Experimental study on reactions between alkaline basaltic melt and orthopyroxenes: constraints on the evolution of lithospheric mantle in the North China Craton

The experimental results of the reactions between an alkaline basaltic melt and mantle orthopyroxenes under high-temperature and high-pressure conditions of 1300–1400℃ and 2.0–3.0 GPa using a six-anvil apparatus are reported in this paper.The reactions are proposed to simulate the interactions between melts from the asthenospheric mantle and the lithospheric mantle.The starting melt in the experiments was made from the alkaline basalt occurring in Fuxin,Liaoning Province,and the orthopyroxenes were separated from the mantle xenoliths in Damaping,Hebei Province.The results show that clinopyroxenes were formed in all the reactions between the alkaline basaltic melt and orthopyroxenes under the studied P–T conditions.The formation of clinopyroxene in the reaction zone is mainly controlled by dissolution–crystallization,and the chemical compositions of the reacted melt are primarily infl uenced by the diff usion eff ect.Temperature is the most important parameter controlling the reactions between the melt and orthopyroxenes,which has a direct impact on the melting of orthopyroxenes and the diff usion of chemical components in the melt.Temperature also directly controls the chemical compositions of the newly formed clinopyroxenes in the reaction zone and the reacted melt.The formation of clinopyroxenes from the reactions between the alkaline basaltic melt and orthopyroxenes can result in an increase of CaO and Al_(2)O_(3) contents in the rocks containing this mineral.Therefore,the reactions between the alkaline basaltic melt from the asthenospheric mantle and orthopyroxenes from the lithospheric mantle can lead to the evolution of lithospheric mantle in the North China Craton from refractory to fertile with relatively high CaO and Al 2 O 3 contents.In addition,the reacted melts in some runs were transformed from the starting alkaline basaltic into tholeiitic after reactions,indicating that tholeiitic magma could be generated from alkaline basaltic one via reactions between the latter and orthopyroxene.

An experimental study of interaction between pure water and alkaline feldspar at high temperatures and pressures

Due to the important scientific significance of the interaction between alkaline feldspar and high-temperature and high-pressure fluids. We have conducted a series of autoclave experiments of feldspar dissolution and secondary mineral precipitation in conditions of 250–500℃, 8-50 MPa, and pH = 3.0 and 5.5. Based on the interaction experiments between alkaline feldspar and fluid of high-temperatures and high-pressures, we get the main results as follows:(1) The law that people have grasped below the critical point about the influence of temperature, pressure, and pH value on the alkaline feldspar dissolution behavior is still held above the critical point.(2) Due to the experimental techniques of autoclave flip 180°—sharp quenching and based on electron microprobe analysis of mineral new formed, theoretical analysis has determined that the new altered minerals distributed on the island dissolution surface of feldspar are products of precipitation on a feldspar surface after saturation of the relative ion concentration in water fluid.