Amphibole Stability Field Research Articles

Possible role of amphibole in the origin of andesite: some experimental and natural evidence

Experiments in the system high-A1 basalt (HAB)-water have been conducted in the melting range at pressures between 1 atm. and 10 kbar, defining the amphibole stability field and the composition of liquids which coexist with this amphibole. Plagioclase is the anhydrous liquidus phase between 1 atm. and 10 kbar but in the hydrous runs this role is taken by olivine at <7 kbar and then by clinopyroxene at higher pressures. Because amphibole is never on the high-A1 basalt liquidus it is not likely that andesite is derived from primary basalt by pure fractional crystallisation, although as we discuss, other mechanisms including equilibrium crystallisation might implicate amphibole. If primary basaltic magma undergoes closed-system equilibrium crystallisation, then the amphibole field will be intersected at between 50 and 100°C below the liquidus. The compositions of melts coexisting with amphibole alone do not match those of any of the natural andesite or dacitic lavas associated with the particular high-A1 basalt investigated. Like natural andesites, they become rapidly silica enriched, but they also become far more depleted in TiO2 and MgO. However, the compositions of liquids lying directly on the divariant amphibole-out reaction zone, where amphibole +liquid coexist with clinopyroxene or olivine (±plagioclase), do resemble those of naturally occurring low-silica andesites. With increasing temperature pargasitic amphibole breaks down via incongruent melting reactions over a narrow temperature range to form a large volume of relatively low-silica basaltic andesite liquid and a crystalline assemblage dominated by either clinopyroxene or olivine. Our important conclusion is that basaltic andesite liquid will be the product of reaction between cooling, hydrous mafic liquid and anhydrous ferromagnesian phases. The solid reactants could represent earlier cumulates from the same or different magma batches, or they could be peridotite wall-rock material. Because the amphibole-out boundary coexisting with liquid is one of reaction, it will not be traversed so long as the phases on the high temperature side remain. Thus, the assemblage amphibole+clinopyroxene±olivine±plagioclase+liquid is one in which the liquid is buffered (within limits), and results reported here indicate that this buffering generates melts of low-silica andesite composition. When tapped to lower pressures these liquids will rise, eventually to fractionate plagioclase-rich assemblages yielding silicarich andesite and dacite melts. Conversely, the partial melting of hornblende pyroxenite, hornblende peridotite or hornblende gabbro can also yield basaltic andesite liquids. The phase relationships suggested by these experiments are discussed in the light of naturally occurring phenocryst and xenolith assemblages from the east Sunda Arc. Primary magmatic additions to the lithosphere of volcanic arcs are basaltic and voluminous upper crustal andesite in these terranes, complemented by mafic and ultramafic crystalline deposits emplaced in the lower crust or close to the Moho. Together these components constitute total arc growth with a basaltic composition and represent the net accreted contribution to continental growth.

Water, low-velocity zone and the descending lithosphere

The water line, defined by the reaction forsterite + enstatite + H 2O /ah forsterite + enstatite + phase A, should exist in the Earth's upper mantle where both forsterite and H 2O (even if in minute amount) coexist. Only one type of the conventionally accepted partial melting models of the low-velocity zone (LVZ) may be viable in the presence of the water line and if the geotherms exceed the mantle H 2O-saturated solidus. However, this model needs to be tested more stringently because inconsistency with geophysical data exists. Alternatively, the water line may intersect the oceanic geotherm near 300 km, and the continental geotherm near 250 km. Thus, free H 2O exists between the water line and the stability field of amphibole in the suboceanic mantle, and between the water line and the stability field of phlogopite in the subcontinental mantle. In this model, the LVZ is a free water zone and the water line represents the base of the LVZ. The stability field of amphibole is offset downward and the water line elevated in the descending lithosphere; the gap between them is probably closed by various hydrous minerals in the MASH system. Thus, surface H 2O either in vesicles or in hydrous minerals may be conveyed freely to beneath the water line in the descending lithosphere.

