assimilated to mass crystallized (M_a/M_c) varies from 2.7 to 1.4, depending on the primary magma composition. We use an AFC calculation to model the effect of melt/harzburgite reaction on melt rare earth and high field strength element abundances, and find that reaction dilutes, but does not significantly fractionate, the abundances of these elements. Assuming olivine and orthopyroxene have similar heats of fusion, the M_a/M_c ratio indicates that reaction is endothermic. The additional thermal energy is supplied by the melt, which becomes superheated during adiabatic ascent and can provide more thermal energy than required. Melt/harzburgite reaction likely occurs over a range of depths, and we infer a mean depth of 42 km from our experimental results. This depth is well within the lithosphere beneath Kilauea. Since geochemical evidence indicates that melt/harzburgite reaction likely occurs in the top of the Hawaiian plume, the plume must be able to thin a significant portion of the lithosphere. Received: 4 February 1997 / Accepted: 27 August 1997     

The genesis of basaltic magmas

This paper reports the results of a detailed experimental investigation of fractionation of natural basaltic compositions under conditions of high pressure and high temperature. A single stage, piston-cylinder apparatus has been used in the pressure range up to 27 kb and at temperatures up to 1500° C to study the melting behaviour of several basaltic compositions. The compositions chosen are olivine-rich (20% or more normative olivine) and include olivine tholeiite (12% normative hypersthene), olivine basalt (1% normative hypersthene) alkali olivine basalt (2% normative nepheline) and picrite (3% normative hypersthene). The liquidus phases of the olivine tholeiite and olivine basalt are olivine at 1 Atmosphere, 4.5 kb and 9 kb, orthopyroxene at 13.5 and 18 kb, clinopyroxene at 22.5 kb and garnet at 27 kb. In the alkali olivine basalt composition, the liquidus phases are olivine at 1 Atmosphere and 9 kb, orthopyroxene with clinopyroxene at 13.5 kb, clinopyroxene at 18 kb and garnet at 27 kb. The sequence of appearance of phases below the liquidus has also been studied in detail. The electron probe micro-analyser has been used to make partial quantitative analyses of olivines, orthopyroxenes, clinopyroxenes and garnets which have crystallized at high pressure.These experimental and analytical results are used to determine the directions of fractionation of basaltic magmas during crystallization over a wide range of pressures. At pressures corresponding to depths of 35–70 km separation of aluminous enstatite from olivine tholeiite magma produces a direct fractionation trend from olivine tholeiites through olivine basalts to alkali olivine basalts. Co-precipitation of sub-calcic, aluminous clinopyroxene with the orthopyroxene in the more undersaturated compositions of this sequence produces derivative liquids of basanite type. Magmas of alkali olivine basalt and basanite type represent the lower temperature liquids derived by approximately 30% crystallization of olivine-rich tholeiite at 35–70 km depth. At depths of about 30 km, fractionation of olivine-rich tholeiite with separation of both olivine and low-alumina enstatite, joined at lower temperatures by sub-calcic clinopyroxene, leads to derivative liquids with relatively constant SiO₂ (48 to 50%) increasingly high Al₂O₃ (15–17%) contents and retaining olivine + hypersthene normative chemistry (5–15% normative olivine). These have the composition of typical high-alumina olivine tholeiites. The effects of low pressure fractionation may be superimposed on magma compositions derived from various depths within the mantle. These lead to divergence of the alkali olivine basalt and tholeiitic series but convergence of both the low-alumina and high-alumina tholeiites towards quartz tholeiite derivative liquids.The general problem of derivation of basaltic magmas from a mantle of peridotitic composition is discussed in some detail. Magmas are considered to be a consequence of partial melting but the composition of a magma is determined not by the depth of partial melting but by the depth at which magma segregation from residual crystals occurs. Magma generation from parental peridotite (pyrolite) at depths up to 100 km involves liquid-crystal equilibria between basaltic liquids and olivine + aluminous pyroxenes and does not involve garnet. At 35–70 km depth, basaltic liquids segregating from a pyrolite mantle will be of alkali olivine basalt type with about 20% partial melting but with increasing degrees of partial melting, liquids will change to olivine-rich tholeiite type with about 30% melting. If the depth of magma segregation is about 30 km, then magmas produced by 20–25% partial melting will be of high-alumina olivine tholeiite type, similar to the oceanic tholeiites occurring on the sea floor along the mid-oceanic ridges.Hypotheses of magma fractionation and generation by partial melting are considered in relation to the abundances and ratios of trace elements and in relation to isotopic abundance data on natural basalts. It is shown that there is a group of elements (including K, Ti, P, U, Th, Ba, Rb, Sr, Cs, Zr, Hf and the rare-earth elements) which show enrichment factors in alkali olivine basalts and in some tholeiites, which are inconsistent with simple crystal fractionation relationships between the magma types. This group of elements has been called incompatible elements referring to their inability to substitute to any appreciable extent in the major minerals of the upper mantle (olivine, aluminous pyroxenes). Because of the lack of temperature contrast between magma and wall-rock for a body of magma near to its depth of segregation in the mantle, cooling of the magma involves complementary processes of reaction with the wall-rook, including selective melting and extraction of the lowest melting fraction. The incompatible elements are probably highly concentrated in the lowest melting fraction of the pyrolite. The production of large overall enrichments in incompatible elements in a magma by reaction with and highly selective sampling of large volumes of mantle wall-rock during slow ascent of a magma is considered to be a normal, complementary process to crystal fractionation in the mantle. This process has been called wall-rock reaction. Magma generation in the mantle is rarely a simple, closed-system partial melting process and the isotopic abundances and incompatible element abundances of a basalt as observed at the earth's surface may be largely determined by the degree of reaction with the mantle or lower crustal wall-rocks and bear little relation to the abundances and ratios of the original parental mantle material (pyrolite).Occurrences of cognate xenoliths and xenocrysts in basalts are considered in relation to the experimental data on liquid-crystal equilibria at high pressure. It is inferred that the lherzolite nodules largely represent residual material after extraction of alkali olivine basalt from mantle pyrolite or pyrolite which has been selectively depleted in incompatible elements by wall-rock reaction processes. Lherzolite nodules included in tholeiitic magmas would melt to a relatively large extent and disintegrate, but would have a largely refractory character if included in alkali olivine basalt magma. Other examples of xenocrystal material in basalts are shown to be probable liquidus crystals or accumulates at high pressure from basaltic magma and provide a useful link between the experimental study and natural processes.     

