Showing papers on "Phenocryst published in 2021"

Rhyolites in continental mafic Large Igneous Provinces: Petrology, geochemistry and petrogenesis

Abstract: We present a detailed review of the petrological and geochemical aspects of rhyolite and associated silicic volcanic rocks (up to 20 ​vol% of all rocks) reported to date from twelve well known Phanerozoic continental mafic Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs). These typically spread over ≤104 ​km2 (rarely 105 ​km2 for Parana-Etendeka) area and comprise ≤104 ​km3 of extrusive silicic rocks, erupted either during or after the main basaltic eruption within 900 ​°C. Rhyolites formed by significant crustal contribution are characterized by strong negative Nb-Ta anomalies, absence of clinopyroxene phenocrysts, and are likely to have a magma temperature

Olivine-Hosted Melt Inclusions: A Microscopic Perspective on a Complex Magmatic World

Abstract: Inclusions of basaltic melt trapped inside of olivine phenocrysts during igneous crystallization provide a rich, crystal-scale record of magmatic processes ranging from mantle melting to ascent, er...

Enrichment Nature of Ultrapotassic Rocks in Southern Tibet Inherited from their Mantle Source

Abstract: Post-collisional ultrapotassic rocks (UPRs) in the Tibetan Plateau exhibit extreme enrichment in incompatible elements and radiogenic isotopes. Such enrichment is considered to be either inherited from a mantle source or developed during crustal evolution. In this study, to solve this debate we combined mineral textures and in situ geochemical composition of clinopyroxene phenocrysts in UPRs from southern Tibet to reveal their crustal evolution, enrichment cause and constrain metasomatism in their mantle source. Results show that the UPRs experienced an array of crustal processes, i.e., fractional crystallization, mixing, and assimilation. Fractional crystallization is indicated by decreases in Mg# and Ni and enrichment in incompatible elements (e.g. rare earth element (REE), Sr, Zr) toward the rims of normally zoned clinopyroxene phenocrysts (type-I). Magma mixing is evidenced by the presence of some clinopyroxene phenocrysts (type-II, -III) showing disequilibrium textures (e.g. reversed and overgrowth zoning), but in situ Sr isotope and trace element analysis of those disequilibrium zones indicate that late-stage recharged mafic magmas are depleted (87Sr/86Sr: 0.70659–0.71977) compared with the primitive ultrapotassic magmas (87Sr/86Sr: 0.70929–0.72553). Assimilation is revealed by the common presence of crustal xenoliths in southern Tibetan UPRs. Considering the much lower 87Sr/86Sr values (0.707759–0.709718) and incompatible element contents of these crustal xenoliths relative to their host UPRs, assimilation should have resulted in geochemical depletion of southern Tibetan UPRs rather than enrichment. The diluting impact of both assimilation and mixing is also supported by the modeling results based on the EC-E′RAχFC model combining the growth history of clinopyroxene. Trace elements ratios in clinopyroxenes also imply that the mantle source of southern Tibetan UPRs suffered an enriched and carbonatite-dominated metasomatism. Thus, we conclude that enrichment of southern Tibetan UPRs was inherited from the mantle source

The Volsci Volcanic Field (central Italy): eruptive history, magma system and implications on continental subduction processes

Abstract: Here, we report on the Quaternary Volsci Volcanic Field (VVF, central Italy). In light of new 40Ar/39Ar geochronological data and compositional characterization of juvenile eruptive products, we refine the history of VVF activity, and outline the implications on the pre-eruptive magma system and the continental subduction processes involved. Different from the nearby volcanic districts of the Roman and Campanian Provinces, the VVF was characterized by small-volume (0.01–0.1 km3) eruptions from a network of monogenetic centers (mostly tuff rings and scoria cones, with subordinate lava occurrences), clustered along high-angle faults of lithospheric depth. Leucite-bearing, high-K (HKS) magmas (for which we report for the first time the phlogopite phenocryst compositions) mostly fed the early phase of activity (∼761–539 ka), then primitive, plagioclase-bearing (KS) magmas appeared during the climactic phase (∼424–349 ka), partially overlapping with HKS ones, and then prevailed during the late phase of activity (∼300–231 ka). The fast ascent of primitive magma batches is typical of a tectonically controlled volcanic field, where the very low magma flux is a passive byproduct of regional tectonic strain. We suggest that the dominant compressive stress field acting at depth was accompanied by an extensional regime in the upper crust, associated with the gravity spreading of the Apennine chain, allowing the fast ascent of magma from the mantle source with limited stationing in shallow reservoirs.

