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The fidelity of melt inclusions as records of melt composition

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Abstract

A series of experiments created melt inclusions in plagioclase and pyroxene crystals grown from a basaltic melt at 1,150°C, 1.0 GPa to investigate diffusive fractionation during melt inclusion formation; additionally, P diffusion in a basaltic melt was measured at 1.0 GPa. Melt inclusions and melts within a few 100 microns of plagioclase–melt interfaces were analyzed for comparison with melt compositions far from the crystals. Melt inclusions and melt compositions in the boundary layer close to the crystal–melt interface were similar, but both differ significantly in incompatible element concentrations from melt found greater than approximately 200 microns away from the crystals. The compositional profiles of S, Cl, P, Fe, and Al in the boundary layers were successfully reproduced by a two-step model of rapid crystal growth followed by diffusive relaxation toward equilibrium after termination of crystal growth. Applying this model to investigate possible incompatible element enrichment in natural melt inclusions demonstrated that at growth rates high enough to create the conditions for melt inclusion formation, ∼10−9–10−8 m s−1, the concentration of water in the boundary layer near the crystal was similar to that of the bulk melt because of its high diffusion coefficient, but sulfur, with a diffusivity similar to major elements and CO2, was somewhat enriched in the boundary layer melt, and phosphorus, with its low diffusion coefficient similar to other high-field strength elements and rare earth elements, was significantly enriched. Thus, the concentrations of sulfur and phosphorus in melt inclusions may over-estimate their values in the bulk melt, and other elements with similar diffusion coefficients may also be enriched in melt inclusions relative to the bulk melt.

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Acknowledgments

Dr. C. Freda is thanked for the images of the experimental run products, for her encouragement and for her editing skills. Mr. Shi Lang is thanked for keeping the electron microprobe at McGill working every day (and night) of the year. Thanks go to an anonymous reviewer, Prof. Jon Blundy and Prof. Spandler whose official reviews significantly increased the clarity of the paper and to L. Bai for his comments on the final version. This research is supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery grant and by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica and Vulcanologia, Italy. This is GEOTOP contribution number 2008-0003.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, GEOTOP-UQAM-McGill Research Centre, McGill University, 3450 rue University, Montréal, QC, H3A 2A7, Canada

    Don R. Baker

  2. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Via di Vigna Murata 605, 00143, Rome, Italy

    Don R. Baker

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  1. Don R. Baker
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Correspondence to Don R. Baker.

Additional information

Communicated by J. Blundy.

Electronic supplementary material

Crystal growth rates from natural melt compositions measured in the laboratory and estimated in nature (DOC 98 kb)

410_2008_291_MOESM1_ESM.doc

Elemental concentrations of Cl in melts in front of plagioclase crystals formed in the 0.6 h experiment DRB200712. The symbols are the measured compositions of melts in front of the crystals and the lines are the modeled profiles as discussed in the text. Please see the text for further discussion. (DOC 652 kb)

410_2008_291_MOESM2_ESM.doc

Concentrations of P2O5 in melts in front plagioclase crystals formed in the 0.6 h experiment DRB200712. The symbols are the measured compositions of melts in front of the crystals and the lines are the modeled profiles as discussed in the text. (DOC 599 kb)

410_2008_291_MOESM3_ESM.doc

Concentrations of FeO* in melts in front of plagioclase crystals formed in the 0.6 h experiment DRB200712. The symbols are the measured compositions of melts in front of the crystals and the lines are the modeled profiles as discussed in the text. (DOC 547 kb)

410_2008_291_MOESM4_ESM.doc

Concentrations of Al2O3 in melts in front of plagioclase crystals formed in the 0.6 h experiment DRB200712. The symbols are the measured compositions of melts in front of the crystals and the lines are the modeled profiles as discussed in the text. (DOC 584 kb)

