Experimental investigation of mantle melting in the presence of carbonates

High pressure-temperature experiments are performed at pressures of 2 to 10 GPa and temperatures of 900 to 1600 °C to constrain partial melting of carbonate bearing mantle eclogite and peridotite. Eclogite and peridotite in the presence of CO2 is observed to produce carbonatitic melts at their respective solidi for most parts of Earth's upper mantle. The solidus of carbonated eclogite at 3 GPa is observed to vary significantly with bulk Ca/Mg and Na2O content. But the appropriate solidus of carbonated ocean crust remains hotter than the subduction geotherms up to 260 km, indicating subduction of carbon, in the form of magnesite-eclogite, deep into the mantle. Upwelling mantle eclogite, on the other hand, must release carbonatite at depths >350 km. From experiments at 3 GPa, it is found that carbonated eclogite can generate silicate partial melts that can give rise to silica-undersaturated ocean island lavas. Solidus of carbonated peridotite from 3 to 10 GPa indicates that along an oceanic geotherm, the onset of partial melting happens shallower than that of carbonated eclogite, but still as deep as 300-330 km beneath ridges. Extraction of incipient carbonatite from deep mantle implies efficient removal of highly incompatible trace elements, including carbon, from the mantle. This deep melting likely creates a vast mantle residue that is depleted and fractionated in important trace elements and also might explain many geophysical features of Earth's deep upper mantle. Experiments with peridotite of variable carbonate concentrations also indicate that increasing CO2, unlike H2O, does not cause the isobaric solidus of carbonated peridotite to decrease. Using a new method of iterative sandwich experiments, the detailed composition of near-solidus melt from carbonated peridotite is determined at 6.6 GPa. Near-solidus melt of peridotite + CO2 at a depth of ∼200 km is Fe-Na bearing magnesio-dolomitic carbonatite. Transition from near-solidus carbonatite to carbonated silicate melts at higher temperature is documented for the 3 GPa melting interval of carbonated peridotite. The enhancement of silicate melt fractions in presence of CO2 indicates that CO 2-induced deep silicate melting is a critical in extraction of water from the mantle and thus dehydration induced strengthening of oceanic lithosphere.