Stability and chemical composition of pargasitic amphibole in MORB pyrolite under upper mantle conditions

The stability field of pargasitic amphibole in a model mantle composition (MORB pyrolite) has been experimentally determined for a fixed water content. A solidus for a pargasite-bearing lherzolite has been defined at pressures below the limit of amphibole stability of 30 kbar at T = 925 °C. The maximum temperature for pargasitic amphibole in MORB pyrolite occurs at 1075 °C between P = 18 and 25 kbar. This maximum lies between that determined for a fertile peridotite composition (Hawaiian pyrolite) and a depleted peridotite composition (Tinaquillo lherzolite). A comparison of the new results with those from earlier studies suggests that the stability for a particular bulk H₂O content is mostly controlled by alkali content of the lherzolite composition. The systematic compositional variation of pargasitic amphibole as a function of pressure and temperature can be represented as an increase of the richterite component with increase in both pressure and temperature. For a given pressure the tschermakite component increases with increasing temperature. The compositions of coexisting clinopyroxenes also show a systematic variation with pressure and temperature. The phase relationships in MORB pyrolite combined with the modal abundance of coexisting phases show that the breakdown reactions of pargasitic amphibole occur continuously throughout the subsolidus region studied. The temperature stability limit of pargasitic amphibole coincides with the water-undersaturated solidus (amphibole-dehydration solidus) at pressures below 30 kbar. The experimental results are applicable to pargasitic amphibole-bearing natural peridotites. Cooling and decompression paths and heating events observed in natural peridotites can be interpreted from changes in the composition of pargasitic amphibole. The data are also applicable to a model for peridotite melting and hydration process in the subduction environment. Received: 27 October 1997 / Accepted: 6 November 1998     

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     

Petrology, geothermobarometry and C-O-H-S fluid compositions in the environs of Rampura-Agucha Zn-(Pb) ore deposit, Bhilwara District, Rajasthan

The massive Zn-(Pb) sulfide ore body at Rampura-Agucha in Bhilwara district, Rajasthan, occurs within graphitic metapelites surrounded by garnet-biotite-sillimanite gneiss containing concordant bodies of amphibolite. These rocks and the sulfide ores have been studied to estimate the pressure, temperature and fluid composition associated with upper amphibolite facies metamorphism. Geothermobarometric calculations involving garnet-biotite and garnet-hornblende pairs, as well as sphalerite-hexagonal pyrrhotite-pyrite and garnet-plagioclase-sillimanite-quartz assemblages indicate that the most pervasive P-T condition during peak of regional metamorphism was 650°C and 6 kb, and was attained between the first and second deformations in the region. Some temperature-pressure estimates also cluster around 500°C–5.1 kb which probably represent retrograde cooling during unloading. Consideration of devolatilization equilibria in the C-O-H-S system at the pervasive metamorphic conditions mentioned above shows that the metamorphic fluid was H₂O-rich ( ) but also had a substantial component of . and were the other important phases in the fluid. CO (X_CO = 0.002) and were the minor phases in the fluid. It is probable that a part of this aqueous fluid was consumed by re-/neocrystallization of hydrous silicate phases like chlorite during the retrogressive metamorphic path, so that fluid entrapped in quartz below 450°C was rendered CO₂-rich (Holleret al 1996).     

A modified iterative sandwich method for determination of near-solidus partial melt compositions. II. Application to determination of near-solidus melt compositions of carbonated peridotite

