Plagioclase Component Research Articles

Payenia volcanic province, southern Mendoza, Argentina: OIB mantle upwelling in a backarc environment

The Pleistocene to Holocene Payenia volcanic province is a backarc region of 60,000km2 in Mendoza, Argentina, which is dominated by transitional to alkaline basalts and trachybasalts. We present major and trace element compositions of 139 rocks from this area of which the majority are basaltic rocks with 4 to 12wt.% MgO and 44 to 50wt.% SiO2. The southern Payenia province is dominated by intraplate basalts and the trace element patterns of the Río Colorado and Payún Matrú lavas suggest little or no influence from subducted slab components. The mantle source of these rocks is similar to some EM-1 ocean island basalts. In contrast, the magmas from the northern Payenia province and the Andean retroarc occurrences have received an important input from the subducting slab and their trace element patterns are transitional between intraplate and arc rocks. These magmas are mainly derived from another asthenospheric mantle source which may be similar to normal MORB mantle. The Nevado and Northern Segment basalts have presumably been formed above a shallowly subducting slab and the progression of volcanism from south to north and northwest along the San Rafael block likely marks the downwarping of the slab and the end of the shallow subduction period. The downwarping slab may have generated an enhanced mantle upwelling of both the intraplate and the MORB-like mantle sources.In samples from almost all parts of the Payenia province and in particular many Nevado, Llancanelo and older Payún Matrú basalts, trace element variations suggest a significant contribution from lower crustal melts, possibly up to 70% in the most extreme cases. The contaminating lower crustal rocks must have been depleted mafic rocks with a plagioclase component. The extensive melting of lower crust is probably related to the low thickness of the lithospheric mantle and preheating of the lower crust by earlier Mio-Pliocene volcanism. Rare earth element modelling of mantle melting calls for enriched source compositions and a beginning of melting within the garnet stability field for all Payenia basalts. The Río Colorado and Payún Matrú basalts indicate high solidus pressures around 3–3.1GPa which requires either a thermal or compositional mantle anomaly. The model suggests a thinner lithosphere in the western Payenia region compared to the eastern.

Lateral Reactive Infiltration in a Vertical Gabbroic Crystal Mush, Skaergaard Intrusion, East Greenland

The Marginal Border Series of the Skaergaard intrusion (East Greenland) crystallized in situ on the vertical walls of the magma chamber. It is subdivided into an outer Unbanded Division and an inner Banded Division. The Banded Division contains abundant centimetre- to decimetre-thick bands dominated by fine-grained mafic minerals, with a morphology evolving from almost planar to deeply scalloped and fingered with increasing distance from the intrusion margin. The morphology of these bands is reminiscent of the reaction fronts described in sedimentary basins infiltrated by reactive fluids. We propose that the banding in the Skaergaard Marginal Border Series is produced by chemical disequilibrium resulting from the suction of primitive liquid from the main magma body into the crystal mush, driven by shrinkage of the mush during solidification. Liquid porous flow results in partial dissolution of evolved pre-existing mafic minerals in the mush. This changes the mush liquid composition to one capable of crystallizing mafic rocks with a very minor plagioclase component. Abrupt solidification of this liquid, resulting in the formation of the colloform bands, is explained by supersaturation of some mafic mineral components (e.g. olivine, clinopyroxene, Fe–Ti oxides) in the infiltrating melt. We suggest that the morphological evolution of the colloform bands is a consequence of increasing crystal mush thickness with progressive differentiation.

On the origin of sellaite (MgF2)-rich deposits in Mg-poor environments

Sellaite (MgF2) forms from melts, fluids, and gases under variable temperature, pressure, fO₂, and fluid salinity conditions. It is typically associated with, but much rarer, than fluorite (CaF2). The Clara mine near Oberwolfach (Schwarzwald, Germany) is an extensive hydrothermal vein-type deposit, where sellaite occurs in huge quantities (thousands of tons) in veins of mostly Jurassic/Cretaceous age. The sellaite mineralization, occurring in gneisses altered prior to and during sellaite mineralization, represents a stockwork-like network of veins and fissures, which is overlain and sealed by sediments, preventing the inflow of and fluid-mixing with sedimentary formation waters. The occurrence of sellaite is unique among the more than 1000 hydrothermal vein-type occurrences of the Schwarzwald ore district. The favored formation of sellaite compared to fluorite requires the initial Ca/Mg-ratio of the mineralizing fluid to be unusually low. These conditions are possible if fluids equilibrate with pre-altered rocks that lost some or much of their Ca during an earlier hydrothermal alteration event. Indeed, calculations demonstrate that rock-buffered fluids of pre-altered rocks (i.e., gneiss around the Clara mine altered during prior hydrothermal events) show significantly lower Ca/Mg-ratios than fluids equilibrated with unaltered gneisses, because Ca-phases (e.g., the anorthite component of plagioclase) are more prone to hydrothermal destruction. Due to the network-like structure of the sellaite-bearing portion of the Clara fluorite vein, the fluid is shielded from sedimentary formation water, resulting in fractionation processes of the repeatedly ascending mineralizing fluid. In addition, fluid cooling and formation of water-bearing phases like illite that consume fluids, favor sellaite, and later fluorite precipitation. The rarity of this combination of prerequisites explains the limited occurrence of sellaite in hydrothermal vein-type deposits.

