Energetics of gas-driven limnic and volcanic eruptions

This paper lays the foundation for the rigorous treatment of the energetics of gas exsolution from a gas-containing liquid, which powers gas-driven volcanic and limnic eruptions. Various exsolution processes (reversible or irreversible, slow or rapid) are discussed, and the maximum amount of kinetic energy derivable from a reversible gas exsolution process is obtained. The concept of dynamic irreversibility is proposed for discussing the kinetic energy available from irreversible gas exsolution processes. The changes of thermodynamic properties during gas exsolution processes are derived. Density–pressure relations for gas–liquid mixtures are presented, including empirical relations for irreversible gas exsolution. The energetics of gas-driven eruptions through both fluid and rigid media, including the role of buoyancy and the role of magma chamber expansion work, are investigated. For reversible processes, the energetics can be used to discuss the dynamics of gas-driven eruptions, leading to maximum erupting velocities and maximum eruptible fractions. For irreversible processes, empirical relations and parameters must be employed. The exit velocities of the Lake Nyos eruption and the 18 May 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens are modeled by incorporating possible irreversibility.     

Homogenization of titanomagnetites with magnetite–ulvospinel exsolution structures according to the thermomagnetic data: Modeling and experiment

A three-dimensional model describing the homogenization of titanomagnetites with magnetite–ulvospinel exsolution structures in the course of thermomagnetic analysis is presented. The implications of the size and shape of the exsolution structures and the initial titanomagnetite composition for the temperature dependence of saturation magnetization during repeated heating is analyzed. It is found that the dimension of the exsolution structures has the strongest effect, whereas the shape and composition only have an effect in the case of the small exsolution structures. A method is suggested for estimating the dimensions of the exsolution structures from the thermomagnetic curve. A close consistency of the results is revealed by comparing the distributions of the dimensions of the exsolution structures estimated by the electron microscopy and by the analysis of the thermomagnetic curve for the same sample.     

Exsolution microstructures in titanomagnetites and their magnetic significance

A survey, carried out using transmission electron microscopy, of exsolution-derived microstructures developed in titanomagnetites is presented. Microstructures, probably produced by spinodal decomposition, consist of a three-dimensional lamellar framework of ulvospinel, separating magnetite-enriched blocks. In coarser textures the magnetite-enriched regions have a plate morphology, and the ulvospinel-enriched lamellae develop secondary exsolution textures. The implications of exsolution for the magnetic properties of titanomagnetites are discussed. The coarsening of exsolution textures will cause the blocking temperature of the magnetite-enriched regions to increase with time. The development of magnetite-enriched plates may alter the magnetic properties of the titanomagnetite, as may the stress associated with some of the small scale, coherent microstructures.     

Exsolution of ilmenite and Cr-Ti magnetite from olivine of garnet-wehrlite

Since coesite-bearing eclogite was found in the Dabie-Sulu area[1-3], the ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) me- tamorphic belt has become a hot topic studying by domestic and overseas scientists. The studying about the forming depth of UHP metamorphic rocks is ex- tremely important, because the peak-metamorphic depth of UHP metamorphic rocks exhumated back to the crust is the key to discuss the processes of magma formation, fluid activity and metamorphism at bottom of orogenic belt. The discovery o…     

Vesiculation and crystallization under instantaneous decompression: Numerical study and comparison with laboratory experiments

Vesiculation and crystallization in ascending magmas are key processes that control the eruption behavior, and they interplay each other through the water exsolution process. We conducted a numerical study in order to quantitatively understand the water exsolution and crystallization processes in natural eruptions (decompression history is unknown) and in laboratory experiments (the amount of decompression is constant with time). The numerical results, which take into account homogeneous or heterogeneous nucleation and growth of bubbles with varying diffusivity of water, viscosity, and the amount of decompression, provide a quantitative understanding of their control on bubble formation and water exsolution in the constant amount of decompression. The bubble nucleation in the homogeneous nucleation can be divided into two regimes – the diffusion control regime and viscosity control regime – depending on the modified Peclet number and the effective supersaturation. In the cases of both homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleations, the bubble growth is controlled by diffusion or viscosity, depending on the modified Peclet number and bubble number density. The water exsolution rate, which is controlled by the modified Peclet number in the viscosity control regime and by the bubble number density and diffusive driving force in the diffusion control regime, acts as an effective cooling rate in a decompression-induced crystallization process. A comparison of the numerical results with the results of laboratory experiments suggests that water exsolution proceeds by the diffusion-limited growth of bubbles under disequilibrium vesiculation through the heterogeneous nucleation of bubbles, and this in turn controls the crystallization kinetics of microlite with the homogeneous nucleation of microlite and the diffusion-limited growth of crystal. The several orders of variation of microlite number density with the amount of decompression in laboratory experiments can be interpreted as the effect of the amount of decompression on the driving force for the diffusive bubble growth that controls the water exsolution rate.     

