Megacrysts and mafic–ultramafic xenolith-bearing ignimbrites from Sirwa Volcano, Morocco: phase petrology and thermobarometry

Summary A suite of clinopyroxene and amphibole megacrysts and mafic–ultramafic xenoliths are present in ignimbritic rocks of trachybasaltic–andesitic composition from the Sirwa volcanic district, Morocco. The stumpy prismatic and sometimes euhedral clinopyroxene megacrysts are Ti–Al-rich diopsides with mg values in the range 0.82–0.87 and Ca/(Ca + Mg) ratios in the range 0.53–0.54. The prismatic, elongated amphibole megacrysts are calcic kaersutites–kaersutites with a narrow mg range (0.66–0.68). The xenoliths are represented by gabbroic and pyroxenitic types. In the gabbroic xenoliths two distinct textural types can be distinguished: medium-sized granular and banded. The granular type is characterized by the mineral assemblage Pl + Amph + Spl + Ilm + Ap. The banded type is distinct for the absence of Ilm and the presence of Cpx and Opx and shows alternating bands enriched in Pl and Amph, respectively. The megacrysts and, probably, the xenoliths are considered not cognate with the present host rocks since the calculated liquids in equilibrium with clinopyroxene and amphibole megacrysts over a wide range of physical conditions have different trace and rare earth element contents. The observed phase relations and thermobarometric calculations indicate that the megacrysts and xenoliths crystallized from their parent melts at P ≥ 10 kbar and T ≤ 1160 °C, i.e., in the upper mantle or near the crust-mantle boundary. A deep ( ≥ 30 km) magmatic chamber, where the megacrysts and xenoliths originated, and a shallow volcanic chamber, energetically activated up to explosive conditions by injection of deep-originated melts, is suggested to explain the occurrence of high-pressure megacrysts and xenoliths in the Sirwa volcanic explosive products. Received October 8, 2000; revised version accepted September 9, 2001