The role of magma mixing/mingling and cumulate melting in the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff caldera-forming eruption (Campi Flegrei,Southern Italy)

Understanding the mechanisms responsible for the generation of chemical gradients in high-volume ignimbrites is key to retrieve information on the processes that control the maturation and eruption of large silicic magmatic reservoirs. Over the last 60 ky, two large ignimbrites showing remarkable zoning were emplaced during caldera-forming eruptions at Campi Flegrei (i.e., Campanian Ignimbrite, CI, ~?39 ka and Neapolitan Yellow Tuff, NYT, ~?15 ka). While the CI displays linear compositional, thermal and crystallinity gradients, the NYT is a more complex ignimbrite characterized by crystal-poor magmas ranging in composition from trachy-andesites to phonolites. By combining major and trace element compositions of matrix glasses and mineral phases from juvenile clasts located at different stratigraphic heights along the NYT pyroclastic sequence, we interpret such compositional gradients as the result of mixing/mingling between three different magmas: (1) a resident evolved magma showing geochemical characteristics of a melt extracted from a cumulate mush dominated by clinopyroxene, plagioclase and oxides with minor sanidine and biotite; (2) a hotter and more mafic magma from recharge providing high-An plagioclase and high-Mg clinopyroxene crystals and (3) a compositionally intermediate magma derived from remelting of low temperature mineral phases (i.e., sanidine and biotite) within the cumulate crystal mush. We suggest that the presence of a refractory crystal mush, as documented by the occurrence of abundant crystal clots containing clinopyroxene, plagioclase and oxides, is the main reason for the lack of erupted crystal-rich material in the NYT. A comparison between the NYT and the CI, characterized by both crystal-poor extracted melts and crystal-rich magmas representing remobilized portions of a “mature” (i.e., sanidine dominated) cumulate residue, allows evaluation of the capability of crystal mushes of becoming eruptible upon recharge.     

The Upper Crustal Evolution of a Large Silicic Magma Body: Evidence from Crystal-scale Rb Sr Isotopic Heterogeneities in the Fish Canyon Magmatic System, Colorado

Batholith-sized bodies of crystal-rich magmatic ‘mush’are widely inferred to represent the hidden sources of manylarge-volume high-silica rhyolite eruptive units. Occasionallythese mush bodies are ejected along with their trapped interstitialliquid, forming the distinctive crystal-rich ignimbrites knownas ‘monotonous intermediates’. These ignimbritesare notable for their combination of high crystal contents (35–55%),dacitic bulk compositions with interstitial high-silica rhyoliticglass, and general lack of compositional zonation. The 5000km³ Fish Canyon Tuff is an archetypal eruption deposit of thistype, and is the largest known silicic eruption on Earth. Ejectafrom the Fish Canyon magmatic system are notable for the limitedcompositional variation that they define on the basis of whole-rockchemistry, whereas 45 vol. % crystals in a matrix of high-silicarhyolite glass together span a large range of mineral-scaleisotopic variability (microns to millimetres). Rb/Sr isotopicanalyses of single crystals (sanidine, plagioclase, biotite,hornblende, apatite, titanite) and sampling by micromillingof selected zones within glass plus sanidine and plagioclasecrystals document widespread isotopic disequilibrium at manyscales. High and variable ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_i values for euhedral biotitegrains cannot be explained by any model involving closed-systemradiogenic ingrowth, and they are difficult to rationalize unlessmuch of this radiogenic Sr has been introduced at a late stagevia assimilation of local Proterozoic crust. Hornblende is theonly phase that approaches isotopic equilibrium with the surroundingmelt, but the melt (glass) was isotopically heterogeneous atthe millimetre scale, and was therefore apparently contaminatedwith radiogenic Sr shortly prior to eruption. The other mineralphases (plagioclase, sanidine, titanite, and apatite) have significantlylower ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_i values than whole-rock values (as much as –0·0005).Such isotopic disequilibrium implies that feldspars, titaniteand apatite are antecrysts that crystallized from less radiogenicmelt compositions at earlier stages of magma evolution, whereashighly radiogenic biotite xenocrysts and the development ofisotopic heterogeneity in matrix melt glass appear to coincidewith the final stage of the evolution of the Fish Canyon magmabody in the upper crust. Integrated petrographic and geochemicalevidence is consistent with pre-eruptive thermal rejuvenationof a near-solidus mineral assemblage from 720 to 760°C (i.e.partial dissolution of feldspars + quartz while hornblende +titanite + biotite were crystallizing). Assimilation and blendingof phenocrysts, antecrysts and xenocrysts reflects chamber-wide,low Reynolds number convection that occurred within the last10 000 years before eruption. KEY WORDS: Fish Canyon Tuff; Rb–Sr isotopes; microsampling; magmatic processes; crystal mush     

Building zoned ignimbrites by recycling silicic cumulates: insight from the 1,000 km<Superscript>3</Superscript> Carpenter Ridge Tuff,CO

