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Article
Nature 278, 514-518 (5 April 1979) | doi:10.1038/278514a0; Received 10 October 1978; Accepted 12 February 1979
High magnesia liquids as the parental magma for ocean floor basalts
Don Elthon
- Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University and the Department of Geological Sciences, Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964
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Abstract
The primary melt segregating from the upper mantle beneath an oceanic ridge is shown to contain 
18% MgO. Whereas these primary liquids are capable of generating the petrological features of the oceanic crust, this is not possible for tholeiitic basalts with 9–11% MgO which are highly fractionated. Compositions of liquids ranging from primary melts to high calcium picrites from the Tortuga ophiolite complex, Chile, are reported.
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