Anhydrous partial melting of an iron-rich mantle II: primary melt compositions at 15 kbar

Primary melt and coexisting mineral compositions, at increasing degrees of partial melting at 15 kbar, were determined for an iron-rich martian mantle composition, DW. The composition of primary melts near the solidus was determined with basalt-peridotite sandwich experiments. In order to evaluate the approach of the liquids to equilibrium with a DW mantle assemblage, experiments were also performed to establish the liquidus mineralogy of the primary melts. Primary melt compositions produced from an iron-rich mantle are more picritic than those produced from an iron-poor mantle. By increasing the iron content of a model mantle composition (decreasing the mg#, where mg# = atomic [Mg/(Mg+Fe²⁺)^*100]), picritic and komatiitic magmas result at lower percentages of melting and at temperatures closer to the solidus than in an iron-poor mantle. Terrestrial iron-rich primitive volcanics may be the partial melting products of iron-rich, mg# 80, source regions. The DW partial melting results support the conclusion of previous authors that the parent magmas of the SNC (shergottites, nakhlites, chassignites) meteorites were derived from a source region that had been previously depleted in an aluminous phase.     

Phase relations of a natural MARID composition and implications for MARID genesis,lithospheric melting and mantle metasomatism

Melting experiments were performed on a natural mica-amphibole-rutile-ilmenite-clinopyroxene (MARID) sample from the Kaapvaal mantle lithosphere (AJE137) at 20 to 35 kbar and 800 to 1450°C. A solidus was determined at 1260°C and 30 kbar above which phlogopite, clinopyroxene and olivine were stable with an alkali-rich silicate melt. Olivine is the only crystallizing phase just below the liquidus of the AJE137 bulk composition and K-richterite was only stable in the subsolidus region ( 1100°C at 30 kbar). These results are consistent with previous studies in more simple systems. In experiments with 10 wt% added water the solidus was depressed by ca. 300°C and K-richterite was stabilized above this solidus. MARIDs represent a potential lowtemperature component in the lithospheric mantle beneath the Kaapvaal Craton of southern Africa. The addition of > 10 wt% water (with less than a 120°C rise of temperature above the geotherm) to this mantle region would create conditions for the melting of this component. This may then be incorporated in any continental flood basalt parent magma that traverse this lithospheric mantle. The derivation of MARIDs from a silicate melt of their bulk composition, even if water saturated, is considered unlikely as such small degree melts could not sustain the elevated liquidus temperatures required (> 1200°C at 30 kbar) in a cold (< 800°C at 30 kbar) mantle lithosphere. MARID xenoliths may be produced by the interaction of an alkali-rich fluid with a peridotite or as the residue to a group II kimberlitic parent magma that has undergone fractionation of olivine and the exsolution of a carbonatite component.     

Melting and phase relations in the plane tholeiite-lherzolite-nepheline basanite to 40 kilobars with geological implications

