Geochemical constraints on magma processes in a peralkaline system: The Paisano volcano,west Texas

Major and trace element data for a sequence of peralkaline silicic lavas and pyroclastic flows, exposed in the caldera wall of the Paisano volcano, west Texas, document systematic fractional crystallization during magmatic evolution and an open system, magma mixing event in the upper parts of the sequence. Stratigraphically lowest flows are comendite and comenditic quartz trachyte lavas and ash flow tufts. Overlying these units is a trachyte with compositional, textural and mineralogical features indicating that it is the product of magma-mixing; similar flows occur in other parts of the volcano at the same stratigraphic level. This composite trachyte is considered to be a mixture of mugearitic or mafic trachytic magma, derived from a similar source region which yielded the earlier caldera wall flows. Trace element concentrations of the post-trachyte comenditic quartz trachyte lavas suggest they were erupted from a chamber whose magma was diluted by an influx of mugearitic or mafic trachytic magma during a magma mixing event.Rayleigh fractionation calculations show that the comendites and comenditic quartz trachytes can be derived from a parental mugearite magma by 88% to 93% fractionation of dominantly plagioclase and alkali feldspar, with lesser amounts of clinopyroxene, magnetite and apatite. Zircon was not a significant fractionating phase. The composition, mineralogy and depth of the source region(s) which generated these magmas cannot be constrained from the present data set.     

Petrology and petrogenesis of a tertiary bimodal dolerite-peralkaline/subalkaline trachyte/rhyolite dyke association from Lundy,Bristol Channel,UK

The island of Lundy forms the southernmost igneous complex of the British Tertiary Volcanic Province (BTVP) and consists of granite (≈ 90%) emplaced into deformed Devonian sedimentary rocks (Pilton Shale) and associated with a swarm of dykes of dolerite/basalt, minor trachyte and rhyolite composition. The dolerites are of varied olivine basalt composition and are associated with peralkaline trachyte and subalkaline/peralkaline rhyolite with alkali feldspar and quartz ± alkali amphibole ± pyroxene mineralogy. The dyke swarm is therefore an anorogenic bimodal dolerite/basalt–trachyte/rhyolite BTVP association. Although the dyke association is bimodal in major element terms between dolerite/basalt and minor trachyte/rhyolite, the mineralogy and trace element geochemistry indicate that the dykes may be regarded as a cogenetic dolerite—peralkaline trachyte/rhyolite association with minor subalkaline rhyolites. Sr and Nd isotope data indicate derivation of these magmas from a similar BTVP mantle source (with or without minor contamination by Pilton Shale, or possibly Lundy granite). The petrogenesis of the Lundy dyke association is therefore interpreted in terms of extensive fractional crystallization of basaltic magma in a magma chamber of complex geometry below the (exposed) Lundy granite. Fractional crystallization of a representative dolerite magma (olivine ± clinopyroxene ± plagioclase) yields trachyte magma from which the crystallization of alkali feldspar (anorthoclase) ± plagioclase (oligoclase) + Fe–Ti oxide + apatite results in peralkaline rhyolite. Rarer subalkaline rhyolites result from fractionation from a similar dolerite source which did not achieve a peralkaline composition so allowing the crystallization and fractionation of zircon. The basalt–(minor trachyte)/rhyolite bimodality reflects rapid crystallization of basalt magma to trachyte (and rhyolite) over a relatively small temperature interval (mass fraction of melt, F = ≈ 0.15). The rapid high level emplacement of basalt, trachyte and rhyolite dyke magmas is likely to have been associated with the development of a substantial composite bimodal basalt–(minor trachytel)/rhyolite volcano above the BTVP Lundy granite in the Bristol Channel.     

