Generation of mantle-derived basaltic andesites in volcanic arcs

Primary magmas in volcanic arcs exhibit wide compositional diversity on both local and global scales. Processes responsible for this diversity are generally ascribed to some combination of mantle melting or crustal differentiation processes. One widespread view is that arc magmagenesis is driven by...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Main Authors: Melekhova, E, Blundy, J
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2024.118791
https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:7d05ae08-a97e-4f4e-a9b8-e72da4fd6315
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Summary:Primary magmas in volcanic arcs exhibit wide compositional diversity on both local and global scales. Processes responsible for this diversity are generally ascribed to some combination of mantle melting or crustal differentiation processes. One widespread view is that arc magmagenesis is driven by combination of H2O-fluxed and decompression melting of peridotitic mantle wedge, and that primary, mantle-derived melts are high-MgO basalt. However, a variety of other mantle-derived primitive arc magmas, ranging in composition from high-Mg andesite to picrite, has been recognised and it remains unclear to what extent this diversity can be generated by mantle melting processes modulated, for example, by changes in the thermal state of the mantle wedge or the supply of fluid from the slab. Here we use high pressure and temperature experiments to constrain magma generation conditions of a primitive magnesian (8.8 wt% MgO) basaltic andesite from Klyuchevskoy volcano, Kamchatka arc, Russia. We use an inverse experimental approach to define a multiple saturation point on the liquidus surface of the basaltic andesite. The experimental multiple saturation point defines the pressure and temperature at which an erupted melt could have last been in equilibrium with a polymineralic source rock, such as mantle peridotite, and hence provides a robust estimate of magma source conditions. Equilibrium piston-cylinder experiments were carried out between 0.5 and 1.0 GPa under hydrous conditions (3 to 6 wt% added H2O) at fO2 = DNNO+1. We show that Klyuchevskoy basaltic andesite is multiply saturated with the lherzolite assemblage ol (Fo90) + clinopyroxene + orthopyroxene + Cr-spinel close to its liquidus (≥ 95% melt) in the pressure range of 0.6 to 1 GPa (23 to 36 km depth) and 1220-1240 ºC. Amphibole is present at temperatures just below the multiple saturation point (≤ 1200 °C). Our results show that basaltic andesite was produced by 8 to 11 wt% partial melting of amphibole-lherzolite source and therefore represents a primary, ...