Six crystalline mixtures, picrite, olivine-rich tholeiite, nepheline basanite, alkali picrite, olivine-rich basanite, and olivine-rich alkali basalt were recrystallized at pressures to 40 kb, and the phase equilibria and sequences of phases in natural basaltic and peridotitic rocks were investigated.The picrite was recrystallized along the solidus to the assemblages (1) olivine+orthopyroxene+ clinopyroxene +plagioclase+spinel below 13 kb, (2) olivine+orthopyroxene+clinopyroxene+spinel between 13 kb and 18 kb, (3) olivine+orthopyroxene+clinopyroxene+ garnet+spinel between 18 kb and 26 kb, and (4) olivine+clinopyroxene+garnet above 26 kb. The solidus temperature at 1 atm is slightly below 1,100° and rises to 1,320° at 20 kb and 1,570° at 40 kb. Olivine is the primary phase crystallizing from the melt at all pressures to 40 kb.The olivine-rich tholeiite was recrystallized along the solidus into the assemblages (1) olivine+ clinopyroxene+plagioclase+spinel below 13 kb, (2) clinopyroxene+orthopyroxene+ spinel between 13 kb and 18 kb, (3) clinopyroxene+garnet+spinel above 18 kb. The solidus temperature is slightly below 1,100° at 1 atm, 1,370° at 20 kb, and 1,590° at 40 kb. The primary phase is olivine below 20 kb but is orthopyroxene at 40 kb.In the nepheline basanite, olivine is the primary phase below 14 kb, but clinopyroxene is the first phase to appear above 14 kb. In the alkali-picrite the primary phase is olivine to 40 kb. In the olivine-rich basanite, olivine is the primary phase below 35 kb and garnet is the primary phase above 35 kb. In the olivine-rich alkali basalt the primary phase is olivine below 20 kb and is garnet at 40 kb.Mineral assemblages in a granite-basalt-peridotite join are summarized according to reported experimental data on natural rocks. The solidus of mafic rock is approximately given by T=12.5 P _Kb+1,050°. With increasing pressure along the solidus, olivine disappears by reaction with plagioclase at 9 kb in mafic rocks and plagioclase disappears by reaction with olivine at 13 kb in ultramafic rocks. Plagioclase disappears at around 22 kb in mafic rocks, but it persists to higher pressure in acidic rocks. Garnet appears at somewhat above 18 kb in acidic rocks, at 17 kb in mafic rocks, and at 22 kb in ultramafic rocks.The subsolidus equilibrium curves of the reactions are extrapolated according to equilibrium curves of related reactions in simple systems. The pyroxene-hornfels and sanidinite facies is the lowest pressure mineral facies. The pyroxene-granulite facies is an intermediate low pressure mineral facies in which olivine and plagioclase are incompatible and garnet is absent in mafic rocks. The low pressure boundary is at 7.5 kb at 750° C and at 9.5 kb at 1,150° C. The high pressure boundary is 8.0 kb at 750° C and 15.0 kb at 1,150° C. The garnet-granulite facies is an intermediate high pressure facies and is characterized by coexisting garnet and plagioclase in mafic rocks. The upper boundary is at 10.3 kb at 750° C and 18.0 kb at 1,150° C. The eclogite facies is the highest pressure mineral facies, in which jadeite-rich clinopyroxene is stable.Compositions of minerals in natural rocks of the granulite facies and the eclogite facies are considered. Clinopyroxenes in the granulite-facies rocks have smaller jadeite-Tschermak's molecule ratios and higher amounts of Tschermak's molecule than clinopyroxenes in the eclogite-facies rocks. The distribution coefficients of Mg between orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene are normally in the range of 0.5–0.6 in metamorphic rocks in the granulite facies. The distribution coefficients of Mg between garnet and clinopyroxene suggest increasing crystallization temperature of the rocks in the following order: eclogite in glaucophane schist, eclogite and granulite in gneissic terrain, garnet peridotite, and peridotite nodules in kimberlite.Temperatures near the bottom of the crust in orogenic zones characterized by kyanitesillimanite metamorpbism are estimated from the mineral assemblages of metamorphic rocks in Precambrian shields to be about 700° C at 7 kb and 800° C at 9 kb, although heat-flow data suggest that the bottom of Precambrian shield areas is about 400° C and the eclogite facies is stable.The composition of liquid which is in equilibrium with peridotite is estimated to be close to tholeiite basalt at the surface pressure and to be picrite at around 30 kb. The liquid composition becomes poorer in normative olivine with decreasing pressure and temperature.During crystallization at high pressure, olivine and orthopyroxene react with liquid to form clinopyroxene, and a discontinuous reaction series, olivine orthopyroxene clinopyroxene is suggested. By fractional crystallization of pyroxenes the liquid will become poorer in SiO₂. Therefore, if liquid formed by partial melting of peridotite in the mantle slowly rises maintaining equilibrium with the surrounding peridotite, the liquid will become poorer in MgO by crystallization of olivine, and tholeiite basalt magma will arrive at the surface. On the other hand, if the liquid undergoes fractional crystallization in the mantle, the liquid may change in composition to alkali-basalt magma and alkali-basalt volcanism may be seen at a late stage of volcanic activity.Publication No. 681, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles.     

Derivation of potassic (shoshonitic) magmas by decompression melting of phlogopite+pargasite lherzolite

A model metasomatized lherzolite composition contains phlogopite and pargasite, together with olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and spinel or garnet as subsolidus phases to 3 GPa. Previous works established that at ≥1.5 GPa, phlogopite is stable above the dehydration solidus, determined by the melting behaviour of pargasite and coexisting phases. At 2.8 GPa, melts with residual phlogopite+garnet lherzolite mineralogy at 1195 °C and with garnet lherzolite mineralogy at 1250 °C are both olivine nephelinite with K/Na (atomic)=0.51 and K/Na=0.65, respectively. Recent work shows that melting along the dehydration (fluid-absent) solidus of the phlogopite+pargasite lherzolite at pressures <1.5 GPa is very different with the presence of phlogopite, decreasing the solidus below that of pargasite lherzolite. At 1.0 GPa, both phlogopite and pargasite disappear at temperatures at or slightly above the solidus. The compositions of two melts at 1.0 GPa, 1075 °C (with different water contents), in equilibrium with residual spinel lherzolite mineralogy are silica-saturated trachyandesite (5% melt fraction, 3% H₂O) to silica-oversaturated basaltic andesite (8% melt fraction, 4.5% H₂O). Both compositions may be classified as ‘shoshonites’ on the basis of normative compositions, silica-saturation, and K/Na ratio. Decompression melting of metasomatized lithospheric lherzolite with minor phlogopite and pargasite may produce primary ‘shoshonitic’ magmas by dehydration melting at 1 GPa, 1050–1150 °C. Such magmas may be parental to Proterozoic batholithic syenites occurring in Brazil.     