Effect of Water on the Composition of Magmas Formed at High Pressures

Portions of the system MgO-CaO-Na₂O-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-H₂O have beenstudied in the pressure range 13–35 kb at near-liquidustemperatures. The liquidus field of forsterite relative to thatof orthopyroxene is considerably wider under anhydrous thanunder anhydrous conditions and it covers part of the plane ofsilica-saturation in a wide pressure range. Partial meltingof simple garnet lherzolite (= forsterite+orthopyroxene+clinopyroxene+garnet)with water produces quartz-normative liquids at pressures upto at least 25 kb regardless of water content. Hydrous mineralsare not encountered at or near the solidus temperatures exceptin a Na-rich part of the system. Microprobe analysis of therun products in this synthetic system shows that the liquid(glass) in equilibrium with the lherzolite mineral assemblageis silica and alumina-rich at 20 kb under vapor-present conditions.With increasing degree of partial melting, the liquid changesits composition, passing into a ‘vapour-absent region’and becoming less silicic. Fractional crystallization of olivinetholeiitic magma under hydrous conditions also produces silica-richmagmas at high pressures. If the system is open to water, andwater pressure is less than total pressure, the compositionof the liquid varies from quartz-normative to olivine (±nepheline)-normativedepending on water pressure. It is suggested that in the presenceof water, silica-rich magmas such as those of calc-alkalic andesiteor dacite may be formed by direct partial melting of the peridotiticupper mantle at depths down to about 80 km. A large degree ofpartial melting of lherzolite under hydrous conditions wouldproduce SiO2 and MgO-rich magmas. The clinoenstatite rock fromCape Vogel, Papua, may have been formed by such a process. Peridotiteswith low CaAl2SiO5/jadeite ratios in the clinopyroxene couldproduce nepheline-normative magma by small degree of partialmelting and tholeiitic magma by large degree of partial meltingunder hydrous conditions.     

