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Browsing by Author "Luth, Robert W."

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    Effect of KCl on melting in the Mg2SiO4-MgSiO3-H2O system at 5 GPa
    (2011) Chu, Linglin; Enggist, Andreas; Luth, Robert W.
    To examine the effect of KCl-bearing fluids on the melting behavior of the Earth’s mantle, we conducted experiments in the Mg2SiO4–MgSiO3–H2O and Mg2SiO4–MgSiO3–KCl–H2O systems at 5 GPa. In the Mg2SiO4–MgSiO3–H2O system, the temperature of the fluid-saturated solidus is bracketed between 1,200–1,250°C, and both forsterite and enstatite coexist with the liquid under supersolidus conditions. In the Mg2SiO4–MgSiO3–KCl–H2O systems with molar Cl/(Cl + H2O) ratios of 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6, the temperatures of the fluid-saturated solidus are bracketed between 1,400–1,450°C, 1,550–1,600°C, and 1,600–1,650°C, respectively, and only forsterite coexists with liquid under supersolidus conditions. This increase in the temperature of the solidus demonstrates the significant effect of KCl on reducing the activity of H2O in the fluid in the Mg2SiO4–MgSiO3–H2O system. The change in the melting residues indicates that the incongruent melting of enstatite (enstatite = forsterite + silica-rich melt) could extend to pressures above 5 GPa in KCl-bearing systems, in contrast to the behavior in the KCl-free system.
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    Phase relations of phlogopite and pyroxene with magnesite from 4 to 8 GPa: KCMAS–H2O and KCMAS–H2O–CO2
    (2016) Enggist, Andreas; Luth, Robert W.
    To constrain the melting phase relationships of phlogopite and magnesite in the presence of clino- and orthopyroxene, we performed experiments in the K2O–CaO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O (KCMAS–H2O) and K2O–CaO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–CO2 (KCMAS–H2O–CO2) systems at pressures of 4–8 GPa and temperatures from 1100 to 1600 °C. We bracketed the carbonate-free solidus between 1250 and 1300 °C at 4 and 5 GPa, and between 1300 and 1350 °C at 6, 7 and 8 GPa. The carbonate-bearing solidus was bracketed between 1150 and 1200 °C at 4, 5 and 6 GPa, and between 1100 and 1150 °C at 7 and 8 GPa. Below the solidus in both systems at 4–6 GPa, phlogopite is in equilibrium with enstatite, diopside, garnet (plus magnesite in the carbonate-bearing system) and a fluid. At 7 GPa, phlogopite coexists with KK-richterite, enstatite, diopside, garnet (plus magnesite in the carbonate-bearing system) and a fluid. KK-richterite is the only stable K-bearing phase at 8 GPa and coexists with enstatite, diopside, garnet (plus magnesite in the carbonate-bearing system) and a fluid. In KCMAS–H2O, phlogopite is present to ~100 °C above the solidus. Olivine forms at the solidus and coexists with enstatite, diopside, garnet and melt. At depth in a subcontinental lithospheric mantle keel, phlogopite would be stable with orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and magnesite to ~5 GPa along a 40 mW/m2 geotherm. A hydrous, potassic and CO2-bearing melt that intrudes the subcontinental mantle can react with olivine, enstatite and garnet, crystallizing phlogopite, magnesite and potentially liberating a hydrous fluid.
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    Phase relations of phlogopite with magnesite from 4 to 8 GPa
    (2012) Enggist, Andreas; Chu, Linglin; Luth, Robert W.
    To evaluate the stability of phlogopite in the presence of carbonate in the Earth's mantle, we conducted a series of experiments in the KMAS-HO-CO system. A mixture consisting of synthetic phlogopite (phl) and natural magnesite (mag) was prepared (phl-mag; wt%) and run at pressures from 4 to 8 GPa at temperatures ranging from 1,150 to 1,550°C. We bracketed the solidus between 1,200 and 1,250°C at pressures of 4, 5 and 6 GPa and between 1,150 and 1,200°C at a pressure of 7 GPa. Below the solidus, phlogopite coexists with magnesite, pyrope and a fluid. At the solidus, magnesite is the first phase to react out, and enstatite and olivine appear. Phlogopite melts over a temperature range of ~150°C. The amount of garnet increases above solidus from ~10 to ~30 modal% to higher pressures and temperatures. A dramatic change in the composition of quench phlogopite is observed with increasing pressure from similar to primary phlogopite at 4 GPa to hypersilicic at pressures ≥5 GPa. Relative to CO-free systems, the solidus is lowered such, that, if carbonation reactions and phlogopite metasomatism take place above a subducting slab in a very hot (Cascadia-type) subduction environment, phlogopite will melt at a pressure of ~7.5 GPa. In a cold (40 mWm) subcontinental lithospheric mantle, phlogopite is stable to a depth of 200 km in the presence of carbonate and can coexist with a fluid that becomes Si-rich with increasing pressure. Ascending kimberlitic melts that are produced at greater depths could react with peridotite at the base of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, crystallizing phlogopite and carbonate at a depth of 180-200 km.