Phenocryst

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

Extraction, Storage and Eruption of Multiple Isolated Magma Batches in the Paired Mamaku and Ohakuri Eruption, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand

Abstract: TheTaupoVolcanic Zone (TVZ) is well known for its extraordinary rate of rhyolitic magma generation and caldera-forming eruptions. Less is known about how large volumes of rhyolitic magma are extracted and stored prior to eruption, and the role tectonics might play in the process of melt extraction and control of caldera eruption(s). Here we present a new model for the extraction, storage and simultaneous eruption of the4245 km paired Mamaku and Ohakuri magmas sourced from calderas centred 30 km apart (the Rotorua and Ohakuri calderas, respectively) in the central TVZ. The Mamaku and Ohakuri ignimbrites share a similar bulk pumice composition and the same phenocryst assemblage; however, bulk-rock compositions suggest several poorly mixed magma types in each erupted volume, which are randomly distributed throughout the eruptive deposits. To refine models of the pre-eruptive geometry of the magmatic system and discuss a possible origin for triggering of each eruption, we present an expanded database of matrix glass and quartz-hosted melt inclusion compositions along with the existing bulk-rock and mineral compositions. Major and trace element compositions show that the region produced five different magma batches, extracted from the same source region, and a continuous intermediate mush zone beneath the Mamaku^Ohakuri region is suggested here. These magma batches were most probably juxtaposed but isolated from each other in the upper crust, and evolved separately until eruption. The observed geochemical differences between the batches are likely to be generated by different extraction conditions of the rhyolitic melt from a slightly heterogeneous mush. The lack of evidence for more mafic recharge prior to eruption (for example, there are no bright cathodoluminescence rims on quartz crystals) suggests that a magmatic input is unlikely to be an eruption trigger. However, tectonic activity could be an efficient way to trigger the eruption of isolated magma batches, with the evacuation of one magma batch causing a disturbance to the local stress field and activating regionally linked faults, which then lead to the eruption of additional magma batches and associated caldera subsidence. In addition, the

The role of basalt replenishment in the generation of basaltic andesites of the ongoing activity at Arenal volcano, Costa Rica: evidence from clinopyroxene and spinel

Abstract: The bulk composition of magma erupted from Volcan Arenal has remained nearly constant (SiO2 = 53.6–54.9 wt%; MgO = 5.0–4.5 wt%) during almost 30 years of continuous activity (1969–1996). None the less, clinopyroxene (cpx) phenocrysts and their spinel inclusions record a much more complex open-system evolution in which steady-state production of the erupted basaltic andesitic magma is linked to episodic injections of basalt into Arenal's magma conduit/reservoir system. High-resolution major element zoning profiles (electron microprobe) on a large number of phenocrysts (>14,000 analyses), tied to back-scattered electron (BSE) images, have been used to assess the compositional characteristics of the magmatic end members as well as the timing and dynamics of magma replenishment events. No two cpx phenocrysts have exactly the same zoning profile. The vast majority of our analyses record the crystallization of cpx (Cr2O3 <0.12 wt%; Mg# = 65–79; Al/Ti = 2–7) from a liquid comparable to or more evolved than erupted magma compositions. However, half of all cpx grains are cored by high-Cr cpx (Cr2O3 = 0.2–0.72 wt%) or contain similar basaltic compositions as abrupt growth bands in phenocrysts with and without high-Cr cores; phenocrysts with high-Cr cpx occur throughout the ongoing activity. In a few cases, high-Cr cpx occurs very near the outer margin of the grain without an apparent growth hiatus, particularly in 1968/69 and 1992/93. The main conclusions are: (1) all basaltic andesitic lavas erupted at Arenal during the ongoing activity that began in July, 1968, are the products of magma mixing, (2) clinopyroxenes record multiple replenishment events of basaltic magma in contrast to the near constancy of erupted bulk compositions, (3) some phenocrysts preserve records of multiple interactions with basaltic magmas requiring magmatic processes to operate on timescales shorter than residence times of some phenocrysts, (4) multiple occurrences of clinopyroxene with high-Cr rims suggest that basalt replenishment events have occurred with sub-decadal frequency and may predate eruption by months or less. From this we infer that Arenal volcano is underlain by a continuously active, small-volume magmatic reservoir maintained in quasi-steady state by basalt recharge over several decades. The monotony of erupting Arenal magmas implies that fractionation, recharge, ascent, and eruption are well balanced in order for magmas to be essentially uniform while containing phenocrysts with vastly different growth histories at the time of eruption.

Magmatic zoning in apatite: a monitor of porosity and permeability change in granites

Abstract: Apatites from the Shap Granite, northern England, are strongly zoned, reflecting multiple generations of growth and dissolution. Such chemical zoning is most readily displayed in cathodoluminescence images and correlates well with trace element variation determined using LA-ICP-MS analyses. The zoned apatites provide a detailed record of the changing scales of permeability during progressive crystallisation within the magma chamber. Early periods of apatite growth are preserved within cores and represent both early growth within a magma chamber dominated by vigorous mixing processes and inherited grains with significantly different chemistries. The main phase of apatite growth within the magma was strongly controlled by the presence of adjacent biotite phenocrysts and is characterised by fine scale oscillatory zoning, followed by the growth of a thin rim of relatively uniform composition. The chemical evolution of the later phases of apatite growth and the stratigraphy of the zoning appear to record late stage crystallisation within progressively more isolated interstitial melt pockets.