Water-Saturated and -Undersaturated Melting of Metaluminous and Peraluminous Crustal Compositions at 10 kb: Evidence for the Origin of Silicic Magmas in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand, and Other Occurrences

The melting relations of two proposed crustal source compositionsfor rhyolitic magmas of the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ), New Zealand,have been studied in a piston-cylinder apparatus at 10 kb totalpressure and a range of water activities generated by H₂O-CO₂vapour. Starting materials were glasses of intermediate composition(65 wt.% Si0₂ representing a metaluminous ‘I-type’dacite and a peraluminous ‘S-type’ greywacke. Crystallizationexperiments were carried out over the temperature range 675to 975?C, with aH₂O values of approximately 1?0, 0?75, 0?5,and 0?25. Talc-pyrex furnace assemblies imposed oxygen fugacitiesclose to quartz-fayalite-magnetite buffer conditions. Assemblages in both compositions remain saturated with quartzand plagioclase through 675–700?C at high aH₂O, 725–750?Cat aH₂O0?5, and 800–875?C at aH₂O0?25, corresponding to<60–70% melting. Concentrations of refractory mineralcomponents (Fe, Mg, Mn, P, Ti) in liquids increase throughoutthis melting interval with increasing temperature and decreasingaH₂O. Biotite and hornblende are the only mafic phases presentnear the solidus in the dacite, compared with biotite, garnet,gedritic orthoamphibole, and tschermakitic clinoamphibole inthe greywacke. Near-solidus melting reactions are of the type:biotite + quartz + plagioclase = amphibole ? garnet, potentiallyreleasing H₂O for dehydration melting in the greywacke, butproducing larger amounts of hornblende and releasing littleH₂O in the dacite. At aH₂O0?25 and temperatures 825–850?C,amphibole dehydration produces anhydrous mineral phases typicalof granulite fades assemblages (clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene,plagioclase?quartz in the dacite; garnet, orthopyroxene, plagioclase?quartzin the greywacke) coexisting with melt proportions as low as40%. Hornblendce-saturated liquids in the dacite are weaklyperaluminous (0?3–1?6 wt.% normative C—within therange of peraluminous TVZ rhyolites), whereas, at aH₂O0?25 andtemperatures 925?C, metaluminous partial melt compositions (upto 1?8 wt.% normative Di) coexist with plagioclase, orthopyroxene,and clinopyroxene. At all water activities, partial melts ofthe greywacke are uniformly more peraluminous (1?5–2?6wt.% normative C), reflecting their saturation in the componentsof more aluminous mafic minerals, particularly garnet and Al-richorthopyroxene. A metaluminous source for the predominantly Di-normativeTVZ rhyolites is therefore indicated. With decreasing aH₂O the stability fields of plagioclase andquartz expand, whereas that of biotite contracts. These changesare reflected in the proportions of normative salic componentsin partial melts of both the dacite and greywacke. At high aH₂O,partial melts are rich in An and Ab and poor in Or (trondhjemitic-tonalitic);with decreasing aH₂O they become notably poorer in An and richerin Or (granodioritic-granitic). These systematic variationsin salic components observed in experimental metaluminous tostrongly peraluminous melts demonstrate that a wide varietyof granitoid magmas may be produced from similar source rocksdepending upon P-T-aH₂O conditions attending partial melting.Some peraluminous granitoids, notably trondhjemitic leucosomesin migmatites, and sodic granodiorites and granites emplacedat deep crustal levels, have bulk compositions similar to nearsolidus melt compositions in both the dacite and greywacke,indicating possible derivation by anatexis without the involvementof a significant restite component.     

Ultramafic and Mafic Inclusions from Adak Island: Crystallization History, and Implications for the Nature of Primary Magmas and Crustal Evolution in the Aleutian Arc