Mush, Melts and Metasediments: a History of Rhyolites from the Okataina Volcanic Centre, New Zealand, as Captured in Plagioclase

Abstract: The Okataina Volcanic Centre (OVC), located in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand, is a dominantly rhyolitic magmatic system in an arc setting, where eruptions are thought to be driven by mafic recharge. Here, Sr–Pb isotopes, and compositional and textural variations in plagioclase phenocrysts from 10 rhyolitic deposits (two caldera, one immediately post-caldera, four intra-caldera, and three extra-caldera) are used to investigate the OVC magmatic system and identify the sources and assimilants within this diverse mush zone. Plagioclase interiors exhibit normal and reverse zoning, and are commonly in disequilibrium with their accompanying glass, melt inclusions, and whole-rock compositions. This indicates that the crystals nucleated in melts that differed from their carrier magma. In contrast, the outermost rims of crystals exhibit normal zoning that is compositionally consistent with growth in cooling and fractionating melts just prior to eruption. At the intra-crystal scale, the total suite of 87Sr/86Sr ratios are highly variable (0·7042–0·7065 ± 0·0004 average 2SE); however, the majority (95 %) of the crystals are internally homogeneous within error. At whole-crystal scale (where better precision is obtained), 87Sr/86Sr ratios are much more homogeneous (0·70512–0·70543 ± 0·00001 average 2SE) and overlap with their host whole-rock Sr isotopic ratios. Whole-crystal Pb isotopic ratios also largely overlap with whole-rock Pb ratios. The plagioclase and whole-rock isotopic compositions indicate significant crustal assimilation (≥20 %) of Torlesse-like metasediments (local basement rock) by a depleted mid-ocean ridge mantle magma source, and Pb isotopes require variable fluid-dominant subduction flux. The new data support previous petrogenetic models for OVC magmas that require crystal growth in compositionally and thermally distinct magmas within a complex of disconnected melt-and-mush reservoirs. These reservoirs were rejuvenated by underplating basaltic magmas that serve as an eruption trigger. However, the outermost rims of the plagioclase imply that interaction between silicic melts and eruption-triggering mafic influx is largely limited to heat and volatile transfer, and results in rapid mobilization and syn-eruption mixing of rhyolitic melts. Finally, relatively uniform isotopic compositions of plagioclase indicate balanced contributions from the crust and mantle over the lifespan of the OVC magmatic system.

Quantitative chemical mapping of plagioclase as a tool for the interpretation of volcanic stratigraphy: an example from Saint Kitts, Lesser Antilles

Abstract: Establishing a quantitative link between magmatic processes occurring at depth and volcanic eruption dynamics is essential to forecast the future behaviour of volcanoes, and to correctly interpret monitoring signals at active centres. Chemical zoning in minerals, which captures successive events or states within a magmatic system, can be exploited for such a purpose. However, to develop a quantitative understanding of magmatic systems requires an unbiased, reproducible method for characterising zoned crystals. We use image segmentation on thin section scale chemical maps to segment textural zones in plagioclase phenocrysts. These zones are then correlated throughout a stratigraphic sequence from Saint Kitts (Lesser Antilles), composed of a basal pyroclastic flow deposit and a series of fall deposits. Both segmented phenocrysts and unsegmented matrix plagioclase are chemically decoupled from whole rock geochemical trends, with the latter showing a systematic temporal progression towards less chemically evolved magma (more anorthitic plagioclase). By working on a stratigraphic sequence, it is possible to track the chemical and textural complexity of segmented plagioclase in time, in this case on the order of millennia. In doing so, we find a relationship between the number of crystal populations, deposit thickness and time. Thicker deposits contain a larger number of crystal populations, alongside an overall reduction in this number towards the top of the deposit. Our approach provides quantitative textural parameters for volcanic and plutonic rocks, including the ability to measure the amount of crystal fracturing. In combination with mineral chemistry, these parameters can strengthen the link between petrology and volcanology, paving the way towards a deeper understanding of the magmatic processes controlling eruptive dynamics.

