Experimental study of a low-alkali tholeiite at 1–5 kbar: optimal condition for the crystallization of high-An plagioclase in hydrous arc tholeiite

Abstract

We conducted melting experiments on a low-alkali tholeiite (SiO2 ~52 wt%, MgO ~6.5 wt%, CaO/Na2O~4.4, Al2O3/SiO2 ~0.33) under both H2O-undersaturated and H2O-saturated conditions to investigate the effect of H2O on the Ca–Na partitioning between plagioclase and melt. Experiments were performed in the temperature and pressure ranges of 1,000–1,300°C and 1–5 kbar, respectively, with varying H2O contents of 0–12wt%. Redox condition was 0–2 log unit above NNO (nickel–nickel oxide) buffer. Temperature-bulk H2O diagrams for the low-alkali tholeiite are constructed at 1, 2, and 5 kbar, and compositions of near-liquidus plagioclase and coexisting melt are determined. To exclude the effect of melt composition (CaO/Na2O and Al2O3/SiO2 ratios) on plagioclase composition and to reveal the effect of H2O on An (=100×Ca/(Ca+Na)) content and $$K_{D}^{{\rm Ca-Na}}$$ (=(Ca/Na)pl/(Ca/Na)melt), we focused on the composition of near-liquidus plagioclases which crystallized from melts with nearly constant CaO/Na2O and Al2O3/SiO2 ratios. Our experimental results show that, at each experimental pressure, An content of the near-liquidus plagioclase and the K Ca-Na almost linearly increases as H2O content in melt increases. Each of the An content and the $$K_{D}^{{\rm Ca-Na}}$$ variations in a low-alkali tholeiitic system (CaO/Na2O~4.0–4.5, Al2O3/SiO2 ~0.27–0.33) can be described by one equation using temperature, pressure, and melt H2O content as parameters. An content and $$K_{D}^{{\rm Ca-Na}}$$ of liquidus plagioclase increases with increasing melt H2O and with decreasing pressure, elucidating that nearly H2O-saturated conditions of 2–3 kbar is optimal for the crystallization of the most An-rich plagioclase (>An88). We suggest this pressure condition of 2–3 kbar, corresponding to depth of 7–11 km, plays an important role for the origin of An-rich plagioclase in H2O-rich low-alkali tholeiite. At pressures more than ca. 4 kbar, crystallization of liquidus Ca-rich clinopyroxene decreases the CaO/Na2O ratio of liquid, thus prohibiting the crystallization of high-An plagioclase from hydrous tholeiite.