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Litasov & Ohtani 2003
Litasov, K. and Ohtani, E. (2003). Hydrous solidus of CMAS-pyrolite and melting of mantle plumes at the bottom of the upper mantle. Geophysical Research Letters 30: doi: 10.1029/2003GL018318. issn: 0094-8276.

We showed in previous experiments that the melting temperature of hydrous pyrolite, at the transition boundary between wadsleyite and olivine, is abruptly reduced by the presence of 2 wt.% H2O. In this paper we determine the apparent solidus for CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-pyrolite with lower and geologically more reasonable H2O contents (0.5 wt.%). Phase relations and melt compositions have been determined at pressures of 13.5--17.0 GPa and temperatures of 1600 to 2100¿C. There was no abrupt decrease of solidus temperature along the phase boundary between olivine and wadsleyite in pyrolite with 0.5 wt.% H2O. However significant gradual decrease of the solidus temperature at pressures below 15--16 GPa still supports previous models for a hydrous origin of some ancient komatiites by dehydration melting of rising wet plumes at pressures of 4--10 GPa.

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Abstract

Keywords
Geochemistry, Composition of the mantle, Mineralogy and Petrology, Experimental mineralogy and petrology, Mineral Physics, High-pressure behavior, Tectonophysics, Earth's interior--composition and state
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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