Ultramafic and mafic xenoliths from Hierro,Canary Islands: evidence for melt infiltration in the upper mantle

Three groups of ultramafix xenoliths were collected from alkali basalt in the island of Hierro, Canary Islands: (1) Cr-diopside series (spinel harzbugite, lherzolite, dunite); (2) Al-augite series xenoliths (spinel wherlite, olivine clinopyroxenite, dunite, olivine websterite); (3) gabbroic xenoliths. The main textures are granoblastic, porphyroclastic and granular, but poikilitic textures, and symplectitic intergrowths of clinopyroxene (cpx) + spinel (sp)±orthopyroxene (opx)±olivine (ol) (in rare cases cpx+opx), occur locally. Textural relations and large inter- and intra-sample mineral chemical variations testify to a complex history of evolution of the mantle source region, involving repeated heating, partial melting, and enrichment associated with infiltration by basaltic melts. The oldest assemblage in the ultramafic xenoliths (porphyroclasts of ol+opx±sp±cpx) represents depleted abyssal mantle formed within the stability field of spinel lherzolite. The neoblast assemblage [ol+cpx+ sp±opx±plagioclase (plag)±ilmenite (il)±phlogopite (phlog)] reflect enrichment in CaO+Al₂O₃+Na₂O+ FeO±TiO₂±K₂O±H₂O through crystal/liquid separation processes and metasomatism. The Al-augite-series xenoliths represent parts of the mantle where magma infiltration was much more extensive than in the source region of the Cr-diopside series rocks. Geothermometry indicates temperature fluctuations between about 900–1000 and 1200°C. Between each heating event the mantle appears to have readjusted to regional geothermal gradient passing 950°C at about 12 kbar. The gabbroic xenoliths represent low-pressure cumulates.     

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.     

Possible implications of modal mineralogy for melting in mantle lherzolites

The melting reaction at the solidus of mantle peridotite is commonly peritectic in nature, with liquid and one or more solid phases produced upon melting. In some situations, one of the phases participating on the reactant side of the reaction is present in low abundance. This article explores the possible effects of the low abundance of a reactant phase on the melting behavior of mantle peridotite.For example, spinel lherzolite begins to melt via the peritectic reaction, clinopyroxene + orthopyroxene + spinel = olivine + liquid in the ∼1- to 2-GPa pressure range. In natural spinel lherzolites, spinel is a modally minor mineral and may be infrequently in contact with both clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene. If these mutual contacts are insufficient to generate an interconnected melt, then significant melting may not occur until a combination of minerals that are modally abundant and in contact begin to melt. This scenario could have implications for the physical process of melting and for the timing of formation of an interconnected melt network and separation of the melt from the residue.To begin to investigate this possibility, the spatial relationships between the constituent minerals in two fertile spinel lherzolites were determined by elemental mapping with the electron microprobe. Olivine, orthopyroxene, and clinopyroxene are of similar size, whereas the spinel was smaller and interstitial. Spinel and clinopyroxene are frequently in contact, but mutual contacts of spinel, clinopyroxene, and orthopyroxene are rare. Because of the changes in modal mineralogy anticipated for these lherzolites with increasing temperature, these mutual contacts will be even less common at the solidus. Therefore, an interconnected, potentially extractable, melt may not occur by the solidus spinel + orthopyroxene + clinopyroxene melting reaction.     

