Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Melting of carbonate-bearing peridotite as a function of oxygen fugacity: implications for mantle melting beneath mid-ocean ridges

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The depth of melting beneath mid-ocean ridges (MORs) controls the melt composition as well as its rheology. Since mantle melting below MORs is the main mechanism of mantle degassing and CO2 emission into the atmosphere and oceans, there is an increasing interest in understanding the sub-ridge mantle conditions leading to its melting. Here we study the effect of oxygen fugacity on melting of carbonate-bearing peridotite at 3 GPa. Two metal—metal-oxide buffers (RRO and IW) were used to influence the fO2 of the experimental charge. Using Ir–Fe alloy sliding redox sensors, the fO2 of the two sets of experiments was measured. The solidus at IW + 4.5 was found to be at 950 °C, while at IW + 2.5 melting initiated at 1150 °C. In both sets of experiments, near-solidus carbonatitic melts evolved to carbon-bearing silicate melts with increasing temperature. This study together with previous studies suggest that increasing fO2 of a carbonate-bearing peridotite results in lowering of its melting temperature. Extrapolating these solidi to higher pressures results in initiation of melting of a relatively oxidizing mantle at ~ 430 km while melting of a more reduced mantle will initiate at depth of ~ 320 km. Very low velocity anomalies in the sub-ridge mantle at depth may reflect the initiation of melting, triggered by the presence of carbonate in the mantle at 1–2 log units below QFM.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

taken from Ita and Stixrude (1992) and McKenzie et al. (2005). b Solidi at a range of oxygen fugacity (1–3 log units below QFM) calculated for 0.5 wt% CO2. The depth of the low velocity zone is marked on the geotherm

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allegre CJ, Pineau F, Bernat M, Javoy M (1971) Evidence for the occurrence of carbonatites on the Cape Verde and Canary Islands. Nat Phys Sci 233(40):103–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker MB, Stolper EM (1994) Determining the composition of high-pressure mantle melts using diamond aggregates. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 58(13):2811–2827

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ballhaus C, Frost BR (1994) The generation of oxidized CO2-bearing basaltic melts from reduced CH4-bearing upper mantle sources. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 58(22):4931–4940

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birner SK, Cottrell E, Warren JM, Kelley KA, Davis FA (2018) Peridotite and basalts reveal broad congruence between two independent records of mantle fO2 despite local redox heterogeneity. Earth Planet Sci Lett 494:172–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brey GP, Kohlerr T, Nickel KG (1990) Geothermobarometry in four-phase lherzolites II. New thermobarometers, and practical assessment of existing thermobarometers. J Petrol 31(6):1353–1378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brey GP, Bulatov VK, Girnis AV, Lahaye Y (2008) Experimental melting of carbonated peridotite at 6–10 GPa. J Petrol 49:797–821

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryndzia LT, Wood BJ (1990) Oxygen thermobarometry of abyssal spinel peridotites: the redox state and C-O-H volatile composition of the Earth’s sub-oceanic upper mantle. Am J Sci 290:1093–1116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell J, Danielson L, Righter K, Wang Y, Davidson G (2006) Oxygen fugacity at high pressure: equations of state of metal-oxide pairs. Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVII, 1977

  • Campbell AJ, Danielson L, Righter K, Seagle C, Wang Y, Prakapenka BG (2009) High pressure effects on the iron-iron oxide and nickel-nickel oxide oxygen fugacity buffers. Earth Planet Sci Lett 286:556–564

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canil D, Scarfe CM (1990) Phase relations in peridotite+CO2 Systems to 12 GPa: Implications for the origin of kimberlite and carbonate stability in the Earth’s upper mantle. J Geophys Res 95(B10):15805

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carmichael ISE (1991) The redox states of basic and silicic magmas—a reflection of their source regions. Contrib Miner Petrol 106:129–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cottrell E, Kelley KA (2011) The oxidation state of Fe in MORB glasses and the oxygen fugacity of the upper mantle. Earth Planet Sci Lett 305:270–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cottrell E, Kelley KA (2013) Redox heterogeneity in mid-ocean ridge basalts as a function of mantle source. Science 340:1314–1317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cottrell E, Briner SK, Brounce M, Davis F, Waters LE, Kelley KA (2020) Oxygen fugacity across tectonic settings. In: Neuville DR, Moretti R (eds) AGU Geophysical Monograph Redox variables and mechanisms in magmatism and volcanism. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/essoar.10502445.1

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dalton JA, Presnall DC (1998) Carbonatitic melts along the solidus of model lherzolite. Contrib Miner Petrol 131(2–3):123–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta R, Hirschmann MM (2006) Melting in the Earth’s deep upper mantle caused by carbon dioxide. Nature 440(7084):659–662

