Carbonate melt interaction with natural eclogite at 6 GPa and 1100–1200 °C: Implications for metasomatic melt composition in subcontinental lithospheric mantle

Abstract

Compositional ranges of carbonate melts stable under P-T conditions corresponding to the base of subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) are limited by alkali-rich near-eutectic compositions. In the present work, we investigated the interaction of such melts with the natural eclogite of Group A. It was found that the interaction is accompanied by decreasing Ca# in the melt (L) and increasing Ca# in garnet (Grt) according to the reaction: 3CaCO3 (L) + Mg3Al2Si3O12 (Grt) = 3MgCO3 (Mgs and/or L) + Ca3Al2Si3O12 (Grt), where Mgs is magnesite. The interaction with the Na-Ca-Mg-Fe carbonate melt increases amount of jadeite component in clinopyroxene (Cpx) consuming Al2O3 from garnet and Na2O from the melt according to the reaction: Na2CO3 (L) + CaCO3 (L) + 2Mg3Al2Si3O12 (Grt) + 2CaMgSi2O6 (Cpx) = 2NaAlSi2O6 (Cpx) + Ca3Al2Si3O12 (Grt) + 2MgCO3 (Mgs, L) + 3Mg2SiO4 (Ol). As a result, garnet and omphacite compositions evolve from eclogite Group A to eclogite Group B. A byproduct of the reaction is olivine (Ol), which may explain the formation of inclusions of “mixed” eclogite (garnet + omphacite) and peridotite (olivine) paragenesis in lithospheric diamonds. The interaction with the K-Ca-Mg-Fe carbonate melt increases the K2O content in clinopyroxene to 0.5–1.2 wt%, while the Na2O content lowers to 0.3 wt%. The following range of carbonatite melt compositions can be in equilibrium with eclogite at the base of SCLM (1100–1200 °C and 6 GPa): 18(Na0.97K0.03)2CO3∙82(Ca0.63Mg0.30Fe0.07)CO2–42(Na0.97K0.03)2CO3∙58(Ca0.46Mg0.45Fe0.09)CO2. Our results also suggest that the partial melting of ‘dry’ carbonated eclogite, if any, at 1100 °C and 6 GPa yields the formation of a carbonate melt with the following composition (mol%) 25(Na0.96K0.04)2CO3∙75(Ca0.64Mg0.31Fe0.05)CO2, corresponding to 18–27 wt% Na2O in the melt on a volatile-free basis.