Grain boundary wetness of partially molten dunite

Abstract

Samples of Fo[subscript 90] olivine and basaltic melt were annealed at a range of temperatures and a pressure of 1 GPa in a piston cylinder apparatus from 1 to 336 h. Post-run samples have melt contents from 0.3 to 6.8 % and mean grain sizes from 4.3 to 84.5 μm. Grain boundary wetness, a measure of the intergranular melt distribution, was determined by analyzing scanning electron microscope images with sufficiently high resolution to detect thin layers wetting grain boundaries, as well as small triple junctions. The measurements show that grain boundary wetness increases with increasing melt content to values well above those predicted by the idealized isotropic equilibrium model for a finite dihedral angle. Additionally, the melt geometry changes with grain size, with grain boundary wetness increasing with increasing grain size at fixed melt content. Grain boundary wetness and dihedral angle of samples annealed at a range of temperatures, but constant melt content does not depend on temperature. These observations emphasize that the dihedral angle alone is not adequate to characterize the melt distribution in partially molten rocks, as the idealized isotropic model does not account for the influence of grain growth. Diffusion creep viscosities calculated from the measured wetness reflect the grain size and melt content dependence. Accordingly, experimentally measured viscosities at small grain sizes underestimate the effect of melt to weaken partially molten rocks for coarser grain sizes. The presence of melt in the mantle may therefore enhance diffusion creep relative to dislocation creep.