The final lavas of the Siberian flood basalts are a ∼1,000 m thick section of meimechites, high-alkali, high-titanium, hydrous
lavas that contrast sharply with the tholeiites that precede them. This paper presents a phase equilibrium study indicating
that a candidate primary meimechite magma with 1 wt% water originated at ∼5.5 GPa and 1,700°C, both hotter and shallower than
other estimates for melting beneath continental lithosphere. The experiments also suggest that a higher volatile content was
involved in meimechite source genesis. Both the absence of orthopyroxene in any experiment and the close field association
with carbonatites suggest that the meimechite source region may have been metasomatized with a CO
2-rich fluid. A small additional quantity of CO
2 and water would move magma origination to ∼1,550–1,600°C.
Keywords Meimechite - Siberian flood basalt - Carbon dioxide - Experimental petrology - Multiple saturation
Communicated by T.L. Grove.