The petrogenesis of basic and ultrabasic alkaline rocks of western Makhtesh Ramon, Israel: Geochemistry, melt and fluid inclusion study

The basic and ultrabasic alkaline rocks of western Makhtesh Ramon, Israel crop out in numerous lava flows and subvolcanic bodies. The rock suite is composed of tephrite, basanite, basanitic nephelinite, analcimite, olivine nephelinite, and melilite-olivine nephelinite and in many outcrops is represented by glass-bearing varieties. Melt and fluid inclusions have been studied in olivine, clinopyroxene, and plagioclase phenocrysts. The EP, SIMS and microthermometry methods were used for inclusion study. The geochemical data obtained on glasses of melt inclusions (major, REE, trace elements, volatiles) are compared with the data on whole-rock and groundmass glass compositions. The compositions of melt inclusions reflect the different stages of rock crystallization: the initial products of crystallization are similar to whole-rock compositions whereas final portions of melts are usually enriched in SiO₂, Al₂O₃, and alkalis, and depleted in mafic components. The data on contemporaneous melt and CO₂ inclusions were used for the evaluation of the P-T conditions of rock generation. The following parameters were obtained: tephrite: P = 6.3-7.7 kbar and T = 1,150-1,250°C; basanite: P = 6.6-9.2 kbar and T = 1,150-1,250°C; olivine and analcime-olivine nephelinite: P = 5.6-8.2 kbar and T = 1,150-1,250°C; melilite-olivine nephelinite: 4.0-5.4 kbar and T mainly between 1,150 and 1,200°C. Magma genesis was restricted to P-T conditions of spinel- and plagioclase-lherzolite fields. These data suggest the shallowest depth of magma genesis occurred in Makhtesh Ramon compared to other occurrences of Early Cretaceous magmatism at the Middle East. Differences in the degree of batch partial melting of the same source rocks best explain the diversity of the igneous suite in western Makhtesh Ramon.