Phase Relations of Basalts in their Melting Range at PH2O = 5 kb as a Function of Oxygen Fugacity: Part I. Mafic Phases

The phase relations of three basalts, the Picture Gorge tholeiite,the 1921 Kilauea olivine tholeiite, and the 1801 Hualalai alkalibasalt, were studied at 5 kb water pressure, 680–1000°C,at the oxygen fugacities of the quartz-fayalite-magnetite (QFM)and hematite-magnetite (HM) buffers. In the range 680–850 °C, the crystalline assemblageon the QFM buffer is dominantly hornblende+ plagioclase, ±ilmenite, magnetite, sphene, fayalitic olivine, and phlogopiticmica. From 875 to 1000 °C the crystalline assemblage ishornblende+ olivine± augite+ ilmenite± magnetite.A melt phase is present from 700 to 1000 °C; a vapor phasewas present in all charges. The hornblendes formed on the QFM buffer range in compositionfrom common green hornblendes at low temperatures to kaersutitichornblendes at 1000 °C. A1(IV) and Ti increase temperature.AI(VI) passes through a maximum near 825 °C, decreasingboth above and below this temperature. AI(IV) is proportionalto the sum A1(VI)+2Ti. There is a positive linear correlationof approximately 3 : 1 between AI(IV) and the number of cationsin the A-site. The most likely explanation for this correlationat present is that the substitution of AI(VI) or Ti⁺⁴for a divalentcation creates local charge imbalances in the amphibole structurewhich can be compensated only by further A-site substitution.There also appears to be a correlation between the a-cell dimensionof hornblende and the A-site occupancy. Above a thresh holdvalue of approxmately 0.5 cations in A, a increases as A-siteoccupancy increases. Phase relations on the hematite-magnetite buffer are considerablysimpler. The hornblendes show relatively little change in compositionas temperature increases, and in the tholelitic compositionsbreak down at or below 970 °C 35–60 °C above thefirst appearance of augite±olivine. The melting of hornblendeis incongruent in all cases. The Fe-Ti oxides are pseudo-brookiteand titanohematite; at 1000 °C these oxides make up 10 percent by weight of the assemblage and contain most of the Tio₂and FeO in the charge. The patterns of hornblende variation observed in this studycompare closely with those reported in a wide range of experimentaland field data. The appearance of high-TiO₂ kaersutitic hornblendesin the tholeities at 1000° C, P_H2O= 5 kb on the QFM bufferimplies that the restricted occurence of kaersutite in nature(where it is associated only with mafic to intermediate alkalicrocks) is controlled by volatile content (H₂O_,F₂)rather thanby differences in condensed bulk composition.