Crystal Mush Research Articles

Detailed tephrochronology and composition of major Holocene eruptions from Avachinsky, Kozelsky, and Koryaksky volcanoes in Kamchatka

Avachinsky, Kozelsky, and Koryaksky volcanoes form one of the most volcanically active clusters in the Kamchatka volcanic arc and are located in close proximity of the cities of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Elizovo – the most populated area in Kamchatka. In this paper, we report a compilation of new and revised previously published data on the eruptive history of these volcanoes during the past 13.5 kyrs. We identify 217 explosive eruptions of these volcanoes, determine their ages using 207 radiocarbon dates and Bayesian statistical modeling, and characterize their tephra geochemically using major and trace element compositions of bulk samples (40 samples) and volcanic glass (75 samples).Avachinsky has been the most active during the Holocene time and had >150 explosive eruptions; Koryaksky produced ~60 eruptions; and Kozelsky had only two eruptions in the early Holocene. Our new data confirm the onset of the Avachinsky postglacial activity at 11.3 cal ka BP and previously distinguished two major stages of Avachinsky Holocene eruptive history: stage I (8–3.8 cal ka BP) and stage II (3.8 cal ka BP – present). During stage I, eruptions were relatively rare, but they included at least six large pumice eruptions with tephra volumes exceeding 0.5 km3. Stage I tephras had low-K andesitic bulk compositions and low-K rhyolitic matrix glasses. The andesites likely sampled volatile-rich crystal mush from a long-lived magma chamber under Avachinsky volcano. The stage II started at ~3.8 cal ka BP with a powerful eruption and was related to the construction of the Young Cone inside the Avachinsky somma. The subsequent late Holocene eruptions were frequent, but most of them did not exceed the volume of 0.3 km3. The stage II tephras are mostly cindery basaltic andesites containing well-crystallized groundmasses of andesitic composition. These tephras originate from smaller, perhaps more shallow magmatic reservoirs, and their matrix glasses are likely products of in-situ crystallization of relatively mafic magmas on their ascent to the surface. Koryaksky volcano was mostly active in the early Holocene when Avachinsky was quiet. Koryaksky tephras had a relatively constant bulk medium-K andesitic composition during the Holocene.Thanks to characteristic compositions, high frequency, and well-constrained ages, tephras of Avachinsky and Koryaksky volcanoes can be used for high resolution dating of local sediments. Some eruptions of Avachinsky volcano reached volcanic explosivity index (VEI) 5 and produced widely dispersed tephras. These eruptions could have had global environmental effects, and their tephras can be used for the correlation of disparate sedimentary archives.Some Avachinsky and Koryaksky eruptions were closely spaced in time. However, their tephras are easily distinguished by respective low-K and medium-K compositions and by different trace element patterns, which imply compositionally different sources in the mantle wedge. We interpret these differences to reflect the increasing slab surface temperature and transition of slab component from a relatively low-temperature fluid-like phase under Avachinsky to more high-temperature and solute-rich supercritical fluid or melt under Koryaksky. The transition appears to be very sharp in Kamchatka, causing a large compositional shift in magmas just behind the volcanic front.

Crystallization and Segregation of Syenite in Shallow Mafic Sills: Insights from the San Rafael Subvolcanic Field, Utah

AbstractExposed plumbing systems provide important insight into crystallization and differentiation in shallow sills beneath volcanic fields. We use whole rock major element, trace element and radiogenic isotopic compositions, along with mineral geochemical data on 125 samples to examine the conditions of melt differentiation in shallow sills from the exposed 4-Ma-old San Rafael subvolcanic field (SRVF), Utah. The field consists of ∼2000 dikes, 12 sills and 63 well preserved volcanic conduits. Intrusive rocks consist of mainly fine-grained trachybasalts and coarse-grained syenites, which are alkaline, comagmatic and enriched in Ba, Sr and LREE. Within sills, syenite is found as veins, lenses, and sheets totally enveloped by the basalt. The SRVF intrusions have geochemical signatures of both enriched sub-continental lithospheric and asthenospheric mantle sources. We estimate partial melting occurred between 1·2 and 1·9 GPa (50–70 km), with mantle potential temperatures in the range 1260–1326 ± 25°C, consistent with those estimated for volcanic rocks erupted on the Colorado Plateau. Geobarometry results based on clinopyroxene chemistry indicate that (1) basalt crystallized during ascent from at least 40 km deep with limited lithospheric storage, and (2) syenites crystallized only in the sills, ∼1 km below the surface. San Rafael mafic magma was emplaced in sills and started to crystallize inward from the sill margins. Densities of basalt and syenite at solidus temperatures are 2·6 and 2·4 g/cc, respectively, with similar viscosities of ∼150 Pa s. Petrographic observations and physical properties suggest that syenite can be physically separated from basalt by crystal compaction and segregation of the tephrophonolitic residual liquid out of the basaltic crystal mush after reaching 30–45% of crystallization. Each individual sill is 10–50 m thick and would have solidified fairly rapidly (1–30 years), the same order of magnitude as the duration of common monogenetic eruptions. Our estimates imply that differentiation in individual shallow sills may occur during the course of an eruption whose style may vary from effusive to explosive by tapping different magma compositions. Our study shows that basaltic magmas have the potential to differentiate to volatile-rich magma in shallow intrusive systems, which may increase explosivity.

