Experimental Constraints on the Conditions of Formation of Highly Calcic Plagioclase Microlites at the Soufrire Hills Volcano, Montserrat (original) (raw)
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Journal of Petrology, 2008
Products of the 1915 Lassen Peak eruption reveal evidence for a magma recharge^magma mixing event that may have catalyzed the eruption and from which four compositional members were identified: light dacite, black dacite, andesitic inclusion, and dark andesite. Crystal size distribution, textural, and in situ chemical (major and trace element and Sr isotope) data for plagioclase from these compositional products define three crystal populations that have distinct origins: phenocrysts (long axis40Á5 mm) that typically have core An contents between 34 and 36 mol %, microphenocrysts (long axis between 0Á1 and 0Á5 mm) that have core An contents of 66^69, and microlites (long axis50Á1mm) with variable An core contents from 64 to 52. Phenocrysts are interpreted to form in an isolated dacitic magma chamber that experienced slow cooling. Based on textural, compositional, and isotopic data for the magma represented by the dacitic component, magma recharge was not an important process until just prior to the 1915 eruption. Average residence times for phenocrysts are in the range of centuries to millennia. Microphenocrysts formed in a hybrid layer that resulted from mixing between endmember reservoir dacite and recharge magma of basaltic andesite composition. High thermal contrast between the two end-member magmas led to relatively high degrees of undercooling, which resulted in faster crystal growth rates and acicular and swallowtail crystal habits. Some plagioclase phenocrysts from the dacitic chamber were incorporated into the hybrid layer and underwent dissolution^precipitation, seen in both crystal textures and rim compositions. Average microphenocryst residence times are of the order of months. Microlites may have formed in response to decompression and/or syn-eruptive degassing as magma ascended from the chamber through the volcanic conduit. Chemical distinctions in plagioclase microlite An contents reveal that melt of the dark andesite was more mafic than the melt of the other three compositions. We suggest that mixing of an intruding basaltic andesite and reservoir dacite before magma began ascending in the conduit allowed formation of a compositionally distinct microlite population. Melt in the other three products was more evolved because it had undergone differentiation during the months following initial mixing; as a consequence, melt and microlites among these three products have similar compositions. The results of this study highlight the integrated use of crystal size distribution, textural, and in situ chemical data in identifying distinct crystal populations and linking these populations to the thermal and chemical characteristics of complex magma bodies.
Crystal size distributions of plagioclase in lavas from the July–August 2001 Mount Etna eruption
Bulletin of Volcanology, 2015
During the 2001 eruption of Mount Etna, two independent vent systems simultaneously erupted two different lavas. The Upper Vents system (UV), opened between 3100 and 2650 m a.s.l., emitted products that are markedly porphyritic and rich in plagioclase, while the Lower Vents system (LV), opened at 2100 and 2550 m a.s.l., emitted products that are sparsely porphyritic with scarce plagioclase. In this study, the crystal size distributions (CSDs) of plagioclase were measured for a series of 14 samples collected from all the main flows of the 2001 eruption. The coefficient of R 2 determination was used to evaluate the goodness of fit of linear models to the CSDs, and the results are represented as a grid of R 2 values by using a numerical code developed ad hoc. R 2 diagrams suggest that the 2001 products can be separated into two main groups with slightly different characteristics: plagioclase CSDs from the UVs can be modeled by three straight lines with different slopes while the plagioclase CSDs from the LVs are largely concave. We have interpreted the CSDs of the UVs as representing three different populations of plagioclases: (i) the large phenocrysts (type I), which started to crystallize at lower cooling rate in a deep reservoir from 13 to 8 months before eruption onset; (ii) the phenocrysts (type II), which crystallized largely during continuous degassing in a shallow reservoir; and (iii) the microlites, which crystallized during magma ascent immediately prior to the eruption. The plagioclase CSD curves for the LVs lava are interpreted to reflect strong and rapid changes in undercooling induced by strong and sudden degassing.