Exsolution enthalpy of water from silicate liquids

Because water dissolves in silicate melts as at least two species, H₂O molecules and OH groups, the exsolution (evaporation) enthalpy of the H₂O component from a silicate melt depends on species proportions, which in turn depends on H₂O pressure. In this short communication, a formal analysis of the exsolution enthalpy of water from a silicate melt is presented, taking into account of the role of speciation. The exsolution enthalpy from a rhyolitic melt at 850°C is found to increase with pressure at ≤100 bar and this increase is mostly caused by the speciation reaction. Sahagian and Proussevitch [Sahagian, D.L., Proussevitch, A.A., 1996. Thermal effects of magma degassing. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 74, 19–38] also found an increase of the exsolution enthalpy with pressure up to 20 bar for an albitic melt. However, the rate of increase determined from this work is an order of magnitude less than that determined by Sahagian and Proussevitch. It is concluded that the strong pressure dependence of the exsolution enthalpy at low pressures they inferred is probably an artifact of their treatment. The method presented here is general and can be applied to other multi-species components.     

Josephinite: Crystal structures and phase relations of the metals

Josephinite, a complex, metal-bearing rock from the region of the Josephine Peridotite in southwest Oregon, contains FeNiCo metal alloy phases having exsolution textures. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy have revealed Widmanstaetten patterns in which the lamellae are polysynthetically twinned, ordered, face-centered-cubic FeNi₃ surrounded by untwinned, ordered, face-centered-cubic FeNi₃ and body-centered-cubic FeCo. These exsolution textures require a temperature in excess of 500°C for their formation. This is consistent with a mantle derivation of josephinite prior to obduction of the peridotite in one of the Klamath ophiolites.     

岩石圈塑性流动波的实验研究(Ⅰ)

实验采用了适当配比的塑化松香 ,模拟岩石圈延性层 ,研究边界驱动条件下塑性流动波的传播过程。实验表明 ,塑性流动波类似于粘性重力波 ,并有“快波”和“慢波”之分 ,二者分别由主波和辅波叠加而成。主波类似于孤立波或涌波。根据相似原理 ,“快波”主波的外推波速约为 0 .12～2 .5km/a ,在波速量级上大致相当或接近于岩石圈下层某些控制地震迁移的塑性流动波     

Water and magmas: Thermal effects of exsolution

The temperature changes caused by water exsolution from magma have been determined through calorimetric measurements performed on phonolitic and albitic compositions. The enthalpies of mixing of water with these melts have been derived from HF solution calorimetry, made at 323 K on glass samples containing up to 5 wt.% water, together with heat capacity data for the same series of samples. Mixing between aluminosilicate melts and water appears nearly ideal at magmatic temperatures, with small enthalpies of mixing that are negative for both melts at low pressures but can become positive for albite at high pressure. Regardless of the endothermic or exothermic nature of the process, water exsolution is associated with negligible temperature changes of only a few degrees even when 5 wt.% H₂O is degassed. However, thermal effects might be greater for more depolymerized melts such as basalts and related compositions.     

