The Graveyard Point Intrusion: an Example of Extreme Differentiation of Snake River Plain Basalt in a Shallow Crustal Pluton

The Graveyard Point intrusion is the only known example of awell-exposed differentiated mafic pluton associated with thelate Miocene–Pleistocene magmatism of the western SnakeRiver Plain (SRP). It is exposed in a 6 km by 4 km area adjacentto the Oregon–Idaho border, and exposures range in thicknessfrom 20 to 160 m. The thicker parts of the intrusion are stronglydifferentiated and contain a 25–60 m thick section ofwell-laminated cumulus-textured gabbros that grade upward intopegmatoidal ferrogabbro. Evolved liquids formed sheets of Fe-richsiliceous granophyre. At least two injections of magma are indicatedby abrupt discontinuities in the rock and mineral compositions,and by the lack of mass balance between the bulk intrusion andits chilled borders. The laminated gabbros are interpreted tohave formed from a tongue of augite and plagioclase crystalsthat were carried in with the second pulse of magma. Followingthe final emplacement of the intrusion, in situ differentiationproceeded through a two-stage process: the ferrogabbros areexplained as interstitial liquids forced out of the crystalmush by compaction, and the siliceous granophyres are interpretedto be residual liquids that migrated out of the partly crystallizedferrogabbros in response to the exsolution of volatiles. Becausethe geochemical trend inferred for the mafic to intermediatecomposition liquids in the Graveyard Point intrusion is similarto the trend for many western Snake River Plain lavas, the plutonmay be a good model for shallow sub-volcanic magma chamberselsewhere in the SRP. However, some western SRP lavas containanomalously high concentrations of P₂O₅ , which are best explainedby mixing within the active crustal mush column or with partialmelts of previously formed differentiated mafic intrusions. KEY WORDS: Snake River Plain; mafic intrusions; tholeiitic; sill; granophyre     

The Petrology of the Rotoiti Eruption Sequence, Taupo Volcanic Zone: an Example of Fractionation and Mixing in a Rhyolitic System

The Rotoiti eruption from the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ) in northernNew Zealand produced voluminous pyroclastic deposits. The ferromagnesianmineral assemblage in these dominantly consists of cummingtonite+ hornblende + orthopyroxene with uniform magnesium/iron ratios;a second assemblage of biotite + hornblende + orthopyroxene,also with uniform Fe/Mg ratios, appears midway through the eruptionsequence and, thereafter, increases in abundance. These contrastingmineral assemblages, together with pumice clast and groundmassglass compositions, provide evidence for mingling of two discretemagmas. Similarities in the chemical characteristics of thetwo magmas suggest that they developed from a similar source.The eruption initially tapped relatively homogeneous magma thatwas erupted throughout most of this phase of activity. The middlestages of the eruption included some mixed magma. The finalstages of the eruption were dominated by a second magma composition,which was probably injected into the bottom of the main magmabody as the eruption proceeded. The source that fed the eruptionwas complex, and discrete magma bodies existed and evolved separatelyprior to the eruption. We conclude that eruptions in the TVZare fed from a diffuse upper-crustal zone of partially interconnected,and at times physically separate, magma bodies rather than fromcentralized and necessarily large long-lived magma chambers. KEY WORDS: Taupo Volcanic Zone; Okataina Volcanic Centre; Rotoiti eruption; rhyolite system; magma mixing     

Thermal Constraints on the Emplacement Rate of a Large Intrusive Complex: The Manaslu Leucogranite, Nepal Himalaya

The emplacement of the Manaslu leucogranite body (Nepal, Himalaya)has been modelled as the accretion of successive sills. Theleucogranite is characterized by isotopic heterogeneities suggestinglimited magma convection, and by a thin (<100 m) upper thermalaureole. These characteristics were used to constrain the maximummagma emplacement rate. Models were tested with sills injectedregularly over the whole duration of emplacement and with twoemplacement sequences separated by a repose period. Additionally,the hypothesis of a tectonic top contact, with unroofing limitingheat transfer during magma emplacement, was evaluated. In thislatter case, the upper limit for the emplacement rate was estimatedat 3·4 mm/year (or 1·5 Myr for 5 km of granite).Geological and thermobarometric data, however, argue againsta major role of fault activity in magma cooling during the leucograniteemplacement. The best model in agreement with available geochronologicaldata suggests an emplacement rate of 1 mm/year for a relativelyshallow level of emplacement (granite top at 10 km), uninterruptedby a long repose period. The thermal aureole temperature andthickness, and the isotopic heterogeneities within the leucogranite,can be explained by the accretion of 20–60 m thick sillsintruded every 20 000–60 000 years over a period of 5Myr. Under such conditions, the thermal effects of granite intrusionon the underlying rocks appear limited and cannot be invokedas a cause for the formation of migmatites. KEY WORDS: granite emplacement; heat transfer modelling; High Himalayan Leucogranite; Manaslu; thermal aureole