Large-scale silicic alkalic magmatism associated with the Buckhorn Caldera, Trans-Pecos Texas, USA: comparison with Pantelleria, Italy

Three major rhyolite systems in the northeastern Davis and adjacent Barrilla Mountains include lava units that bracketed a large pantelleritic ignimbrite (Gomez Tuff) in rapid eruptions spanning 300,000 years. Extensive silicic lavas formed the shields of the Star Mountain Formation (37.2 Ma-K/Ar; 36.84 Ma ³⁹Ar/⁴⁰Ar), and the Adobe Canyon Formation (37.1 Ma-K/Ar; 36.51-³⁹Ar/⁴⁰Ar). The Gomez Tuff (36.6 Ma-K/Ar; 36.74-³⁹Ar/⁴⁰Ar) blanketed a large region around the 18×24 km diameter Buckhorn caldera, within which it ponded, forming sections up to 500 m thick. Gomez eruption was preceded by pantelleritic rhyolite domes (36.87, 36.91 Ma-³⁹Ar/⁴⁰Ar), some of which blocked movement of Star Mountain lava flows. Following collapse, the Buckhorn caldera was filled by trachyte lava. Adobe Canyon rhyolite lavas then covered much of the region. Star Mountain Formation (~220 km³) is composed of multiple flows ranging from quartz trachyte to mildly peralkalic rhyolite; three major types form a total of at least six major flows in the northeastern Davis Mountains. Adobe Canyon Formation (~125 km³) contains fewer flows, some up to 180 m thick, of chemically homogenous, mildly peralkalic comendite, extending up to 40 km. Gomez Tuff (~220 km³) may represent the largest known pantellerite. It is typically less than 100 m thick in extra-caldera sections, where it shows a pyroclastic base and top, although interiors are commonly rheomorphic, containing flow banding and ramp structures. Most sections contain one cooling unit; two sections contain a smaller, upper cooling unit. Chemically, the tuff is fairly homogeneous, but is more evolved than early pantelleritic domes. Overall, although Davis Mountains silicic units were generated through open system processes, the pantellerites appear to have evolved by processes dominated by extensive fractional crystallization from parental trachytes similar to that erupted in pre- and post-caldera lavas. Comparison with the Pantelleria volcano suggests that the most likely parental magma for the Buckhorn series is transitional basalt, similar to that erupted in minor, younger Basin and Range volcanism after about 24 Ma. Roughly contemporaneous mafic lavas associated with the Buckhorn caldera appear to have assimilated or mixed with crustal melts, and, generally, may not be regarded as mafic precursors of the Buckhorn silicic rocks, They thus form a false Daly Gap as opposed to the true basalt/trachyte Daly gap of Pantelleria. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. This paper constitutes part of a special issue dedicated to Bill Bonnichsen on the petrogenesis and volcanology of anorogenic rhyolites.     

Kaguyak dome field and its Holocene caldera,Alaska Peninsula

Kaguyak Caldera lies in a remote corner of Katmai National Park, 375 km SW of Anchorage, Alaska. The 2.5-by-3-km caldera collapsed ~ 5.8 ± 0.2 ka (¹⁴C age) during emplacement of a radial apron of poorly pumiceous crystal-rich dacitic pyroclastic flows (61–67% SiO₂). Proximal pumice-fall deposits are thin and sparsely preserved, but an oxidized coignimbrite ash is found as far as the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, 80 km southwest. Postcaldera events include filling the 150-m-deep caldera lake, emplacement of two intracaldera domes (61.5–64.5% SiO₂), and phreatic ejection of lakefloor sediments onto the caldera rim. CO₂ and H₂S bubble up through the lake, weakly but widely. Geochemical analyses (n = 148), including pre-and post-caldera lavas (53–74% SiO₂), define one of the lowest-K arc suites in Alaska. The precaldera edifice was not a stratocone but was, instead, nine contiguous but discrete clusters of lava domes, themselves stacks of rhyolite to basalt exogenous lobes and flows. Four extracaldera clusters are mid-to-late Pleistocene, but the other five are younger than 60 ka, were truncated by the collapse, and now make up the steep inner walls. The climactic ignimbrite was preceded by ~ 200 years by radial emplacement of a 100-m-thick sheet of block-rich glassy lava breccia (62–65.5% SiO₂). Filling the notches between the truncated dome clusters, the breccia now makes up three segments of the steep caldera wall, which beheads gullies incised into the breccia deposit prior to caldera formation. They were probably shed by a large lava dome extruding where the lake is today.     

