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Ophiolite pulses, which are periods of enhanced ophiolite generation and emplacement, are thought to have a relevance to highly active superplumes (superplume model). However, the Cambrian-Ordovician pulse has two critical geological features that cannot be explained by such a superplume model: predominance of subduction-related ophiolites and scarcity of plume-related magma activities. We addressed this issue by estimating the mechanism and condition of magma generation, including mantle potential temperature (MPT), from a ~500 Ma subduction-related ophiolite, the Hayachine-Miyamori ophiolite. We developed a novel method to overcome difficulties in global MPT estimation from an arc environment by using porphyritic ultramafic dikes showing flow differentiation, which have records of the chemical composition of the primitive magma, including its water content, because of their high pressure (~0.6 GPa) intrusion and rapid solidification. The solidus conditions for the primary magmas are estimated to be ~1450 °C, ~5.3 GPa. Geochemical data of the dikes show passive upwelling of a depleted mantle source in the garnet stability field without a strong influence of slab-derived fluids. These results, combined with the extensive fluxed melting of the mantle wedge prior to the dike formation, indicate sudden changes of the melting environment, its mechanism, and the mantle source from extensive fluxed melting of the mantle wedge to decompressional melting of the sub-slab mantle, which has been most plausibly triggered by a slab breakoff. The estimated MPT of the sub-slab mantle is ~1350 °C, which is very close to that of the current upper mantle and may reflect the global value of the upper mantle at ~500 Ma if small-scale convection maintained the shallow sub-slab mantle at a steady thermal state. We, therefore, conclude that the Cambrian-Ordovician ophiolite pulse is not attributable to the high temperature of the upper mantle. Frequent occurrence of slab breakoff, which is suggested by our geochemical compilation of Cambrian-Ordovician ophiolites, and subduction termination, which is probably related to the assembly of the Gondwana supercontinent, may be responsible for the ophiolite pulse.

Silicic magmas categorized "petrogeny's residua system” of Bowen and Tuttle, 1949) are highly polymerized and high in viscosity (> 10^5 Pas depending on water content and other parameters), which is one of the physical properties of magmas that could inhibit magmatic fractionation by making crystal-melt separation difficult (Pitcher, 1997). Diversities of volcanic and intrusive rock suite showing a consistent chemical trend, such as from andesitic to rhyolite in an arc environment and from trachyte to rhyolite in a continental region have been reported from many localities. Some of these cases involve various extent of crustal assimilation through introduction and mingling of silicic melt from partially molten crustal rocks. However, there are many cases, particularly from continental regions, in which extensive fractional crystallization with negligible material input is shown to have played a major role in magmatic fractionation from unequivocal geochemical evidence. One mechanism to cause extensive fractionation of silicic magmas is segregation of fractionated melt from highly crystalline crystal-melt system so-called crystal mush. This mechanism requires compositional convection or a pressure gradient in the interstitial melt. The latter may be attributed to compaction driven by deformation of the melt-crystal system, such as gravity-driven compaction and convection of the mush as a whole. However, actual mechanisms and controlling factors for their operation are still unclear. We address this issue by examining an alkaline ring complex in the continental region, where extensive fractional crystallization without crustal assimilation took place to form diverse rocks from trachybasalt to rhyolite. The Wadi Dib ring complex (WDRC), Eastern Desert in Egypt, consists of multiple circular rings of volcanic and plutonic units. The plutonic rings show zoning progressively more fractionated inwards from the syenite periphery to the central granitic core through the intermediate zone of quartz syenite. The progressive fractionation from the margin to the center, pyrometamorphism in the country rocks neighboring the ring complex and their enclaves only in the periphery of the outer ring, pyrometamorphism in the overlying volcanic unit and the occurrence of their enclaves only in the inner ring, systematic grain size reduction from the outer ring to the granitic core, and high-temperature shear deformation in the outer ring closer to the inner ring suggest that the ring complex formed at a very shallow crustal level under effective and progressive cooling from the surface accompanying localized brittle and ductile deformation. The significant fractionation of acidic rocks of the WDRC is attributed to the development of roof mush zone, which was later collapsed by surpassing strength of the overlying crust and roof mush to induce fractionation of the upper zone of a magma body followed by its intrusion into the shallow-level.

