Apatite and phosphorus in mantle source regions: An experimental study of apatite/melt equilibria at pressures to 25 kbar

Abstract

The solubility of fluorapatite in a wide variety of basic magmatic liquids was experimentally determined over a range of upper mantle P-T conditions (8–25 kbar, 1275–1350°C). Fluorapatite is stable over the entire range of conditions investigated, but its solubility in melts is variable, depending negatively on SiO 2 content of the melt and positively upon temperature, with relatively little sensitivity to pressure above 8 kbar. At upper mantle pressures and a temperature of 1250°C, molten basalt (50% SiO 2) will dissolve 3–4 wt.% P 2O 5 before saturation in apatite is reached. For a magma 100°C cooler or containing 10 wt.% more SiO 2, apatite saturation occurs at less than 2 wt.% dissolved P 2O 5. The observed high solubility of apatite in basic magmas at their normal near-liquidus temperatures virtually precludes the occurrence of residual apatite in mantle source regions. If relatively low-temperature melting conditions prevail (e.g., 1100°C), as might be possible in H 2O-bearing regions of the upper mantle, apatite could remain in the residue, but only in amounts too small to have significant effects on the rare earth patterns of the liquids. Because of the high solubility of apatite in basic magmas, phosphorus can be confidently treated as an incompatible element in peridotite melting models. Such models, in combination with observed characteristics of basic lavas, indicate that the upper mantle contains ∼200 ppm of phosphorus, much less than the chondritic abundance of ∼900 ppm.