We performed modified iterative sandwich experiments (MISE) to determine the composition of carbonatitic melt generated near the solidus of natural, fertile peridotite + CO₂ at 1,200–1,245°C and 6.6 GPa. Six iterations were performed with natural peridotite (MixKLB-1: Mg# = 89.7) and ∼10 wt% added carbonate to achieve the equilibrium carbonatite composition. Compositions of melts and coexisting minerals converged to a constant composition after the fourth iteration, with the silicate mineral compositions matching those expected at the solidus of carbonated peridotite at 6.6 GPa and 1,230°C, as determined from a sub-solidus experiment with MixKLB-1 peridotite. Partial melts expected from a carbonated lherzolite at a melt fraction of 0.01–0.05% at 6.6 GPa have the composition of sodic iron-bearing dolomitic carbonatite, with molar Ca/(Ca + Mg) of 0.413 ± 0.001, Ca# [100 × molar Ca/(Ca + Mg + Fe*)] of 37.1 ± 0.1, and Mg# of 83.7 ± 0.6. SiO₂, TiO₂ and Al₂O₃ concentrations are 4.1 ± 0.1, 1.0 ± 0.1, and 0.30 ± 0.02 wt%, whereas the Na₂O concentration is 4.0 ± 0.2 wt%. Comparison of our results with other iterative sandwich experiments at lower pressures indicate that near-solidus carbonatite derived from mantle lherzolite become less calcic with increasing pressure. Thus carbonatitic melt percolating through the deep mantle must dissolve cpx from surrounding peridotite and precipitate opx. Significant FeO* and Na₂O concentrations in near solidus carbonatitic partial melt likely account for the ∼150°C lower solidus temperature of natural carbonated peridotite compared to the solidus of synthetic peridotite in the system CMAS + CO₂. The experiments demonstrate that the MISE method can determine the composition of partial melts at very low melt fraction after a small number of iterations.     

Geochemical and O-isotope constraints on the evolution of lithospheric mantle in the Ross Sea rift area (Antarctica)

Peridotite xenoliths found in Cenozoic alkali basalts of northern Victoria Land, Antarctica, vary from fertile spinel-lherzolite to harzburgite. They often contain glass-bearing pockets formed after primary pyroxenes and spinel. Few samples are composite and consist of depleted spinel lherzolite crosscut by amphibole veins and/or lherzolite in contact with poikilitic wehrlite. Peridotite xenoliths are characterized by negative Al₂O₃–Mg# and TiO₂–Mg# covariations of clino- and orthopyroxenes, low to intermediate HREE concentrations in clinopyroxene, negative Cr–Al trend in spinel, suggesting variable degrees of partial melting. Metasomatic overprint is evidenced by trace element enrichment in clinopyroxene and sporadic increase of Ti–Fe_tot. Preferential Nb, Zr, Sr enrichments in clinopyroxene associated with high Ti–Fe_tot contents constrain the metasomatic agent to be an alkaline basic melt. In composite xenoliths, clinopyroxene REE contents increase next to the veins suggesting metasomatic diffusion of incompatible element. Oxygen isotope data indicate disequilibrium conditions among clinopyroxene, olivine and orthopyroxene. The highest δ¹⁸O values are observed in minerals of the amphibole-bearing xenolith. The δ¹⁸O_cpx correlations with clinopyroxene modal abundance and geochemical parameters (e.g. Mg# and Cr#) suggest a possible influence of partial melting on oxygen isotope composition. Thermobarometric estimates define a geotherm of 80°C/GPa for the refractory lithosphere of NVL, in a pressure range between 1 and 2.5 GPa. Clinopyroxene microlites of melt pockets provide P–T data close to the anhydrous peridotite solidus and confirm that they originated from heating and decompression during transport in the host magma. All these geothermometric data constrain the mantle potential temperature to values of 1250–1350°C, consistent with the occurrence of mantle decompressional melting in a transtensive tectonic regime for the Ross Sea region.     

Anhydrous partial melting of an iron-rich mantle I: subsolidus phase assemblages and partial melting phase relations at 10 to 30 kbar

Anhydrous partial melting experiments, at 10 to 30 kbar from solidus to near liquidus temperature, have been performed on an iron-rich martian mantle composition, DW. The DW subsolidus assemblage from 5 kbar to at least 24 kbar is a spinel lherzolite. At 25 kbar garnet is stable at the solidus along with spinel. The clinopyroxene stable on the DW solidus at and above 10 kbar is a pigeonitic clinopyroxene. Pigeonitic clinopyroxene is the first phase to melt out of the spinel lherzolite assemblage at less than 20°C above the solidus. Spinel melts out of the assemblage about 50°C above the solidus followed by a 150° to 200°C temperature interval where melts are in equilibrium with orthopyroxene and olivine. The temperature interval over which pigeonitic clinopyroxene melts out of an iron-rich spinel lherzolite assemblage is smaller than the temperature interval over which augite melts out of an iron-poor spinel lherzolite assemblage. The dominant solidus assemblage in the source regions of the Tharsis plateau, and for a large percentage of the martian mantle, is a spinel lherzolite.     

