Phenocryst

About: Phenocryst is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4132 publications have been published within this topic receiving 158441 citations.

Petrogenesis of a tholeiite-boninite sequence from Ayios Mamas, Troodos ophiolite: evidence for splitting of a volcanic arc?

Abstract: Lavas and intrusives from Ayios Mamas, at the western end of the Limassol Forest Complex, south of the Arakapas Fault Belt, Troodos, comprise three groups: (A) a basal sequence of pillow lavas (intruded by dikes and sills) with the phenocryst assemblage PLAG+CPX+MT±OL; (B) a middle sequence of pillows and massive flows [CPX+PLAG±OL]; and (C) an upper sequence mostly of pillows and breccia [OL+OPX+CPX+SP]. The lower group is tholeiitic, and the upper two groups boninitic. Group C whole-rock and glass Mg-numbers exceed 72 and range up to 78, with corresponding olivine compositions of Fo92. They are strongly depleted in high-field strength elements, and on the basis of Cr-Y variation and major element mass balances, are interpreted to reflect partial melting of a basalt-depleted (CPX-) harzburgite source. Group A tholeiites, in contrast, are interpreted to derive from a more fertile lherzolite source. Magmaphile and compatible trace element variation is best modelled after an open magma system, involving periodic replenishment, tapping, and fractionation, although neither tholeiites nor boninites represent “steady-state” compositions. The boninites belong to a CaO-rich, SiO2-poor variant, resembling those from Guam, but contrasting with those from Bonin and Cape Vogel. MORB-normalized enrichment of low-field strength elements K, Sr, Ba, and Rb in all groups indicates subduction-derived source contamination. It is proposed that the Ayios Mamas section reflects splitting of a volcanic arc, prior to back-arc spreading in an environment analogous to that of the present-day Andaman Sea.

The Bishop Tuff giant magma body: an alternative to the Standard Model

Abstract: The Bishop Tuff, one of the most extensively studied high-silica rhyolite bodies in the world, is usually considered as the archetypical example of a deposit formed from a magma body characterized by thermal and compositional vertical stratification—what we call the Standard Model for the Bishop magma body. We present here new geothermometry and geobarometry results derived using a large database of previously published quartz-hosted glass inclusion compositions. Assuming equilibrium between melt and an assemblage composed of quartz, ±plagioclase, ±sanidine, +zircon, ±fluid, we use Zr contents in glass inclusions to derive quartz crystallization temperatures, and we use (1) silica contents in glass, (2) projection of glass compositions onto the haplogranitic (quartz-albite-orthoclase) ternary, and (3) phase equilibria calculations using rhyolite-MELTS, to constrain crystallization pressures. We find crystallization temperatures of ~740–750 °C for all inclusions from both early- and late-erupted pumice. Crystallization pressures for both early- and late-erupted inclusions are also very similar to each other, with averages of ~175–200 MPa. We find no evidence of late-erupted inclusions having been entrapped at higher temperatures or pressures than early-erupted inclusions, as would be expected by the Standard Model. We argue that the thermal gradient inferred from Fe–Ti oxides—the backbone of the Standard Model—does not reflect equilibrium pre-eruptive conditions; we also note that H2O–CO2 systematics of glass inclusions yields overlapping pressure ranges for early- and late-erupted inclusions, similar to the results presented here; and we show that glass inclusion and phenocryst compositions show bimodal distributions, suggestive of compositional separation between early- and late-erupted populations. These findings are inconsistent with the Standard Model. The similarity in crystallization conditions and the compositional separation between early- and late-erupted magmas suggest that two laterally juxtaposed independent magma reservoirs existed in the same region at the same time and co-erupted to form the Long Valley Caldera and the Bishop Tuff. This hypothesis would explain the lack of mixing between early- and late-erupted crystal populations in pumice clasts; it could also explain the inferred eruption pattern—which resulted in early-erupted magmas being deposited only to the south of the caldera—if the early-erupted magma body resided to the south and the late-erupted magma body was located to the north. Our alternative model is consistent with the patchy distribution of thermal anomalies and the inference of co-eruption of distinct magma types in active volcanic areas such as the central Taupo Volcanic Zone.

