Mixing of rhyolite,trachyte and basalt magma erupted from a vertically and laterally zoned reservoir,composite flow P1, Gran Canaria

The 14.1 Ma composite welded ignimbrite P1 (45 km³ DRE) on Gran Canaria is compositionally zoned from a felsic lower part to a basaltic top. It is composed of four component magmas mixed in vertically varying proportions: (1) Na-rhyolite (10 km³) zoned from crystal-poor to highly phyric; (2) a continuously zoned, evolved trachyte to sodic trachyandesite magma group (6 km³); (3) a minor fraction of Na-poor trachyandesite (<1 km³); and (4) nearly aphyric basalt (26 km³) zoned from 4.3 to 5.2 wt% MgO. We distinguish three sites and phases of mixing: (a) Mutual mineral inclusions show that mixing between trachytic and rhyolitic magmas occurred during early stages of their intratelluric crystallization, providing evidence for long-term residence in a common reservoir prior to eruption. This first phase of mixing was retarded by increasing viscosity of the rhyolite magma upon massive anorthoclase precipitation and accumulation. (b) All component magmas probably erupted through a ring-fissure from a common upper-crustal reservoir into which the basalt intruded during eruption. The second phase of mixing occurred during simultaneous withdrawal of magmas from the chamber and ascent through the conduit. The overall withdrawal and mixing pattern evolved in response to pre-eruptive chamber zonation and density and viscosity relationships among the magmas. Minor sectorial variations around the caldera reflect both varying configurations at the conduit entrance and unsteady discharge. (c) During each eruptive pulse, fragmentation and particulate transport in the vent and as pyroclastic flows caused additional mixing by reducing the length scale of heterogeneities. Based on considerations of magma density changes during crystallization, magma temperature constraints, and the pattern of withdrawal during eruption, we propose that eruption tapped the P1 magma chamber during a transient state of concentric zonation, which had resulted from destruction of a formerly layered zonation in order to maintain gravitational equilibrium. Our model of magma chamber zonation at the time of eruption envisages a basal high-density Na-poor trachyandesite layer that was overlain by a central mass of highly phyric rhyolite magma mantled by a sheath of vertically zoned trachyte-trachyandesite magma along the chamber walls. A conventional model of vertically stacked horizontal layers cannot account for the deduced density relationships nor for the withdrawal pattern.     

Chemical zoning and crystallization mechanisms in the magma chamber of the Pomici di Base plinian eruption of Somma-Vesuvius (Italy)

Products of the Pomici di Base plinian eruption of Somma-Vesuvius consist of pumice and scoria fall deposits overlain by lithic-rich phreatomagmatic deposits. The plinian fall, which represents most of the magma volume involved in the eruption, ranges in composition from trachyte (SiO₂ = 62.5 wt%) to latite (SiO₂ ≈ 58 wt%) in the lower one-third of the deposit, whereas the upper two-thirds of the total thickness consists of latitic scoriae with fairly uniform composition (SiO₂ ≈ 55–56 wt%). All the products have very low content of phenocrysts (from 4 wt% in trachyte pumice to 1 wt% in the latite scoriae), most of which are not in equilibrium with the host rock. Minerals not in equilibrium, both in trachytic and latitic rocks, consist of discrete crystals of sanidine and plagioclase wetted by trachytic glass and felsic aggregates with interstital trachytic glass. Trends of major and trace elements are consistent with crystal-liquid fractionation processes and rule out syn-eruptive mixing processes between latitic and trachytic magmas. We suggest that discrete crystals and crystal aggregates not in equilibrium with the host rock represent fragments of the crystallising boundary layer at the upper walls of the magma chamber, which were wrenched and admixed into the magma during the ascent. This process diversifies the mineral assemblage and increases the crystal content of the rocks. We propose that diffusive crystallization processes operating at the wall of the chamber allowed the formation of a two-fold layered reservoir with a more mafic, homogeneous lower body and a more evolved, compositionally graded upper body. Around one-quarter of crystals adhering to the upper part of the magma chamber were admixed into the magma during the eruption. The absence of significant syn-eruptive mixing processes and the major role played by diffusive crystallization are consistent with a low aspect ratio magma chamber (width/height <1). Received: 23 March 1998 / Accepted: 11 December 1998     

New constraints on the pyroclastic eruptive history of the Campanian volcanic Plain (Italy)

