The granitic water-saturated solidus (G-WSS) is the lower temperature limit of magmatic mineral crystallization. The accepted water-saturated solidus for granitic compositions was largely determined >60 years ago1. More recent advances in experimental petrology, improved analytical techniques, and recent observations that granitic systems can remain active or spend a significant proportion of their lives at conditions below the traditional G-WSS2–5 necessitate a careful experimental investigation of the near-solidus regions of granitic systems.
Natural and synthetic starting materials were melted at 10 kbar and 900°C with 48 wt% H2O to produce hydrous glasses for subsequent experiments at lower PT conditions used to locate the G-WSS. We performed crystallization experiments and melting experiments at temperatures ranging from 575 to 800°C and 1, 6, 8, and 10 kbar on 12 granitoid compositions. First, we ran a series of isothermal crystallization experiments along each isobar at progressively lower temperatures until runs completely crystallized to identify apparent solidus temperatures. Geochemical analyses of quenched glass compositions demonstrate that progressive crystallization drives all starting compositions towards silica-rich, water-saturated rhyolitic/granitic melts (e.g., ~7578 wt% SiO2).
After identifying the apparent solidus temperatures at which the various compositions crystallized, we then ran series of reversal-type melting experiments. With the goal of producing rocks with hydrous equilibrium microstructures, we crystallized compositions at temperatures ~10°C below the apparent solidus identified in crystallization experiments, and then heated isobarically to conditions that produced ~20% melt during the crystallization experiments. Importantly, crystallization experiments and heating experiments at the same PT conditions produced similar proportions of melt, crystals, and vapor. A time-series of experiments 230 days at PT conditions previously identified to produce ~10% to 20% melt did not reveal any kinetic effects on melt crystallization.
Experiments at 6 to 10 kbar crystallized/melted at temperatures close to the published G-WSS. However, at lower pressures where the published G-WSS is strongly curved in PT space, all compositions investigated contained melt to temperatures ~75 to 100°C below the accepted G-WSS. The similarity of crystallization temperatures for the higher-pressure experiments to previously published results, similar phase proportions in melting and crystallization experiments, and the lack of kinetic effects on crystallization collectively suggest that our lower pressure constraints on the G-WSS are accurate. The new experimental results demonstrating that the lower-pressure G-WSS is significantly lower than unanimously accepted estimates will help us to better understand the storage conditions, evolution, and potential for eruption in mid- to upper-crustal silicic magmatic systems.
(1) Tuttle, O.; Bowen, N. Origin of Granite in the Light of Experimental Studies in the System NaAlSi3O8–KAlSi3O8–SiO2–H2O; Geological Society of America Memoirs; Geological Society of America, 1958; Vol. 74. https://doi.org/10.1130/MEM74.
(2) Rubin, A. E.; Cooper, K. M.; Till, C. B.; Kent, A. J. R.; Costa, F.; Bose, M.; Gravley, D.; Deering, C.; Cole, J. Rapid Cooling and Cold Storage in a Silicic Magma Reservoir Recorded in Individual Crystals. Science 2017, 356 (6343), 1154–1156. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aam8720.
(3) Andersen, N. L.; Jicha, B. R.; Singer, B. S.; Hildreth, W. Incremental Heating of Bishop Tuff Sanidine Reveals Preeruptive Radiogenic Ar and Rapid Remobilization from Cold Storage. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2017, 114 (47), 12407–12412. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1709581114.
(4) Ackerson, M. R.; Mysen, B. O.; Tailby, N. D.; Watson, E. B. Low-Temperature Crystallization of Granites and the Implications for Crustal Magmatism. Nature 2018, 559 (7712), 94–97. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0264-2.
(5) Glazner, A. F.; Bartley, J. M.; Coleman, D. S.; Lindgren, K. Aplite Diking and Infiltration: A Differentiation Mechanism Restricted to Plutonic Rocks. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 2020, 175 (4). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-020-01677-1.
