Granitic-rhyolitic liquids were produced experimentally from moderately hydrous (1.7-2.3 wt% H2O) medium-to-high K basaltic compositions at 700 MPa and f O2 controlled from Ni-NiO -1.3 to +4. Amount and composition of evolved liquids and coexisting mineral assemblages vary with fO2 and temperature, with melt being more evolved at higher fO2s, where coexisting mineral assemblages are more plagioclase- and Fe-Ti oxide-rich and amphibole-poor. At fO2 of Ni-NiO +1, typical for many silicic magmas, the samples produce 12-25 wt% granitic-rhyolitic liquid, amounts varying with bulk composition. Medium-to-high K basalts are common in subduction-related magmatic arcs, and near-solidus true granite or rhyolite liquids can form widely, and in geologically significant quantities, by advanced crystallization-differentiation or by low-degree partial remelting of mantle-derived basaltic sources. Previously differentiated or weathered materials may be involved in generating specific felsic magmas, but are not required for such magmas to be voluminous or to have the K-rich granitic compositions typical of the upper continental crust. Springer-Verlag 2005.