Summary The ∼ 150 km³ (DRE) trachytic Campanian Ignimbrite, which is situated north-west of Naples, Italy, is one of the largest eruptions in the Mediterranean region in the last 200 ky. Despite centuries of investigation, the age and eruptive history of the Campanian Ignimbrite is still debated, as is the chronology of other significant volcanic events of the Campanian Plain within the last 200–300 ky. New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology defines the age of the Campanian Ignimbrite at 39.28 ± 0.11 ka, about 2 ky older than the previous best estimate. Based on the distribution of the Campanian Ignimbrite and associated uppermost proximal lithic and polyclastic breccias, we suggest that the Campanian Ignimbrite magma was emitted from fissures activated along neotectonic Apennine faults rather than from ring fractures defining a Campi Flegrei caldera. Significantly, new volcanological, geochronological, and geochemical data distinguish previously unrecognized ignimbrite deposits in the Campanian Plain, accurately dated between 157 and 205 ka. These ages, coupled with a xenocrystic sanidine component > 315 ka, extend the volcanic history of this region by over 200 ky. Recent work also identifies a pyroclastic deposit, dated at 18.0 ka, outside of the topographic Campi Flegrei basin, expanding the spatial distribution of post-Campanian Ignimbrite deposits. These new discoveries emphasize the importance of continued investigation of the ages, distribution, volumes, and eruption dynamics of volcanic events associated with the Campanian Plain. Such information is critical for accurate assessment of the volcanic hazards associated with potentially large-volume explosive eruptions in close proximity to the densely populated Neapolitan region. Received August 1, 2000; accepted November 2, 2000     

Processes and timescales in the evolution of a chemically zoned trachyte: Fogo A,Sao Miguel,Azores

U-series disequilibria analyses have been combined with chemical and petrographic analyses in order to assess both the timescales and processes involved in the formation of the chemically zoned Fogo A trachytes. Least squares major element modelling demonstrates that the mafic trachytes could have evolved from a parental alkali basalt via trachybasalt with 70% fractionation of augite (35–36%), plagioclase (23%), magnetite (16%), kaersutite (15%), olivine (8%) and apatite (2–3%). Derivation of the mafic trachytes from a basanite parent is inconsistent with calculated fractionation paths. Major and trace element variations in 25 pumice samples collected from throughout the stratigraphic extent of the Fogo A deposit show that the trachytes represent the inverted, extrusive equivalent of a strongly chemically zoned magma chamber. The zonation is attributed to 70–75% Rayleigh fractional crystallization of the observed phenocryst phases. Wallrock assimilation and magma mixing did not contribute significantly to the observed chemical trends. The maximum age of the Fogo A trachytic magma based on radioactive disequilibria between ²³⁰Th and ²³⁸U is 300000 years. However, a calculated model age suggests that the time of evolution of the Fogo A trachytes from a parent alkali basalt is only 90000 years. Constant element variations and Th-isotopic ratios in Fogo C, Fogo A and 1563 A.D. trachytes suggest that a single long-lived trachytic magma chamber has been the source of at least the past 15.2 Ka of trachytic volcanism from Agua de Pao. After each eruption an evolved cupola reformed and became zoned prior to the next eruption. The maximum time necessary to form the zonation is 4600 years, the time between the Fogo A and 1563 A.D. eruptions. Low (²²⁶Ra)/(²³⁰Th)_i ratios in the Fogo A and 1563 A.D. trachytes suggest that alkali feldspar fractionation continued up to the time of the respective eruptions.     

Geochemical and isotopic insights into the assembly,evolution and disruption of a magmatic plumbing system before and after a cataclysmic caldera-collapse eruption at Ischia volcano (Italy)

New geochemical and isotopic data on volcanic rocks spanning the period ~75–50 ka BP on Ischia volcano, Italy, shed light on the evolution of the magmatic system before and after the catastrophic, caldera-forming Monte Epomeo Green Tuff (MEGT) eruption. Volcanic activity during this period was influenced by a large, composite and differentiating magmatic system, replenished several times with isotopically distinct magmas of deep provenance. Chemical and isotopic variations highlight that the pre-MEGT eruptions were fed by trachytic/phonolitic magmas from an isotopically zoned reservoir that were poorly enriched in radiogenic Sr and became progressively less radiogenic with time. Just prior to the MEGT eruption, the magmatic system was recharged by an isotopically distinct magma, relatively more enriched in radiogenic Sr with respect to the previously erupted magmas. This second magma initially fed several SubPlinian explosive eruptions and later supplied the climactic, phonolitic-to-trachytic MEGT eruption(s). Isotopic data, together with erupted volume estimations obtained for MEGT eruption(s), indicate that >5–10 km³ of this relatively enriched magma had accumulated in the Ischia plumbing system. Geochemical modelling indicates that it accumulated at shallow depths (4–6 km), over a period of ca. 20 ka. After the MEGT eruption, volcanic activity was fed by a new batch of less differentiated (trachyte-latite) magma that was slightly less enriched in radiogenic Sr. The geochemical and Sr–Nd-isotopic variations through time reflect the upward flux of isotopically distinct magma batches, variably contaminated by Hercynian crust at 8–12 km depth. The deep-sourced latitic to trachytic magmas stalled at shallow depths (4–6 km depth), differentiated to phonolite through crystal fractionation and assimilation of a feldspar-rich mush, or ascended directly to the surface and erupted.     

