Lightning-strike fusion of gabbro and formation of magnetite-bearing fulgurite, Cornone di Blumone, Adamello, Western Alps, Italy

Abstract

The Adamello gabbro exposed on the summit of Cornone di Blumone, Western Alps, Italy, has been fused by lightning strikes to form magnetite-rich fulgurites produced by melting of magnetite, hornblende, calcic plagioclase and minor clinopyroxene. The composition of quench magnetite in the fulgurite is 44.4 Fe3O4; 27.5 MgFe2O4; 15.1 FeAl2O4; 7.9 Fe2TiO4; 2.5 Fe2SiO4; 1.9 CaFe2O4; 0.8 MnFe2O4 and is inferred to have crystallized from a low-Si, Fe-rich melt under high oxidation conditions of about 1 log unit below the log10ƒO2 of hematite–magnetite. The low Si, Fe-rich melt is considered to have been produced from fusion of magnetite + hornblende-rich areas of the host gabbro and/or possible separation of an immiscible high Fe2O3/FeO Fe-rich, low-Si melt from a more siliceous glass during superheating. Skeletal-dendritic morphologies of magnetite in the fulgurite indicate crystallization under conditions of extreme supercooling. Juxtaposition of areas exhibiting different growth habits and crystal sizes of magnetite may reflect compositionally different local melt domains and/or small differences in the delicate balance between nucleation and growth in domains that had slightly different, although ultrafast, cooling rates.