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Composition of liquids coexisting with spinel lherzolite at 10 kbar and the genesis of MORBs

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Abstract

Because of the controversy over the nature of the parental magma for MORBs, experiments have been performed at 10 kbar in order to assess the effect of modal variations in the source peridotite and the effect of temperature (degree of partial melting) on the composition of partial melts. A peridotite-basalt sandwich method was used and a run duration of 72 h was found to be necessary to equilibrate basalt and peridotite. A range of melt compositions, coexisting with olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and spinel, was produced at 10 kbar, indicating that partial melting of peridotite cannot be regarded as isobarically pseudoinvariant. On projections in the normative tetrahedron OL-PL-CPX-SIL, the liquids obtained in this study define an area, rather than a point or narrow band. The compositions of some liquids in this study are similar to magnesian MORBs (MgO>9.5 wt%), providing evidence in support of the derivation of magnesian MORBs by partial melting of mantle lherzolite at about 10 kbar.

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  1. Toshitsugu Fujii

    Present address: Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 113, Tokyo, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Experimental Petrology Laboratory, Department of Geology, University of Alberta, T6G 2E3, Edmonton, Canada

    Toshitsugu Fujii & Christopher M. Scarfe

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  1. Toshitsugu Fujii
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  2. Christopher M. Scarfe
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Fujii, T., Scarfe, C.M. Composition of liquids coexisting with spinel lherzolite at 10 kbar and the genesis of MORBs. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 90, 18–28 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00373037

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00373037

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