Accurate estimation of the depths of spinel peridotite xenoliths for which reliable geobarometers are not available is imperative to be able to reconstruct the precise structures of the lithosphereasthenosphere boundary (LAB). The LAB can be defined based on thermal, chemical, rheological, and petrological contrasts, and knowing its depth is crucial to understanding mantle dynamics. We attack this problem by examining spinel peridotite xenoliths from Ichinomegata maar in the back-arc side of Northeast Japan Arc. Extensive mineral compositions of nine xenolith samples revealed various patterns of chemical zoning in pyroxenes, suggesting diverse thermal histories. We examined the timescales of development of each zoning pattern and identified minerals, grain portions, and components closely approached equilibrium just before xenolith extraction as orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene, the outermost rims, and Ca-Mg-Fe components, respectively. Applying the best pair of geothermobarometers to the chosen analyses, plausible derivation depths of eight samples were obtained. They range from 0.72–1.6 GPa in pressure and from 830–1080 °C in temperature, which defines a high thermal gradient of 10 K/km or 290 K/GPa. There is an intimate correlation between the zoning patterns of pyroxenes and the depth estimates: pyroxenes in the deeper samples have zoning indicating cooling followed by heating just before xenolith extraction, and those of the shallower samples have zoning indicating monotonic cooling. Depth variations of rock microstructures, grain size of olivine, chemical compositions of minerals, and phase assemblage, including the presence or absence of glass or fluid phase, show that the mantle beneath Ichinomegata consists of two distinct layers. The shallower (28–32 km) layer is granular, less oxidized, amphibole- and plagioclase-bearing, and subsolidus, whereas the deeper (41–55 km) layer is porphyroclastic, amphibole- and plagioclase-free, oxidized, and partially molten. The contrasts between the two layers suggest that the upper layer represents a lithospheric mantle and the lower layer a LAB zone. These layers are similar to those reported from the bottom of subcontinental lithospheric mantle in various aspects, but the LAB beneath Ichinomegata is much shallower (40–60 km) and cooler (~1100 °C). The coincidence of (1) the depth of a rheological transition, marked granular to porphyroclastic textures, and (2) the depth of a phase transition, from subsolidus hydrous peridotite to a hydrous mantle with melt in localized pockets, is the remarkable feature of the LAB beneath Ichinomegata. This suggests that a rheological boundary zone in arc settings is governed by melting of the hydrous mantle and that the underlying asthenosphere is partially molten. The depth-dependent thermal history shown by chemical zoning in pyroxenes and the presence of melt as pockets suggest that the LAB beneath Ichinomegata was in a transient state that was affected by thermal and material transport.

Northwest Africa (NWA) 6704 is a unique achondrite characterized by a near-chondritic major element composition with a remarkably intact igneous texture. To investigate the origin of this unique achondrite, we have conducted a combined petrologic, chemical, and (187)Re–(187)Os, O, and Ti isotopic study. The meteorite consists of orthopyroxene megacrysts (En(55–57)Wo(3–4)Fs(40–42); Fe/Mn = 1.4) up to 1.7 cm in length with finer interstices of olivine (Fa(50–53); Fe/Mn = 1.1–2.1), chromite (Cr# ~ 0.94), awaruite, sulfides, plagioclase (Ab(92)An(5)Or(3)) and merrillite. The results of morphology, lattice orientation analysis, and mineral chemistry indicate that orthopyroxene megacrysts were originally hollow dendrites that most likely crystallized under high super-saturation and super-cooling conditions (1–10(2) °C/h), whereas the other phases crystallized between branches of the dendrites in the order of awaruite, chromite → olivine → merrillite → plagioclase. In spite of the inferred high supersaturation, the remarkably large size of orthopyroxene can be explained as a result of crystallization from a melt containing a limited number of nuclei that are preserved as orthopyroxene megacryst cores having high Mg# or including vermicular olivine. The Re–Os isotope data for bulk and metal fractions yield an isochron age of 4576 ± 250 Ma, consistent with only limited open system behavior of highly siderophile elements (HSE) since formation. The bulk chemical composition is characterized by broadly chondritic absolute abundances and only weakly fractionated chondrite-normalized patterns for HSE and rare earth elements (REE), together with substantial depletion of highly volatile elements relative to chondrites. The HSE and REE characteristics indicate that the parental melt and its protolith had not undergone significant segregation of metals, sulfides, or silicate minerals. These combined results suggest that a chondritic precursor to NWA 6704 was heated well above its liquidus temperature so that highly volatile elements were lost and the generated melt initially contained few nuclei of relict orthopyroxene, but the melting and subsequent crystallization took place on a timescale too short to allow magmatic differentiation. Such rapid melting and crystallization might occur as a result of impact on an undifferentiated asteroid. The O–Ti isotope systematics (Δ(17)O = −1.052 ± 0.004, 2 SD; ε(50)Ti = 2.28 ± 0.23, 2 SD) indicate that the NWA 6704 parent body sampled the same isotopic reservoirs in the solar nebula as the carbonaceous chondrite parent bodies. This is consistent with carbonaceous chondrite-like refractory element abundances and oxygen fugacity (FMQ = −2.6) in NWA 6704. Yet, the Si/Mg ratio of NWA 6704 is remarkably higher than those of carbonaceous chondrites, suggesting significant nebular fractionation of forsterite in its provenance.

International audience; The lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) is a zone where thermal, mechanical, and material interactions take place between the conductive mantle and the underlying convective mantle, and it plays an important role in plate tectonics. In this paper we focus on the thermal aspects of the LAB zone, based on a petrological study of a large peridotite complex that experienced exhumation in the solid state, for the most part. The complex of interest is the Lanzo Massif in the western Alps, northern Italy, where we were able to clarify its thermal and exhumation history and estimate the original thermal structure before exhumation. We examined plagioclase-bearing lherzolites collected from 16 localities, covering the entire massif. All the constituent minerals show compositional heterogeneities on the grain scale. The patterns of Ca, Al, and Cr zoning in pyroxene, the fluorescencecorrected Ca zoning of olivine adjacent to pyroxenes, the Cr and Al zoning of spinel adjacent to plagioclase, and the Ca and Na zoning of plagioclase suggest that an early, nearly isothermal decompression of the Lanzo Massif partly crossing the dry solidus was followed by monotonous cooling through the plagioclase-facies peridotite field. Various deformation microstructures allowed us to specify the timing of the deformation in the framework of the decompression history by carefully observing their relationships with the compositional zoning of the minerals. We show that the deformation took place mainly when effective cooling had started following a period of nearly isothermal exhumation. By applying several geothermometers and evaluating the compositional zoning of the minerals, we were able to quantify the spatial variations in the thermal and decompression history of the Lanzo Massif and constrain the timescales of decompression and cooling. All the estimated temperatures decrease from the southern body towards the northern body. The grain-scale patterns of zoning indicate that the temperatures recorded by the cores of orthopyroxene (1000-1200°C) indicate a long period of residence in the mantle, whereas those recorded by the rims of pyroxenes and the cores and rims of olivine (600-1100°C) represent closure temperatures at various times during the decompression. All the closure temperatures decrease from south to north, while the temperature differences between the cores and rims of orthopyroxene increase. This suggests that the cooler and probably shallower northern body cooled at a relatively slow rate than the hotter and probably deeper southern body. The decrease in temperature of~60 K from south to north, calculated from orthopyroxene cores, may represent the geotherm near the LAB zone. A thermal gradient of~10 K/km is indicated, which is significantly greater than that estimated for deep subcontinental lithosphere in a steady thermal state. Such a high geotherm might have been caused by thermal perturbation from the underlying hotter asthenospheric mantle.