Redox states of lithospheric and asthenospheric upper mantle

The oxidation state of lithospheric upper mantle is heterogeneous on a scale of at least four log units. Oxygen fugacities ( ) relative to the FMQ buffer using the olivine-orthopyroxene-spinel equilibrium range from about FMQ-3 to FMQ+1. Isolated samples from cratonic Archaean lithosphere may plot as low as FMQ-5. In shallow Proterozoic and Phanerozoic lithosphere, the relative is predominantly controlled by sliding Fe³⁺-Fe²⁺ equilibria. Spinel peridotite xenoliths in continental basalts follow a trend of increasing with increasing refractoriness, to a relative well above graphite stability. This suggests that any relative reduction in lithospheric upper mantle that may occur as a result of stripping lithosphere of its basaltic component is overprinted by later metasomatism and relative oxidation. With increasing pressure and depth in lithosphere, elemental carbon becomes progressively refractory and carbon-bearing equilibria more important for control. The solubility of carbon in H₂O-rich fluid (and presumably in H₂O-rich small-degree melts) under the P,T conditions of Archaean lithosphere is about an order of magnitude lower than in shallow modern lithosphere, indicating that high-pressure metasomatism may take place under carbon-saturated conditions. The maximum in deep Archaen lithosphere must be constrained by equilibria such as EMOG/D. If the marked chemical depletion and the orthopyroxene-rich nature of Archaean lithospheric xenoliths is caused by carbonatite (as opposed to komatiite) melt segregation, as suggested here, then a realistic lower limit may be given by the H₂O +C=CH₄+O₂ (C-H₂O) equilibrium. Below C –H₂O a fluid becomes CH₄ rather than CO₂-bearing and carbonatitic melt presumably unstable. The actual in deep Archaean lithosphere is then a function of the activities of CO₂ and MgCO₃. Basaltic melts are more oxidized than samples from lithospheric upper mantle. Mid-ocean ridge (MORB) and ocean-island basalts (OIB) range between FMQ-1 (N-MORB) and about FMQ +2 (OIB). The most oxidized basaltic melts are primitive island-arc basalts (IAB) that may fall above FMQ+3. If basalts are accurate probes of their mantle sources, then asthenospheric upper mantle is more oxidized than lithosphere. However, there is a wide range of processes that may alter melt relative to that of the mantle source. These include partial melting, melt segregation, shifts in Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺ melt ratios upon decompression, oxygen exchange with ambient mantle during ascent, and low-pressure volatile degassing. Degassing is not very effective in causing large-scale and uniform shifts, while the elimination of buffering equilibria during partial melting is. Upwelling graphite-bearing asthenosphere will decompress along -pressure paths approximately parallel to the graphite saturation surface, involving reduction relative to FMQ. The relative will be constrained to below the CCO equilibrium and will be a function of . Upwelling asthenosphere whose graphite content has been exhausted by partial melting, or melts that have segregated and chemically decoupled from a graphite-bearing residuum will decompress along -decompression paths controlled by continuous Fe³⁺-Fe²⁺ solid-melt equilibria. These equilibria will involve increases in relative to the graphite saturation surface and relative to FMQ. Melts that finally segregate from that source and erupt on the earth's surface may then be significantly more oxidized than their mantle sources at depth prior to partial melting. The extent of melt oxidation relative to the mantle source may be directly proportional to the depth of graphite exhaustion in the mantle source.     

