Melt Inclusions in Olivine Phenocrysts: Using Diffusive Re-equilibration to Determine the Cooling History of a Crystal, with Implications for the Origin of Olivine-phyric Volcanic Rocks

A technique is described for determining the cooling historyof olivine phenocrysts. The technique is based on the analysisof the diffusive re-equilibration of melt inclusions trappedby olivine phenocrysts during crystallization. The mechanismof re-equilibration involves diffusion of Fe from and Mg intothe initial volume of the inclusion. The technique applies toa single crystal, and thus the cooling history of differentphenocrysts in a single erupted magma can be established. Weshow that melt inclusions in high-Fo olivine phenocrysts frommantle-derived magmas are typically partially re-equilibratedwith their hosts at temperatures below trapping. Our analysisdemonstrates that at a reasonable combination of factors suchas (1) cooling interval before eruption (<350°C), (2)eruption temperatures (>1000°C), and (3) inclusion size(<70 µm in radius), partial re-equilibration of upto 85% occurs within 3–5 months, corresponding to coolingrates faster than 1–2°/day. Short residence timesof high-Fo phenocrysts suggest that if eruption does not happenwithin a few months after a primitive magma begins cooling andcrystallization, olivines that crystallize from it are unlikelyto be erupted as phenocrysts. This can be explained by efficientseparation of olivine crystals from the melt, and their rapidincorporation into the cumulate layer of the chamber. Theseresults also suggest that in most cases erupted high-Fo olivinephenocrysts retain their original composition, and thus compositionsof melt inclusions in erupted high-Fo olivine phenocrysts donot suffer changes that cannot be reversed. Short residencetimes also imply that large unzoned cores of high-Fo phenocrystscannot reflect diffusive re-equilibration of originally zonedphenocrysts. The unzoned cores are a result of fast efficientaccumulation of olivines from the crystallizing magma, i.e.olivines are separated from the magma faster than melt changesits composition. Thus, the main source of high-Fo crystals inthe erupted magmas is the cumulate layers of the magmatic system.In other words, olivine-phyric rocks represent mixtures of anevolved transporting magma (which forms the groundmass of therock) with crystals that were formed during crystallizationof more primitive melt(s). Unlike high-Fo olivine phenocrysts,the evolved magma may reside in the magmatic system for a longtime. This reconciles long magma residence times estimated fromthe compositions of rocks with short residence times of high-Foolivine phenocrysts. KEY WORDS: melt inclusions; olivine; picrites; residence time; diffusion