Methodology for the study of melt inclusions in Cr-spinel, and implications for parental melts of MORB from FAMOUS area

Melt inclusions trapped in Cr-spinel in mid-ocean ridge picrites (FAMOUS area, Atlantic Ocean) were studied using a heating stage and analyzed with both electron and ion microprobes. This new technique can provide information on the most primitive magma compositions, olivine-spinel-melt compositional relationships, crystallization temperature and geochemical diversity of parental melts. The study of melt inclusions in spinel can be applied to different high-Mg suites to show the effects of shallow level fractionation, mixing and contamination that usually affect the composition of volcanic rocks and glasses.