In situ origin for glass in mantle xenoliths from southeastern Australia: insights from trace element compositions of glasses and metasomatic phases

Abstract

Siliceous, aluminous and alkali-rich glasses, commonly found in patches and veins in spinel peridotite xenoliths, have been attributed to a number of different origins. These include low-degree primary melts of the mantle, exotic metasomatic melts influxing into the lithosphere, or breakdown of amphibole, and other phases during high-temperature transport of the xenoliths to the surface in their host magmas. We present new laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analyses of trace element abundances in glasses, and in metasomatically introduced phases (clinopyroxene, amphibole, phlogopite, apatite) from a suite of spinel wehrlite, Iherzolite and harzburgite xenoliths from southeastern Australia. The majority of glass compositions are best explained by melting of amphibole (usually complete, as amphibole is now absent from most samples) with varying but significant contributions from partial melting of clinopyroxene. However, some glasses require additional components derived from partial or complete modal melting of phlogopite, or apatite. The data confirm our earlier model, that the glass present in patches in these samples derives from high-temperature, transport-related breakdown of a metasomatic phase assemblage (amphibole + clinopyroxene ± phlogopite ± apatite) present in the xenoliths prior to their entrainment in the host magmas.