Phenocryst

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

Petrologic diversity in Mount St. Helens dacites during the last 4,000 years: implications for magma mixing

Abstract: Mount St. Helens has explosively erupted dacitic magma discontinuously over the last 40,000 years, and detailed stratigraphic data are available for the past 4,000 years. During this last time period the major-element composition of the dacites has ranged from mafic (62–64 wt% SiO2) to felsic (65–67 wt% SiO2), temperature has varied by about 150°C (770°–920°C), and crystallinity has ranged between 20% and 55%. Water content of these dacites has also fluctuated greatly. Although the source for the dacitic magmas is probably partial melting of lower crustal rocks, there is strong physical evidence, such as banded pumices, thermal heterogeneities in single pumices, phenocryst disequilibrium, contrasts between compositions of glass inclusions and host matrix glass, and amphibole reaction rims, that suggests that magma mixing has been prominent in the dacitic reservoir. Indeed, we suggest that the variations in major- and trace-element abundances in Mount St. Helens dacites indicate that magma mixing between felsic dacite and mafic magma has controlled the petrologic diversity of the dacitic magmas. Magma mixing has also controlled the composition of andesites erupted at Mount St. Helens, and thus it appears that the continuum of magmatic composition erupted at the volcano is controlled by mixing between felsic dacite, or possibly rhyodacite, and basalt. The flux of the felsic endmember to the reservior appears to have been relatively constant, whereas the flux of basalt may have increased in the past 4,000 years, as suggested by the apparently increased abundance of mafic dacite and andesite erupted in this period.

The significance of phenocryst diversity in tephra from recent eruptions at Popocatepetl volcano (central Mexico)

Abstract: Tephra lapilli from six explosive eruptions between April 1996 and February 1998 at Popocatepetl volcano (=Popo) in central Mexico have been studied to investigate the causes of magma diversification in thick-crusted volcanic arcs. The tephra particles are sparsely porphyritic (≈5 vol%) magnesian andesites (SiO2=58–65 wt%; MgO=2.6–5.9 wt%) that contain phenocrysts of NiO-rich (up to 0.67 wt% NiO) magnesian olivine (Fo89–91 cores) with inclusions of Cr-spinel (cr#=59–70), orthopyroxene (mg#=63–76), clinopyroxene (mg#=68–86), intermediate to sodic plagioclase (An33–66), and traces of amphibole. Major and trace element systematics indicate magma mixing. The liquid mg#melt ratios inferred from the ferromagnesian phenocrysts suggest the existence of a mafic (mg#melt ≈ 72–76) and an evolved component magma (mg#melt ≈ 35–40). These component magmas form a hybrid magnesian andesite with an intermediate range of mg#melt=50–72. The mafic end member (mg#melt ≈ 72–75) is saturated with olivine and spinel and crystallizes at temperatures ≈1170–1085 °C with oxygen fugacities close to the fayalite–magnetite–quartz buffer and elevated water contents of several wt% H2O. A likely location of crystallization is at lower crustal levels, possibly at the Moho. Olivine is followed by high-mg# clinopyroxene which could start to crystallize during magma ascent. At depths of ≈4 to 13 km, the mafic magma mixes with an evolved composition containing low-mg# clino- and orthopyroxene and plagioclase at a temperature of ≈950 °C. The repetitive ascent of batches of mafic magmas spaced days to weeks apart implies multiple episodes of crystallization and magma mixing. The tephra is similar to the Popo magnesian andesites, suggesting similar generic processes for the common lavas of the volcano. The advantage of the tephra is that it can be used to reconstruct the composition of the mafic magma. Building on the elemental systematics of the tephra and a comparison to the near-primary basalts from the surrounding monogenetic fields, we infer that the Popo mafic end member is a magnesian andesite with variable, but high SiO2 contents of ≈55–62 wt% and near-primary characteristics, such as high-mg#melt of 72–75, FeO*/MgO ratios <1 (if extrapolated to an mg#melt of 72–75), and high Ni contents (=200 ppm Ni). This model implies that the typical elemental signature of the Popo andesites, such as the low CaO, Al2O3, FeO*, high Na2O contents, and the depletion in high-field strength elements (e.g., P, Zr, Ti), are mantle source phenomena. Thus, determining the elemental budget of the magnesian andesite, as it is prior to the modifications by crustal differentiation, is central to quantifying the subcrustal mass fluxes beneath Popo.

Petrology of McKinney Basalt, Snake River Plain, Idaho

Abstract: The McKinney Basalt, a composite pahoehoe and pillow lava unit in the Snake River Plain, has been studied by petrographic, chemical, strontium-isotopic, and experimental methods in an attempt to define its origin and evolutionary history. Differences in the compositions of olivine and plagioclase phenocryst cores and in the whole-rock composition of different samples are interpreted as evidence that McKinney Basalt erupted as sequential surges of lava that represent different degrees of fractional crystallization of an olivine tholeiite parental magma. Olivine and plagioclase geothermometry and experimental studies indicate that McKinney pillow lava erupted at a temperature of about 1190° to 1200°C. Compositions of iron-titanium oxides and plagioclase/glass europium partition coefficients indicate that as McKinney lava cooled, oxygen fugacity was buffered near the quartz-fayalite-magnetite buffer. Experimental studies and chemical compositions of McKinney samples suggest that the parental magma underwent significant crystallization only at relatively low pressures ( Strontium isotopic data suggest that McKinney Basalt, like all other Snake River olivine tholeiites, was derived from a mantle region that is more radiogenic than typical suboceanic mantle.