Geochemistry and petrogenesis of the early Tertiary lava pile of the Isle of Mull,Scotland

Major and trace element analyses and strontium isotope ratios are presented for twenty-four samples of lavas and plugs from the early Tertiary lava pile in Mull. The samples were selected on the basis of petrographic freshness from a large collection from outside the hydrothermally altered zone of pneumatolysis which occupies the central region of the volcanic complex. Most of the analyses yield normative hypersthene and we argue that these are essentially unaltered magmatic compositions. The analytical data indicate that the samples may be divided into three groups on the basis of major element chemistry, initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios and correlations between lithophile element contents. Group I comprises an alkaline series (basalt-hawaiite-mugearite) with extremely low initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7030) and generally low lithophile element contents. Apart from their alkalinity and high Sr and Zr contents these samples have affinities with abyssal tholeiites. Group II contains hypersthene normative basalts with more tholeiitic characteristics but (as in the case of the Skye Main Lava Series) the more evolved rocks are trachytes. This group is characterized by more normal levels of lithophile element concentrations and relatively high initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of about 0.7055. Group III is less clearly defined and contains basalts that are generally sparsely olivine-phyric and in most chemical respects fall between Group I and Group II-including initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7033 to 0.7043). They may represent mixtures of Group I and Group II type sources or magmas. Groups I and II appear to be similar, respectively, to the relatively sodic iron-rich and the relatively potassic ironpoor silica enrichment trends distinguished in the Skye Main Lava Series. In the Group I magma series the behaviour of Y and Sr relative to other incompatible elements can only be explained by differential partial melting of a deep garnet-lherzolite mantle source. Fractional crystallization has undoubtedly occurred at some stage during the ascent of these magmas from the mantle, as indicated by the behaviour of Ni and Cr, but has not been a major factor in the production of evolved magma compositions. The Group II magmas appear to have originated from a source more enriched in lithophile elements, and a relatively shallow (< 50 km) plagioclase-lherzolite mantle source is suggested for these magmas because they have Sr/Ba ratios between one and two orders of magnitude lower than those characteristic of Group I. Rb-Sr systematics suggest that the vertical heterogeneity of the mantle which was largely responsible for the chemical differences between these three groups may have existed for a very long time prior to Tertiary magmatism.     

Primary fractionation and secondary alteration within an Archean ultramafic lava flow

Fifteen samples across a 4 m thick komatiite flow from the Val d'Or region in the southeast portion of the Abitibi greenstone belt have been analysed for major oxides and trace elements including the rare earth elements (REE). The flow has been subjected to low grade regional metamorphism: virtually all primary mineralogy (olivine and clinopyroxene) has been obliterated although primary textures are well preserved. Compositional differences between the upper, spinifex textured portion and the underlying massive portion of the flow are largely consistent with the primary fractionation of approximately 30% olivine with a composition close to Fo92. Variations in incompatible element ratios across the flow and in enrichments between the spinifex and massive units suggest that Si, Ce and possibly Lu have been lost to, and Ca, Sr and possibly Y have been gained from, the surroundings. Remobilization of other elements (e.g. Zr, Hf, and alkali metals and most of the REE) appears to have been confined within the flow. AI, Ti, V and Sc appear to have been immobile during alteration of the flow. For the flow as a whole values for many element ratios (e.g. Al/Zr, Al/Sc, Sc/Yb, Zr/Hf, K/Rb) are very similar to chondritic values. If the flow represents a 40% melt approximately, and if the residue was essentially dunitic then the source abundance for most elements was close to chondritic; exceptions are the REE (1.5 to 2×chondrite), Ti (enriched relative to chondrites), and V (depleted relative to chondrites).     

Possible lava tube system in a hummocky lava flow at Daund,western Deccan Volcanic Province,India

A hummocky flow characterised by the presence of toes, lobes, tumuli and possible lava tube system is exposed near Daund, western Deccan Volcanic Province, India. The lava tube system is exposed as several exhumed outcrops and is composed of complex branching and discontinuous segments. The roof of the lava tube has collapsed but original lava tube walls and fragments of the tube roof are seen at numerous places along the tube. At some places the tube walls exhibit a single layer of lava lining, whereas, at other places it shows an additional layer characterised by smooth surface and polygonal cracks. The presence of a branching and meandering lava tube system in the Daund flow, which represents the terminal parts of Thakurwadi Formation, shows that the hummocky flow developed at a low local volumetric flow rate. This tube system developed in the thinner parts of the flow sequence; and tumuli developed in areas where the tube clogged temporarily in the sluggish flow.     