Apatite as a monitor of late-stage magmatic processes at Volcan Irazu ´ , Costa Rica

Abstract: Apatite phenocrysts from the 1963 and 1723 eruptions of Irazu volcano (Costa Rica) record a volatile evolution history that confirms previous melt inclusion studies, and provides additional information concerning the relative and absolute timing of subvolcanic magmatic events. Measurements of H, Cl, and F by secondary ion mass spectrometry reveal multiple populations of apatite in both 1723 and 1963 magmas. Assuming nominal apatite/melt partition coefficients allows us to compare the pattern of melt inclusions and apatites in ternary space, demonstrating the fidelity of the record preserved in apatite, and revealing a complex history of magma mixing with at least two components. The preservation of heterogeneous populations of apatite and of internally heterogeneous crystals requires short timescales (days to years) for these magmatic processes to occur.

The 1783 Lakagigar eruption in Iceland: geochemistry, CO 2 and sulfur degassing

Abstract: About 12.3 km3 of basaltic magma were erupted from the Lakagigar fissure in Iceland in 1783, which may have been derived from the high-level reservoir of Grimsvotn central volcano, by lateral flow within the rifted crust. We have studied the petrology of quenched, glassy tephra from sections through pyroclastic cones along the fissure. The chemical composition of matrix glass of the 1783 tephra is heterogeneous and ranges from olivine tholeiite to Fe−Ti rich basalt, but the most common magma erupted is quartz tholeiite (Mg#43.6 to 37.2). The tephra are characterized by low crystal content (5 to 9 vol%). Glass inclusions trapped in plagioclase and Fo86 to Fo75 olivine phenocrysts show a large range of compositions, from primitive olivine tholeiite (Mg#64.3), quartz tholeiite (Mg#43–37), to Fe−Ti basalts (Mg#33.5) which represent the most differentiated liquids and are trapped as rare melt inclusions in clinopyroxene. Both matrix glass and melt inclusion data indicate a chemically heterogeneous magma reservoir, with quartz tholeiite dominant. LREE-depleted olivine-tholeiite melt-inclusions in Mg-rich olivine and anorthitic-plagioclase phenocrysts may represent primitive magma batches ascending into the reservoir at the time of the eruption. Vesicularity of matrix glasses correlates with differentiation, ranging from 10 to 60 vol.% in evolved quartz-tholeiite glasses, whereas olivine-tholeiite glasses contain less than 10 vol.% vesicles. FTIR analyses of olivine-tholeiite melt-inclusions indicate concentrations of 0.47 wt% H2O and 430 to 510 ppm for CO2. Chlorine in glass inclusions and matrix glasses increases from 50 ppm in primitive tholeiite to 230 ppm in Fe−Ti basalts, without clear evidence of degassing. Melt inclusion analyses show that sulfur varies from 915 ppm to 1970 ppm, as total FeO* increases from 9 to 13.5 wt%. Sulfur degassing correlates both with vesicularity and magma composition. Thus sulfur in matrix glasses decreases from 1490 ppm to 500 ppm, as Mg # decreases from 47 to 37 and vesicularity of the magma strongly increases. These results indicate loss of at least 75% of sulfur during the eruption. The correlation of low sulfur content in matrix glasses with high vesicularity is regarded as evidence of the control of a major exsolving volatile phase on the degassing efficiency of the magma. Our model is consistent a quasi-permanent CO2 flux through the shallow-level magmatic reservoir of Grimsvotn. Following magma withdrawal from the reservoir and during eruption from the Lakagigar fissure, sulfur degassing was controlled by inherent CO2-induced vesicularity of the magma.