Experimental studies to 10 kb of the bulk composition tremolite50-tschermakite50+excess H2O

Phase relations for the magnesio-hornblende bulk composition, 2 CaO·4 MgO·Al2O3·7 SiO2+ excess H2O, have been investigated to 10 kb employing hydrothermal and piston-cylinder techniques. The low-temperature limit of amphibole in this system lies at 519° C, 1,000 bars, 541° C, 2,000 bars, and 718° C, 10 kb. The low-T assemblage consists of an+chl+di+tc(+f), and is related to the adjacent high-T equilibrium assemblage, amph+an+chl+f, by the solid-solid reaction (A): 2 di+tc=tr. Small amounts of aluminum, hypothesized to be preferentially dissolved in the cpx (and in the tc) relative to amph, may account for the broad P-T stability range of the di+tc assemblage in the synthetic work relative to systems involving stoichiometric tr, ∘Ca2Mg5Si8O22(OH)2, such as are common in natural, Al-poor calc-silicate parageneses. Alternatively, the low-temperature assemblage produced in the experiments may be metastable. For the investigated bulk composition, synthetic tremolitic-cummingtonitic amphibole contains relatively modest amounts of ts, ∘Ca2Mg3Al2IVSi6-Al2IVO22(OH)2; at pressures of 1,000–3,000 bars, solid solution extends from near tremolite only to about cu11tr69ts20, analogous to most analyzed natural magnesio-hornblendic specimens. At 10 kb fluid pressure, the solid solution reaches approximately cu06tr53ts41 for the investigated bulk composition, and appears to be virtually independent of temperature. Amphibole and 14 A chl react within the amphibole stability field, along curve (B), at about 704° C and 2,000 bars, to produce an, en, fo and f (ΔH=40.9 kcal/ mole); at pressures greater than approximately 7kb, due to the incompatibility of an and fo, the higher temperature assemblage consists of amph, an, en, sp and f. Above Pfluid−T curve (B), the amphibole coexists with an+en+fo+f at low pressures; at higher pressures, the amphibole, which is in equilibrium with an+en+sp+f, is relatively more aluminous. The high-T stability limit of aluminous tr+fo lies approximately 20–25° C below the dehydration curve for stoichiometric tremolite on its own bulk composition. Reaction (C), tr+fo=2 di+5 en+f (ΔH = 39.4 kcal/mole), produces an+di+en+f, the highest temperature subsolidus assemblage investigated for the tr50ts50 bulk composition. Hydrous melt is encountered at temperatures at least as low as 900° C at 10 kb, and at that fluid pressure coexists with amphibole over an interval of more than 60° C. Limited solid solution observed between tr and ts in nature (tr100-70) is accounted for by the restricted range of amphibole compositions produced in the present study. Such amphiboles, moreover, appear to have both high- and low-temperature stability limits, as demonstrated by the experimental results.

Melting of Gabbro (Quartz Eclogite) with Excess Water to 35 Kilobars, with Geological Applications

Crystalline, fine-grained, high-alumina olivine tholeiite with excess water was reacted in sealed platinum capsules in piston-cylinder apparatus between 10 and 35 kbar pressure. Runs were planned to determine the curve for the beginning of melting, but combining these with published results at lower pressures permitted delineation of the major features of the phase diagram through the melting interval. Amphibolite melts below 10 kbar; quartz eclogite melts above 25 kbar; between them is a melting interval dominated by the breakdown of amphibole and formation of garnet and jadeitic pyroxene. The results introduce two features for geological applications. The solidus changes slope at about 13.5 kbar; the amphibole maximum-stability curve changes slope in the interval 12.5-15 kbar to such an extent that the amphibole stability field is more restricted at high pressures than anticipated from previous studies. With free water, eclogite is Stable only at depths greater than about 70 km, and amphibolite is Stable in the deep crust. Amphibolite crust thickened in the depth range 40-60 km with aqueous pore fluid melts, forming a liquid enriched in silica and albitic plagioclase; this is a potential source of water-undersaturated liquids for batholiths. The upper boundary of the mantle low-velocity zone could be the boundary between rocks with interstitial amphibole and those with interstitial hydrous silicate liquid. In oceanic crust forming the upper part of a subducted lithosphere slab, it appears that most hydrous minerals dehydrate or melt before they reach 100 km depth. If so, dehydration of subducted oceanic crust does not supply water for andesitic magmatism beyond the arc-trench gap, nor contribute to the chemical variations recorded in andesites across arc complexes (K_2O, K/Rb).