Complementary trace-element fractionation in volcanic and plutonic rocks: imperfect examples from ocean-floor basalts and gabbros

A simple trace-element model that is generalized from one devised by Albarede (1976) can be used to treat plutonic rocks as mixtures of cumulate phases and trapped liquid. The model is based on the Rayleigh fractionation law, mass balance, and modal data and, with certain assumptions, can give estimates of the mass fraction of the liquid component (X^l) in a cumulate rock and of some of the characteristics of that liquid, including trace-element concentrations and the mass fraction of the original liquid (F) that remained in the magma chamber when some of it was trapped. Application of the model to Cr and Zr data for ten dredged gabbros from the Oceanographer Fracture Zone (OFZ) in the North Atlantic yields results in the range X^l=0.014–0.17 and F=0.04–0.22. A more complex model extends the equations developed by Greenland (1970) and combines them with constraints from 1-atm experiments on ocean-floor basalts to effectively map phase-saturation boundaries onto trace-element variation diagrams. On a Zr-Sr plot, the model is capable of mimicking mixing chords and differences in liquid lines of descent (or parental compositions) inferred from major-element chemistry for several OFZ basalts. Qualitatively, the associated gabbros can also be rationalized as cumulate/melt mixtures on this diagram, although the allowable range of liquid compositions is large. In addition, there is some suggestion that the Zr-Sr liquid line of descent fitted to the OFZ basalts may have more general relevance to other ocean-floor rocks (e.g., Galapagos and FAMOUS glasses).