The beginnings of hydrous mantle wedge melting

This study presents new phase equilibrium data on primitive mantle peridotite (0.33 wt% Na₂O, 0.03 wt% K₂O) in the presence of excess H₂O (14.5 wt% H₂O) from 740 to 1,200°C at 3.2–6 GPa. Based on textural and chemical evidence, we find that the H₂O-saturated peridotite solidus remains isothermal between 800 and 820°C at 3–6 GPa. We identify both quenched solute from the H₂O-rich fluid phase and quenched silicate melt in supersolidus experiments. Chlorite is stable on and above the H₂O-saturated solidus from 2 to 3.6 GPa, and chlorite peridotite melting experiments (containing ~6 wt% chlorite) show that melting occurs at the chlorite-out boundary over this pressure range, which is within 20°C of the H₂O-saturated melting curve. Chlorite can therefore provide sufficient H₂O upon breakdown to trigger dehydration melting in the mantle wedge or perpetuate ongoing H₂O-saturated melting. Constraints from recent geodynamic models of hot subduction zones like Cascadia suggest that significantly more H₂O is fluxed from the subducting slab near 100 km depth than can be bound in a layer of chloritized peridotite ~ 1 km thick at the base of the mantle wedge. Therefore, the dehydration of serpentinized mantle in the subducted lithosphere supplies free H₂O to trigger melting at the H₂O-saturated solidus in the lowermost mantle wedge. Alternatively, in cool subduction zones like the Northern Marianas, a layer of chloritized peridotite up to 1.5 km thick could contain all the H₂O fluxed from the slab every million years near 100 km depth, which suggests that the dominant form of melting below arcs in cool subduction zones is chlorite dehydration melting. Slab P–T paths from recent geodynamic models also allow for melts of subducted sediment, oceanic crust, and/or sediment diapirs to interact with hydrous mantle melts within the mantle wedge at intermediate to hot subduction zones.     

Influence of temperature,composition, silica activity and oxygen fugacity on the H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O storage capacity of olivine at 8 GPa

Olivine crystals were grown in the presence of a hydrous silicate fluid during multi-anvil experiments at 8 GPa and 1,000–1,600°C. Experiments were conducted both in a simple system (FeO–MgO–SiO₂–H₂O) and in a more complex system containing additional elements (CaO–Na₂O–Al₂O₃–Cr₂O₃–TiO₂–FeO–MgO–SiO₂–H₂O). Silica activity was buffered by the presence of either pyroxene (high a _SiO2) or ferropericlase (low a _SiO2), and was buffered by the presence of Ni + NiO or Fe + FeO, or constrained by the presence of Fe₂O₃. Raman spectroscopy was used to identify pyroxene polymorphs in the run products. Clinoenstatite was present in the 1,000°C experiment, and enstatite in experiments at 1,400–1,520°C. The H₂O content of olivine was measured using secondary ion mass spectroscopy, and infrared spectroscopy was used to investigate the nature of hydrous defects. The H₂O storage capacity of olivine decreases with increasing temperature at 8 GPa. In contrast to previous experimental results at ≤2 GPa, no significant effect of varying oxygen fugacity is evident, but H₂O storage capacity is enhanced under conditions of low silica activity. No significant growth of low wavenumber (<3,400 cm⁻¹) peaks, generally associated with high at low pressure, was observed in the FTIR spectra of olivine from the high experiments. Our experiments show that previous high pressure H₂O storage capacity measurements for olivine synthesized under more oxidizing conditions than the Earth’s mantle are not likely to be compromised by the of the experiments. However, the considerable effect of temperature on H₂O storage capacity in olivine must be taken into account to avoid overestimation of the bulk upper mantle H₂O storage capacity.     

