Titanoclinohumite: A possible mineralogical site for water in the upper mantle

Titanium-rich clinohumite and layered structure minerals are observed in kimberlite and as inclusions in pyropic garnets from the Moses Rock dike, a kimberlite-bearing breccia dike in San Juan County, Utah. Associated clinopyroxenes observed as inclusions within similar pyropes and also in kimberlite are estimated to have equilibrated at depths ranging from about 50 to 150 km at modest temperatures, generally less than 1000°C. The presence of titanoclinohumite, a high-density hydrous phase, is of considerable interest as a possible site for volatiles in the earth's upper mantle. The dehydration of hydrous phases such as titanoclinohumite within the upper mantle (1) may provide water as a free phase, (2) could be important in the genesis of kimberlite and alkali-basalt magma, and (3) may be one means of producing a low-velocity zone in the upper mantle.