European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2020. Online 4-8 de mayo 2020, Orogenic peridotites are expected to provide direct information with high spatial resolution for a better understanding of the processes taking place in the lithosphere and asthenosphere boundary zones (LABZ), where the transfer mechanisms of heat, material, and momentum from the Earth¿s interior to the surface drastically change. Plagioclase peridotite or olivine-plagioclase assemblage sensu lato has been reported from some orogenic peridotites. The olivine-plagioclase assemblage in fertile systems is in principle not stable even at the depth of the upper most subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) because (1) the common crustal thickness in normal non-cratonic SCLM is ~35km, (2) the Moho temperature for the mean steady-state continental geotherm is much lower than 600°C, (3) the upper stability limit of plagioclase (plagioclase to spinel facies transition) becomes shallower with decrease in temperature, and (4) kinetic barrier for subsolidus reactions in the peridotite system becomes enormous at temperatures below 600°C. The occurrence of olivine-plagioclase assemblage in some orogenic peridotite bodies, therefore, implies transient and dynamic high-temperature (>800°C) processing at depth shallower than 20km (plagioclase-spinel facies boundary at ~800°C), i.e., high-temperature decompression of LABZ up to the depth closer to the Moho. Adiabatic decompression of high-temperature LABZ leading to decompressional melting with inefficient melt segregation may give rise to plagioclase peridotite. Decompression along moderately high temperature adiabatic path or heating to allow subsolidus reactions leading to transformation of either spinel peridotites or garnet peridotites may give rise to plagioclase peridotite. However, decompression of LABZ associated with efficient cooling does not produce any olivine-plagioclase assemblage. Plagioclase peridotites thus could provide precious information on the dynamics of shallowing LABZ and underlying asthenosphere. We have examined several orogenic peridotite complexes, Ronda, Pyrenees, Lanzo, and Horoman, to clarify the extent of shallow thermal processing based on olivine-plagioclase assemblage. The key approach of this study is searching olivine-plagioclase assemblage not only in various lithologies but also in microstructures, whose scale and mode of occurrence provide extent and strength of thermal processing in the shallow upper mantle. The wide-spread occurrence of plagioclase peridotites and localized partial melting in Lanzo suggest exhumation along high temperature adiabatic paths from the thermally structured LABZ in the Seiland subfacies; the predominance of plagioclase peridotites and its localized partial melting in Horoman suggest exhumation along variously heated paths from the garnet stability field; the moderate development of plagioclase peridotites without partial melting in Ronda suggest exhumation along variously but weekly heated paths from the spinel-garnet stability field, and the occurrence of minor plagioclase peridotites in Pyrenees suggests exhumation along cold path from the garnet-spinel facies boundaries. We propose that the extent of shallower thermal processing decreases, and thus lithosphere thinning becomes less extensive in this order.

The South Kitakami Massif is one of the oldest geological domains in Japan having Silurian strata with acidic pyroclastic rocks and Ordovician–Silurian granodiorite–tonalite basement, suggesting that it was matured enough to develop acidic volcanisms in the Silurian period. On the northern and western margin of the South Kitakami Massif, an Ordovician arc ophiolite (Hayachine–Miyamori Ophiolite) and high-pressure and low-temperature metamorphic rocks (Motai metamorphic rocks) exhumed sometime in the Ordovician–Devonian periods are distributed. Chronological, geological, and petrochemical studies on the Hayachine–Miyamori Ophiolite, Motai metamorphic rocks, and other early Paleozoic geological units of the South Kitakami Massif are reviewed for reconstruction of the South Kitakami arc system during Ordovician to Devonian times with supplementary new data. The reconstruction suggests a change in the convergence polarity from eastward- to westward-dipping subduction sometime before the Late Devonian period. The Hayachine–Miyamori Ophiolite was developed above the eastward-dipping subduction through three distinctive stages. Two separate stages of overriding plate extension inducing decompressional melting with minor involvement of slab-derived fluid occurred before and after a stage of melting under strong influence of slab-derived fluids. The first overriding plate extension took place in the back-arc side forming a back-arc basin. The second one took place immediately before the ophiolite exhumation and near the fore-arc region. We postulate that the second decompressional melting was triggered by slab breakoff, which was preceded by slab rollback inducing trench-parallel wedge mantle flow and non-steady fluid and heat transport leaving exceptionally hydrous residual mantle. The formation history of the Hayachine–Miyamori Ophiolite implies that weaker plate coupling may provide preferential conditions for exhumation of very hydrous mantle. Very hydrous peridotites involved in arc magmatism have not yet been discovered except for in the Cambrian–Ordovician periods, suggesting its implications for global geodynamics, such as the thermal state and water circulation in the mantle.

