ALBERT

Description: The lamproite of Gaussberg is an ultrapotassic rock where leucite, olivine and clinopyroxene microphenocrysts occur in a glass-rich groundmass, containing microliths of leucite, clinopyroxene, apatite, phlogopite and rare K-richterite.Abundant silicate melt inclusions occur in olivine, leucite and, rarely, in clinopyroxene microphenocrysts. Raman investigations on melt inclusions showed the presence of pure CO2 in the shrinkage bubbles. On the other hand, the glass of the groundmass is CO2-poor and contains up to 0.70 wt.% of dissolved H2O, as estimated by infrared spectra. It is inferred that CO2 was released at every stage of evolution of the lamproite magma (CO2-rich shrinkage bubbles), whereas H2O was retained for longer in the liquid. At Gaussberg, CO2 seems to have a major role at relatively high pressure where it favoured the crystallization of H2O-poor microphenocrysts; the uprise of the magma to the surface decreased the solubility of CO2 and caused a relative increase in water activity. As a consequence, phlogopite and K-richterite appeared in the groundmass.The glass composition of both the groundmass and melt inclusions suggests different evolutions for the residual liquids of the investigated samples. Sample G886 shows the typical evolution of a lamproite magma, where the residual liquid evolves toward peralkaline and Na-rich composition and crystallizes K-richterite in the latest stage. Sample G895 derives from mixing/mingling of different batches of magma; effectively glasses from melt inclusions in leucite and clinopyroxene are more alkaline than those found in early crystallized olivine. Leucite and clinopyroxene crystallized early from a relatively more alkaline batch of lamproite magma and, successively, a less alkaline, olivinebearing magma batch assimilated them during its rise to the surface.

Description: At the top of Mt. Mottarone a thin level of micaschist, covered by soil, rests on granodioritic rocks. Both rock types underwent weathering with generation of new minerals and variation of the original chemical composition. The weathering produced phyllosilicates and Fe- and Al-hydroxides. Mass balance calculations on the basis of Zr immobility indicate that at least As, Bi, Cd, Mo and Sb were added to the micaschist, whereas the other elements were removed; the soil was also enriched in As, Bi, Cd, Mo and Sb during weathering. Dry and wet pollution was responsible for the addition of the elements listed above. On the other hand, Ca, Na, Mo and Sr were surely removed from the granodiorite during weathering, whereas Bi and Cu were added by percolation from the overlying micaschist. The chemical features of a spring issuing from granodiorite agree well with the element budget as deduced from the rock transformation. This is not the case, however, for a spring issuing from the micaschist.

Description: The studied gabbroic nodules occurring in the Petrazza pyroclastic rocks consist mainly of plagioclase (An95–87), olivine (Fo83-73) and clinopyroxene (Mg# 90–77), with subordinate opaques (Ti-magnetite) and amphibole (Mg-hastingsite), which constitute the cumulate minerals. Interstitial material has a relatively high, but variable, degree of vesicularity and consists of variable amounts of glass and quenched crystals of plagioclase (An71–55), amphibole, clinopyroxene and rare biotite, olivine and opaques. Silicate melt inclusions are abundant in the cumulate minerals, but complete homogenization to melt has been observed only in the inclusions occurring in clinopyroxene, where the temperatures of homogenization vary from 1134 to 1190°C. Microthermometric investigations of fluid inclusions and of the shrinkage bubble of the melt inclusions suggest that the magma contained CO2. The apparent scarcity of H2O indicates that this component was strongly partitioned into the magma at the time of crystallization of the investigated minerals; this is further supported by the occurrence of (1) daughter biotite- and amphibole-bearing inclusions which show that the H2O activity in the magma was sufficiently high to allow their crystallization, and (2) calcic plagioclase (An95–87) which can be crystallized from a high-alumina basaltic magma at pressure ≤2 kbar, temperatures in the range 1050–1100°C and in the presence of 3–4 wt.% of water (MELTS software simulations).The composition of the melt inclusions suggests that the hosting plagioclase, olivine and clinopyroxene crystallized from slightly different batches of magma. The S content in the melt inclusions of clinopyroxene and olivine is high (up to 0.41 wt.%). The presence of Fe-Cu(-Ni)-rich blebs of sulphide in plagioclase, olivine, amphibole, and locally in the melt inclusions too, further supports the important role of sulphur in the primitive magmas of the investigated gabbros. Small differences in redox conditions or in the Fe content of the melts favoured S mobilization as sulphide.

Description: The dacite of El Joyazo contains abundant metapelitic xenoliths. These can be divided into two main types: garnet-biotite-sillimanite and spinel-cordierite xenoliths. In the xenoliths the widespread occurrence of rhyolitic glass as interstitial films, foliation-parallel layers and primary melt inclusions in all mineral phases indicates that these assemblages developed in the presence of a melt phase, i.e. during anatexis. The composition of the interstitial glass is comparable to that of the melt inclusions, suggesting that melt was locally produced. Phase equilibria indicate that anatexis occurred at P-T conditions of 5–7 kbar and 850±50°C.Several microstructural lines of evidence show that melt extraction was assisted by deformation during foliation development, and that on the scale of the xenoliths (up to 50 cm) melt escaped mainly by flow along foliation planes. The development of a syn-anatectic foliation also suggests that metapelitic rocks were involved in high-grade metamorphism and partial melting prior to fragmentation and dispersion in the host dacite.Mass balance calculations, based on the chemical composition of interstitial glass and melt inclusions in minerals, the bulk xenoliths and representative samples of potential pelitic sources support a model wherein the xenoliths represent restites after the extraction of 30 to 55 wt.% melt from graphitic metapelite protoliths similar to the rocks constituting the surrounding Alpujarride metamorphic complex.