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An experimental study on a minette and its associated mica-clinopyroxenite xenolith from the Milk River area, southern Alberta, Canada
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- Author / Creator
- Funk, Sean P
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Buhlmann et al. (2000) studied the minettes and xenoliths from southern Alberta, Canada. They hypothesized that the minettes were derived from a source containing phlogopite + clinopyroxene at pressures ≥ 1.7 GPa. To test this hypothesis, we investigated 1) the liquidus mineralogy of a primitive minette; and 2) the melting reactions of a mica + clinopyroxene assemblage. For the minette, we found a multiple saturation point at 1.77 GPa and 1350°C, where liquid coexists with orthopyroxene and olivine. Neither phlogopite nor clinopyroxene were found to be liquidus phases. We suggest that our minette is not primary, but had re-equilibrated with harzburgitic mantle subsequent to formation. For our mica-clinopyroxenite assemblage, we found the solidus is at temperatures above a cratonic geotherm, implying that this mica-clinopyroxenite is stable in a craton. The composition of the melts from our experiments are similar to madupitic lamproites from Leucite Hills, Wyoming, studied by Carmichael (1967).
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- Subjects / Keywords
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- Graduation date
- Fall 2012
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Master of Science
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- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.