Phenocryst

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

Generation of Porphyritic and Equigranular Mafic Enclaves During Magma Recharge Events at Unzen Volcano, Japan

Abstract: Mafic to intermediate enclaves are evenly distributed throughout the dacitic 1991–1995 lava sequence of Unzen volcano, Japan, representing hundreds of mafic recharge events over the life of the volcano. This study documents the morphological, textural, chemical, and petrological characteristics of the enclaves and coexisting silicic host lavas. The eruptive products described in this study appear to be general products of magma mingling, as the same textural types are seen at many other volcanoes. Two types of magmatic enclaves, referred to as Porphyritic and Equigranular, are easily distinguished texturally. Porphyritic enclaves display a wide range in composition from basalt to andesite, are glass-rich, spherical and porphyritic, and contain large, resorbed, plagioclase phenocrysts in a matrix of acicular crystals and glass. Equigranular enclaves are andesitic, non-porphyritic, and consist of tabular, medium-grained microphenocrysts in a matrix glass that is in equilibrium with the host dacite magma. Porphyritic enclaves are produced when intruding basaltic magma engulfs melt and phenocrysts of resident silicic magma at their mutual interface. Equigranular enclaves are a product of a more prolonged mixing and gradual crystallization at a slower cooling rate within the interior of the mafic intrusion.

Petrology of Volcán Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico: disequilibrium phenocryst assemblages and evolution of the subvolcanic magma system

Abstract: Volcan Tequila is an extinct stratovolcano in the western Mexican Volcanic Belt that has erupted lavas ranging from andesite to rhyolite during the last 0.9 Ma. Following an early period of rhyolitic volcanism, the main edifice of the volcano was constructed by central vent eruptions that produced ∼ 25 km3 of pyroxene-andesite. At about 0.2 Ma central activity ceased and numerous flows of hornblende-bearing andesite, dacite, and rhyodacite erupted from vents located around the flanks of the volcano. Bimodal plagioclase phenocryst rim compositions in lavas from both the main edifice and the flanks indicate that magma mixing commonly occurred shortly prior to or during eruption. Compositions of endmember magmas involved in mixing, as constrained by whole-rock major and trace element abundances, phenocryst compositions, and mineral-melt exchange equilibria, are similar to those of some lavas erupted from the central vent and on the flanks of the volcano. Estimated pre-eruptive temperatures for hornblende-bearing lavas (970°–830°C) are systematically lower than for lavas that lack hornblende (1045°–970°C), whereas magmatic H2O contents are systematically higher for hornblende-bearing lavas. In addition to stabilizing hornblende, high magmatic water contents promoted crystallization of calcic plagioclase (An70–82). Frequent injections of magma into the base of the subvolcanic plumbing system followed by eruption of mixed magma probably prevented formation of large volumes of silicic magma, which have caused paroxysmal, caldera-forming eruptions at other stratovolcanoes in western Mexico. The later stages of volcanic activity, represented by the flank lavas, indicate a change from a large magma storage reservoir to numerous small ones that developed along a NW-trending zone parallel to regional fault trends. Sr and Nd isotopic data for lavas from the Tequila region and other volcanoes in western Mexico demonstrate that differentiated calc-alkaline magmas are formed primarily through crystal fractionation of mantle-derived calc-alkaline basalt coupled with assimilation of crustal material.