scholarly journals The Bishop Tuff, California: New Insights into Magmatic Timescales and Processes from Micro-Analytical Approaches

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Katy Jane Chamberlain
Keyword(s):  
Trace Element ◽  
Magma Chamber ◽  
Chemical Compositions ◽  
Bishop Tuff ◽  
Weighted Mean ◽  
Magma Body ◽  
Diffusion Modelling ◽  
Eruption Age ◽  
Ti In Quartz

<p>The Bishop Tuff is the product of one of the largest eruptions on Earth in the last 1 Myr. This thesis studies the Bishop Tuff in order to better understand the nature of the pre-eruptive magma body, with an emphasis on the processes that occurred within it and the timescales over which they operated. In situ geochemical analyses of crystals and glass from samples collected throughout the Bishop Tuff stratigraphic succession yields insights into the nature of zoning and mixing within this supervolcanic system. Timescales for zircon growth (inferred to represent longevity of the magma chamber) are investigated using U-Pb dating of zircons. Zircon textural and trace element data obtained by SIMS (SHRIMP-RG) are presented from 15 stratigraphically controlled Bishop Tuff samples and two older Glass Mountain (GM) lava samples. The resulting eruption age estimate derived from the weighted mean of 166 rim ages of 766.6±3.1 ka (95% confidence) is identical within uncertainty to published values from ID-TIMS and 40Ar/39Ar techniques. An eruption age is also derived for GM dome YA (the youngest GM dome) of 862±23 ka (95% confidence), significantly older than the widely used 790±20 ka K-Ar age. The oldest zircon cores from late-erupted Bishop material (including those with GM-type textures) have a weighted mean of 838.5±8.8 ka (95% confidence), implying that the Bishop Tuff system was only active for ~80 kyr, and had effectively no temporal overlap with the GM system. Bishop zircon textures are divided into four suites whose proportions change systematically through the eruptive sequence. Trace element variations in Bishop zircons are influenced strongly by sector zoning for many elements, and thus restrict the value of trace element variations in discerning compositional stratification within the magma chamber. In later-erupted units, bright-rim overgrowths are common, and are inferred to have crystallized from the same „bright-rim‟ magma as generated the contrasting rims seen in CL or BSE imaging on quartz, feldspar and orthopyroxene. From zircon zonation patterns, this less-evolved, slightly hotter magma invaded deeper parts of the chamber represented in the late-erupted northern units possibly up to ~10 kyr prior to eruption. In order to better quantify the timescales of interaction with the „bright-rim‟ magma, two-feldspar thermometry data are presented on multiple Bishop Tuff samples to constrain temperature variations within the pre-eruptive magma body and yield values for diffusion modelling. Two-feldspar thermometry agrees well with published Fe–Ti-oxide thermometry and reveals a ~80 °C uniform thermal gradient between the upper and lower regions of the magma chamber. Using this thermometry, diffusion of Ti in quartz, Ba in sanidine, Sr in sanidine and Fe-Mg interdiffusion in orthopyroxene are modelled to estimate timescales for the formation of overgrowth rims on crystals. Ti in quartz and Fe-Mg in orthopyroxene diffusion both yield timescales of <150 years for the formation of overgrowth rims, although differing by about an order of magnitude in their timing. However, Ba and Sr diffusion modelling in sanidine yields disparate timescales 1-2 orders of magnitude longer than for Ti in quartz. The main cause for this discrepancy is inferred to be an incorrect assumption for the initial profile shape for Ba and Sr diffusion modelling (i.e. the profile is influenced by growth zoning). Using the comparison with Sr, constraints are placed on the initial width of the core-rim interface and the initial conditions can be refined, bringing Ba and Sr diffusion timescales into mutual alignment and closer to the values from Ti in quartz. This modelling shows that piecemeal rejuvenation of lower Bishop Tuff magma chamber occurred over a period of ~500 years leading up to eruption. In situ major and trace element analyses of sanidine, plagioclase, biotite, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, zircon and matrix glass from the Bishop Tuff and two GM lavas are presented to investigate the pre-eruptive stratification of the Bishop magma chamber and its chemical relationship to the GM system. Analyses of samples from the entire Bishop stratigraphy confirm that the magma chamber was thermally and compositionally zoned prior to growth of crystals and the intrusion of the „bright-rim‟ forming magma. Study of rare mixed swirly and dacitic pumice samples shows enrichments in Ba, Sr and Ti (the elements responsible for bright-rim overgrowths in phenocryst phases) and identifies these pumices as possible representatives of the „bright-rim‟ magma. This integrated study of phenocrysts and glass from the Bishop Tuff leads to development of a revised magma chamber model, in which there is a unitary chamber with a stepped or sloping roof. The chamber has an upper, volumetrically dominant (~2/3) part showing no evidence for convection and with unzoned crystals, and a lower part which had experienced mixing of crystals and interaction with the „bright-rim‟ magma. Intrusion of the „bright-rim‟ magma introduced orthopyroxene and dominantly bright zircon crystals, and caused overgrowth of bright rims enriched in Ti, Sr and Ba on sanidine and quartz phenocrysts. Chemical compositions of GM and Bishop Tuff materials show a shared consanguinity, implying common modes of magma generation, yet the generation of GM and Bishop eruptible magma bodies were physically and temporally separate events.</p>

