Role of Volatiles in the Evolution of a Carbonatitic Melt in Peridotitic Mantle: Experimental Constraints at 6.3 GPa and 1200–1450 °C

Abstract

Reconstruction of the mechanisms of carbonatitic melt evolution is extremely important for understanding metasomatic processes at the base of the continental lithospheric mantle (CLM). We have studied the interaction between garnet lherzolite and a carbonatitic melt rich in molecular CO2 and H2O in experiments at 6.3 GPa and 1200–1450 °C. The interaction with garnet lherzolite and H2O-bearing carbonatite melt leads to wehrlitization of lherzolite, without its carbonation. Introduction of molecular CO2 and H2O initiates carbonation of olivine and clinopyroxene with the formation of orthopyroxene and magnesite. Partial carbonation leads to the formation of carbonate–silicate melts that are multiphase saturated with garnet harzburgite. Upon complete carbonation of olivine already at 1200 °C, melts with 27–31 wt% SiO2 and MgO/CaO ≈ 1 are formed. At 1350–1450 °C, the interaction leads to an increase in the melt fraction and the MgO/CaO ratio to 2–4 and a decrease in the SiO2 concentration. Thus, at conditions of a thermally undisturbed CLM base, molecular CO2 and H2O dissolved in metasomatic agents, due to local carbonation of peridotite, can provide the evolution of agent composition from carbonatitic to hydrous silicic, i.e., similar to the trends reconstructed for diamond-forming high density fluids (HDFs) and genetically related proto-kimberlite melts.