Aqueous fluids and hydrous melts in high-pressure and ultra-high pressure rocks: Implications for element transfer in subduction zones

High-pressure (HP) and ultra-high pressure (UHP) terranes are excellent natural laboratories to study subduction-zone processes. In this paper we give a brief theoretical background and we review experimental data and observations in natural rocks that constrain the nature and composition of the fluid phase present in HP and UHP rocks. We argue that a fluid buffered by a solid residue is compositionally well defined and is either an aqueous fluid (total amount of dissolved solids < 30 wt.%) or a hydrous melt (H₂O < 35 wt.%). There is only a small temperature range of approximately 50–100 °C, where transitional solute-rich fluids exist. A review of available experimental data suggest that in felsic rocks the second critical endpoint is situated at 25–35 kbar and  700 °C and hence must be considered in the study of UHP rocks. Despite this, the nature of the fluid phase can be constrained by relating the peak metamorphic conditions of rocks to the position of the wet solidus even if the peak pressure exceeds the pressure where the wet solidus terminates at the second critical endpoint. Transitional solute-rich fluids are expected in UHP terrains (P > 30 kbar) with peak temperatures of about 700 ± 50 °C. At higher temperatures, hydrous granitic melts occur whereas at lower temperatures aqueous fluids coexists with eclogite-facies minerals. This argument is complemented by evidence on the nature of the fluid phase from high-pressure terrains. We show that in the diamond-bearing, high-temperature UHP rocks from the Kokchetav Massif there are not only hydrous felsic melts, but probably also carbonate and sulfide melts present.

Hydrous quartzo-feldspathic melts are mainly produced in high temperature UHP rocks and their composition is relatively well constrained from experiments and natural rocks. In contrast, constraining the composition of aqueous fluids is more problematic. The combined evidence from experiments and natural rocks indicates that aqueous fluids liberated at the blueschist to eclogite facies transition are dilute. They contain only moderate amounts of LILE, Sr and Pb and do not transport significant amounts of key trace elements such as LREE, U and Th. This indicates that there is a decoupling of water and trace element release in subducted oceanic crust and that aqueous fluids are unable to enrich the mantle wedge significantly. Instead we propose that fluid-present melting in the sediments on top of the slab is required to transfer significant amounts of trace elements from the slab to the mantle wedge. For such a process to be efficient, top slab temperature must be at least 700–750 °C at sub-arc depth. Slab melting is likely to be triggered by fluids that derive from dehydration of mafic and ultramafic rocks in colder (deeper) portions of the slab.     

Formation of Polycrystalline Graphite Aggregates in High-Pressure Metamorphic Rocks from the Kokchetav Massif,Northern Kazkhstan

Doklady Earth Sciences - An inclusion of graphite in zircon from the diamond- and tourmaline-bearing rocks of the Kokchetav massif (Northern Kazakhstan) has been studied. The inclusion, associated...     

A Find of Coesite in Diamond-Bearing Kyanite Eclogite from the Udachnaya Kimberlite Pipe,Siberian Craton

Doklady Earth Sciences - A find of coesite in a kyanite graphite–diamond-bearing eclogite xenolith from the Udachnaya–Vostochnaya kimberlite pipe is described in this paper. The coesite...     

Diamond growth during ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism of the Kokchetav Massif, northern Kazakhstan

Abstract Characteristic features of in situ diamonds can be used to retrace diamond formation during ultrahigh pressure (UHP) metamorphism of the Kokchetav Massif, Kazakhstan. These features include the nitrogen aggregation state in diamond, dissolution features observed on diamond surfaces, and the carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of the diamonds. The minerals in which the diamonds are included provide additional information and support the view that at least some of the Kokchetav microdiamonds are the products of prograde or peak UHP metamorphism. The coexistence of diamond and graphite is evaluated within this framework.     

Compressibility and structure behaviour of maruyamaite (K-tourmaline) from the Kokchetav massif at high pressure up to 20 GPa

Mineralogy and Petrology - The structural behaviour of maruyamaite (K-dominant tourmaline) X(K0.54Na0.28Ca0.19)Y(Mg1.3Al1.17Fe0.39Ti0.14)Z(Al5Mg)[Si5.95Al0.05O18](BO3)3V,W[O1.69(OH)2.31] from the...     

Olivine in a Coesite-bearing Eclogite from the Udachnaya Kimberlite Pipe

Doklady Earth Sciences - Olivine (high-Fe forsterite; Fo# 69-76) and associated minerals have been studied in a coesite-bearing diamondiferous eclogite from the Udachnaya-East kimberlite pipe....     

K2O prograde zoning pattern in clinopyroxene from the Kokchetav diamond-grade metamorphic rocks: Missing part of metamorphic history and location of second critical end point for calc-silicate system

Despite extensive studies of calc-silicate rocks of the Kokchetav massif, there is no satisfactory explanation of the origin of potassium-bearing clinopyroxene in alkali poor metamorphic rocks. In this paper we report the finding of potassium-bearing clinopyroxene with prograde zonation (K₂O increases from core to rim) from diamond-grade, but diamond-free UHP calc-silicate rocks of the Kokchetav massif. We believe that the crystallization of potassium-bearing clinopyroxene started on the prograde stage and slightly prior to the peak of UHP metamorphism. Thus, prograde metamorphic history is only traceable in diamond-free UHP calc-silicate rocks, while in diamond-bearing UHPM rocks it is completely reset. Fluid and polyphase solid inclusions, originally representing melt inclusions, occur in the core of potassium-bearing clinopyroxene and imply that melt and fluid may coexist in calc-silicate rocks even at 1000–1100 °C and 6–7 GPa.