Magmatic Processes at the Oman Ophiolite Paleoridge – Perspectives on the Role of Water

AbstractThe Oman ophiolite is regarded as best proxy for accreted oceanic crust from typical fast‐spreading ridge systems on land. However, the Oman ophiolite is influenced by initial subduction zone initiation, and the nature of the details of the subduction zone setting is still under controversial debate. While a first magmatic phase shows features of magmatic accretion very similar to those known from the East Pacific Rise, except that the primary melts were slightly water‐enriched, a second type of magmatism is characterized by an apparent subduction‐zone related imprint, producing rocks like FAB basalts and boninites in the upper crust, as well as cross‐cutting gabbronorites and wehrlites in the deeper crust. In this paper, we apply diverse experimental studies in wet tholeiitic and peridotitic systems performed at lower pressures (100 to 500 MPa) in the experimental lab of the University Hannover, in order to constrain the details of the magmatic processes proceeded at the Oman ophiolite paleoridge during the Cretaceous, with special focus on the influence of water on the phase stabilities and phase relations. The experiments were performed in vertically oriented internally heated pressure vessels (IHPV) (see Berndt et al., 2002; Fig. 1). This facility uses as pressure medium mixtures of Ar and H2 in order to adjust the required fH2 in the vessel, enabling us to control the redox conditions. The fH2 prevailing in the IHPV at high P and T was measured with a Shaw‐membrane made of platinum. The overall variation in fO2 in all experimental series was in the range between ∼FMQ‐1 and ∼FMQ+3.2, thus covering the range of oxygen fugacities prevailing in natural MORB magmas (Bezos and Humler, 2005).For understanding the magmatic processes during the Oman ophiolite paleoridge accretion, transects through the lower (GT1) and middle (GT2) crust have been drilled in the frame of ICDP (International Continental Scientific Drilling Program). Drill sites have been selected in the Wadi Tayin massif, which is known that the influence of magmatic phase 2 characterized by subduction‐related primary melts is minimal. Details and progress obtained in the Oman Drilling Project (OmanDP) can be found here: (https://www.omandrilling.ac.uk/). Regarding the first magmatic phase of the processes at the Oman ophiolite paleoridge, a characteristic observation made during the description of the drilled cores GT1 (lower crust) and GT2 (mid‐curst) was that quite often layers in the layered gabbro series occur which show the presence of clinopyroxene joining olivine instead of plagioclase (under near liquidus conditions). In terms of lithologies this could be interpreted as presence of wehrlitic crystal mushes as early cumulates instead of troctolitic, which are the typical ones for primary magmatism at typical fast‐spreading ridges. This situation could be experimentally simulated by adding a moderate to high water activity to primitive MORB at pressures ≥ 200 MPa, resulting in a shift of the clinopyroxene‐in curve to higher temperatures above the plagioclase‐in curve (Feig et al. 2006; see Fig. 2).Regarding the second, late‐stage magmatic phase, the formation of typical Oman high‐Ca‐boninites could be experimentally simulated by water‐saturated partial melting of Oman harzburgite at 200 MPa and relatively low temperatures between 1100 and 1200°C. Depleted gabbronorites crosscutting layered gabbros of phase 1 magmatism can be regarded as cumulates formed in these boninitic melts. Late wehrlites crosscutting layered gabbro could be produced by accumulation of olivine and clinopyroxene at temperatures between 1040 and 1080°C in a hydrous gabbroic system at pressures > 100 MPa with bulk water content of 2–3 wt%.

Barium isotope evidence for crystal-melt separation in granitic magma reservoirs

Crystal-melt separation is important for understanding the evolution of granitic magma and the connection between plutonic and volcanic rocks. Crystal accumulation and melt extraction are the two key factors in the separation process. However, the existing geochemical indicators for crystal-melt separation in many granitic plutons are largely concealed by the remaining interstitial melt. Here, we report Ba isotope compositions of well-characterized Huili granitic pluton and associated mineral separates from the Jiaobei Terrane in the North China Craton. The Ba isotopes are significantly fractionated between the two types of granites in the Huili pluton. The more differentiated albite granites (AG) have heavier isotope compositions (δ138/134BaAG = 0.50–0.95‰) than the K-feldspar granites (KG) (δ138/134BaKG = −0.14 to 0.16‰). The δ138/134Ba of the whole-rocks change in the same manner as multiple element contents (such as K, Ba, and Sr). Trace element modeling suggests that such variations can be explained by K-feldspar-controlled crystal-melt separation in a K-rich granitic magma.As the K-feldspar granites represent the residual crystal mush, the Ba isotope data of the coexisting Ba-bearing minerals can impose critical constraints on crystal-melt separation. The K-feldspar shows the highest Ba content (387–1465 μg/g) and the lowest δ138/134Ba (−0.23 to 0.01‰) among all the investigated minerals, suggesting that its crystallization should drive the interstitial Na- and Si-rich melt towards an isotopically heavy composition. The apparent fractionation values of coexisting biotite and muscovite (Δ138/134BaBiotite-Muscovite) vary from −0.98 to 1.01‰, indicating that the coexisting minerals are not in Ba isotope equilibrium. Combined with microstructural features, the Ba isotope disequilibrium signatures of coexisting minerals most likely reflect crystal accumulation and repacking during crystal-melt separation, providing a novel geochemical indicator for identifying the granitic plutons that represent residual crystal mush in the mid- to upper-crust. This study indicates that Ba isotopes are useful for deciphering petrogenetic links between intrusive and extrusive rocks.

Anatomy of a Recharge Magma: Hornblende Dacite Pumice from the rhyolitic Tshirege Member of the Bandelier Tuff, Valles Caldera, New Mexico, USA

The 1.26 Ma Tshirege Member of the Bandelier Tuff is the second of two major (~ 400 km3, dense rock equivalent) compositionally zoned rhyolitic eruptions from the Valles caldera. Here we analyze 25 samples of a minor component of compositionally and texturally variable silicic dacite pumice (~ 67 to 72% SiO2) that is widely distributed through the unit. The dacite has a phenocryst assemblage dominated by feldspar and hornblende and is presumed to be a recharge magma. Quenching of dacite against cooler rhyolite, melting of rhyolitic crystal mush, and mixing between dacite and rhyolite contributed to textural complexity. The dacite can be broken into three petrographic pumice types resulting from different degrees of dacite–rhyolite interaction. The earliest stage in the history of the dacite discernable from mineral chemistry, thermobarometry and hygrometry is mid-crustal storage at temperatures close to 900 °C and water content ~ 5 wt%. Plagioclase zoning suggests that the dacite was subject to more mafic recharge at this stage. The dacite was then injected into rhyolitic crystal mush at temperatures between 700 and 800 °C and pressures ~ 0.3 GPa. Consequences of mixing with mushy rhyolite include the following: (1) cooling and partial crystallization of dacite; (2) growth of large, dendritic feldspars with ternary compositions; (3) ingestion of and melting of feldspar and quartz from the rhyolitic mush; (4) enrichment in fluorine due to melting of biotite in the mush; (5) enrichment in light REE contents in some samples due to melting of chevkinite-rich domain(s) in the mush; (6) second boiling of quenched dacite rendering it buoyant and distributing dacite ‘enclaves’ through the zoned rhyolite magma column. The dacite was likely injected into the rhyolite over a protracted period and eventually triggered the Tshirege eruption.