La lherzolite à amphibole du gisement de Caussou (Ariège,France)

The Caussou outcrop consists mostly of a spinel-bearing lherzolite with irregular patches of amphibole lherzolite. The characteristic paragenesis of the latter is: forsterite + bronzite+Ti-rich K-bearing pargasite ± diopside, with 10 to 15% amphibole in the rock. Petrographic and chemical analysis of the two types of rocks and their constituent minerals lead to the conclusion that the spinel-lherzolite recrystallized locally as amphibole lherzolite in the presence of a gas phase containing water, and probably Ti and alkali elements as well, at approximately 7 to 8 Kb and 1100° C (for \(P_{{\text{H}}_2 {\text{O}}} = P_{{\text{total}}} \) ). Two hypothesis could account for this local recrystallization:

1. The amphibole lherzolite could represent a subsolidus recrystallization of the spinel lherzolite occuring in the stability field of plagioclase lherzolite at the time of the emplacement.
2. Or, in the same P-T conditions, the Ti-pargasite could precipitate from a liquid of nephelinite composition produced by limited partial melting of the spinel lherzolite.

In either case the original peridotite that produced the two existing types at Caussou could be considered as an undifferentiated fragment of the upper mantle.     

Stages in the P-T path of ascending basalt magma: An example from San Quintin,Baja California

Late Pleistocene or Recent lavas from San Quintin, Baja California are basanitoids and alkali basalts. The surface quench temperatures of the lavas average 1 005° C with log =–11.4, as deduced from the groundmass Fe-Ti oxides. Spinel lherzolite xenoliths and megacrysts of augite and andesine have been found in lava flows and cinder deposits. Using analytical data on the rocks and minerals and simple thermodynamic expressions, the pressures and temperatures of equilibration of lavas and xenoliths, megacrysts and phenocrysts have been calculated. The lavas could have been in equilibrium with lherzolite at 1 330–1 410° C and 27.5–31.6 kb, the more silica-poor liquid having the higher values. The basanitoid could have equilibrated with the megacrysts at about 10.5 kb and with phenocrysts at about 1.4 kb and 1130° C. The variation in composition of the lavas may be explained by a rising zone of melting within the mantle, the most silica-poor liquid having the deepest source. The source of the San Quintin basalts is probably related to spreading of the ocean floor in the Gulf of California.     

CH4 inclusions in orogenic harzburgite: Evidence for reduced slab fluids and implication for redox melting in mantle wedge

Fluids released from the subducting oceanic lithosphere are generally accepted to cause mantle wedge peridotite melting that produces arc magmas. These fluids have long been considered to be dominated by highly oxidized H₂O and CO₂ as inferred from erupted arc lavas. This inference is also consistent with the geochemistry of peridotite xenoliths in some arc basalts. However, the exact nature of these fluids in the mantle wedge melting region is unknown. Here, we report observations of abundant CH₄ + C + H₂ fluid inclusions in olivine of a fresh orogenic harzburgite in the Early Paleozoic Qilian suture zone in Northwest China. The petrotectonic association suggests that this harzburgite body represents a remnant of a Paleozoic mantle wedge exhumed subsequently in response to the tectonic collision. The mineralogy, mineral compositions and bulk-rock trace element systematics of the harzburgite corroborate further that the harzburgite represents a high-degree melting residue in a mantle wedge environment. Furthermore, existing and new C, He, Ne and Ar isotopes of these fluid inclusions are consistent with their being of shallow (i.e., crustal vs. deep mantle) origin, likely released from serpentinized peridotites and sediments of the subducting oceanic lithosphere. These observations, if common to subduction systems, provide additional perspectives on mantle wedge melting and subduction-zone magmatism. That is, mantle wedge melting may in some cases be triggered by redox reactions; the highly reduced (∼ΔFMQ-5, i.e., 5 log units below the fayalite-magnetite-quartz oxygen fugacity buffer) CH₄-rich fluids released from the subducting slab interact with the relatively oxidized (∼ΔFMQ-1) mantle wedge peridotite, producing H₂O and CO₂ that then lowers the solidus and incites partial melting for arc magmatism. The significance of slab-component contribution to the geochemistry of arc magmatism would depend on elemental selection and solubility in highly reduced fluids, for which experimental data are needed. We do not advocate the above to be the primary mechanism of arc magmatism, but we do suggest that the observed highly reduced fluids are present in mantle wedge peridotites and their potential roles in arc magmatism need attention.     