Geochemistry and petrogenesis of post-collisional alkaline and peralkaline granites of the Arabian-Nubian Shield: a case study from the southern tip of Sinai Peninsula,Egypt

The southern Sinai Peninsula, underlain by the northernmost extension of the Arabian-Nubian Shield, exposes post-collisional calc-alkaline and alkaline granites that represent the youngest phase of late Neoproterozoic igneous activity. We report a petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical investigation of post-collisional plutons of alkaline and, in some cases, peralkaline granite. These granites intrude metamorphosed country rocks as well as syn- and post-collisional calc-alkaline granitoids. The alkaline and peralkaline granites of the southern tip of Sinai divide into three subgroups: syenogranite, alkali feldspar granite and riebeckite granite. The rocks of these subgroups essentially consist of alkali feldspar and quartz with variable amounts of plagioclase and mafic minerals. The syenogranite and alkali feldspar granite contain small amounts of calcic amphibole and biotite, often less than 3%, while the riebeckite granite is distinguished by sodic amphibole (5–10%). These plutons have geochemical signatures typical of post-collisional A-type granites and were most likely emplaced during a transition between orogenic and anorogenic settings. The parental mafic magma may be linked to lithospheric delamination and upwelling of asthenospheric mantle material. Differentiation of the underplated basaltic magma with contributions from the juvenile crust eventually yielded the post-collisional alkaline granites. Petrogenetic modelling of the studied granitic suite shows that pure fractional crystallization cannot quantitatively explain chemical variations with the observed suite, with both major oxides and several trace elements displaying trends opposite to those required by the equilibrium phase assemblage. Instead, we show that compositional variation from syenogranite through alkali feldspar granite to riebeckite granite is dominated by mixing between a low-SiO₂ liquid as primitive or more primitive than the lowest-SiO₂ syenogranite and an evolved, high-SiO₂ liquid that might be a high-degree partial melt of lower crust.     

Phase Equilibrium Constraints on Intensive Crystallization Parameters of the Ilimaussaq Complex, South Greenland

The 1·13 Ga Ilímaussaq intrusive complex, SouthGreenland, is composed of various types of alkali granite andsilica-undersaturated alkaline to agpaitic nepheline syenitesrelated to three subsequently intruded magma batches. Mineralchemistry indicates continuous fractionation trends within eachrock type, but with distinct differences among them. The last,peralkaline magma batch is the most fractionated in terms ofX_Fe^{mafic mineral}, feldspar composition and mineral assemblage.This indicates that an evolving magma chamber at depth discontinuouslyreleased more highly fractionated alkaline melts. Fluid inclusionsin some sodalites record a pressure drop from 3·5 to1 kbar indicating that crystallization started during magmaascent and continued in the high-level magma chamber. On thebasis of phase equilibria and preliminary fluid inclusion data,crystallization temperature drops from >1000°C (augitesyenite liquidus) to <500°C (lujavrite solidus) and silicaactivity decreases from     

Mafic microgranular enclaves in Late Paleozoic granitoids in the Burgasy quartz syenite massif, western Transbaikalia: Composition and petrogenesis

The paper presents original data on the inner structure, mineralogy, and geochemistry of the Late Paleozoic Burgasy quartz syenite massif in western Transbaikalia and mafic microgranular enclaves (MME) in its rocks. The composition of the mafic microgranular enclaves is close to that of phase-1 monzonitoids of this pluton, but the enclaves are not xenoliths of these rocks but were produced by the crystallization of an individual portion of dispersed hybridized basalt melt. The basaltoid nature of the enclaves follows, first of all, from the relict assemblage of calcic plagioclase (An _73–60) and clinopyroxene and from the magmatic dolerite and microgabbro textures of the rocks. The monzonitoid composition of the enclaves was caused by hybridism, which was responsible for the crystallization of quartz, potassic feldspar, and sodic plagioclase due to the introduction of silica, potassium, and some other components. Hybridism was restricted to a boundary crystallization layer in the deep portion of the magmatic chamber (near its bottom). The scatter of the enclaves throughout the whole volume of the pluton is explained by the density inversion of the hybrid layer and material transfer by convective flows. The mafic enclaves crystallized from basaltic melt of within-plate geochemical type. In spite of intense hybridism, the enclaves preserved typical compositional signatures of mafic magma related to the generation of granites in western Transbaikalia in the Late Paleozoic. The basaltoid nature of the mafic enclaves of the Burgasy Massif testifies that magma was simultaneously generated in the mantle and crust during the development of the Late Paleozoic province in the area.     

