Chemical versus Temporal Controls on the Evolution of Tholeiitic and Calc-alkaline Magmas at Two Volcanoes in the Alaska-Aleutian Arc

The Alaska–Aleutian island arc is well known for eruptingboth tholeiitic and calc-alkaline magmas. To investigate therelative roles of chemical and temporal controls in generatingthese contrasting liquid lines of descent we have undertakena detailed study of tholeiitic lavas from Akutan volcano inthe oceanic Aleutian arc and calc-alkaline products from Aniakchakvolcano on the continental Alaskan Peninsula. The differencesdo not appear to be linked to parental magma composition. TheAkutan lavas can be explained by closed-system magmatic evolution,whereas curvilinear trace element trends and a large range in⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope ratios in the Aniakchak data appear to requirethe combined effects of fractional crystallization, assimilationand magma mixing. Both magmatic suites preserve a similar rangein ²²⁶Ra–²³⁰Th disequilibria, which suggests that thetime scale of crustal residence of magmas beneath both thesevolcanoes was similar, and of the order of several thousandyears. This is consistent with numerical estimates of the timescales for crystallization caused by cooling in convecting crustalmagma chambers. During that time interval the tholeiitic Akutanmagmas underwent restricted, closed-system, compositional evolution.In contrast, the calc-alkaline magmas beneath Aniakchak volcanounderwent significant open-system compositional evolution. Combiningthese results with data from other studies we suggest that differentiationis faster in calc-alkaline and potassic magma series than intholeiitic series, owing to a combination of greater extentsof assimilation, magma mixing and cooling. KEY WORDS: uranium-series; Aleutian arc; magma differentiation; time scales     

The Petrology and Geochemistry of the Aniakchak Caldera-forming Ignimbrite, Aleutian Arc, Alaska

Aniakchak caldera, Alaska, produced a compositionally heterogeneousignimbrite 3400 years ago, which changes from rhyodacitic atthe base to andesitic at the top of the eruptive sequence. Interpretationsof compositionally heterogeneous ignimbrites typically includeeither in situ fractional crystallization of mafic magma andgeneration of a stratified magma body or replenishment of asilicic magma chamber by mafic inputs. Another possibility,silicic replenishment of a more mafic chamber, exists. Geochemicalcharacteristics of the caldera-forming rhyodacite and severallate pre-caldera rhyodacites indicate independent origins foreach, within a maximum of 5000 years prior to caldera formation.Isotopic considerations preclude derivation of the caldera-formingrhyodacite from the caldera-forming andesite. However, the caldera-formingrhyodacite can be explained as the residual liquid of a mostlycrystallized basalt, with addition of crustal material. TheAniakchak andesite probably formed in a shallow chamber by successivemixing events involving small volumes of basalt and rhyodacite,together with contamination. The pre-caldera rhyodacites representerupted portions of intruding silicic magma, whereas anotherportion homogenized with the resident mafic magma. The caldera-formingevent reflects a large influx of rhyodacite, which erupted beforesignificant mixing occurred and also triggered draining of muchof the andesitic magma from the chamber. KEY WORDS: Aniakchak; caldera-forming eruption; geochemistry; ignimbrite; silicic replenishment