Excessive degassing of Izu-Oshima volcano: magma convection in a conduit

Excess degassing of magmatic H₂O and SO₂ was observed at Izu-Oshima volcano during its latest degassing activity from January 1988 to March 1990. The minimum production rate for degassed magma was calculated to be about 1×10⁴ kg/s using emission rates of magmatic H₂O and SO₂, and H₂O and S contents of the magma. The minimum total volume of magma degassed during the 27-month period is estimated to be 2.6×10⁸ m³. This volume is 20 times larger than that of the magma ejected during the 1986 summit eruption. Convective transport of magma through a conduit is proposed as the mechanism that causes degassing from a magma reservoir at several kilometers depth. The magma transport rate is quantitatively evaluated based on two fluid-dynamic models: Poiseuille flow in a concentric double-walled pipe, and ascent of non-degassed magma spheres through a conduit filled with degassed magma. This process is further tested for an andesitic volcano and is concluded to be a common process for volcanoes that discharge excess volatiles.     

Characteristics of melt inclusions in skarn minerals from Fe,Cu(Au) and Au(Cu) ore deposits in the region from Daye to Jiujiang

The skarns and skarn deposits are widely distributed at home and abroad. The skarn deposits include many kinds of ores and higher ore grade. Some of them are broad in scale. Scientists of ore deposits from different countries have paid and are paying grea…     

U–Pb zircon chronostratigraphy of early-Pliocene ignimbrites from La Pacana, north Chile: implications for the formation of stratified magma chambers

High spatial resolution U–Pb dates of zircons from two consanguineous ignimbrites of contrasting composition, the high-silica rhyolitic Toconao and the overlying dacitic Atana ignimbrites, erupted from La Pacana caldera, north Chile, are presented in this study. Zircons from Atana and Toconao pumice clasts yield apparent ²³⁸U/²⁰⁶Pb ages of 4.11±0.20 Ma and 4.65±0.13 Ma (2σ), respectively. These data combined with previously published geochemical and stratigraphic data, reveal that the two ignimbrites were erupted from a stratified magma chamber. The Atana zircon U–Pb ages closely agree with the eruption age of Atana previously determined by K–Ar dating (4.0±0.1 Ma) and do not support long (>1 Ma) residence times. Xenocrystic zircons were found only in the Toconao bulk ignimbrite, which were probably entrained during eruption and transport. Apparent ²³⁸U/²⁰⁶Pb zircon ages of 13 Ma in these xenocrysts provide the first evidence that the onset of felsic magmatism within the Altiplano–Puna ignimbrite province occurred approximately 3 Myr earlier than previously documented.     

Mamaku Ignimbrite: a caldera-forming ignimbrite erupted from a compositionally zoned magma chamber in Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand

Mamaku Ignimbrite was deposited during the formation of Rotorua Caldera, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand, 220–230 ka. Its outflow sheet forms a fan north, northwest and southwest of Rotorua, capping the Mamaku–Kaimai Plateau. Mamaku Ignimbrite can be divided into a partly phreatomagmatic basal sequence, and a main sequence which comprises lower, middle, and upper ignimbrite. The internal stratigraphy indicates that it was emplaced progressively from a pyroclastic density current of varying energy that became less particulate away from source. Gradational contacts between lower, middle, and upper ignimbrite are consistent with it being deposited during one eruptive event from the same source. Variations in lithic clast content and coexistence of different pumice types through the ignimbrite sequence indicate that caldera collapse occurred throughout the eruption, but particularly when middle Mamaku Ignimbrite was deposited and in the final stages of deposition of upper Mamaku Ignimbrite. Maximum lithic data and the location of lithic lag breccias in upper Mamaku Ignimbrite confirm Rotorua Caldera as the source. At least 120 m of geothermally altered intra-caldera Mamaku Ignimbrite occurs inside Rotorua Caldera. Pumice clasts in the Mamaku Ignimbrite are dacite to high-silica rhyolite and can be chemically divided into three types: high–silica rhyolite (type 1), rhyolite (type 2), and dacite (type 3). All are petrogenetically related and types 1 and 2 may be derived by up to 20% crystal fractionation from the type 3 dacite. All three types probably resided in a single, gradationally zoned magma chamber. Andesitic juvenile fragments are found only in upper Mamaku Ignimbrite and inferred to represent a discrete magma that was injected into the silicic chamber and is considered to have accumulated as a sill at the base of the magma chamber. The contrast in density between the andesitic and silicic magmas did not allow eruption of the andesitic fragments during the deposition of lower and middle Mamaku Ignimbrite. The advanced stage of caldera collapse, late in the main eruptive phase, created withdrawal dynamics that allowed andesitic magma to reach the surface as fragments within upper Mamaku Ignimbrite.     

Si- and alkali-rich melt inclusions in minerals of mantle peridotites from eastern China: Implication for lithospheric evolution

CO2 fluid inclusions in mantle minerals are an im-portant source for us to get the information of mantle fluids. Fluid inclusions are mainly composed of CO2, with minor CO, H2O, CH4, N2, H2S, SO2, F, etc., which were demonstrated by lots of Raman spec-trometer analyses in recent years. In contrast, there are very few researches on CO2-bearing melt inclusions since it is more difficult to do so. The available studies have found that the primary CO2-bearing melt inclu-sions are basaltic …     

Petrogenesis of Songshugou dunite body in the Qinling orogenic belt,Central China: Constraints from geochemistry and melt inclusions

The chemical variation of the Earth’s mantle rocks has been interpreted to reflect multiple episodes of partial melting. With the increasing of melt generation and extraction, the readily molten minerals and incompatible elements decrease in the residual mantle peridotite. The present-day gladiate of the Earth, however, cannot cause mantle batch melting[1], nor 40% partial melting that allows pyroxenes to be completely dissolved into melt and forms dunite[2,3]. Recent studies show that mantl…     

