Large-ion lithophile elements delivered by saline fluids to the sub-arc mantle

Geochemical signatures of arc basalts can be explained by addition of aqueous fluids, melts, and/or supercritical fluids from the subducting slab to the sub-arc mantle. Partitioning of large-ion lithophile elements between aqueous fluids and melts is crucial as these two liquid phases are present in the sub-arc pressure-temperature conditions. Using a micro-focused synchrotron X-ray beam, in situ X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectra were obtained from aqueous fluids and haplogranite or jadeite melts at 0.3 to 1.3 GPa and 730 degrees C to 830 degrees C under varied concentrations of (Na, K)Cl (0 to 25 wt.%). Partition coefficients between the aqueous fluids and melts were calculated for Pb, Rb, and Sr (D-Pb, Rb, Sr(fluid/melt)). There was a positive correlation between D-Pb, Rb, Sr(fluid/melt) values and pressure, as well as D-Pb, Rb, Sr(fluid/melt) values and salinity. As compared to the saline fluids with 25 wt.% (Na, K) Cl, the Cl-free aqueous fluids can only dissolve one tenth (Pb, Rb) to one fifth (Sr) of the amount of large-ion lithophile elements when they coexist with the melts. In the systems with 13 to 25 wt.% (Na, K) Cl, D-Pb, Rb(fluid/melt) values were greater than unity, which is indicative of the capacity of such highly saline fluids to effectively transfer Pb and Rb. Enrichment of large-ion lithophile elements such as Pb and Rb in arc basalts relative to mid-oceanic ridge basalts (MORB) has been attributed to mantle source fertilization by aqueous fluids from dehydrating oceanic plates. Such aqueous fluids are likely to contain Cl, although the amount remains to be quantified.