Dehydration melting of tonalites. Part I. Beginning of melting

 The beginning of dehydration melting in the tonalite system (biotite-plagioclase-quartz) is investigated in the pressure range of 2–12 kbar. A special method consisting of surrounding a crystal of natural plagioclase (An₄₅) with a biotite-quartz mixture, and observing reactions at the plagioclase margin was employed for precise determination of the solidus for dehydration melting. The beginning of dehydration melting was worked out at 5 kbar for a range of compositions of biotite varying from iron-free phlogopite to iron-rich Ann₇₀, with and without titanium, fluorine and extra aluminium in the biotite. The dehydration melting of phlogopite + plagioclase (An₄₅) + quartz begins between 750 and 770°C at pressures of 2 and 5 kbar, at approximately 740°C at 8 kbar and between 700 and 730°C at 10 kbar. At 12 kbar, the first melts are observed at temperatures as low as 700°C. The data indicate an almost vertical dehydration melting solidus curve at low pressures which bends backward to lower temperatures at higher pressures (> 5 kbar). The new phases observed at pressures ≤ 10 kbar are melt + enstatite + clinopyroxene + potassium feldspar ± amphibole. In addition to these, zoisite was also observed at 12 kbar. With increasing temperature, phlogopite becomes enriched in aluminium and deficient in potassium. Substitution of octahedral magnesium by aluminium and titanium in the phlogopite, as well as substitution of hydroxyl by fluorine, have little effect on the beginning of dehydration melting temperatures in this system. The dehydration melting of biotite (Ann₅₀) + plagioclase (An₄₅) + quartz begins 50°C below that of phlogopite bearing starting composition. Solid reaction products are orthopyroxene + clinopyroxene + potassium feldspar ± amphibole. Epidote was also observed above 8 kbar, and garnet at 12 kbar (750°C). The experiments on the iron-bearing system performed at ≤ 5 kbar were buffered with NiNiO. The f _{O 2} in high pressure runs lies close to CoCoO. With the substitution of octahedral magnesium and iron by aluminium and titanium, and replacement of hydroxyl by fluorine in biotite, the beginning of dehydration melting temperatures in this system increase up to 780°C at 5 kbar, which is 70°C above the beginning of dehydration melting of the assemblage containing biotite (Ann₅₀) of ideal composition. The dehydration melting at 5 kbar in the more iron-rich Ann₇₀-bearing starting composition begins at 730°C, and in the Ann₂₅-bearing assemblage at 710°C. This indicates that quartz-biotite-plagioclase assemblages with intermediate compositions of biotite (Ann₂₅ and Ann₅₀) melt at lower temperatures as compared to those containing Fe-richer or Mg-richer biotites. This study shows that the dehydration melting of tonalites may begin at considerably lower temperatures than previously thought, especially at high pressures (>5 kbar). Received: 27 December 1995 / Accepted: 7 May 1996     

High pressure phase relations of primitive high-alumina basalts from Medicine Lake volcano,northern California

Anhydrous phase relations were determined at 1 atm and 10 to 15 kbar for primitive high-alumina basalts (79–35g and 82–72f) from Giant Crater at Medicine Lake volcano. These compositions are multiply saturated with olivine+augite+plagioclase+spinel+/-orthopyroxene near the liquidus at about 11 kbar. Experiments on mixtures of sample 79–35g with orthopyroxene and olivine determined the location of the multiple saturation boundaries where liquid coexists with the assemblage olivine+augite+orthopyroxene+plagioclase at 10 kbar and olivine+augite+orthopyroxene+spinel at 15 kbar. The mix experiments showed that primitive Medicine Lake high alumina basalts (HABs) are close in composition to liquids in equilibrium with a mantle lherzolite source containing olivine+augite+ orthopyroxene+spinel+plagioclase at 11 kbar. Orthopyroxene observed as a near liquidus phase in an 11 kbar experiment on sample 82–72f supports this conclusion. The most primitive HABs from Medicine Lake are low in K₂O (0.07 wt.%), high in MgO (>10 wt.%) and Ni (231 ppm), and have light-rare earth element depletions and large ion lithophile element enrichments. A model for the origin of these near-primary high-alumina basalts is that they are partial melts of a MORB-like mantle lherzolite source that has been enriched by a fluid component derived from the subducted slab. The HAB magma segregated from its mantle residue just below the base of the crust near the crust-mantle boundary.     

Experimental melting of a modally heterogeneous mantle

Summary Melting of a spinel lherzolite with a spinel clinopyroxenite layer was investigated experimentally from 3.5 to 20 kbar and from 1200 to 1450 °C. The melt fraction in the spinel pyroxenite layer increases rapidly, and clinopyroxene disappears leaving olivine-spinel residua according to the reaction Cpx + Sp = Ol + Liq. The melt in the pyroxenite layer reacts with the surrounding lherzolite resulting in the formation of an essentially monomineral (olivine) zone with interstitial melt near the former pyroxenite. Melt compositions in the central melt pool are similar to those produced by other authors in melting experiments with peridotites similar to the bulk compositions of our samples. It is suggested that similar small-scale mantle heterogeneities (i.e. thin pyroxenite layers in lherzolite) may exert significant influence on mantle rheology and melt segregation, whereas melt compositions are not strongly affected and controlled by the dominating lherzolite lithology. Received October 10, 2000; revised version accepted August 31, 2001     

Anhydrous PT phase relations of an Aleutian high-MgO basalt: an investigation of the role of olivine-liquid reaction in the generation of arc high-alumina basalts

