Enrichment of SiO 2 in rhyolites by fractional crystallization: An experimental study of peraluminous granitic rocks from the St. Francois Mountains, Missouri, USA

Abstract

Experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that higher silica rhyolites of the St. Francois Mountains, Missouri, USA are products of fractional crystallization of lower silica granitic magmas. Experiments were carried out at pressures of 0.5 and 1.0 kb under water-saturated conditions, temperatures ranged from 800° to 925°C and the oxygen fugacity for all experiments were maintained at, or near, the nickel-nickel oxide (NNO) buffer level. Results of experiments with Butler Hill granite indicate that fractionation of near liquidus silicate phases, orthopyroxene and plagioclase, causes an enrichment of SiO 2 in the residual melts. Mineralogical and chemical compositions of the experimental charges are similar to that of higher silica Grassy Mountain rhyolites of the St. Francois Mountains. Experiments also show that at pressures of 1.0 Kb or higher orthopyroxene reacts with the hydrous melt to produce biotite which is a common phase in the plutonic rocks of the St. Francois Mountains.