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The final lavas of the Siberian flood basalts are a ~1,000 m thick section of meimechites, high-alkali, high-titanium, hydrous lavas that contrast sharply with the tholeiites that precede them. This paper presents a phase equilibrium study indicating that a candidate primary meimechite magma with 1 wt% water originated at ~5.5 GPa and 1,700 degrees C, both hotter and shallower than other estimates for melting beneath continental lithosphere. The experiments also suggest that a higher volatile content was involved in meimechite source genesis. Both the absence of orthopyroxene in any experiment and the close field association with carbonatites suggest that the meimechite source region may have been metasomatized with a CO2-rich fluid. A small additional quantity of CO2 and water would move magma origination to ~1,550-1,600 degrees C. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Many geochemical models of major igneous differentiation events on the Earth, the Moon, and Mars invoke the presence of garnet or its high-pressure majoritic equivalent as a residual phase, based on its ability to fractionate critical trace element pairs (Lu/Hf, U/Th, heavy REE/light REE). As a result, quantitative descriptions of mid-ocean ridge and hot spot magmatism, and lunar, martian, and terrestrial magma oceans require knowledge of garnet-melt partition coefficients over a wide range of conditions. In this contribution, we present new crystal-chemical and thermodynamic constraints on the partitioning of rare earth elements (REE), Y and Sc between garnet and anhydrous silicate melt as a function of pressure (P), temperature (T), and composition (X). Our approach is based on the interpretation of experimentally determined values of partition coefficients D using lattice-strain theory. In this and a companion paper (Draper and van Westrenen this issue) we derive new predictive equations for the ideal ionic radius of the dodecahedral garnet X-site, r 0(3+), its apparent Young's modulus E X(3+), and the strain-free partition coefficient D 0(3+) for a fictive REE element J of ionic radius r 0(3+). The new calibrations remedy several shortcomings of earlier lattice-strain based attempts to model garnet-melt partitioning. A hitherto irresolvable temperature effect on r 0(3+) is identified, as is a pronounced decrease in E X(3+) as Al on the garnet Y site is progressively replaced by quadruvalent cations (Si, Ti) as pressure and garnet majorite content increase. D 0(3+) can be linked to the free energy of fusion of a hypothetical rare-earth garnet component JFe2Al3Si2O12 through simple activity-composition relations. By combining the three lattice-strain parameter models, garnet-anhydrous melt and majorite-anhydrous melt D values for the REE, Y and Sc can be predicted from P, T, garnet major element composition, and melt iron content at pressures from 2.5-25 GPa and temperatures up to 2,573 K, covering virtually the entire P-T range over which igneous garnets are stable in solar system compositions. Standard deviations of the difference between predicted and observed D REE,Y,Sc range from 25% for Er to 70% for Ce, and are not correlated with trace element mass. The maximum error in D prediction (n > 300) is 218% for one measurement of D Dy. This is remarkably low considering the total spread in D values of over four orders of magnitude. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Lunar silicic rocks were first identified by granitic fragments found in samples brought to Earth by the Apollo missions, followed by the discovery of silicic domes on the lunar surface through remote sensing. Although these silicic lithologies are thought to make up a small portion of the lunar crust, their presence indicates that lunar crustal evolution is more complex than originally thought. Models currently used to describe the formation of silicic lithologies on the Moon include in situ differentiation of a magma, magma differentiation with silicate liquid immiscibility, and partial melting of the crust. This study focuses on testing a crustal melting model through partial melting experiments on compositions representing lithologies spatially associated with the silicic domes. The experiments were guided by the results of modeling melting temperatures and residual melt compositions of possible protoliths for lunar silicic rocks using the thermodynamic modeling software, rhyolite-MELTS. Rhyolite-MELTS simulations predict liquidus temperatures of 950-1040 °C for lunar granites under anhydrous conditions, which guided the temperature range for the experiments. Monzogabbro, alkali gabbronorite, and KREEP basalt were identified as potential protoliths due to their ages, locations on the Moon (i.e., located near observed silicic domes), chemically evolved compositions, and the results from rhyolite-MELTS modeling. Partial melting experiments, using mixtures of reagent grade oxide powders representing bulk rock compositions of these rock types, were carried out at atmospheric pressure over the temperature range of 900-1100 °C. Because all lunar granite samples and remotely sensed domes have an elevated abundance of Th, some of the mixtures were doped with Th to observe its partitioning behavior. Run products show that at temperatures of 1050 and 1100 °C, melts of the three protoliths are not silicic in nature (i.e., they have <63 wt% SiO2). By 1000 °C, melts of both monzogabbro and alkali gabbronorite approach the composition of granite, but are also characterized by immiscible Si-rich and Fe-rich liquids. Furthermore, Th strongly partitions into the Fe-rich, and not the Si-rich glass in all experimental runs. Our work provides important constraints on the mechanism of silicic melt formation on the Moon. The observed high-Th content of lunar granite is difficult to explain by silicate liquid immiscibility, because through this process, Th is not fractionated into the Si-rich phase. Results of our experiments and modeling suggests that silicic lunar rocks could be produced from monzogabbro and alkali gabbronorite protoliths by partial melting at T < 1000 °C. Additionally, we speculate that at higher pressures (P ≥ 0.005 GPa), the observed immiscibility in the partial melting experiments would be suppressed.

As a complement to our efforts to update and revise the thermodynamic basis for predicting garnet-melt trace element partitioning using lattice-strain theory (van Westrenen and Draper in Contrib Mineral Petrol, this issue), we have performed detailed statistical evaluations of possible correlations between intensive and extensive variables and experimentally determined garnet-melt partitioning values for trivalent cations (rare earth elements, Y, and Sc) entering the dodecahedral garnet X-site. We applied these evaluations to a database containing over 300 partition coefficient determinations, compiled both from literature values and from our own work designed in part to expand that database. Available data include partitioning measurements in ultramafic to basaltic to intermediate bulk compositions, and recent studies in Fe-rich systems relevant to extraterrestrial petrogenesis, at pressures sufficiently high such that a significant component of majorite, the high-pressure form of garnet, is present. Through the application of lattice-strain theory, we obtained best-fit values for the ideal ionic radius of the dodecahedral garnet X-site, r 0(3+), its apparent Young's modulus E(3+), and the strain-free partition coefficient D 0(3+) for a fictive REE element J of ionic radius r 0(3+). Resulting values of E, D 0, and r 0 were used in multiple linear regressions involving sixteen variables that reflect the possible influence of garnet composition and stoichiometry, melt composition and structure, major-element partitioning, pressure, and temperature. We find no statistically significant correlations between fitted r 0 and E values and any combination of variables. However, a highly robust correlation between fitted D 0 and garnet-melt Fe-Mg exchange and D Mg is identified. The identification of more explicit melt-compositional influence is a first for this type of predictive modeling. We combine this statistically-derived expression for predicting D 0 with the new expressions for predicting E and r 0 outlined in the first of our pair of companion papers into an updated set of formulae that use easy-to-measure quantities (e.g. garnet composition, pressure, temperature) to predict variations in E, r 0, and D 0. These values are used in turn to calculate D values for those garnets. The updated model substantially improves upon a previous model (van Westrenen et al. in Contrib Mineral Petrol 142:219-234, 2001), and accounts well for trivalent cation partitioning in nominally anhydrous systems up to at least 15 GPa, including for eclogitic bulk compositions and for Fe-rich systems appropriate to magmagenesis on the Moon and Mars. The new model is slightly less successful in predicting partitioning with strongly majoritic garnets, although the mismatch is much less than with the original 2001 model. Although it also improves upon the 2001 model in predicting partitioning in hydrous systems, the mismatch between model and observation is still unacceptably large. The same statistical tools were applied in an attempt to predict tetravalent partitioning as well, because lattice-strain based techniques are not applicable to such partitioning. However, no statistically significant predictive relationships emerged from that effort. Our analyses show that future efforts should focus on filling the gap in partitioning data between ~10 and 25 GPa to evaluate more closely the gradual transition of garnet to majorite, and on systematically expanding the hydrous partitioning database to allow extension of our model to water-bearing systems. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Spinel lherzolite xenoliths from Lorena Butte, an alkali basalt cinder cone on the flanks of the Simcoe shield volcano in south-central Washington, are the first mantle xenoliths found in the Pacific Northwest. Several of the xenoliths contain unusually alkaline silicate glass in veins, in fractures, and as a thin film between grain faces. The samples equilibrated at temperatures of 930 to 980°C, and at least one, and possibly two, higher-temperature thermal events are recorded in coexisting ortho- and clinopyroxenes in two samples. The samples reflect oxidizing conditions, from 2.3 to 3.9 log units above the QFM oxygen buffer, near the upper$fO_{2}$limit for spinel lherzolite mantle xenoliths. The Lorena Butte xenoliths afford many opportunities to refine petrologic hypotheses regarding mantle-derived and subduction-related Pacific Northwest magmatism.

