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The effect is similar to salt on ice. Ice alone is a single component system with a melting temperature (solidus and liquidus, the temperature at which only liquid is present) of 0 degrees C. The addition of salt, NaCl (Halite), results in a multi-component system with a lower melting point. In the Earth, the presence of water during melting can greatly affect the composition of the melt. This is not true of salt on ice. Melt is less dense than solid: Melts are buoyant and will ascend if possible. Melts produced at depth migrate upwards, often a long way (50 km or more!). Putting these four concepts together, we can explain the occurrence of melt. We find from global studies that melts occur in three settings: mid-ocean ridges, subduction zones and hotspots. The cause of melting and composition of the melt produced varies between the three. 1. Mid-ocean ridges: By far and away the most productive source of magma, generation of melt at mid-ocean ridges is entirely responsible for production of oceanic crust (which is Gabbro and Basalt). At ridges, the crust and upper mantle is pulled apart (rifted), allowing hot mantle rock to ascend. As the rock ascends, the pressure acting on it decreases and so does its melting point (solidus). If it ascends faster than heat can conduct out of it, it will melt. This means of melting, known as pressure-release melting, usually results in a 1 to 10% partial melt, implying that a large amount of rock must be affected to produce the oceanic crust. The upper mantle is Peridotite. When this is partially melted, it produces a melt of gabbroic composition. 2. Subduction zones: Responsible for the ring of fire, melt production above subduction zones seems, at first glance, counterintuitive. Remember that at subduction zones one plate is diving beneath another. The descending plate is cooler than the mantle it sinks through, so why is there melt? The reason is water. Water is released from hydrated minerals, chiefly the Amphiboles, Clays, and Micas. This is because water in these minerals is only stable at low pressures, not the higher pressures of the mantle. The release of water lowers the solidus temperature of the mantle above the subducting plate (or slab). As a result, partial melting takes place. As mentioned earlier, the presence of water during melting can affect the composition of the melt. Whereas gabbroic melts are produced by the partial melting of peridotite at mid-ocean ridges, gabbroic to granitic magmas can be produced in subduction zones. The magma ascends through the mantle and crust. During the ascent, the magma interacts with the surrounding rocks. When magma ascends through oceanic crust, the magmas that emerge are gabbroic to dacitic (basaltic to andesitic). When they ascend through continental crust, they emerge as dacites, granodiorites and granites (andesites to rhyolites). By far the most
common rock produced is dacite/andesite. In fact, the name andesite comes from the Andes, an example of subduction zone volcanism on continental crust. 3. Hotspots/Mantle plumes: The last place we find melts is in hot spots. Hot spots got their name because they are either large igneous rocks provinces or linear chains of volcanoes that seem to arise from a single point. Examples of hot spots are: the Hawaiian island chain, the Snake River plain and Iceland. The presence of melt here is exceptional since there need not be anything anomalous happening in the crust and upper mantle. In this setting, magma ascend from very deep in the Earth's mantle, probably from the boundary between the core and the base of the mantle. Melting can occur here because of the very high temperatures within the core and the resultant flow of heat out into the mantle. The magmas produced are basaltic and are more or less identical to midocean ridge basalts.
process, the crystals maintain equilibrium with the melt, producing the right mineral assemblage for the rock type. But what if the crystals don't stay in equilibrium, then what? Fractional crystallization: If crystals settle out from the melt (remember they are solid and denser) or the melt rises quickly leaving the crystals behind, then the two (crystals and melt) can't stay in equilibrium. This causes the melt composition to evolve. Since the first minerals to crystallize are mafic (Olivine and Pyroxene), the melt becomes more felsic (richer in silica) and the rocks it will produce move from Gabbro toward Granite. That this happens can be seen in some exposed magma chambers where bands of distinct minerals occur in layers at the base of a magma chamber. Pegmatites, igneous rocks with very large crystals, form from melts that have evolved significantly toward the granitic end. The melt is very rich in silica and elements that don't fit easily into minerals. As a result, pegmatites are important sources of some rare elements such as Be, Li, and U.