The ~1,000 km³ Carpenter Ridge Tuff (CRT), erupted at 27.55 Ma during the mid-tertiary ignimbrite flare-up in the western USA, is among the largest known strongly zoned ash-flow tuffs. It consists primarily of densely welded crystal-poor rhyolite with a pronounced, highly evolved chemical signature (high Rb/Sr, low Ba, Zr, Eu), but thickly ponded intracaldera CRT is capped by a more crystal-rich, less silicic facies. In the outflow ignimbrite, this upper zone is defined mainly by densely welded crystal-rich juvenile clasts of trachydacite composition, with higher Fe–Ti oxide temperatures, and is characterized by extremely high Ba (to 7,500 ppm), Zr, Sr, and positive Eu anomalies. Rare mafic clasts (51–53 wt% SiO₂) with Ba contents to 4,000–5,000 ppm and positive Eu anomalies are also present. Much of the major and trace-element variations in the CRT juvenile clasts can be reproduced via in situ differentiation by interstitial melt extraction from a crystal-rich, upper-crustal mush zone, with the trachydacite, crystal-rich clasts representing the remobilized crystal cumulate left behind by the melt extraction process. Late recharge events, represented by the rare mafic clasts and high-Al amphiboles in some samples, mixed in with parts of the crystal cumulate and generated additional scatter in the whole-rock data. Recharge was important in thermally remobilizing the silicic crystal cumulate by partially melting the near-solidus phases, as supported by: (1) ubiquitous wormy/sieve textures and reverse zoning patterns in feldspars and biotites, (2) absence of quartz in this very silicic unit stored at depths of >4–5 km, and (3) heterogeneous melt compositions in the trachydacite fiamme and mafic clasts, particularly in Ba, indicating local enrichment of this element due mostly to sanidine and biotite melting. The injection of hot, juvenile magma into the upper-crustal cumulate also imparted the observed thermal gradient to the deposits and the mixing overprint that partly masks the in situ differentiation process. The CRT provides a particularly clear perspective on processes of in situ crystal-liquid separation into a lower crystal-rich zone and an upper eruptible cap, which appears common in incrementally built upper-crustal magma reservoirs of high-flux magmatic provinces.     

Experimental constraints on rhyolite-MELTS and the Late Bishop Tuff magma body

Thermodynamic models are vital tools to evaluate magma crystallization and storage conditions. Before their results can be used independently, however, they must be verified with controlled experimental data. Here, we use a set of hydrothermal experiments on the Late-erupted Bishop Tuff (LBT) magma to evaluate the rhyolite-MELTS thermodynamic model, a modified calibration of the original MELTS model optimized for crystallization of silicic magmas. Experimental results that are well captured by rhyolite-MELTS include a relatively narrow temperature range separating the crystallization of the first felsic mineral and the onset of the ternary minimum (quartz plus two feldspars), and extensive crystallization over a narrow temperature range once the ternary minimum is reached. The model overestimates temperatures by ~40 °C, a known limitation of rhyolite-MELTS. At pressures below 110 MPa, model and experiments differ in the first felsic phase, suggesting that caution should be exercised when applying the model to very low pressures. Our results indicate that for quartz, sanidine, plagioclase, magnetite, and ilmenite to crystallize in equilibrium from LBT magma, magma must have been stored at ≤740 °C, even when a substantial amount of CO₂ occurs in the coexisting fluid. Such temperatures are in conflict with the hotter temperatures retrieved from magnetite–ilmenite compositions (~785 °C for the sample used in the experiments). Consistent with other recent studies, we suggest that the Fe–Ti oxide phases in the Late Bishop Tuff magma body are not in equilibrium with the other minerals and thus the retrieved temperature and oxygen fugacity do not reflect pre-eruptive storage conditions.     

Amphibole perspective to unravel pre-eruptive processes and conditions in volcanic plumbing systems beneath intermediate arc volcanoes: a case study from Ciomadul volcano (SE Carpathians)

Ciomadul is the youngest volcano in the Carpathian–Pannonian region produced crystal-rich high-K dacites that contain abundant amphibole phenocrysts. The amphiboles in the studied dacites are characterized by large variety of zoning patterns, textures, and a wide range of compositions (e.g., 6.4–15 wt% Al₂O₃, 79–821 ppm Sr) often in thin-section scale and even in single crystals. Two amphibole populations were observed in the dacite: low-Al hornblendes represent a cold (<800 °C) silicic crystal mush, whereas the high-Al pargasites crystallized in a hot (>900 °C) mafic magma. Amphibole thermobarometry suggests that the silicic crystal mush was stored in an upper crustal storage (~8–12 km). This was also the place where the erupted dacitic magma was formed during the remobilization of upper crustal silicic crystal mush body by hot mafic magma indicated by simple-zoned and composite amphiboles. This includes reheating (by ~200 °C) and partial remelting of different parts of the crystal mush followed by intensive crystallization of the second mineral population (including pargasites). Breakdown textures of amphiboles imply that they were formed by reheating in case of hornblendes, suggesting that pre-eruptive heating and mixing could take place within days or weeks before the eruption. The decompression rim of pargasites suggests around 12 days of magma ascent in the conduit. Several arc volcanoes produce mixed intermediate magmas with similar bimodal amphibole cargo as the Ciomadul, but in our dacite the two amphibole population can be found even in a single crystal (composite amphiboles). Our study indicates that high-Al pargasites form as a second generation in these magmas after the mafic replenishment into a silicic capture zone; thus, they cannot unambiguously indicate a deeper mafic storage zone beneath these volcanoes. The simple-zoned and composite amphiboles provide direct evidence that significant compositional variations of amphiboles do not necessarily mean variation in the pressure of crystallization even if the Al-tschermak substitution can be recognized, suggesting that amphibole barometers that consider only amphibole composition may often yield unrealistic pressure variation.     

