Mafic-silicic layered intrusions: the role of basaltic injections on magmatic processes and the evolution of silicic magma chambers

1996 ◽  
Vol 87 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 233-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Wiebe
Keyword(s):  
Basaltic Magma ◽  
Mafic Magma ◽  
Silicic Magma ◽  
Granitic Magma ◽  
Magma Chambers ◽  
Mechanical Mixing ◽  
Diffusive Convection ◽  
Type Granite ◽  
Mafic Magmas ◽  
Silicic Magmas

ABSTRACT:Plutonic complexes with interlayered mafic and silicic rocks commonly contain layers (1–50 m thick) with a chilled gabbroic base that grades upwards to dioritic or silicic cumulates. Each chilled base records the infusion of new basaltic magma into the chamber. Some layers preserve a record of double-diffusive convection with hotter, denser mafic magma beneath silicic magma. Processes of hybridisation include mechanical mixing of crystals and selective exchange of H2O, alkalis and isotopes. These effects are convected away from the boundary into the interiors of both magmas. Fractional crystallisation aad replenishment of the mafic magma can also generate intermediate magma layers highly enriched in incompatible elements.Basaltic infusions into silicic magma chambers can significantly affect the thermal and chemical character of resident granitic magmas in shallow level chambers. In one Maine pluton, they converted resident I-type granitic magma into A-type granite and, in another, they produced a low-K (trondhjemitic) magma layer beneath normal granitic magma. If comparable interactions occur at deeper crustal levels, selective thermal, chemical and isotopic exchange should probably be even more effective. Because the mafic magmas crystallise first and relatively rapidly, silicic magmas that rise away from deep composite chambers may show little direct evidence (e.g. enclaves) of their prior involvement with mafic magma.

The fluid dynamics of crustal melting by injection of basaltic sills

1988 ◽  
Vol 79 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 237-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert E. Huppert ◽  
R. Stephen ◽  
J. Sparks
Keyword(s):  
Continental Crust ◽  
Basaltic Magma ◽  
Source Region ◽  
Thermal Relaxation ◽  
Silicic Magma ◽  
Granitic Magma ◽  
Low Density ◽  
Magma Chambers ◽  
Theoretical Investigations ◽  
High Level

ABSTRACTWhen basaltic magma is emplaced into continental crust, melting and generation of granitic magma can occur. We present experimental and theoretical investigations of the fluid dynamical and heat transfer processes at the roof and floor of a basaltic sill in which the wall rocks melt. At the floor, relatively low density crustal melt rises and mixes into the overlying magma, which would form hybrid andesitic magma. Below the roof the low-density melt forms a stable layer with negligible mixing between it and the underlying hotter, denser magma. Our calculations applied to basaltic sills in hot crust predict that sills from 10-1500 m thick require only 2-200 years to solidify, during which time large volumes of overlying layers of convecting silicic magma are formed. These time scales are very short compared with the lifetimes of large silicic magma systems of around 106 years, and also with the time scale of 107 years for thermal relaxation of the continental crust. An important feature of the process is that crystallisation and melting occur simultaneously, though in different spots of the source region. The granitic magmas formed are thus a mixture of igneous phenocrysts and lesser amounts of restite crystals. Several features of either plutonic or volcanic silicic systems can be explained without requiring large, high-level, long-lived magma chambers.

Origin of non-cotectic cumulates: A novel approach

Geology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 604-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.M. Latypov ◽  
S.Yu. Chistyakova
Keyword(s):  
Phase Equilibria ◽  
Basaltic Magma ◽  
Parental Magma ◽  
Magma Chambers ◽  
Mechanical Mixing ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
In Situ Crystallization ◽  
Mechanical Separation ◽  
Novel Concept

Abstract Plutonic mafic complexes are composed of cumulates in which minerals mostly occur in cotectic proportions. This is consistent with a concept that basaltic magma chambers predominantly crystallize in situ from margins inward. However, cumulates with two (or more) minerals in proportions that are at odds with those expected from liquidus phase equilibria also locally occur in these complexes. Such non-cotectic cumulates are commonly attributed to either mechanical separation of minerals crystallizing from the same parental magma or mechanical mixing of minerals originating from different parental magmas. Here we introduce a novel concept that does not require any of these processes to produce non-cotectic cumulates. The model involves melts that start crystallizing upon their cooling, while ascending along feeder conduits from deep staging reservoirs toward the Earth’s surface. Depending on the degree of cooling, the melts become successively saturated in one, two, and more liquidus phases. Given that most crystals are kept in suspension, the resulting magmas would contain a cargo of equilibrium phenocrysts in notably non-cotectic proportions. The replenishment of basaltic chambers developing through in situ crystallization by such magmas is likely responsible for the occasional formation of non-cotectic cumulates in plutonic mafic complexes.