Rhyolitic volcano dynamics in the Southern Andes: Contributions from 17 years of InSAR observations at Cordón Caulle volcano from 2003 to 2020

In this article I present a review of InSAR observations of ground deformation at Cordón Caulle volcano, whose 2011–2012 VEI 4-5 eruption is the best scientifically observed and instrumentally recorded rhyolitic eruption to date. I document a complete cycle of pre-eruptive uplift, co-eruptive subsidence and post-eruptive uplift with InSAR data between March 2003 and May 2020, and produced by a complex interplay of magmatic processes. Pre-eruptive data show ~0.5 m of ground uplift in three distinct episodes between 2003 and 2011, with uplift rates between ~3 and ~30 cm/yr. The uplift was likely caused by magma injection resulting in pressurization of the magmatic system at depths of 4–9 km. Data spanning the first 3 days of the eruption show ~1.5 m of deflation produced by two distinct sources at 4–6 km depth located 18 km from each other and up to 10 km from the eruptive vent -- suggesting hydraulic connectivity of a large magma mush zone. A third source of deformation was recorded during the rest of the eruption at a depth of ~5 km, resulting in a total subsidence of ~4.2 m during the whole eruption. On a much smaller spatial scale (~25 km2), InSAR-derived digital elevation models recorded ~250 m of uplift in the area of the eruptive vent interpreted as the intrusion of a shallow laccolith during the first 2.5 months of the eruption and time averaged lava discharge rates up to ~150 m3/s. The co-eruptive time series of reservoir pressure drop and extruded volume follow exponential trends that can be explained by a model of magma reservoir depressurization and conduit flow. Since the end of the eruption, the surface of the volcano was uplifted ~1 m in a sequence of three transient episodes of unrest during 2012 and 2019, with uplift rates between 6 and 45 cm/yr and lasting between 0.5 and 3.2 years. These pulses can be modeled by the same source, a sub-horizontal sill at a depth of ~6 km. Viscoelastic relaxation is not significant on these time scales, hence I interpret these uplift signals as being produced by episodic pulses of magma injection in the crystal mush that likely underlies the volcano. The episodic and abrupt changes of the ground deformation suggest a restless trans-lateral magmatic system at depths of 4–9 km, and active across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Finally, I also discuss challenges of the InSAR technology that should be addressed to detect ground deformation on short time scales, particularly under the low coherence conditions of Cordón Caulle.

Sill Intrusion into Pyroxenitic Mush and the Development of the Lower–Upper Critical Zone Boundary of the Bushveld Complex: Implications for the Origin of Stratiform Anorthosites and Chromitites in Layered Intrusions

Abstract Layered mafic–ultramafic intrusions are the fossilized remnants of magmatic plumbing systems and provide excellent natural laboratories to investigate the processes of magma differentiation and solidification. The Rustenburg Layered Suite is the plutonic mafic–ultramafic part of the Bushveld Complex of South Africa and it has traditionally been assumed to have formed from an upwardly aggrading (and in-sequence) crystal pile in a melt-dominated chamber. In this study, we present field and petrological observations, complemented with detailed plagioclase mineral chemistry [molar An, light rare earth elements (LREE) and strontium isotopes] for the first stratiform anorthosite layer (MG3F anorthosite) at the Lower–Upper Critical Zone boundary (LCZ–UCZ) in the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex. We use these data to test the overarching paradigm of a melt-dominated chamber for the magmatic evolution of the Rustenburg Layered Suite. The MG3F anorthosite is immediately overlain by the MG3 chromitite and both are surrounded by pyroxenite. A distinctive ‘egg-box’ structure, consisting of round pyroxenite blocks mantled by chromitite, marks the LCZ–UCZ boundary, and represents an erosional disconformity at the base of the MG3F anorthosite. The MG3F anorthosite is laterally continuous for hundreds of kilometers in the eastern limb. In the northern–central sector of the eastern limb, the 1·5 m thick MG3F anorthosite is characterized by non-cotectic proportions of foliated plagioclase and chromite chains that lie parallel to the foliation. The MG3F anorthosite is divisible into two sub-layers on the basis of (1) a compositional break in plagioclase molar An, LREE and strontium isotope composition and (2) a peak in chromite mode (up to 12 vol%). In the lower half of the layer plagioclase LREE concentrations increase upward, molar An shows a marginal decrease upward and strontium isotopes are relatively homogeneous (87Sr/86Sr2·06Ga 0·7056–0·7057). In the upper half of the layer, plagioclase LREE concentrations decrease upward, molar An shows a marginal increase upward and strontium isotopes show strong inter- and intra-grain variability (87Sr/86Sr2·06Ga 0·7053–0·7064). Strontium isotopes in interstitial plagioclase in the immediate footwall and hanging-wall pyroxenites show similar 87Sr/86Sr2·06Ga values to the MG3F anorthosite and decrease with distance from the MG3F anorthosite. In the southern sector of the eastern limb, the 4 m thick MG3F anorthosite exhibits identical stratigraphic compositional trends in terms of molar An in plagioclase. We infer that the MG3F anorthosite formed by two successive sill-like injections of magma into a resident viscoplastic pyroxenitic crystal mush. An initial pulse of plagioclase-saturated melt underwent in situ fractional crystallization, manifested as upwardly decreasing molar An and upwardly increasing LREE in plagioclase in the lower half of the MG3F anorthosite. Sill intrusion caused deformation of the viscoplastic pyroxenite mush and vortices of superheated liquid generated by frictional viscous heating caused disaggregation of the footwall pyroxenitic mush. Disaggregated blocks of pyroxenitic mush reacted with the superheated liquid (a hybrid chromite-saturated melt) to produce chromite-rich rims at the base of the MG3F anorthosite (egg-box structure). A second sill-like injection of magma then entered the chamber that halted in situ crystallization. This sill was a plagioclase slurry that contained isotopically distinct plagioclase laths compared with those present in the previous sill. The upward increase in molar An of plagioclase, and decreasing LREE, may be explained by the slurry becoming more primitive in melt composition with time. The second sill also caused mush disaggregation and renewed the production of a hybrid chromite-saturated melt. Chromite crystals were then mobilized and injected as slurries at the interface between the sill and resident mush towards the back of the flow, culminating in the development of the MG3 chromitite. Our model for the development of the Lower–Upper Critical Zone boundary questions the existence of a melt-dominated chamber and it has implications for the origin of stratiform anorthosites (and chromitites) in crustal magma chambers.