Banded iron formations and palaeoenvironment: a problem in petrogenesis

The mineralogy, chemistry and stratigraphy of Precambrian banded iron formations have been extensively documented, yet the way such formations are produced remains a subject for debate. Differentiation by varving, microbial precipitation and secondary alteration are all seen as possible mechanisms, but discussion returns to the lack of any modern analogue. Nothing like banded iron forms anywhere in the world today or has done during the entire Phanerozoic. Where do we begin with such enigmatic rocks?     

Spinifex and swirling olivines in a komatiite lava lake,Munro Township,Canada

Spinifex veins, and veins filled with swirling, tabular olivine grains, intrude the upper part of a 120 m thick lava lake in Munro Township, Ontario, Canada. These veins are 20–200 cm wide, tens of metres long and are oriented roughly parallel to the upper surface of the lava lake. The spinifex texture differs from that found in simple layered komatiite flows: rather than increasing downwards, the size of skeletal olivine grains is greatest in the centres of the veins, or varies irregularly. Upper contacts meander and veinlets penetrate overlying rock; lower contacts are transitional. The other type of vein contains 50–70% of ∼5 mm long hopper olivine grains whose orientation varies widely to produce a swirling, contorted fabric. Both types of vein are believed to have formed when lava from the centre of the lake flowed into fractures in the solidified crust.The lava lake has a dunitic lower portion and an olivine porphyry upper portion. The composition of chill samples, the compositions of olivine phenocrysts, and variations in major element abundances throughout the unit are used to show that the lava originally was komatiite with about 22% MgO. The lava lake is overlain by mafic scorias and breccias with moderate vesicularity and welding structures suggesting eruption in shallow water.     

Controls, variation, and a record of climate change in detailed stable isotope record in a single bryozoan skeleton

The long-lived (about 20 yr) bryozoan Adeonellopsis sp. from Doubtful Sound, New Zealand, precipitates aragonite in isotopic equilibrium with seawater, exerting no metabolic or kinetic effects. Oxygen isotope ratios (δ¹⁸O) in 61 subsamples (along three branches of a single unaltered colony) range from −0.09 to +0.68‰ PDB (mean = +0.36‰ PDB). Carbon isotope ratios (δ¹³C) range from +0.84 to +2.18‰ PDB (mean = +1.69‰ PDB). Typical of cool-water carbonates, δ¹⁸O-derived water temperatures range from 14.2 to 17.5 °C. Adeonellopsis has a minimum temperature growth threshold of 14 °C, recording only a partial record of environmental variation. By correlating seawater temperatures derived from δ¹⁸O with the Southern Oscillation Index, however, we were able to detect major events such as the 1983 El Niño. Interannual climatic variation can be recorded in skeletal carbonate isotopes. The range of within-colony isotopic variability found in this study (0.77‰ in δ¹⁸O and 1.34 in δ¹³C) means that among-colony variation must be treated cautiously. Temperate bryozoan isotopes have been tested in less than 2% of described extant species — this highly variable phylum is not yet fully understood.     

The variation of cesium and 37 other elements in the Sardinian granite batholith,and the significance of cesium for granite petrogenesis

A suite of granites from the Hercynian batholith of Sardinia (Italy) was analysed for cesium and 37 other major and trace elements.Factor analysis was used to identify inter-element associations in this set of data. Cesium is shown to be closely associated with tin, lithium and rubidium, and less closely with beryllium and thallium, but it shows no correlation with any of the major elements. The role of crystal fractionation, magma mixing, and the process of partial melting in the magmatic source region are examined as possible controls of Cs distribution. The pattern of element associations revealed by factor analysis eliminates crystal fractionation and magma mixing as the main cause of magmatic variation. The variation in Cs is considered to be primary in origin, i.e. it originated in the magmatic source region. The relationship between Cs and other elements was mainly determined by the relative proportions of mica and feldspar entering the melt during anatexis.     