scholarly journals The Bishop Tuff, California: New Insights into Magmatic Timescales and Processes from Micro-Analytical Approaches

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Katy Jane Chamberlain
Keyword(s):  
Trace Element ◽  
Magma Chamber ◽  
Chemical Compositions ◽  
Bishop Tuff ◽  
Weighted Mean ◽  
Magma Body ◽  
Diffusion Modelling ◽  
Eruption Age ◽  
Ti In Quartz

<p>The Bishop Tuff is the product of one of the largest eruptions on Earth in the last 1 Myr. This thesis studies the Bishop Tuff in order to better understand the nature of the pre-eruptive magma body, with an emphasis on the processes that occurred within it and the timescales over which they operated. In situ geochemical analyses of crystals and glass from samples collected throughout the Bishop Tuff stratigraphic succession yields insights into the nature of zoning and mixing within this supervolcanic system. Timescales for zircon growth (inferred to represent longevity of the magma chamber) are investigated using U-Pb dating of zircons. Zircon textural and trace element data obtained by SIMS (SHRIMP-RG) are presented from 15 stratigraphically controlled Bishop Tuff samples and two older Glass Mountain (GM) lava samples. The resulting eruption age estimate derived from the weighted mean of 166 rim ages of 766.6±3.1 ka (95% confidence) is identical within uncertainty to published values from ID-TIMS and 40Ar/39Ar techniques. An eruption age is also derived for GM dome YA (the youngest GM dome) of 862±23 ka (95% confidence), significantly older than the widely used 790±20 ka K-Ar age. The oldest zircon cores from late-erupted Bishop material (including those with GM-type textures) have a weighted mean of 838.5±8.8 ka (95% confidence), implying that the Bishop Tuff system was only active for ~80 kyr, and had effectively no temporal overlap with the GM system. Bishop zircon textures are divided into four suites whose proportions change systematically through the eruptive sequence. Trace element variations in Bishop zircons are influenced strongly by sector zoning for many elements, and thus restrict the value of trace element variations in discerning compositional stratification within the magma chamber. In later-erupted units, bright-rim overgrowths are common, and are inferred to have crystallized from the same „bright-rim‟ magma as generated the contrasting rims seen in CL or BSE imaging on quartz, feldspar and orthopyroxene. From zircon zonation patterns, this less-evolved, slightly hotter magma invaded deeper parts of the chamber represented in the late-erupted northern units possibly up to ~10 kyr prior to eruption. In order to better quantify the timescales of interaction with the „bright-rim‟ magma, two-feldspar thermometry data are presented on multiple Bishop Tuff samples to constrain temperature variations within the pre-eruptive magma body and yield values for diffusion modelling. Two-feldspar thermometry agrees well with published Fe–Ti-oxide thermometry and reveals a ~80 °C uniform thermal gradient between the upper and lower regions of the magma chamber. Using this thermometry, diffusion of Ti in quartz, Ba in sanidine, Sr in sanidine and Fe-Mg interdiffusion in orthopyroxene are modelled to estimate timescales for the formation of overgrowth rims on crystals. Ti in quartz and Fe-Mg in orthopyroxene diffusion both yield timescales of <150 years for the formation of overgrowth rims, although differing by about an order of magnitude in their timing. However, Ba and Sr diffusion modelling in sanidine yields disparate timescales 1-2 orders of magnitude longer than for Ti in quartz. The main cause for this discrepancy is inferred to be an incorrect assumption for the initial profile shape for Ba and Sr diffusion modelling (i.e. the profile is influenced by growth zoning). Using the comparison with Sr, constraints are placed on the initial width of the core-rim interface and the initial conditions can be refined, bringing Ba and Sr diffusion timescales into mutual alignment and closer to the values from Ti in quartz. This modelling shows that piecemeal rejuvenation of lower Bishop Tuff magma chamber occurred over a period of ~500 years leading up to eruption. In situ major and trace element analyses of sanidine, plagioclase, biotite, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, zircon and matrix glass from the Bishop Tuff and two GM lavas are presented to investigate the pre-eruptive stratification of the Bishop magma chamber and its chemical relationship to the GM system. Analyses of samples from the entire Bishop stratigraphy confirm that the magma chamber was thermally and compositionally zoned prior to growth of crystals and the intrusion of the „bright-rim‟ forming magma. Study of rare mixed swirly and dacitic pumice samples shows enrichments in Ba, Sr and Ti (the elements responsible for bright-rim overgrowths in phenocryst phases) and identifies these pumices as possible representatives of the „bright-rim‟ magma. This integrated study of phenocrysts and glass from the Bishop Tuff leads to development of a revised magma chamber model, in which there is a unitary chamber with a stepped or sloping roof. The chamber has an upper, volumetrically dominant (~2/3) part showing no evidence for convection and with unzoned crystals, and a lower part which had experienced mixing of crystals and interaction with the „bright-rim‟ magma. Intrusion of the „bright-rim‟ magma introduced orthopyroxene and dominantly bright zircon crystals, and caused overgrowth of bright rims enriched in Ti, Sr and Ba on sanidine and quartz phenocrysts. Chemical compositions of GM and Bishop Tuff materials show a shared consanguinity, implying common modes of magma generation, yet the generation of GM and Bishop eruptible magma bodies were physically and temporally separate events.</p>

