Investigations into ophiolite from California demonstrated that these ultramafic rocks formed within the mantle wedge of a subduction zone. Fore-arc locales are dominated by highly refractory peridotite, formed by hydrous-fractional partial melting that began in the garnet stability field and ended in the spinel stability field. These ophiolites also displayed enriched fluid-mobile element concentrations. Based on melt models, these elements should have extremely low concentrations, yet all pyroxenes display enriched compositions. A new algorithm was derived to model this fluid enrichment process, which represents the total addition of material to the mantle wedge source region and can be applied to any refractory mantle peridotite that has been modified by melt extraction and/or metasomatism. Investigations into the interaction of a mantle plume with continental lithosphere demonstrated that Yellowstone-Snake River Plain olivine tholeiites are compatible with genesis from a deep-seated mantle plume and were modeled via mixing of three components. The variable age, thickness, and composition of North American lithosphere guide this process. Drill core near Twin Falls, ID was examined to assess (1) the chemical evolution of olivine tholeiite, (2) how basalt evolves in continental settings, and (3) the dominant fractionation process, e.g., fractional crystallization, Raleigh fractional crystallization, or assimilation fractional crystallization.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTAHS/oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:etd-2288 |
| Date | 01 August 2012 |
| Creators | Jean, Marlon Mauricio |
| Publisher | DigitalCommons@USU |
| Source Sets | Utah State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | All Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact Andrew Wesolek (andrew.wesolek@usu.edu). |
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