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Liquidus surfaces of ultracalcic primitive melts: formation conditions and sources

Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology volume 148, pages 201–215 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

CaO-rich, Al2O3-poor ultracalcic primitive melts occur at mid-ocean-ridges, back-arc basins, ocean islands and volcanic arcs. They are subdivided into a “nepheline-normative” alkaline-rich, silica-poor group uniquely found in arcs and in “hypersthene-normative” fairly refractory melts which occur in all of the above environments. The high CaO contents (to 19.0 wt%) and CaO/Al2O3 ratios (to 1.8) exclude an origin from fertile lherzolites at volatile-absent conditions. Experimental investigation of the liquidus of a hypersthene-normative and a nepheline-normative ultracalcic melt results in quite distinct pressure-temperature conditions of multiple saturation: whereas the hypersthene-normative liquid saturates in olivine + clinopyroxene at 1.2 GPa and 1,410°C, this occurs at 0.2 GPa and 1,220°C for the nepheline-normative ultracalcic liquid. Our results in combination with melting experiments from the literature suggest that hypersthene-normative melts result from melting of a refractory olivine + clinopyroxene ± orthopyroxene source at elevated mantle temperatures. Contrasting, nepheline-normative ultracalcic melts form from wehrlitic cumulates in the arc crust; to account for the high alkaline and low silica contents, and the relatively low temperatures, source wehrlites must have contained amphibole.

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Acknowledgements

This study has benefited from discussions with D. Laporte, E.M. Stolper and P. Boivin. We thank A. Provost for his mass-balance program and M. Veschambre for technical assistance with the electron probe microanalysis. The manuscript has been improved by constructive reviews by D.H. Green and M.M. Hirschmann. Financial support was provided by the European Community’s Human Potential Programme under contract HPRN-CT-2002–00211 (Euromelt) and by INSU-CNRS (I.T. programme).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, OPGC, Université Blaise Pascal—CNRS, 5 rue Kessler, 63038, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Etienne Médard & Pierre Schiano

  2. Institut für Mineralogie und Petrographie, ETH-Zentrum, Sonneggstrasse 5, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland

    Max W. Schmidt

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  1. Etienne Médard
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  2. Max W. Schmidt
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  3. Pierre Schiano
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Correspondence to Etienne Médard.

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Médard, E., Schmidt, M.W. & Schiano, P. Liquidus surfaces of ultracalcic primitive melts: formation conditions and sources. Contrib Mineral Petrol 148, 201–215 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-004-0591-1

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Keywords

  • Olivine
  • CaNe
  • Nepheline
  • Oxygen Fugacity
  • Multiple Saturation