长江中下游中生代安山质火山岩记录的新元古代大洋板片-地幔相互作用

大陆弧安山岩的形成是大洋板片向大陆边缘之下俯冲的结果,但是在具体形成机制上存在很大争议.针对这个问题,对长江中下游地区中生代安山质火山岩及其伴生的玄武质和英安质火山岩进行了系统的岩石地球化学研究,结果对大陆弧安山质火成岩的成因提出了新的机制.分析表明,这些岩石形成于早白垩世,它们不仅表现出典型的岛弧型微量元素分布特征,而且具有高度富集的Sr-Nd-Hf同位素和高的放射成因Pb以及高的氧同位素组成.通过全岩和矿物地球化学成分变化检查发现,地壳混染和岩浆混合作用对其成分的富集特征贡献有限,而其岩浆源区含有丰富的俯冲地壳衍生物质才是其成分富集的根本原因.虽然这些火山岩的喷发年龄为中生代,但是其岩浆源区形成于新元古代早期的华夏洋壳俯冲对扬子克拉通边缘之下地幔楔的交代作用.大陆弧安山岩地幔源区中含有大量俯冲洋壳沉积物部分熔融产生的含水熔体,显著区别于大洋弧玄武岩的地幔源区,其中只含有少量俯冲洋壳来源的富水溶液和含水熔体.正是这些含水熔体交代上覆地幔楔橄榄岩,形成了不同程度富集的超镁铁质-镁铁质地幔源区.在早白垩纪时期,古太平洋俯冲过程的远弧后拉张导致中国东部岩石圈发生部分熔融,其中超镁铁质地幔源区熔融形成玄武质火山岩,镁铁质地幔源区则熔融形成安山质火山岩.因此,大陆弧安山岩成因与大洋弧玄武岩一样,可分为源区形成和源区熔融两个阶段,其中第一阶段对应于俯冲带壳幔相互作用.      

Lithospheric control on late Cenozoic magmatism at the boundary of the Tuva-Mongolian Massif,Khubsugul area,northern Mongolia

Late Cenozoic lavas from the western wall of the Khubsugul rift trough were erupted within the Tuva-Mongolian Massif with a pre-Vendian basement, and the lavas in the eastern wall of the trough were erupted within Early Caledonian terranes. The composition of the lavas was determined to vary across the strike of the boundary of the Tuva-Mongolian Massif. The western wall of the trough is dominated by hawaiites and contains subordinate volumes of basanites and much lower amounts of olivine tholeiites and basaltic trachyandesites. The eastern wall contains, in addition to hawaiites, widespread olivine tholeiites and basaltic andesites with subordinate amounts of basaltic trachyandesites. The boundary zone contains practically all rock types (except basaltic andesites) in roughly equal proportions. The trace-element simulations of the partial melting processes demonstrates that the basaltic magmas were produced mainly by 0.5–5% partial melting of garnet lherzolite, with the probable mixing with partial melts derived from spinel lherzolite. The main factor controlling the compositional variations of the lavas was likely the variable depths of their derivation due to variations in the lithosphere thickness at the boundary of the Tuva-Mongolian Massif. Based on the assumption that the source of the magmas was relatively homogeneous and on the results of simulations with the use of experimental data on peridotite melting, we concluded that the asthenospheric sources of the basaltic magmas occurred at depths of 75 ± 10 km (24.6 ± 3.2 kbar) beneath the Tuva-Mongolian Massif and at 60 ± 12 km (20.1 ± 3.8 kbar) beneath the Early Caledonian terranes.     