Phase Relations and Melting of Anhydrous K-bearing Eclogite from 1200 to 1600{degrees}C and 3 to 5 GPa

To investigate eclogite melting under mantle conditions, wehave performed a series of piston-cylinder experiments usinga homogeneous synthetic starting material (GA2) that is representativeof altered mid-ocean ridge basalt. Experiments were conductedat pressures of 3·0, 4·0 and 5·0 GPa andover a temperature range of 1200–1600°C. The subsolidusmineralogy of GA2 consists of garnet and clinopyroxene withminor quartz–coesite, rutile and feldspar. Solidus temperaturesare located at 1230°C at 3·0 GPa and 1300°C at5·0 GPa, giving a steep solidus slope of 30–40°C/GPa.Melting intervals are in excess of 200°C and increase withpressure up to 5·0 GPa. At 3·0 GPa feldspar, rutileand quartz are residual phases up to 40°C above the solidus,whereas at higher pressures feldspar and rutile are rapidlymelted out above the solidus. Garnet and clinopyroxene are theonly residual phases once melt fractions exceed 20% and garnetis the sole liquidus phase over the investigated pressure range.With increasing melt fraction garnet and clinopyroxene becomeprogressively more Mg-rich, whereas coexisting melts vary fromK-rich dacites at low degrees of melting to basaltic andesitesat high melt fractions. Increasing pressure tends to increasethe jadeite and Ca-eskolaite components in clinopyroxene andenhance the modal proportion of garnet at low melt fractions,which effects a marked reduction in the Al₂O₃ and Na₂O contentof the melt with pressure. In contrast, the TiO₂ and K₂O contentsof the low-degree melts increase with increasing pressure; thusNa₂O and K₂O behave in a contrasted manner as a function ofpressure. Altered oceanic basalt is an important component ofcrust returned to the mantle via plate subduction, so GA2 maybe representative of one of many different mafic lithologiespresent in the upper mantle. During upwelling of heterogeneousmantle domains, these mafic rock-types may undergo extensivemelting at great depths, because of their low solidus temperaturescompared with mantle peridotite. Melt batches may be highlyvariable in composition depending on the composition and degreeof melting of the source, the depth of melting, and the degreeof magma mixing. Some of the eclogite-derived melts may alsoreact with and refertilize surrounding peridotite, which itselfmay partially melt with further upwelling. Such complex magma-genesisconditions may partly explain the wide spectrum of primitivemagma compositions found within oceanic basalt suites. KEY WORDS: eclogite; experimental petrology; mafic magmatism; mantle melting; oceanic basalts     

Petrogenesis of the amphibole-rich veins from the Lherz orogenic lherzolite massif (Eastern Pyrenees, France): a case study for the origin of orthopyroxene-bearing amphibole pyroxenites in the lithospheric mantle

The Lherz orogenic lherzolite massif (Eastern French Pyrenees) displays one of the best exposures of subcontinental lithospheric mantle containing veins of amphibole pyroxenites and hornblendites. A reappraisal of the petrogenesis of these rocks has been attempted from a comprehensive study of their mutual structural relationships, their petrography and their mineral compositions. Amphibole pyroxenites comprise clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene and spinel as early cumulus phases, with garnet and late-magmatic K₂O-poor pargasite replacing clinopyroxene, and subsolidus exsolution products (olivine, spinel II, garnet II, plagioclase). The original magmatic mineralogy and rock compositions were partly obscured by late-intrusive hornblendites and over a few centimetres by vein–wallrock exchange reactions which continued down to subsolidus temperatures for Mg–Fe. Thermobarometric data and liquidus parageneses indicate that amphibole pyroxenites started to crystallize at P ≥ 13 kbar and recrystallized at P < 12 kbar. The high Al^VI/Al^IV ratio (>1) of clinopyroxenes, the early precipitation of orthopyroxene and the late-magmatic amphibole are arguments for parental melts richer in silica but poorer in water than alkali basalts. Their modelled major element compositions are similar to transitional alkali basalt with about 1–3 wt% H₂O. In contrast to amphibole pyroxenites, hornblendites only show kaersutite as liquidus phase, and phlogopite as intercumulus phase. They are interpreted as crystalline segregates from primary basanitic magmas (mg=0.6; 4–6 wt% H₂O). These latter cannot be related to the parental liquids of amphibole pyroxenites by a fractional crystallization process. Rather, basanitic liquids mostly reused pre-existing pyroxenite vein conduits at a higher structural level (P ≤ 10 kbar). A continuous process of redox melting and/or alkali melt/peridotite interaction in a veined lithospheric mantle is proposed to account for the origin of the Lherz hydrous veins. The transitional basalt composition is interpreted in terms of extensive dissolution of olivine and orthopyroxene from wallrock peridotite by alkaline melts produced at the mechanical boundary layer/thermal boundary layer transition (about 45–50 km deep). Continuous fluid ingress allowed remelting of the deeper veined mantle to produce the basanitic, strongly volatiles enriched, melts that precipitated hornblendites. A similar model could be valid for the few orthopyroxene-rich hydrous pyroxenites described in basalt-hosted mantle xenoliths. Received: 15 September 1999 / Accepted: 31 January 2000     