Evolution of silicic magmas in the Kos-Nisyros volcanic center,Greece: a petrological cycle associated with caldera collapse

Multiple eruptions of silicic magma (dacite and rhyolites) occurred over the last ~3 My in the Kos-Nisyros volcanic center (eastern Aegean sea). During this period, magmas have changed from hornblende-biotite-rich units with low eruption temperatures (≤750–800°C; Kefalos and Kos dacites and rhyolites) to hotter, pyroxene-bearing units (>800–850°C; Nisyros rhyodacites) and are transitioning back to cooler magmas (Yali rhyolites). New whole-rock compositions, mineral chemistry, and zircon Hf isotopes show that these three types of silicic magmas followed the same differentiation trend: they all evolved by crystal fractionation and minor crustal assimilation (AFC) from parents with intermediate compositions characterized by high Sr/Y and low Nb content, following a wet, high oxygen fugacity liquid line of descent typical of subduction zones. As the transition between the Kos-Kefalos and Nisyros-type magmas occurred immediately and abruptly after the major caldera collapse in the area (the 161 ka Kos Plateau Tuff; KPT), we suggest that the efficient emptying of the magma chamber during the KPT drew out most of the eruptible, volatile-charged magma and partly solidified the unerupted mush zone in the upper crust due to rapid unloading, decompression, and coincident crystallization. Subsequently, the system reestablished a shallow silicic production zone from more mafic parents, recharged from the mid to lower crust. The first silicic eruptions evolving from these parents after the caldera collapse (Nisyros units) were hotter (up to >100°C) than the caldera-forming event and erupted from reservoirs characterized by different mineral proportions (more plagioclase and less amphibole). We interpret such a change as a reflection of slightly drier conditions in the magmatic column after the caldera collapse due to the decompression event. With time, the upper crustal intermediate mush progressively transitioned into the cold-wet state that prevailed during the Kefalos-Kos stage. The recent eruptions of the high-SiO₂ rhyolite on Yali Island, which are low temperature and hydrous phases (sanidine, quartz, biotite), suggest that another large, potentially explosive magma chamber is presently building under the Kos-Nisyros volcanic center.     

The petrologic evolution and pre-eruptive conditions of the rhyolitic Kos Plateau Tuff (Aegean arc)

The Kos Plateau Tuff is a large (>60 km³) and young (160 k.y.) calc-alkaline, high-SiO₂ rhyolitic ignimbrite from the active Kos-Nisyros volcanic center in the Aegean arc (Greece). Combined textural, petrological and geochemical information suggest that (1) the system evolved dominantly by crystal fractionation from (mostly unerupted) more mafic parents, (2) the magma chamber grew over ≥ 250 000 years at shallow depth (～1.5-2.5 kb) and was stored as a H₂O-rich crystalline mush close to its solidus (～670-750°C), (3) the eruption occurred after a reheating event triggered by the intrusion of hydrous mafic magma at the base of the rhyolitic mush. Rare banded pumices indicate that the mafic magma only mingled with a trivial portion of resident crystal-rich rhyolite; most of the mush was remobilized following partial melting of quartz and feldspars induced by advection of heat and volatiles from the underplated, hotter mafic influx.     

Timescales of mixing and mobilisation in the Bishop Tuff magma body: perspectives from diffusion chronometry

We present two-feldspar thermometry and diffusion chronometry from sanidine, orthopyroxene and quartz from multiple samples of the Bishop Tuff, California, to constrain the temperature stratification within the pre-eruptive magma body and the timescales of magma mixing prior to its evacuation. Two-feldspar thermometry yields estimates that agree well with previous Fe–Ti oxide thermometry and gives a ~80 °C temperature difference between the earlier- and later-erupted regions of the magma chamber. Using the thermometry results, we model diffusion of Ti in quartz, and Ba and Sr in sanidine as well as Fe–Mg interdiffusion in orthopyroxene to yield timescales for the formation of overgrowth rims on these crystal phases. Diffusion profiles of Ti in quartz and Fe–Mg in orthopyroxene both yield timescales of <150 years for the formation of overgrowth rims. In contrast, both Ba and Sr diffusion in sanidine yield nominal timescales 1–2 orders of magnitude longer than these two methods. The main cause for this discrepancy is inferred to be an incorrect assumption for the initial profile shape for Ba and Sr diffusion modelling (i.e. growth zoning exists). Utilising the divergent diffusion behaviour of Ba and Sr, we place constraints on the initial width of the interface and can refine our initial conditions considerably, bringing Ba and Sr data into alignment, and yielding timescales closer to 500 years, the majority of which are then within uncertainty of timescales modelled from Ti diffusion in quartz. Care must be thus taken when using Ba in sanidine geospeedometry in evolved magmatic systems where no other phases or elements are available for comparative diffusion profiling. Our diffusion modelling reveals piecemeal rejuvenation of the lower parts of the Bishop Tuff magma chamber at least 500 years prior to eruption. Timescales from our mineral profiling imply either that diffusion coefficients currently used are uncertain by 1–2 orders of magnitude, or that the minerals concerned did not experience a common history, despite being extracted from the same single pumice clasts. Introduction of the magma initiating crystallisation of the contrasting rims on sanidine, quartz, orthopyroxene and zircon was prolonged, and may be a marker of other processes that initiated the Bishop Tuff eruption rather than the trigger itself.     