Modeling the multi-level plumbing system of the Changbaishan caldera from geochemical,mineralogical, Sr-Nd isotopic and integrated geophysical data

Changbaishan, an intraplate volcano, is characterized by an approximately 6 km wide summit caldera and last erupted in 1903. Changbaishan experienced a period of unrest between 2002 and 2006. The activity developed in three main stages, including shield volcano(basalts), cone-construction(trachyandesites to trachytes with minor basalts), and caldera-forming stages(trachytes to comendites). This last stage is associated with one of the more energetic eruptions of the last millennium on Earth, the 946 CE, VEI 7 Millennium Eruption(ME),which emitted over 100 km3 of pyroclastics. Compared to other active calderas, the plumbing system of Changbaishan and its evolution mechanisms remain poorly constrained. Here, we merge new whole-rock,glass, mineral, isotopic, and geobarometry data with geophysical data and present a model of the plumbing system. The results show that the volcano is characterized by at least three main magma reservoirs at different depths: a basaltic reservoir at the Moho/lower crust depth, an intermediate reservoir at 10–15 km depth, and a shallower reservoir at 0.5–3 km depth. The shallower reservoir was involved in the ME eruption, which was triggered by a fresh trachytic melt entering a shallower reservoir where a comenditic magma was stored. The trachytes and comendites originate from fractional crystallization processes and minor assimilation of upper crust material, while the less evolved melts assimilate lower crust material. Syn-eruptive magma mingling occurred during the ME eruption phase. The magma reservoirs of the caldera-forming stage partly reactivate those of the cone-construction stage. The depth of the magma storage zones is controlled by the layering of the crust.The plumbing system of Changbaishan is vertically extensive, with crystal mush reservoirs renewed by the replenishment of new trachytic to trachyandesitic magma from depth. Unlike other volcanoes, evidence of a basaltic recharge is lacking. The interpretation of the signals preceding possible future eruptions should consider the multi-level nature of the Changbaishan plumbing system. A new arrival of magma may destabilize a part of or the entire system, thus triggering eruptions of different sizes and styles. The reference model proposed here for Changbaishan represents a prerequisite to properly understand periods of unrest to potentially anticipate future volcanic eruptions and to identify the mechanisms controlling the evolution of the crust below volcanoes.     

Volatile element zonation in Campanian Ignimbrite magmas (Phlegrean Fields, Italy): evidence from the study of glass inclusions and matrix glasses

The distribution of H₂O, F, Cl and S in the Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) magma chamber was investigated through study of primary glass inclusions and matrix glasses from pumices of the Plinian fall deposit. The eruption, fed by trachytic to phono-trachytic magmas, mainly produced a trachytic non-welded to partially welded tuff, underlain by a minor cogenetic fallout deposit. The entire chemical variability of the eruptive products is well represented in the pumices of the Plinian fall deposit, which we divide into a basal Lower Fall Unit (LFU) and an overlying Upper Fall Unit (UFU). Primary glass inclusions were only found in clinopyroxenes associated with the LFU pumice and contain a mean of 1.60ǂ.32 wt% H₂O (analysed by FTIR), 0.11ǂ.08 wt% F, 0.37ǂ.03 wt% Cl and 0.08ǂ.04 wt% SO₃ (EMP analysis); CO₂ concentrations were below the FTIR detection limit (10-20 ppm). The coexisting matrix glasses contain similar amounts of halogens and sulfur but less water (~0.60 wt%). Partially degassed matrix glasses from UFU pumices contain a mean of 0.30ǂ.02 H₂O, 0.28ǂ.10 F, 0.04ǂ.02 SO₃ and 0.80ǂ.04 wt% Cl. To reconstruct the total amount of volatiles dissolved in the most evolved trachytes we have used experimental solubility data and mass balance calculations concerning the amount of crystal fractionation required to produce the most evolved trachyte from the least evolved trachyte; these yield an estimated pre-eruptive magma volatile content (H₂O + Cl + F) of ~5.5 wt% for the most evolved magmas. On the basis of new determinations of Cl solubility limits in hydrous trachytic melts coexisting with an aqueous fluid phase + hydrosaline melt (brine), we suggest that the upper part of the magma chamber which fed the CI eruption was fluid(s) saturated and at a minimum depth of ~2 km. Variations in eruptive style (Plinian fallout, pyroclastic flows) do not appear to be related to significant variations in pre-eruptive volatile contents.     