The graphite-COH fluid equilibrium in P,T, f_{O_2 } space

The oxygen fugacity ( ) of a C-O-H fluid in equilibrium with graphite has been determined in the range 10–30 kbar by equilibrating solid -buffer assemblages in graphite capsules containing C-O-H fluid. By using different buffers (Fe_xO-Fe₃O₄, Ni-NiO, Co-CoO, Mo-MoO₂), the of the graphite-saturated fluid is bracketed within a narrow range. This technique produces a calibration for the imposed on a sample contained within a graphite capsule. To achieve a thermodynamically-invariant system at fixed P and T, the was imposed on the system with an external buffer and the double-capsule technique. The experiments were performed in solid-media, high pressure apparatus with 19 mm tale-pyrex assemblies. A series of experiments at 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 kbar, 800–1600° C, with imposed by the Fe₂O₃-Fe₃O₄-H₂O equilibrium were conducted. The experimental results have been fitted to the following equation:

Beginning of melting in the granite system Qz-Or-Ab-An-H2O

The beginning of melting in the system Qz-Or-Ab-An-H₂ O was experimentally reversed in the pressure range kbar using starting materials made up of mixtures of quartz and synthetic feldspars. With increasing pressure the melting temperature decreases from 690° C at 2 kbar to 630° C at 17 kbar in the An-free alkalifeldspar granite system Qz-Or-Ab-H₂O. In the granite system Qz-Or-Ab-An-H₂O the increase of the solidus temperature with increasing An-content is only very small. In comparison to the alkalifeldspar granite system the solidus temperature increases by 3° C (7° C) if albite is replaced by plagioclase An 20 (An 40). The difference between the solidus temperatures of the alkalifeldspar granite system and of quartz — anorthite — sanidine assemblages (system Qz-Or-An-H₂O) is approximately 50° C. With increasing water pressures plagioclase and plagioclase-alkalifeldspar assemblages become unstable and are replaced by zoisite+kyanite+quartz and zoisite+muscovite-paragonite_ss +quartz, respectively. The pressure stability limits of these assemblages are found to lie between 6 and 16 kbar at 600° C. At high water pressures (10–18 kbar) zoisite — muscovite — quartz assemblages are stable up to 700 and 720° C. The solidus curve of this assemblage is 10–20° C above the beginning of melting of sanidine — zoisite — muscovite — quartz mixtures. The amount of water necessary to produce sufficient amounts of melt to change a metamorphic rock into a magmatic looking one is only small. In case of layered migmatites it is shown that 1 % of water (or even less) is sufficient to transform portions of a gneiss into (magmatic looking) leucosomes. High grade metamorphic rocks were probably relatively dry, and anatectic magmas of granitic or granodioritic composition are usually not saturated with water.     

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.     