Phase equilibrium constraints on the viscosity of silicic magmas II: implications for mafic–silicic mixing processes

2000 ◽  
Vol 91 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 61-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Scaillet ◽  
Alan Whittington ◽  
Caroline Martel ◽  
Michel Pichavant ◽  
François Holtz
Keyword(s):  
Phase Equilibrium ◽  
Granitic Magma ◽  
Substantial Part ◽  
Equilibrium Constraints ◽  
Mixing Processes ◽  
Mafic Enclaves ◽  
Mafic Magmas ◽  
Silicic Magmas ◽  
Homogeneous Composition ◽  
Minimum Estimate

Isobaric crystallisation paths obtained from phase equilibrium experiments show that, whereas in rhyolitic compositions melt fraction trends are distinctly eutectic, dacitic and more mafic compositions have their crystallinities linearly correlated with temperatures. As a consequence, the viscosities of the latter continuously increase on cooling, whereas for the former they remain constant or even decrease during 80% of the crystallisation interval, which opens new perspectives for the fluid dynamical modelling of felsic magma chambers. Given the typical dyke widths observed for basaltic magmas, results of analogue modelling predict that injection of mafic magmas into crystallising intermediate to silicic plutons under pre-eruption conditions cannot yield homogeneous composition. Homogenisation can occur, however, if injection takes place in the early stages of magmatic evolution (i.e. at near liquidus conditions) but only in magmas of dacitic or more mafic composition. More generally, the potential for efficient mixing between silicic and mafic magmas sharing large interfaces at upper crustal levels is greater for dry basalts than for wet ones. At the other extreme, small mafic enclaves found in many granitoids behave essentially as rigid objects during a substantial part of the crystallisation interval of the host magmas, which implies that finite strain analyses carried out on such markers can give only a minimum estimate of the total amount of strain experienced by the host pluton. Mafic enclaves carried by granitic magmas behave as passive markers only at near solidus conditions, typically when the host granitic magma shows near-solid behaviour. Thus they cannot be used as fossil indicators of direction of magmatic flow.

Mafic rocks from the Ryoke Belt, southwest Japan: implications for Cretaceous Ryoke/San-yo granitic magma genesis

2004 ◽  
Vol 95 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 249-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Nakajima ◽  
Hiroyuki Kamiyama ◽  
Ian S. Williams ◽  
Kenichiro Tani
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Basaltic Magma ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Granitic Magma ◽  
Chemical Compositions ◽  
Southwest Japan ◽  
Mafic Rocks ◽  
Mafic Dykes ◽  
Mafic Magmas ◽  
Cretaceous Magmatism

ABSTRACTMafic rocks in the Ryoke belt, the Cretaceous granitic province in Southwest Japan, occur in two modes: (1) as mafic dykes and pillow-shaped enclaves, and (2) as isolated kilometresized bodies of gabbroic cumulate. The dykes and pillows have fine-grained textures with thin radiating plagioclase laths, indicative of quenching. The gabbroic cumulates are predominantly coarse-grained and commonly lithologically layered.SHRIMP zircon U-Pb ages of both types of mafic rocks are in the range 71–86 Ma, late Cretaceous. The mafic rocks become younger eastwards, matching the along-arc age trend of the associated Cretaceous granites (Nakajima et al. 1990). Both types of mafic rocks were apparently generated during the same magmatic event that produced the Ryoke/San-yo granites. The mafic dykes and pillows are aphyric basaltic-andesites to andesites (SiO2 54–60 wt.%), with microphenocrysts of biotite and hornblende. They have a composition which is similar to mafic rocks from the northern Sierra Nevada, and also to medium-K calc-alkaline rocks from present-day arc volcanics. The gabbroic cumulates are mostly pyroxene-hornblende gabbros (SiO2 43–52 wt.%). Their bulk-rock chemical compositions are mostly unlike any magma compositions.Both types of mafic rocks from the Ryoke belt have relatively high 87Sr/86Sr initial ratios (SrI), 0·7071–0·7097, which are similar to those of the associated granites. The granites were formed either by fractional crystallisation of the mafic magmas, or by partial melting of newly formed mafic rocks at depth. The high SrI indicates that the mafic magmas were derived from enriched mantle or mixed with enriched crustal materials. Even if the mixing occurred between primitive basaltic magma and metasedimentary rocks, then the basaltic andesite–andesite magmas must have contained more than 60% mantle-derived components. The Cretaceous magmatism in Southwest Japan represents a major episode of crustal growth by additions from the upper mantle in an arc setting.