Geochemistry and petrogenesis of a basalt-benmoreite-trachyte suite from the southern part of the Gregory Rift,Kenya

In the southern Gregory Rift valley a series of transitional basalt, ferrobasalt, and benmoreite flows (1.65–1.4 Myr) is overlain by flood trachyte lavas (1.3–0.9 Myr). Mass balance calculations for major element compositions of rocks of this suite and their phenocrysts and microphenocrysts suggest that the ferrobasalts and benmoreites formed from magma resembling the most primitive basalt by closed system fractionation of plagioclase, clinopyroxene, olivine, titanomagnetite, and apatite. The trachytes formed from evolved magmas largely by alkali feldspar fractionation. Estimates of phenocryst and liquid densities and Rayleigh-law modelling of trace element contents support these conclusions. From Rayleigh-law modelling, we derived a set of effective distribution coefficients. Partial melting of crustal rocks or volatile transfer processes had no significant effect on the petrogenesis of this suite. The duration of the eruptive cycle, cooling time calculations, and mass balance calculations suggest that fractionation occurred in a magma reservoir with volume of at least 3 × 10⁴ km³ during an interval of about 0.8 Myr. Temperatures during fractionation probably ranged from about 1200 °C to 900 °C, and pressures may have been roughly 5 to 8 Kb. We suggest that rift development was accompanied by large-scale injection of basaltic magma and dilation of the crust, extensive fractionation, preferential eruption of low-density and fluid trachytic flood lavas, and by several episodes of normal faulting.     

Some constraints on the origin of phonolites from the Gregory Rift,Kenya, and inferences concerning basaltic magmas in the Rift System

Plateau-type phonolites of the Gregory Rift represent magmas with densities of about 2.3 g/cm³. These magmas must have erupted soon after their formation. The average depth of the bases of the approximately 100 to 300 magma chambers from which they erupted was between about 10 and about 24 km. The average vertical extent of the magma chambers was between about 3 and about 8 km. The aggregate volume of phonolitic magma formed beneath the Rift in Miocene times probably lies in the range of 0.5 to 1×10⁵ km³. Both the crystal fractionation model and the anatectic model for formation of this volume of phonolitic magma require the presence of a large reservoir of basaltic magma, probably picritic in character, with a volume of at least 5×10⁵ km³ and perhaps as much as 20×10⁵ km³. This reservoir presumably is now part of the dense basic intrusive complex along the Rift axis. The Miocene and Pliocene episodes of basaltic volcanism in this region may be related to eruption of evolved liquids from this reservoir.     

Silicic recharge of multiple rhyolite magmas by basaltic intrusion during the 22.6 ka Okareka Eruption Episode, New Zealand

Deposits of the 22.6 ka Okareka Eruption Episode from Tarawera Volcanic Complex record the sequential and simultaneous eruption of three discrete rhyolite magmas following a silicic recharge event related to basaltic intrusion. The episode started with basaltic eruption ( 0.01 km³ magma), and rapidly changed to a plinian eruption involving a moderate temperature (750 °C), cummingtonite-bearing rhyolite magma (T1) with a volume of  0.3 km³. Hybrid basalt/rhyolite clasts demonstrate direct basaltic intrusion that helped trigger the eruption. Crystals, shards and lapilli of two other rhyolite magmas then joined the eruption sequence. They comprise a cooler (720 °C) crystal-rich biotite–hornblende rhyolite magma (T2) ( 0.3 km³), and a hotter (780 °C), crystal-poor, pyroxene–hornblende rhyolite magma (T3) ( 4.5 km³). All mid to late-stage ash units contain various mixtures of T1, T2 and T3 components with a general increase in abundance of T3 and rapid decline of T1 with time. About 4 km³ of T3 magma was extruded as lavas at the end of the episode. Contrasts in melt composition, crystal and volatile contents, and temperatures influenced viscosity and miscibility, and thus limited pre-eruption mixing of the rhyolite magmas. The eruption sequence and the restricted direct basaltic intrusion into only one magma (T1) is consistent with the rhyolites occupying separate melt pods within a large crystal-mush zone. Melt–crystal equilibria and volatile contents in melt inclusions indicate temporary magma storage depths of < 8 km. Each of the magmas display quartz crystals containing melt inclusions that are compositionally highly evolved relative to the accompanying matrix glass, and thus point to a stage of more complete crystallisation. The matrix glass, enriched in Sr and Ti, represents a re-melting event of underlying the crystal pile induced by basaltic intrusion, presumably part of the same event that erupted scoria at the start of the eruption. This recharge rhyolite melt percolated upward and hybridised with the resident melts in each of the three magma pods. The Okareka episode rhyolites contrast with other well-documented rhyolites that are either continuously or discontinuously zoned, or have been homogenised during re-activation to a uniform composition. Rapid basalt dike intrusion to shallow levels appears to have (prematurely?) triggered the Okareka rhyolites into eruption, so that their early ponding in separate melt pods has been recorded before it could be masked by mixing or stratification had amalgamation into a larger body occurred.     