Element and Sr isotope zoning in plagioclase in the dacites from the southwestern Okinawa Trough: Insights into magma mixing processes and time scales

The processes and time scales of magma mixing in shallow silicic magma chambers prior to eruptions in the Okinawa Trough (OT) are still poorly understood. Here, we employed in situ major-trace elements and Sr isotopic analyses, coupled with textural investigations, on plagioclase phenocrysts in the mafic magmatic enclaves (MMEs) and their host dacites from the southwestern OT to address this issue. The plagioclase phenocrysts in the MMEs have high An% contents (82–88) and Sr/Ba ratios (7.2–17.2) and relatively unradiogenic 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.70536–0.70595), suggesting that they crystallized in the chilled basaltic andesitic magma. In contrast, plagioclase phenocrysts in the host dacites show a wide composition range, with An% contents of An47 to An93, Sr/Ba ratios of 3.4–18.0, and 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.70535–0.70791. The plagioclase phenocrysts are zoned, with high-An% cores characterized by resorption textures and mantled by euhedral low-An% rims. The transition between cores and rims is very abrupt, with a decrease of 30 to 40 mol% An. This shift coincides with large and abrupt changes in Sr/Ba ratios. The plagioclase phenocryst rims have low Sr/Ba values (3.4–5.1) and 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.70632–0.70675) that are similar to those of the whole-rock dacites, suggesting that the plagioclase rims grew from the host dacitic magma. In contrast, Sr isotopes in the plagioclase cores are either radiogenic (0.70724–0.70791) or unradiogenic (0.70535–0.70595) compared with rims, combined with glomerocryst textures, consistent with their derivation from distinct deep mafic crystal mush zones, and were then entrained by ascending melts and transported rapidly to the shallow silicic magma chamber and underwent decompression during ascent, leading to plagioclase core resorption. Mg diffusion calculations indicate that incorporation of the calcic cores into the shallow silicic magma chamber experienced a long pre-eruptive storage (~600 years). The distinct Sr isotopes of the plagioclase, particularly the different compositions of titanomagnetite in the MMEs and host dacites, reflect the mafic magma injection into the silicic magma chamber and formation of the MMEs must have occurred over very short time scales before eruption to inhibit complete re-equilibration, which likely triggered the dacitic magma to finally erupt. Hence, the silicic magma in the southwestern OT contains a crystal cargo with a complex, open-system crystallization history and that magma mixing/mingling is an important process for controlling the chemical and textural diversity of these silicic magmas as well as a likely eruption trigger.

The juxtaposition of Cambrian and early Ordovician magmatism in the Tafí del Valle area. Characteristics and recognition of Pampean and Famatinian magmatic suites in the easternmost Sierras Pampeanas

Along more than 1000 km, the boundary between the Pampean and Famatinian belts separates the Cambrian magmatism to the east (540-515 Ma) from the easternmost granitic rocks ascribed to the Famatinian orogeny to the west (early Ordovician). The geochronological and geochemical study presented in this work has revealed the first Cambrian magmatism in the Sierras de Aconquija and Cumbres Calchaquíes at the northeastern edge of the Famatinian belt. Pabellón (522 ± 2.8 Ma) and Ñuñorco Grande (478.3 ± 2.3 Ma) intrusive units form part of the small plutons exposed together in the Tafí del Valle area, which have been related according to their geochemical characteristics. The good correlation observed between ages and characteristic geochemical signatures have motivated the comparison with other intrusive complexes along the Pampean and eastern Famatinian belts, resulting in regional diagnostic geochemical features and a petrogenetic and evolutive proposal for the Cambrian and early Ordovician magmatism in the eastern Sierras Pampeanas. Easternmost early Ordovician granitic rocks constitute a calcic, weak to moderately peraluminous series. They are Sr-rich tonalitic to monzogranitic magmas (SiO2 >62 %wt.) with steep REE patterns, positive and negative Eu anomalies, high Sr/Y and moderate Ce/Yb ratios. Accordingly, the water-fluxed melting of a mafic source under high to moderate pressures may be involved in the origin of silica- and Ca-rich parental magma. The shallower evolution of these melts consists of Pl-dominated fractionation trends that finally constituted Pl-rich crystal mushes (tonalites) and more felsic residual liquids. Regarding Cambrian granodiorites and monzogranites, any petrogenetic scheme must consider the magnesian, high-K calc-alkalic characteristics for a short-range silica variation, low to moderate peraluminosity and high zircon saturation temperatures (>850 °C). Source conditions are determined by the presence of Pl and Hbl in the solid assemblage based on the REE patterns. These geochemical characteristics point to the extensive HT-LP melting of a dominantly crustal source, probably assisted by the injection of hot H2O-rich mafic melts.