Ti3+ in corundum traces crystal growth in a highly reduced magma

Abstract: Aggregates of corundum crystals with skeletal to hopper morphology occur in pyroclastic rocks erupted from Cretaceous basaltic volcanoes on Mt Carmel, N. Israel. The rapid growth of the crystals trapped volumes of the parental Al2O3-supersaturated melt; phenocrysts of tistarite (Ti2O3) in the trapped melts indicate crystallization at oxygen fugacities 6–7 log units below the Iron-Wustite buffer (fO2 = ΔIW − 6 to − 7), induced by fluxes of mantle-derived CH4-H2 fluids. Cathodoluminescence images reveal growth zoning within the individual crystals of the aggregates, related to the substitution of Ti3+ in the corundum structure. Ti contents are 2 wt%. Numerical modelling indicates that the first skeletal crystals grew in an open system, from a moving magma. The subsequent linear increase in Ti reflects growth in a partially closed system, with decreasing porosity; the exponential increase in Ti close to melt pockets reflects closed-system growth, leading to dramatic increases in incompatible-element concentrations in the residual melts. We suggest that the corundum aggregates grew in melt/fluid conduits; diffusion modelling implies timescales of days to years before crystallization was terminated by explosive eruption. These processes probably operate in explosive volcanic systems in several tectonic settings.

Polygenic Nature of Olivines from the Ultramafic Lamprophyres of the Terina Complex (Chadobets Upland, Siberian Platform) Based on Trace Element Composition, Crystalline, and Melt Inclusion Data

Abstract: Olivine from the deep mantle-derived rocks, such as ultramafic lamprophyres, carries important information about the composition of the mantle source, the processes of mantle metasomatism, the origin of specific silicate-carbonate melts, as well as the composition and mechanisms of crystallization of these rocks. Textures and compositions of olivine from the carbonate-rich ultramafic lamprophyres (aillikites) of the Terina complex, along with their mineral and melt inclusions, exposed that olivines have different sources. Two populations of olivines were considered: macrocrysts (>1 mm) and groundmass olivines (<1 mm). Groundmass olivines are phenocrysts and characterized by weak variations in Mg# (84–86.5), a sharp increase in Ca and Ti contents, and a decrease in Ni and Cr from core to rim. They have higher concentrations of Li, Cu, Ti, and Na compared to macrocrysts. Among the macrocrysts, the following populations are observed: (1) high-Mg olivines (Mg# 89–91) with high Ni and low Ti contents, which are interpreted as xenocrysts from the slightly depleted lherzolite mantle; (2) high-Ca olivines (Mg# 84–88, CaO 0.13–0.21 wt %), which have patterns similar to groundmass olivines and are interpreted as cumulates of early portions of aillikite melt; (3) macrocrysts with wide variations in Mg# (73–88), low CaO contents (0.04–0.11 wt %), and positive slope in Ca vs. Al and negative slope in Ca vs. Mn, which are interpreted as disintegrated megacrysts from the Cr-poor megacryst suite. The megacryst suite could have been formed in the pre-trap period during the melting of the metasomatized subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). The aillikite melt evolution is traced by secondary melt inclusions in olivine macrocrysts: early phlogopite-diopside-calcite-apatite association, containing Ti-magnetite and ilmenite, is followed by an association with magnetite and sulfides (pyrrhotite and pentlandite); finally, at a late stage, inclusions with a predominance of Ca-Na-carbonates and sulfates and enriched in U, Th, Y, REEs, Sr, and Ba were captured.

Shallow magmatic processes revealed by cryptic microantecrysts: a case study from the Taupo Volcanic Zone

Abstract: Arc magmas typically contain phenocrysts with complex zoning and diverse growth histories. Microlites highlight the same level of intracrystalline variations but require nanoscale resolution which is globally less available. The southern Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ), New Zealand, has produced a wide range of explosive eruptions yielding glassy microlite-bearing tephras. Major oxide analyses and textural information reveal that microlite rims are commonly out of equilibrium with the surrounding glass. We mapped microlites and microcrysts at submicron resolution for major and trace element distributions and observed three plagioclase textural patterns: (1) resorption and overgrowth, (2) oscillatory zoning, and (3) normal (sharp) zoning. Pyroxene textures are diverse: (1) resorption and overgrowth, (2) calcium-rich bands, (3) hollow textures, (4) oscillatory zoning, (5) sector zoning, (6) normal zoning and (7) reverse zoning. Microlite chemistry and textures inform processes operating during pre-eruptive magma ascent. They indicate a plumbing system periodically intruded by short-lived sub-aphyric dykes that entrain microantecrysts grown under diverse physico-chemical conditions and stored in rapidly cooled, previously intruded dykes. Changes in temperature gradients between the intrusion and the host rock throughout ascent and repeated magma injections lead to fluctuations in cooling rates and generate local heterogeneities illustrated by the microlite textures and rim compositions. Late-stage degassing occurs at water saturation, forming thin calcic microcryst rims through local partitioning effects. This detailed investigation of textures cryptic to conventional imaging shows that a significant proportion of the micrometre-sized crystal cargo of the TVZ is of antecrystic origin and may not be attributed to late-stage nucleation and growth at the onset of volcanic eruptions, as typically presumed.