Ecosystem Impact of the Campanian Ignimbrite Eruption in Late Pleistocene Europe

The dating of the Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) eruption to 37,000 cal yr B.P. draws attention to the coincidence of this volcanic catastrophe and the suite of coeval, Late Pleistocene biocultural changes that occurred within and outside the Mediterranean region. These included the Middle to Upper Paleolithic cultural transition and the supposed change from Neanderthal to “modern” Homo sapiens anatomy, a subject of sustained debate. No less than 150 km³ of magma were extruded in the CI eruption, the signal of which can be detected in Greenland ice cores. As widespread discontinuities in archaeological sequences are observed at or following the CI event, a significant interference with ongoing human processes in Mediterranean Europe is hypothesized.     

长白山天池火山粗面玄武岩的喷发历史与演化

本文新提出的年代学和岩石化学结果，进一步从天池火山与区域火山活动的关系，论述了天池火山造盾、造锥历史和岩浆结晶分异转型的时间约束，早更新世早期（2Ma前）开始粗面玄武岩的造盾，早更新世晚期（约1Ma）粗面玄武岩向粗安岩、粗面岩演化，中更新世是粗面岩造锥的主阶段，到了晚更新世（约0．1Ma）粗面岩向碱流岩演化。在中-晚更新世来自地壳岩浆房的粗面岩、碱流岩造锥过程中，来自地幔的粗面玄武岩浆喷发活动始终没有间断过。由于来自地幔粗面玄武质岩浆持续向地壳岩浆房补给，所以天池火山是一座长寿命的火山。岩浆的结晶分异作用和混合作用是天池火山岩浆演化的两个最重要过程，前者形成天池火山双峰式火山岩分布特征，后者成为天池火山喷发的触发机制。天池火山在晚更新世-全新世碱流质岩浆主喷发期兼有少量玄武质粗安岩、粗安岩或粗面质岩浆的交替喷出，揭示了天池火山的地壳岩浆房熔体的分层结构特点，由于来自地幔粗面玄武质岩浆注入地壳岩浆房，导致不同层位岩浆的扰动和混合作用，触发天池火山的喷发。     

Tectonic controls on the genesis of ignimbrites from the Campanian Volcanic Zone, southern Italy

Summary ¶The Campanian Plain is an 80×30km region of southern Italy, bordered by the Apennine Chain, that has experienced subsidence during the Quaternary. This region, volcanologically active in the last 600ka, has been identified as the Campanian Volcanic Zone (CVZ). The products of three periods of trachytic ignimbrite volcanism (289–246ka, 157ka and 106ka) have been identified in the Apennine area in the last 300ka. These deposits probably represent distal ash flow units of ignimbrite eruptions which occurred throughout the CVZ. The resulting deposits are interstratified with marine sediments indicating that periods of repeated volcano-tectonic emergence and subsidence may have occurred in the past. The eruption, defined as the Campanian Ignimbrite (CI), with the largest volume (310km³), occurred in the CVZ 39ka ago. The products of the CI eruption consist of two units (unit-1 and unit-2) formed from a single compositionally zoned magma body. Slightly different in composition, three trachytic melts constitute the two units. Unit-1 type A is an acid trachyte, type B is a trachyte and type C of unit-2 is a mafic trachyte.The CI, vented from pre-existing neotectonic faults, formed during the Apennine uplift. Initially the venting of volatile-rich type A magma deposited the products to the N–NE of the CVZ. During the eruption, the Acerra graben already affected by a NE–SW fault system, was transected by E–W faults, forming a cross-graben that extended to the gulf of Naples. E–W faults were then further dislocated by NE–SW transcurrent movements. This additional collapse significantly influenced the deposition of the B-type magma of unit-1, and the C-type magma of unit-2 toward the E–SE and S, in the Bay of Naples. The pumice fall deposit underlying the CI deposits, until now thought to be associated with the CI eruption, is not a strict transition from plinian to CI-forming activity. It is derived instead from an independent source probably located near the Naples area. This initial volcanic activity is assumed to be a precursor to the CI trachytic eruptions, which vented along regional faults.Received October 23, 2002; revised version accepted July 29, 2003     