Magmatic processes in the Bishop Tuff rhyolitic magma based on trace elements in melt inclusions and pumice matrix glass

To investigate the origin of compositional zonation in the Bishop Tuff magma body, we have analyzed trace elements in the matrix glass of pumice clasts and in quartz-hosted melt inclusions. Our results show contrasting patterns for quartz in different parts of the Bishop Tuff. In all samples from the early part of the eruption, trace element compositions of matrix glasses are similar to but slightly more evolved than quartz-hosted melt inclusions. This indicates a cogenetic relationship between quartz crystals and their surrounding matrix glass, consistent with in situ crystallization. The range of incompatible element concentrations in melt inclusions and matrix glass from single pumice clasts requires 16–20 wt% in situ crystallization. This is greater than the actual crystal content of the pumices (<15 % crystals). In contrast to the pattern for the early pumices, pyroclastic flow samples from the middle part of the eruption show contrasting trends: In some clasts, the matrix is more evolved than the inclusions, whereas in other clasts, the matrix is less evolved. In the late Bishop Tuff, all crystal-rich samples have matrix glasses that are less evolved than the melt inclusions. Trace element abundances indicate that the cores of quartz in the late Bishop Tuff crystallized from more differentiated rhyolitic magma that was similar in many ways, yet distinct from the early-erupted Bishop Tuff. Our results are compatible with a model of secular incremental zoning (Hildreth and Wilson in Compositional zoning of the Bishop Tuff. J Petrol 48(5):951–999, 2007), in which melt batches from underlying crystal mush rise to various levels in a growing magma body according to their buoyancy. Early- and middle-erupted quartz crystallized from highly evolved rhyolitic melt, but then some parts of the middle-erupted magma were invaded by less differentiated rhyolite such that the matrix melt at the time of eruption was less evolved than the melt inclusions. A similar process occurred but to a greater extent in magma that erupted to form the late Bishop Tuff. In addition, there was a final, major magma mixing event in the late magma that formed Ti-rich rims on quartz and Ba-rich rims on sanidine, trapped less evolved rhyolitic melt inclusions, and resulted in dark and swirly crystal-poor pumice that is a rare type throughout much of the Bishop Tuff.     

A cascade of magmatic events during the assembly and eruption of a super-sized magma body

We use comprehensive geochemical and petrological records from whole-rock samples, crystals, matrix glasses and melt inclusions to derive an integrated picture of the generation, accumulation and evacuation of 530 km³ of crystal-poor rhyolite in the 25.4 ka Oruanui supereruption (New Zealand). New data from plagioclase, orthopyroxene, amphibole, quartz, Fe–Ti oxides, matrix glasses, and plagioclase- and quartz-hosted melt inclusions, in samples spanning different phases of the eruption, are integrated with existing data to build a history of the magma system prior to and during eruption. A thermally and compositionally zoned, parental crystal-rich (mush) body was developed during two periods of intensive crystallisation, 70 and 10–15 kyr before the eruption. The mush top was quartz-bearing and as shallow as ~3.5 km deep, and the roots quartz-free and extending to >10 km depth. Less than 600 year prior to the eruption, extraction of large volumes of ~840 °C low-silica rhyolite melt with some crystal cargo (between 1 and 10%), began from this mush to form a melt-dominant (eruptible) body that eventually extended from 3.5 to 6 km depth. Crystals from all levels of the mush were entrained into the eruptible magma, as seen in mineral zonation and amphibole model pressures. Rapid translation of crystals from the mush to the eruptible magma is reflected in textural and compositional diversity in crystal cores and melt inclusion compositions, versus uniformity in the outermost rims. Prior to eruption the assembled eruptible magma body was not thermally or compositionally zoned and at temperatures of ~790 °C, reflecting rapid cooling from the ~840 °C low-silica rhyolite feedstock magma. A subordinate but significant volume (3–5 km³) of contrasting tholeiitic and calc-alkaline mafic material was co-erupted with the dominant rhyolite. These mafic clasts host crystals with compositions which demonstrate that there was some limited pre-eruptive physical interaction of mafic magmas with the mush and melt-dominant body. However, the mafic magmas do not appear to have triggered the eruption or controlled magmatic temperatures in the erupted rhyolite. Integration of textural and compositional data from all available crystal types, across all dominant and subordinate magmatic components, allow the history of the Oruanui magma body to be reconstructed over a wide range of temporal scales using multiple techniques. This history spans the tens of millennia required to grow the parental magma system (U–Th disequilibrium dating in zircon), through the centuries and decades required to assemble the eruptible magma body (textural and diffusion modelling in orthopyroxene), to the months, days, hours and minutes over which individual phases of the eruption occurred, identified through field observations tied to diffusion modelling in magnetite, olivine, quartz and feldspar. Tectonic processes, rather than any inherent characteristics of the magmatic system, were a principal factor acting to drive the rapid accumulation of magma and control its release episodically during the eruption. This work highlights the richness of information that can be gained by integrating multiple lines of petrologic evidence into a holistic timeline of field-verifiable processes.     

Erupted cumulate fragments in rhyolites from Lipari (Aeolian Islands)

Over the last ~267 ky, the island of Lipari has erupted magmas ranging in compositions from basaltic andesites to rhyolites, with a notable compositional gap in the dacite field. Bulk geochemical and isotopic compositions of the volcanic succession, in conjunction with major and trace elemental compositions of minerals, indicate that the rhyolites were dominantly generated via crystal fractionation processes, with subordinate assimilation. Radiogenic (Sr, Nd, and Pb) and stable (O) isotopes independently suggest ≤30 % of crustal contamination with the majority of it occurring in mafic compositions, likely relatively deep in the system. Within the rhyolites, crystal-rich, K₂O-rich enclaves are common. In contrast to previous interpretations, we suggest that these enclaves represent partial melting, remobilization and eruption of cumulate fragments left-over from rhyolite melt extraction. Cumulate melting and remobilization is supported by the presence of (1) resorbed, low-temperature minerals (biotite and sanidine), providing the potassic signature to these clasts, (2) reacted Fo-rich olivine, marking the presence of mafic recharge, (3) An_38–21 plagioclase, filling the gap in feldspar composition between the andesites and the rhyolites and (4) strong enrichment in Sr and Ba in plagioclase and sanidine, suggesting crystallization from a locally enriched melt. Based on Sr-melt partitioning, the high-Sr plagioclase would require ~2300 ppm Sr in the melt, a value far in excess of Sr contents in Lipari and Vulcano magmas (50–1532 ppm) but consistent with melting of a feldspar-rich cumulate. Due to the presence of similar crystal-rich enclaves within the rhyolites from Vulcano, we propose that the eruption of remobilized cumulates associated with high-SiO₂ rhyolites may be a common process at the Aeolian volcanoes, as already attested for a variety of volcanic systems around the world.     

