Apatite CO2 and H2O as Indicators of Differentiation and Degassing in Alkaline Magmas

Abstract

Abstract Apatite can incorporate significant amounts of H2O and CO2, potentially recording volatile abundance and behavior during magma evolution. Here we conducted in situ measurements of CO2 and H2O concentrations in apatite, along with elemental compositions, from two contemporaneous alkaline volcanic suites (Tianbao and Tudiling) in the South Qinling belt in central China to better understand the CO2 and H2O contents and behavior in evolving alkaline melts. Apatite from alkali basalts in Tianbao contains variable CO2 contents ranging from <100 ppm to 2.7 wt.% and H2O contents ranging from 0.1 to 0.6 wt.%. Apatite from REE-enriched trachytes, which evolved from alkali basalt, shows significantly lower CO2 contents and a continuous decrease in H2O during magma fractionation. The observations suggest that CO2 loss commenced at the early stages of magma evolution, whereas significant H2O loss occurred during subsequent magma fractionation in tandem with REE-enrichment. In comparison, apatite grains from the Tudiling trachyte, which is genetically linked with carbonatite, contain higher CO2 contents (0.6 to 1.5 wt.%) but lower REE concentrations than the Tianbao trachytes. Apatite in the Tudiling trachyte is inferred to have crystallized from a carbonated alkaline magma prior to significant CO2 loss and the separation of Tudiling carbonatitic melts, where subsequent liquid immiscibility led to REE enrichment into the carbonatitic melts. The volatile characteristics of apatite from the two volcanic suites provide valuable insights into two different evolutionary processes of alkaline/carbonatitic magmas, the behavior of CO2 and H2O, and the enrichment of REE in alkaline systems.