A history of violence: magma incubation,timing and tephra distribution of the Los Chocoyos supereruption (Atitlán Caldera,Guatemala)

The climactic Los Chocoyos (LCY) eruption from Atitlán caldera (Guatemala) is a key chronostratigraphic marker for the Quaternary period given the extensive distribution of its deposits that reached both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Despite LCY tephra being an important marker horizon, a radioisotopic age for this eruption has remained elusive. Using zircon (U–Th)/He geochronology, we present the first radioisotopically determined eruption age for the LCY of 75 ± 2 ka. Additionally, the youngest zircon crystallization ²³⁸U–²³⁰Th rim ages in their respective samples constrain eruption age maxima for two other tephra units that erupted from Atitlán caldera, W-Fall (130 ⁺¹⁶/₋₁₄ ka) and I-Fall eruptions (56 ^+8.2/_−7.7 ka), which under- and overlie LCY tephra, respectively. Moreover, rim and interior zircon dating and glass chemistry suggest that before eruption silicic magma was stored for >80 kyr, with magma accumulation peaking within ca. 35 kyr before the LCY eruption during which the system may have developed into a vertically zoned magma chamber. Based on an updated distribution of LCY pyroclastic deposits, a new conservatively estimated volume of ~1220 ± 150 km³ is obtained (volcanic explosivity index VEI > 8), which confirms the LCY eruption as the first-ever recognized supereruption in Central America.     

Multiple timescale constraints for high-flux magma chamber assembly prior to the Late Bronze Age eruption of Santorini (Greece)

The rhyodacitic magma discharged during the 30–80 km³ DRE (dense rock equivalent) Late Bronze Age (LBA; also called ‘Minoan’) eruption of Santorini caldera is known from previous studies to have had a complex history of polybaric ascent and storage prior to eruption. We refine the timescales of these processes by modelling Mg–Fe diffusion profiles in orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene crystals. The data are integrated with previously published information on the LBA eruption (phase equilibria studies, melt inclusion volatile barometry, Mg-in-plagioclase diffusion chronometry), as well as new plagioclase crystal size distributions and the established pre-LBA history of the volcano, to reconstruct the events that led up to the assembly and discharge of the LBA magma chamber. Orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and plagioclase crystals in the rhyodacite have compositionally distinct rims, overgrowing relict, probably source-derived, more magnesian (or calcic) cores, and record one or more crystallization (plag???opx?>?cpx) events during the few centuries to years prior to eruption. The crystallization event(s) can be explained by the rapid transfer of rhyodacitic melt from a dioritic/gabbroic region of the subcaldera pluton (mostly in the 8–12 km depth range), followed by injection, cooling and mixing in a large melt lens at 4–6 km depth (the pre-eruptive magma chamber). Since crystals from all eruptive phases yield similar timescales, the melt transfer event(s), the last of which took place less than 2 years before the eruption, must have involved most of the magma that subsequently erupted. The data are consistent with a model in which prolonged generation, storage and segregation of silicic melts were followed by gravitational instability in the subcaldera pluton, causing the rapid interconnection and amalgamation of melt-rich domains. The melts then drained to the top of the pluton, at fluxes of up to 0.1–1 km³ year^??1, where steep vertical gradients of density and rheology probably caused them to inject laterally, forming a short-lived holding chamber prior to eruption. This interpretation is consistent with growing evidence that some large silicic magma chambers are transient features on geological timescales. A similar process preceded at least one earlier caldera-forming eruption on Santorini, suggesting that it may be a general feature of this rift-hosted magmatic system.     