Temporal and chemical connections between plutons and ignimbrites from the Mount Princeton magmatic center

The Mount Princeton magmatic center, located in central Colorado, consists of the epizonal Mount Princeton batholith, the nested Mount Aetna caldera, and volumetrically minor leucogranites. New CA-TIMS U/Pb zircon ages indicate the majority of the Mount Princeton batholith was emplaced during a period of regional ignimbrite quiescence. The structurally highest unit of quartz monzonite yields a ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 35.80 ± 0.10 Ma, and the youngest dated unit of the quartz monzonite is a porphyritic unit that yields a ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 35.37 ± 0.10 Ma. Using the exposed, dated volume of the quartz monzonite and new geochronology yields an estimated pluton filling rate of ~0.002 km³/a. This rate is comparable to the accumulation rates published for other plutons, and at least an order of magnitude slower than fluxes necessary to support accumulation of large eruptible magma volumes. Geochronology for the two large ignimbrites spatially associated with the batholith indicates a temporal disconnect between the vast majority of pluton building and explosive eruption of magma. The Wall Mountain Tuff erupted from a source in the same geographic area as the Mount Princeton batholith at 37.3 Ma (Ar/Ar sanidine), but no structural evidence of a caldera or temporally associated plutonic rocks is known. The Badger Creek Tuff erupted at 34.3 Ma (Ar/Ar sanidine) during the formation of the Mount Aetna caldera in the southern portion of the batholith. Our ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age for the Badger Creek Tuff is 34.47 ± 0.05. The only analyzed plutonic rocks of similar age to the Badger Creek Tuff are an extra-caldera dike with a ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 34.57 ± 0.08 Ma, a ring dike with a ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 34.48 ± 0.09 Ma, and a portion of the Mount Aetna pluton with a ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 34.60 ± 0.13 Ma. The small volume intrusions related to the eruption of the Badger Creek Tuff are chemically similar to the ignimbrite and show no signature of crystal–liquid separation in the shallow crust.     

Initiation of large-volume silicic centers in the Yellowstone hotspot track: insights from H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O- and F-rich quartz-hosted rhyolitic melt inclusions in the Arbon Valley Tuff of the Snake River Plain

During the onset of caldera cluster volcanism at a new location in the Snake River Plain (SRP), there is an increase in basalt fluxing into the crust and diverse silicic volcanic products are generated. The SRP contains abundant and compositionally diverse hot, dry, and often low-δ¹⁸O silicic volcanic rocks produced through time during the formation of individual caldera clusters, but more H₂O-rich eruptive products are rare. We report analyses of quartz-hosted melt inclusions from pumice clasts from the upper and lower Arbon Valley Tuff (AVT) to gain insight into the initiation of caldera cluster volcanism. The AVT, a voluminous, caldera-forming rhyolite, represents the commencement of volcanism (10.44 Ma) at the Picabo volcanic field of the Yellowstone hotspot track. This is a normal δ¹⁸O rhyolite consisting of early and late erupted members (lower and upper AVT, respectively) with extremely radiogenic Sr isotopes and unradiogenic Nd isotopes, requiring that ~50 % of the mass of these elements is derived from melts of Archean upper crust. Our data reveal distinctive features of the early erupted lower AVT melt including: variable F concentrations up to 1.4 wt%, homogenous and low Cl concentrations (~0.08 wt%), H₂O contents ranging from 2.3 to 6.4 wt%, CO₂ contents ranging from 79 to 410 ppm, and enrichment of incompatible elements compared to the late erupted AVT, subsequent Picabo rhyolites, SRP rhyolites, and melt inclusions from other metaluminous rhyolites (e.g., Bishop Tuff, Mesa Falls Tuff). We couple melt inclusion data with Ti measurements and cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging of the host quartz phenocrysts to elucidate the petrogenetic evolution of the AVT rhyolitic magma. We observe complex and multistage CL zoning patterns, the most critical being multiple truncations indicative of several dissolution–reprecipitation episodes with bright CL cores (higher Ti) and occasional bright CL rims (higher Ti). We interpret the high H₂O, F, F/Cl, and incompatible trace element concentrations in the context of a model involving melting of Archean crust and mixing of the crustal melt with basaltic differentiates, followed by multiple stages of fractional crystallization, remelting, and melt extraction. This multistage process, which we refer to as distillation, is further supported by the complex CL zoning patterns in quartz. We interpret new Δ¹⁸O(Qz-Mt) isotope measurements, demonstrating a 0.4 ‰ or ~180 °C temperature difference, and strong Sr isotopic and chemical differences between the upper and lower AVT to represent two separate eruptions. Similarities between the AVT and the first caldera-forming eruptions of other caldera clusters in the SRP (Yellowstone, Heise and Bruneau Jarbidge) suggest that the more evolved, lower-temperature, more H₂O-rich rhyolites of the SRP are important in the initiation of a caldera cluster during the onset of plume impingement.     