Amphibole-bearing Multiphase Solid Inclusions in Olivine and Plagioclase from a Layered Gabbro: Origin of the Trapped Melts

This study presents new data regarding the petrographic and mineralogical characteristics of amphibole-bearing multiphase solid inclusions (MSI) enclosed in olivine and plagioclase from a well-characterized Japanese layered gabbro, the Murotomisaki Gabbroic Intrusion. Bulk compositions of the MSI were obtained using wavelength-dispersive (WDS) and energy-dispersive (EDS) techniques combined with modal analysis. Many MSI in olivines are spherical or polygonal in shape and are mainly composed of pargasitic amphibole, orthopyroxene, and mica (biotite and aspidolite). The MSI in olivine phenocrysts in the chilled margins of the intrusion are composed of plagioclase and hornblende rather than pargasite. Many of them are found to be enriched in olivine components in their bulk compositions, and therefore they cannot be regarded as simple trapped basaltic melts or their derivatives. The MSI in plagioclase are more irregular in shape and occur in the resorbed part of calcic plagioclase cores; they are mainly composed of pargasite and sodic plagioclase. Attempts were made to obtain the original composition of the MSI melts by applying a correction for Fe^Mg exchange reactions with the host olivine. It was found that after the correction, the MSI in the chilled margin were closest to the published initial basaltic melt composition, whereas the olivine-hosted MSI from the olivine gabbros were still fairly high in olivine components despite the correction. Such post-entrapment modification was probably minimal for the plagioclase-hosted MSI because plagioclase is essentially free of Mg and Fe, and therefore plagioclase-hosted MSI are believed to represent the compositions of the original trapped melts. These are characteristically enriched in plagioclase components. We believe that the anomalous compositions of the trapped melts (after the corrections) were generated by local dissolution of olivine and plagioclase caused by the introduction of water from lower horizons of the crystallization boundary layer in a magma chamber. The MSI are therefore considered to provide new evidence for the dissolution of silicates by hydrous fluxing in a lower crystallizing boundary layer of a magma reservoir during solidification of basaltic magma.

Experimental determination of stability relations between monazite, fluorapatite, allanite, and REE-epidote as a function of pressure, temperature, and fluid composition

The experimental alteration of monazite to allanite, REE-epidote, fluorapatite, and/or fluorapatitebritholite was investigated at 450 to 610 MPa and 450 to 500 °C. Experiments involved monazite + albite ± K-feldspar + muscovite ± biotite + SiO2 + CaF2 and variety of fluids including H2O, (KCl + H2O), (NaCl + H2O), (CaCl2 + H2O), (Na2Si2O5 + H2O), 1 M HCl, 2 M NaOH, 2 M KOH, 1 M Ca(OH)2, 2 M Ca(OH)2, and (CaCO3 + H2O). The reaction products, or lack thereof, clearly show that the stability relations between monazite, fluorapatite, and allanite or REE-epidote are more dependent on the fluid composition and the ratio of silicate minerals than on the P-T conditions. A high Ca content in the fluid promotes monazite dissolution and the formation of fluorapatite and allanite or REE-epidote. Lowering the Ca content and raising the Na content in the fluid decreases the solubility of monazite but promotes the formation of allanite. Replacing Na with K in the same fluid causes fluorapatite, with a britholite component, to form from the monazite. However, allanite and REE-epidote are not formed. Monazite is stable in the presence of NaCl brines. In KCl brine, monazite shows a very limited reaction to fluorapatite. When the fluid is (Na2Si2O5 + H2O), strong dissolution of monazite occurs resulting in the mobilization of REEs, and actinides to form fluorapatite-britholite and turkestanite. These experimental results are consistent with natural observations of the partial to total replacement of monazite by fluorapatite, REE-epidote, and allanite in fluid-aided reactions involving the anorthite component in plagioclase at mid- to high-grade metamorphic conditions. In contrast, an alkali-bearing environment with excess Na prevents the growth of allanite and eventually promotes the precipitation of secondary monazite. The results from this study provide implications for geochronology and for deducing fluid compositions in metamorphic rocks.