Nature and timing of magma interactions before,during, and after the caldera-forming eruption of Volcán Ceboruco,Mexico

Volcán Ceboruco, Mexico, erupted ~1,000 years ago, producing the Jala pumice and forming a ~4-km-wide caldera. During that eruption, 2.8 to 3.5 km³ of rhyodacite (~70 wt% SiO₂) magma and 0.2 to 0.5 km³ of mixed dacite (~67 wt% SiO₂) magma were tapped and deposited as the Jala pumice. Subsequently, the caldera was partially filled by extrusion of the Dos Equis dome, a low-silica (~64 wt% SiO₂) dacite dome with a volume of ~1.3 km³. Petrographic evidence indicates that the Jala dacite and Dos Equis dacite originated largely through the mixing of three end-member magmas: (1) rhyodacite magma, (2) dacite magma, and (3) mafic magma. Linear least-squares modeling and detailed modal analysis indicate that the Jala dacite is predominantly a bimodal mixture of rhyodacite and dacite with a small additional mafic component, whereas the Dos Equis dacite is composed of mostly dacite mixed with subordinate amounts of rhyodacite and mafic magma. According to Fe–Ti oxide geothermometry, before the caldera-forming eruption the rhyodacite last equilibrated at ~865 °C, whereas the dacite was originally at ~890 °C but was heated to ~960 °C by intrusion of mafic magma as hot as ~1,030 °C. Zoning profiles in plagioclase and/or magnetite phenocrysts indicate that mixing between mafic and dacite magma occurred ~34–47 days prior to eruption, whereas subsequent mixing between rhyodacite and dacite magmas occurred only 1–4 days prior to eruption. Following the caldera-forming eruption, continued inputs of mafic magma led to effusion of the Dos Equis dome dacite. In this case, timing between mixing and eruption is estimated at ~93–185 days based on the thickness of plagioclase overgrowth rims.Editorial responsibility: T.L. Grove     

Reconstruction of an Evolving Magma Chamber beneath Usu Volcano since the 1663 Eruption

Usu volcano, located in northern Japan, has erupted seven timessince AD 1663. Before these seven eruptions, the volcano hada long repose period ( 5000 yr). The 1663 eruption was thefirstand by far the largest among the seven, producing nearlyaphyric rhyolitic pumice. Small mafic inclusions (‘micro-clots’J,consisting of glass, quenched crystals and abundant vesiclesoccur in the pumice. On the basis of petrological studies ofthe microclots, it is concluded that these are quenched meltsof a mafic magma injected into the rhyolite. The products ofthe 1769 eruption (and those of the following five eruptions)were dacites with abundant (10–15 vol %) microphenocrysts.According to crystal size distribution (CSD) analysis, the newmicrophenocrysts appear to have crystallized at a considerablyhigher cooling rate ( 300 times) than the phenocrysts in the1663 eruptive products. The contrasting petrologic featuresof the aphyric rhyolite and the following microphenocryst-richdacites can be explained by mixing and rapid cooling of a maficmagma injected during the 1663 eruption. We estimate the sizeof the magma chamber beneath Usu volcano just after the 1663eruption, using numerical calculations for a cooling magma chamber.If the magma chamber was sill-like, its thickness is estimatedto have been several hundreds of meters. KEY WORDS: Usu volcano; Japan; magma chamber evolution ^*Corresponding author. Present address: Geomechanics, Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, I-I-I Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113, Japan     

Nature of a flood-basalt-magma reservoir based on the compositional variation in a single flood-basalt flow and its feeder dike in the Mesozoic Hartford Basin, Connecticut

The erosional remains of the Mesozoic Holyoke basalt in the Hartford, Pomperaug, and Deerfield basins of Connecticut and Massachusetts indicate an original flow volume of >1200 km³. Its feeder dike, which is about 50 m wide and 160 km long, can be traced down through 2 km of Mesozoic sediments and, as a result of faulting associated with basin formation, through an additional 6 km of Paleozoic metamorphic rocks. Chemical profiles through the distal and proximal parts of the flow and through the dike at depths of 2, 4, and 8 km provide sequential samples of the magma that rose during this one eruptive event. The flow and dike have restricted compositions that indicate saturation with olivine, augite, and plagioclase at depth. The flow consisted largely of a liquid at the pigeonite reaction point. Dike compositions can be modeled as mixtures of this liquid with up to 24% crystals of plagioclase, augite, and olivine. The dike compositions indicate equilibration with these minerals at 3.8 kbar. This pressure corresponds to a depth of 12.2 km, which is believed to have been the depth of the brittle/ductile transition in the crust at the time. This transition appears to be the only reasonable barrier that could have caused ponding of the magma at the mid-crustal level. The Holyoke liquid is interpreted to have segregated from a compacting crystal mush following 30% crystallization of the magma in this mid-crustal reservoir. Eruption of the basalt exhausted the supply of segregated liquid, and when the remaining crystal mush began to rise in the dike, the average density of the magma column increased until it matched the average density of the intruded crust, and the eruption ended. By analogy with the differentiation that took place in the solidifying Holyoke flow on the surface, the mid-crustal magma reservoir is estimated to have had a volume of at least 12,000 km³. The magma in this chamber must have come from a still deeper chamber, because it was too fractionated to have come directly from a mantle source. Received: 3 October 1997 / Accepted: 5 May 1998     