Abstracts with programs, 2021
This study presents major-and trace-element chemistry of plagioclase phenocrysts from the 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens volcano. Despite the considerable variation in textures and composition of plagioclase phenocrysts, distinct segments have been cross-correlated between crystals. The variation of Sr and Ba concentration in the melt, as calculated from the concentration in the phenocrysts using partition coefficients, suggests the cores and rims crystallised from compositionally different melts offset by the plagioclase crystallisation vector. In both of these melts Sr and Ba are correlated despite the abundance of plagioclase in the 1980 dacites. We propose that rapid crystallisation of plagioclase upon magma ascent caused a shift in melt composition towards lower Sr and higher Ba, as documented in the rims of the phenocrysts. Although the cores of the phenocrysts crystallised at relatively shallow depths, they preserve the Sr and Ba of the deep-seated melts as they ascended from a deeper region. Further magma ascent resulted in microlite nucleation, which is responsible for a similar shift to even lower Sr concentration as observed in the groundmass of post-18 May 1980 samples.
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology
Volcanic rocks commonly display complex textures acquired both in the magma reservoir and during ascent to the surface. While variations in mineral compositions, sizes and number densities are routinely analysed to reconstruct pre-eruptive magmatic histories, crystal shapes are often assumed to be constant, despite experimental evidence for the sensitivity of crystal habit to magmatic conditions. Here, we develop a new program (ShapeCalc) to calculate 3D shapes from 2D crystal intersection data and apply it to study variations of crystal shape with size for plagioclase microlites (l < 100 µm) in intermediate volcanic rocks. The smallest crystals tend to exhibit prismatic 3D shapes, whereas larger crystals (l > 5–10 µm) show progressively more tabular habits. Crystal growth modelling and experimental constraints indicate that this trend reflects shape evolution during plagioclase growth, with initial growth as prismatic rods and subsequent preferential overgrowth of the interme...
Earth-Science Reviews, 2014
Plagioclase is the most common phenocryst in all Etnean magmatic suites (~50% in volume), as well as in most lavas erupted worldwide. Its stability field is strongly dependent on the physico-chemical conditions of the melt and, consequently, it can be used as a tool to record the processes occurring within the feeding system. With this aim, a detailed textural and compositional study of plagioclase was performed on the products emitted during the eruptions. Four distinct textures were recognized at the crystal cores: (1) clear and rounded (An 73-85 ), (2) dusty and rounded (An 73-85 ), (3) sieved (An 82-88 ) and (4) patchy (An 60-81 ), while two distinct textures are commonly observed at the crystal rim: (1) dusty (An 73-90 ) and (2) with melt inclusion alignments (An 70-76 ). Moreover all plagioclases present a thin (10-20 μm) outermost less calcic (An 53-76 ) rim. For each crystal a complex evolutionary path was reconstructed, and several growth and resorption episodes were identified. The fO 2 was estimated using Plag-Cpx/liquid equilibrium in order to calculate the Fe +3 /Fe 2+ ratio in the melt and, in turn, to reconstruct the primitive magma composition by adding a wehrlitic assemblage to the least evolved lava of the four eruptive episodes. MELTS modeling was then developed using this primary magma composition, as well as a trachybasaltic lava. Calculations were performed at variable pressures (400-50 MPa, step of 0.50 MPa) and H 2 O contents (3.5-0 wt.%, step 0.5 wt.%) in order to estimate the crystallization temperature of olivine, clinopyroxene, plagioclase and spinel, decreasing T from the liquidus down to 1000°C at steps of 20°C. P-T and water contents were also determined using geothermobarometers and plagioclase-melt hygrometers respectively, aiming at verifying the parameters used in the MELTS modeling. At this point plagioclase textural features and compositions were related to specific P-T-fO 2 -H 2 O conditions. Plagioclase stability models indicate that: (1) H 2 O strongly influences the plagioclase-melt equilibrium allowing the crystallizations of more calcic compositions only at shallow levels; (2) patchy cores form at high pressure (up to 350 MPa) and low water content (b 1.7 wt.%); (3) clear dissolved cores form at lower pressure (150 MPa) and higher water content (1.5-2.8 wt.%); (4) dusty rims form at even lower pressure straddling the H 2 O-saturation curve and, (5) melt alignments form during degassing. According to experimental works each of these textures can be related to a different process within the feeding system, such as multiple magma inputs (patchy core), volatile addition or increase in T (clear core), mixing (dusty rims) and rapid decompression and degassing (melt inclusion alignment at rims). These inferences were successfully compared with the eruptive evolution of each event as deduced from direct observations, and geophysical and petrological data. The overall picture shows that plagioclase crystallizes under polybaric conditions in a vertically extended and continuous feeding system in which at least two magma crystallization levels were identified. Plagioclase stability also indicates that a large variability in water content characterizes the magma within the feeding system.
