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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Elthon, D. High magnesia liquids as the parental magma for ocean floor basalts. Nature 278, 514–518 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/278514a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/278514a0
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