Evolution of the Taupo Volcanic Center, New Zealand: petrological and thermal constraints from the Omega dacite

The 20 ka ~0.1 km³ Omega dacite, which erupted shortly after the 26.5 ka Oruanui super-eruption, compositionally stands out among Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ) magmas, which are overwhelmingly characterized by rhyolites (>90 % by volume). The previously reported presence of inherited zircons in this zircon-undersaturated magma has provided unequivocal evidence for the involvement of upper-crustal material in a 1–10 year timescale prior to the Omega eruption. However, whether this crustal involvement is characterized by wholesale, melting of preexisting crust or subordinate bulk assimilation into an already differentiated magma body remains unclear. To disentangle these processes, we describe the mineral chemistry of the major phases present in the Omega dacite and determine intensive parameters describing magma chamber conditions. Dominantly unimodal populations of plagioclase (An_50–60), orthopyroxene (Mg# from 58 to 68), and clinopyroxene (Mg# from 65 to 73), along with coexisting equilibrium pairs of Fe–Ti oxides, constrain pre-eruptive temperatures to 850–950 °C, a pressure between ~3 and 7 kbars, and an oxygen fugacity of ~NNO. MELTS thermodynamic modeling suggests that this phase assemblage is in equilibrium with the bulk rock and glass compositions of the Omega dacite at these estimated P–T–fO₂ pre-eruptive conditions. Combining these petrological observations with insights into conductive thermal models of magma–crust interactions, we argue that the Omega dacite more likely formed in the mid-to-lower crust via protracted processing through fractional crystallization coupled with some assimilation (AFC). Incorporation of crustal material is likely to have occurred at various stages, with the inherited zircons (and potentially parts of glomerocrysts) representing late and subordinate upper-crustal assimilants. This petrogenetic model is consistent with the presence of a differentiating crustal column, consisting of a polybaric fractional crystallization and assimilation history. On the basis of petrological, thermal, and geophysical considerations, upper-crustal reservoirs, which feed large-scale rhyolitic volcanism in the TVZ, most likely take the form of large, long-lived crystal mush zones. Following large eruptions, such as the Oruanui event, this mush is expected to crystallize significantly (up to 70–80 vol% crystals) due to syn-eruptive decompression. Hence, the Omega dacite, immediately post-dating the Oruanui event, potentially represents incoming deeper recharge of less-evolved magma that was able to penetrate the nearly solidified upper-crustal mush. Over the past 20,000 years, similar intermediate recharge magmas have incrementally reheated, reconstructed, and reactivated the upper-crustal mush zone, allowing a gradual return to rhyolitic volcanism at the Taupo Volcanic Center.     

Commingling and mixing of S-type peraluminous, ultrapotassic and basaltic magmas in the Cayconi volcanic field, Cordillera de Carabaya, SE Peru

The Cayconi district of the Cordillera de Carabaya, SE Peru, exposes a remnant of an upper Oligocene–Lower Miocene (22.2–24.4 Ma) volcanic field, comprising a diverse assemblage of S-type silicic and calc-alkaline basaltic to andesitic flows, members of the Picotani Group of the Central Andean Inner Arc. Basaltic flows containing olivine, plagioclase, clinopyroxene, ilmenite and glass, and glassy rhyolitic agglutinates with phenocrystic quartz, cordierite, plagioclase, sanidine, ilmenite and apatite, respectively exhibit mineralogical and geochemical features characteristic of medium-K mafic and Lachlan S-type silicic lavas. Cordierite-bearing dacitic agglomerates and lavas, however, are characterized by dispersed, melanocratic micro-enclaves and phenocrysts set in a fine-grained quartzo-feldspathic matrix. They contain a bimodal mica population, comprising phlogopite and biotite, as well as complexly zoned, sieve-textured plagioclase grains, sector-zoned cordierite, sanidine, quartz, irregular patches of replaced olivine, clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene and accessory phases including zircon, monazite, ilmenite and chromite. The coexistence of minerals not in mutual equilibrium and the growth/dissolution textures exhibited by plagioclase are features indicative of magmatic commingling and mixing. Trachytic-textured andesite flows interlayered with olivine+plagioclase–glomerophyric, calc-alkaline basalts have a phenocrystic assemblage of resorbed orthopyroxene and plagioclase and exhibit melanocratic groundmass patches of microphenocrystic phlogopite, Ca-rich sanidine, ilmenite and aluminous spinel. The mineralogical and mineral chemical relationships in both the dacites and the trachytic-textured andesites imply subvolcanic mixing between distinct ultrapotassic mafic melts, not represented by exposed rock types, and both the S-type silicic and calc-alkaline mafic magmas. Such mixing relationships are commonly observed in the Oligo-Miocene rocks of the Cordillera de Carabaya, suggesting that the S-type rocks in this area and, by extension, elsewhere derive their unusually high K₂O, Ba, Sr, Cr and Ni concentrations from commingling and mixing with diverse, mantle-derived potassic mafic magmas.     

