Anhydrous melting and crystallization of peralkaline obsidians

Abstract

Experimental determinations of the dry liquidus temperatures of two pantellerite, and two pantelleritic trachyte glasses in the pressure range 0–2 kilobars, show minima in the liquidus curves between 0.1 and 0.2 kb. The pantellerite minima are 830°–850° C; the trachyte minima are 920°–940° C. At pressures below the minima a separate vapour phase co-exists with liquid, at higher pressures the intrinsic volatiles are completely soluble in the liquid and the liquidus curves have a positivedT/dP. Similar results have been obtained from a range of other pantelleritic glasses, and together with consistent alkali feldspar compositions (from a wide range of experimental conditions) are indicative of a close approach to equilibrium. The form of the liquidus curves above the minima, if rellecting natural conditions, offers a ready explanation of the near-or super-liquidus aspect of many peralkaline lavas. The temperatures in these anhydrous experiments are 100°–150° C higher than those for similar compositions in the presence of excess water. (Also, in the presence of excess water, the crystallization sequences in the natural glasses are profoundly modified, with pyroxene appearing on the liquidus).

At lower pressures, feldspar is the liquidus phase in the dry pantellerites, but is joined by quartz around 1 kb, and superseded by quartz at higher pressures. As pantellerites with quartz phenocrysts are uncommon, low pressure equilibration is perhaps normal in these magmas. Feidspar is the usual liquidus phase in the trachytes, except at very low pressures where it is preceded by iron oxide.

Preliminary studies at 5 kb indicate that the pantelleritic and trachytic liquidus curves are converging (in the range 950°–1000° C). Crystallization sequences, and the forms and positions of the solidus curves are therefore of vital importance. These, together with the vapour-present/vapour-absent conditions, are currently under investigation.