Composition of the Marginal Rocks and Sills of the Rustenburg Layered Suite, Bushveld Complex, South Africa: Implications for the Formation of the Platinum-Group Element Deposits

The Bushveld Complex contains large ore deposits of platinum-group elements (PGE), V, and Cr. Understanding how these deposits formed is in part dependent on estimates of the compositions of the magmas that filled the Bushveld chamber. Over the past 20 years, estimates for the major oxides and some trace elements in the magmas have been made using the marginal rocks of the intrusion. However, data for most of the trace elements have not been available. This paper presents the results for a full range of trace elements, including the platinum-group elements. The marginal rocks of the Lower and lower Critical zones (B-1 magmas) are tholeiitic Mg-rich basaltic andesites with Mg# 71. It had been suggested that they are boninites but their mantle-normalized incompatible lithophile trace element patterns (spidergrams) resemble those of the upper continental crust and the concentrations of the elements are much higher than those of boninites. The patterns resemble siliceous high magnesium basalts. An unusual feature is that the Pt/Pd ratios are >1.5. The Pt contents of the B-1 rocks (15–25 ppb) are slightly higher than those observed in most primary mantle melts, suggesting that the high Pt/Pd ratio is due to Pt enrichment rather than Pd depletion. The crystallization order and composition of the minerals formed in equilibrium with the B-1 magma matches that of the Lower and lower Critical zones and thus this magma appears to be representative of the parental magma of these zones. The marginal rocks to the upper Critical zone (B-2) are tholeiitic basalts in terms of major element composition, with Mg# 55. The spidergrams show some similarities with E-MORB; however, the B-2 rocks have strong positive Ba and Pb anomalies and negative P, Ti, Hf, and Zr anomalies, and thus they more closely resemble lower continental crust. The B-2 rocks have lower and more variable Pt + Pd contents than the B-1 magma, suggesting that some of the samples have experienced sulfide saturation, but in common with the B-1 magmas, the Pt/Pd ratios are high, in excess of 1.5. The crystallization order of the Upper Critical zone cannot be modelled by the B-2 magma alone. However, mixtures of B-2 magma and B-1 magma satisfy the crystallization order and mineral composition of the upper Critical zone. The marginal rocks of the Main zone (B-3) are also tholeiitic basalts in terms of major element composition but have a higher Mg# (62) than the B-2 rocks. Trace element patterns in part resemble those of B-2 magmas but are depleted in most incompatible elements with large positive Ba, Pb, and Eu anomalies and negative Nb, Ta, Hf, and Zr anomalies, suggesting the rocks contain a plagioclase component. The PGE contents of the B-3 rocks are lower than those of the B-1 magma and less variable than those of the B-2 magma, but in common with both the other magmas, they have high Pt/Pd. The crystallization order and composition of the minerals in equilibrium with the B-3 magma matches that of the Main zone. Two processes have been suggested to explain the compositions of the Bushveld magmas: mixing of primitive mantle melts with partial melts of continental crust and mixing of primitive mantle melts with melts derived from the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). The trace element concentrations of the magmas can be modelled by crustal contamination. This interpretation is supported by oxygen isotopes, initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios and ɛNd of the cumulate rocks. However, the high Pt/Pd ratios of all of the magmas and the overall higher than normal Pt concentrations of the B-1 magma are difficult to explain by mixing of primary mantle melt with crustal components. The SCLM has high Pt/Pd ratios and mixing of primary mantle magma with SCLM-derived magma could account for the high Pt concentrations and high Pt/Pd ratios. This interpretation is supported by recent work on Os isotopes of the Kaapvaal SCLM. It should be kept in mind that the two processes are not necessarily exclusive. A magma with a SCLM component could have been emplaced into the crust and subsequently have been contaminated by partial melts of the crust.

Anatomy, emplacement and evolution of a shallow-level, post-tectonic laccolith: the Mt Disappointment pluton, SE Australia

Abstract: The Late Devonian, high-level, post-orogenic Mt Disappointment pluton was emplaced as a nested laccolith. Field observations and magnetic fabric (anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility) data show that the monzogranitic to granodioritic magmas entered the pluton from a central, linear feeder. The first set of magmas solidified to a non-megacrystic unit and the second to a unit carrying K-feldspar megacrysts. Emplacement was accommodated partly by uplift of the overburden on brittle marginal faults. The magmas were produced through mid- to deep crustal (<600 MPa) partial melting of a source containing both ‘igneous' and ‘sedimentary' rocks, possibly a package of volcaniclastic and aluminous metagreywackes. The spectrum of magma compositions was not formed through any differentiation or magma mixing process. At the source, the melt compositions varied as a result of mixing between liquids derived from the two main source rocks, with variations in the amount of plagioclase component that entered the melt. The degree of entrainment of peritectic orthopyroxene and ilmenite appears to have controlled the Fe, Mg and Ti contents of the magma batches. A variety of evidence suggests that magma withdrawal from the protolith was rapid and episodic. The magma batches so formed were emplaced into the growing pluton essentially without further chemical evolution.