Experimentally Determined Conditions in the Fish Canyon Tuff, Colorado, Magma Chamber

The Fish Canyon Tuff, Colorado, forms one of the largest (3000km³ known silicic eruptions in Earth history. The tuff is ahomogeneous quartz latite consisting of 40% phenocrysts (plagioclase,sanidine, biotite, hornblende, quartz, magnetite, apatite, sphene,and ilmenite) in equilibrium with a highly evolved rhyoliticmelt now represented by the matrix glass. Melt inclusions trappedin hornblende and quartz phenocrysts are identical to the newlyanalyzed matrix glass composition indicating that hornblendeand quartz crystallized from a highly evolved magma that subsequentlyexperienced little change. This study presents experimentalphase equilibrium data which are used to deduce the conditions(P, T, f_O2, f_H2O, etc.) in the Fish Canyon magma chamber priorto eruption. These new data indicate that sanidine and quartzare not liquidus phases until 780?C temperatures are achieved,consistent with Fe-Ti oxide geothermometry which implies thatthe magmatic temperature prior to eruption was 760?30?C. NaturalFe-Ti oxide pairs also suggest that log f_O2 was -12.4 (intermediatebetween the Ni-NiO and MnO-Mn₃O₄ oxygen buffers) in the magmachamber. This f_O2.102 is supported by the experimentally determinedvariations in hornblende and melt Mg-numbers as functions off_O2 A new geobarometer based on the aluminum content of hornblendesin equilibrium with the magmatic assemblage hornblende, biotite,plagioclase, quartz, sanidine, sphene, ilmenite or magnetite,and melt is calibrated experimentally, and yields pressuresaccurate to ?0.5 kb. Total pressure in the Fish Canyon magmachamber is inferred to have been 2.4 kb (equivalent to a depthof 7.9 km) based on the Al-content of natural Fish Canyon hornblendesand this new calibration. This depth is much shallower thanhas been proposed previously for the Fish Canyon Tuff. Variationsin experimental glass (melt) composition indicate that the magmawas water-undersaturated prior to eruption. X_H2O in the fluidphase that may have coexisted with the Fish Canyon magma isestimated to have been 0.5 by comparing the An-content of naturalplagioclases to experimental plagioclases synthesized at differentX_H2O and P_totals. This ratio corresponds to about 5 wt.% waterin the melt at depth. The matrix glass chemistry is reproducedexperimentally under these conditions: 760?C, 2.4 kb, X_H2O=0.5,and log f_o2=NNO+2 log units. The fugacity of SO₂ (91 b) is calculatedfrom the coexistence of pyrrhotite and magnetite. Maximum CO₂fugacity (2520 b) is inferred assuming the magma was volatilesaturated at 2.4 kb.     

The Blacktail Creek Tuff: an analytical and experimental study of rhyolites from the Heise volcanic field,Yellowstone hotspot system

The magma storage conditions of the 6.62 Ma Blacktail Creek Tuff eruption, belonging to the Heise volcanic field (6.62–4.45 Ma old) of the Yellowstone hotspot system, have been investigated by combining thermobarometric and experimental approaches. The results from different geothermometers (e.g., Fe–Ti oxides, feldspar pairs, apatite and zircon solubility, and Ti in quartz) indicate a pre-eruptive temperature in the range 825–875 °C. The temperature estimated using two-pyroxene pairs varies in a range of 810–950 °C, but the pyroxenes are probably not in equilibrium with each other, and the analytical results of melt inclusion in pyroxenes indicate a complex history for clinopyroxene, which hosts two compositionally different inclusion types. One natural Blacktail Creek Tuff rock sample has been used to determine experimentally the equilibrium phase assemblages in the pressure range 100–500 MPa and a water activity range 0.1–1.0. The experiments have been performed at fluid-present conditions, with a fluid phase composed of H₂O and CO₂, as well as at fluid-absent conditions. The stability of the quartzo-feldspathic phases is similar in both types of experiments, but the presence of mafic minerals such as biotite and clinopyroxene is strongly dependent on the experimental approach. Possible explanations are given for this discrepancy which may have strong impacts on the choice of appropriate experimental approaches for the determination of magma storage conditions. The comparison of the composition of natural phases and of experimentally synthesized phases confirms magma storage temperatures of 845–875 °C. Melt water contents of 1.5–2.5 wt% H₂O are required to reproduce the natural Blacktail Creek Tuff mineral assemblage at these temperatures. Using the Ti-in-quartz barometer and the Qz–Ab–Or proportions of natural matrix glasses, coexisting with quartz, plagioclase and sanidine, the depth of magma storage is estimated to be in a pressure range between 130 and 250 MPa.     

Zoning and exsolution in alkali feldspars from Laacher See volcano (Western Germany): constraints on temperature history prior to eruption

Compositional zoning and exsolution patterns of alkali feldspars in carbonatite-bearing cognate syenites from the 6.3 km³ (D.R.E) phonolitic Laacher See Tephra (LST) deposit in western Germany (12.9 ka) are reported. These rocks represent the cooler outer portion and crystal-rich products of a cooling magma reservoir at upper crustal levels. Major and trace-element difference between cores and rims in sanidine crystals represent two generations of crystal growth separated by unmixing of a carbonate melt. Trace-element differences measured by LA–ICP–MS are in accordance with silicate–carbonate unmixing. Across the core–rim boundary, we extracted gray-scale profiles from multiple accumulations of back-scattered electron images. Gray scales directly represent K/Na ratios owing to low concentrations of Ba and Sr (<?30 ppm). Diffusion gradients are modeled to solve for temperature using known pre-eruptive U–Th zircon ages (0–20 ky) of each sample (Schmitt et al., J Petrol 51:1053–1085, 2010). Estimated temperatures range from 630 °C to 670 °C. For the exsolution boundaries, a diffusive homogenization model is constrained by the solvus temperature of ~ 712^_725 °C and gives short time scales of only 15–50 days. Based on our results, we present a model for the temperature–time history of these rocks. The model also constrains the thermal variation across the cooling crystal-rich carapace of the magma reservoir over 20 ka and suggests a thermal reactivation of cumulates, the cooling carapace, and probably the entire system only a few years prior to the explosive eruption of the remaining molten core of the phonolitic magma reservoir.     