Explosive Behavior of Intermediate Magmas: The Example of Cotopaxi Volcano (Ecuador)

Abstract: The variability in intensity and style shown by explosive volcanism has been traditionally explained by a complex interplay among melt composition and pre-eruptive volatile content, which modulate magma ascent and conduit dynamics. However, magmas having similar compositions may be characterized by subtle textural changes affecting magma rheology and eventually explosive dynamics. Here we study five eruptions occurred at Cotopaxi volcano (Ecuador) in the last 2000 years characterized by a small variation in magma composition but spanning a wide range of intensity to investigate how these parameters control variations in eruption dynamics. We combined eruption source parameters (ESPs), obtained from the application of recent models to all the available field data, with new textural data and state-of-the-art conduit dynamics modeling. We found that, despite having variable microlite content and texture, the effect of microlite on magma rheology is partly counterbalanced by variable phenocryst abundance, resulting in a comparable total crystal content. The combination of modeling results with textural data and ESPs suggests that subtle variability in crystal content and magma composition may be accompanied by strong feedback effects among crystallization, changes in melt/ magma viscosity and volatile exsolution, with microlite crystallization resulting in a rapid change of magma rheology and modifications in the explosive dynamics. By combining ESPs with quantitative textural data (i.e. melt normalized vesicle number density) and conduit modeling, we also show how general observed correlations between composition and texture of juvenile products with eruption intensity are not evident when applied to eruptions characterized by a small compositional range.

From subduction to strike slip-related volcanism: insights from Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopes and geochronology of lavas from Sivas–Malatya region, Central Eastern Anatolia

Abstract: Anatolia is characterised by a complex geodynamic evolution, mirrored by a wide spectrum of magmatism. Here, we investigated the timing and the geochemical/isotopic characters of the Miocene to Pliocene volcanism of Sivas–Malatya Region (Central Eastern Anatolia), and its relationships with local and regional tectonics. Na-alkaline basaltic lavas were emplaced during middle Miocene at Sivas (16.7–13.1 Ma), in the North, whilst transition from calc-alkaline to Na-alkaline rocks is observed at Yamadag and Kepez Dag volcanic complexes. Calc-alkaline products erupted during early to middle Miocene, and more precisely from 19.5 to 13.6 Ma at Yamadag and from 16.4 to 13.5 Ma at Kepez Dag, with final Na-alkaline activity of the Arguvan volcanic field lasting till late Miocene (15.7–10.6 Ma). Volcanism renewed during the Pliocene in the Kangal (5.9–4.0 Ma) volcanic field with the emission of K-alkaline igneous rocks. Mafic calc-alkaline and Na-alkaline rocks partially overlap in age but can be easily distinguished by their petrochemical characters. Mafic calc-alkaline igneous rocks show typical subduction-related petrological and geochemical affinities. They are both two-pyroxene or clinopyroxene and amphibole-bearing rocks, characterised by high LILE/HFSE values, with variable 87Sr/86Sri (0.70396–0.70539) and 143Nd/144Ndi (0.51260–0.51287). Mafic Na-alkaline igneous rocks are characterised by big olivine phenocrysts and show intraplate geochemical flavours, although some LILE depletion with respect to HFSE as well as variable 87Sr/86Sri (0.70347–0.70553) and 143Nd/144Ndi (0.51261–0.51291) isotopic compositions are present. These characteristics are suggestive for the occurrence, at some stage of their genesis, of a possible interaction with subduction-related reservoirs. The Kangal K-alkali basalts still show intraplate-like petrological and geochemical affinities with LILE/HFSE ratios similar to those of the Miocene Na-alkaline rocks, and largely variable 87Sr/86Sri (0.70425–0.70520) and 143Nd/144Ndi (0.51262–0.51277) isotopic compositions, overlapping the arrays observed in the earlier stages of volcanism. A general transition from calc-alkaline to Na-alkaline volcanic rocks is observed with time, according to the evolution of the geodynamics of the Anatolia region. Early to middle Miocene calc-alkaline magmas were derived by partial melting of the mantle wedge delimited by the subduction of the last oceanic branch of Neotethys. The Na-alkaline magmas, on the other hand, were generated within the asthenospheric mantle beneath the slab and migrated through slab tears into the mantle wedge where they mixed with subduction-related components. The subduction-related component decreased with time and transitional magmas are found in the youngest activity of Yamadag and Kepez Dag, shortly followed by clear within-plate lavas formed in the Arguvan volcanic field. The appearance of the youngest K-alkaline volcanic rocks in the Kangal basin represents an abrupt change in the magma supply at depth, although continental crustal contamination en-route to the surface played an important role in their genesis.