Anhydrous melting of peridotite at 0–15 Kb pressure and the genesis of tholeiitic basalts

The anhydrous melting behaviour of two synthetic peridotite compositions has been studied experimentally at temperatures ranging from near the solidus to about 200° C above the solidus within the pressure range 0–15 kb. The peridotite compositions studied are equivalent to Hawaiian pyrolite and a more depleted spinel lherzolite (Tinaquillo peridotite) and in both cases the experimental studies used peridotite –40% olivine compositions. Equilibrium melting results in progressive elimination of phases with increasing temperature. Four main melting fields are recognized; from the solidus these are: olivine (ol)+orthopyroxene (opx)+clinopyroxene (cpx)+Al-rich phase (plagioclase at low pressure, spinel at moderate pressure, garnet at high pressure)+liquid (L); ol+opx+cpx+Cr-spinel+L; ol+opx+Cr-spinel +L: ol±Cr-spinel+L. Microprobe analyses of the residual phases show progressive changes to more refractory compositions with increasing proportion of coexisting melt i.e. increasing Mg/(Mg+Fe) and Cr/(Cr+Al) ratios, decreasing Al₂O₃, CaO in pyroxene.The degree of melting, established by modal analysis, increases rapidly immediately above the solidus (up to 10% melting occurs within 25°–30° C of the solidus), and then increases in roughly linear form with increasing temperature.Equilibrium melt compositions have been calculated by mass balance using the compositions and proportions of residual phases to overcome the problems of iron loss and quench modification of the glass. Compositions from the melting of pyrolite within the spinel peridotite field (i.e. 15 kb) range from alkali olivine basalt (<15% melting) through olivine tholeiite (20–30% melting) and picrite to komatiite (40–60% melting). Melting in the plagioclase peridotite field produces magnesian quartz tholeiite and olivine-poor tholeiite and, at higher degrees of melting (30–40%), basaltic or pyroxenitic komatiite. Melts from Tinaquillo lherzolite are more silica saturated than those from pyrolite for similar degrees of partial melting, and range from olivine tholeiite through tholeiitic picrite to komatiite for melting in the spinel peridotite field.The equilibrium melts are compared with inferred primary magma compositions and integrated with previous melting studies on basalts. The data obtained here and complementary basalt melting studies do not support models of formation of oceanic crust in which the parental magmas of common mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) are attributed to segregation from source peridotite at shallow depths ( 25 km) to leave residual harzburgite. Liquids segregating from peridotite at these depths are more silica-rich than common MORB.     

Geochemistry and Petrogenesis of Three Series of Cenozoic Basalts from Southeastern China

Cenozoic basaltic volcanism in southeastern China was related to the lithospheric extension and asthenospheric upwelling at the eastern Eurasian continental margin. The cenozoic basaltic rocks from this region can be grouped into three different series: tholeiitic basalts, alkali basalts, and picritic-nephelinitic basalts. Each basalt series has distinctive geochemical features and is not derived from a common source rock by different degrees of partial melting or from a common parental magma by fractional crystallization. The mineralogy, petrography, and major and trace-element geochemistry of the tholeiites are similar to oceanic island basalts, implying that the mantle source for these Chinese continental tholeiites was similar to that of the oceanic island basalts—an asthenospheric mantle. The alkali basalts and picritic-nephelinitic basalts are enriched in incompatible trace elements, and their geochemical features can be interpreted as a result of partial melting of an enriched lithospheric mantle, or the mixing products of an asthenospheric magma with a component derived from an enriched lithospheric mantle through thermal erosion at the base of the lithosphere. But the lack of a transitional rock type and continuous variational trends among these basalts suggests that the mixing between asthenospheric magmas and lithospheric magmas probably was not significant in the petrogenesis of the basalts from SE China. Low-degree partial melting of enriched lithospheric mantle alone can account for the observed geochemical data from these basalts.     

