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Anhydrous partial melting of MORB pyrolite and other peridotite compositions at 10 kbar: Implications for the origin of primitive MORB glasses

Wasserfreie partielle aufschmelzung von MORB pyrolit und andere peridotit-zusammensetzungen bei 10 kbar: bedeutung für die entstehung primitiver MORB gläser

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Summary

Anhydrous partial melting experiments on four peridotite compositions have been conducted at 10 kbar providing a relatively internally consistent set of data on the character of primary melts expected from the oceanic upper mantle in the mid-ocean ridge setting. The four peridotite compositions are: “MORB pyrolite” (considered to be suitable for the production of primitive (Mg#⩾0.68) MORB glasses at 10 kbar), “Hawaiian pyrolite” (representative of “enriched” upper mantle), Tinaquillo lherzolite (representative of more “depleted” upper mantle), and the spinel lherzolite KLB-1 which is a suitable composition for the production of primitive MORB glasses. The equilibrium liquids were determined by “sandwich” experiments. The primitive MORB glass DSDP 3-18-7-1 was used in experiments using MORB pyrolite and KLB-1, while a calculated 10 kbar liquid composition fromJaques andGreen (1980) was used in experiments with Hawaiian pyrolite and Tinaquillo lherzolite. The results of the experiments are used to test a 10 kbar melt model for the generation of primitive MORB glasses, which are parental magmas to typical MORB compositions. The melt compositions from the four peridotites studied are significantly different from primitive MORB glasses in major element chemistry and plot away from the field of primitive MORB glasses in the CIPW molecular normative “Basalt tetrahedron”. The results indicate that primitive MORB glasses are derivative compositions lying on olivine fractionation lines from picritic parents, which themselves are primary magmas at pressures greater than 10 kbar. The results of this study are integrated with previous 10 kbar experimental studies.

Zusammenfassung

Vier Peridotit-Zusammensetzungen wurden bei 10 kbar unter wasserfreien Bedingungen partiell aufgeschmolzen, und die Ergebnisse mit möglichen primitiven Schmelzen Mittel-Ozeanischer Rücken verglichen.

Die folgenden perioditischen Zusammensetzungen wurden untersucht: „MORB pyrolite” [mögliche Ausgangszusammensetzung für primitive (Mg# > 0.68) MORB-Glaszusammensetzungen bei 10 kbar], „Hawaiian pyrolite” (representativ für ’angereicherten’ Oberen Mantel); „Tinaquillo lherzolite” (representativ für verarmten' Oberen Mantel) und spinel lherzolite, KLB-1 (im Gleichgewicht mit primitiver MORB-Glaszusammensetzung). Die Schmelzen im Gleichgewicht mit diesen Ausgangszusammensetzungen wurden mittels „Sandwich-Experimenten” ermittelt.

Die primitive MORB-Glaszusammensetzung DSDP 3-18-7-1 wurde mit MORB pyrolite und KLB-1 equilibriert, während eine Modell-Zusammensetzung vonJaques and Green (1980) in Verbindung mit „Hawaiian pyrolite” und „Tinaquillo lherzolite” vermischt wurde. Die Resultate der Experimente werden mit einem 10 kbar Aufschmelzungsmodell zur Entstehung primitiver MORB-Gläser verglichen. Die Schmelzen im Gleichgewicht mit den vier Peridotit-Ausgangszusammensetzungen unterscheiden sich wesentlich von primitiven MORB-Gläsern, sowohl hinsichtlich ihrer Hauptelemente als auch ihrer Plot-Parameter im Basalttetraeder. Primitive MORB-Glaszusammensetzungen stellen keine primären Schmelzen dar, sondern sind durch Olivinfraktionierung von primitiven Magmen abzuleiten. Die Resultate dieser Untersuchungen werden mit früheren 10 kbar Experimenten verglichen.

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  1. Geology Department, University of Tasmania, 7001, Hobart, Australia

    T. J. Falloon & D. H. Green

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Falloon, T.J., Green, D.H. Anhydrous partial melting of MORB pyrolite and other peridotite compositions at 10 kbar: Implications for the origin of primitive MORB glasses. Mineralogy and Petrology 37, 181–219 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01161817

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