Modeling of the ascent of magma during the plinian eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79

The ascent of magma during the A.D. 79 eruption of Vesuvius was studied by a steady-state, one-dimensional, and nonequilibrium two-phase flow model. The gas exsolution process was modeled by assuming a chemical equilibrium between the exsolved and dissolved gas, whereas the magma density and viscosity were modeled by accounting for the crystal content in magma. The exsolution, density, and viscosity models consider the effect of different compositions of the white and gray magmas. By specifying the conduit geometry and magma composition, and employing the model to search for the maximum discharge rate of magma which is consistent with the specified geometry and magma composition, the model was then used to establish the two-phase flow parameters along the conduit. It was found that for all considered conditions the magma pressure in the conduit decreases below the lithostatic pressure near the magma fragmentation level, and that in the deep regions of the conduit the white magma pressure is larger and the gray magma pressure is lower than the lithostatic one. The exsolution and fragmentation levels were found to be deeper for the white than for the gray magma, and the changing composition during the eruption causes an increase of the exit pressure and decrease of the exit gas volumetric fraction. The model also predicted a minimum conduit diameter which is consistent with the white and gray magma compositions and mass flow-rates. The predictions of the model were shown to be consistent with column collapses during the gray eruption phase, large presence of carbonate lithics in the gray pumice fall deposit, and magma-water interaction during a late stage of the eruption.     

Garnet clinopyroxenite xenolith from Dish Hill,California

A single garnet clinopyroxenite xenolith found at the Dish Hill basanite cone near Ludlow, California, has well developed unmixing and reaction textures like those found in garnet pyroxenite inclusions in Hawaiian, African and Australian basalts and like those of pyroxenites in some European alpine peridotites. Reconstructed pyroxene compositions suggest that before unmixing the rock consisted of clinopyroxene and about 10% garnet plus spinel, but all of the garnet may have been dissolved in clinopyroxene. Most or all of the garnet formed by exsolution from clinopyroxene and by reaction between clinopyroxene and spinel in an open system. Following exsolution, the rock was deformed and partly recrystallized in the solid state. Similarity of compositions of exsolved and recrystallized minerals suggests recrystallization at P-T conditions similar to those of exsolution.The rock is not the chemical equivalent of the host basanite and cannot represent magma of basanitic composition crystallized in the mantle. Its history of deformation and recrystallization, like that of accompanying spinel lherzolite inclusions, supports the idea that the garnet clinopyroxenite is an accidental inclusion derived from the upper mantle.     

Apollo 12 clinopyroxenes: Exsolution and epitaxy

Clinopyroxenes from rocks 12021, 12037, and 12052 have been studied by electron microprobe and single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques in order to characterize the crystal-chemical aspects of pyroxene epitaxy and exsolution. The combined chemical and crystallographic data plotted on a Di-Hed-En-Fs data display, based on the unit-cell parameters b and β, suggest a large miscibility gap at low temperature between Ca-rich augite and Ca-poor pigeonites over a large range of Fe/Mg ratios. We also find that in rocks 12021 and 12037 primary pigeonites exsolved augites on both (001) and (100) while primary augites exsolved pigeonite on (001). In rock 12052 the common plane shared by pigeonite cores and epitaxial augite rims is approximately parallel to (100) and little subsolidus exsolution is indicated.     

Laboratory measurements of seismic attenuation and Young's modulus dispersion in a partially and fully water‐saturated porous sample made of sintered borosilicate glass

We measured the extensional‐mode attenuation and Young's modulus in a porous sample made of sintered borosilicate glass at microseismic to seismic frequencies (0.05–50 Hz) using the forced oscillation method. Partial saturation was achieved by water imbibition, varying the water saturation from an initial dry state up to ～99%, and by gas exsolution from an initially fully water‐saturated state down to ～99%. During forced oscillations of the sample effective stresses up to 10 MPa were applied. We observe frequency‐dependent attenuation, with a peak at 1–5 Hz, for ～99% water saturation achieved both by imbibition and by gas exsolution. The magnitude of this attenuation peak is consistently reduced with increasing fluid pressure and is largely insensitive to changes in effective stress. Similar observations have recently been attributed to wave‐induced gas exsolution–dissolution. At full water saturation, the left‐hand side of an attenuation curve, with a peak beyond the highest measured frequency, is observed at 3 MPa effective stress, while at 10 MPa effective stress the measured attenuation is negligible. This observation is consistent with wave‐induced fluid flow associated with mesoscopic compressibility contrasts in the sample's frame. These variations in compressibility could be due to fractures and/or compaction bands that formed between separate sets of forced‐oscillation experiments in response to the applied stresses. The agreement of the measured frequency‐dependent attenuation and Young's modulus with the Kramers–Kronig relations and additional data analyses indicate the good quality of the measurements. Our observations point to the complex interplay between structural and fluid heterogeneities on the measured seismic attenuation and they illustrate how these heterogeneities can facilitate the dominance of one attenuation mechanism over another.     