Coeval strombolian and vulcanian-type explosive eruptions at Panarea (Aeolian Islands,Southern Italy)

In this paper, we document the evolution of the emergent Panarea dome in the Aeolian islands (Southern Italy), placing particular emphasis on the reconstruction of the explosive events that occurred during the final stage of its evolution. Two main pyroclastic successions exposing fall deposits with different compositions have been studied into detail: the andesitic Palisi succession and the basaltic Punta Falcone succession. The close-in-time deposition of the two successions, the dispersal area and grain-size distribution of the deposits account for their attribution to vents located in the western sector of the present island and erupting almost contemporaneously. Vents could have been aligned along NNE-trending regional fracture systems controlling the western flank of the dome and possibly its collapse. Laboratory analyses have been devoted to the characterization of the products of the two successions that have been ascribed to vulcanian- and to strombolian-type eruptions respectively. The vulcanian eruption started with a vent-clearing phase that occurred by sudden decompression of a pressurized magma producing ballistic bombs and a surge blast and the development of a vulcanian plume. Vulcanian activity was almost contemporaneous to strombolian-type fall-out eruptions. The coeval occurrence of basaltic and andesitic eruptions from close vents and the presence of magmatic basaltic enclaves in the final dacitic lava lobe of the dome allow us to speculate that the intrusion of a basaltic dyke played a major role in triggering explosive eruptions. The final explosive episodes may have been caused by extensional tectonics fracturing the roof of a zoned shallow magma chamber or by the intrusion of a new basaltic magma into a more acidic and shallow reservoir. Intrusion most likely occurred through the injection of dykes along the western cliff of the present Panarea Island inducing the collapse of the western sector of the dome.     

Hazards from pyroclastic density currents at Mt. Etna (Italy)

Despite the recent recognition of Mount Etna as a periodically violently explosive volcano, the hazards from various types of pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) have until now received virtually no attention at this volcano. Large-scale pyroclastic flows last occurred during the caldera-forming Ellittico eruptions, 15–16 ka ago, and the risk of them occurring in the near future is negligible. However, minor PDCs can affect much of the summit area and portions of the upper flanks of the volcano. During the past ~ 20 years, small pyroclastic flows or base-surge-like vapor and ash clouds have occurred in at least 8 cases during summit eruptions of Etna. Four different mechanisms of PDC generation have been identified during these events: (1) collapse of pyroclastic fountains (as in 2000 and possibly in 1986); (2) phreatomagmatic explosions resulting from mixing of lava with wet rock (2006); (3) phreatomagmatic explosions resulting from mixing of lava with thick snow (2007); (4) disintegration of the unstable flanks of a lava dome-like structure growing over the rim of one of the summit craters (1999). All of these recent PDCs were of a rather minor extent (maximum runout lengths were about 1.5 km in November 2006 and March 2007) and thus they represented no threat for populated areas and human property around the volcano. Yet, events of this type pose a significant threat to the lives of people visiting the summit area of Etna, and areas in a radius of 2 km from the summit craters should be off-limits anytime an event capable of producing similar PDCs occurs. The most likely source of further PDCs in the near future is the Southeast Crater, the youngest, most active and most unstable of the four summit craters of Etna, where 6 of the 8 documented recent PDCs originated. It is likely that similar hazards exist in a number of volcanic settings elsewhere, especially at snow- or glacier-covered volcanoes and on volcano slopes strongly affected by hydrothermal alteration.     

白银厂的火山碎悄岩岩石学与古海相火山作用

应用古火山地质学和岩石地球化学对白银厂中酸性火山穹隆内的凝灰岩、昌屑凝灰岩、中酸性枕状、绳状熔岩和具有特殊构造的补丁岩等火山碎屑碉进行了较快速度沉降并堆积成岩,产于火山喷口附近。海底成矿热液蚀变作用使其ＳｉＯ２、ＦｅＯ、ＭｇＯ、ＣＯ２等化学成分发生变化。凝灰质千枚岩则是细火山灰在海吕中经缓慢的沉降后形成于远离火山口的火山斜坡上的火山－沉积变质岩。根据“０补丁”的成分可将补丁岩分为两种类型：绿泥石质     

大别造山带北缘西部中生代晚期火山、沉积地层的时代

大别造山带北缘西部的一套火山岩及其上的"红层",依据叶肢介、同位素年龄值和较丰富的恐龙蛋和少量介形虫化石,从下而上划分为陈棚组、周家湾组,时代归属早、晚白垩世.陈棚组角度不整合于上侏罗统朱集组或段集组之上,向东与安徽省境内的早白垩世毛坦厂组、白大畈组为相同层位.周家湾组角度不整合于陈棚组之上,含较丰富的恐龙蛋化石,始-古新世李庄群不整合覆于其上.     

