Redox conditions during crystallization of ultramafic and gabbroic rocks of the Yoko–Dovyren massif (Based on the results of measurements of intrinsic oxygen fugacity of olivine)

Abstract

We present the results of electrochemical measurements of the intrinsic oxygen fugacity of olivine separates representing seven rock types from the central part and southwestern termination of the Yoko–Dovyren mafic—ultramafic massif. The \({f_{{O_2}}}\) values were determined using a high-temperature solid-electrolyte double-cell assembly developed at the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences. A total of 59 experiments were performed (from 7 to 16 for each sample) at the atmospheric pressure and within the temperature range of 800–1050°C at the 30–50°C increment. The results were interpreted using the calculated log \({f_{{O_2}}}\) – 1/T(K) and log \({f_{{O_2}}}\) – T(°C) dependences. It was shown that the subsolidus temperature range of the rocks (below ~1050°C) is characterized by lowest intrinsic oxygen fugacity of olivine, which is 1–4 log units below the QFM buffer. For the solidus temperatures of ~1100°C, the more oxidized conditions ranging approximately from QFM to ~QFM-3 were measured. Extrapolating the log \({f_{{O_2}}}\) – T°C dependences to the temperatures of the original magmas (~1200–1300°C) produces the maximum scatter in oxygen fugacities from ~QFM+2.5 to QFM-1. The estimated range of redox conditions for the Dovyren magma crystallization lies between the QFM and ~QFM-2.5 buffer equilibria. This is consistent with the complete absence of primary magmatic titanomagnetite and the presence of ilmenite in the Dovyren rocks.