Melt and fluid inclusion evidence for a genetic relationship between magmatism in the Shuangliao volcanic field and inorganic CO2 gas reservoirs in the southern Songliao Basin, China

Abstract

We have studied melt and fluid inclusions in minerals from alkali basalts, mantle xenoliths, and dawsonite-bearing sandstones from the Shuangliao volcanic field in southern Songliao Basin, Northeast China. The inclusions have been investigated using petrographic, geochemical, and laser Raman spectroscopic techniques. Volcanic rocks of the Shuangliao field are predominantly alkali olivine basalts that contain rare mantle xenoliths. Silicate melt and fluid inclusions are common in both olivine phenocrysts and the mantle xenoliths. The fluid inclusions are mainly composed of CO2 with small amounts of CO, CH4, N2, and H2O, which is consistent with an upper mantle origin. CO2 gas reservoirs in the southern Songliao Basin are mostly derived from a mantle–magmatic source. Coeval fluid-inclusion homogenization temperatures, coupled with the thermal burial history, show that the CO2 gas reservoirs in the southern Songliao Basin are Cenozoic (40–63 Ma) and coeval with the magmatism in the Shuangliao volcanic field. Despite the relatively small scale of this volcanic activity, it released large amounts of CO2. Much of the magma was not erupted, and CO2- and H2O-rich magma was probably intruded into the basin along deep faults, acting as a major source of inorganic CO2 gas in the southern Songliao Basin.