中国熔岩隧道景观特征与成因

发育于玄武岩区的熔岩隧道,是具有科学意义和观赏价值的特殊地质遗迹。本文概述我国镜泊湖、五大连池、海口已知的熔岩隧道分布与现状,论述了熔岩隧道形态、组合、内部景观、派生景观及其特征,并就熔岩隧道成因过程和形成条件作了讨论,提出了熔岩隧道保护和研究的问题。     

Green clinopyroxenes and associated phases in a potassium-rich lava from the Leucite Hills,Wyoming

Green, salitic pyroxenes occur as megacrysts and as cores in diopsidic pyroxene phenocrysts and microphenocrysts in a wyomingite lava from Hatcher Mesa, Leucite Hills, Wyoming. Al-rich phlogopite (16–21% Al₂O₃), apatite, Fe-Ti-oxide, Mg-rich olivine (Fo₉₃) and orthopyroxene (En₆₁) also occur as megacrysts or as inclusions in diopside phenocrysts. All of these phases are found in ultramafic xenoliths in the host lava, and petrographic and chemical evidence is presented that the megacrysts originate by the disaggregation of the xenoliths. It is concluded that the latter are accidental fragments of the wall rocks traversed by the wyomingite magma and it is suggested that the clinopyroxene-rich xenoliths, from which the green pyroxenes are derived, formed in the upper mantle as a result of local metasomatism or by crystallization from magmas of unknown composition during an earlier igneous event. The precise role of the clinopyroxene-rich xenoliths (which also contain apatite, Fe-Ti-oxide and amphibole) in the genesis of the Leucite Hills magmas cannot be elucidated on the basis of the available data, but it is unlikely that they represent the source material from which these magmas are derived.     

东天山一个多相带高铷氟花岗岩的地球化学及成岩作用

东天山星星峡白石头泉含黄玉花岗岩岩体在露头上显示很好的岩性分带，从下至上依次为：淡色花岗岩(a带)，含天河石花岗岩(b带)，天河石花岗岩(c带)，含黄玉天河石花岗岩(d带)以及黄玉钠长花岗岩(e带)。在岩体中存在众多的天河石伟晶岩脉和透镜体，在岩体围岩中还可见到黄玉钠长石脉。岩体的结晶和固结是由下往上进行的。石英和黄玉是最早从熔体中晶出的矿物相，而天河石是由富含流体的残余熔体填隙结晶或与先存矿物反应而成。从a带到e带总的趋势是：(1)随着石英斑晶粒径渐大和晶形渐好，岩石结构从等粒状变为似斑状；(2)天河石和黄玉富集于最上部的三个带；(3)随着Li和(Al Ti)含量的增加，白色云母成份从a，b，c带的铁叶云母演化到d带的铁锂云母；(4)F、H2O、AJ2O3和Na2O含量增加，而SiO，FeO、KO含量和Fe^2 ／Fe^3 比值降低，且在标准矿物Qz-Ab-Or图解上，成分投影向Ab顶角移动；(5)Co、M、Cr、W、Nb、Zr、U、Th、Y、含量和K／Rb、Zr／Hf比值降低，而F、Li、Rb、Ga、V、Sn含量和Rb／Cs、Ga／Al、LaCN／LuCN比值加大；(6)δ^18O从9．25‰-9．75‰下降到7．32‰；(7)石英熔体包裹体均-法温度从860℃-810℃下降到680℃-660℃。上述岩性和地球化学分带是由于岩浆中较高的F和H：O含量，促进了分离结晶和流体搬运的结果。     

麻粒岩相变质流体及麻粒岩相岩石成因

流体在麻粒岩相地钵形成过程中所扮演的角色是有争议的。麻粒岩相变质流体目前的研究成果可归纳为碳变质模式、无流体变质模式和高盐度流体变质模式。碳变质模式强调幔源CO2在麻粒岩形成过程中起着非常重要的作用，这一模式在许多麻粒岩相地体得到了肯定。但碳、氧稳定同位素的不均一现象、峰期矿物组合热力学计算结果以及富CO2流体对硅酸盐的搬运能力低使碳变质受到了质疑。无流体变质模式强调部分熔融降低H2O活度的绝对重要性，但却无法解释普遍存在的麻粒岩相原生富CO2包裹体。而高盐度流体变质模式的确有潜在的优势，如低H2O活度、较强的碱金属、LILE及硅酸盐的搬运能力，但这一理论需要进一步证实。     