A Pyroxenic View on Magma Hybridization and Crystallization at Popocatépetl Volcano, Mexico

The Popocatepetl Volcanic Complex (PVC) is an active arc volcano located in Central Mexico, 70 km southeast of Mexico City. Current models of the PVC’s plumbing system and magma petrogenesis are largely based on the study of isolated Plinian eruptions in the past 23.5 ka and present-day Vulcanian activity, while voluminous effusive summit and flank eruptions remain underrepresented. Here, we present a detailed petrological characterisation focussed on ortho- and clinopyroxene in six effusive flank eruptions and two Plinian eruptions of the PVC during the last ~14.1 ka. Texturally and compositionally defined pyroxene populations facilitate novel approaches to constraining magmatic temperatures and deconvolving crystallisation histories. At least two inter-connected magma reservoirs are present in the mid-to upper crust beneath the PVC: (1) a magnesian andesitic reservoir crystallising high-Mg orthopyroxene (Mg# 79–90) + clinopyroxene (Mg# 82–91) + Cr-spinel ± sulfide at temperatures of 1000–1115°C, and (2) a more evolved, shallower magma reservoir crystallising plagioclase (An50–28) + low-Mg orthopyroxene (Mg# 56–71) + clinopyroxene (Mg# 64–79) + magnetite + ilmenite + apatite ± sulfide at a long-term storage temperature of ~970°C. These mid- to upper crustal magma reservoirs are periodically recharged with a hydrous, high-Mg basaltic mantle melt that crystallised fosteritic olivine (Fo82–89) + Cr-spinel + low-Ca clinopyroxene with elevated Al2O3 (≤6 wt. %) in the lower- to mid-crust at 1080–1220°C. Short- and long-term melt and crystal hybridisation is the primary driver producing the diverse crystal cargo and restricted whole-rock compositions that characterise effusive and explosive eruptions of the PVC in the last ~14.1 ka. Injections of the magnesian andesite into the evolved reservoir produce transient melts crystallising hybrid rims around pre-existing pyroxene and plagioclase crystals. Crystals are subsequently stored in a heterogeneous mush comprising multiple generations of crystals dominated by injected pyroxene of mafic origin. The majority of mafic pyroxene crystals (≤78 %) were stored in the evolved reservoir for centuries to millennia, resulting in near-complete diffusive overprinting of the mafic compositions. Magma injections from depth frequently remobilise the crystal mush and may lead to effusive and explosive eruptions of hybridised PVC andesites and dacites.

Lateral variations in the Unit 7\u20138 boundary zone of the Rum Eastern Layered Intrusion, NW Scotland: implications for the origin and timing of Cr-spinel seam formation

The Rum Layered Suite, NW Scotland, hosts Cr-spinel seams at the bases of peridotite–troctolite macro-rhythmic units in the eastern portion of the intrusion. Here, we present detailed field observations together with microstructural and mineral chemical analyses for the Unit 7–8 Cr-spinel seam and associated cumulates in the Eastern Layered Intrusion. Detailed mapping and sampling reveal significant lateral variations in the structural characteristics and mineral compositions of the Unit 7–8 boundary zone rocks. Although the Cr-spinel seam is laterally continuous over ~ 3 km, it is absent towards the centre and the margins of the intrusion. The compositional characteristics of Cr-spinel and plagioclase vary systematically along strike, exhibiting a chemical evolution towards more differentiated compositions with increasing distance from the main feeder conduit of the Rum intrusion; the Long Loch Fault. On the basis of our combined datasets, we propose that the upper part of the troctolite, the anorthosite layer underlying the Cr-spinel seam and the seam itself formed during a multi-stage magma replenishment event. The stages can be summarised as follows: (1) peridotite schlieren and anorthosite autoliths formed following melt infiltration and cumulate assimilation in the crystal mush of the Unit 7 troctolite. (2) The anorthosite layer then formed from the Unit 7 troctolite crystal mush by thermal erosion and dissolution due to infiltrating magma. (3) Subsequent dissolution of the anorthosite layer by new replenishing magma led to peritectic in situ crystallisation of the Unit 7–8 Cr-spinel seam, with (4) continued magma input eventually producing the overlying Unit 8 peridotite. In the central part of the Rum Layered Suite, the aforementioned assimilation of the troctolitic footwall formed the anorthosite layer. However, the absence of anorthosite in close proximity to the Long Loch Fault can be explained by enhanced thermochemical erosion close to the feeder zone, and its absence close to the margins of the intrusion, at maximum distance from the Long Loch Fault, may be due to cooling of the magma and loss of erosion potential. In line with other recent studies on PGE-bearing chromitites in layered intrusions, we highlight the importance of multi-stage intrusive magma replenishment to the formation of spatially coupled anorthosite and Cr-spinel seams, as well as the lateral mineral chemical variations observed in the Unit 7–8 boundary zone cumulates.

Titanium diffusion profiles and melt inclusion chemistry and morphology in quartz from the Tshirege Member of the Bandelier Tuff