Positive europium anomalies are ubiquitous in the plagioclase-rich rocks of the lunar highlands, and complementary negative Eu anomalies are found in most lunar basalts. This is taken as evidence of a large-scale differentation event, with crystallization of a global-scale lunar magma ocean (LMO) resulting in a plagioclase flotation crust and a mafic lunar interior from which mare basalts were later derived. However, the extent of the Eu anomaly in lunar rocks is variable. Some plagioclase grains in a lunar impact rock (60635) have been reported to display a negative Eu anomaly, or in some cases single grains display both positive and neagtive anomalies. Cathodoluminescence images reveal that some crystals have a negative anomaly in the core and positive at the rim, or vice versa, and the negative anomalies are not associated with crystal overgrowths. Oxygen fugacity is known to affect Eu partitioning into plagioclase, as under low fO2 conditions Eu can be divalent, and has an ionic radius similar to Ca2+ - significant in lunar samples where plagioclase compositions are predominantly anorthitic. However, there are very few experimental studies of rare earth element (REE) partitioning in plagioclase relevant to lunar magmatism, with only two plagioclase DEu measurements from experiments using lunar materials, and little data in low fO2 conditions relevant to the Moon. We report on REE partitioning experiments on lunar compositions. We investigate two lunar basaltic compositions, high-alumina basalt 14072 and impact melt breccia 60635. These samples span a large range of lunar surface bulk compositions. The experiments are carried out at variable fO2 in 1 bar gas mixing furnaces, and REE are analysed by and LA-ICP-MS. Our results not only greatly expand the existing plagioclase DREE database for lunar compositions, but also investigate the significance of fO2 in Eu partitioning, and in the interpretation of Eu anomalies in lunar materials.

The fundamental goal of our research is to understand the origin and evolution of the solar system, particularly the terrestrial, \"rocky\" bodies. Our research involves analysis of, and experiments on, astromaterials in order to understand their nature, sources, and processes of formation. Our state-of-the-art analytical laboratories include four electron microbeam laboratories for mineral analysis, four spectroscopy laboratories for chemical and mineralogical analysis, and four mass spectrometry laboratories for isotopic analysis. Other facilities include the experimental impact laboratory and both 1-atm gas mixing and high-pressure experimental petrology laboratories. Recent research has emphasized a diverse range of topics, including: Study of the solar system's primitive materials, such as carbonaceous chondrites and interplanetary dust; Study of early solar system chronology using short-lived radioisotopes and early nebular processes through detailed geochemical and isotopic characterizations; Study of large-scale planetary differentiation and evolution via siderophile and incompatible trace element partitioning, magma ocean crystallization simulations, and isotopic systematics; Study of the petrogenesis of Martian meteorites through petrographic, isotopic, chemical, and experimental melting and crystallization studies; Interpretation of remote sensing data, especially from current robotic lunar and Mars missions, and study of terrestrial analog materials; Study of the role of organic geochemical processes in the evolution of astromaterials and the extent to which they constrain the potential for habitability and the origin of life.