Vol 27, No 5 (2019)

The paper reports results of an experimental study of amphibole crystallization from the highly magnesian andesite melt of Shiveluch volcano, Kamchatka. The experiments were carried out in IHPV at 300 MPa and 940–980°С in iron-saturated platinum capsules, using rapid quenching and temperature oscillations (in some experiments). The redox state of iron in the system was measured before and after the experiments using Mössbauer spectroscopy. The maximum size of the experimental amphibole crystals (up to 200 μm) was close to those of natural amphibole phenocrysts in the volcanic rocks of Shiveluch volcano. The experimental data show that the content of octahedrally coordinated Al (Al⁶) in the amphibole considerably varies with small variations in the intensive parameters (P, T, and fO₂) and composition of the melt, and the maximum Al⁶ concentration can be evaluated only by using a reasonably large dataset of amphibole analyses. A modified 13eCNK method is suggested to calculate the values of Al⁶ and Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺ with regard for the Ti concentration and the probable partial transfer of Mg into site B in high-Mg amphibole. Calculations with this modified technique yield lower Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺ and higher Al⁶ values. Our experimental data show that the temperature of amphibole liquidus crystallization decreases from about 990 to 960°C when the oxygen fugacity drops from NNO + 1.5 to NNO + 0.4. In view of this, the transition from amphibole-bearing to anhydrous mineral assemblage in the magmas of Shiveluch volcano might have been caused by variations of the oxygen fugacity but not water. The application of our geobarometer to amphiboles from Shiveluch volcano (extrusions Krasnaya and Karan) yields the highest pressure estimate of above 1 GPa, corresponding to the P-T conditions of the melting of garnet-bearing amphibolite in the lower crust.

We present the results of analogue experiments carried out in a piston–cylinder apparatus at 750–900°C and 2.9 GPa aimed to simulate metasomatic transformation of the fertile mantle caused by fluids and melts released from the subducting sediment. A synthetic H₂O- and CO₂-bearing mixture that corresponds to the average subducting sediment (GLOSS, Plank, Langmuir, 1998) and mineral fractions of natural lherzolite (analogue of a mantle wedge) were used as starting materials. Experiments demonstrate that the mineral growth in capsules is controlled by ascending fluid and hydrous melt (from 850°C) flows. Migration of the liquids and dissolved components develops three horizontal zones in the sedimentary layer with different mineral parageneses that slightly changed from run to run. In the general case, however, the contents of omphacite and garnet increase towards the upper boundary of the layer. Magnesite and omphacite (± garnet ± melt ± kyanite ± phengite) are widespread in the central zone of the sedimentary layer, whereas SiO₂ polymorph (± kyanite ± phengite ± biotite ± omphacite ± melt) occurs in the lower zone. Clinopyroxene disappears at the base of lherzolite layer and the initial olivine is partially replaced by orthopyroxene (± magnesite) in all experiments. In addition, talc is formed in this zone at 750°C, whereas melt appears at 850°C. In the remaining volume of the lherzolite layer, metasomatic transformations affect only grain boundaries where orthopyroxene (± melt ± carbonate) is developed. The described transformations are mainly related to a pervasive flow of liquids. Mineral growth in the narrow wall sides of the capsules is probably caused by a focused flow: omphacite grows up in the sedimentary layer, and talc or omphacite with the melt grow up in the lherzolite layer. Experiments show that metasomatism of peridotite related to a subducting sediment, unlike the metasomatism related to metabasites, does not lead to the formation of garnet-bearing paragenesis. In addition, uprising liquid flows (fluid, melt) do not remove significant amounts of carbon from the metasedimentary layer to the peridotite layer. It is assumed that either more powerful fluxes of aqueous fluid or migration of carbonate-bearing rocks in subduction melanges are necessary for more efficient transfer of crustal carbon from metasediments to a mantle in subduction zones.

The paper reports newly obtained data that append older results of experimental modeling of granitization processes. The experiments were aimed at modeling high-temperature metasomatism of mafic rocks, a process that involves the transfer of major components at 750°C and 500 MPa at a pressure gradient. The source of the transported Si, Ca, and Mg in the experiments was garnet. The solution was pure H₂O and 25 wt % NaCl aqueous solution. In the experiments, garnet was decomposed into pyroxenes, amphiboles, plagioclase, and minor amounts of melt, ilmenite, and iron oxides. The associated partial dissolution led to the transfer and redeposition of the dissolved components on the surface of a gabbroanorthosite underlay and to the development of mineral rims, which were analogous to those produced at garnet decomposition. The compositions of the newly formed minerals in the rims were identical to those produced at metamorphism of gabbroanorthosite at Т ≥ 750°C, P > 700 MPa. When the mineral rim was formed, some elements are removed, and this process was controlled by the composition of the fluid phase. The pure H₂O fluid removed Fe, Ca, and Mg. The aqueous fluid containing NaCl (X_NaCl ≈ 0.1) did not extract Ca from minerals. This indicates that no high NaCl concentrations are typical of fluid in processes that form basificates at granitization. The experiments have shown that H₂O and H₂O-NaCl fluids remove more Fe that other elements. Preferable Fe extraction from naturally occurring associations is evident from the elevated Fe mole fractions of the mafic minerals and from the fact that the basificates typically contain magnetite and hematite.