Ultra-high pressure metamorphism of granitic gneiss in the Yinggelisayi area, Altun Mountains, NW China

With the discovery and further studies of high- pressure (HP) to ultra-high-pressure (UHP) eclogites and UHP garnet lherzolite in the Altun Mountains[19], it becomes interesting if the country rocks of these HP-UHP metamorphic rocks also underwent HP-UHP metamorphism, which will be crucial for understand-ing the relationship of HP-UHP metamorphic rocks and their country rocks, the mechanism of their forma-tion and uplifting and the existence of continental deep subduction in the are…     

A new potassium-iron-nickel sulphide from a nodule in kimberlite

A new K-rich sulphide phase is described from a clinopyroxene-ilmenite intergrowth from the Frank Smith kimberlite diatremes. The mineral occurs as ovoid blebs, which also contain pyrrhotite and pentlandite, in close spatial association with the ilmenite lamellae, and as individual grains in cracks in the clinopyroxene host. Chemical analyses from twelve grains show the following ranges of composition (wt.%): K, 8.12–13.01; Cu, 1.24–2.99; Fe, 38.47–41.76; Ni, 11.65–15.04; S, 32.09–34.34. Electron diffraction data indicate a primitive cubic unit cell,a = 10.29 ± 0.03Å, with no systematically absent reflections. Three models for the origin of this sulphide, liquid immiscibility, multiple exsolution, and metasomatism, are considered. The discovery of potassic sulphide in a kimberlite nodule has important implications, not only as a potential source of K in the upper mantle, but also for those models which propose removal of K and S from the lower mantle into the core.     

Thermoremanent and chemical magnetization of exsolution products of nanosized titanomagnetites

Based on the theory of two-phase interacting nanoparticles, the formation of thermoremanent and chemical remanent magnetization in nanosized titanomagnetites is modeled. It is shown that the value of thermoremanent magnetization barely depends on the degree of titanomagnetite exsolution whereas, chemical remanent magnetization which emerges during the exsolution increases up to at most the value of thermoremanent magnetization. The values of the ratio of thermoremanent to ideal magnetization, R _t , fall within the limits 0.8 ≤ R _t ≤ 1. The analogous ratio of chemical remanent magnetization to the ideal R _c are below R _t at all stages of the exsolution. Besides, the magnetic interaction between the nanoparticles reduces the values of thermoremanent and chemical magnetization but barely affects the ratio.     

深部地壳镁铁质岩石波速的研究

镁铁质、超镁铁质岩石波速实验测量在高压700-800MPa、高温800-1100℃下进行．波速-温度曲线的斜率以温度系数dVp／dT表示，大体在700℃以内，8个标本的温度系数平均为-1．86×10-4km·S^-1／℃，比资料值小得多，即在此温度范围内，波速随温度的降幅不大．在这一温度限以上，大多岩石开始脱水出溶，相组合发生变化，同时波速大幅度下降．曲线发生转折的机制是岩石中液相的产生．角闪岩波速曲线斜率也从700℃开始发生改变，950℃后速度直线下降，到1008℃时，岩石中液量达30％，波速Vp值下降到487km／s．最后，依岩类不同以及岩石出溶和相变对波速的影响划分出5个速度-温度区，讨论了华北断块内构造隆起区和沉降区下地壳可能存在的岩石及其状态．     

Deep submarine pyroclastic eruptions: theory and predicted landforms and deposits

