Melting of the Shallow Upper Mantle: A New Perspective |
| |
| Authors: | KOSTOPOULOS DIMITRIS K |
| |
| Institution: | Department of Geological Sciences, University of Durham, Science Laboratories South Road, Durham DHl 3LE, UK |
| |
| Abstract: | Detailed examination of liquidus phase relationships in binaryand ternary joins of the CFMAS +Cr system has permitted a rigorousdetermination of the dry melting path of an initially fertilespinel peridotite composition resembling Bulk Silicate Earthor MORB-pyrolite. It is demonstrated that it is impossible tomodel mantle melting accurately using only one set of ratiosof phases entering the melt; this implies that the melting processis primarily controlled by solid solution rather than eutecticbehaviour. The proportions of phases entering a melt dependon whether a phase reacts and/or disappears from a system, andon the choice of the initial and final peridotite compositions.Four discrete domains in the melting regime of upper-mantleperidotites are distinguished, each characterized by differentphase melting coefficients, relating to the melting of: (1)lherzolites, (2) clinopyroxene-bearing harzburgites (i.e., free-clinopyroxene),(3) clinopyroxene-saturated harzburgites (i.e., clinopyroxenein solid solution in orthopyroxene), and (4) clinopyroxene-freeharzburgites (i.e., no clinopyroxene). The proposed non-linearfashion in which mantle lithologies melt explains the inadequacyof all previous models to reproduce the observed compositionsof upper-mantle peridotite melting residues. It is suggestedthat: (1) olivine and orthopyroxene will melt cotectically;(2) clinopyroxene and spinel will lose most of their aluminouscomponent after {small tilde}8% melting within the first 4 kb({smalltilde} 12 km) of ascent from the dry solidus; and that (3) clinopyroxenewill disappear completely from a MORB-pyrolite mantle after{small tilde}42% melting. Although such a number is significantlyhigher than that dictated by the position of the clinopyroxene-outcurves from peridotite isobaric equilibrium melting experiments({small tilde}22%), it is emphasized that the latter are a grossoversimplification of the natural melting process and are notequivalent to melting during adiabatic upwelling. It is concludedthat the commonly postulated disappearance of clinopyroxenefrom fertile peridotite compositions at {small tilde}22% meltingis greatly in error if melting in an adiabatically rising mantleis considered, thus providing an explanation for many unsuccessfulattempts by various authors to model the behaviour of transitionelements in sub-oceanic and supra-subduction-zone mantle andderivative magmas. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 Oxford 等数据库收录！ |
|
