HR: 08:45h
AN: V31F-04 [Abstracts]
TI: Geothermometers and Geobarometers for Spinel Peridotite Phase Assemblages
AU: * MacGregor, I
EM: macgregori@si.edu
AB:
Synthesis of spinel peridotite phase assemblages that cover a wide range of natural compositions allow for the empirical
determination of a number of geothermometers and geobarometers for exchange reactions between and among
olivine-orthopyroxene-clinopyroxene-spinel phase assemblages. Geothermometers are derived for the reactions that govern the
solubility of Al2O3 in ortho- and clino-proxenes, and Mg-Fe exchange reactions between coexisting silicate and spinel, and
silicate-silicate phase assemblages. The distribution of both Al2O3 and Mg-Fe between/among coexisting phase(s) is governed
by temperature and the Cr2O3 content of the coexisting spinel. The geothermometers are given as multiple linear least square
fits to temperature, composition and distribution coefficients.
The data show that Ca solubility and the Mg-Fe exchange between coexisting pyroxenes is both temperature and pressure
dependent. Linear least square fits to the data provide useful geobarometers for samples where temperature is independently
determined.
The geothermometers and geobarometers are used to estimate temperatures and pressures for selected suites of spinel
peridotities from ultramafic massifs, ocean floor peridotites, xenoliths assemblages in continental alkali olivine basalt
eruptions, kimberlite pipes, and spinel-pyroxene reaction corona encircling garnets in garnet peridotites. The estimated
temperature and pressures all fall in the spinel peridotite stability field and allow useful insights into the tectonic
environments, and processes that govern the formation of the different suites. Systematic differences in estimated
temperatures between Al2O3 and Mg-Fe exchange reactions for the same assemblages help illustrate the petrogenetic history of
the different suites.
DE: 3621 Mantle processes (1038)
DE: 3630 Experimental mineralogy and petrology
SC: Volcanology, Geochemistry, Petrology [V]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005