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Hedwig Öste (PhD student)

The Cenozoic Calatrava volcanic province of the Iberian Peninsula contains four rock types: olivine melilite, olivine nephelinite, alkaline olivine basalts and olivine leucitites.  Various geochemical data indicate that the Calatrava melts are the products of mixing between two mantle sources, metasomatized sub-contenential lithosphere, and/or a subduction-derived mantle wedge.  This study investigates the nature of the mantle (?) source of these lavas through theoretical consideration of olivine compositions, their distribution coefficients, and equilibrium melts conditions.

Figure caption:  Cliffs in the trees are the natural outcrop of several lava flows.