Baker et al. report an experimental study at pressures of 1 GPa (1,000 million Pa) to determine the composition of a silicate melt produced at anhydrous, near-solidus conditions from a lherzolite composition. They obtained a composition at 1,250 °C with -57% Si0₂ and -5.7% Na₂0, which is 'andesitic' in the sense of its low normative diopside (5% ), high normative hypersthene (> 15%) and high normative plagioclase (> 75%, andesine). These results conflict with earlier conclusions that anhydrous melts of fertile lherzolite at 1 GPa are basaltic, with ~15-20% normative diopside, > 10% normative olivine and, at low degrees of melting, nephelinenormative. From our own experience and experimental tests, we suggest the following possible explanations for the observations of Baker et al.

Item Type:	Contribution to Refereed Journal
Research Division:	Earth Sciences
Research Group:	Geology
Research Field:	Igneous and metamorphic petrology
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding knowledge in the earth sciences
UTAS Author:	Falloon, TJ (Dr Trevor Falloon)
ID Code:	8240
Year Published:	1996
Web of Science® Times Cited:	26
Deposited By:	Earth Sciences
Deposited On:	1996-08-01
Last Modified:	2019-08-28
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