Garnet-bearing basites of the Kuvalorog massif ( Kamchatka Peninsula )

The petrographic, petrochemical, and mineralogical compositions of the Kuvalorog Ni-bearing cortlandite-norite intrusion and endocontact leucodiorites hosting pyrope-almandine garnet are considered. Lamprophyre dikes with scarce pyrope-almandine garnet, first discovered in the massif, and plagioclase-pyroxene symplectites in garnet porphyroblast areas are studied. Judging from the petrography of rocks and the composition of inclusions rich in incompatible elements in the garnet, the mineral was produced by the reaction of orthopyroxene with the anorthite component of plagioclase at the subsolidus stage of formation of endocontact diorites. This reaction was probably favored by the fluid phase abundant in the parental magma of the Kuvalorog intrusion and, especially, in the zones near its contact with relics of terrigenous rocks, where it was produced as a result of the rock dehydration under the thermal effect of the intrusion.

Influence of Watershed Topography on the Chemistry of Stream Water in a Mountainous Area

The relation among the mean slope angle of a watershed, the stream water quality, and the chemical composition of the plagioclase component of granite was examined for 17 watersheds located in the southern part of the Northern Japan Alps in central Japan. The 17 watersheds were mainly composed of the granite. The ionic composition of the stream water can be classified into two patterns: the Ca–HCO3-type and the Ca·Na–HCO3-type. In all the watersheds, Na+ and Ca2+ occur in the groundwater that flows into the stream mainly due to the kaolinization of plagioclase. As compared to the watersheds with Ca–HCO3-type stream water, the Na+/Ca2+ ratio for stream water in watersheds with Ca·Na–HCO3-type stream water was closer to that for plagioclase in granite. This implies that the groundwater flowing in the Ca·Na–HCO3-type watersheds is deeper than that in the Ca–HCO3-type watersheds. The mean slope angle of Ca·Na–HCO3-type watersheds was less acute as compared to that of Ca–HCO3-type watersheds. The mean slope angle of the watersheds is negatively correlated with the Na+/Ca2+ ratio for stream water (r = −0.78, P ≤ 0.001). It is suggested that the groundwater quality at greater depths, which is comparable with the Na/Ca ratio of plagioclase, contributes more to the stream water quality in the gently sloping watersheds than in the steep watersheds. This study clarified that there is a close relation between the mean slope angle of watersheds and the depth of groundwater discharged to the stream. Moreover, it is believed that the relationship between the mean slope angle of watersheds and the Na+/Ca2+ ratio for stream water is an effective and simple index for understanding the relative depth of groundwater.

Advective Removal of Intraparticle Uranium from Contaminated Vadose Zone Sediments, Hanford, U.S.

A column study on U(VI)-contaminated vadose zone sediments from the Hanford Site, WA, was performed to investigate U(VI) release kinetics with water advection and variable geochemical conditions. The sediments were collected from an area adjacent to and below tank BX-102 that was contaminated as a result of a radioactive tank waste overfill event. The primary reservoir for U(VI) in the sediments are micrometer-size precipitates composed of nanocrystallite aggregates of a Na-U-Silicate phase, most likely Na-boltwoodite, that nucleated and grew within microfractures of the plagioclase component of sand-sized granitic clasts. Two sediment samples, with different U(VI) concentrations and intraparticle mass transfer properties, were leached with advective flows of three different solutions. The influent solutions were all calcite-saturated and in equilibrium with atmospheric CO2. One solution was prepared from DI water, the second was a synthetic groundwater (SGW) with elevated Na that mimicked groundwater at the Hanford site, and the third was the same SGW but with both elevated Na and Si. The latter two solutions were employed, in part, to test the effect of saturation state on U(VI) release. For both sediments, and all three electrolytes, there was an initial rapid release of U(VI) to the advecting solution followed by slower near steady-state release. U(VI)aq concentrations increased during subsequent stop-flow events. The electrolytes with elevated Na and Si depressed U(VL)aq concentrations in effluent solutions. Effluent U(VI)aq concentrations for both sediments and all three electrolytes were simulated reasonably well by a three domain model (the advecting fluid, fractures, and matrix) that coupled U(VI) dissolution, intraparticle U(VI)aq diffusion, and interparticle advection, where diffusion and dissolution properties were parameterized in a previous batch study.