Anhydrous Phase Equilibria in Earth's Upper Mantle

Phase equilibrium relations are computed in five different chemicalcompositions appropriate for a primitive upper mantle (estimated),a peridotite, an olivine-basalt, an olivine-tholeiite, and aquartz-tholeiite in the pressure range of 1 bar to 100 kb andin the temperature range of 500 to 1500 ?C. The mineralogicalphase assemblages change from peridotite and lherzolite to garnetgranulites, eclogites and kyanite-quartz-eclogites. The smallpressure-temperature field of stability of plagioclase-garnet-granulitein the primitive compositions extends at 600 ?C from less than3 kb to more than 15 kb in the quartz-tholeiite compositionwith intermediate pressure values in other basalts. Continentalcrust with composition similar to quartz-tholeiite remains asplagioclase-garnet-granulite changing to eclogite only belowa depth of 50 km. Calculated adiabats in the peridotite compositions show thatdiapirs must ascend from a depth of at least 300 km to becomepartially molten in the low-velocity zone. Various shallowerdepths of partial melting are possible for material ascendingfrom depths corresponding to the oceanic geothermal gradient. Actual pressure-temperature densities of rocks have been calculatedfrom the mineral densities computed for the equilibrium assemblageson the oceanic geothermal gradient. While there are no importantchanges found in the peridotite density down to a pressure of100 kb, there are important inflections in the pressure-densitycurve in quartz-tholeiite which relate to the increasing conversionof plagjoclase to jadeite component in clinopyroxene and a sharprise in density due to the quartz-coesite phase transformation.     

新疆新源县城南石炭纪火山岩岩石学和元素地球化学研究

新疆新源县南部那拉提山北坡出露的石炭纪火山岩主要由玄武岩、玄武质粗面安山岩、粗面安山岩、安山岩、流纹岩和火山碎屑岩组成。该火山岩中玄武岩属于钙碱性系列,安山质岩石和流纹岩属于高钾钙碱性系列,其中轻稀土轻微富集而重稀土相对亏损,玄武岩富集大离子亲石元素、U、Th和Pb,亏损高场强元素。研究表明,该火山岩岩浆可能是由俯冲板片脱水产生的流体交代地幔楔后,地幔楔发生部分熔融的结果。微量元素模拟计算表明,该玄武岩岩浆可以由石榴石二辉橄榄岩经3％～6％的部分熔融得到;安山质岩浆可由玄武岩岩浆经15％-28％的分离结晶形成。     

Mg-(Fe + Ti)-Al petrochemical diagram for the melting of mantle pyrolite: Implications for the derivation conditions of the parental magmas of major volcanic series

The Mg-(Fe + Ti)-Al melting diagram for pyrolite based on experimental data from literature shows the composition of the liquid as a function of pressure and the degree of pyrolite melting. Three mechanisms of liquid separation from a mantle source material are discussed: (i) gravitational mechanism, which works at a degree of source material melting of 25%, (ii) filter pressing mechanism, which is efficient at degrees of melting lower than 2%, and (iii) nearly complete local melting of mantle material. Garnet in the solid residue is thought to play an important role by affecting the chemistries of mantle magmas. The comparison of petrochemical and experimental data in a Mg-(Fe + Ti)-Al ternary plot shows that picrite and ferropicrite alcaline primary magmas are segregated at depths of 120 and 210 km, respectively, in the garnet stability zone, at degrees of melting lower than 2%; and tholeiite basalt magmas are segregated above this zone. At degrees of melting of 25%, picrobasalt, komatiite-basalt, picrite, and ferropicrite primary magmas of the tholeiite series are derived at depths of 80, 130, 240, and 300 km, respectively. Ultrabasic komatiite magma is generated at high degrees of mantle source melting, with the solid residues devoid of garnet. The tholeiite basalt series can be produced by two parental melts: aluminous and magnesian basaltic, both separated from the mantle sources via the filter pressing mechanism: the former at depths shallower than 30 km in ocean spreading zones (TOR-2), and the latter at depths of 50?C60 km in oceanic spreading zones (TOR-1) and in the subcontinental lithosphere. Primary magnesian basalt magmas of the calc-alkaline and tholeiite series are derived in the lithospheric mantle at the same depths and low degrees of melting. Different evolutionary trajectories of compositionally similar primary magmas are controlled by the conditions of their further fractional crystallization: in compressional environments and with fluids saturating the melts in subduction zones for the former and in extensional environments and free magma ascent to the surface for the latter. Ultrapotassic rock series, such as lamprophyres, leucitites, kamafugites, lamproites, and kimberlites, are most probably generated via the melting of the metasomatized subcratonic mantle.     