Lithos, 2010
A systematic study of textural and compositional zoning (An% and FeO variation) in plagioclase phenocrysts of historic (pre-1971) and recent (post-1971) lavas at Mount Etna was made through back-scattered electron (BSE) images and electron microprobe analyses (EMP). The textures considered include oscillatory zoning and several types of dissolution, resorption and growth textures at the phenocryst cores and/or rims. Two patterns of oscillation were recognized from the combined An–FeO variation: 1) Low Amplitude–High Frequency (LAHF) and 2) High Amplitude–Low Frequency (HALF). The first pattern is interpreted here as due to kinetic effects at the plagioclase/melt interface which developed during crystallization in closed reservoirs. The second, which sometimes involves thin dissolution surfaces marked by irregular edges, angular unconformities and complex dissolution–regrowth patterns, might imply crystallization in a more dynamic regime, probably driven by chemical and physical gradients of the system (e.g., convection in a steadily degassing open-conduit). Dissolution and resorption textures at the core vary from patchy (exclusive to plagioclases within pre-1971 lavas) to strongly sieved, and can be related to increasing rates of decompression under H2O-undersaturated conditions. Thick sieve-textured envelopes at the phenocryst rims, generally coupled with marked An–FeO increase, result from mixing with more primitive and volatile-rich magmas. In the same crystals from recent activity, An and, to a lesser extent, FeO increase, consistent with the mixing of H2O-rich magmas similar in their mafic character to the resident magma (cryptic mixing). Two types of growth textures were also recognized at the crystal rims: 1) stripes of regularly-shaped melt inclusions and 2) swallow-tailed, skeletal crystals. In the first instance, the concordant An–FeO decrease suggests crystallization caused by fast ascent-related decompression accompanied by volatile loss. In the second, An decrease at effectively constant FeO contents may indicate crystallization at a high level of undercooling from already degassed magma, followed by rapid quenching; such a feature might be acquired during syn- or post-eruptive conditions.Although textures found in historic lavas are rather similar to those in the recent ones, some differences occur, such as lack of crystals with patchy cores in recent products and lower An contents in crystals of historic ones. The available data allowed us to obtain information on the dynamics of the feeding system, highlighting their possible modifications over time. In particular, historically erupted magmas, generally acknowledged to be volatile-poor, may have ascended through the deep portions of the plumbing system under H2O-undersaturated conditions at lower rates than the recent ones, recognized as more volatile-rich. Eruption triggering mechanisms from closed reservoirs in the shallow portions of the feeding system are similar for both historic and recent events, and may be generally favoured by a recharging phase of more primitive, undegassed magma or by a few episodes of important fracture opening (e.g., in response to an earthquake swarm).
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 1995
An experimental investigation of plagioclase crystallization in broadly basaltic/andesitic melts of variable Ca# (Ca/(Ca+Na)* 100) and AI# (A1/(AI+Si)*I00) values and H20 contents has been carried out at high pressures (5 and 10 kbar) in a solid media piston-cylinder apparatus. The H20 contents of glasses coexisting with liquidus or near-liquidus plagioclases in each experiment were determined via an FTIR spectroscopic technique. This study has shown that melt Ca# and AI#, H20 content and crystallization pressure all control the composition of liquidus plagioclase. Increasing melt Ca# and AI# increase An content of plagioclase, whereas the effect of increasing pressure is the opposite, However, the importance of the role played by each of these factors during crystallization of natural magmas varies. Melt Ca# has the strongest control on plagioclase An content, but melt AI# also exerts a significant control. H20 content can notably increase the An content of plagioclase, up to 10 mol % for H20-undersaturated melts, and 20 mol % for H20-saturated melts. Exceptionally calcic plagioclases (up to An~00) in some primitive subductionrelated boninitic and related rocks cannot be attributed to the presence of the demonstrated amounts of H20 (up to 3 wt %). Rather; they must be due to the involvement of extremely refractory (CaO/Na20 > 18) magmas in the petrogenesis of these rocks. Despite the refractory nature of some primitive MORB glasses, none are in equilibrium with the most calcic plagioclase (An94) found in MORB. These plagioclases were likely pro-Y. Panjasawatwong (N~) -L.V. Danyushevsky 9 A.