Intra-plate Cenozoic volcanism in Kita-Matsuura, northwestern Kyushu, Japan, shows systematic spatio-temporal changes in geochemistry that can be explained by partial melting followed by melt segregation in a region of upwelling mantle.We have examined the thermal and melting history of the upwelling mantle by quantitatively estimating melt water contents and melting conditions. The water content of a spectrum of primary melts is estimated to range from 0·5 to 1·5 wt % based on a combination of a plagioclaseliquid and olivine-saturated liquid geohygrometers and MELTS calculations. The estimated melt segregation temperature ranges from 1330 to 15008C, at pressures from 1·7 to 2·8 GPa under hydrous conditions. Melting temperature and pressure decreased with time, whereas the water content of the primary melts increased. Corresponding temporal decreases in high field strength element (HFSE) abundances and HFSE/large ion lithophile element (LILE) ratios require progressive melt extraction and aggregation from a melting mantle with a continuous and gradually increasing input of H2O-rich fluid or melt into the melting system. The estimated isotope composition of influxed fluid lies on a mixing line between the sediment and altered oceanic crust of the Philippine Sea Plate, with strong affinity to the sediment composition. Based on the temporal variation of the magmas and the melting model, we propose small-scale upwelling (c. 70 km in diameter) of a dry mantle peridotite that interacts progressively with the overlying wet mantle wedge. The wet mantle wedge was previously hydrated by fluids from sediments from the subducted Philippine Sea Plate, whereas the deep and dry mantle could have been derived from the mantle beneath the subducted Pacific Plate through a slab window.

Major and trace element and Sr^Nd^Pb isotope data for wholerocks and major element data for minerals within basalt samples from the Chugaryeong volcano, an intra-plate back-arc volcanic centre in the central part of the Korean Peninsula, are used to address the process of magma genesis in the deep back-arc region of eastern Asia.There are two lava flow units at Chugaryeong volcano: the Chongok (0·50Ma) and the Chatan (0·15Ma) basalts. These basalts have similar MgO (9·1^10·4 wt %) but exhibit differences in their major and trace element and isotope compositions. The Chongok basalt has higher TiO2, Al2O3, Na2O, K2O, P2O5, Cr2O3, large ion lithophile elements (LILE), high field strength elements (HFSE), and rare earth elements (REE), and lower FeO*, SiO2, and CaO than the Chatan basalt. In addition, the Chongok basalt has more radiogenic Nd/Nd and Pb/Pb, and less radiogenic Sr/Sr and Pb/Pb than the Chatan basalt. Chi-square tests for the major elements indicate that crystal fractionation can explain the chemical variations within each basalt suite; intra-crustal processes, including crystal fractionation and assimilation of continental crust, cannot result in the formation of one basalt suite from the other. The Sr^ Nd^Pb isotopic compositions of the Chongok and Chatan basalts plot on mixing hyperbolae between peridotite mantle xenoliths from the area and a fluid flux derived from a mixture of ancient and recent sediments. The trace element compositions of the estimated primary melts for the two basalt suites suggest different degrees of partial melting of a common enriched mantle source that was metasomatized by a Ba-, K-, Pb-, and Sr-rich fluid. The estimated degree of melting increased with time from 7·5% for the Chongok basalt to 10% for the Chatan basalt. The source mantle for the Chatan basalt is more enriched in Ba and Pb, indicating a greater fluid flux than for the Chongok basalt. This suggests that melting of the source mantle increased with time, sustained by an increased sediment-derived fluid flux from the deeper upper mantle.

The present study aims to constrain the composition of the initial lunar magma ocean (LMO) with fluid dynamic and thermodynamic consideration. A plausible range of the initial LMO composition is investigated by developing an incremental polybaric fractional crystallization model with variable fractionation efficiency to satisfy three conditions for the anorthosite crust formation: (1) the amount of anorthite crystallized from the LMO is abundant enough to form the crust with the observed thickness, (2) the Mg# (=Mg/(Mg + Fe)) of orthopyroxene crystallized with anorthite in the cooling LMO is consistent with that observed in the lunar highland rocks, ferroan anorthosite, and (3) crystallized anorthite separated to float in the turbulent LMO. A plausible range of FeO and Al 2 O 3 contents of the bulk LMO is successfully constrained as a crescent region tight for FeO and loose for Al 2 O 3 . The FeO content must be higher than 1.3 times the bulk silicate Earth (BSE) and lower than 1.8 ×BSE unless the Al 2 O 3 content of the Moon is extremely higher than the Earth. These upper and lower limits for FeO are positively correlated with the initial Al 2 O 3 content and fractionation efficiency. The FeO–rich LMO composition may suggest that the circum-Earth disk just after the giant impact of the Earth–Moon system formation was more oxidizing or the impactor was richer in FeO than the Earth’s mantle.