Petrology and geochemistry of the unbrecciated achondrite Northwest Africa 1240 (NWA 1240): An HED parent body

NWA 1240 is an unusual eucrite recently recovered in Morocco as a single stone of 98 g. It is an unbrecciated greenish-brown rock nearly devoid of fusion crust. It displays porphyritic texture consisting of skeletal hollow low-Ca pyroxene phenocrysts set in a variolitic (fan-spherulitic) mesostasis of fine elongate pyroxene and plagioclase crystals. Minor phases are skeletal chromite, iron, silica, troilite, ilmenite and minute amounts of phosphate and fayalite. Pyroxenes are unequilibrated and show one of the widest ranges of composition so far described for a eucrite, from En76.0Wo1.9Fs22.1 to compositions nearly devoid of Mg (unusual ferrosilite and Fe-augite symplectites and possibly pyroxferroite). Plagioclase crystals contain significant amounts of Fe and Mg, which are possibly controlled by the Ca(Mg,Fe2!)Si3O8 plagioclase component. To discuss the potential effects of hot-desert weathering on NWA 1240, we have analyzed a series of Saharan eucrites (Agoult, Aoufous, Igdi, Smara, NWA 047 and NWA 049) and large aliquots (0.39 to 2.8 g) of eucrite falls (Bereba, Bouvante, Jonzac, Juvinas and Serra de Mage´). These results indicate that among the elements we have determined, Pb, Ba and Sr are the most sensitive indicators of Saharan weathering. The bulk composition of NWA 1240 has been determined for 45 elements by ICP-AES and ICP-MS. The data show that the meteorite is not significantly weathered: its Pb concentration is very low; Ba and Sr concentrations are not anomalously high; the Th/U and Hf/Sm ratios are chondritic (Th/U 3.65, Hf/Sm 0.74). NWA 1240 is rich in MgO (10.4 wt%) and Cr2O3 (0.71 wt%), and displays striking similarities with cumulate eucrites, such as having similar incompatible trace element patterns and a significant positive Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu* 1.37). The combination of fast cooling and cumulate eucrite-dominated composition suggests that NWA 1240 is not an igneous rock but rather an impact melt.

Density distribution of the India plate beneath the Tibetan plateau: Geophysical and petrological constraints on the kinetics of lower-crustal eclogitization

We combine seismological and Bouguer anomaly data with thermo-kinematic and petrological modelling to constrain the extent and kinetics of the eclogitization process in the Indian lower crust underthrusting Tibet. Based on Airy-type isostasy gravity modelling, we show that the presence of denser material (eclogites) is required beneath the Tibetan Plateau. Using the geometries of main crustal interfaces constrained by seismological experiments along three profiles perpendicular to the Himalayan arc, multilayer density-models suggest that eclogitization of the Indian lower crust is completed where the maximal depth of its descent is reached. In an integrated geophysical and petrological approach, the temperature field of the studied area is determined and realistic pressure–temperature–density grids are calculated assuming different hydration levels for the Indian lower crust. The derived density profiles are used to forward model Bouguer anomalies and to compare them to the observations. It appears that eclogitization of the Indian lower crust is delayed compared to where it is expected to occur from phase equilibria. The results show that neither dry nor fully hydrated (free water in excess) lower-crust models are satisfactory. A hydration level of ca. 1 wt.% H 2O, consistent with a lower crust having experienced amphibolitic conditions, is more realistic and yields better results. On this basis, the densification delay of the Indian lower crust can be accounted for by a kinetical hindrance (overstepping) of the consumption of the plagioclase component (garnet and clinopyroxene forming reactions), which does not release water. Densification proceeds relatively rapidly (within 6 My) at higher pressure and temperature (at least 100 °C above equilibrium), when dehydration reactions start releasing water. These results emphasize the key role of free water in metamorphic reaction kinetics and, consequently, on geodynamical processes.

Crystallization of orbicular rocks exemplified by the Slättemossa occurrence, southeastern Sweden

The orbicular rock at Slättemossa, southeastern Sweden, has a quartz monzodioritic composition. The cores of the orbicules crystallized directly from the orbicule-forming magma; cores made up of xenoliths have not been observed. Outside the core follow first an inner mafic, a felsic and then an outer mafic shell. The orbicules occur in a matrix, which is similar to the core. They grew simultaneously and show an almost perfect parallelism in evolution. After initial ‘normal’ crystall-ization of the magma, superheating probably triggered by a sudden addition of volatiles destroyed earlier formed nuclei and also affected the already crystallized part of the rock. Cooling caused heterogeneous nucleation and rapid crystallization, which formed the inner mafic shell. This is enriched in mafic minerals, especially biotite, compared to the core. At the same time the grain size becomes significantly smaller. Depletion in mafic components, possibly intensified by a sudden change in physical conditions, destabilized biotite and amphibole crystallization, causing oversaturation in plagioclase components, forming a felsic shell having a sharp boundary with the mafic shell. Plagioclase is extremely altered. Mafic minerals were then stabilized, probably due to depletion of plagioclase components, and an outer mafic shell formed. With the return to homogeneous nucleation, matrix formation concluded the crystallization. Orbicules might have moved in the magma causing some squeezing of magma surrounding the orbicules, but major movements involved the settling of the whole package of orbicules and matrix in the surrounding non-orbicular magma.