Geochemical characteristics of Cocos Plate seamount lavas

A wide compositional continuum of basalts has been erupted from near-ridge seamounts constructed on the Cocos Plate between the Clipperton and Orozco Francture Zones. They range from highly evolved to moderately primitive (3.0–7.8% MgO), LREE-enriched alkali basalts, to moderately evolved to near-primary (5.2–9.5% MgO) tholeiites indistinguishable from N-type MORB. The data set of 159 quench glass analyses exhibits a remarkably consistent variation in both major and trace element composition that is keyed to variations in (La/Sm). Modeling of potential liquid lines of descent at pressures ranging from 1 bar to 8 kbar shows that this covariation is partially due to systematic differences in liquid lines of descent, where the alkaline lavas have undergone substantially more high pressure clinopyroxene fractionation and substantially less low pressure plagioclase fractionation than the tholeiites. In addition, systematic variation in the composition of the more primitive glasses indicates that they were derived from mixing of discrete enriched and depleted melts in the heterogenous seamount mantle source at pressures of 8–10 kbar and greater, and that clinopyroxene may be a residual phase during partial melting. These results show that porous media flow in the seamount mantle source is minor and that melt transport is accomplished primarily through cracking and diking. This study supports suggestions that the general homogeneity of basalt along the EPR is due to mixing in sub-axial magma chambers and mush zones, with additional mixing during partial mantle melting and melt segregation.     

The composition and formation of Miocene tholeiites in the Central European Cenozoic plume volcanism (CECV)

Tholeiites accompanying a majority of alkali basalts are restricted to the highly productive central part of the CECV plume activity in Vogelsberg and Hessian Depression. They mainly occur as quartz tholeiites which according to experiments of partial melting and material balances are products of olivine tholeiitic primary melts. The differentiation from olivine to quartz tholeiitic melts took place in lower crustal magma chambers where olivine tholeiitic melt intruded due to a density comparable with that of the country rocks. The fractionation due to separation of olivine and some clinopyroxene caused contamination of tholeiite magmas by tonalitic partial melts from the wall rocks of the magma chambers. The latter process is indicated by relatively high Rb, K and Pb and low Nb concentrations and by Nd, Sr and Pb isotopes. Contaminating crustal melts, which roughly attained a proportion of 10%, contained very low ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios from a Nd/Sm fractionation as old as 2.6 Ga. This is the first evidence from mafic rocks of this high age in the lower crust beneath Central Europe. Modelling with incompatible elements allows to recognize olivine tholeiites as products of about 1% partial melting of plume rocks consisting of 35% primitive and 65% depleted mantle materials. The production of tholeiites other than alkali basalts is restricted to the highest plume activity and the largest fraction of MORB type source rocks. Received: 10 December 1999 / Accepted: 23 June 2000     

The Stonyford Volcanic Complex: a Forearc Seamount in the Northern California Coast Ranges