Isotopic responses to basaltic injections into silicic magma chambers: a whole-rock and microsampling study of macrorhythmic units in the Pleasant Bay layered gabbro-diorite complex, Maine, USA

The Pleasant Bay layered gabbro-diorite complex (420 Ma) formed via repeated injections of mafic magma into a felsic magma chamber. It is dominated by repeating sequences (macrorhythmic units) with chilled gabbroic bases which may grade upward into medium-grained gabbro, diorite and granite. Each unit represents an injection of mafic magma into the chamber followed by differentiation. Increases in Sr_i and decreases in )_Ndi with stratigraphic height indicate open-system isotopic behaviour and exchange between the mafic and felsic magmas. Isotopic variations of whole-rock samples in individual macrorhythmic units do not conform to bulk mixing or AFC models between potential parental magmas. Sr isotopic studies of single feldspar crystals from one macrorhythmic unit indicate that exchange of crystals between the resident felsic magma and mafic influxes was important, that some of the rocks contain feldspar xenocrysts, and that the rocks are isotopically heterogeneous on an intercrystal scale. Xenocryst abundance increases with stratigraphic height, suggesting that crystal exchange occurred in situ. The lack of disequilibrium textures in the xenocrystic feldspar indicates the evolved macrorhythmic magma and resident silicic magma were of a similar composition and likely in thermal equilibrium at the time of crystal transfer. Mafic chilled margins are enriched in alkalis and isotopically evolved compared with mafic dikes (representing the parental melts) and suggest rapid in-situ diffusional exchange following emplacement of individual mafic replenishments.     

Petrogenesis of a basalt-comendite-pantellerite rock suite: the Boseti Volcanic Complex (Main Ethiopian Rift)

Petrological and geochemical data for basic (alkali basalts and hawaiites) and silicic peralkaline rocks, plus rare intermediate products (mugearites and benmoreites) from the Pleistocene Boseti volcanic complex (Main Ethiopian Rift, East Africa) are reported in this work. The basalts are slightly alkaline or transitional, have peaks at Ba and Nb in the mantle-normalized diagrams and relatively low ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (0.7039–0.7044). The silicic rocks (pantellerites and comendites) are rich in sanidine and anorthoclase, with mafic phases being represented by fayalite-rich olivine, opaque oxides, aenigmatite and slightly Na-rich ferroaugite (ferrohedenbergite). These rocks were generated after prolonged fractional crystallization process (up to 90–95 %) starting from basaltic parent magmas at shallow depths and fO₂ conditions near the QFM buffer. The apparent Daly Gap between mafic and evolved Boseti rocks is explained with a model involving the silicic products filling upper crustal magma chambers and erupted preferentially with respect to basic and intermediate products. Evolved liquids could have been the only magmas which filled the uppermost magma reservoirs in the crust, thus giving time to evolve towards Rb-, Zr- and Nb-rich peralkaline rhyolites in broadly closed systems.     

Understanding mafic-felsic magma interactions in a subvolcanic magma chamber using rapakivi feldspar: A case study from the Bathani volcano-sedimentary sequence,eastern India

The Ghansura Rhyolite Dome of the Bathani volcano-sedimentary sequence in eastern India originated from a subvolcanic felsic magma chamber that was intruded by volatile-rich basaltic magma during its evolution leading to the formation of a porphyritic andesite. The porphyritic andesite consists of rapakivi feldspars, which are characterized by phenocrysts of alkali feldspar mantled by plagioclase rims. Results presented in this work suggest that intimate mixing of the mafic and felsic magmas produced a homogeneous hybrid magma of intermediate composition. The mixing of the hot volatile-rich mafic magma with the relatively colder felsic magma halted undercooling in the subvolcanic felsic system and produced a hybrid magma rich in volatiles. Under such conditions, selective crystals in the hybrid magma underwent textural coarsening or Ostwald ripening. Rapid crystallization of anhydrous phases, like feldspars, increased the melt water content in the hybrid magma. Eventually, volatile saturation in the hybrid magma was reached that led to the sudden release of volatiles. The sudden release of volatiles or devolatilization event led to resorption of alkali feldspar phenocrysts and stabilizing plagioclase, some of which precipitated around the resorbed phenocrysts to produce rapakivi feldspars.     