Xenolithic inclusions in calc-alkaline andesite from Mt. Moffettvolcano, Adak Island, Aleutian arc, reveal a nearly continuousrecord of crystallization of basaltic magmas in the crust, andpossibly upper mantle, of the arc. The record is more detailedand continuous than that obtained from study of calc-alkalinevolcanic rocks in the arc. Cumulate xenoliths form a progressiveseries in modal mineralogy from ultramafic, hornblende-bearingolivine clinopyroxenite to both hornblende-bearing and hornblende-freegabbros. The cumulate hornblende gabbro xenoliths are typicalof those found in island arc andesites worldwide. Xenolithicinclusions without cumulate textures, here termed compositexenoliths, are characterized by forsteritic olivine, zoned Cr-diopsideand hornblende, and are interpreted to have resulted from reactionand chilling upon magma mixing at depth. The olivine and clinopyroxene in both cumulate and compositexenoliths show the largest and the most complete variation trendsfor Ni, Cr, and FeO/MgO ratio yet reported in igneous xenolithsfrom island arc volcanic rocks. Variation of Ni in olivine indicatesthat the parent magmas for the xenoliths had minimum MgO contentsof 9 wt. per cent. Variation of Cr in clinopyroxene indicatesthat the magmas were basaltic rather than picritic, probablyin equilibrium with spinel lherzolite at near Moho depths. Successiveinjections of batches of primary melt into a magma chamber fractionatingolivine and clinopyroxene can reproduce observed compatibleelement depletion trends. A steady-state process of cotecticcrystallization in a magma chamber continually replenished withbasaltic magma is a possible mechanism for producing large accumulationsof olivine and clinopyroxene, suggesting that Alaskan-type ultramaficcomplexes are related to hydrous basaltic magmas in island arcs.This steady-state open-system crystallization process can alsoyield the abundant high-alumina basalt type in the Aleutianarc. Continued crystallization of high-alumina basalt in lowercrustal magma chambers, recorded in a mineralogically coherentseries of pyroxenite to hornblende gabbro xenoliths, can yieldbasaltic to andesitic magmas of the calc-alkaline series. No xenoliths with a sedimentary protolith have been found atMt Moffett, evidence that the arc crust is igneous in origin,with the lower crust formed of gabbro crystallized from mantle-derivedmelts. Ultramafic cumulates may reside in both the lower crustor upper mantle beneath the arc. A model is proposed wherebythe cumulate crystallization products of hydrous, mantle beneaththe arc. A model is define the upper mantle and lower crustof the arc over time.The net composition added to the crustof the arc is that of high-alumina basalt.     

Modally-Graded Rhythmic Layering in the Skaergaard Intrusion

The origin of igneous layering in the Skaergaard and other intrusionsis the subject of much debate. Currently held theories for itsorigin include gravitational sorting, rhythmic nucleation, andchemical diffusion models. This paper presents data on small-scale,modally-graded, rhythmic layers, one of several distinct typesof layering found in the Skaergaard. These layers occur onlyin the Layered Series of the intrusion, in which they are awidespread, almost ubiquitous feature. They are characterizedby strong variations in modal composition, with magnetite, ilmenite,and olivine concentrated in the lower part of the layers, pyroxenein the middle of the layers, and plagioclase in the upper partof the layers. In addition, the layers are size graded, withthe largest grain sizes of the different minerals generallyoccurring where the mineral is most abundant. The chemical compositionof both plagioclase and Ca-rich pyroxene do not vary in anyregular manner within the layers studied. The forsterite compositionof olivine is consistently higher in the lower part of the layers.This trend, however, correlates very strongly with the modalvariations of olivine and can be explained by minor amountsof subsolidus reequilibration between cumulus and adcumulusolivine, suggesting that the original composition of cumulusolivine within individual layers was constant. These results are consistent with layers formed by some gravitationalsorting process and, in several cases, are at odds with othertheories that have been proposed for the origin of igneous layers.Based on these data and the widespread evidence for currentinteraction (crossbeds, trough-shaped layers, and internallygraded layers), we propose that these layers result from periodicdisruption of a static zone of crystal growth on the floor ofthe magma chamber by convection or density currents. This mechanism,however, is almost certainly not responsible for the formationof all of the types of layering found in the intrusion.     

Comparative Determination of Uranium In Silicates by Delayed Neutron Activation Analysis

Results of the measurement of uranium in silicate reference materials on the same samples at two different facilities, both using delayed neutron activation analysis, are compared. Good agreement was observed between the results of our two laboratories. Discrepancies have been observed occasionally between different laboratories which utilize delayed neutron activation analysis. On the basis of the results observed in this work, we conclude that discrepant results are not due to variations in the physical facilities of the laboratories.