Melt inclusions in olivine from the boninites of New Caledonia: Postentrapment melt modification and estimation of primary magma compositions

Melt inclusions were investigated in olivine phenocrysts from the New Caledonia boninites depleted in CaO and TiO2 and enriched in SiO2 and MgO. The rocks are composed of olivine and pyroxene phenocrysts in a glassy groundmass. The olivine phenocrysts contain melt inclusions consisting of glass, a fluid vesicle, and daughter olivine and orthopyroxene crystals. The daughter minerals are completely resorbed in the melt at 1200–1300°C, whereas the complete dissolution of the fluid phase was not attained in our heating experiments. The compositions of reheated and naturally quenched melt inclusions, as well as groundmass glasses were determined by electron microprobe analysis and secondary ion mass spectrometry. Partly homogenized melts (with gas) contain 12–16 wt % MgO. The glasses of inclusions and groundmass are significantly different in H2O content: up to 2 wt % in the glasses of reheated inclusions, up to 4 wt % in naturally quenched inclusions, and 6–8 wt % in groundmass glasses. A detailed investigation revealed a peculiar zoning in olivine: its Mg/(Mg + Fe) ratio increased in a zone directly adjacent to the glass of inclusions. This effect is probably related to partial water (hydrogen) loss and Fe oxidation after inclusion entrapment. The numerical modeling of such a process showed that the water loss was no higher than a few tenths of percent and could not be responsible for the considerable difference between the compositions of inclusions and groundmass glasses. It is suggested that the latter were enriched in H2O after the complete solidification of the rock owing to interaction with seawater. Based on the obtained data, the compositions of primary boninite magmas were estimated, and it was supposed that variations in melt composition were related not only to olivine and pyroxene fractionation from a single primary melt but also to different degrees and (or) depths of magma derivation.