Origins of cold-wet-oxidizing to hot-dry-reducing rhyolite magma cycles and distribution in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand

Slab-derived aqueous fluid components (Ba, Cl) correlate well with oxygen fugacity, and other well-defined characteristics of silicic magmas in the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ) between a cold-wet-oxidizing magma type [R1: amphibole ± biotite; high Sr, low Zr and FeO*/MgO, depleted middle rare-earth elements (MREE)] and a hot-dry-reducing magma type (R2: orthopyroxene ± clinopyroxene; low Sr, high Zr, and FeO*/MgO, less depleted MREE). Oxygen fugacity was obtained from analysis of Fe–Ti oxides and ranges between −0.04 and +2.1 log units (ΔQFM, where QFM = quartz + fayalite + magnetite buffer) and is positively correlated with the bulk-rock Ba/La ratio, indicating that slab-derived fluid is the oxidizing agent in the rhyolites. Chlorine contents in hornblende also correlate with the bulk-rock Ba/La ratio. Hence, high-fluid flux typically correlates with the R1 and low-fluid flux with R2 rhyolite magma types. A geochemical evolution and distribution can be tracked in time and space throughout the central region of the TVZ from 550 ka to present and has revealed two distinct magmatic cycles that vary in length. The first cycle included widespread R1 type magmatism across the central TVZ beginning ca. 550 ka and was directly associated with previously unreported dome-building and ignimbrite-forming volcanism, and led to a voluminous (>3,000 km³) ignimbrite ‘flare-up’ between ca. 340 and 240 ka. The second cycle began roughly 180 ka, erupting ca. 800 km³ of magma, and continues to the present. The duration, rate, and composition of magma production within these cycles appears to be governed by the flux of fluid released from the subducting slab, while the distribution of magmas may be governed more by extension along the central rift axis. Shorter cycles have also been identified and are unrelated to subduction processes, but occur following large, caldera-forming events.     

Rapid open-system assembly of a large silicic magma body: time-resolved evidence from cored plagioclase crystals in the Oruanui eruption deposits, New Zealand

Rhyolitic pumices in the 26.5 ka Oruanui eruption (Taupo volcano, New Zealand) contain an average of 10 wt% crystals. About 2 wt% of the crystal population is feldspar crystals that display bluish–grey cloudy cores, the colour being imparted by exsolved needles of rutile. The volume of cloudy-cored feldspars thus amounts to ~1.0 km³ in a total magma volume of ~530 km³. The cored feldspars show great variability in detail, but in general have a rounded cloudy core bounded by a zone rich in glass and mineral inclusions, that was then overgrown by a euhedral clear rim. Sr-isotopic variations in eight representative crystals were measured on micromilled samples of selected growth zones in the cores and rims, and linked to feldspar compositions through microprobe traverses. The cloudy cores range from ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.70547 to 0.70657, with compositions of An₄₃ to An₇₈. The overgrowth rims display wider variations: inner parts show extreme ranges in composition (maxima ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.70764 and An₇₈), while outer parts in seven of eight crystals are zoned, with outward-decreasing Sr-isotopic and An values to figures that are in accord with the bulk pumice and other, clear-feldspar values, respectively. The three parts of the crystals represent distinct regimes. The cloudy cores are inherited from an intermediate plutonic protolith that has been subjected to melting. The inner overgrowth rims were crystallised from a high temperature, relatively radiogenic melt derived from Mesozoic-Palaeozoic metasedimentary rocks (“greywacke”). The outer euhedral rims reflect mixing into and continued growth within the growing Oruanui magma body. The cloudy-cored feldspars also contain rare zircon inclusions. Twenty one zircons were recovered by HF digestion of a bulk sample of cloudy feldspars and analysed by SHRIMP for U–Th isotopes with which to calculate model ages. Eighteen of 21 crystals returned finite ages, the model-age spectrum of which is similar to the age spectra from free zircons in Oruanui pumices. Assembly of the Oruanui magma body was not only rapid (over ~40 kyr, as shown by other data) but involved a wide open system, with significant contributions from partly-melted intermediate-composition igneous intrusions (cloudy cores) and greywacke melts (inner overgrowths) being introduced into the magma body up to the point of eruption. Such open system behaviour contrasts with that proposed in models for comparably voluminous silicic magmas derived dominantly by fractionation (such as the Bishop Tuff) where the magma and its crystal cargo were better insulated thermally and chemically from country-rock interaction.