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta R, Hirschmann MM (2007) Effect of variable carbonate concentration on the solidus of mantle peridotite. Am Miner 92(2–3):370–379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta R, Hirschmann MM, Dellas N (2005) The effect of bulk composition on the solidus of carbonated eclogite from partial melting experiments at 3 GPa. Contrib Miner Petrol 149:288–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta R, Hirschmann MM, Smith ND (2007) Partial melting experiments of peridotite+CO2 at 3 GPa and genesis of alkalic ocean island basalts. J Petrol 48:2093–2124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta R, Hirschmann MM, McDonough WF, Spiegelman M, Withers AC (2009) Trace element partitioning between garnet lherzolite and carbonatite at 6.6 and 8.6 GPa with applications to the geochemistry of the mantle and of mantle-derived melts. Chem Geol 262:57–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dvir O, Pettke T, Fumagalli P, Kessel R (2011) Fluids in the peridotite-water system up to 6 GPa and 800°C: New experimental constrains on dehydration reactions. Contrib Miner Petrol 161(6):829–844

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eggler DH (1978) The effect of CO2 upon partial melting of peridotite in the system Na2O-CaO-Al2O3-MgO-SiO2-CO2 to 35 kb with an analysis of melting in a peridotite-H2O-CO2 system. Am J Sci 278:305–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans ARL, Tarits P, Chave AD, White A, Heinson G, Filloux JHMJ (1999) Asymmetric electrical structure in the mantle beneath the East Pacific Rise at 17°S. Science 286(5440):752–756

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Falloon TJ, Green DH (1988) Anhydrous partial melting of peridotite from 8 to 35 kb and the petrogenesis of MORB. J Petrol, Special V(1):379–414

  • Foley SF (2011) A reappraisal of redox melting in the earth’s mantle as a function of tectonic setting and time. J Petrol 52(7–8):1363–1391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forsyth DW, Webb SC, Dorman LM, Shen Y (1998) Phase velocities of Rayleigh waves in the MELT experiment on the East Pacific Rise. Science 280:1235–1238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frost BR (1991) Introduction to oxygen fugacity and its petrologic importance. Rev Mineral Geochem 25(1–9):50

    Google Scholar 

  • Frost DJ, McCammon CA (2008) The redox state of Earth’s Mantle. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci 36:389–420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frost DJ, Wood BJ (1997) Experimental measurements of the fugacity of CO2 and graphite/diamond stability from 35 to 77 kbar at 925 to 1650°C. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 61:1565–1574

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaetani GA (2016) The behavior of Fe3+/ΣFe during partial melting of spinel lherzolite. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 185:64–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghosh S, Ohtani E, Litasov KD, Terasaki H (2009) Solidus of carbonated peridotite peridotite from 10 to 20 GPa and origin of magnesiocarbonatite melt in the Earth’s deep mantle. Chem Geol 262:17–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gu Y, Webb SC, Lerner-Lam A, Gaherty JB (2005) Upper mantle structure beneath the eastern Pacific Ocean ridges. J Geophys Res: Solid Earth 110(6):1–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirose K (1997) Partial melt compositions of carbonated peridotite at 3 GPa and role of CO2 in alkali-basalt magma generation. Geophys Res Lett 24:2837–2840

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ita J, Stixrude L (1992) Petrology, elasticity, and composition of the mantle transition zone. J Geophys Res 97:6849–6866

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keshav S, Gudfinnsson GH, Presnall DC (2011) Melting phase relations of simplified carbonated peridotite at 12–26 GPa in the systems CaO-MgO-SiO2-CO2 and CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-CO2: Highly calcic magmas in the transition zone of the Earth. J Petrol 52:2265–2291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Konzett J, Sweeney RJ, Thompson AB, Ulmer P (1997) Potassium amphibole stability in the upper mantle: an experimental study in a peralkaline KNCMASH system to 8.5 GPa. J Petrol 38:537–568

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Voyer M, Kelley KA, Cottrell E, Hauri EH (2017) Heterogeneity in mantle carbon content from CO2-undersaturated basalts. Nat Commun 8:14062

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Litasov KD, Ohtani E (2009) Solidus and phase relations of carbonated peridotite in the system CaO-Al2O3-MgO-SiO2-Na2O-CO2 to the lower mantle depth. Phys Earth Planet Inter 177:46–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luth RW (1993) Diamonds, Eclogites, and the oxidation state of the Earth’s mantle. Science 261:66–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marty B, Tolstikhin IN (1998) CO2 fluxes from mid-ocean ridges, arcs and plumes. Chem Geol 145:233–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKenzie D, Jackson J, Priestley K (2005) Thermal structure of oceanic and continental lithosphere. Earth Planet Sci Lett 233:337–349