Petrochemical evidence of magma mingling and mixing in the Tertiary monzogabbroic stocks around the Bafra (Samsun) area in Turkey: implications of coeval mafic and felsic magma interactions

Miocene aged calc-alkaline mafic host stocks (monzogabbro) and felsic microgranular enclaves (monzosyenite) around the Bafra (Samsun) area within Tertiary volcanic and sedimentary units of the Eastern Pontides, Northeast Turkey are described for the first time in this paper. The felsic enclaves are medium to fine grained, and occur in various shapes such as, elongated, spherical to ellipsoidal, flame and/or rounded. Most enclaves show sharp and gradational contacts with the host monzogabbro, and also show distinct chilled margins in the small enclaves, indicating rapid cooling. In the host rocks, disequilibrium textures indicating mingling or mixing of coeval mafic and felsic magmas are common, such as, poikilitic and antirapakivi textures in feldspar phenocrysts, sieve textured-patchy-rounded and corroded plagioclases, clinopyroxene megacrysts mantled by bladed biotites, clinopyroxene rimmed by green hornblendes, dissolution in clinopyroxene, bladed biotite, and acicular apatite. The petrographical and geochemical contrasts between the felsic enclaves and host monzogabbros may partly be due to a consequence of extended interaction between coeval felsic and mafic magmas by mixing/mingling and diffusion. Whole-rock and Sr-Nd isotopic data suggests that the mafic host rocks and felsic enclaves are products of modified mantle-derived magmas. Moreover, the felsic magma was at near liquidus conditions when injected into the mafic host magma, and that the mafic intrusion reflects a hybrid product formed due to the mingling and partial (incomplete) mixing of these two magmas.     

Alkali-calcic and alkaline post-orogenic (PO) granite magmatism: petrologic constraints and geodynamic settings

The end of an orogenic Wilson cycle corresponds to amalgamation of terranes into a Pangaea and is marked by widespread magmatism dominated by granitoids. The post-collision event starts with magmatic processes still influenced by subducted crustal materials. The dominantly calc-alkaline suites show a shift from normal to high-K to very high-K associations. Source regions are composed of depleted and later enriched orogenic subcontinental lithospheric mantle, affected by dehydration melting and generating more and more K- and LILE-rich magmas. In the vicinity of intra-crustal magma chambers, anatexis by incongruent melting of hydrous minerals may generate peraluminous granitoids bearing mafic enclaves. The post-collision event ends with emplacement of bimodal post-orogenic (PO) suites along transcurrent fault zones. Two suites are defined, (i) the alkali-calcic monzonite–monzogranite–syenogranite–alkali feldspar granite association characterised by [biotite+plagioclase] fractionation and moderate [LILE+HFSE] enrichments and (ii) the alkaline monzonite–syenite–alkali feldspar granite association characterised by [amphibole+alkali feldspar] fractionation and displaying two evolutionary trends, one peralkaline with sodic mafic mineralogy and higher enrichments in HFSE than in LILE, and the other aluminous biotite-bearing marked by HFSE depletion relative to LILE due to accessory mineral precipitation. Alkali-calcic and alkaline suites differ essentially in the amounts of water present within intra-crustal magma chambers, promoting crystallisation of various mineral assemblages. The ultimate enriched and not depleted mantle source is identical for the two PO suites. The more primitive LILE and HFSE-rich source rapidly replaces the older orogenic mantle source during lithosphere delamination and becomes progressively the thermal boundary layer of the new lithosphere. Present rock compositions are a mixture of major mantle contribution and various crustal components carried by F-rich aqueous fluids circulating within convective cells created around magma chambers. In favourable areas, PO suites pre-date a new orogenic Wilson cycle.     

Influence of oxygen fugacity on mineral compositions in peralkaline melts: The Katzenbuckel volcano, Southwest Germany

The igneous rocks of the Katzenbuckel, Southwest Germany, represent a unique and unusual alkaline to peralkaline association within the European Volcanic Province. The magmatic activity can be subdivided into two main phases. Phase I comprises the main rock bodies of phonolite and nepheline syenite, which were later intruded by different peralkaline dyke rocks (tinguaites and alkali feldspar syenite dykes) of phase II. The dyke assemblage was accompanied by magnetite and apatite veins and was followed by a late-stage pneumatolytic activity causing autometasomatic alterations.

