Compositional variations within scoria cones

Abstract

Basaltic to andesitic monogenic scoria cones from the southern Cascades exhibit large chemical variations within the products of single eruptions. Two types of chemical variations occur within cones. First, there are several instances where the chemistry of the late-stage lava flow is significantly different from that of the scoria. The two magma types cannot be related to each other by fractional crystallization, and instead seem to be derived from different sources. Second, chemical variations occur within the scoria, most easily recognized in ratios of large ion lithophile elements to high field strength elements. Repeatedly, an ocean-island basalt–like component has erupted contemporaneously with the dominant calc-alkaline compositions, requiring two distinct mantle sources (one ocean-island basalt source and one mid-ocean-ridge basalt source) as well as the variable addition of slab-derived fluids. Such variations within the scoria suggest that either magma chambers do not exist and the melt migrates from the source through dike-like structures without homogenization, or that magma chambers are inefficient in their ability to mix liquids. Small volumes of basalt, which may normally be thermally challenged to reach the surface, might ascend through the crust through pathways recently traveled by previous melt batches, causing pairs of magmas to erupt at each vent.