大兴安岭巴雅尔吐胡硕地区碎斑熔岩锆石U-Pb年龄、地球化学特征及其地质意义

在大兴安岭中南段巴雅尔吐胡硕地区发现一套碎斑熔岩。根据野外调查,可分为中心相的细微粒斑状石英二长岩(-石英二长斑岩)和边缘相的英安流纹质碎斑熔岩。通过SHRIMP锆石U-Pb测年,获得细微粒斑状石英二长岩的年龄加权平均值为137.4±0.9Ma(MSWD=1.13),英安流纹质碎斑熔岩的年龄加权平均值为135.2±0.8Ma(MSWD=1.17),二者的形成时代均属于早白垩世早期。由元素地球化学分析可知,6件样品均属于过铝质的高钾钙碱性A型花岗岩,且具有完全一致的微量元素蛛网图和稀土元素配分曲线,均具有明显的负Eu异常,均富集大离子亲石元素Rb、Pb和轻稀土元素,亏损高场强元素Nb,Th较富集,Ba、Sr、Eu具有一定亏损,Pb强烈富集,表明岩石来源于地壳部分熔融。在构造环境判别分析的基础上,提出研究区碎斑熔岩属于碰撞后或造山期后的张性构造环境花岗岩(A2型花岗岩),形成于拉张环境,代表了伸展的大地构造背景。结合大兴安岭地区的大地构造演化特征,其形成与蒙古-鄂霍茨克闭合造山后的岩石圈伸展作用有关。     

甘肃南祁连党河南山中奥陶世火山岩的地球化学特征

甘肃南祁连褶皱带党河南山地区中奥陶世火山岩的岩石学和微量元素、稀土元素的地球化学等研究证明,本区火山岩由基性火山岩和中性火山岩组成。其中,基性火山岩分属碱性玄武岩系列和拉斑玄武岩系列;而中性火山岩为一套钙碱性安山岩,二者均具有低钾、高钠的特点。这些火山岩的稀上元素配分曲线均属于轻稀土富集型,(w(La)／W(Yb))_N=2.73～7777,(w(La)／w(Sm))_N=1.43～3.21,(w(Gd)／w(Yb))_N=1.01～1.92．明显地表现为轻稀土元素配分曲线陡倾,而重稀土元素配分曲线相对平坦的特征。微量元素配分曲线图表现为大离子亲石元素的富集和Nb、Ta、Zr、Hf及Ti不同程度的亏损。这些岩石学和地球化学的特征证明本区火山岩形成于岛弧环境。     

相山碎斑熔岩岩石特征及其成因探讨

相山主体岩石碎斑熔岩在岩石成因、岩相归属上长期以来有多种不同的看法,原因在于碎斑熔岩边缘相具有熔结凝灰岩甚至是凝灰岩的特点,过渡相具有熔岩的特征,中间相具有潜火山岩的特征,并且各种相之间呈渐变过渡关系。笔者从碎斑熔岩的岩石矿物组成,稀土、微量元素及同位素特征,提出了碎斑熔岩是由基底变质岩重熔而形成的观点。从斑晶钾长石的低结构态和出溶机理,认为碎斑熔岩的形成环境接近于火山岩和潜火山岩,而与深成岩差别较大。碎斑熔岩中斑晶多呈碎裂状,与火山口内隐爆作用有关,因此将该岩石归属于火山侵出相。     

新疆北天山巴音沟蛇绿岩的地质特征

巴音沟蛇绿岩虽受强热构造作用肢解,但仍保存有较完整的蛇纹石化超基性岩、状层辉长岩、基性熔岩(下部块状、上部枕状)和放射虫硅质岩的层序组合。岩石化学、地球化学、放射虫等古生物资料表明,它代表一个中石炭世陆缘海盆迅速扩张形成的洋壳和上地幔的残片。其侵位发生在中石炭世未海盆的封闭期间。