Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : Mid-ocean ridges magmatism is, by and large, considered to be mostly dry. Nevertheless, numerous works in the last decade have shown that a hydrous component is likely to be involved in ocean ridges magmas genesis and/or evolution. The petrology and geochemistry of peculiar coarse grained gabbros sampled in the upper part of the gabbroic sequence from the northern Oman ophiolite (Wadi Rajmi) provide information on the origin and fate of hydrous melts in fast-spreading oceanic settings. Uncommon crystallization sequences for oceanic settings (clinopyroxene crystallizing before plagioclase), extreme mineral compositions (plagioclase An% up to 99, and clinopyroxene Mg # up to 96), and the presence of magmatic amphibole, imply the presence of a high water activity during crystallization. Various petrological and geochemical constraints point to hydration, resulting from the recycling of hydrothermal fluids. This recycling event may have occurred at the top of the axial magma chamber where assimilation of anatectic hydrous melts is recurrent along mid-ocean ridges or close to segments ends where fresh magma intrudes previously hydrothermally altered crust. In ophiolitic settings, hydration and remelting of hydrothermally altered rocks producing hydrous melts may also occur during the obduction process. Although dry magmatism dominates oceanic magmatism, the dynamic behavior of fast-spreading ocean ridge magma chambers has the potential to produce the observed hydrous melts (either in ophiolites or at spreading centers), which are thus part of the general mid-ocean ridges lineage.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-00939400
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00939400
DOI : 10.1002/ggge.20137

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The oxygen fugacity and therefore the iron redox state of a melt is known to have a strong influence on the liquid line of descent of magmas and thus on the composition of the coexisting melts and crystals. We present a new method to estimate this critical parameter from electron probe microanalyses of two of the most common minerals of basaltic series, plagioclase and clinopyroxene. This method is not based on stoichiometric calculations, but on the different partitioning behaviour of Fe3+ and Fe2+ between both minerals and a melt phase: plagioclase can incorporate more Fe3+ than Fe2+, while clinopyroxene can incorporate more Fe2+ than Fe3+. For example, the effect of oxidizing a partly molten basaltic system (Fe3+ is stabilized with respect to Fe2+) results in an increase of FeOtotal in plagioclase, but a decrease in the associated clinopyroxene. We propose an equation, based on published partition coefficients, that allows estimating the redox state of a melt from these considerations. An application to a set of experimental and natural data attests the validity of the proposed model. The associated error can be calculated and is on average <1 log unit of the prevailing oxygen fugacity.;In order to reduce the number of different variables influencing the Fe2+/Fe3+ mineral/melt equilibrium, our model is restricted to basaltic series with SiO2<60% that have crystallized at intermediate to low pressure (<0.5 GPa) and under relatively oxidizing conditions (Delta FMQ>0; where FMQ is the fayalite-magnetite-quartz oxygen buffer equilibrium), but it may be parameterized for other conditions. A spreadsheet is provided to assist the use of equations, and to perform the error propagation analysis.
ISSN: 0377-0273

hal-00475550
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00475550
DOI : 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2009.11.023