AbstractMany rhyolites contain quartz crystals with relatively Ti-rich rims and Ti-poor cores, with a sharp interface between zones, attributed to partial dissolution followed by overgrowth following a heating event due to mafic recharge of the system. Quartz crystals in the compositionally zoned, high-silica rhyolite Tshirege Member of the Bandelier Tuff erupted at 1.26 Ma from the Valles caldera, New Mexico, show a range in zoning styles with Ti-rich rims becoming more abundant upward in the ignimbrite sheet among progressively less evolved magma compositions. Here we compare times between quartz overgrowth and eruption obtained by applying Ti diffusion coefficients to Ti concentration profiles in Tshirege Member quartz crystals with those from cathodoluminescence (CL) brightness profiles and show that panchromatic CL provides only a crude proxy for Ti in quartz in this unit. Titanium concentrations are measured to detection limits of ~1.2 ppm with small analytical errors (<5%) using MAN backgrounds, blank corrections, and oblique corrected transects to resolve diffusion-relaxed zone boundaries as thin as ~10 μm. Timescales derived from Ti profiles using the widely applied Tiin-quartz diffusion coefficients of Cherniak et al. (2007) range from 60 to 10 000 years, suggesting heating and mobilization events at different times prior to the eruption. However, the use of the newer Ti diffusivities reported by Jollands et al. (2020) yields timescales up to three orders of magnitude longer, including results that are geologically unreasonable for the Bandelier system. We suggest that assumptions commonly made in diffusion modeling, specifically about the form of the Ti zoning profile prior to diffusive relaxation, may be invalid.Melt inclusions in the Ti-poor cores of late-erupted quartz are chemically akin to early erupted melt compositions, while adhering and groundmass glasses more closely reflect the composition of the host pumice. Heating and mobilization events identified from quartz Ti zoning are thus linked to overall compositional zoning of the tuff, which may have been produced by repeated episodes of melting of a crystal cumulate cognate to the early-erupted, evolved rhyolite. Quartz-hosted melt inclusion faceting suggests the development of a crystal mush over a minimum time frame of 1000–10 000 years prior to the recharge events that produced the erupted Tshirege magma at 1.26 Ma.

Insights Into Magma Chamber Processes From the Relationship Between Fabric and Grain Shape in Troctolitic Cumulates

The strength of foliations defined by shape preferred orientation of plagioclase in troctolitic cumulates from the Layered Series of the Skaergaard intrusion, and the Rum Eastern Layered Intrusion, increases as the grains become more tabular, due either to the greater propensity of highly non-equant grains to be re-arranged by magmatic currents or tectonic disruption of poorly consolidated mush, or by the effects of a pre-existing shape preferred orientation on final grain shape in fully solidified rocks. The stratigraphic evolution of grain shape, microstructures and fabrics in the lowest 320 m of the Skaergaard Layered Series records the progressive inflation of the chamber to its final size. During the earliest stages of solidification, the extent of in situ nucleation and growth on the chamber floor decreased upward through the stratigraphy, due to the development of a thermally insulating blanket of mush on the floor. An upward increase in foliation strength as the chamber inflated to its final size was a result of the increasing strength of convection of the bulk magma and an increasing contribution to the floor mush of crystals derived from the walls of the enlarging magma chamber. Plagioclase in the troctolites in the open-system magma chamber of the Rum Eastern Layered Intrusion is generally more equant than that in the Skaergaard intrusion, perhaps related to the slower crystal growth on the margins of the continuously replenished Rum chamber. Significant sub-solidus modification of original igneous microstructures is observed in Rum troctolites from parts of the stratigraphy recording frequent replenishment events.

OPENING THE MAGMATIC-HYDROTHERMAL WINDOW: HIGH-PRECISION U-Pb GEOCHRONOLOGY OF THE MESOPROTEROZOIC OLYMPIC DAM Cu-U-Au-Ag DEPOSIT, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Abstract Establishing timescales for iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) deposit formation and the temporal relationships between ores and the magmatic rocks from which hydrothermal, metal-rich fluids are sourced is often dependent on low-precision data, particularly for deposits that formed during the Proterozoic. Unlike accessory minerals routinely used to track hydrothermal mineralization, iron oxides are dominant components of IOCG systems and are therefore pivotal to understanding deposit evolution. The presence of ubiquitous, magmatic-hydrothermal U-(Pb)-W-Sn-Mo–bearing zoned hematite resolves a range of geochronological issues concerning formation of the ~1.6 Ga Olympic Dam IOCG deposit, South Australia, at up to ~0.05% precision (207Pb/206Pb weighted mean; 2σ) using isotope dilution-thermal ionization mass spectrometry (ID-TIMS). Coupled with chemical abrasion-ID-TIMS zircon dates from host granite and volcanic rocks within and enclosing the ore-body, a confident magmatic-hydrothermal chronology is defined. The youngest zircon date from the granite intrusion hosting Olympic Dam indicates magmatism was occurring up until 1593.28 ± 0.26 Ma. The orebody was principally formed during a major mineralizing event following granite uplift and during cupola collapse, whereby the hematite with the oldest age is recorded in the outer shell of the deposit at 1591.27 ± 0.89 Ma, ~2 m.y. later than the youngest documented magmatic zircon. Hematite dates captured throughout major lithologies, different ore zones, and the ~2-km vertical extent of the deposit support ~2 m.y. of hydrothermal activity. New age constraints on the spatial-temporal evolution of the formation of Olympic Dam are considered with respect to a mantle to crustal continuum model. Cyclical tapping of magma reservoirs to maintain crystal mushes for extended time periods and incremental building of batholiths on the million-year scale prior to main mineralization pulses can explain the ~2-m.y. temporal window temporal window inferred from the data. Despite the challenge of reconciling such an extended window with contemporary models for porphyry deposits (≤1 m.y.), formation of Proterozoic ore deposits has been addressed at high-precision and supports the case that giant IOCG deposits may form over millions of years.

Petrology of the April 2015 Eruption of Calbuco Volcano, Southern Chile

Abstract Understanding the origin of intermediate magmas that commonly erupt from subduction zone volcanoes is important to better constraining the mechanisms of continental crust formation. We performed a detailed mineralogical and petrological study of the eruptive products from the April 2015 eruption of Calbuco volcano, Chile, a three-phase sub-Plinian eruption that produced pyroclastic deposits of andesitic composition. The eruptive products comprise a glass phase and a high but variable proportion of minerals dominated by plagioclase, clinopyroxene, and orthopyroxene, with minor olivine, amphibole, and magnetite. Plagioclase is very strongly zoned with highly anorthitic cores surrounded by more albitic rims, and no intermediate compositions between them. Based on thermodynamic calculations and published experimental data, we estimate that the anorthitic cores crystallized from a basaltic andesite melt containing 3·5–4·5 wt% H2O. The bulk-rock major and trace element variability at Calbuco is best explained by the accumulation of a variable amount of minerals (in relative proportion 72 % plagioclase, 28 % pyroxene) in a dacitic melt. These minerals most probably formed in the crystal mush zone of the magma chamber, at 200–300 MPa (8–11 km depth) according to pyroxene and amphibole compositions. A few weeks to months before the eruption, the crystal mush was disaggregated, perhaps owing to magmatic underplating, and a crystal-bearing dacitic melt migrated into a subsurface storage region where the albitic plagioclase rims crystallized. The eruption was probably internally triggered by over-pressurization in the shallow magma chamber.