Insights into shallow magmatic processes in large silicic magma bodies: the trace element record in the Fish Canyon magma body,Colorado

Highly evolved rhyolite glass plus near-solidus mineral assemblages in voluminous, dacitic, crystal-rich ignimbrites provide an opportunity to evaluate the late magmatic evolution of granodiorite batholiths. This study reports laser-ablation ICP-MS analyses of trace element concentrations in feldspars, hornblende, biotite, titanite, zircon, magnetite, and interstitial glass of the crystal-rich Fish Canyon Tuff. The high-silica rhyolite glass is characterized by relatively high concentrations of feldspar-compatible elements (e.g., 100 ppm Sr and 500 ppm Ba) and low concentrations of Y (<7 ppm) and HREE (~1 ppm Yb), hence high LREE/HREE (Ce/Yb >40) compared to many well-studied high-silica rhyolite glasses and whole-rock compositions. Most minerals record some trace element heterogeneities, with, in particular, one large hornblende phenocryst showing four- to six-fold core-to-rim increases in Sr and Ba coupled with a decrease in Sc. The depletions of Y and HREE in the Fish Canyon glass relative to the whole-rock composition (concentrations in glass ~30% of those in whole rocks) reflect late crystallization of phases wherein these elements were compatible. As garnet is not stable at the low-P conditions at which the Fish Canyon magma crystallized, we show that a combination of modally abundant hornblende (~4%) + titanite (~0.5–1%) and the highly polymerized nature of the rhyolitic liquid led to Y and HREE depletions in melt. Relatively high Sr and Ba contents in glass and rimward Sr and Ba increases in euhedral, concentrically zoned hornblende suggest partial feldspar dissolution and a late release of these elements to the melt as hornblende was crystallizing, in agreement with textural evidence for feldspar (and quartz) resorption. Both observations are consistent with thermal rejuvenation of the magma body prior to eruption, during which the proportion of melt increased via feldspar and quartz dissolution, even as hydrous and accessory phases were crystallizing. Sr/Y in Fish Canyon glass (13–18) is lower than the typical adakitic value (>40), confirming that high Sr/Y is a reliable indicator of high-pressure magma generation and/or differentiation wherein garnet is implicated.     

Oxygen isotope study of the Long Valley magma system, California: isotope thermometry and convection in large silicic magma bodies

Products of voluminous pyroclastic eruptions with eruptive draw-down of several kilometers provide a snap-shot view of batholith-scale magma chambers, and quench pre-eruptive isotopic fractionations (i.e., temperatures) between minerals. We report analyses of oxygen isotope ratio in individual quartz phenocrysts and concentrates of magnetite, pyroxene, and zircon from individual pumice clasts of ignimbrite and fall units of caldera-forming 0.76 Ma Bishop Tuff (BT), pre-caldera Glass Mountain (2.1-0.78 Ma), and post-caldera rhyolites (0.65-0.04 Ma) to characterize the long-lived, batholith-scale magma chamber beneath Long Valley Caldera in California. Values of '¹⁸O show a subtle 1‰ decrease from the oldest Glass Mountain lavas to the youngest post-caldera rhyolites. Older Glass Mountain lavas exhibit larger (~1‰) variability of '¹⁸O(quartz). The youngest domes of Glass Mountain are similar to BT in '¹⁸O(quartz) values and reflect convective homogenization during formation of BT magma chamber surrounded by extremely heterogeneous country rocks (ranging from 2 to +29‰). Oxygen isotope thermometry of BT confirms a temperature gradient between "Late" (815 °C) and "Early" (715 °C) BT. The '¹⁸O(quartz) values of "Early" and "Late" BT are +8.33 and 8.21‰, consistent with a constant '¹⁸O(melt)=7.8ǂ.1‰ and 100 °C temperature difference. Zircon-melt saturation equilibria gives a similar temperature range. Values of '¹⁸O(quartz) for different stratigraphic units of BT, and in pumice clasts ranging in pre-eruptive depths from 6 to 11 km (based on melt inclusions), and document vertical and lateral homogeneity of '¹⁸O(melt). Worldwide, five other large-volume rhyolites, Lava Creek, Lower Bandelier, Fish Canyon, Cerro Galan, and Toba, exhibit equal '¹⁸O(melt) values of earlier and later erupted portions in each of the these climactic caldera-forming eruptions. We interpret the large-scale '¹⁸O homogeneity of BT and other large magma chambers as evidence of their longevity (>10⁵ years) and convection. However, remaining isotopic zoning in some quartz phenocrysts, trace element gradients in feldspars, and quartz and zircon crystal size distributions are more consistent with far shorter timescales (10²-10⁴ years). We propose a sidewall-crystallization model that promotes convective homogenization, roofward accumulation of more evolved and stagnant, volatile-rich liquid, and develops compositional and temperature gradients in pre-climactic magma chamber. Crystal + melt + gas bubbles mush near chamber walls of variable '¹⁸O gets periodically remobilized in response to chamber refill by new hotter magmas. One such episode of chamber refill by high-Ti, Sr, Ba, Zr, and volatile-richer magma happened 10³-10⁴ years prior to the 0.76-Ma caldera collapse that caused magma mixing at the base, mush thawing near the roof and walls, and downward settling of phenocrysts into this hybrid melt.