Submarine pyroclastic eruptions at depths greater than a few hundred meters are generally considered to be rare or absent because the pressure of the overlying water column is sufficient to suppress juvenile gas exsolution so that magmatic disruption and pyroclastic activity do not occur. Consideration of detailed models of the ascent and eruption of magma in a range of sea floor environments shows, however, that significant pyroclastic activity can occur even at depths in excess of 3000 m. In order to document and illustrate the full range of submarine eruption styles, we model several possible scenarios for the ascent and eruption of magma feeding submarine eruptions: (1) no gas exsolution; (2) gas exsolution but no magma disruption; (3) gas exsolution, magma disruption, and hawaiian-style fountaining; (4) volatile content builds up in the magma reservoir leading to hawaiian eruptions resulting from foam collapse; (5) magma volatile content insufficient to cause fragmentation normally but low rise speed results in strombolian activity; and (6) volatile content builds up in the top of a dike leading to vulcanian eruptions. We also examine the role of bulk-interaction steam explosivity and contact-surface steam explosivity as processes contributing to volcaniclastic formation in these environments. We concur with most earlier workers that for magma compositions typical of spreading centers and their vicinities, the most likely circumstance is the quiet effusion of magma with minor gas exsolution, and the production of somewhat vesicular pillow lavas or sheet flows, depending on effusion rate. The amounts by which magma would overshoot the vent in these types of eruptions would be insufficient to cause any magma disruption. The most likely mechanism of production of pyroclastic deposits in this environment is strombolian activity, due to the localized concentration of volatiles in magma that has a low rise rate; magmatic gas collects by bubble coalescence, and ascends in large isolated bubbles which disrupt the magma surface in the vent, producing localized blocks, bombs, and pyroclastic deposits. Another possible mode of occurrence of pyroclastic deposits results from vulcanian eruptions; these deposits, being characterized by the dominance of angular blocks of country rocks deposited in the vicinity of a crater, should be easily distinguishable from strombolian and hawaiian eruptions. However, we stress that a special case of the hawaiian eruption style is likely to occur in the submarine environment if magmatic gas buildup occurs in a magma reservoir by the upward drift of gas bubbles. In this case, a layer of foam will build up at the top of the reservoir in a sufficient concentration to exceed the volatile content necessary for disruption and hawaiian-style activity; the deposits and landforms are predicted to be somewhat different from those of a typical primary magmatic volatile-induced hawaiian eruption. Specifically, typical pyroclast sizes might be smaller; fountain heights may exceed those expected for the purely magmatic hawaiian case; cooling of descending pyroclasts would be more efficient, leading to different types of proximal deposits; and runout distances for density flows would be greater, potentially leading to submarine pyroclastic deposits surrounding vents out to distances of tens of meters to a kilometer. In addition, flows emerging after the evacuation of the foam layer would tend to be very depleted in volatiles, and thus extremely poor in vesicles relative to typical flows associated with hawaiian-style eruptions in the primary magmatic gas case. We examine several cases of reported submarine volcaniclastic deposits found at depths as great as 3000 m and conclude that submarine hawaiian and strombolian eruptions are much more common than previously suspected at mid-ocean ridges. Furthermore, the latter stages of development of volcanic edifices (seamounts) formed in submarine environments are excellent candidates for a wide range of submarine pyroclastic activity due not just to the effects of decreasing water depth, but also to: (1) the presence of a summit magma reservoir, which favors the buildup of magmatic foams (enhancing hawaiian-style activity) and episodic dike emplacement (which favors strombolian-style eruptions); and (2) the common occurrence of alkalic basalts, the CO₂ contents of which favor submarine explosive eruptions at depths greater than tholeiitic basalts. These models and predictions can be tested with future sampling and analysis programs and we provide a checklist of key observations to help distinguish among the eruption styles.     

Single-domain magnetite in the Jimberlana Norite,Western Australia

The feeder series gabbros of the Jimberlana Norite possess a large, stable NRM. Koenigsberger ratios of 20 or greater suggest that single-domain grains carry most of the NRM. Coercivity spectra extend up to 2000 Oe. Volumes of magnetite satisfying single-domain requirements occur principally as intergrowths of host magnetite between exsolution phases. Small discrete magnetite grains do occur in the Ca-rich pyroxenes but are thought to contribute only a minor fraction of the NRM.