Melt and fluid evolution in an upper-crustal magma reservoir, preserved by inclusions in juvenile clasts from the Kos Plateau Tuff, Aegean Arc, Greece

Abstract

Pre- to syn-eruptive fluids released by the magmatic system forming the non-welded rhyolitic Kos Plateau Tuff ignimbrite, Greece, were characterized using fluid inclusions entrapped in quartz from granitic clasts entrained from the roof or walls of the feeding magma reservoir. This fluid was initially of intermediate density and relatively low salinity (3–11 wt% NaClequivalent). Following significant pressure drop(s), it separated into immiscible brine and CO2-bearing vapor occurring as texturally less mature inclusions. The transition from single- to two-phase-fluid occurred at magmatic conditions, as supported by high fluid inclusion homogenization temperatures (ca. 700 °C) and simultaneous trapping of fluid inclusions with silicate melt inclusions. The large recorded pressure drop together with texturally immature fluid inclusion shapes suggests a possible direct relation between the fluid phase change and the incipient 161 ka caldera-forming eruption. All inclusion types occur predominantly along (pseudo-) secondary trails in the granitic clasts, indicating efficient entrapment in microfractures formed at high crystallinity, as attested to by elevated concentrations of incompatible elements in the silicate melt inclusions.Fast quenching of the inclusions due to eruption prevented significant post-entrapment chemical modification, providing pristine samples of magmatic fluid compositions. Element concentrations in co-existing fluids and silicate melt were analyzed using laser ablation inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry and compared in view of element transporting capabilities and magmatic-hydrothermal ore formation. Economically important metals such as Cu, Zn, Mo, and W were extracted from the silicate melt by the fluid. In particular, Cu concentrations in the single-phase fluid in the range of 100–500 ppm agree well with previous experimental and modeling studies and, therefore, represent values expected for primary magmatic fluids. Most elements got further enriched in the brine upon phase separation, except Li, B, and As, which may have contributed significantly also to the vapor phase. Considering the similarity between vapor and intermediate-density fluid in terms of salinity, however, the metal-enriched brine phase only comprised a minor fraction of the bulk fluid.