Role of magma injection and mixing in the formation of chromitite in Archean anorthosites: Evidence from the Sittampundi Complex, southern India

Chromitite occurs in many Archean anorthosite complexes. The Neoarchean Sittampundi Anorthosite Complex (SAC) in southern India is composed of mainly (amphibole-rich) anorthosite, minor gabbro, two pyroxene granulite, and many anorthosite-related chromitite layers and lenses. High-Mg# orthopyroxene megacrysts are present in the chromitite but absent in the anorthosite. These megacrysts are disturbed and/or corroded by Cr-spinel and interstitial amphibole into fragment, but are still largely optically continuous. The absence of orthopyroxene in the anorthosite indicates that the mineral was formed in an earlier stage in the deep magma chamber(s), and then partially remelted when it was entered into the extant magma chamber. Two types of amphiboles are recognized based on textural and trace elemental features. Amphibole-1 in the chromitites is coarse-grained, and commonly surrounded by Cr-spinel and amphibole-2, which forms resorption texture along amphibole-1 rims. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns of the amphibole-1 in chromitite and that in anorthosite have similarly positive Eu* anomalies (1.53–3.04) and low total REE contents (ΣREE = 2.90–4.42 ppm). This implies that amphibole-1 in the chromitite was captured from the anorthosite. Meanwhile, amphibole-2 is fine-grained and occurs as interstitial infill among Cr-spinel, plagioclase, and amphibole-1. Amphibole-2 shows negative to weakly positive Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 0.67–1.17), and slightly elevated total REE contents (ΣREE = 5.42–14.20 ppm). The resorption textures on orthopyroxene, amphibole-1, and plagioclase, and the close paragenetic relations between Cr-spinel and amphibole-2, suggest that Cr-spinel was saturated through the mixing of the anorthositic mush with a replenished, more primitive magma. The amphibole-2 REE patterns indicate that the injected magma had partially corroded the pre-existing plagioclase and amphibole-1, and mixed with the interstitial melt in the mush. Addition of Cr2O3 from the replenished magma and SiO2 from the anorthositic crystal mush had likely pushed the melt toward the Cr-spinel saturation and triggered chromitite formation. The high Al2O3 content of Cr-spinel is likely led by plagioclase remelting, which increased the Al3+ content in the mixed magma. Comparable Cr-spinel compositions of the Archean anorthosites worldwide suggest that their chromitites were possibly formed via similar magma injection and mixing processes.

Mineralogical and Geochemical Study on the Yaojiazhuang Ultrapotassic Complex, North China Craton: Constraints on the Magmatic Differentiation Processes and Genesis of Apatite Ores

The differentiation process of ultrapotassic magmas is enigmatic and poorly understood. The Yaojiazhuang ultrapotassic complex is concentrically zoned by late-intruded syenite in the core and early emplaced clinopyroxenite in the periphery, combining a “bi-modal” lithology. Spatially, apatite and iron oxide-apatite (IOA) ores, glimmerite and pseudoleucite occur in the upper part of clinopyroxenite. The syenite and clinopyroxenite are composed of variable amounts of clinopyroxenite, biotite, K-feldspar, magnetite, apatite with minor analcite, titanite and primary calcite. The pseudoleucite clinopyroxenite contains mainly clinopyroxene, biotite and garnet in the matrix, and nepheline–K-feldspar intergrowth with muscovite and minor celestine in the leucite pseudomorph. Geochemically, rocks of the Yaojiazhuang complex are significantly enriched in potassium (K), light rare earth elements (LREE) and large ion lithophile elements (LILE). Crustal contamination by Archean tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite (TTG) gneisses basement may play an important role to convert the syenitic melts from silica-undersaturation to saturation. Fractionation crystallization is supported by the mineral crystallization sequence to explain the bimodal lithologies instead of silicate liquid immiscibility. During the magmatic evolution, decompression, fractionation of volatile-poor clinopyroxene and the enhancement by CO2 may result in the exsolution of an aqueous fluid. The late-stage interactions between existing minerals and magmatic fluids in the crystal mush could be a key process in the generation of both leucite pseudomorphs and apatite/IOA ores.

The Onano eruption (Latera volcano, Central Italy): an example of magma mixing/mingling as dominant process in a caldera-forming eruption

The Onano eruption (~ 0.17 Ma) is the second to last caldera-forming eruption of the Latera volcano, in the northernmost sector of the Roman Comagmatic Province (Latium, Italy). The stratigraphic sequence, from base to top, includes ash and pumice-rich flow deposits, spatter-rich flow deposits and lag breccias associated with ash-rich flow deposits. By combining major and trace element compositions of the bulk rocks, matrix glasses and minerals of juvenile components from the different depositional units, we reconstruct the pre-eruptive evolution of the magma chamber and the syn-eruptive magma dynamics. Juvenile clasts with heterogeneous glass composition and/or mineral assemblage are a ubiquitous feature of the Onano eruption. The products cover a large compositional range from phonotephrite to phonolite. They are crystal poor, with felsic paragenesis associated to Mg-rich olivine (Fo82–90) and diopside (Fs4–7), these last not in equilibrium with the erupted melts. The mafic mineral assemblage suggests that the pre-eruption magma reservoir was periodically perturbed by the arrival of a primitive magma carrying on Mg-rich minerals and/or remobilizing a mafic crystal mush at the bottom of the reservoir. According to the results obtained from both rhyolite-MELTS and Rayleigh crystal fractionation modeling, we infer that the system evolved from phonotephrite to phonolite both via crystal fractionation and magma mixing between the two end members. Crystallization mostly proceeded at the wall of the reservoir, while magma mixing in the middle zones of the chamber generated the intermediate tephriphonolitic melts. The pre-eruptive chemical zoning was disrupted during the course of the eruption due to the simultaneous withdrawal of magma from different portions of the reservoir. During the first phase of the eruption, high-silica tephriphonolitic to phonolitic melts, residing in the upper part of the reservoir, were emitted with less involvement of the deeper phonotephrite. Phonotephritic magmas, with only a minor contribution of evolved melts, were later erupted as spatter-rich pyroclastic flows that preceded the main caldera collapse. During the caldera collapse, the whole reservoir was involved, leading to extensive and intimate syn-eruption mingling of the different melts. A comparison between the Onano eruption and other eruptions of the Italian high potassic volcanism provides new insights into the evolution of the Roman Comagmatic Province magmas and their eruptive processes.