An isochemical kelyphite (orthopyroxene+spinel+plagioclase) that has nearly the same bulk chemical composition as the precursor garnet was found within a matrix of ordinary kelyphites (orthopyroxene+clinopyroxene+spinel±amphibole) in garnet peridotites from the Czech part of the Moldanubian Zone. It was shown that the kelyphitization of garnet took place in three stages: (1) the garnet-olivine reaction, accompanied by a long-range material transfer across the reaction zone, and (2) the isochemical breakdown of garnet, essentially in a chemically-closed system, and finally, (3) an open-system hydration reaction producing a thin hydrous zone (amphibole+spinel+plagioclase), which is located between the isochemical kelyphite and relict garnet. The presence of relict garnet suggests that this breakdown reaction of the second stage did not proceed to a completion probably being hindered by the formation of the hydrous zone at the reaction front. It was found by electron back-scattered diffraction method that orthopyroxene and spinel do not show any topotaxic relationship in the first type of kelyphite; whereas they show locally topotaxic relationship in the isochemical kelyphite. The transition from the first type to the second type of kelyphite is discussed on the basis of the detailed observations in the transition zone between the two kelyphites. More widespread occurrence of isochemical kelyphite is expected to occur in orogenic peridotites as well as from xenoliths brought by volcanics.

The interdiffusion coefficient of Mg–Fe in olivine (D Mg–Fe) was obtained at 1,400–1,600 °C at the atmospheric pressure with the oxygen fugacity of 10−3.5–10−2 Pa using a diffusion couple technique. The D Mg–Fe shows the anisotropy (largest along the [001] direction and smallest along the [100] direction), and its activation energy (280–320 kJ/mol) is ~80–120 kJ/mol higher than that estimated at lower temperatures. The D Mg–Fe at temperatures of >1,400 °C can be explained by the cation-vacancy chemistry determined both by the Fe3+/Fe2+ equilibrium and by the intrinsic point defect formation with the formation enthalpy of 220–270 kJ/mol depending on the thermodynamical model for the Fe3+/Fe2+ equilibrium in olivine. The formation enthalpy of 220–270 kJ/mol for the point defect (cation vacancy) in olivine is consistent with that estimated from the Mg self-diffusion in Fe-free forsterite. The increase in the activation energy of D Mg–Fe at >1,400 °C is thus interpreted as the result of the transition of diffusion mechanism from the transition metal extrinsic domain to the intrinsic domain at the atmospheric pressure.

— The role of oxygen isotope exchange during evaporation and condensation of silicate melt is quantitatively evaluated. Silicate dusts instantaneously heated above liquidus temperature are assumed to cool in gas and experience partial evaporation and subsequent recondensation. The results show that isotopic exchange effectively suppresses mass-dependent O-isotope fractionation even if the degree of evaporation is large, which is the fundamental difference from the case without isotopic exchange. The final composition of silicate melt strongly depends on the initial abundance of oxygen in the ambient gas relative to that in silicate dust, but not on the cooling rate of the system. The model was applied to O-isotope evolution of silicate melts in isotopically distinct gas of the protoplanetary disk. It was found that deviation from a straight mixing line toward the δ18O-rich side on the three-oxygen isotope diagram is inevitable when mass-dependent fractionation and isotopic exchange take place simultaneously; the degree of deviation depends on the abundance of oxygen in an ambient gas and isotopic exchange efficiency. The model is applied to explain O-isotopic compositions of igneous CAIs and chondrules.

Congruent evaporation of a crystalline material in vacuum is an extreme reaction in that backward reactions and transport processes in the reactant can be neglected. The evaporation is strongly governed by surface processes and intrinsic nature of the substance. A thorough knowledge of the atomistic evaporation mechanism is fundamental for better understanding reaction kinetics between gas and condensed materials in general. We have conducted a series of evaporation experiments of forsterite in vacuum for crystallographically oriented surfaces at 1500 to 1810 °C. The (100), (010), and (001) surfaces developed their own morphology characterized by evaporation pits and grooves originated from dislocation outcrops. Nominal overall evaporation rate (average retreat rate of a surface) shows significant anisotropy with the maximum difference by a factor of five below 1740 °C. The overall evaporation rates for individual surfaces are fitted with respective Arrhenius relationships, giving the highest activation energy for (100), intermediate for (001), and the lowest for (010). The anisotropy decreases to within 50% at ~1800 °C, which is caused by enhancement of evaporation from (010) owing to preferential evaporation around dislocation outcrops. “Intrinsic evaporation rates” estimated by subtracting contributions of initial roughness and the preferential evaporation around dislocations from the nominal overall evaporation rates show substantial anisotropy even at ~1800 °C. The “intrinsic evaporation rate” for (010) is adequately fitted by an Arrhenius relationship over the examined temperature range giving a single activation energy of 655 kJ/mol. The prevalence of steps with submicrometer to nanometer-scale height shows that forsterite evaporates mostly by layer-by-layer mechanism. The only exception is the (001) surface above ~1650 °C, on which such steps are absent except for surface-parallel minor facets which are rapidly diminishing with time. The (001) surface is inferred to evaporate by direct detachment mechanism at high temperatures. The change of evaporation mechanisms for (001) at around 1650 °C corresponds to a rough-smooth transition kinetically induced by an atomistic evaporation process.

Os isotopic composition (Os/Os = 0.1235) of a refractory harzburgite in the Hayachine-Miyamori ophiolite is subchondritic, indicating the long-term depletion of Re. Such an unradiogenic Os isotopic signature is consistent with the less oxidized condition at subduction initiation. The major and trace element characteristics of the harzburgite, together with its petrography and relatively high modal abundance of clinopyroxene, suggest an involvement of a carbonate-rich silicate melt during melt extraction in arc setting.