We report results of anhydrous 1 atm and piston-cylinder experiments on ID16, an Aleutian high-magnesia basalt (HMB), designed to investigate potential petrogenetic links between arc high-alumina basalts (HABs) and less common HMBs. ID16 is multiply saturated with a plagioclase/spinel iherzolite mineral assemblage (olivine, plagioclase, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, spinel) immediately beneath the 12 kbar liquidus. Derivative liquids produced at high temperatures in the 10–20 kbar melting interval of ID16 have compositions resembling those published of many moderate-CaO HABs, although lower-temperature liquids are poorer in CaO and richer in alkalies than are typical HABs. Isomolar pseudoternary projections and numerical mass-balance modeling suggest that derivative melts of ID16 enter into a complex reaction relationship with olivine at 10 kbar and 1,200° C–1,150° C. We sought to test such a mechanism to explain the lack of liquidus olivine in anhydrous experiments on mafic high-alumina basalts such as SSS. 1.4 (Johnston 1986). These derivative liquids, however, do not resemble typical arc high-alumina basalts, suggesting that olivine-liquid reaction does not account for Johnston's (1986) observations. Instead, we suggest that olivine can be brought onto the liquidus of such compositions only through the involvement of H₂O, which will affect the influence of bulk CaO, MgO, and Al₂O₃ contents on the identity of HAB liquidus phases (olivine or plagioclase) at pressures less than 12 kbar.     

High-pressure partial melting of gabbro and its role in the Hawaiian magma source

We have conducted high-pressure experiments on a natural oceanic gabbro composition (Gb108). Our aim was to test recent proposals that Sr-enrichment in rare primitive melt inclusions from Mauna Loa, Hawaii, may have resulted from melting of garnet pyroxenite formed in the magma source regions by reaction of peridotite with siliceous, Sr-enriched partial melts of eclogite of gabbroic composition. Gb108 is a natural, Sr-enriched olivine gabbro, which has a strong positive Sr anomaly superimposed on an overall depleted incompatible trace element pattern, reflecting its origin as a plagioclase-rich cumulate. At high pressures it crystallises as a coesite eclogite assemblage, with the solidus between 1,300 and 1,350°C at 3.5 GPa and 1,450 and 1,500°C at 4.5 GPa. Clinopyroxenes contain 4–9% Ca-eskolaite component, which varies systematically with pressure and temperature. Garnets are almandine and grossular-rich. Low degree partial melts are highly siliceous in composition, resembling dacites. Coesite is eliminated between 50 and 100°C above the solidus. The whole-rock Sr-enrichment is primarily hosted by clinopyroxene. This phase dominates the mode (>75 wt%) at all investigated PT conditions, and is the major contributor to partial melts of this eclogite composition. Hence the partial melts have trace element patterns sub-parallel to those of clinopyroxene with ≈10× greater overall abundances and with strong positive Sr anomalies. Recent studies of primitive Hawaiian volcanics have suggested the incorporation into their source regions of eclogite, formerly gabbroic material recycled through the mantle at subduction zones. The models suggest that formerly gabbroic material, present as eclogite in the Hawaiian plume, partially melted earlier than surrounding peridotite (i.e. at higher pressure) because of the lower solidus temperature of eclogite compared with peridotite. This produced highly siliceous melts which reacted with surrounding peridotite producing hybrid pyroxene + garnet lithologies. The Sr-enriched nature of the formerly plagioclase-rich gabbro was present in the siliceous partial melts, as demonstrated by these experiments, and was transferred to the reactive pyroxenite. These in turn partially melted, producing Sr-enriched picritic liquids which mixed with normal picritic partial melts of peridotite before eruption. On rare occasions these mixed, relatively Sr-rich melts were trapped as melt inclusions in primitive olivine phenocrysts. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Mineralogical and geochemical patterns of mantle xenoliths from the Jixia region (Fujian Province,southeastern China)

The paper discusses the results of mineralogical and petrographic studies of spinel lherzolite xenoliths and clinopyroxene megacrysts in basalt from the Jixia region related to the central zone of Cenozoic basaltic magmatism of southeastern China. Spinel lherzolite is predominantly composed of olivine (Fo_89.6–90.4), orthopyroxene (Mg# = 90.6–92.7), clinopyroxene (Mg# = 90.3–91.9), and chrome spinel (Cr# = 6.59–14.0). According to the geochemical characteristics, basalt of the Jixia region is similar to OIB with asthenospheric material as a source. The following equilibrium temperatures and pressures were obtained for spinel peridotite: 890–1269°C and 10.4–14.8 kbar. Mg# of olivine and Cr# of chrome spinel are close to the values in rocks of the enriched mantle. It is evident from analysis of the textural peculiarities of spinel lherzolite that basaltic melt interacted with mantle rocks at the xenolith capture stage. Based on an analysis of the P–T conditions of the formation of spinel peridotite and clinopyroxene megacrysts, we show that mantle xenoliths were captured in the course of basaltic magma intrusion at a significantly lower depth than the area of partial melting. However, capture of mantle xenoliths was preceded by low-degree partial melting at an earlier stage.     