As is typical for alkaline to peralkaline igneous rocks, early mafic minerals of phase I rocks comprise olivine, augite and Fe–Ti oxides, which are substituted in the course of fractionation by Na-amphibole and Na-pyroxene. For the early magmatic stage, calculated temperatures range between 880 and 780 °C with low silica activities (0.4 to 0.6) but high relative oxygen fugacities between 0.5 and 1.9 log units above the FMQ buffer. Even higher oxygen fugacities (above the HM buffer) are indicated for the autometasomatic alteration, which occurred at temperatures between 585 and 780 °C and resulted in the formation of pseudobrookite and hematite.

The unusually high oxygen fugacities (even during the early magmatic stage) are recorded by the major element compositions of the mafic minerals (forsterite content in olivine between 68 and 78 mol%, up to 6.2 wt.% ZrO₂ and 8.5 wt.% TiO₂ in clinopyroxene), the unusual mineral assemblages (pseudobrookite, freudenbergite) and by the enrichment of Fe³⁺ in the felsic minerals (up to 2.8 wt.% Fe₂O₃ in alkali feldspar and up to 2.6 wt.% Fe₂O₃ in nepheline). These observations point to a metasomatically enriched and highly oxidized lithospheric mantle as a major source for the Katzenbuckel melts.     

Synplutonic mafic injections into crystallizing granite pluton from Gurgunta area,northern part of Eastern Dharwar Craton: Implications for magma chamber processes

In this paper we document widespread coeval felsic-mafic magma interaction and progressive hybridization near Gurgunta in the northern part of Eastern Dharwar Craton (EDC) where mafic magma pulses have injected into a 2.5 Ga granite pluton. The pluton contains voluminous pink porphyritic facies with minor equigranular grey facies. The mafic body shows compositional variation from diorite to meladiorite with hornblende as the chief mafic mineral with lesser clinopyroxene and biotite. The observed variation on binary diagrams suggests that granite was evolved by fractional crystallization. Chemical characteristics such as higher Al₂O₃ and moderate to high CaO, Mg#, Ni, Cr, Co and V are interpreted by slab-melting. Mafic bodies show lower SiO₂, Na₂O and K₂O; but higher CaO, Mg#, FeO, Cr, Ni and V; higher LREE with moderate to higher HREE which suggest their derivation from mantle. A major active shear zone has played an important role at the time of synplutonic mafic injection and hybridization process. Field evidences suggest that the synplutonic mafic body has injected into the crystallizing felsic magma chamber in successive stages. The first stage injection has resulted in extensive mixing and hybridization due to the liquidus state of resident felsic magma to which hot mafic magma was injected. However, progressive mixing produced heterogeneity as the xenocrysts started mechanically dispersed into hybrid magma. The second stage injection, after a time gap, encountered colder and viscous hybrid magma in the magma chamber, which inhibited free injection. As a consequence, the mafic magma spread into magma chamber as flows, producing massive mafic bodies. However, with the continued mafic pulses and the heat gradient, the viscosity contrasts of mafic magma and felsic magma were again lowered resulting in second stage mixing. This episode was followed by mingling when the granite was almost crystallized, but still viscous enough to accommodate lamellar and ribbon like mafic penetrations to produce mingling. The successive mixing and mingling processes account for the observed heterogeneity in the granite pluton.     

浙江雁荡山火山-侵入杂岩的岩浆混合作用——暗色包体中长石环带的证据

浙江雁荡山是中国东南部燕山晚期巨型火山-侵入杂岩带的重要组成部分。对其中央侵入相石英正长斑岩的暗色微粒包体中的斑晶和基质斜长石进行了详细的内部结构和成分分析,揭示了斜长石复杂环带的成因和相关的岩浆作用过程。斑晶斜长石由熔蚀的核部和表面干净的幔部组成,边部包裹有钾长石膜。核部斜长石呈浑圆状或港湾状,内部发育筛状结构,An成分显著低于幔部斜长石,代表来自酸性岩浆房中早期结晶的斜长石捕掳晶。同时,幔部斜长石与自形、表面干净的基质斜长石具有类似的An含量,且两者均含有针状磷灰石的包裹体,应结晶自与暗色微粒包体相应的基性岩浆。长石的复杂结构记录了雁荡山火山-侵入杂岩形成过程中的岩浆混合作用和岩浆演化过程。岩浆混合之后的火山喷发活动,造成岩浆房的压力突然减小,温压条件达到钾长石结晶的区域,在石英正长斑岩的斑晶斜长石和暗色包体中的斑晶与基质斜长石外均形成钾长石膜,构成反环斑结构。     