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill HSC, Pownceby MI (1993) Thermodynamic data from redox reactions at high temperatures. I. An experimental and theoretical assessment of the electrochemical method using stabilized zirconia electrolytes, with revised values for the Fe-FeO, Co-CoO, Ni-NiO and Cu-Cu2O oxygen buffers, and new data for the W-WO2 buffer. Contrib Mineral Petrol 114(3):296–314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill HStC, Berry AJ, Mallmann G (2018) The oxidation state of iron in Mid-Ocean Ridge Basaltic (MORB) glasses: Implications for their petrogenesis and oxygen fugacity. Earth Planet Sci Lett 504:152–162

  • Pownceby MI, O’Neill HSC (1994) Thermodynamic data from redox reactions at high temperatures. IV. Calibration of the Re-ReO2 oxygen buffer from EMF and NiO+Ni-Pd redox sensor measurements. Contrib Mineral Petrol 118(2):130–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Righter K, Campbell AJ, Humayun M, Rl H (2004) Partitioning of Ru, Rh, Pd, Re, Ir, and Au between Cr-bearing spinel, olivine, pyroxene and silicate melt. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 68:867–880

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rohrbach A, Schmidt MW (2011) Redox freezing and melting in the Earth’s deep mantle resulting from carbon-iron redox coupling. Nature 472:209–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saal AE, Hauri EH, Langmuir CH, Perfit MR (2002) Vapour undersaturation in primitive mid-ocean-ridge basalt and the volatile content of Earth’s upper mantle. Nature 419:451–455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt MW, Ulmer P (2004) A rocking multianvil: elimination of chemical segregation in fluid-saturated high-pressure experiments. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 68(8):1889–1899

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stagno V (2019) Carbon, carbides, carbonates and carbonatitic melts in the Earth’s interior. J Geol Soc 176:375–387

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stagno V, Frost DJ (2010) Carbon speciation in the asthenosphere: experimental measurements of the redox conditions at which carbonate-bearing melts coexist with graphite or diamond in peridotite assemblages. Earth Planet Sci Lett 300(1–2):72–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stolper E (1980) A phase diagram for mid-ocean ridge basalts: implications for petrogenesis. Contrib Miner Petrol 74:13–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stolper EM, Shortitle O, Antoshechkina PM, Asimow PD (2020) The effect of solid-solid phase equilibria on the oxygen fugacity of the upper mantle. Am Miner 105:1445–1471

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toomey DR, Wilcock WSD, Solomon SC, Hammond WC, Orcutt JA (1998) Mantle seismic structure beneath the MELT region of the East Pacific Rise from P and S wave tomography. Science 280:1224–1227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsuno K, Dasgupta R (2015) Fe-Ni-Cu-S phase relations at high pressures and temperatures—the role of sulfur in carbon storage and diamond stability at mid- to deep- upper mantle. Earth Planet Sci Lett 412:132–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood BJ (1991) Oxygen barometry of spinel peridotites. Rev Mineral Geochem 25:417–432

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodland AB, Koch M (2003) Variation in oxygen fugacity with depth in the upper mantle beneath Kaapvaal craton, South Africa. Earth Planet Sci Lett 214:295–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wyllie PJ, Huang WL (1976) Does CO2 cause partial melting in low-velocity layer of mantle. Geology 4(12):712

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Israel Science Foundation grant (760/18). We appreciate the highly valuable comments of Liz Cottrell and Fred Davis as well as comments from the associate editor, Dante Canil, helping us to significantly improve the quality of the manuscript. We Thank Yael Kempe for the help in the EPMA analyses and Dr. Vladimir Uvarov from the nano-characterization center at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for the help in the XRD analyses.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Earth Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Givat-Ram, 91904, Jerusalem, Israel

    Goni Shahar & Ronit Kessel

  2. Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, 5241 Broad Branch Road, NW, Washington DC, USA

    Yingwei Fei

Authors
  1. Goni Shahar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yingwei Fei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ronit Kessel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ronit Kessel.

Additional information

Communicated by Dante Canil.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (XLSX 51 kb)

410_2021_1842_MOESM2_ESM.tif

Supplementary file2 Figure A1: Calculated temperatures based on the Ca-content in orthopyroxene (Brey et al. 1990) compared to the average temperatures experienced by the capsules [as calculated assuming a gradient of 11°C/mm (Konzett et al. 1997)]. The 1:1 line is also shown for reference. (TIF 77 kb)

410_2021_1842_MOESM3_ESM.tif

Supplementary file3 Figure A2: The calculated fO2 in a capsule as a function of the distance from the buffer at 900oC. The RRO buffer in the upper graph and IW buffer in the lower graph. The thick black line represents the fO2 of the ideal buffers. (TIF 69 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Shahar, G., Fei, Y. & Kessel, R. Melting of carbonate-bearing peridotite as a function of oxygen fugacity: implications for mantle melting beneath mid-ocean ridges. Contrib Mineral Petrol 176, 83 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-021-01842-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-021-01842-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation