Kamafugitic diatremes: facies characterisation and genesis—examples from the Goiás Alkaline Province, Brazil

This paper describes the internal organisation of two diatremes (Águas Emendadas and Neuzinha) and one small breccia-filled conduit (Tigre) in the central portion of the Late Cretaceous Goiás Alkaline Province (GAP), central Brazil, and explores the criteria for facies recognition. The GAP kamafugitic diatremes are emplaced into Carboniferous sandstones of the Aquidauana Formation, at the northern margin of the Paraná Basin. They are usually elliptical structures, not longer than 900 m, filled with breccia and partially covered by thin kamafugitic to basanitic lava flows. The breccias are dominated by juvenile pyroclasts, with subordinate amounts of cognate fragments and xenoliths. In addition to variations in ash and lapilli proportions, juvenile fragment types may be used to discriminate genetic processes and the corresponding pyroclastic deposits.

An extensive field, textural and compositional dataset was analysed by multivariate statistical techniques. Combined with field observations, this allowed us to define a set of facies for kamafugitic diatremes, and, more importantly, to understand the internal structure of the studied bodies and to cross-correlate them. Seven distinct facies were recognised. The Fluidised Conduit Facies (FCF) represents high-energy, strongly fluidised but only moderately fragmented systems. It occurs in a confined environment, and is typical of deeper parts of the conduit, before the actual diatreme level is reached by the ascending fluidised magma. Large amounts of spinning droplets are formed within this region. The Fluidised Conduit–Diatreme Facies (FCDF) is characteristic of intermediate depths in the conduit, where highly fluidised and highly fragmented systems produce large amounts of ash. Spinning droplets decrease in abundance, ordinary juvenile fragments become very common, and xenoliths from the country rock in the immediate vicinity of the diatreme are present. The Fluidised Fragmented Facies (FFF) and the Magmatic Fluidised Facies (MFF) produce very heterogeneous deposits that dominate the shallower part of the system, making up most of the diatreme-filling materials. The Fluidised Fragmented Facies can be distinguished by much higher degrees of fluidisation, fragmentation and system energy. It occupies the internal part of the diatreme and is characterised by the common presence of tuff pockets, tuff fragments, and accretionary and armoured lapilli. The Magmatic Fluidised Facies typically occupies the outer portion of the diatreme and can be distinguished from the Fluidised Fragmented Facies by the dominance of lapilli over ash and by the presence of abundant wrapped fragments. The Magmatic Facies (MF) and the Coherent Magmatic Facies (CMF) are volumetrically subordinate and represent late stages, when less fluidised and less fragmented material, or even coherent magma erupts relatively passively, in the aftermath of the main explosive stage that generated the diatreme. The Border Facies is defined by the increased abundance of material from the immediate country rock. At Águas Emendadas and Neuzinha this facies is marked by the presence of fragments of peperite-like rock, formed by the interaction of the fluidised magma with friable sandstone.