The influence of water on melting of mantle peridotite

This experimental study examines the effects of variable concentrations of dissolved H2O on the compositions of silicate melts and their coexisting mineral assemblage of olivine + orthopyroxene +/- clinopyroxene +/- spinel +/- garnet. Experiments were performed at pressures of 1.2 to 2.0 GPa and temperatures of 1100 to 1345 degrees C, with up to similar to 12 wt% H2O dissolved in the liquid. The effects of increasing the concentration of dissolved H2O on the major element compositions of melts in equilibrium with a spinel Iherzolite mineral assemblage are to decrease the concentrations of SiO2, FeO, MgO, and CaO. The concentration of A1(2)O(3) is unaffected. The lower SiO2 contents of the hydrous melts result from an increase in the activity coefficient for SiO2 with increasing dissolved H2O. The lower concentrations of FeO and MgO result from the lower temperatures at which H2O-bearing melts coexist with mantle minerals as compared to anhydrous melts. These compositional changes produce an elevated SiO2/ (MgO + FeO) ratio in hydrous peridotite partial melts, making them relatively SiO2 rich when compared to anhydrous melts on a volatile-free basis. Hydrous peridotite melting reactions are affected primarily by the lowered mantle solidus. Temperature-induced compositional variations in coexisting pyroxenes lower the proportion of clinopyroxene entering the melt relative to orthopyroxene. Isobaric batch melting calculations indicate that fluid-undersaturated peridotite melting is characterized by significantly lower melt productivity than anhydrous peridotite melting, and that the peridotite melting process in subduction zones is strongly influenced by the composition of the H2O-rich component introduced into the mantle wedge from the subducted slab.