Variation in noble gas isotopic composition of gas samples from the Aegean arc, Greece

In contrast to most other arcs with oceanic plate subduction, the Aegean arc is characterized by continent–continent subduction. Noble gas abundances and isotopic compositions of 45 gas samples have been determined from 6 volcanoes along the arc, 2 islands in the back-arc region and 7 sites in the surrounding areas. The ³He/⁴He ratios of the samples ranged from 0.027R_A to 6.2R_A (R_A denotes the atmospheric ³He/⁴He ratio of 1.4×10⁻⁶), demonstrating that even the maximum ³He/⁴He ratio in the region is significantly lower than the maximum ratios of most oceanic subduction systems, which are equal to the MORB value of 8±1 R_A. Regional variations in the ³He/⁴He ratio were observed both along and across the arc. The maximum ³He/⁴He ratio was obtained from Nisyros volcano located in the eastern end of the arc, and the ratio decreased westward possibly reflecting the difference in potential degree of crustal assimilation or the present magmatic activity in each volcano. Across the volcanic arc, the ³He/⁴He ratio decreased with an increasing distance from the arc front, reaching a low ratio of 0.063R_A in Macedonia, which suggested a major contribution of radiogenic helium derived from the continental crust. At Nisyros, a temporal increase in ³He/⁴He ratio due to ascending subsurface magma was observed after the seismic crisis of 1995–1998 and mantle neon was possibly detected. The maximum ³He/⁴He ratio (6.2R_A) in the Aegean region, which is significantly lower than the MORB value, is not probably due to crustal assimilation at shallow depth or addition of slab-derived helium to MORB-like mantle wedge, but inherent characteristics of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) beneath the Aegean arc.     

Volatile-induced magma differentiation in the plumbing system of Mt. Etna volcano (Italy): evidence from glass in tephra of the 2001 eruption

Mount Etna volcano was shaken during the summer 2001 by one of the most singular eruptive episodes of the last centuries. For about 3 weeks, several eruptive fractures developed, emitting lava flows and tephra that significantly modified the landscape of the southern flank of the volcano. This event stimulated the attention of the scientific community especially for the simultaneous emission of petrologically distinct magmas, recognized as coming from different segments of the plumbing system. A stratigraphically controlled sampling of tephra layers was performed at the most active vents of the eruption, in particular at the 2,100 m (CAL) and at the 2,550 m (LAG) scoria cones. Detailed scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDS) analyses performed on glasses found in tephra and comparison with lava whole rock compositions indicate an anomalous increase in Ti, Fe, P, and particularly of K and Cl in the upper layers of the LAG sequence. Mass balance and thermodynamic calculations have shown that this enrichment cannot be accounted for by “classical” differentiation processes, such as crystal fractionation and magma mixing. The analysis of petrological features of the magmas involved in the event, integrated with the volcanological evolution, has evidenced the role played by volatiles in controlling the magmatic evolution within the crustal portion of the plumbing system. Volatiles, constituted of H₂O, CO₂, and Cl-complexes, originated from a deeply seated magma body (DBM). Their upward migration occurred through a fracture network possibly developed by the seismic swarms during the period preceding the event. In the upper portion of the plumbing system, a shallower residing magma body (ABT) had chemical and physical conditions to receive migrating volatiles, which hence dissolved the mobilized elements producing the observed selective enrichment. This volatile-induced differentiation involved exclusively the lowest erupted portion of the ABT magma due to the low velocity of volatiles diffusion within a crystallizing magma body and/or to the short time between volatiles migration and the onset of the eruption. Furthermore, the increased amount of volatiles in this level of the chamber strongly affected the eruptive behavior. In fact, the emission of these products at the LAG vent, towards the end of the eruption, modified the eruptive style from classical strombolian to strongly explosive.     

Contributions of slab fluid and sediment melt components to magmatism in the Mariana Arc–Trough system: Evidence from geochemical compositions and Sr,Nd, and noble gas isotope systematics

This study presents new major and trace element, mineral, and Sr, Nd, and noble gas isotope geochemical analyses of basalts, gabbro, and clinopyroxenite from the Mariana Arc (Central Islands and Southern Seamount provinces) including the forearc, and the Mariana Trough (Central Graben and Spreading Ridge). Mantle source compositions beneath the Mariana Arc and the Mariana Trough indicate a mantle source that is depleted in high field strength elements relative to MORB (mid‐oceanic ridge basalt). Samples from the Mariana Arc, characterized by high ratios of Ba/Th, U/Th, ⁸⁴Kr/⁴He and ¹³²Xe/⁴He, are explained by addition of fluid from the subducted slab to the mantle wedge. Correlations of noble gas data, as well as large ion lithophile elements, indicate that heavy noble gases (Ar, Kr, and Xe) provide evidence for fluid fluxing into the mantle wedge. On the other hand, major elements and Sr, Nd, He, and Ne isotopic data of basalts from the Mariana Trough are geochemically indistinguishable from MORB. Correlations of ³He/⁴He and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar in the Mariana Trough samples are explained by mixing between MORB and atmosphere. One sample from the Central Graben indicates extreme enrichment in ²⁰Ne/²²Ne and ²¹Ne/²²Ne, suggesting incorporation of solar‐type Ne in the magma source. Excess ¹²⁹Xe is also observed in this sample suggesting primordial noble gases in the mantle source. The Mariana Trough basalts indicate that both fluid and sediment components contributed to the basalts, with slab‐derived fluids dominating beneath the Spreading Ridge, and that sediment melts, characterized by high La/Sm and relatively low U/Th and Zr/Nb, dominate in the source region of basalts from the Central Graben.