Coeval felsic and Mafic Magmas in neoarchean calc-alkaline magmatic arcs,Dharwar craton,Southern India: Field and petrographic evidence from mafic to Hybrid magmatic enclaves and synplutonic Mafic dykes

We present field and petrographic data on Mafic Magmatic Enclaves (MME), hybrid enclaves and synplutonic mafic dykes in the calc-alkaline granitoid plutons from the Dharwar craton to characterize coeval felsic and mafic magmas including interaction of mafic and felsic magmas. The composite host granitoids comprise of voluminous juvenile intrusive facies and minor anatectic facies. MME, hybrid enclaves and synplutonic mafic dykes are common but more abundant along the marginal zone of individual plutons. Circular to ellipsoidal MME are fine to medium grained with occasional chilled margins and frequently contain small alkali feldspar xenocrysts incorporated from host. Hybrid magmatic enclaves are intermediate in composition showing sharp to diffused contacts with adjoining host. Spectacular synplutonic mafic dykes commonly occur as fragmented dykes with necking and back veining. Similar magmatic textures of mafic rocks and their felsic host together with cuspate contacts, magmatic flow structures, mixing, mingling and hybridization suggest their coeval nature. Petrographic evidences such as disequilibrium assemblages, resorption, quartz ocelli, rapakivi-like texture and poikilitically enclosed alkali feldspar in amphibole and plagioclase suggest interaction, mixing/mingling of mafic and felsic magmas. Combined field and petrographic evidences reveal convection and divergent flow in the host magma chamber following the introduction of mafic magmas. Mixing occurs when mafic magma is introduced into host felsic magma before initiation of crystallization leading to formation of hybrid magma under the influence of convection. On the other hand when mafic magmas inject into host magma containing 30–40% crystals, the viscosities of the two magmas are sufficiently different to permit mixing but permit only mingling. Finally, if the mafic magmas are injected when felsic host was largely crystallized (~70% or more crystals), they fill early fractures and interact with the last residual liquids locally resulting in fragmented dykes. The latent heat associated with these mafic injections probably cause reversal of crystallization of adjoining host in magma chamber resulting in back veining in synplutonic mafic dykes. Our field data suggest that substantial volume of mafic magmas were injected into host magma chamber during different stages of crystallization. The origin of mafic magmas may be attributed to decompression melting of mantle associated with development of mantle scale fractures as a consequence of crystallization of voluminous felsic magmas in magma chambers at deep crustal levels.     

新疆西准噶尔夏尔莆岩体岩浆混合的岩相学证据

夏尔莆岩体由寄主岩石、微粒镁铁质包体和中基性岩墙群组成,具丰富、典型的岩浆混合岩相学特征.野外露头,寄主岩石中暗色矿物分布不均并发育暗色矿物集合体、微小的镁铁质包体和不均匀混合条带;包体具有明显的塑性变形,与寄主岩石或界线截然或渐变过渡,常发育反向脉和寄主岩石中的长石巨晶(捕虏晶);中基性岩墙群与微粒镁铁质包体紧密共生并延伸方向基本一致,发育寄主岩石中的长石捕虏晶,被寄主岩的反向脉横切.在镜下,包体与寄主岩混合带中均发育斜长石异常环带和多种不平衡矿物共生现象,包体中发育针状磷灰石.这些特征表明镁铁质包体和中基性岩墙群来源于与寄主岩石同一岩浆事件的基性岩浆,并与其发生了强烈的岩浆混合作用.岩相学特征为夏尔莆岩体岩浆混合成因提供了重要佐证.     