The mechanism of fractionation in a sheet-like magma body was investigated based on observations from the Nosappumisaki intrusion, northern Japan. This is one of a number of late Cretaceous shoshonite sills in the Nemuro peninsula and has a compound structure comprising a bottom cumulate zone containing � 50 vol. % cumulus crystals and a overlying middle zone free of such cumulus crystals. These zones are sandwiched between porphyritic rocks of upper and lower chilled and marginal zones. It is inferred that massive crystal settling or flotation from a magma initially laden with � 20 vol. % of crystals (primocrysts) in a sheet-like magma body formed a cumulus pile and an overlying crystal-free melt layer. After the formation of the compound structure with partial freezing of the upper and lower marginal zones, the internal part of the intrusion slowly solidified. During this period the melt in the central part of the intrusive sheet underwent fractional crystallization. This is shown by patterns of vertical variation in the composition of the interstitial melt. The overall patterns are inverted (mirrorimage) S-shaped and S-shaped for incompatible and compatible elements, respectively. The incompatible element abundances show maxima near the bottom of the middle zone, which corresponds to the final solidification horizon. They show minima in the cumulate zone, which suggests discharge of an evolved melt from the crystal pile. Fractionation is inferred to have taken place via compositional convection without settling of crystals grown after the intrusion event or collapse of the upper boundary layer.The melt in the central melt layer descended into the permeable crystal pile counterbalancing discharge of buoyant evolved melt formed by crystallization of the pore melt in the crystal pile.This conclusion is based on the following observations. (1) There is no accumulation of crystals grown after the intrusion of the magma above the cumulate zone. (2) Leucocratic pipe-like structures, which represent relict pathways for the evolved melt, are developed in the cumulate zone.These structures increase in diameter, decrease in number density, and increase in abundance of incompatible elements with height. (3) Cumulus augite in the cumulate zone has Ca-rich and Al-poor dissolved rims. The extent of dissolution increases with stratigraphic height, suggesting downwelling of an H2O-rich melt from the overlying melt layer. (4) There is no evidence for extensive compaction accompanying pore melt crystallization in the main part of the cumulate zone. (5) The initial melt composition estimated from the groundmass of the chilled margin rocks and the average composition of the material interstitial to the primocrysts for the whole sill are statistically identical. A mass-balance model for compositional convection was constructed to quantify the melt transportation processes. Model parameters were optimized by fitting the observed vertical variation of the interstitial melt compositions. The optimized results suggest that the evolved melts discharged from the crystal pile and rose through the central melt layer as plumes with minor mingling with the surrounding melt. The initially formed compound structure is a highly preferential environment for compositional convection.

Homogeneous fractionation, involving crystal nucleation, growth, and separation from a melt-dominant magma, and boundary-layer fractionation, involving the separation of a fractionated interstitial melt from a crystal-dominant boundary layer and its mixing with the main magma body, have been advocated as two major differentiation mechanisms in a crustal magma chamber. In this study, we focus on one of the dolerite sills in the Aosawa area, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, to elucidate the roles of the two mechanisms in the differentiation of a sheet-like magma body. The intrusion is concordantly intruded into black mudstone and is ∼ 100 m thick and more than 5 km in lateral extension. The chilled margins contain olivine (5.3 vol%) and plagioclase (1.9 vol%) as phenocrysts. There is an absence of clinopyroxene in the chilled margins, and there are systematic sill-scale variations in the whole-rock major- and trace-element contents that require the addition or removal of clinopyroxene. These findings suggest sill-scale differentiation, involving the transportation of crystals that nucleated and grew in the sill, and/or the transfer of the residual melt. The downward increases in mode and size of clinopyroxene and in the size of the most dominant plagioclase, all with maxima near the bottom, and the occurrence of pigeonite rimming augite only near the bottom, suggest a slower cooling rate in the lower boundary layer compared to the upper one. Clinopyroxene crystals with Cr-rich cores that show textures suggesting rapid growth, such as remarkable sector zoning, melt inclusions, and small euhedral plagioclase, are more abundant at 5-15 m above the lower contact. These observations lead us to believe that clinopyroxene nucleated and grew near the upper boundary layer, where large supersaturation occurred, and then settled to concentrate in the lower boundary layer, where slower cooling provided suitable conditions for pigeonite crystallization. The upward increase in the incompatible elements and the decrease in compatible elements from the zone containing a high concentration of Cr-rich clinopyroxene suggest that a fractionated melt, which was formed through enhanced overgrowth on settled clinopyroxene, was transported upwards. The sill-scale magmatic differentiation in the Aosawa dolerite intrusion took place through crystal settling from the roof boundary layer, followed by the upward transportation of the fractionated melt from the bottom boundary layer. The lower-boundary-layer fractionation was probably very effective because the settling of the crystals thickened the bottom boundary layer to facilitate an effective melt-crystal separation.

Crystalline silicates are observed in many protoplanetary disks and some dust shells around evolved stars. The peak positions of infrared (IR) spectra of forsterite, which is the most abundant circumstellar silicate, vary with dust temperature, composition, size, and crystallinity. However, there is another important factor that affects IR spectra, which is the shape with a specific crystallographic orientation called the crystallographically anisotropic shape. We focused on anisotropic evaporation of crystalline forsterite as one of the possible processes that change the crystallographically anisotropic shape of forsterite grains, and carried out evaporation experiments of single crystals of forsterite in hydrogen gas (0.01-10 Pa) and at temperatures of 1150-1660°C. Forsterite evaporated anisotropically in all experimental conditions, and the anisotropy depended on temperature and hydrogen gas pressure. The results enabled us to calculate crystallographically anisotropic shapes of heated forsterite as a function of temperature and hydrogen pressure, and their corresponding IR spectra. Distinctly, different sets of peak positions were seen in IR spectra of grains with different combination of shapes and their orientation reflecting the heating conditions. The results were applied to the IR spectrum of a protoplanetary disk, HD100546, which suggests that forsterite dust particles that experienced evaporation exist with dominant secondarily fragmented forsterite formed by small-body collisions. We propose that detailed IR spectroscopy of forsterite, and probably other anisotropic crystals, is a new tool to estimate temperature and pressure conditions of circumstellar environments where dust formed.

