Lutetium incorporation in magmas at depth:changes in melt local environment and the influence on partitioning behaviour

International audienceThe structure of two Lu doped (4000 ppm) model end member silicate liquids, a highly polymerised haplogranite (Si-Al-Na-K-O) and a less polymerised anorthite-diopside (Si-Al-Mg-Ca-O), have been studied up to 8 GPa using in situ x-ray diffraction techniques. The results are the first to identify trace rare Earth element incorporation in silicate melts at high pressure. At pressures below 5 GPa, the bonding environment of Lu-O was found to be dependent on composition with coordination number CN Lu−O = 8 and bond distance r Lu−O = 2.36Å36Å in the haplogranite melt, decreasing to CN Lu−O = 6 and r Lu−O = 2.29Å29Å in the anorthite-diopside melt. This compositional variance in coordination number at low pressure is consistent with observations made for Y-O in glasses at ambient conditions and is coincident with a dramatic increase in the partition coefficients previously observed for rare Earth elements with increasing melt polymerisation. With increasing pressure we find that CN Lu−O and r Lu−O remain constant in the haplo-granite melt. However, an abrupt change in both Lu-O coordination and bond distance is observed at 5 GPa in the anorthite-diopside melt, with CN Lu−O increasing from 6 to 8-fold and r Lu−O from 2.29 to 2.39Å39Å. This occurs over a similar pressure range where a change in the P-dependence in the reported rare Earth element partition coefficients is observed for garnet-, clinopyroxene-, and olivine-melt systems. This work shows that standard models for predicting trace elements at depth must incorporate the effect of pressure-induced structural transformations in the melt in order to realistically predict partitioning behaviour

High-Pressure Transformation of SiO2 Glass from a Tetrahedral to an Octahedral Network:A Joint Approach Using Neutron Diffraction and Molecular Dynamics

International audienceA combination of in situ high-pressure neutron diffraction at pressures up to 17.5(5) GPa and moleculardynamics simulations employing a many-body interatomic potential model is used to investigate thestructure of cold-compressed silica glass. The simulations give a good account of the neutron diffractionresults and of existing x-ray diffraction results at pressures up to ∼60 GPa. On the basis of the moleculardynamics results, an atomistic model for densification is proposed in which rings are “zipped” by a pairingof five- and/or sixfold coordinated Si sites. The model gives an accurate description for the dependence ofthe mean primitive ring size hni on the mean Si-O coordination number, thereby linking a parameter that issensitive to ordering on multiple length scales to a readily measurable parameter that describes the localcoordination environment

The fate of carbonate in oceanic crust subducted into earth's lower mantle

We report on laser-heated diamond anvil cell (LHDAC) experiments in the FeO-MgO-SiO2-CO2(FMSC) and CaO-MgO-SiO2-CO2(CMSC) systems at lower mantle pressures designed to test for decarbonation and diamond forming reactions. Sub-solidus phase relations based on synthesis experiments are reported in the pressure range of ∼35 to 90 GPa at temperatures of ∼1600 to 2200 K. Ternary bulk compositions comprised of mixtures of carbonate and silica are constructed such that decarbonation reactions produce non-ternary phases (e.g. bridgmanite, Ca-perovskite, diamond, CO2-V), and synchrotron X-ray diffraction and micro-Raman spectroscopy are used to identify the appearance of reaction products. We find that carbonate phases in these two systems react with silica to form bridgmanite ±Ca-perovskite +CO2at pressures in the range of ∼40 to 70 GPa and 1600 to 1900 K in decarbonation reactions with negative Clapeyron slopes. Our results show that decarbonation reactions form an impenetrable barrier to subduction of carbonate in oceanic crust to depths in the mantle greater than ∼1500 km. We also identify carbonate and CO2-V dissociation reactions that form diamond plus oxygen. On the basis of the observed decarbonation reactions we predict that the ultimate fate of carbonate in oceanic crust subducted into the deep lower mantle is in the form of refractory diamond in the deepest lower mantle along a slab geotherm and throughout the lower mantle along a mantle geotherm. Diamond produced in oceanic crust by subsolidus decarbonation is refractory and immobile and can be stored at the base of the mantle over long timescales, potentially returning to the surface in OIB magmas associated with deep mantle plumes

In situ observation of nanolite growth in volcanic melt:A driving force for explosive eruptions

International audienceAlthough gas exsolution is a major driving force behind explosive volcanic eruptions, viscosity is critical in controlling the escape of bubbles and switching between explosive and effusive behavior. Temperature and composition control melt viscosity, but crystallization above a critical volume (>30 volume %) can lock up the magma, triggering an explosion. Here, we present an alternative to this well-established paradigm by showing how an unexpectedly small volume of nano-sized crystals can cause a disproportionate increase in magma viscosity. Our in situ observations on a basaltic melt, rheological measurements in an analog system, and modeling demonstrate how just a few volume % of nanolites results in a marked increase in viscosity above the critical value needed for explosive fragmentation, even for a low-viscosity melt. Images of nanolites from low-viscosity explosive eruptions and an experimentally produced basaltic pumice show syn-eruptive growth, possibly nucleating a high bubble number density