The melting relationships of a madupite from the Leucite Hills,Wyoming, to 30 Kb

The water-undersaturated melting relationships of a mafic, peralkaline, potassic madupite (with about 3% H₂O as shown by chemical analysis) from the Leucite Hills, Wyoming, have been studied at pressures up to 30 kb. At low pressures (<5 kb) leucite is the dominant liquidus phase, but it is replaced at higher pressures by clinopyroxene plus olivine (<5–7 kb), clinopyroxene (7–12.5 kb), clinopyroxene plus minor spinel (12.5–17.5 kb), and clinopyroxene alone (17.5–> 30 kb). At all pressures there is a reaction relationship with falling temperature between melt, olivine and probably clinopyroxene to yield phlogopite. Apatite is stable within the melting interval to pressures above 25 kb. Electron microprobe analyses demonstrate that the clinopyroxene is diopsidic, with low aluminium and titanium contents. Pressure has relatively little effect on the composition of the pyroxene. Phlogopite is also aluminium-poor and has only a moderate titanium content. The experimental results indicate that madupite is not the partial melting product of hydrous lherzolite or garnet lherzolite in the upper mantle and it seems improbable that it is derived by melting of mantle peridotite with a mixed H₂O-CO₂ volatile component. Madupite could, however, be the partial melting product of mica-pyroxenite or mica-olivine-pyroxenite in the upper mantle. It is pointed out that the chemistry of some potassium-rich volcanics may have been affected by volatile transfer and other such processes during eruption and that experimental studies of material affected in this way have little bearing upon the genesis of potassic magmas. Finally, the experimental results enable constraints to be placed upon the P-T conditions of the formation of richterite-bearing mica nodules found in kimberlites and associated rocks. Maximum conditions are 25 kb and 1,100 ° C.     

The influence of water on melting of mantle peridotite

This experimental study examines the effects of variable concentrations of dissolved H₂O on the compositions of silicate melts and their coexisting mineral assemblage of olivine + orthopyroxene ± clinopyroxene ± spinel ± garnet. Experiments were performed at pressures of 1.2 to 2.0 GPa and temperatures of 1100 to 1345 °C, with up to ∼12 wt% H₂O dissolved in the liquid. The effects of increasing the concentration of dissolved H₂O on the major element compositions of melts in equilibrium with a spinel lherzolite mineral assemblage are to decrease the concentrations of SiO₂, FeO, MgO, and CaO. The concentration of Al₂O₃ is unaffected. The lower SiO₂ contents of the hydrous melts result from an increase in the activity coefficient for SiO₂ with increasing dissolved H₂O. The lower concentrations of FeO and MgO result from the lower temperatures at which H₂O-bearing melts coexist with mantle minerals as compared to anhydrous melts. These compositional changes produce an elevated SiO₂/(MgO + FeO) ratio in hydrous peridotite partial melts, making them relatively SiO₂ rich when compared to anhydrous melts on a volatile-free basis. Hydrous peridotite melting reactions are affected primarily by the lowered mantle solidus. Temperature-induced compositional variations in coexisting pyroxenes lower the proportion of clinopyroxene entering the melt relative to orthopyroxene. Isobaric batch melting calculations indicate that fluid-undersaturated peridotite melting is characterized by significantly lower melt productivity than anhydrous peridotite melting, and that the peridotite melting process in subduction zones is strongly influenced by the composition of the H₂O-rich component introduced into the mantle wedge from the subducted slab. Received: 7 April 1997 / Accepted: 9 January 1998     

The melting and crystallisation behaviour of a natural clinopyroxene-ilmenite intergrowth

The anhydrous solidus of a natural clinopyroxene-ilmenite intergrowth from the kimberlite pipe at Monastery was found to be 1300° C at 20 kb increasing to 1470 ° C at 47 kb. The slope of the solidus is 6 ° C/kb, with a constant melting interval of approximately 140 ° C. Clinopyroxene was the liquidus phase in all but one case, and the ilmenite-out curve coincided with the beginning of melting. Controlled cooling experiments resulted in liquidus clinopyroxene crystals surrounded by intergrowths of clinopyroxene and ilmenite. The experimental and natural intergrowths are texturally, crystallographically and chemically similar. These results support the view that the natural clinopyroxene-ilmenite intergrowths found in kimberlites are a product of eutectic crystallisation in the upper mantle. Compositional similarities between the liquidus clinopyroxene and discrete clinopyroxene nodules from kimberlite suggest that the latter are possibly related to the clinopyroxene-ilmenite intergrowths by fractional crystallisation. Differences between the temperatures of equilibration obtained for clinopyroxenes from the natural intergrowths, and the beginning of melting on the clinopyroxene-ilmenite join, may be the result of hydrous melting in the former case, or as a consequence of the natural intergrowths existing as mantle veins or pegmatites at the ambient temperature prior to their incorporation in the kimberlite.     