Systematic petrological, geochemical, and chronological studies of Cenozoic intra-plate volcanism in southwesternJapan, in the KitaMatsuura area in northwestern Kyushu, reveal temporal and spatial changes in mantle melting processes on a time scale of 2 5 Myr and a horizontal scale of 35 km.The most extensive basaltic activity in the area occurred between 8 5 and 6 0 Ma. Four vertical sections through the volcanic sequence from the underlying basement to the top flows were studied to encompass the distribution of the KitaMatsuura basalt. In the central and western sections (Hirado, Senryu, and Ishimori) there is a temporal variation in the chemical composition of the basalts: volcanism initiated eruption of mildly alkaline basalts (lowto medium-SiO2 group) followed by major flows of sub-alkaline basalt (mediumto high-SiO2 group). The eastern section (Kunimi section) is characterized by mildly alkaline basalts (low-SiO2 group). Each SiO2 group has a distinctive phenocryst assemblage and major element composition. The Zr/Y, Nb/Th, and Nb/Y ratios of the Kita-Matsuura basalts are positively correlated, which cannot be explained by assimilation of crustal materials but instead is linked to melting processes in the mantle. The average segregation depth of the inferred parental magmas of the three groups decreases in the order of SiO2 enrichment, indicating a temporal decrease in melt segregation depth in the central and western sections.The correlation between Zr/Yand Nb/Y can be reproduced by a series of instantaneous melts resulting from decompressional critical melting of a primitive mantle source with 2% trapped melt. In each section, both Zr/Yand Nb/Y decrease upwards, which implies an increase in the degree of melting with time. The temporal and spatial variations in basalt chemistry are most plausibly accounted for by progressive melt extraction during mantle upwelling, which started in the garnet stability field ( 3 0 GPa) and ended in the spinel field ( 1 5 GPa). Upwelling was centred beneath the Hirado section, in the westernmost area in KitaMatsuura, with a diameter inferred to be greater than 70 km.

Diffusion coefficients of Cr and Al in chromite spinel have been determined at pressures ranging from 3 to 7 GPa and temperatures ranging from 1,400 to 1,700°C by using the diffusion couple of natural single crystals of MgAl2O4 spinel and chromite. The interdiffusion coefficient of Cr–Al as a function of Cr# (=Cr/(Cr + Al)) was determined as D Cr–Al = D 0 exp {−(Q′ + PV*)/RT}, where D 0 = exp{(10.3 ± 0.08) × Cr#0.54±0.02} + (1170 ± 31.2) cm2/s, Q′ = 520 ± 81 kJ/mol at 3 GPa, and V* = 1.36 ± 0.25 cm3/mol at 1,600°C, which is applicable up to Cr# = 0.8. The estimation of the self-diffusion coefficients of Cr and Al from Cr–Al interdiffusion shows that the diffusivity of Cr is more than one order of magnitude smaller than that of Al. These results are in agreement with patterns of multipolar Cr–Al zoning observed in natural chromite spinel samples deformed by diffusion creep.

Two glassy refractory Al-rich chondrules in Semarkona (LL3.0), the most primitive unequilibrated ordinary chondrite, provide direct evidence for condensation of Si and Mg on melt droplets during cooling. The chondrules are completely rounded, rich in Ca and Al, and poor in Fe and alkalis. They have extraordinarily abundant glass (70–80 vol%) with a subordinate amount of forsterite as the only crystalline phase that occurs mostly rimming the chondrule edge. The groundmass glass is concentrically zoned in terms of Si with an outward increase, which is overlapped with local heterogeneity of Mg and Al induced by crystallization of forsterite. The outward increase of Si, mostly compensated by Al, cannot be formed solely by crystallization of forsterite from a homogeneous melt in a closed system. Combined with skeletal or dendritic morphology and sector zoning of forsterite, it is suggested that Si condensed onto totally molten droplets (“initial melts”) accompanied by nucleation and rapid growth of forsterite with lowering temperature. The “initial melts”, the compositions of which were estimated from the Ca contents of the first crystallized forsterite, are very similar to Type C CAI but are notably poorer in Mg and Si than the bulk chondrules, indicating condensation of Mg in addition to Si with an atomic ratio of Mg:Si ∼ 3:2. The condensation after the nucleation of forsterite took place below ∼1300 °C under cooling at ∼70 °C/h and amounted to 30 wt% of the current chondrule. This study suggests a model that a short-time and local shock heating event induced melting of Type C CAI and concomitant evaporation of dusts, ferromagnesian chondrules of earlier generation, and their fragments to generate Mg and Si-rich gas, which condensed onto the melt droplets upon cooling accompanying condensation of Type I chondrules.