Jurassic age volcanic rocks of the Stonyford volcanic complex(SFVC) comprise three distinct petrological groups based ontheir whole-rock geochemistry: (1) oceanic tholeiites; (2) transitionalalkali basalts and glasses; (3) high-Al, low-Ti tholeiites.Major and trace element, and Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic dataindicate that the oceanic tholeiites formed as low-degree partialmelts of normal mid-ocean ridge basalt (N-MORB)-source asthenospheresimilar in isotope composition to the East Pacific Rise today;the alkalic lavas were derived from an enriched source similarto that of E-MORB. The high-Al, low-Ti lavas resemble second-stagemelts of a depleted MORB-source asthenosphere that formed bymelting spinel lherzolite at low pressures. Trace element systematicsof the high-Al, low-Ti basalts show the influence of an enrichedcomponent, which overprints generally depleted trace elementcharacteristics. Tectonic discrimination diagrams show thatthe oceanic tholeiite and alkali suites are similar to present-daybasalts generated at mid-oceanic ridges. The high-Al, low-Tisuite resembles primitive arc basalts with an enriched, alkalibasalt-like overprint. Isotopic data show the influence of recycledcomponents in all three suites. The SFVC was constructed ona substrate of normal Coast Range ophiolite in an extensionalforearc setting. The close juxtaposition of the MORB-like olivinetholeiites with alkali and high-Al, low-Ti basalts suggestsderivation from a hybrid mantle source region that includedMORB-source asthenosphere, enriched oceanic asthenosphere, andthe depleted supra-subduction zone mantle wedge. We proposethat the SFVC formed in response to collision of a mid-oceanridge spreading center with the Coast Range ophiolite subductionzone. Formation of a slab window beneath the forearc duringcollision allowed the influx of ridge-derived magmas or themantle source of these magmas. Continued melting of the previouslydepleted mantle wedge above the now defunct subduction zoneproduced strongly depleted high-Al, low-Ti basalts that werepartially fertilized with enriched, alkali basalt-type meltsand slab-derived fluids. KEY WORDS: CRO; oceanic basalts; California     

Origin of Late Palaeoproterozoic Great Vindhyan basin of North Indian shield: Geochemical evidence from mafic volcanic rocks

On the western and southern margins of the sickle shaped Vindhyan basin of north Indian shield, there are basal Vindhyan mafic volcanic rocks referred to as Khairmalia volcanics and Jungel volcanics respectively. These volcanics vary in composition from low-Ti tholeiite to high-Ti alkali basalt showing close affinity with continental flood basalts (CFB) and ocean island basalts (OIB) respectively. The parental magmas of Khairmalia and Jungel alkali basalts were formed by different degrees of partial melting of a garnet lherzolite. The magma of Khairmalia tholeiites was generated by a relatively higher degrees of partial melting of a garnet + spinel lherzolite. The geochemical data coupled with available geological and geophysical data favour a rift type origin of this basin which evolved as a peripheral basin showing many similarities with Paleogene Himalayan foreland basin. The existing radiometric age data suggest that the origin of Vindhyan basin is linked with Aravalli–Satpura orogeny. At about 1800–1600 Ma collision occurred along the Aravalli-Delhi fold belt (ADFB) and Central Indian Tectonic Zone (CITZ) with west and south subduction respectively. During this process the subducting lithosphere suffered extensional deformation on its convex side and some pre-existing large faults in the already thin leading edge of subducted plate also reactivated and tapped magma generated by decompressional melting of the subcontinental mantle. The simultaneous processes such as flexural subsidence, reactivation of pre-existing faults, heating, thermal cooling and contraction during volcanism, resulted in the formation of curvilinear warp parallel to the emerging mountain front. The Lower Vindhyan volcano–sedimentary succession was deformed and exposed to erosion before the deposition of Upper Vindhyan rocks. The orogenic forces were active intermittently throughout the Vindhyan sedimentation.     

Primary basalts and magma genesis

Three Eocene lavas from Skye, NW Scotland, have been subjected to anhydrous experimental studies within their melting ranges at pressures up to 30 kb. Two of these, an olivine-phyric magnesian alkali basalt and a near-aphyric Mg-poor transitional basalt, appear to show four-phase points on their liquidi at high pressures which are thought to have genetic significance. From experimental and mineralogical evidence, the magnesian basalt is postulated to be a primary magma, erupted without significant compositional change from its genesis by slight partial melting of a relatively Fe-rich spinel lherzolite upper mantle at about 60 km depth. The liquid seems to have had a reaction relationship with Ca-poor pyroxene (pigeonite) in the residual lherzolite. Partial crystallization of batches of this magma, delayed during its ascent at depths of about 40 km, is thought to have given rise to the Mg-poor basaltic liquids. The third lava studied experimentally, a sparsely olivine-phyric hawaiite, does not have olivine on the liquidus in any part of its anhydrous P-T diagram and therefore cannot have been derived under anhydrous conditions from olivine-saturated sources. The mineralogy and chemistry of the lavas are used to support an hypothesis that the hawaiites are products of partial crystallization of pockets of basalt magma at depths approximating to the crust/ mantle boundary beneath Skye, with rising to sufficient values to make the residual liquids comparatively rich in normative feldspar. Finally, the genesis of all other Skye Eocene lavas is reviewed in the light of the new experimental data.     

