Abstract
Most petrologists who have worked on Mt Etna have been surprised by the rather uniform character of its lavas (Lacroix 1908; Washington et al. 1926; Di Franco 1930). Except for a slight differentiation from alkali basalts to trachyandesites in the ancient Trifoglietto caldera, almost all the products forming this huge complex edifice have a tephritic basalt composition. They are usually porphyritic, with phenocrysts of calcic plagioclase (zoned from An 85 to An 40), augite, olivine and titaniferous magnetite. All these minerals, except olivine, are present in the groundmass, which also shows notable amounts of cryptocrystalline sanidine (about 10 %) and nepheline (about 5% ), these being determined by X-ray diffraction (Tanguy 1966). This uniformity in the petrochemistry of Mt Etna is interpreted by Rittmann as resulting from the absence of an intermediate magmatic reservoir, in relation with the tectonic history of the volcano (Rittmann 1963, 1973).
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
More From: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.