Abstract: | The anionic structure of magmatic liquids has been estimated at 1 atm and at pressures corresponding to those of the upper mantle. These estimates are based predominantly on spectroscopic data on binary metal oxide-silica and ternary metal oxide-silica-alumina melts. Structural information on melt compositions in aluminate-silica joins has been used to provide detailed information on the role of Al3+ in natural magma at atmospheric and high pressure.Regardless of pressure, andesitic melts may be described as combinations of chain, sheet, and three-dimensional network units. Nearly all Al3+ in the magmatic liquid resides in the three-dimensional network units. This Al3+ is locally charge-balanced with Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+. In the latter two cases, Al3+ and Si4+ are ordered, whereas for Na+ and K+, Si4+ and Al3+ are randomly mixed. Solution of water in natural magma results in the formation of new nonbridging oxygens in addition to OH groups attached to Si4+ and metal cations.On the basis of determined solution mechanisms of CO2 and H2O in silicate melts, thermodynamic properties of HO+CO2, fluids and hydrous silicate melts and melting phase relations in peridotite-H2O-CO2, systems, it is found that natural andesitic magma in equilibrium with spinel Iherzolite in the upper mantle (10–20 kbar) must contain at least 5–7 wt.% H2O. Andesitic magma with 5–7 wt.% H2O in solution may be described as a mixture of Al-free three-dimensional units, sheets, and chains with a small proportion (less than 10%) of monomers. |