more »
« less
Insight into differentiation in alkalic systems: Nephelinite-carbonate-water experiments aimed at Ol Doinyo Lengai carbonatite genesis
Ol Doinyo Lengai (ODL, Tanzania, East African Rift) is the only known volcano currently erupting carbonatite on Earth with 30 yr. cycles alternating between quiescent carbonatite effusion and explosive, compositionally-zoned silicate eruptions. We performed isothermal crystallization and thermal gradient experiments involving ODL nephelinite, Na 2 CO 3 and H 2 O to understand magmatic differentiation in this system using SEM-EDS x-ray analysis, x-ray tomography, SIMS and LA-ICPMS to characterize samples. Isothermal crystallization experiments document that hydrous liquids coexist with nepheline+feldspar; as peralkalinity increases, temperatures decrease. Presence of Na 2 CO 3 increases the solubility of water in the liquid. Experiments placing nephelinite with H 2 O+ Na 2 CO 3 in a 1,000–350°C thermal gradient show that rapid reaction occurs, resulting in virtually melt-free mineral aggregates having mineral layering reflecting systematic differentiation throughout the capsule. Both types of experiments argue that a continuous interconnected melt exists over a large temperature range in alkalic magmatic systems allowing for differentiation in a reactive mush zone process. Liquid compositions change from carbonate-water bearing nephelinites at high temperature down to hydrous carbonate silicate liquids at <400°C. We propose a model for ODL eruption behavior: 1) nephelinite magmas pond and build a sill complex downward with time; 2) hydrous carbonate melts form in the mush and buoyantly rise, ultimately erupting as natrocarbonatites observed; 3) H 2 O contents build up in melt at the bottom of the sill complex, eventually leading to water vapor saturation and explosive silicate eruptions. The model accounts for eruption cycling and the unusual compositional zoning of ODL silicate tephras.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1819550
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10445697
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Frontiers in Earth Science
- Volume:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 2296-6463
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
more » « less
Abstract Magmas with matrix glass compositions ranging from basalt to dacite erupted from a series of 24 fissures in the first 2 weeks of the 2018 Lower East Rift Zone (LERZ) eruption of Kīlauea Volcano. Eruption styles ranged from low spattering and fountaining to strombolian activity. Major element trajectories in matrix glasses and melt inclusions hosted by olivine, pyroxene and plagioclase are consistent with variable amounts of fractional crystallization, with incompatible elements (e.g., Cl, F, and H2O) becoming enriched by 4–5 times as melt MgO contents evolve from 6 to 0.5 wt%. The high viscosity and high H2O contents (∼2 wt%) of the dacitic melts erupting at Fissure 17 account for the explosive Strombolian behavior exhibited by this fissure, in contrast to the low fountaining and spattering observed at fissures erupting basaltic to basaltic‐andesite melts. Saturation pressures calculated from melt inclusion CO2‐H2O contents indicate that the magma reservoir(s) supplying these fissures was located at ∼2–3 km depth, which is in agreement with the depth of a dacitic magma body intercepted during drilling in 2005 (∼2.5 km) and a seismically imaged low
Vp /Vs anomaly (∼2 km depth). Nb/Y ratios in erupted products are similar to lavas erupted between 1955 and 1960, indicating that melts were stored and underwent variable amounts of crystallization in the LERZ for >60 years before being remobilized by a dike intrusion in 2018. We demonstrate that extensive fractional crystallization generates viscous and volatile‐rich magma with potential for hazardous explosive eruptions, which may be lurking undetected at many ocean island volcanoes. -
more » « less
Abstract During the differentiation of arc magmas, fractionating liquids follow a series of cotectics, where the co‐crystallization of multiple minerals control the melt compositional trajectories, commonly referred to as liquid lines of descent (LLD). These cotectics are sensitive to intensive properties, including fractionation pressure and melt H2O concentration, and changes in these variables produce systematic differences in the LLDs of arc lavas. Based on a compilation of experimental studies, we develop two major element proxies that exploit differences in LLDs to constrain the fractionation conditions of arc magmas. Near‐primary fractionating magmas evolve along the olivine‐clinopyroxene cotectic, which is pressure‐sensitive. We use this sensitivity to develop a proxy for early fractionation pressure based on the normative mineral compositions of melts with 8 ± 1 wt.% MgO. Fractionation in more evolved magmas is controlled by the clinopyroxene‐plagioclase cotectic, which is strongly sensitive to magmatic H2O contents. We use this relationship to develop an H2O proxy that is calibrated to the normative mineral components of melts with 2–4 wt.% MgO. These two proxies provide new tools for estimating the variations in pressure and temperature between magmatic systems. We applied these proxies to compiled major element data and phenocryst assemblages from modern volcanic arcs and show that in island arcs early fractionation is relatively shallow and magmas are dominantly H2O‐poor, while continental arcs are characterized by more hydrous and deeper early fractionation. These differences likely reflect variations in the relative contributions of decompression and flux melting in combination with distinct upper plate controls on arc melt generation.
