Phenocryst

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

Systematics of modal phenocryst assemblages in submarine basalts: Petrologic implications

Abstract: Phenocryst assemblages in ocean-ridge basalts generally show an increasing proportion of plagioclase as the total amount of phenocrysts increases. The variations in phase assemblages, as well as most crystal-liquid Kd's, are similar to variations (equimodal trends) predicted by low-pressure laboratory experiments, suggesting that many of these basalts have experienced varying degrees of low-pressure cyrstallization prior to quenching, with little sorting of crystals and liquid. Important exceptions include moderately to highly phyric basalts enriched either in plagioclase or olivine which lie well off the experimental trends. In these basalts, megacrysts and xenocrysts usually cited as evidence for magma mixing commonly represent a small proportion of the total crystalline phase assemblage. However, phase proportions for many of these basalts lie well outside the range that could be produced by simple mixing; selective gravitative sorting either prior or subsequent to mixing appears to be the likely explanation for these phyric basalts. A relation between spreading rate and phase proportions is neither supported nor refuted by the data, which as yet do not adequately represent fast-spreading ridges.

Mid-Pleistocene lavas from the Seguam volcanic center, central Aleutian arc: closed-system fractional crystallization of a basalt to rhyodacite eruptive suite

Abstract: In contrast to adjacent volcanic centers of the modern central Aleutian arc, Seguam Island developed on strongly extended arc crust. K-Ar dates indicate that mid-Pleistocene, late-Pleistocene, and Holocene eruptive phases constitute Seguam. This study focuses on the petrology of the mid-Pleistocene, 1.07–07 Ma, Turf Point Formation (TPF) which is dominated by an unusual suite of porphyritic basalt and basaltic andesite lavas with subordinate phenocryst-poor andesite to rhyodacite lavas. Increasing whole-rock FeO*/MgO from basalt to dacite, the anhydrous Plag+Ol+Cpx±Opx±Mt phenocryst assemblage, groundmass pigeonite, and the reaction Ol+Liq=Opx preserved in the mafic lavas indicate a tholeiitic affinity. Thermometry and comparison to published phase equilibria suggests that most TPF basalts crystallized Plag+Ol+Cpx±Mt at ≥1160°C between about 3–5 kb (±1–2% H2O), andesites crystallized Plag+Cpx+Opx±Mt at ≥1000°C between 3–4 kb with 3–5% H2O, and dacites crystallized Plag +Cpx±Opx±Mt at 1000°C between 1–2 kb with 2–3% H2O. All lavas crystallized at f o 2 close to the NNO buffer. Mineral compositions and textures indicate equilibrium crystallization of the evolved lavas; petrographic evidence of open-system mixing or assimilation is rare. MgO, CaO, Al2O3, Cr, Ni, and Sr abundances decrease and K2O, Na2O, Rb, Ba, Zr, and Pb increase with increasing SiO2 (50–71%). LREE enrichment [(Ce/Yb)n=1.7±0.2] characterizes most TPF lavas; total REE contents increase and Eu anomalies become more negative with increasing SiO2. Relative to other Aleutian volcanic centers, TPF basalts and basaltic andesites have lower K2O, Na2O, TiO2, Rb, Ba, Sr, Zr, Y, and LREE abundances. 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.70361–0.70375) and ratios of 206Pb/204Pb (18.88–18.97), 207Pb/204Pb (15.58–15.62), 208Pb/204Pb (38.46–38.55) are the highest measured for any suite of lavas in the oceanic portion of the Aleutian arc. Conversely, eNd values (+5.8 to+6.7) are among the lowest from the Aleutians. Sr, Nd, and Pb ratios are virtually constant from basalt through rhyodacite, whereas detectable isotopic heterogenity is observed at most other Aleutian volcanic centers. Major and trace element, REE, and Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopic compositions are consistent with the basaltic andesitic, andesitic, dacitic, and rhyodacitic liquids evolving from TPF basaltic magma via closed-system fractional crystallization alone. Fractionation models suggest that removal of ∼80 wt% cumulate (61% Plag, 17% Cpx, 12% Opx, 7% Ol, and 3% Mt) can produce 20 wt% rhyodacitic residual liquid per unit mass of parental basaltic liquid. Petrologic and physical constraints favor segregation of small batches of basalt from a larger mid-crustal reservoir trapped below a low-density upper crustal lid. In these small magma batches, the degree of cooling, crystallization, and fractionation are functions of the initial mass of basaltic magma segregated, the thermal state of the upper crust, and the magnitude of extension. Tholeiitic magmas erupted at Seguam evolved by substantially different mechanisms than did calc-alkaline lavas erupted at the adjacent volcanic centers of Kanaga and Adak on unextended arc crust. These variable differentiation mechanisms and liquid lines of descent reflect contrasting thermal and mechanical conditions imposed by the different tectonic environments in which these centers grew. At Seguam, intra-arc extension promoted eruption of voluminous basalt and its differentiates, unmodified by interaction with lower crustal or upper mantle wallrocks.

Origin of garnet phenocrysts in calc-alkaline rocks

Abstract: A large number of garnet phenocrysts from Palaeozoic rhyodacites and granodiorite porphyrites from Central and Northeastern Victoria have been analyzed using the electron microprobe. These garnets, from an area of several thousand square miles, are very uniform in composition (dominantly almandine, with subordinate pyrope and minor grossular and spessartine). They show minor zoning with a very thin outer rim slightly richer in almandine and spessartine than the remainder of the phenocryst. They are surrounded by a complex intergrowth of cordierite and hypersthene forming a reaction rim. Resorbed quartz phenocrysts are typically associated with the garnet phenocrysts. The uniform composition, the conspicuous size and the subhedral-euhedral form of the garnet phenocrysts indicate that they crystallized directly from the acid calc-alkaline magma at an early stage of its crystallization. High pressure experimental work on a natural garnet-bearing rhyodacite glass demonstrates that almandine-rich garnet and quartz are near-liquidus phases at 18 and 27 kb \(\left( {P_{{\text{H}}_{\text{2}} {\text{O}}} < P_{{\text{LOAD }}} } \right)\), but garnet does not appear until well below the liquidus at 9 kb. A comparison of the composition of the experimentally crystallized garnets with the natural garnets suggests that these acid calc-alkaline magmas began to crystallize at pressures between 9 and 18 kb, i.e. at depths corresponding to the lower crust or upper mantle.

Comagmatic granophyric granite in the fish canyon tuff, colorado : implications for magma-chamber processes during a large ash-flow eruption

Abstract: The 27.8 Ma Fish Canyon Tuff, a vast ash-flow sheet (∼ 5000 km 3 ) of uniform phenocryst-rich dacite, is representative of “monotonous intermediate” eruptions from a magma chamber that lacked compositional gradients. Sparse small fragments of comagmatic granophyre in late-erupted tuff and postcaldera lava, having mineral compositions indistinguishable from phenocrysts in the tuff and precaldera lava-like rocks, record complex events in the Fish Canyon chamber just prior to eruption. Sanidine phenocrysts in the granophyre preserve zoning evidence of mingling with andesitic magma, then shattering by decompression and volatile loss accompanying early Fish Canyon eruptions before overgrowth by granophyre. The textural and chemical disequilibria indicate that the eruption resulted from batholith-scale remobilization of a shallow subvolcanic chamber, contrary to previous interpretations of magma storage and phenocryst growth in the lower crust.