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The paper presents data on the formation of K–Na richterite in the enstatite + diopside association with K2CO3–Na2CO3–CO2–H2O fluid at 3 GPa and 1000°C as a model for the formation of this mineral in peridotites of the upper mantle. Richterite formation depends on the (H2O + CO2)/(K2CO3 + Na2CO3) and K2CO3/Na2CO3 ratios in the starting material. A high concentration of alkaline components in the fluid leads to the decomposition of clinopyroxene, the formation of olivine, and a change in the component composition of the pyroxene and amphibole. Fluids with a high potassium concentration are favorable for the formation of K-richterite similar in composition to that formed in metasomatized peridotites of the upper mantle. In some cases, such a fluid leads to the decomposition of amphibole and stabilization of alkaline melt. An increase in the activity of the sodium component results in richterite similar in composition to richterite from lamproites. The clarified relations can be used to assess the activities of fluid components and conditions for the formation of K-richterite. To update the data bank of the Raman spectra of minerals, the largest and most homogeneous amphibole crystals of different compositions were studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xenoliths in kimberlites are the most promising material for studying the composition and structure of the lower levels of the continental crust. This study is aimed at the estimation of P–T parameters and fluid regime of metamorphism for garnet–biotite–feldspar and orthopyroxene–garnet–biotite–feldspar rocks found as xenoliths in kimberlites of the Yubileynaya and Sytykanskaya pipes, Yakutian kimberlite province. The seven studied samples show inverse dependences of relative contents of garnet and orthopyroxene, orthopyroxene and biotite, garnet and plagioclase, plagioclase and potassium feldspar. This indicates a consistent series of transformations of the assemblage garnet + plagioclase + orthopyroxene ± quartz to the assemblage garnet + biotite + potassium feldspar. In this process, the replacement of plagioclase by potassium feldspar was the leading reaction. Evidence of this reaction is specific reaction textures in the rocks, negative correlations between the contents of the minerals, and petrochemical characteristics of the rocks. Modeling of the mineral assemblages of the xenoliths using the pseudosection approach (PERPLE_X) revealed two groups of rocks corresponding to different depth levels of the Siberian cratonic crust. For rocks without orthopyroxene or with this mineral as single relics, the pressure was estimated at 9.5–10 kbar, and it is 6–7 kbar for orthopyroxene-bearing samples. The xenolith rocks have close metamorphic peak temperatures of 750–800°C. They experienced 200–250°C cooling and 3–4 kbar decompression, regardless of the level of the crust at which they had initially occurred. This indicates that the metamorphic evolution of the rocks during their exhumation was probably associated with collisional processes during the amalgamation of individual terrains of the Siberian craton. Xenoliths enriched in K-feldspar might have been products of metamorphic reactions with participation of aqueous–(carbonic)–salt fluids, which were sourced from basaltic magmas in the lower crust. The most strongly metasomatized rocks were located closest to the place of accumulation of crystallizing magmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents experimental data on the interaction of amphibole with NaCl–H2O and (K, Na)Cl–H2O solutions at varying salt content. When interacting with H2O–NaCl fluid, amphibole remains the predominant mineral in all experiments, and the newly formed minerals are Na-phlogopite, plagioclase, and nepheline/sodalite. At > 0.6, the amphibole melts. When amphibole interacts with H2O–NaCl–KCl fluid at < 0.40 and ХKCl/(ХKCl + ХNaCl) in the fluid, defined as ХNaCl = 0.506 – 0.84ХKCl, the amphibole is replaced by the association of nepheline with sodic plagioclase, sodalite, and biotite. At ХKCl/(ХKCl + ХNaCl) > 0.3, nepheline, sodalite, and plagioclase become unstable, K-feldspar is formed, and biotite, clinopyroxene, and amphibole remain stable. At ХKCl/(ХKCl + ХNaCl) > 0.5, the association Cpx + Bt + Kfs + Grt (grossular–andradite) is stable. Thus, grossular–andradite garnet is an indicator of a high potassium activity in the fluid, whereas nepheline testifies that the sodium activity was high. Na → K exchange is typical of the amphibole and biotite, and Ca → Na exchange occurs in the clinopyroxene, and all of these minerals (but neither nepheline nor garnet) remain generally stable within a wide range of the K/Na ratio in the fluid. Clinopyroxene in the experiments spans Ca–Fe–Mg compositions with a varying, sometimes high, Al content, and the amphiboles belong to the pargasite–hastingsite series. With an increase in ( > 0.57), i.e., a decrease in the gross salinity of the fluid, melts are generated, and their composition varies from trachyte to phonolite. An increase in the ХKCl/(ХKCl + ХNaCl) ratio in the fluids leads to a decrease in alumina content of the melts. An increase in the total salinity of the fluid leads to an increase in the content of potassium in the melt and a decrease in the content of chlorine in it. The experiments have shown that interaction between amphibole and fluids containing high NaCl and KCl concentrations results in mineral associations typically produced by alkaline metasomatism of amphibole-bearing rocks and concomitant HCl enrichment in the fluid phase. The substitution of highly saline fluids for highly acidic ones leads to the leaching of Ca, Mg, Fe from the metamorphic rocks, and the transport and redeposition of these components. It follows that significant removal of FeO, MgO, CaO from rocks is sometimes a consequence of the interaction of the host rocks with saline aqueous solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The salt components of aqueous and aqueous-carbonic fluids are very important agents of metasomatism and partial melting of crustal and mantle rocks. The paper presents examples and synthesized data on mineral associations in granulite- and amphibolite-facies rocks of various composition in the middle and lower crust and in upper-mantle eclogites and peridotites that provide evidence of reactions involving salt components of fluids. These data are analyzed together with results of model experiments that reproduce some of these associations and make it possible to more accurately determine their crystallization parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of experiments on the synthesis of exotic titanates (priderite and yimengite) simulating metasomatic conditions of alteration of the mantle minerals (chromite and ilmenite) are reported. Ba-free Cr-bearing priderite was synthesized for the first time. Experiments showed the possibility of crystallization of this mineral as a product of the reaction of high-Cr spinel and rutile with hydrous–carbonate fluid (melt) under the conditions of the upper mantle. In particular, the experimental data obtained provide an interpretation of the relationships between K‒Cr priderite and carbonate–silicate inclusions in chromites from garnet peridotite of the Bohemian massif. Experimental study of the reaction of chromite and ilmenite with potassic hydrous–carbonate fluid (melt) shows the presence of both titanate phases (priderite and yimengite), the mineral indicators of mantle metasomatism. This provides direct evidence for the formation of yimengite and K‒Cr priderite, as well as other titanates, due to mantle metasomatism of the upper mantle peridotite under the conditions of the highest activities of potassium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]