The Hayachine–Miyamori (HM) ophiolitic complex in the Kitakami Mountains, northeastern Japan consists of ultramafic tectonite and cumulate members. The most fertile lherzolites have mineral and trace element compositions similar to those of abyssal peridotites. They show 350–430 Ma Nd depleted mantle model ages, which are within the range of the K–Ar emplacement ages obtained from intrusive gabbroic rocks, suggesting a partial melting event just before the emplacement. The measured 143 Nd/ 144 Nd ratio of clinopyroxene in the tectonite peridotites shows positive correlation with 147 Sm/ 14 4 Nd and decreases with increasing refractoriness, which cannot be explained by a simple melting and melt extraction to a various extent followed by radiogenic ingrowth. It clearly suggests influx of a melt/fluid enriched in highly incompatible trace elements during melting. Time corrected isotopic compositions of the HM complex exhibit a clear island arc signature with uniform initial isotopic ratio ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr = 0.7035–0.7041, e Nd = + 7.8–+ 5.0). Application of an open-system melting model to the observed trace element abundances in clinopyroxene suggests influx of three distinct agents to the HM mantle with the following characteristics: (1) moderate enrichment in highly incompatible elements with negative anomalies of Sr and Zr; (2) extensive enrichment of highly incompatible elements with positive Sr and negative Zr anomalies; and (3) extensive enrichment of highly incompatible elements with positive anomalies of Sr and Zr. These characteristics cover a variety of slab-derived components proposed in the literatures, suggesting the agents responsible for the open-system melting in the HM ophiolite might represent full spectrum of slab-derived components from back-arc to fore-arc regions of the Ordovician island arc system.

Symplectites, fine vermicular intergrowth (< 10 μm) of orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and spinel, and the sur- rounding lenticular coarser-grained (100-200 μm) aggregate (seam) with the same mineral assemblage of the symplectites define remarkable foliation and lineation in spinel lherzolites of the Horoman complex, northern Japan. They are inferred to be products of reaction between garnet and olivine during decompression of the host peridotite accompanying deformation. Microstructure of a symplectite was investigated with automated electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) analysis using a field -emission gun SEM (FE-SEM) in order to clarify reaction and deformation mechanisms and thereby better constraining mechanical interaction between the Earth's upper mantle and lower crust. The symplectite is composed of two segments with a large misorien- tation angle of ~ 60° only for spinel, and the two spinel crystals are in mirror symmetry with the segment boundary approximately parallel to the mirror plane. The segment boundary is interpreted as spinel law twin formed during phase transition from garnet. Each segment is further subdivided into several sectors with grad- ual lattice distortion smaller than a few degrees/mm and intra-sector misorientation mostly smaller than 25° for all constituent minerals and with misorientation axes nearly perpendicular to the lineation and parallel to the foliation. The sector boundaries are inferred to be subgrain boundaries formed by dislocation creep of py- roxenes and spinel in the spinel stability field. The spinel twin suggests that a garnet was decomposed directly into entangled aggregate of pyroxenes and spinel, which grew from an embryo nucleated on the surface of the reactant garnet. The symplectite minerals in each sector show systematic crystallographic orientations (topo- taxy) with each other. The topotaxial relationship in the fine intergrowth with subgrain structure demonstrates that the systematic crystallographic orientations were acquired when the crystals grew by decomposing the garnet and were later modified by deformation during the consecutive ascent of the complex.

Evaporation of solid materials under low-pressure conditions could play important roles in chemical and isotopic fractionations in the early solar system. We have studied anisotropy of isotopic fractionation of 26Mg and 25Mg during kinetic evaporation of forsterite (Mg2SiO4), which is potentially a powerful tool to understand thermal histories of crystals in the early solar system. Ion-microprobe depth profiling revealed that the Mg isotopic zoning profiles of forsterite evaporated at 1500–1700 °C are notably differing along the a-, b-, and c-axes, which can be attributed to anisotropy in self-diffusion coefficient of Mg (D) and an isotopic fractionation factor for evaporation of Mg (α). The D and α were obtained from zoning profiles by applying the diffusion-controlled isotopic fractionation model of Wang et al. [1999. Evaporation of single crystal forsterite: Evaporation kinetics, magnesium isotope fractionation, and implications of mass-dependent isotopic fractionation of a diffusion-controlled reservoir. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 63(6), 953–966.]. The D is largest and smallest along the a- and c-axes, respectively. The activation energy of 560–670 kJ/mol indicates that Mg diffusion at 1500–1700 °C occurred in the intrinsic diffusion regime. The α seems to be larger along the a- or c-axes than along the b-axis. The α along the a- or c-axes show weak temperature dependence. The α along all the crystallographic orientations is closer to unity than that expected from the kinetic theory of gases. These lines of evidence suggest that surface processes such as breaking of bonds and surface diffusion are responsible for the isotopic fractionation.

Processes of crystal separation in a magma heavily laden with crystals without phase change are investigated from observations on frozen magma systems: Nosappumisaki and other shoshonite intrusions in the Nemuro peninsula, Japan, for which the origin of the crystals and the initial conditions are well constrained. The Nosappumisaki intrusion is 120 m in thickness and extends for more than 1� 5 km. It exhibits a wide range of lithological variation, principally as a result of crystal redistribution after intrusion. Crystals in each lithology can be clearly divided into two kinds according to their composition and texture: those present before the intrusion of the magma (‘ phenocrysts’) and those that crystallized in situ after intrusion. From the vertical change in mode and size of ‘ phenocrysts’, it is shown that (1) augite ‘ phenocrysts’ were rapidly deposited, with little overgrowth after intrusion, by significant coagulation or clustering on a time-scale of more than a few years, and (2) plagioclase ‘ phenocrysts’, definitely denser than the melt but concentrated in the upper level, floated by counter flow of massive deposition of augite ‘ phenocrysts’. These results indicate that in a magma heavily laden with crystals of a few millimeters in size (>20 vol. %), crystal–crystal and crystal–melt interaction play an important role in the separation of crystals from the host melt.