Paragenesis and petrogenesis of a corundum-bearing marble at Hunza (Kashmir)

A calcite-marble containing gem-quality ruby is exposed in the Hunza Valley, northwestern part of the Karakoram mountains, Pakistan zone of Kashmir. The marble forms concordant intercalations within sillimanite- and garnet-bearing biotite-plagioclase gneisses and mica schists. The metamorphic sequence is cut by discordant aplite and pegmatite dikes. The following mineral assemblages are recognized in the marble:1) Calcite+corundum+phlogopite±margarite±sheridanite±Al-rich pargasite±anorthite (An 96.7),2) calcite+spinel±corundum+phlogopite+sheridanite.Microprobe analyses are given for the essential minerals including corundum (ruby) and three different colour varieties of spinel. On the basis of recent experimental data, especially in the system CaO - Al₂O₃ - SiO₂ - H₂O -CO₂ (and related subsystems), we assume that, during the regional metamorphism, temperatures of about 600 – 620°C and a water vapour pressure of about 6 kb were realized in part of the Hunza area. The gas phase must have contained roughly 20 mole-% of CO₂. Thus the total fluid pressure may have reached about 7 kb. Presumably, temperatures increased in northwest direction, perhaps up to about 700°C. The estimated P-T conditions are consistent with a geothermal gradient of about 25°C/km.     

Chronology and petrogenesis of a 1.8 g lunar granitic clast:14321,1062

A study was undertaken to determine the chronology of a pristine granite clast (1062) from Apollo 14 breccia 14321 using Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd and ³⁹Ar-⁴⁰Ar methods. The genesis of the granite as constrained by the isotopic results and trace element characteristics is discussed.Chronology: The Rb-Sr internal isochron is slightly disturbed and yields an age of 4.09 ± 0.11 AE ($\text{λ(}{}^{87}\text{Rb) = 0.0139}\text{AE}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$) and an imprecise initial I(Sr) = 0.702 ? .008. If two data are excluded, the age becomes 4.13 ± 0.03 AE and I(Sr) = 0.698 ? .003. The whole rock and mineral separates are extremely radiogenic; they yield model ages which are relatively well-defined. The average model age is 4.12 ± 0.03 AE (relative to BABI = 0.69898). The Sm-Nd internal isochron is also slightly disturbed and gives an age of 4.11 ± 0.20 AE ($\text{λ(}{}^{147}\text{Sm) = 0.00654}\text{AE}$^?1). The ³⁹Ar-⁴⁰Ar average age of the non-magnetic fraction of the sample yields a slightly younger age of 3.88 ± 0.03 AE (K-Ar constants from Steiger and $\text{>a}\text{?}$, 1977). The concordancy of Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd internal isochrons with the Rb-Sr model age strongly suggests that the granitic clast formed at 4.1 AE ago in the shallow crust and was later excavated and brecciated about 3.88 AE ago.Petrogenesis: Isotopic and trace element data of the lunar granite show large K/La and Rb/Sr fractionations, small Sm/Nd fractionation and the distinct V-shaped REE distribution pattern at the time of crystallization. A two-stage model involving crystal fractionation followed by silicate liquid immiscibility (SLI) is proposed for lunar granite genesis. We propose that the granite can be the immiscible acidic liquid produced by SLI from a residual liquid which underwent fractionation of ca, 3% of phases with REE distribution coefficients similar to those of phosphate minerals from a highly evolved parental magma with REE contents about twice those of the 15405,85 quartz monzodiorite (QMD).The extreme scarcity of lunar granitic samples and their young formation ages suggest that they are probably not directly crystallized from the differentiation of the primordial magma ocean. Our isotopic results and trace elements data from other workers suggest that granites, QMD and probably Mggabbronorites may be genetically related and may have formed in a plutonic environment similar to gabbro-granophyre associations in terrestrial layered intrusions such as the Skaergaard Intrusions.     

On the genesis of lava cracks in Hawaii

The orientation structures of lava flows and lava cracks in Hawaii (Big Island) have been analysed statistically. It is shown that the lava flows do not follow epigenetic random directions, but instead follow channels that have been endogenically predesigned. Similarly, the cracks in these flows have consistent directions at 45° to the edges of the lava flows. Thus, these cracks are not simply ‘cooling joints’ but features that correspond to the edge-crevasses in glacier-flow: they are shearing phenomena that occur in a similar fashion in any plastic-type flow.     

