A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MELILITE AND FASSAITE IN TYPES B1 AND B2 REFRACTORY INCLUSIONS

Abstract

Most of the petrologic data available for Type B inclusions comes from Type B1s. Relatively little comes from the B2s, and there has not been a systematic comparison of the properties of their two most abundant minerals. In this work, we document the compositions and zoning patterns of melilite and fassaite in Type B2 inclusions, and compare and contrast them with the features of their counterparts in Type B1 inclusions. We find that melilite compositions in Type B2 inclusions are similar to those of Type B1s, with maximum ?k contents of ?75 mol % and a positive correlation between ?k and Na2O contents. Asymmetrically zoned melilite is common in Type B2s as are melilite grains with reversely zoned regions, and the reversely zoned portions of crystals are thicker than in B1s. In B2s, like B1s, fassaite is zoned with decreasing Ti, Sc, and V oxide contents from cores to rims of grains. Approximately half of the Ti is trivalent, but unlike that in B1s, within fassaite grains in B2s the Ti3+/(Ti3+ + Ti4+) ratio does not decrease from core to rim, and sharp enrichments ("spikes") in Ti3+ and V are not observed. Sector-zoned fassaite is much more common in B2s than in B1s. The differences we observed can be accounted for by the differences in bulk compositions between B1s and B2s. Type B2 inclusions tend to have higher SiO2 contents, hence higher An/Ge component ratios, than Type B1s. Phase equilibria show that, compared to B1s, in B2s less melilite should crystallize prior to the appearance of fassaite, so that in B2s a higher proportion of melilite cocrystallizes with fassaite, causing more of the crystals to be reversely zoned; more melilite crystallizes while adjacent to other crystals, leading to asymmetrical zoning; and with more liquid available, transport of components to growing fassaite occurs more readily than in B1s, facilitating crystal growth and giving rise to sector zoning. The lack of zoning with respect to Ti3+/Titot and the absence of Ti3+-, V-rich spikes suggest that Type B2 melts maintained equilibrium with the nebular gas throughout crystallization, while the interiors of B1s were probably isolated from the gas, perhaps by their melilite mantles. This makes the similarity of Na-?k relationships in B1 and B2 melilite difficult to understand, but apparently enclosure by melilite mantles was not necessary for the retention of Na2O during crystallization of Type B refractory inclusions. ? 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.