-
Inclusions of basaltic melt trapped inside of olivine phenocrysts during igneous crystallization provide a rich, crystal-scale record of magmatic processes ranging from mantle melting to ascent, eruption, and quenching of magma during volcanic eruptions. Melt inclusions are particularly valuable for retaining information on volatiles such as H 2 O and CO 2 that are normally lost by vesiculation and degassing as magma ascends and erupts. However, the record preserved in melt inclusions can be variably obscured by postentrapment processes, and thus melt inclusion research requires careful evaluation of the effects of such processes. Here we review processes by which melt inclusions are trapped and modified after trapping, describe new opportunities for studying the rates of magmatic and volcanic processes over a range of timescales using the kinetics of post-trapping processes, and describe recent developments in the use of volatile contents of melt inclusions to improve our understanding of how volcanoes work. ▪ Inclusions of silicate melt (magma) trapped inside of crystals formed by magma crystallization provide a rich, detailed record of what happens beneath volcanoes. ▪ These inclusions record information ranging from how magma forms deep inside Earth to its final hours as it ascends to the surface and erupts. ▪ The melt inclusion record, however, is complex and hazy because of many processes that modify the inclusions after they become trapped in crystals. ▪ Melt inclusions provide a primary archive of dissolved gases in magma, which are the key ingredients that make volcanoes erupt explosively.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)The Plio-Pleistocene El Laco iron oxide-apatite (IOA) orebodies in northern Chile are some of the most enigmatic mineral deposits on Earth, interpreted to have formed as lava flows or by hydrothermal replacement, two radically different processes. Field observations provide some support for both processes, but ultimately fail to explain all observations. Previously proposed genetic models based on observations and study of outcrop samples include (1) magnetite crystallization from an erupting immiscible Fe- and P-rich (Si-poor) melt and (2) metasomatic replacement of andesitic lava flows by a hypogene hydrothermal fluid. A more recent investigation of outcrop and drill core samples at El Laco generated data that were used to develop a new genetic model that invokes shallow emplacement and surface venting of a magnetite-bearing magmatic-hydrothermal fluid suspension. This fluid, with rheological properties similar to basaltic lava, would have been mobilized by decompression- induced collapse of the volcanic edifice. In this study, we report oxygen, including 17O, hydrogen, and iron stable isotope ratios in magnetite and bulk iron oxide (magnetite with minor secondary hematite and minor goethite) from five of seven orebodies around the El Laco volcano, excluding San Vicente Bajo and the minor Laquito deposits. Calculated values of δ18O, Δ17O, δD, and δ56Fe fingerprint the source of the ore-forming fluid(s): Δ17Osample = δ17Osample – δ18Osample * 0.5305. Magnetite and bulk iron oxide (magnetite variably altered to goethite and hematite) from Laco Sur, Cristales Grandes, and San Vicente Alto yield δ18O values that range from 4.3 to 4.5‰ (n = 5), 3.0 to 3.9‰ (n = 5), and –8.5 to –0.5‰ (n = 5), respectively. Magnetite samples from Rodados Negros are the least altered samples and were also analyzed for 17O as well as conventional 16O and 18O, yielding calculated δ18O values that range from 2.6 to 3.8‰ (n = 9) and Δ17O values that range from –0.13 to –0.07‰ (n = 5). Bulk iron oxide from Laco Norte yielded δ18O values that range from –10.2 to +4.5‰ (avg = 0.8‰, n = 18). The δ2H values of magnetite and bulk iron oxide from all five orebodies range from –192.8 to –79.9‰ (n = 28); hydrogen is present in fluid inclusions in magnetite and iron oxide, and in minor goethite. Values of δ56Fe for magnetite and bulk iron oxide from all five orebodies range from 0.04 to 0.70‰ (avg = 0.29‰, σ = 0.15‰, n = 26). The iron and oxygen isotope data are consistent with a silicate magma source for iron and oxygen in magnetite from all sampled El Laco orebodies. Oxygen (δ18O Δ +4.4 to –10.2‰) and hydrogen (δ 2H ≃ –79.9 to –192.8‰) stable isotope data for bulk iron oxide samples that contain minor goethite from Laco Norte and San Vicente Alto reveal that magnetite has been variably altered to meteoric values, consistent with goethite in equilibrium with local δ18O and δ2H meteoric values of ≃ –15.4 and –211‰, respectively. The H2O contents of iron oxide samples from Laco Norte and San Vicente Alto systematically increase with increasing abundance of goethite and decreasing values of δ18O and δ2H. The values of δ2H (≃ –88 to –140‰) and δ18O (3.0–4.5‰) for magnetite samples from Cristales Grandes, Laco Sur, and Rodados Negros are consistent with growth of magnetite from a degassing silicate melt and/or a boiling magmatic-hydrothermal fluid; the latter is also consistent with δ18O values for quartz, and salinities and homogenization temperatures for fluid inclusions trapped in apatite and clinopyroxene coeval with magnetite. The sum of the data unequivocally fingerprint a silicate magma as the source of the ore fluids responsible for mineralization at El Laco and are consistent with a model that explains mineralization as the synergistic result of common magmatic and magmatic-hydrothermal processes during the evolution of a caldera-related explosive volcanic system.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.970264