The Composition of Near-solidus Partial Melts of Fertile Peridotite at 1 and 1{middle dot}5 GPa: Implications for the Petrogenesis of MORB

We have determined the near-solidus melt compositions for peridotiteMM-3, a suitable composition for the production of mid-oceanridge basalt (MORB) by decompression partial melting, at 1 and1·5 GPa. At 1 GPa the MM-3 composition has a subsolidusplagioclase-bearing spinel lherzolite assemblage, and a solidusat 1270°C. At only 5°C above the solidus, 4% meltis present as a result of almost complete melting of plagioclase.This melting behaviour in plagioclase lherzolite is predictedfrom simple systems and previous experimental work. The persistenceof plagioclase to > 0·8 GPa is strongly dependenton bulk-rock CaO/Na₂O and normative plagioclase content in theperidotite. At 1·5 GPa the MM-3 composition has a subsolidusspinel lherzolite assemblage, and a solidus at 1350°C.We have determined a near-solidus melt composition at 2% meltingwithin 10°C of the solidus. Near-solidus melts at both 1and 1·5 GPa are nepheline normative, and have low normativediopside contents; also they have the highest TiO₂, Al₂O₃ andNa₂O, and the lowest FeO and Cr₂O₃ contents compared with higherdegree partial melts. Comparison of these near-solidus meltswith primitive MORB glasses, which lie in the olivine-only fieldof crystallization at low pressure, indicate that petrogeneticmodels involving aggregation of near-fractional melts formedduring melting at pressures of 1·5 GPa or less are unlikelyto be correct. In this study we use an experimental approachthat utilizes sintered oxide mix starting materials and peridotitereaction experiments. We also examine some recent studies usingan alternative approach of melt migration into, and entrapmentwithin ‘melt traps’ (olivine, diamond, vitreouscarbon) and discuss optimal procedures for this method. KEY WORDS: experimental petrology; mantle melting; near-solidus; fertile peridotite; MORB     

The role of oxidation-reduction and C-H-O fluids in determining melting conditions and magma compositions in the upper mantle

High pressure experimental studies of the melting of lherzolitic upper mantle in the absence of carbon and hydrogen have shown that the lherzolite solidus has a positive dP/dT and that the percentage melting increases quite rapidly above the solidus. In contrast, the presence of carbon and hydrogen in the mantle results in a region of ‘incipient’ melting at temperatures below the C,H-free solidus. In this region the presence or absence of melt and the composition of the melt are dependent on the amount and nature of volatiles, particularly the CO₂, H₂O, and CH₄ contents of the potential C-H-O fluid. Under conditions of low (IW to IW + 1 log unit atP ∼ 20–35kb), fluids such as CH₄+H₂O and CH₄+H₂ inhibit melting, having a low solubility in silicate melts. Under these conditions, carbon and hydrogen are mobile elements in the upper mantle. At slightly higher oxygen fugacity (IW+2 log units,P∼20–35 kb) fluids in equilibrium with graphite or diamond in peridotite C-H-O are extremely water-rich. Carbon is thus not mobile in the mantle in this range and the melting and phase relations for the upper mantle lherzolite approximate closely to the peridotite-H₂O system. Pargasitic amphibole is stable to solidus temperatures in fertile lherzolite compositions and causes a distinctive peridotite solidus, the ‘dehydration solidus’, with a marked change in slope (a ‘back bend’) at 29–30kb due to instability of pargasite at high pressure. Intersections of geothermal gradients with the peridotite-H₂O solidi define the boundary between lithosphere (subsolidus) and asthenosphere (incipient melt region). This boundary is thus sensitive to changes in [affecting CH₄:H₂O:CO₂ ratios] and to the amount of H₂O and carbon (CO₂, CH₄) present. At higher conditions (IW + 3 log units), CO₂-rich fluids occur at low pressures but there is a marked depression of the solidus at 20–21 kb due to intersection with the carbonation reaction, producing the low temperature solidus for dolomite amphibole lherzolite (T∼925°C, 21 to >31kb). Melting of dolomite (or magnesite) amphibole lherzolite yields primary sodic dolomitic carbonatite melt with low H₂O content, in equilibrium with amphibole garnet lherzolite. The complexity of melting in peridotite-C-H-O provides possible explanations for a wide range of observations on lithosphere/asthenosphere relations, on mantle melt and fluid compositions, and on processes of mantle metasomatism and magma genesis in the upper mantle.     

