Quartz diorite veins in a peridotite xenolith from Tallante, Spain: Implications for reaction and survival of slab-derived SiO2- oversaturated melt in the upper mantle

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We found quartz diorite veins (up to 5 mm thick), composed mainly of plagioclase and quartz, in a plagioclase-bearing spinel lherzolite xenolith in alkali basalt from Tallante, Southern Spain. The quartz diorite veins are coarse-grained, the average grain size being 0.5 mm, and have thin orthopyroxenite rim along olivine wall. Thinner veins free of quartz and composed solely of plagioclase with orthopyroxene selvage are much more common in other xenoliths from Tallante. The involved melt was strongly reactive with olivine to form orthopyroxene, which can protect against further reaction. This suggests how the silica-oversaturated melts, after supplied from downgoing slabs, can move through peridotite and reach the shallow mantle with preserving the silica-oversaturated character. The armor of orthopyroxenite is of vital importance for the melt, to keep its silica-oversaturated character within peridotite. Precipitation of orthopyroxene combined with olivine consumption somewhat controls the general chemical trend of adakite. Orthopyroxenite vein network at the expense of olivine is expected to be common as fossil conduits within the mantle wedge. This kind of orthopyroxenite has contributed to Si-enrichment of the mantle wedge.
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