scholarly journals The dynamics of large-scale silicic magmatic systems: case studies from Mangakino Volcanic Centre, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
George Frederick Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Trace Element ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Taupo Volcanic Zone ◽  
Matrix Glass ◽  
Volcanic Centre ◽  
Magmatic System ◽  
Magma Body ◽  
Trace Element Chemistry ◽  
Element Chemistry

<p>This thesis research focuses on clast and crystal-specific studies to investigate the pre- and syn-eruptive magmatic processes of two supereruptions in the TVZ: the 1.21 Ma Ongatiti (>500 km3) and the 1.0 Ma Kidnappers (~1200 km3), together with the smaller (~200 km3) 1.0 Ma Rocky Hill eruption from the Mangakino Volcanic Centre (MVC).  Crystallisation histories determined through SIMS U-Pb dating of zircons reveal that the paired Kidnappers and Rocky Hill eruptions were products of a common magmatic system, which built over ~200 kyr, in the time break after the Ongatiti eruption. U-Pb age spectra from the Ongatiti show a protracted crystallisation history (over ~250 kyr), in which the majority of zircon crystallised ~100 kyr prior to eruption in a crystal mush. Zircons then ascended with melt during accumulation of the final erupted magma body in the shallow crust. Zircons remained stable in the melt dominant body but underwent little further crystallisation. Zircons from all three systems record common geochemical processes governed by the fractionating assemblage (predominantly plagioclase and amphibole). In particular, the MREE/HREE ratios and Sr concentrations of zircons from the Ongatiti record imply two contrasting source regions governed by different proportions of crystallising amphibole.  The in-situ major and trace element chemistry of glass shards and crystals from the Kidnappers fall deposit reveal that magma within the Kidnappers was stored in three discrete bodies, which were systematically tapped during the early stages of eruption. Temperature and pressure (T-P) estimates from amphibole and Fe-Ti oxide equilibria from each magma type are similar and therefore the three magma bodies were adjacent, not vertically stacked, in the crust. Amphibole model T-P estimates range from 770 to 840 °C and 90 to 170 MPa corresponding to pre-eruptive storage depths of ~4.0-6.5 km. The systematic evacuation of the three independent magma bodies implies that there was tectonic triggering and linkage of eruptions. The termination of fall deposition and onset of the overlying ignimbrite emplacement marks the point of widespread caldera collapse and the catastrophic evacuation of a wider variety of melt during the Kidnappers eruption.  Pumice compositions from the Kidnappers ignimbrite fall into three groups, two of which (KI-1 and KI-2) can be matched to bodies tapped during the fall phase of the eruption, with the addition of a further discrete batch of lower SiO2 (KI-3) magma. Core-rim textural and chemical variations in major crystal phases (plagioclase, amphibole and orthopyroxene) suggest each compositional group was sourced from a common mush but underwent a unique magmatic history during the development of melt-dominant bodies in the final stages prior to eruption. The field relationships and distinctive appearance of the Rocky Hill ignimbrite (~200 km3 DRE) and the underlying Kidnappers ignimbrite suggests that the two deposits are from distinct eruption events. However, major and trace element chemistry of matrix glass, coupled with the textural and chemical signatures of crystals suggests the magma erupted during the Rocky Hill was generated from the same source or mush zone as the Kidnappers. The two largest melt-dominant bodies (KI-1 and KI-2) within the Kidnappers were renewed, underwent mixing and incorporation of marginal material to form two magma types (RH-1 and RH-2) in the time break prior to the Rocky Hill eruption.  Fe-Mg interdiffusion timescales in orthopyroxenes from the Kidnappers and Rocky Hill deposits suggest the establishment of the final melt-dominant bodies, through extraction of melt and crystals from a common mush, occurred within 1000 years, and peaked within centuries of each eruption. In addition, one discrete batch of Kidnappers melt has evidence for interaction with a lesser evolved melt within 50 yrs prior to eruption. This rejuvenation event was not the eruption trigger but may have primed the magma for eruption. The difference in timescales from common zones from both the Kidnappers and Rocky Hill orthopyroxene, recording the same processes reveal the time break between the two eruptions was ~20-40 years. This work highlights the rapidity of rejuvenation and renewal of the melt-dominant bodies within the Kidnappers/Rocky Hill magmatic system.  The textural and in-situ compositional signatures of crystals from the Ongatiti ignimbrite imply the final erupted magma body was assembled from a thermally and chemically zoned mush, which extended to the base of the quartzofeldspathic crust (~15km). The mush was close to water saturation and was dominated by amphibole crystallisation. Melt and crystals (including the majority of zircons) were extracted from the mush and ascended to 4-6 km depths during the development of a crystal-rich (20-30%), but melt-dominant body. Significant crystallisation of plagioclase (and lesser proportions of orthopyroxene and amphibole) occurred in an event involving the gradual heating and/or increase of water in the rhyolite, from a broadly andesitic underplated magma. Homogeneous crystal rim and matrix glass compositions imply the final erupted volume of magma was effectively mixed through convection. Eu/Eu* values of whole-rock and matrix glass suggest little crystal-melt separation occurred in the melt-dominant magma body prior to eruption.  This work has implications for understanding the generation, storage and eruption of large-scale silicic magma systems. The Ongatiti ignimbrite does not represent either an erupted mush, or a stratified magma chamber, suggesting an alternative model for the development of eruptible magma within large-scale silicic systems. The Kidnappers/Rocky Hill sequence records a complex interplay of multiple melt-dominant bodies, which were established and renewed on rapid timescales. The rapid timescales for the development of melt-dominant bodies and the systematic tapping of magmas in the Kidnappers/Rocky Hill system imply that tectonics may have had a strong external control on the eruptions at Mangakino.</p>

scholarly journals Incremental heating of Bishop Tuff sanidine reveals preeruptive radiogenic Ar and rapid remobilization from cold storage

