A crystal fractionation model for the basaltic rocks of the New Georgia Group,British Solomon Islands

Study of the data provided by Stanton and Bell (1969) for certain basaltic rocks from the New Georgia Group reveals an apparent discrepancy between compositional variation and the sequence of phenocryst phases available for fractionation. The discrepancy none-the-less appears explicable in terms of two low-pressure crystal fractionation mechanisms. The first of these we term compensated crystal settling, a process which, it is postulated, allows a substantial amount of magma undergoing crystal settling to maintain its overall composition since crystals settling from it are continually replaced by compositionally similar crystals which settle into it from higher levels. The second process involves selective fractionation of phases sinking at different rates. Slow sinking of plagioclase relative to ferromagnesian minerals is believed to produce cumulus enrichment in plagioclase in the upper part of the chamber, the resultant magmas being erupted as highly porphyritic, high-alumina, basaltic andesites.