Melting Behaviour of Model Lherzolite in the System CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-FeO at 0{middle dot}7-2{middle dot}8 GPa

Fe–Mg exchange is the most important solid solution involvedin partial melting of spinel lherzolite, and the system CaO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–FeO(CMASF) is ideally suited to explore this type of exchange duringmantle melting. Also, if primary mid-ocean ridge basalts arelargely generated in the spinel lherzolite stability field bynear-fractional fusion, then Na and other highly incompatibleelements will early on become depleted in the source, and themelting behaviour of mantle lherzolite should resemble the meltingbehaviour of simplified lherzolite in the CMASF system. We havedetermined the isobarically univariant melting relations ofthe lherzolite phase assemblage in the CMASF system in the 0·7–2·8GPa pressure range. Isobarically, for every 1 wt % increasein the FeO content of the melt in equilibrium with the lherzolitephase assemblage, the equilibrium temperature is lower by about3–5°C. Relative to the solidus of model lherzolitein the CaO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂ system, melt compositionsin the CMASF system are displaced slightly towards the alkalicside of the basalt tetrahedron. The transition on the solidusfrom spinel to plagioclase lherzolite has a positive Clapeyronslope with the spinel lherzolite assemblage on the high-temperatureside, and has an almost identical position in P–T spaceto the comparable transition in the CaO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–Na₂O(CMASN) system. When the compositions of all phases are describedmathematically and used to model the generation of primary basalts,temperature and melt composition changes are small as percentmelting increases. More specifically, 10% melting takes placeover 1·5–2°C, melt compositions are relativelyinsensitive to the degree of melting and bulk composition, andequilibrium and near-fractional melting yield similar melt compositions.FeO and MgO are the oxides that exhibit the greatest changein the melt with degree of melting and bulk composition. Theamount of FeO decreases with increasing degree of melting, whereasthe amount of MgO increases. The coefficients for Fe–Mgexchange between the coexisting crystalline phases and melt,K_dFe–Mg^xl–liq, show a relatively simple and predictablebehaviour with pressure and temperature: the coefficients forolivine and spinel do not show significant dependence on temperature,whereas the coefficients for orthopyroxene and clinopyroxeneincrease with pressure and temperature. When melting of lherzoliteis modeled in the CMASF system, a strong linear correlationis observed between the mg-number of the lherzolite and themg-number of the near-solidus melts. Comparison with meltingin the CMASN system indicates that Na₂O has a strong effecton lherzolite melting behaviour only at small degrees of melting. KEY WORDS: CMASF; lherzolite solidus; mantle melting     

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     

Igneous garnet and amphibole fractionation in the roots of island arcs: experimental constraints on andesitic liquids

To evaluate the role of garnet and amphibole fractionation at conditions relevant for the crystallization of magmas in the roots of island arcs, a series of experiments were performed on a synthetic andesite at conditions ranging from 0.8 to 1.2 GPa, 800–1,000°C and variable H₂O contents. At water undersaturated conditions and fO₂ established around QFM, garnet has a wide stability field. At 1.2 GPa garnet + amphibole are the high-temperature liquidus phases followed by plagioclase at lower temperature. Clinopyroxene reaches its maximal stability at H₂O-contents ≤9 wt% at 950°C and is replaced by amphibole at lower temperature. The slopes of the plagioclase-in boundaries are moderately negative in space. At 0.8 GPa, garnet is stable at magmatic H₂O contents exceeding 8 wt% and is replaced by spinel at decreasing dissolved H₂O. The liquids formed by crystallization evolve through continuous silica increase from andesite to dacite and rhyolite for the 1.2 GPa series, but show substantial enrichment in FeO/MgO for the 0.8 GPa series related to the contrasting roles of garnet and amphibole in fractionating Fe–Mg in derivative liquids. Our experiments indicate that the stability of igneous garnet increases with increasing dissolved H₂O in silicate liquids and is thus likely to affect trace element compositions of H₂O-rich derivative arc volcanic rocks by fractionation. Garnet-controlled trace element ratios cannot be used as a proxy for ‘slab melting’, or dehydration melting in the deep arc. Garnet fractionation, either in the deep crust via formation of garnet gabbros, or in the upper mantle via formation of garnet pyroxenites remains an important alternative, despite the rare occurrence of magmatic garnet in volcanic rocks.