| Research Abstract |
1. Ultramafic rocks obtained from Hess Deep, EPR, and from Mid-Cayman Trough, the Caribbean, were petrologically examined to their difference, if any, depending on the spreading rate. The mantle peridotite is harzburgite (Hess Deep) or lherzolite (MCT), but the dunite-troctolite are only slightly different between the two. This difference is concordant with the primitive MORB compositional variation that is only slightly dependent on spreading rate. The dunite-troctolite are, thus, possibly in equilibrium with the primary MORB.Both the dunite-troctolite and MORB are the product of reaction between high-pressure MORB and peridotite at the uppermost mantle.
2. The mantle peridoitites in the Oman ophiolite, possibly formed at a fast-spreading ridge, and the Lizard peridotite, possibly formed at a slow-spreading ridge were compared with the ocean-floor peridotites. The mantle section of the Oman ophiolite is dominated by harzburgite similar to that from Hess Deep. Cpx-bearing harzburgite and lherzolite were found in deeper parts of the mantle section, and the melting process beneath a fast-spreading ridge can be discussed in detail. The Lizard peridotite is dominantly lherzolite to harzburgite with concordant dunite which has spinel with Cr# of 0.3.
3. The mantle peridotite from the Atlantis Bank, SWIR, was examined to know the melting process beneath a ultra-slow spreading ridge. An upward lithological variation from lherzolite to harzburgite on a slope of the Atlantis II FZ was confirmed, which can give us constraints on the space and temperature legime of mantle melting beneath the ridge.
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