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (47) ◽  
pp. 12407-12412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan L. Andersen ◽  
Brian R. Jicha ◽  
Brad S. Singer ◽  
Wes Hildreth
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Polarity ◽  
Bishop Tuff ◽  
Weighted Mean ◽  
Precise Data ◽  
Magma Reservoirs ◽  
Magmatic Processes ◽  
Eruption Age ◽  
Geologic Record ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Magnetic Polarity Reversal

Accurate and precise ages of large silicic eruptions are critical to calibrating the geologic timescale and gauging the tempo of changes in climate, biologic evolution, and magmatic processes throughout Earth history. The conventional approach to dating these eruptive products using the 40Ar/39Ar method is to fuse dozens of individual feldspar crystals. However, dispersion of fusion dates is common and interpretation is complicated by increasingly precise data obtained via multicollector mass spectrometry. Incremental heating of 49 individual Bishop Tuff (BT) sanidine crystals produces 40Ar/39Ar dates with reduced dispersion, yet we find a 16-ky range of plateau dates that is not attributable to excess Ar. We interpret this dispersion to reflect cooling of the magma reservoir margins below ∼475 °C, accumulation of radiogenic Ar, and rapid preeruption remobilization. Accordingly, these data elucidate the recycling of subsolidus material into voluminous rhyolite magma reservoirs and the effect of preeruptive magmatic processes on the 40Ar/39Ar system. The youngest sanidine dates, likely the most representative of the BT eruption age, yield a weighted mean of 764.8 ± 0.3/0.6 ka (2σ analytical/full uncertainty) indicating eruption only ∼7 ky following the Matuyama−Brunhes magnetic polarity reversal. Single-crystal incremental heating provides leverage with which to interpret complex populations of 40Ar/39Ar sanidine and U-Pb zircon dates and a substantially improved capability to resolve the timing and causal relationship of events in the geologic record.

scholarly journals The dynamics of large-scale silicic magmatic systems: case studies from Mangakino Volcanic Centre, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
George Frederick Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Trace Element ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Taupo Volcanic Zone ◽  
Matrix Glass ◽  
Volcanic Centre ◽  
Magmatic System ◽  
Magma Body ◽  
Trace Element Chemistry ◽  
Element Chemistry