Post-collisional magmatism in the northern Arabian-Nubian Shield: The geotectonic evolution of the alkaline suite at Gebel Tarbush area, south Sinai, Egypt

Post-collisional alkaline magmatism (∼610–580 Ma) is widely distributed in the northern part of the Neoproterozoic Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS), i.e. the northern part of the Egyptian Eastern Desert and Sinai. Alkaline rocks of G. Tarbush constitute the western limb of the Katharina ring complex (∼593 ± 16 Ma) in southern Sinai. This suite commenced with the extrusion of peralkaline volcanics and quartz syenite subvolcanics intruded by syenogranite and alkali feldspar granite. The mineralogy and geochemistry of these rocks indicate an alkaline/peralkaline within-plate affinity. Quartz syenite is relatively enriched in TiO₂, Fe₂O₃, MgO, CaO, Sr, Ba and depleted in SiO₂, Nb, Y, and Rb. The G. Tarbush alkaline suite most likely evolved via fractionation of mainly feldspar and minor mafic phases (hornblende, aegirine) from a common quartz syenite parental magma, which formed via partial melting of middle crustal rocks of ANS juvenile crust. Mantle melts could have provided the heat required for the middle crustal melting. The upper mantle melting was likely promoted by erosional decompression subsequent to lithospheric delamination and crustal uplift during the late-collisional stage of the ANS. Such an explanation could explain the absence or scarce occurrence of mafic and intermediate lithologies in the abundant late- to post-collisional calc-alkaline and alkaline suites in the northern ANS. Moreover, erosion related to crustal uplift during the late-collision stage could account for the lack or infrequent occurrence of older lithologies, i.e. island arc metavolcanics and marginal basin ophiolites, from the northern part of the ANS.     

Rhyolites contaminated with metapelite and gabbro,Lipari, Aeolian Islands,Italy: products of lower crustal fusion or of assimilation plus fractional crystallization?

Pleistocene lavas from Monte S. Angelo and Chiesa Vecchia volcanoes on Lipari contain two suites of inclusions. A metapelitic suite consists of gneisses and granulites with combinations of cordierite, garnet, corundum, hercynite, andalusite, sillimanite, orthopyroxene, ilmenite, magnetite, biotite, plagioclase, and quartz. A gabbroic suite has cumulus texture and contains plagioclase, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and magnetite. All megacryst phases in the lavas appear to be derived from rock fragments, with the exception of euhedral strongly zoned calcic plagioclase, and none has grown by homogeneous nucleation from liquid represented by the groundmass, which is peraluminous rhyolite (>70 wt% SiO₂, >6 wt% K₂O). Ground-mass microcrysts were nearly all derived from disaggregated metapelites; overgrowths of alkali feldspar on plagioclase and of orthopyroxene on clinopyroxene, and quartz intergrown with alkali feldspar, are the only phases that grew from the rhyolitic liquid. Euhedral cordierite, hercynite, and plagioclase at the margins of some rock fragments grew by reaction of metapelite with liquid.For grains in contact within metapelite inclusions, geothermometers and geobarometers yield estimates of equilibration conditions in the range of 800±100° C and 5±1 kbar. Compositions of phases in the same thin section, but not in the same inclusion, yield broadly erratic P and T estimates indicating disequilibrium among metapelite inclusions. Pyroxene thermometry in the gabbro suite indicates a crystallization temperature of 1020±50° C and a lack of subsequent thermal equilibration with the rhyolitic liquid.The metapelite suite may partly be restite, but much is xenolithic, derived from a vertical interval of perhaps several kilometers, and may have undergone a much earlier episode of melting. The gabbro fragments are accidental xenoliths incorporated as the magma rose. Contaminants (metapelite and gabbro) account for 50 vol.% of the lavas, and cause them to be classified as high-K andesite according to whole-rock major element analysis.The rhyolitic liquid may have originated by partial fusion of metapelites in the lower crust, or by fractional crystallization of mafic mantle-derived magma combined with assimilation of metapelite; the bulk of the evidence favors assimilation-fractional crystallization. Miocene and younger metapelite-contaminated rhyolites also occur in Tuscany, SE Spain, E Morocco, and NW Tunisia, and are associated in each region with mafic silica-undersaturated lavas, implying crustal underplating around the western Mediterranean before, during, and after formation of the Tyrrhenian basin.     