Crystal mush rejuvenation induced by heat and water transfer: Evidence from amphibole analyses in the Jialuhe Composite Pluton, East Kunlun Orogen, northern Tibet Plateau

Crystal mush rejuvenation is capable of magma differentiation, evolution, migration, and mixing and magma mixing may act as a trigger for crystal mush rejuvenation. The Jialuhe Composite Pluton in the eastern part of East Kunlun Orogen, northern Tibet Plateau, is a product of magma mixing that contains abundant mafic microgranular enclaves (MMEs) that often form dike–like clusters in the central parts of the pluton that is composed of porphyritic amphibole granodiorite containing medium– to coarse–grained amphibole crystals and fine–grained biotite, whereas the external zone consists of biotite granodiorite with dominant biotite accompanied by a small fraction of amphibole. Amphibole aggregate bands developed within the MMEs consist of densely packed amphibole megacrysts. We selected amphiboles from the MMEs, host rocks, and amphibole aggregate bands to study mush rejuvenation triggered by magma mingling. The amphibole megacrysts are euhedral and show zoning from cores to rims with decreasing in Si, Mg, and Na, and increasing in K, Al, Fe, and Ca. We have classified these amphibole megacrysts into three types according to their different rare earth element concentration zoning from cores to rims, which reflect recharge of dioritic magma and the final chemical equilibrium in the melt. The physicochemical crystallization conditions of the three types of amphibole megacrysts in the amphibole aggregate bands indicated that the temperature and oxygen fugacity decreased, while the pressure and water content in melt increased during amphibole crystallization. These results combined with petrography, suggest that injection of dioritic magma gave rise to the MMEs and transferred heat and water to the host granitic mush. This transference resulted in coarsening of amphiboles in the host mush, especially within the granodiorite patches encaged within the MMEs, where the coarsened amphiboles joined to forming the aggregate bands. Therefore, these bands are a good indicator of crystal mush rejuvenation caused by the combination of heat and introduction of water, but the rejuvenation process was limited and local. Recharge of mafic magma in transcrustal felsic mush systems could not rejuvenate the entire felsic magma reservoir, but only parts near the mafic magma recharge channel.

Controls on the disseminated Ni-Cu-PGE sulfide mineralization at the Tubane section, northern Molopo Farms Complex, Botswana: Implications for the formation of conduit style magmatic sulfide ores

The Molopo Farms Complex (MFC) is located near the western margin of the Archean Kaapvaal Craton, in southern Botswana. The complex hosts low grade disseminated Ni-Cu and platinum group elements (PGE) mineralization restricted to the lower ultramafic cumulates, notably in the feldspathic orthopyroxenites. The mineralized feldspathic orthopyroxenites contain up to 0.47 ppm Pt + Pd + Au manifested in the form of platinum group mineral (PGM) assemblages dominated by PGE bismuthotellurides, asernides and minor Au and Ag alloys. The PGM encountered are froodite (PdBi2), moncheite (PtTe2), michenerite (PdBiTe), sperrylite (PtAs2) largely associated with altered silicates and sulfide minerals. The association of PGM with sulfides suggests that they were originally concentrated by sulfide melt, while late stage reaction of sulfides with hydrothermal fluids resulted in the observed spatial proximity of PGM with altered silicates. The Cu/Pd ratios of most of the rocks fall within the primitive mantle range. However, the Cu/Pd ratios of the feldspathic orthopyroxenites are more variable, with few samples falling above and below the primitive mantle range suggesting the prior sulfide extraction from the magmas and the presence of cumulus sulfides. This is supported by the Cu/Zr ratios of these rocks which are also variable above and below unity. Trace element ratios on the (Th/Yb) PM versus (Nb/Th) PM plot indicate strong crustal contamination across all units including those not in proximity to the country rocks. The δ34S of the magmatic rocks are variable between −6.3‰ and −11.4‰. In contrast, the δ34S of dolomitic siltstones of the Transvaal Supergroup which constitute the immediate country rocks vary from −4.1‰ to +0.6‰. These data indicate that crustal contamination largely occurred prior to magma emplacement. It is inferred that the most important contaminant and source of crustal S were the Ramotswa and Ditlhojana Formations that include sulfidic shales at depth. We consider that magnesian basaltic magmas of B1 Bushveld magma composition underwent crustal contamination, assimilation of crustal S and segregation of sulfide melt in the feeder conduit or staging-chamber prior to final magma emplacement. The feeder conduit or staging-chamber was subsequently invaded by further B1 magma. This magma entrained some of the sulfides lodged in the plumbing system and flushed them to the final MFC chamber studied here. After the staging-chamber had already partially solidified, it was invaded by yet another influx of magma, possibly even more primitive than the B1 Bushveld magma. Being a crystal mush, this magma assimilated and entrained some of the previously formed orthopyroxenites manifested by fragments of orthopyroxenite in the harzburgites of the final MFC chamber. The presence of centimeter-sized globular sulfides and fragments of orthopyroxenite within harzburgites suggests that the complex was emplaced as separate pulses of magmas. Therefore, it is considered that sulfide accumulations may remain undiscovered in the feeder zones or the staging-chamber.