<p>This thesis research focuses on clast and crystal-specific studies to investigate the pre- and syn-eruptive magmatic processes of two supereruptions in the TVZ: the 1.21 Ma Ongatiti (>500 km3) and the 1.0 Ma Kidnappers (~1200 km3), together with the smaller (~200 km3) 1.0 Ma Rocky Hill eruption from the Mangakino Volcanic Centre (MVC).  Crystallisation histories determined through SIMS U-Pb dating of zircons reveal that the paired Kidnappers and Rocky Hill eruptions were products of a common magmatic system, which built over ~200 kyr, in the time break after the Ongatiti eruption. U-Pb age spectra from the Ongatiti show a protracted crystallisation history (over ~250 kyr), in which the majority of zircon crystallised ~100 kyr prior to eruption in a crystal mush. Zircons then ascended with melt during accumulation of the final erupted magma body in the shallow crust. Zircons remained stable in the melt dominant body but underwent little further crystallisation. Zircons from all three systems record common geochemical processes governed by the fractionating assemblage (predominantly plagioclase and amphibole). In particular, the MREE/HREE ratios and Sr concentrations of zircons from the Ongatiti record imply two contrasting source regions governed by different proportions of crystallising amphibole.  The in-situ major and trace element chemistry of glass shards and crystals from the Kidnappers fall deposit reveal that magma within the Kidnappers was stored in three discrete bodies, which were systematically tapped during the early stages of eruption. Temperature and pressure (T-P) estimates from amphibole and Fe-Ti oxide equilibria from each magma type are similar and therefore the three magma bodies were adjacent, not vertically stacked, in the crust. Amphibole model T-P estimates range from 770 to 840 °C and 90 to 170 MPa corresponding to pre-eruptive storage depths of ~4.0-6.5 km. The systematic evacuation of the three independent magma bodies implies that there was tectonic triggering and linkage of eruptions. The termination of fall deposition and onset of the overlying ignimbrite emplacement marks the point of widespread caldera collapse and the catastrophic evacuation of a wider variety of melt during the Kidnappers eruption.  Pumice compositions from the Kidnappers ignimbrite fall into three groups, two of which (KI-1 and KI-2) can be matched to bodies tapped during the fall phase of the eruption, with the addition of a further discrete batch of lower SiO2 (KI-3) magma. Core-rim textural and chemical variations in major crystal phases (plagioclase, amphibole and orthopyroxene) suggest each compositional group was sourced from a common mush but underwent a unique magmatic history during the development of melt-dominant bodies in the final stages prior to eruption. The field relationships and distinctive appearance of the Rocky Hill ignimbrite (~200 km3 DRE) and the underlying Kidnappers ignimbrite suggests that the two deposits are from distinct eruption events. However, major and trace element chemistry of matrix glass, coupled with the textural and chemical signatures of crystals suggests the magma erupted during the Rocky Hill was generated from the same source or mush zone as the Kidnappers. The two largest melt-dominant bodies (KI-1 and KI-2) within the Kidnappers were renewed, underwent mixing and incorporation of marginal material to form two magma types (RH-1 and RH-2) in the time break prior to the Rocky Hill eruption.  Fe-Mg interdiffusion timescales in orthopyroxenes from the Kidnappers and Rocky Hill deposits suggest the establishment of the final melt-dominant bodies, through extraction of melt and crystals from a common mush, occurred within 1000 years, and peaked within centuries of each eruption. In addition, one discrete batch of Kidnappers melt has evidence for interaction with a lesser evolved melt within 50 yrs prior to eruption. This rejuvenation event was not the eruption trigger but may have primed the magma for eruption. The difference in timescales from common zones from both the Kidnappers and Rocky Hill orthopyroxene, recording the same processes reveal the time break between the two eruptions was ~20-40 years. This work highlights the rapidity of rejuvenation and renewal of the melt-dominant bodies within the Kidnappers/Rocky Hill magmatic system.  The textural and in-situ compositional signatures of crystals from the Ongatiti ignimbrite imply the final erupted magma body was assembled from a thermally and chemically zoned mush, which extended to the base of the quartzofeldspathic crust (~15km). The mush was close to water saturation and was dominated by amphibole crystallisation. Melt and crystals (including the majority of zircons) were extracted from the mush and ascended to 4-6 km depths during the development of a crystal-rich (20-30%), but melt-dominant body. Significant crystallisation of plagioclase (and lesser proportions of orthopyroxene and amphibole) occurred in an event involving the gradual heating and/or increase of water in the rhyolite, from a broadly andesitic underplated magma. Homogeneous crystal rim and matrix glass compositions imply the final erupted volume of magma was effectively mixed through convection. Eu/Eu* values of whole-rock and matrix glass suggest little crystal-melt separation occurred in the melt-dominant magma body prior to eruption.  This work has implications for understanding the generation, storage and eruption of large-scale silicic magma systems. The Ongatiti ignimbrite does not represent either an erupted mush, or a stratified magma chamber, suggesting an alternative model for the development of eruptible magma within large-scale silicic systems. The Kidnappers/Rocky Hill sequence records a complex interplay of multiple melt-dominant bodies, which were established and renewed on rapid timescales. The rapid timescales for the development of melt-dominant bodies and the systematic tapping of magmas in the Kidnappers/Rocky Hill system imply that tectonics may have had a strong external control on the eruptions at Mangakino.</p>

scholarly journals The emplacement and crystallization of the U–Th–REE-rich agpaitic and hyperagpaitic lujavrites at Kvanefjeld, Ilímaussaq alkaline complex, South Greenland

2011 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 69-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henning Sørensen ◽  
John C. Bailey ◽  
John Rose Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Magma Chamber ◽  
Alkaline Complex ◽  
Magma Body ◽  
North West ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Impervious Cover ◽  
The North ◽  
Residual Elements ◽  
Roof Rocks