Glimmeritic enclave in a lamprophyre from the Settupalle alkaline pluton,Eastern Ghats mobile belt

A rare occurrence of glimmeritic (mica-rich) enclave — composed of abundant modal biotite, subordinate proportions of clinopyroxene and apatite, minor amounts of feldspar, carbonate and sphene — is reported from the lamprophyre of Settupalle alkaline pluton, Eastern Ghats mobile belt (EGMB), India. The enclave displays very coarse grained equigranular texture (mica laths up to 5 mm and clinopyroxene grains up to 4 mm). In comparison, the host lamprophyre exhibits a marked porphyritic-panidiomorphic texture comprising phenocrysts of clinopyroxene; other phases such as biotite and potash- and plagioclase-feldspar are restricted to the groundmass. A tight closeness in mineral chemistry of the glimmerite and lamprophyre imply a possible genetic relationship between their parent magmas. Glimmeritic enclave is construed to be an autolith of the proto-lamprophyre magma, which failed to reach the surface, and lined the wall-rock along the conduit of the lamprophyric intrusion. Glimmerite enclave provides a direct evidence for the multi-stage modification of the lithospheric mantle due to the infiltration of the potassium-rich hydrous melts such as lamprophyres. Mineralogy of the glimmeritic enclave is also similar to that of a vein component of the hydrous, mafic and potassic-ultrapotassic veined lithosphere in the EGMB.     

Differentiation of the Cuthbert Lake ultramafic dikes and related mafic dikes

In the Cuthbert Lake region of north-central Manitoba, northeasterly trending ultramafic-mafic dikes, part of the Molson dike swarm, show a range of composition from gabbro to olivine-hornblende pyroxenite to hornblende peridotite. The major dike which is ultramafic in composition is 60 m thick. Olivine and chromian spinel were the earliest cumulus phases formed in a subcrustal magma chamber before the emplacement of the dikes. Orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene were formed following emplacement at about 1120° C. Plagioclase and hornblende were the latest phases to crystallize from the intercumulus melt. Mineralogical and chemical variations across the major dike are interpreted to have resulted from flow differentiation of multiple injections of magma carrying suspended olivine crystals. Olivine phenocrysts changed their compositions from about Fo₈₇ to values ranging from Fo₈₀to Fo₇₃ as a function of the amount of intercumulus melt. The composition of this melt is estimated to have been basaltic. A mafic dike, about 10 m thick and occurring about 20 m away from the main ultramafic dike, is believed to have been formed from magmas that were tapped from an upper layer overlying the olivine-rich zone in a subcrustal magma chamber. Separation must have occurred when clinopyroxene and plagioclase appeared on the liquidus.Geological Survey of Canada Contribution 36486     

Petrogenesis of the Zoned Laacher See Tephra

The late Quaternary Laacher See phonolitic tephra deposit (EastEifel, W. Germany) is mineral-ogically and chemically zonedfrom highly evolved, volatile-rich and crystal-poor at its basetowards a mafic, crystal-rich phonolite at the top (Wörner& Schmincke, 1984). This zonation is interpreted as theresult of a continuous eruption from a zoned magma column. Majorand trace element evidence shows that the last erupted maficULST (Upper Laacher See Tephra) phonolite can be derived froma basanite parent magma via fractional crystallization of 30per cent clinopyroxene, 24 per cent amphibole, 4 per cent phlogopite,3.8 per cent magnetite, 2.5–3.0 per cent olivine and 1per cent apatite, leaving a derivative of 30 per cent evolvedmagma. Starting from the mafic (ULST) phonolite as a parent, the zonedsequence is postulated to have been formed by progressive fractionalcrystallization of the observed phenocryst phases. This modelwas tested by a series of 7 step-by-step mass balance fractionationcalculations. Abundance, modal composition and relative variationsof calculated fractionated phases agree well with the observedphenocryst abundances: sanidine followed by plagioclase andminor amounts of mafic phases are to be fractionated to givethe observed zoned sequence. The most evolved phonolite, however, cannot be generated bysubtraction of phenocrysts from the underlying phonolite. Processessuch as liquid-state differentiation may therefore have chemicallymodified the upper part (cupola) of the Laacher See magma columnsubsequent to crystal fractionation. The erupted phonolite magma (5.3 km³) was calculated to havestarted with a volume of 56 km³ of parental basanite magma whichfractionated to form 16.6 km³ of mafic phonolite. This magmafurther differentiated to give a 5.3 km³ zoned (erupted) phonolitecolumn. The non-erupted volume of 50 km³ is postulated to forma cooling cumulate body below the present day Laacher See volcano. The Laacher See magma system represents a complex end-membertype of a highly evolved small volume composition ally zonedmagma chamber with steep major and trace element gradients,the uppermost volatile rich magma layer resembling the stableroof part of rhyolitic chambers.