Fluids associated with carbonatitic magmatism: A critical review and implications for carbonatite magma ascent

Carbonatites are formed from volatile-rich melts, commonly associated with a characteristic hydrothermal footprint. However, studies of their fluid inclusions are relatively scarce and heterogeneous in terms of detail and completeness of the data presented. Here, we review and discuss comprehensively the results of previous studies and derive a general model for the formation and properties of fluids associated with carbonatitic magmatism. Worldwide, four types of fluid inclusion occur in carbonatites: (type I/HS) vapour-poor H2O-NaCl fluids with up to 50 wt% salinity; (type II/HC) vapour-rich H2O-NaCl-CO2 fluids with