Retrograde pressure-temperature path for spinel-bearing metapelites in Rayagada, Eastern Ghats, India

Summary Two assemblages have been identified in spinel-bearing metapelites from Rayagada, in the Eastern Ghats Belt, India: the first, an iron-rich assemblage, is characterized by iron-rich spinel and garnet; the second, iron-poor assemblage, by iron-poor spinel and garnet, together with cordierite and hematite. Garnet and sillimanite coronas around spinel show elongation parallel to the dominant fabric in the iron-rich assemblage but not in the iron-poor one. Both textures suggest the corona forming retrograde reaction spl + qtz = grt + sil. The P-T conditions for these corona-forming reactions are estimated at 950°C and 8.7-9.0 kbar for the iron-rich, and 800°C and 8 kbar for the iron-poor assemblage. Thermobarometric results and observed phase relations, using the model system FeO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ (FMAS) indicate near-isobaric cooling from 950° to 800°C and subsequent decompression from 8 to 6.5 kbar. The corona-forming event in the iron-rich assemblage has been correlated with the dominant second phase of deformation (D2), but that in the iron-poor assemblage apparently postdates D₂.

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Der retrograde P-T Pfad Spinell führender Metapelite in Rayagada, östliche Ghats, Indien

Zusammenfassung Zwei unterschiedliche Spinell-führende Mineralvergesellschaftungen in Metapeliten werden aus Rayagada in den östlichen Ghats Indiens beschrieben. Die erste, eine eisenreiche, ist durch Fe-reichen Spinell und Granat, die zweite eisenarme, durch Fe armen Spinell, Granat, Cordierit und Hämatit charakterisiert. Granat und Sillimanit Coronas um Spinell sind nur in der eisenreichen Vergesellschaftung parallel zum dominierenden metamorphen Gefüge elongiert, nicht aber in der eisenarmen. Beide Texturen belegen die retrograde Reaktion Spl + Qtz = Grt + Sil. Die P-T Bedingungen der Koronareaktionen in der Fe-reichen Assoziation werden mit ca. 950°C und 8.7-9.0 kbar, die in der Fe-armen mit ca. 800°C und 8 kbar abgeschätzt. Die Ergebnisse der Geothermobarometrie und die beobachteten Phasenbeziehungen im Modellsysem FeO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ (FMAS) belegen eine mehr oder weniger isobare Abkühlung von ca. 950 bis 800°C mit anschließender Dekompression von ca. 8 bis 6.5 kbar. Die koronabildende Raktion in der eisenreichen Vergesellschaftung wird mit der dominierenden zweiten (D2) Deformationsphase korreliert, überdauert diese aber in den Fe-armen Gesteinen.

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With 5 Figures     

Experimental phase and melting relations of metapelite in the upper mantle: implications for the petrogenesis of intraplate magmas

We performed a series of piston-cylinder experiments on a synthetic pelite starting material over a pressure and temperature range of 3.0–5.0 GPa and 1,100–1,600°C, respectively, to examine the melting behaviour and phase relations of sedimentary rocks at upper mantle conditions. The anhydrous pelite solidus is between 1,150 and 1,200°C at 3.0 GPa and close to 1,250°C at 5.0 GPa, whereas the liquidus is likely to be at 1,600°C or higher at all investigated pressures, giving a large melting interval of over 400°C. The subsolidus paragenesis consists of quartz/coesite, feldspar, garnet, kyanite, rutile, ±clinopyroxene ±apatite. Feldspar, rutile and apatite are rapidly melted out above the solidus, whereas garnet and kyanite are stable to high melt fractions (>70%). Clinopyroxene stability increases with increasing pressure, and quartz/coesite is the sole liquidus phase at all pressures. Feldspars are relatively Na-rich [K/(K + Na) = 0.4–0.5] at 3.0 GPa, but are nearly pure K-feldspar at 5.0 GPa. Clinopyroxenes are jadeite and Ca-eskolaite rich, with jadeite contents increasing with pressure. All supersolidus experiments produced alkaline dacitic melts with relatively constant SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ contents. At 3.0 GPa, initial melting is controlled almost exclusively by feldspar and quartz, giving melts with K₂O/Na₂O ~1. At 4.0 and 5.0 GPa, low-fraction melting is controlled by jadeite-rich clinopyroxene and K-rich feldspar, which leads to compatible behaviour of Na and melts with K₂O/Na₂O ≫ 1. Our results indicate that sedimentary protoliths entrained in upwelling heterogeneous mantle domains may undergo melting at greater depths than mafic lithologies to produce ultrapotassic dacitic melts. Such melts are expected to react with and metasomatise the surrounding peridotite, which may subsequently undergo melting at shallower levels to produce compositionally distinct magma types. This scenario may account for many of the distinctive geochemical characteristics of EM-type ocean island magma suites. Moreover, unmelted or partially melted sedimentary rocks in the mantle may contribute to some seismic discontinuities that have been observed beneath intraplate and island-arc volcanic regions.