Igneous Layering in Basaltic Magma Chambers

2015 ◽  
pp. 75-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Namur ◽  
Bénédicte Abily ◽  
Alan E. Boudreau ◽  
Francois Blanchette ◽  
John W. M. Bush ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Basaltic Magma ◽  
Magma Chambers ◽  
Igneous Layering

Flow mechanism and viscosity in basaltic magma chambers

1996 ◽  
Vol 23 (16) ◽  
pp. 2013-2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Nicolas ◽  
B. Ildefonse
Keyword(s):  
Basaltic Magma ◽  
Flow Mechanism ◽  
Magma Chambers

Hydrothermal Melting of Shales

1961 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Wyllie ◽  
O. F. Tuttle
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapour ◽  
Basaltic Magma ◽  
Liquidus Curve ◽  
Igneous Rocks ◽  
Granitic Magma ◽  
Refractive Indices ◽  
Chemical Characteristics ◽  
Complete Fusion ◽  
Partial Fusion

AbstractPT curves for the beginning of melting of five analysed shales in the presence of water vapour under pressure are 20° C. to 40° C. higher than the corresponding curve for granite. About 150° C. above the beginning of melting, the shales are half-melted; this is higher than the liquidus curve of most granites. Refractive indices of the quenched liquids (1·495–1·505) indicate a granitic or granodioritic composition. Quartz, cordierite, mullite, hypersthene, anorthite, etc., are developed in the partially fused shales. Partial fusion of shales by a granitic magma, even if superheated, would produce a liquid no more basic than granodiorite. The chemical characteristics of the shales are compared with average igneous rocks, and there appears to be no possibility that fusion of shales could produce a basaltic magma. Complete fusion would produce a melt with composition distinct from normal igneous magmas.

A Grenville-age layered intrusion in the subsurface of west Texas: petrology, petrography, and possible tectonic setting

1995 ◽  
Vol 32 (12) ◽  
pp. 2159-2166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hulusi Kargi ◽  
Calvin G. Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Basaltic Magma ◽  
Layered Intrusion ◽  
Mafic Magma ◽  
Magma Source ◽  
Rock Types ◽  
Hornblende Gabbro ◽  
Tectonic Environment ◽  
Extensional Tectonic ◽  
General Order

The Nellie intrusion is a thick (more than 4420 m) mafic to ultramafic layered intrusion with a radiometric age of ~1163 Ma. Rock types change abruptly with stratigraphic height and include norite, pyroxenite, gabbronorite, hornblende gabbro, gabbro, anorthosite, harzburgite, and lherzolite. Norite is most abundant, but gabbro and hornblende gabbro are locally abundant. Rare olivine-rich layers are also present. The general order of crystallization was olivine, orthopyroxene, plagioclase + clinopyroxene, and hornblende. Mg#'s, expressed as 100 Mg/(Mg + Fe), range from 76.3 to 85.8 for olivine, 56.7 to 84.9 for orthopyroxene, 62.5 to 90.3 for clinopyroxene, and 52.4 to 82.8 for amphibole. Mg#'s vary with height and display abrupt reversals, which indicate open-system addition of new mafic magma. Eleven cyclic units were identified on the basis of evidence for injection of basaltic magma; these can be grouped into three megacyclic units. The abundance of orthopyroxene, and mineral compositional evidence for Fe enrichment within cyclic units, indicates that parental magmas were subalkaline and tholeiitic. Plagioclase in equilibrium with olivine ranges from An65 to An46, which precludes an arc-related magma source. Although the intrusion is approximately coeval with Keweenawan magmatism and with emplacement of diabasic dikes in western North America, it is dissimilar in detail to both suites of rocks. Nevertheless, its composition and geophysical setting are consistent with emplacement in an extensional tectonic environment.

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