The U–Th–REE deposit located at the Kvanefjeld plateau in the north-west corner of the Ilímaussaq alkaline complex, South Greenland, consists of lujavrites which are melanocratic agpaitic nepheline syenites. The fine-grained lujavrites of the Kvanefjeld plateau can be divided into a northern and a southern part with an intermediate zone between them. The northern part is situated along the north contact of the Ilímaussaq complex and continues east of the Kvanefjeld plateau as a lujavrite belt along the contact. This part has relatively ‘low’ contents of U, Th, and REE, and hyperagpaitic mineralogy is restricted to its highest-lying parts. The fine-grained lujavrites of the intermediate and southern part of the Kvanefjeld plateau occur between and below huge masses of country rocks which we show are practically in situ remnants of the roof of the lujavrite magma chamber. These lujavrites have high contents of U, Th, and REE, and hyperagpaitic varieties with naujakasite, steenstrupine and villiaumite are widespread. We present a model for the formation of the fine-grained lujavrites of the Kvanefjeld plateau. In this model, an off-shoot from the large lujavrite magma body in the central part of the complex intruded into a fracture zone along the north contact of the Ilímaussaq complex and was forcefully emplaced from north-west to south-east. The intruding lujavrite magma was bounded to the west, north, and at its roof by strong volcanic country rocks, and to the south by the weaker, earlier rocks of the complex. The magma stored in the fracture crystallized, squeezing volatile and residual ele-ments upwards. A subsequent violent explosion opened up fractures in the weaker southern rocks, and the residual volatile-enriched magma was squeezed into fractures in augite syenite, naujaite, and also in the overlying volcanic roof rocks. The removal of the volatile-rich lujavrite magma in the upper part of the fracture-bounded magma chamber made room for the rise of volatile-poor magma from the lower part of the magma chamber, and these lujavrites crystallized to form the northern continuous lujavrite belt. Transfer and accumulation of volatile and residual elements in a lujavrite magma crystallizing below an impervious cover played a key role in the formation of the Kvanefjeld U–Th–REE deposit, as it also did in the crystallization of the lujavrite magma body in the central part of the Ilímaussaq complex.

Spectro-mechanical Characterization of Aromaticity and Maturity of Kerogens in Oil Shale at 6 nm Spatial Resolution

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devon Jakob ◽  
Le Wang ◽  
Haomin Wang ◽  
Xiaoji Xu
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Oil Shale ◽  
Infrared Imaging ◽  
Mechanical Characterization ◽  
Optical Diffraction ◽  
Chemical Compositions ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Eagle Ford Shale

<p>In situ measurements of the chemical compositions and mechanical properties of kerogen help understand the formation, transformation, and utilization of organic matter in the oil shale at the nanoscale. However, the optical diffraction limit prevents attainment of nanoscale resolution using conventional spectroscopy and microscopy. Here, we utilize peak force infrared (PFIR) microscopy for multimodal characterization of kerogen in oil shale. The PFIR provides correlative infrared imaging, mechanical mapping, and broadband infrared spectroscopy capability with 6 nm spatial resolution. We observed nanoscale heterogeneity in the chemical composition, aromaticity, and maturity of the kerogens from oil shales from Eagle Ford shale play in Texas. The kerogen aromaticity positively correlates with the local mechanical moduli of the surrounding inorganic matrix, manifesting the Le Chatelier’s principle. In situ spectro-mechanical characterization of oil shale will yield valuable insight for geochemical and geomechanical modeling on the origin and transformation of kerogen in the oil shale.</p>

Chemistry and Differentiation of Mafic Dikes in an area near Fiskenaesset, West Greenland

1975 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 721-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgio Rivalenti
Keyword(s):  
Trace Element ◽  
Magma Chamber ◽  
Trace Element Geochemistry ◽  
Element Geochemistry ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Olivine Tholeiite ◽  
Three Generations ◽  
Upward Displacement ◽  
Crustal Magma

In the Fiskenaesset region (West Greenland), there are three generations of postorogenic doleritic dikes of tholeiitic affinity. Two types of differentiation are evident: (a) laterally from the contacts to center and vertically, with the upper centres of the youngest generation of dikes attaining an andesitic or rhyolitic composition; and (b) between the different generations of dikes.Major and trace element geochemistry and calculations of the cumulus composition indicate that the differentiation within dikes is due not to flow, but to a shallow crustal fractionation of an olivine tholeiite magma. The differentiation between the various generations is attributed to fractionation of an olivine tholeiite magma during its upward displacement from a deep crustal magma chamber.

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