“三江”地区中旬弧普朗成矿斑岩地球化学特征及其成因

普朗斑岩铜矿床是中国西南“三江”地区新发现的具超大规模的印支期斑岩铜矿床,其成矿岩体的斑岩具有高的Sr含量(289×10-6～1 200×10-6,平均值为820×10-6)、Sr/Y(23～92)和La/Yb(平均值为16.4)比值和相对较高的MgO和M9#值(＞59),并富集大离子亲石元素和亏损高场强元素(Nb、T...     

Migration paths of magma and fluids and lava compositions in Kamchatka

Geophysical and geochemical data have been analyzed jointly in order to gain better understanding of subduction-related active volcanism in Kamchatka. The velocity structure of lithosphere beneath volcanic arcs has been imaged on three scales. Regional tomography to distances of thousands of kilometers has allowed constraints on slab geometry, which changes markedly in dip angle and thickness beneath the Kuriles-Kamchatka arc, possibly, because of a change in the interplay of the subduction driving forces. Intermediate-scale regional tomography (hundreds of kilometers) has been applied to the cases of Toba caldera in Sumatra, Mount Merapi in Java, and volcanoes in the Central Andes and provided evidence of magma conduits marked by low-velocity zones that link the suprasubduction volcanic arcs with clusters of earthquake hypocenters on the slab top. Local tomography resolves the shallow structure immediately under volcanoes and the geometry of respective melting zones. An example time-lapse (4D) seismic model of the crust beneath the Klyuchevskoy group of volcanoes has imaged a decade-long history of anomalous velocity zones and their relation with the activity cycles of Bezymyanny and Klyuchevskoy volcanoes. As modeling shows, andesitic Bezymyanny and basaltic Klyuchevskoy volcanoes have different feeding patterns during their eruption cycles: the former feeds directly from the mantle while the material coming to the latter passes through a complicated system of intermediate chambers.The local tomography model has been applied as reference to interpret the available major- and trace-element data from the Klyuchevskoy and Bezymyanny volcanoes. The lava compositions of the two volcanoes have becoming ever more proximal since 1945 in many major and trace elements while some parameters remain different. Paroxysmal eruptions of Bezymyanny for several recent decades correlate with the time when Klyuchevskoy erupted lavas with high percentages of high-Mg basalts. The difference in the evolution trends of the Kamchatka volcanic rocks may be due either to fractional crystallization or to the presence of concentrator minerals in the source, titanomagnetite, orthopyroxene, rutile, garnet, and plagioclase being especially active as to uptake of some elements. The natural compositions of rocks have been compared in this context with published experimental data.According to the seismic velocity structure and lava compositions analyzed jointly, there are five levels of crystallization beneath the studied volcanoes, while the number and spatial patterns of magma sources are different for two types of andesitic volcanoes.     

Carbon Dioxide in igneous petrogenesis: I

A number of experimental CO₂ solubility data for silicate and aluminosilicate melts at a variety of P- T conditions are consistent with solution of CO₂ in the melt by polymer condensation reactions such as SiO _4(m ^4? +CO_2(v)+Si _n O _3n+1(m) ⁽²ⁿ⁺¹⁾ ?Si _n+1O _3n+4(m) ^(2n+4)? +CO _3(m ^)2? . For various metalsilicate systems the relative solubility of CO₂ should depend markedly on the relative Gibbs free change of reaction. Experimental solubility data for the systems Li₂O-SiO₂, Na₂O-SiO₂, K₂O-SiO₂, CaO-SiO₂, MgO-SiO₂ and other aluminosilicate melts are in complete accord with predictions based on Gibbs Free energies of model polycondesation reactions. A rigorous thermodynamic treatment of published P- T-wt.% CO₂ solubility data for a number of mineral and natural melts suggests that for the reaction CO_2(m) ? CO_2(v)