A systematic study of textural and compositional zoning (An% and FeO variation) in plagioclase phenocrysts of historic (pre-1971) and recent (post-1971) lavas at Mount Etna was made through back-scattered electron (BSE) images and electron microprobe analyses (EMP). The textures considered include oscillatory zoning and several types of dissolution, resorption and growth textures at the phenocryst cores and/or rims. Two patterns of oscillation were recognized from the combined An-FeO variation: 1) Low Amplitude-High Frequency (LAHF) and 2) High Amplitude-Low Frequency (HALF). The first pattern is interpreted here as due to kinetic effects at the plagioclase/melt interface which developed during crystallization in closed reservoirs. The second, which sometimes involves thin dissolution surfaces marked by irregular edges, angular unconformities and complex dissolution-regrowth patterns, might imply crystallization in a more dynamic regime, probably driven by chemical and physical gradients of the system (e.g., convection in a steadily degassing open-conduit). Dissolution and resorption textures at the core vary from patchy (exclusive to plagioclases within pre-1971 lavas) to strongly sieved, and can be related to increasing rates of decompression under H 2 O-undersaturated conditions. Thick sieve-textured envelopes at the phenocryst rims, generally coupled with marked An-FeO increase, result from mixing with more primitive and volatilerich magmas. In the same crystals from recent activity, An and, to a lesser extent, FeO increase, consistent with the mixing of H 2 O-rich magmas similar in their mafic character to the resident magma (cryptic mixing). Two types of growth textures were also recognized at the crystal rims: 1) stripes of regularly-shaped melt inclusions and 2) swallow-tailed, skeletal crystals. In the first instance, the concordant An-FeO decrease suggests crystallization caused by fast ascent-related decompression accompanied by volatile loss. In the second, An decrease at effectively constant FeO contents may indicate crystallization at a high level of undercooling from already degassed magma, followed by rapid quenching; such a feature might be acquired during syn-or post-eruptive conditions. Although textures found in historic lavas are rather similar to those in the recent ones, some differences occur, such as lack of crystals with patchy cores in recent products and lower An contents in crystals of historic ones. The available data allowed us to obtain information on the dynamics of the feeding system, highlighting their possible modifications over time. In particular, historically erupted magmas, generally acknowledged to be volatile-poor, may have ascended through the deep portions of the plumbing system under H 2 O-undersaturated conditions at lower rates than the recent ones, recognized as more volatile-rich. Eruption triggering mechanisms from closed reservoirs in the shallow portions of the feeding system are similar for both historic and recent events, and may be generally favoured by a recharging phase of more primitive, undegassed magma or by a few episodes of important fracture opening (e.g., in response to an earthquake swarm).
Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 2006
Textural and geochemical characteristics of plagioclase phenocrysts from the eruptive products of Mount Unzen (SW Japan) record repeated intrusions of basaltic magma into a dacitic host magma chamber over the lifetime of the volcano. An important aspect of this mixing style is the exchange of phenocrysts between the intruding basalt magma and host dacite magma, and the effect that this wide-reaching mixing style has on the mineralogical diversity of the erupted products. Plagioclase phenocrysts that originally crystallized from the host dacite magma are identified by oscillatory zoning patterns, low An content cores (An 45 to An 60 ), and low Sr / Ba ratios. Host-derived plagioclase phenocrysts are engulfed during intrusion of basaltic magma, evidenced by their presence in basaltic to andesitic enclaves. In response to changes in temperature and composition of the surrounding melt, the engulfed plagioclases develop resorption zones, which are composed of a densely packed network of micron-sized glass inclusions and high An content plagioclase (An 72 -An 92 ) with high Sr / Ba ratios that match those of plagioclase microphenocrysts inherent to the enclave-forming magma. Over time, host-derived plagioclase phenocrysts that were once engulfed during replenishment events are recycled back to the host as enclaves disaggregate (e.g. . The disaggregation of quenched magmatic inclusions contributes to chemical diversity in silicic lavas of Lassen Peak, California. Bull New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, 131: 54]). An eruption of andesite lava with no enclaves, something particularly unique for Unzen, occurred in 1663. Similar to enclaves, all plagioclase phenocrysts in this lava flow are surrounded by resorption zones suggesting that the 1663 lava may represent a magma that was erupted after thoroughly mixing with the intruding basaltic. Using experimentally calibrated crystallization rates, we estimate that phenocrysts exist in the Unzen chamber a minimum of 0.5-3 months between the time of their encounter with a basaltic intrusion and eruption.