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The rate of ascent of the thermal perturbation of eruptive rock types in the Kenya Dome region can be calculated for depths of origin ranging from greater than 170 km to the lower crust (25-30 km) as combined with dated occurrences. An equation is derived and solved iteratively for ascent velocity at 10 km depth intervals from 150-30 km, assuming a thermal diffusivity of 1 sq mm/sec. For radii of 50 and 100 km and constant gradient increases within the range 55-60 C/km over the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) ascent depth range, the calculated rate of upwelling corresponds well with the results of a simple thermal model of lithospheric thinning. A 1 C/km change in gradient results approximately in a 0.55 Myr change in ascent time from 150 to 30 km, due to the increasing differential between the geotherm and the solidus with decreasing depths and the increasing rate of heat loss to the surface. It is suggested by the temporal-spatial-compositional relations of eruptives in the Kenya Dome region that there is a shallowing of magma source regions with time, implying encroachment of a thermal anomaly.

The suitability of boron nitride for use as a crucible material in silicate and oxygen-bearing metal sulfide systems has been investigated. Boron nitride is unsatisfactory for use with many silicate systems because its presence in combination with a source of oxygen establishes the oxygen fugacity at values below that of the assemblage quartz + fayalite + iron, reducing transition metal ions such as Ni(2+) and Fe(2+) to the metallic state. B2O3, resulting from the oxidation of BN, acts as a flux to promote formation of melt.

When the sulfur content of an Fe-bearing magma exceeds the saturation limit for the bulk composition, an immiscible iron sulfide melt fraction separates. For an understanding of the geochemistry of sulfur-bearing magmatic systems, more information is needed regarding the solubility of metal sulfide in silicate melt at its source and the solubility changes as a function of changing intensive and extensive variables. In the present investigation, the sulfur saturation surface is determined for the pressure range from 12.5 to 30 kbar and the temperature range from 1300 to 1460 C for three silicate melt compositions representing a range of SiO2 and FeO compositions.

Results are presented of a study of some unusual density relations between olivine and coexisting liquid in the system fosterite-fayalite. At 1 atmosphere pressure it is found that olivine floats on its coexisting liquid for intermediate compositions on this binary because of extreme partitioning of Fe into the melt phase. At 20 kilobars, the usual behavior of olivine settling is found to occur because the partitioning of Fe in the melt is reduced, aided possibly by the dissolution of CO2 in the melt from the use of a graphite container. It is determined that olivine flotation and settling are rapid in a time period of only a few hours because viscosities are slightly greater than that of paraffin oil at room temperature. Some adcumulate textures with good triple junction grain boundaries are found to be developed. Observations of differentiated magmatic systems suggest that the mechanisms by which magmas can differentiate vary considerably in the ultramafic to tholeiitic compositional range.

It is shown that partial melting studies at crustal pressures in SiO2-rich portions of the system KAlSiO4-Mg2SiO2-H2O-CO2 can be used in modeling the anatectic origin of charnockites. The univariant reaction phlogopite + sanidine + quartz + vapor = enstatite + liquid yields an SiO2-rich melt (granite analog) at 3 kbar; the vapor composition at the solidus is buffered to high H2O contents by virtue of the coexistence of phlogopite with its breakdown products. With higher pressures (8 and 15 kbar), the fluid phase is buffered to higher CO2 contents and the melt composition becomes enriched in K2O and MgO (charnockite analog). Melting relations are controlled through the expansion of the quartz liquidus field relative to the enstatite and sanidine fields with increasing pressure. It is noted that partial melts generated at the base of the crust in the presence of CO2-rich fluid will be of an alkaline nature and will crystallize enstatite at lower pressures. CO2-saturated melting of similar SiO2-rich bulk compositions (phlogopite-absent) through the reaction enstatite + sanidine + quartz + CO2 - liquid occurs at temperatures above 1000 C to about 15 kbar.