1. CO₂-melt mixing may be considered ideal (i.e., { \(a_{{\text{CO}}_{\text{2}} }^m = X_{{\text{CO}}_{\text{2}} }^m \) );
2. \(\bar V_{{\text{CO}}_{\text{2}} }^m \) , the partial molal volume of CO₂ in the melt, is approximately equal to 30 cm³ mole^?1 and independent of P and T;
3. Δ C _p ⁰ is approximately equal to zero in the T range 1,400° to 1,650 °C and
4. enthalpies and entropies of the dissolution reaction depend on the ratio of network modifiers to network builders in the melt. Analytic expressions which relate the CO₂ content of a melt to P, T, and \(f_{{\text{CO}}_{\text{2}} } \) for andesite, tholeiite and olivine melilite melts of the form

$$\ln X_{{\text{CO}}_{\text{2}} }^m = \ln f_{{\text{CO}}_{\text{2}} } - \frac{A}{T} - B - \frac{C}{T}(P - 1)$$ have been determined. Regression parameters are (A, B, C): andesite (3.419, 11.164, 0.408), tholeiite (14.040, 5.440,0.393), melilite (9.226, 7.860, 0.352). The solubility equations are believed to be accurate in the range 3<P<30 kbar and 1,100°<T<1,650 °C. A series of CO₂ isopleth diagrams for a wide range of T and P are drawn for andesitic, tholeiitic and alkalic melts.     

Oxygen fugacity and geochemical variations in the martian basalts: implications for martian basalt petrogenesis and the oxidation state of the upper mantle of Mars

The oxygen fugacity of the Dar al Gani 476 martian basalt is determined to be quartz-fayalite-magnetite (QFM) −2.3 ± 0.4 through analysis of olivine, low-Ca pyroxene, and Cr-spinel and is in good agreement with revised results from Fe-Ti oxides that yield QFM −2.5 ± 0.7. This estimate falls within the range of oxygen fugacity for the other martian basalts, QFM −3 to QFM −1. Oxygen fugacity in martian basalts correlates with ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd, and La/Yb ratios, indicating that the mantle source of the basalts is reduced and that assimilation of crust-like material controls the oxygen fugacity. This allows constraints to be placed on the oxidation state of the martian mantle and on the nature of assimilated crustal material. The assimilated material may be the product of early and extensive hydrothermal alteration of the martian crust, or it may be amphibole- or phlogopite-bearing basaltic rock within the crust. In either case, water may play a significant role in the oxidation of basaltic magmas on Mars, although it may be secondary to assimilation of ferric iron-rich material.     

广西钦甲花岗岩体岩石地球化学特征及成因研究

华南地区加里东期花岗岩远不如燕山期那么发育,位于广西西南部的钦甲岩体是较为著名的加里东岩体之一。钦甲岩体位于扬子板块西南缘,属早古生代花岗岩体。本文在前期年代学研究的基础上对钦甲岩体的岩石地球化学特征进行了分析探讨,其SiO2含量为65.94%~72.23%,全碱含量(K2O+Na2O)为6.27%~9.11%,K2O的含量普遍大于Na2O,A/CNK值为1.02~1.24,属弱过铝质花岗岩类。岩石稀土元素含量偏低,变化范围为17.18×10-6~128.33×10-6,其配分曲线呈轻稀土富集并缓向右倾斜、重稀土较为平坦、具较明显的铕负异常。微量元素以富集大离子元素Rb、Th,亏损Ba、Sr为特征,其形成可能和扬子板块与华夏板块之间的汇聚挤压有关,其源岩主要由含少量泥质的砂质岩组成,并可能有具Ce负异常的沉积物参与部分熔融。     

Strange attractors in magmas: evidence from lava flows

Magma mixing structures from three different lava flows (Salina, Vulcano and Lesbos) are studied in order to assess the possible chaotic origin of magma mixing processes. Structures are analysed using a new technique based on image analysis procedures that extract time series that are representative of the relative change in composition through the structures. These time series are then used to reconstruct the attractors underlying the magma mixing process and to calculate the fractal dimension of the attractors. Results show that attractors exist and possess fractional dimensions. This evidence suggests that the mixing of magmas is a chaotic process governed by a low number of degrees of freedom. In addition, fractal dimension analyses allows us to discriminate between different regimes of mixing in the three lava flows. In particular our analyses suggest that the lava flow of Salina underwent more turbulent mixing than the lava flows of Lesbos and Vulcano.