Labrador massif anorthosites: Chasing the liquids and their sources

Bulk analyses of plagioclase megacrysts in massif anorthosites contain enough information on the 11 major element oxides of common igneous rocks to retrieve their complete parent magma compositions. The necessary partition coefficients for this inversion process are generated from a core-drilled trapped liquid and a pure anorthosite autolith in the Anorthosite–Norite–Troctolite (ANT) Nain Plutonic Suite (NPS) of Labrador. When applied to plagioclase megacrysts from five anorthositic intrusions in the NPS, the CIPW norms of the derived liquids correctly classify the parent liquids of dark plagioclase as olivine-normative and those of pale plagioclase as quartz-normative. Dark plagioclase megacrysts have higher An, lower K and some tetrahedral ferrous iron, compared to pale megacrysts. Experimental melts considered parental to the Lower Zone troctolites of the Kiglapait Layered Intrusion plot closely among the calculated olivine-normative liquids from the Nain anorthosites, lending further credibility to the inversions. The coupled nature of silica activity and oxygen fugacity for these and other anorthosite magma types permits a classification of massif anorthosites from melatroctolite to andesine norite based on silication and redox state, with potential for quantitative treatment. This treatment may also scale with the degree of crustal contamination experienced by ponded anorthositic magmas. Experimentally determined linear partitioning of plagioclase confirms a narrowing of the binary loop with high pressure, and allows retrieval of one unknown among pressure, temperature and liquid composition. These principles can be used for modeling the plagioclase component of liquids at their source, their intermediate storage sites, during ascent and at emplacement conditions. Experiments on a model Kiglapait bulk composition at high pressure suggest the separation of magma at 11 kbar from a spinel harzburgite source, with crystallization of olivine on ascent to saturation with plagioclase. Ponding of such high-temperature liquids in the lower or middle crust allows assimilation and silication leading to the noritic trend. Felsic suspensions leaving mafic crystals behind can account for anorthosite intrusions at upper levels. Lithospheric extension permits uplift of mantle melting regions to shallower depths, not to be confused with crust, as inferred for the Central North American Rift. Crustal melting appears to be neither necessary nor viable as a source of ANT (perhaps excluding monzonite) magmas. Origins and ideas: The array of anorthosite massifs in eastern North America is of a length scale equal to the volcanic Cameroon Line, which also has a heterogeneous distribution of ages on a very much shorter time scale. Precursor anorthosites far older than the commonly recognized Mesoproterozoic massifs must reflect a deep and revisited root cause of the anorthosite epoch, which may have begun near the time of origin of the Earth's inner core. A tectonically related superplume origin of massif anorthosite magmatism is appealing and has some credibility in paleogeographic reconstructions of Laurentia. It can also explain the apparent Al–Fe-rich nature of the ANT mantle source. The Mg#–An trends of two vastly different layered mafic intrusions, Bushveld and Kiglapait, are uncannily parallel, suggesting a fundamental, scale-independent, physicochemical behavior of large magma systems.

Phase Relations and Chemical Composition of Phengite and Paragonite in Pelitic Schists During Decompression: a Case Study from the Monte Rosa Nappe and Camughera–Moncucco Unit, Western Alps

The metamorphic evolution of metapelites from the eastern part of the Monte Rosa nappe and the Camughera–Moncucco unit, both situated in the upper Penninic units SW of the Simplon line, were investigated using microstructural relationships and equilibrium phase diagrams. The units under consideration experienced pre-Alpine amphibolite-facies conditions and underwent a complex metamorphic evolution during the Alpine orogeny. Peak pressures during an early Alpine high-pressure stage of 12·5–16 kbar were similar in the Monte Rosa nappe and Camughera–Moncucco unit. A pronounced thermal gradient is indicated during decompression leading to an amphibolite-facies overprint, as the decompression paths went through the chlorite, biotite and plagioclase stability fields in most of the Monte Rosa nappe, through the staurolite field in the easternmost Monte Rosa nappe and in the Camughera–Moncucco unit, and through the sillimanite field in the easternmost Camughera–Moncucco unit. In high-Al metapelites the initial formation of staurolite is related to continuous paragonite breakdown and associated formation of biotite. In the course of this reaction phengite becomes successively sodium enriched. In low-Al metapelites, in contrast, the initial staurolite formation occurs via the continuous breakdown of sodium-rich phengite. In both low- and high-Al metapelites the largest volume of staurolite is formed during the continuous breakdown of sodium-rich phengite below P–T conditions of about 9·5 kbar at 600–650°C. During this reaction phengite becomes successively potassium enriched as sodium from phengite is used to form the albite component in plagioclase. For ‘normal’ pelitic chemistries, phengite becomes Na enriched during decompression through the breakdown of paragonite along a near-isothermal decompression path. The Na content in phengite reaches its maximum when paragonite is entirely consumed. During further decompression the paragonite component in phengite decreases again because Na is preferentially incorporated into the albite component of plagioclase.

