Silicate--Carbonate Immiscibility at Oldoinyo Lengai |
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| Authors: | CHURCH ABIGAIL A; JONES ADRIAN P |
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| Institution: | 1DEPARTMENT OF MINERALOGY, THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, CROMWELL ROAD LONDON SW7 5BD, UK
2DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON GOWER STREET, LONDON WC1E 6BT, UK |
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| Abstract: | For approximately the last 50 years eruptions at Oldoinyo Lengaihave produced passive natrocarbonatite lavas interspersed withmixed silicate-natrocarbonatite events approximately every 15–25years. In 1993 an unusual blocky lava erupted and preserveddetailed mixed silicate-natrocarbonatite textures clearly indicatingan immiscible origin. The 1993 blocky flow consists of natrocarbonatitewith small silicate crystal aggregates which constitute  2–5%of the rock. These inclusions are composed of nepheline, melanite,clinopyroxene and wollastonite occurring both as isolated crystalsand ijolite micro-xenoliths. Most significantly, these ijoliticinclusions are surrounded by ‘globules’ of a fine-grainedintergrowth of nepheline, wollastonite and gregoryite, interpretedas quenched melt. Petrographic textures are characteristic ofliquid immiscibility between coexisting natrocarbonatite andsilicate melts. The presence of gregoryite within the silicatemelt globules is particularly important as it represents thecommon liquidus phase between the silicate and natrocarbonatitemelts theoretically required to demonstrate immiscibility betweentwo conjugate liquids. This is the first time that liquid immiscibilityhas been so clearly demonstrated in natural rock samples fromOldoinyo Lengai and agrees very closely with recent experimentalwork. Our detailed model for the petrogenesis of the natrocarbonatitesat Oldoinyo Lengai involves extensive fractionation of a carbonate-richalkaline silicate magma followed by immiscible separation ofnatrocarbonatite at low pressures. KEY WORDS: Oldoinyo Lengai; natrocarbonatite; silicate-carbonate immiscibility; East Africa
*Corresponding author. Present address: Department of Mineralogy, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK |
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