东昆仑南缘布青山构造混杂带得力斯坦南MOR型玄武岩地质、地球化学特征及岩石成因

东昆仑南缘布青山构造混杂带发育有较多OIB型玄武岩, 这类玄武岩成因与地幔柱密切相关.与灰岩密切伴生的具有MOR型特征的基性火山岩亦是东昆仑南缘古特提斯洋盆一类重要的海山玄武岩.为了查明布青山构造混杂带中不同类型洋岛或海山玄武岩的岩石成因, 对得力斯坦南玄武岩进行了详细的地质、地球化学和岩石成因研究.布青山地区得力斯坦南出露的玄武岩岩石类型复杂多样, 主要由枕状玄武岩、气孔-杏仁状玄武岩、角砾状玄武岩和块状玄武岩组成.主量元素地球化学特征表明, 该套玄武岩属于深海拉斑玄武岩和洋脊拉斑玄武岩系列.得力斯坦南玄武岩∑REE介于34.51×10-6~61.60×10-6, LREE/HREE介于0.89~1.37, (La/Yb)_N介于0.30~0.56, δEu介于0.90~1.18.球粒陨石标准化稀土元素配分图呈现轻稀土元素亏损的左倾型, 与NMORB型玄武岩稀土元素配分曲线基本相同.得力斯坦南玄武岩Zr、Hf、Nb和Ta含量均相当于NMORB的相应元素的丰度值.Zr/Nb值介于24.59~57.69, Nb/La值介于0.45~0.94, Hf/Ta值介于18.29~31.94.在原始地幔标准化微量元素蛛网图上, 曲线右侧高场强元素基本未分异(Nb、Ta、Zr、Hf等), 并贴近于NMORB标准线, 具有与NMORB玄武岩相似而明显不同于EMORB和OIB型玄武岩的特征.微量元素判别表明其形成于洋中脊或由于洋脊扩张向两侧后移的洋中脊构造环境, 结合其上覆盖有深水硅泥岩及浅水厚层状碳酸盐岩的地质事实, 认为其在地形地貌上属于古海山.岩石成因研究表明该套玄武岩起源于亏损地幔(DM), 并估算其为地幔二辉橄榄岩发生约10%部分熔融的产物.      

Quartz diorites derived by partial melting of eclogite or amphibolite at mantle depths

Rare earth elements, Rb, Sr, Ba and K have been determined in tonalite, trondhjemite, dacite, tholeiite and graywacke from the 2700 m.y. old Early Precambrian greenstone-granite terrane of northeastern Minnesota-northwestern Ontario, and also in trondhjemite from the 3550 m.y. old Morton Gneiss, southwestern Minnesota; and the Mesozoic Craggy Peak Pluton, Klamath Mountains, California.The Early Precambrian tholeiites have trace element compositions similar to modern oceanic tholeiites, while the quartz dioritic rocks, regardless of age, have total rare earth contents lower than that of tholeiitic basalts, with near chondritic heavy rare earth contents. Rb, Sr, Ba and K contents of the quartz diorites are about five times that of oceanic tholeiites, with similar alkali and alkaline earth ratios. The Early Precambrian graywacke has a rare earth content intermediate between greenstone and quartz diorite, reflecting its provenance.It is proposed that the analyzed quartz dioritic rocks, whether plutonic tonalite, dacite porphyry, gneissic or plutonic trondhjemite, or trondhjemite dikes had similar modes of origin, and were derived by partial melting of amphibolite or eclogite of basaltic or gabbroic composition at depths greater than thirty kilometers, leaving a residue consisting predominantly of garnet and clinopyroxene.