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Carbonatite Metasomatism And Water Systematics Of Peridotite Xenoliths From Lanzarote, Canaries, Sierra N. Patterson

Theses and Dissertations

Water in Earth’s mantle, present as structurally bound hydrogen in minerals, influences large scale processes like mantle deformation, plate tectonics, and melting. To better understand the processes controlling water concentrations in the Earth’s upper mantle, we analyzed hydrogen (calculated as ppm wt. H₂O), major, and trace element concentrations in minerals from peridotite mantle xenoliths of Lanzarote, Canaries. The Canaries Islands are thought to be the surface expression of a deep-seated mantle plume erupting through the Atlantic Ocean lithosphere. Carbonatite magmas have erupted in the Canaries and previous studies have shown evidence for carbonatite metasomatism in Lanzarote peridotites. Thus, …