Perthitic alkali feldspar as indicator mineral in the Central Swiss Alps. Dip and extension of the surface of the microcline/sanidine transition isograd

Granitoid rocks have been probed along 20 traverses through the Central Swiss Alps across the zoning of the late-Alpine metamorphism. The K-feldspar and plagioclase components of their microperthites have been studied by X-ray powder methods. With respect to the structural state of K-feldspar two regions can be distinguished from the north to the south: (1) Pre-Alpine structural states are preserved in the northern (marginal) region where maximum temperatures did not exceed T max ≈ 350°C. The southern boundary of this region coincides fairly well with the stilpnomelane-out boundary. (2) The southern (central) region is subdivided into two zones: (2a) In the northern zone temperatures ranged between ≈ 350°C and the temperature of the microcline/sanidine transition T diff ≈ 450–480°C. Here, the pre-Alpine structural states have all been homogenized to stable low microcline. (2b) In the southern zone, T max exceeded 450–480°C so that microcline states were transformed into sanidine which on subsequent cooling back-reacted to various kinetically stranded microcline states as well as to stable low microcline. Thus, from the north to the south the first occurrence of “X-ray orthoclase” or intermediate microcline is indicative of the microcline/sanidine transition isograd. The isograd manifests a discontinuity in the spread of K-feldspar structural states. It has been located in the traverses as a function of altitude. From this information the three-dimensional extension of the isograd surface can be delineated over a distance of nearly 140 km. The An-content of the microperthitic plagioclase allows one to distinguish two main zones: (1) a northern zone extending to the south beyond the K-feldspar discontinuity where the plagioclases are more or less albitic, and (2) a southern zone — cut by the Insubric fault line — which is separated from the northern zone by a discontinuous increase of the An-content to oligoclase (-andesine) composition. The northern boundary of the oligoclase zone closely coincides with the staurolite-in boundary (≈ 550°C).

Thermodynamic conditions of framework grain dissolution of clastic rocks and its application in Kela 2 gas field

Feldspar and clastic debris are the most important constituent framework grains of sedimentary clastic rocks and their chemical dissolution plays an essential role in the formation and evolution of the secondary pore in the reservoir rocks. On the basis of thermodynamic phase equilibrium, this study investigates the chemical equilibrium relationships between fluid and various plagioclase and K-feldspar in diagenesis of the sediments, particularly, the impact of temperature and fluid compositions (pH, activity of K+, Na+, Ca2+and so on) on precipitation and dissolution equilibria of feldspars. Feldspar is extremely easily dissolved in the acid pore water with a low salinity when temperature decreases. The dissolution of anorthite end-member of plagioclase is related to the Ca content of the mineral and the fluid, higher Ca either in the mineral or in the fluid, easier dissolution of the feldspar. Moreover, the dissolution of albite end-member of plagioclase is related to Na of both the mineral and fluid, lower Na out of both the mineral and fluid, easier dissolution of the mineral. Similarly, lower-K fluid is more powerful to dissolve K-feldspar than the higher. The anorthite component of plagioclase is most easily dissolved in ground water-rock system, the albite is the secondary, and K-feldspar is the most stable. Selective dissolution of plagioclase occurs in diagenesis because of the plagioclase solid solution that is mainly composed of albite and anorthite end-members, Ca-rich part of which is preferentially dissolved by the pore water, in contrast to the Na-rich parts. Based on investigation of reservoir quality, secondary pore, dissolution structures of feldspar, clay minerals and ground water chemistry of the Kela 2 gas field of Kuqa Depression in the Tarim basin of Western China, we discovered that the secondary pore is very well developed in the highest quality section of the reservoir, and the plagioclase of which was obviously selectively dissolved, in contrast to the overgrowth of K-feldspar. Chemistry of the ground water out of the highest quality section of the reservoir is consistent with the complete dissolution field of anorthite, partial dissolution field of albite component of plagioclase, and the precipitation of K-feldspar on the temperature-logK phase equilibrium diagram drawn from this study. The thermodynamic modeling calculation gave us an insight into formation of the secondary pore within the reservoir, and the dissolution of plagioclase an important cause of the secondary pore. It is assumed that the solvent to dissolve the plagioclase frame grains originated from the origin-enriched compacted fluid acids out of the mudstone buried beneath the top of geopressured zones in the Kuqa Depression.