410_2008_291_MOESM5_ESM.doc

Elemental concentrations of Cl in melts in front of plagioclase crystals formed in 14 h duration experiments DRB200703 and DRB200704. Symbols are the same as in Figure 6 of the paper. The dashed lines are the compositional profiles after growth stopped at the indicated time. The solid and dotted lines are modeled profiles after the relaxation duration indicated next to the line. The solid line is always the shorter relaxation time. Please see the text for more discussion. (DOC 1279 kb)

410_2008_291_MOESM6_ESM.doc

Concentrations of P2O5 in melts in front of plagioclase crystals formed in 14 h duration experiments DRB200703 and DRB200704. Symbols are the same as in Figure 6 of the paper. The dashed lines are the compositional profiles after growth stopped at the indicated time. The solid and dotted lines are modeled profiles after the relaxation duration indicated next to the line. The solid line is always the shorter relaxation time. Please see the text for more discussion. (DOC 1125 kb)

410_2008_291_MOESM7_ESM.doc

Concentrations of FeO* in melts in front of plagioclase crystals formed in 14 h duration experiments DRB200703 and DRB200704. Symbols are the same as in Figure 6 of the paper. The dashed lines are the compositional profiles after growth stopped at the indicated time. The solid and dotted lines are modeled profiles after the relaxation duration indicated next to the line. The solid line is always the shorter relaxation time. Please see the text for more discussion. (DOC 1106 kb)

410_2008_291_MOESM8_ESM.doc

Concentrations of Al2O3 in melts in front of plagioclase crystals formed in 14 h duration experiments DRB200703 and DRB200704. Symbols are the same as in Figure 6 of the paper. The dashed lines are the compositional profiles after growth stopped at the indicated time. The solid and dotted lines are modeled profiles after the relaxation duration indicated next to the line. The solid line is always the shorter relaxation time. Please see the text for more discussion. (DOC 1122 kb)

410_2008_291_MOESM9_ESM.doc

Effect of growth on melt concentrations of H2O (blue), S (black) and P (red) in front of crystals grown by 50 μm in a basaltic melt at 1200 °C. The solid lines in each panel are the compositional profiles in front of the crystal at the end of the rapid growth period (e.r.g.). The dotted lines (for P and S only) are the compositional profiles 10 h after growth stopped and the dashed lines (for P and S only) are the profiles after 100 h. Top panel: growth rate of 1 x 10-10 m s-1 for 105 s. Bottom panel: growth rate of 1 x 10-11 m s-1 for 106 s. Please see the text for further discussion. (DOC 463 kb)

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

410_2008_291_MOESM10_ESM.doc

Effect of growth on melt compositions of H2O (blue), S (black) and P (red) in front of crystals grown by 50 μm in a silicic melt of rhyolitic composition at 800 °C. The solid lines in each panel are the compositional profiles in front of the crystal at the end of the rapid growth period (e.r.g.). The dotted lines are the compositional profiles 10 h after growth stopped and the dashed lines are the profiles after 100 h. Top panel: growth rate of 1 x 10-10 m s-1 for 105 s. Bottom panel: growth rate of 1 x 10-11 m s-1 for 106 s. Please see the text for further discussion. (DOC 506 kb)

410_2008_291_MOESM11_ESM.doc

Effect of growth on melt compositions of H2O (blue), S (black) and P (red) in front of crystals grown by 50 μm in a silicic melt of rhyolitic composition at 800 °C. The solid lines in each panel are the compositional profiles in front of the crystal at the end of the rapid growth period (e.r.g.). The dotted lines are the compositional profiles 10 h after growth stopped and the dashed lines are the profiles after 100 h. Top panel: growth rate of 1 x 10-12 m s-1 for 107 s. Bottom panel: growth rate of 1 x 10-13 m s-1 for 108 s. Please see the text for further discussion. (DOC 434 kb)

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Baker, D.R. The fidelity of melt inclusions as records of melt composition. Contrib Mineral Petrol 156, 377–395 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-008-0291-3

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