Gemology, Mineralogy, and Spectroscopy of an Attractive Tremolitized Diopside Anorthosite Gem Material from the Philippines: A New Type of Material with Similarities to Dushan Jade

Abstract: In recent years, a new type of material called Philippines “Dushan jade” has appeared in the gemstone market in China This new type of material, very similar in appearance and physical properties to Dushan jade, an important ancient jade with a long history in China, is causing confusion in the market and poses identification difficulties Microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman microprobe spectroscopy, and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy were used to study the gemology, mineralogy, and spectroscopy of rock samples from the Philippines in order to differentiate them from Dushan jade The studies showed that Philippines rock is composed mainly of anorthite and minor amounts of diopside, tremolite, uvarovite, titanite, chromite, zoisite, prehnite, thomsonite-Ca, and chlorite, among which uvarovite, diopside, and tremolite are the main color causing minerals The origin of the color is related to the electronic transitions involving Cr3+, Fe2+, Fe3+, and charge transfer between the ions The paragenetic mineral formation sequence of Philippines rock can be divided into three stages: (1) the magmatic stage: anorthite phenocryst, diopside, chromite, and titanite are formed first in the magma; (2) the metamorphic stage: anorthite phenocryst undergo fracture and recrystallization; the early fluid intrusion transforms diopside into tremolite forming uvarovite-grossular-andradite solid-solution around the anorthite and chromite; and (3) the late hydrothermal stage: the late hydrothermal solution fills in fractures with prehnite, thomsonite-Ca, and zoisite being formed From the comparison studies, it was established that Philippines rock and Dushan jade are two completely different type of material Philippines rock should be called “tremolitized diopside anorthosite”

Petrochemistry and Zircon U-Pb Geochronology of Felsic Xenoliths in Late Cenozoic Gem-Related Basalt from Bo Phloi Gem Field, Kanchanaburi, Western Thailand

Abstract: The Cenozoic basalts exposed in Bo Phloi Gem Field, Kanchanaburi Province, western Thailand are a host to different gem materials (e.g., sapphire, black spinel, black pyroxene and zircon) as well as other xenocrysts and xenoliths from the deep-seated formations onto the earth surface. However, only felsic xenoliths have never been investigated and reported in detail though they are in fact significant evidence of ancient tectonic processes of this area. In this study, the felsic xenoliths were sampled and classified, on the basis of petrochemistry, into granite, syenogranite, and syenite. However, they contain similar mineral assemblages including essentials of quartz, K-feldspar, and plagioclase with different proportions and accessories of biotite, zircon, and opaque minerals. Moreover, large phenocrysts of K-feldspar and plagioclase commonly present as a primary texture which are frequently corroded and replaced by ‘sieved texture’ with secondary cumulative fringe of tiny feldspar and quartz. These secondary textures clearly indicate quenching after re-heating during transportation by basaltic magma. Geochemical analyses indicate that the alkaline and peraluminous magma show enrichment of Rb and depletion of Ba, Nb, Ta, Ti with steep slope of LREE/HREE enrichment patterns. These evidences suggest low-degree partial melting of crustal materials related to the collisional S-type granite magmatism. In addition, U-Pb dating of zircon from a felsic xenolith yields 211.6±1.3 Ma comparable to the Late Triassic magmatism of the central belt granite in this region which is resulted from the collision between Sibumasu and Indochina terranes.