Petrology and geochemistry of the unbrecciated achondrite Northwest Africa 1240 (NWA 1240): an HED parent body impact melt

NWA 1240 is an unusual eucrite recently recovered in Morocco as a single stone of 98 g. It is an unbrecciated greenish-brown rock nearly devoid of fusion crust. It displays porphyritic texture consisting of skeletal hollow low-Ca pyroxene phenocrysts set in a variolitic (fan-spherulitic) mesostasis of fine elongate pyroxene and plagioclase crystals. Minor phases are skeletal chromite, iron, silica, troilite, ilmenite and minute amounts of phosphate and fayalite. Pyroxenes are unequilibrated and show one of the widest ranges of composition so far described for a eucrite, from En 76.0Wo 1.9Fs 22.1 to compositions nearly devoid of Mg (unusual ferrosilite and Fe-augite symplectites and possibly pyroxferroite). Plagioclase crystals contain significant amounts of Fe and Mg, which are possibly controlled by the Ca(Mg,Fe 2+)Si 3O 8 plagioclase component. To discuss the potential effects of hot-desert weathering on NWA 1240, we have analyzed a series of Saharan eucrites (Agoult, Aoufous, Igdi, Smara, NWA 047 and NWA 049) and large aliquots (0.39 to 2.8 g) of eucrite falls (Bereba, Bouvante, Jonzac, Juvinas and Serra de Magé). These results indicate that among the elements we have determined, Pb, Ba and Sr are the most sensitive indicators of Saharan weathering. The bulk composition of NWA 1240 has been determined for 45 elements by ICP-AES and ICP-MS. The data show that the meteorite is not significantly weathered: its Pb concentration is very low; Ba and Sr concentrations are not anomalously high; the Th/U and Hf/Sm ratios are chondritic (Th/U = 3.65, Hf/Sm = 0.74). NWA 1240 is rich in MgO (10.4 wt%) and Cr 2O 3 (0.71 wt%), and displays striking similarities with cumulate eucrites, such as having similar incompatible trace element patterns and a significant positive Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu* = 1.37). The combination of fast cooling and cumulate eucrite-dominated composition suggests that NWA 1240 is not an igneous rock but rather an impact melt.

The preservation of high-pressure rocks during exhumation: metagranites and metapelites

Metagranites in the NKFMASH system require external hydration during prograde high-pressure metamorphism in order to equilibrate to ambient HP conditions by producing more siliceous muscovite. Any lack of external fluid or the disappearance of biotite stops re-equilibration and thus prevents recording of high-pressure conditions. The same hydration reactions cause dehydration during exhumation. Orthogneiss from shear zones or adjacent to metapelites and metabasites will take up external fluid during subduction and record the highest P– T conditions, but will also be the first to dehydrate upon exhumation, now hydrating other lithologies and probably refuelling shearzones. The (de)hydration behavior of Ca-bearing metagranitoids is similar to that in the Ca-free system. However, the anorthite component of plagioclase decomposes with increasing pressure to form either (clino)zoisite or a grossular-rich garnet. Both reactions are fluid-consuming. If H 2O is supplied from an external source, the garnet-bearing assemblage can record P– T conditions up to very high pressures, but dehydrates again during heating and/or decompression to form a more Fe-rich garnet and Al-rich mica(s). The garnet compositions observed in natural HP-metagranites are mostly too Fe-rich to be formed in the presence of an H 2O-rich fluid. N(C)KFMASH metapelites generally have a more complex mineralogy and succession of mineral assemblages along a P– T path. The H 2O contained in hydrous silicates like chlorite and chloritoid is only partly released, but partly transferred to other minerals like paragonite, glaucophane or phengite during subduction and further dehydration during exhumation is common. The mineral assemblage preserved by the rock may then record P– T conditions way below those of the actual pressure and temperature peak of the path. Contouring of the P– T pseudosection of a specific metapelite composition with mode isopleths for H 2O shows which P– T conditions along a given path are the ones most likely recorded by the rock.

Melt contribution to partitioning of trace element between plagioclase and basaltic magma of Fuji volcano, Japan

Ion microprobe analyses of trace elements in plagioclase crystals apply to partitioning between plagioclase phenocrysts and basaltic magma of Fuji volcano. The partitioning of trace elements of plagioclase is governed not only by the site preference of ions in the crystal as it is widely accepted, but also by the components of melt. The observed logarithmic count ratios of the ion microprobe analyses between trace and host elements in plagioclase, is linear with X An (anorthite composition of plagioclase), in the range of X An (0.55–0.85). The observed ratio is proportional with K′-value (apparent exchange partition coefficient) because of nearly constant composition of the basalt. We separate the K′-value into two terms: plagioclase component controlled term and non-plagioclase component controlled term. The second term mainly characterizes the pattern of the Onuma PC-IR-diagram in a magmatic system.