Experimental Constraints on the Storage Conditions and Differentiation of High-Ti Basalts from the Panzhihua and Hongge Layered Intrusions, SW China

Abstract High-Ti basalts are commonly believed to represent parental magmas leading to the formation of mafic-ultramafic layered intrusions, such as Late Permian Panzhihua and Hongge in the Emeishan Large Igneous Province (SW China). Consequently, elucidation of the crystallisation and crustal differentiation of high-Ti basalts is critical for our understanding of the petrogenesis of these layered intrusions and the associated oxide ore mineralisation. Here, we present the results of crystallisation experiments carried out in internally heated pressure vessels using a primitive high-Ti basaltic composition. The experiments were conducted at 100 and 300 MPa, in the temperature interval of 950–1200 °C and with water activities (aH2O) from 0 to 1. The oxygen fugacity (fO2) was controlled and varied from FMQ −1 to FMQ +3.3 log units (FMQ corresponds to fayalite-quartz-magnetite buffer). The main mineral phases are olivine, clinopyroxene and plagioclase, accompanied by Cr-Fe-Ti-oxides, orthopyroxene, apatite and amphibole, depending on the conditions. Redox conditions primarily influence the stability fields of Cr-Fe-Ti oxides. Clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene and amphibole are pressure-dependent and have larger stability fields under high pressure conditions. The olivine→orthopyroxene and olivine→amphibole peritectic reactions are observed. Comparisons of phase equilibria between this study and experiments conducted with parental magma of Skaergaard layered intrusion demonstrate the effect of bulk system composition. For instance, ilmenite crystallisation is determined not only by intrinsic parameters such as fO2 but also by additional compositional parameters (e.g. melt Ti, Fe, Al and Mg content). Although COMAGMAT and MELTS modelling results generally reproduce the crystallisation sequence, only the stability field of clinopyroxene and its composition are perfectly modelled. The comparison of experimental results with the rocks from the lowest units of Panzhihua and Hongge layered intrusions are applied to constrain storage conditions in the magma reservoirs. Compared to Hongge, we conclude that the Panzhihua magma chamber was probably located at a shallower depth (~3–6 km), that magma crystallisation started at lower temperatures (~1125–1100 °C), higher fO2 (~FMQ + 1 to FMQ + 2) and that its initial melt H2O content was lower (~0.5–1 wt. %).