Explosive activity on Kīlauea’s Lower East Rift Zone fuelled by a volatile-rich, dacitic melt

Magmas with matrix glass compositions ranging from basalt to dacite erupted from a series of 24 fissures in the first two 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, 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 inclusions 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 1955-1960, 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.

Geochemistry of ultramafic–alkaline rocks of the Ziminsky complex (on the example of the Bol’shetagninsky and Beloziminsky massifs) (Eastern Sayan)

The paper compares the elemental composition of alkaline silicate rocks of the Bol’shetagninsky and Beloziminsky massifs, which are part of the Ziminsky complex of ultrabasic rocks and carbonatites. The rocks of the Bol’shetagninsky massif belong to the potassium series and are distinguished by increased concentrations of large ionic lithophilic elements; in the rocks of the Beloziminsky massif, the rocks of the sodium series predominate and the contents of highly charged elements are increased. Judging by the lack of correlation between the highly charged elements in alkaline and subalkaline rocks of the Bol’shetagninsky massif, their formation, in contrast to the rocks of the Beloziminsky massif, is not associated with the process of fractional crystallization.

Genesis of the Eastern Adamello Plutons (Northern Italy): Inferences for the Alpine Geodynamics

The Corno Alto–Monte Ospedale magmatic complex crops out at the eastern border of the Adamello batholith, west of the South Giudicarie Fault (NE Italy). This complex includes tonalites, trondhjemites, granodiorites, granites and diorites exhibiting an unfoliated structure suggesting passive intrusion under extensional-to-transtensional conditions. Major, minor elements, REE and isotopic analyses and geochemical and thermodynamic modelling have been performed to reconstruct the genesis of this complex. Geochemical analyses unravel a marked heterogeneity with a lack of intermediate terms. Samples from different crust sections were considered as possible contaminants of a parental melt, with the European crust of the Serre basement delivering the best fit. The results of the thermodynamic modelling show that crustal melts were produced in the lower crust. Results of the geochemical modelling display how Corno Alto felsic rocks are not reproduced by fractional crystallization nor by partial melting alone: their compositions are intermediate between anatectic melts and melts produced by fractional crystallization. The tectonic scenario which favored the intrusion of this complex was characterized by extensional faults, active in the Southalpine domain during Eocene. This extensional scenario is related to the subduction of the Alpine Tethys in the Eastern Alps starting at Late Cretaceous time.

Petrogenesis of contrasting magmatic suites in the Abu Kharif area, Northern Eastern Desert, Egypt: implications for Pan-African crustal evolution and tungsten mineralization

The Abu Kharif area in the Northern Eastern Desert consists of contrasting granitic magma suites: a Cryogenian granodiorite suite (850–635 Ma), an Ediacaran monzogranite suite (635–541 Ma) and a Cambrian alkali riebeckite granite suite (541–485 Ma). Tungsten mineralization occurs within W-bearing quartz veins and a disseminated type confined to the monzogranite. Whole-rock geochemical data classify the granodiorite as a late-orogenic I-type with calc-alkaline affinity, while the monzogranite and alkali riebeckite granite represent respectively a post-orogenic highly fractionated I-type with calc-alkaline affinity and an anorogenic A1-subtype with alkaline affinity. Geochemical modelling indicates that the three intrusions represent separate magmatic pulses where the granodiorite was generated by ∼75 % batch partial melting of an amphibolitic source followed by fractional crystallization of hornblende, biotite, apatite and titanite. The monzogranite was formed by 62 % batch partial melting of the normal ‘non-metasomatized’ Pan-African crust of calc-alkaline granite composition followed by fractional crystallization of plagioclase, biotite, K-feldspar, magnetite, ilmenite, with minor apatite and titanite. The alkali riebeckite granite was generated by 65 % batch partial melting of metasomatized Pan-African granite source followed by fractional crystallization of plagioclase, K-feldspar, amphibole and biotite with minor magnetite, apatite and titanite. In general, the parent magmas of the three intrusions were originally enriched in W, but with different concentrations. This W-enrichment would be caused by magmatic-related hydrothermal volatile-rich fluids and concentrated within the monzogranite.

Petrology, Geochemical Characteristics, Tectonic Setting, and Implications for Chromite and PGE Mineralization of the Hongshishan Alaskan-Type Complex in the Beishan Orogenic Collage, North West China

The Hongshishan mafic-ultramafic complex is situated in the north of the Beishan orogenic collage and the southern part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. This paper outlines the petrological, geochemical, and mineralogical data of the Hongshishan ultramafic–mafic complex in the Beishan orogenic collage to constrain its tectonic setting and mineralization. The lithological units of the complex include dunite, clinopyroxene peridotite, pyroxenite, and gabbro. The complex showed concentric zonation, from clinopyroxene peridotite and dunite in the core to pyroxenite and gabbro in the margin. These ultramafic–mafic rocks are characterized by cumulate and layering textures. Field observations, petrography, and significant elemental composition variation, a decreasing sequence of ferromagnesian minerals (Mg#), olivine Fo, and spinel Cr#, all show fractional crystallization trends from dunites through clinopyroxene peridotite and pyroxenite, to gabbros. There are systematic trends among the primary oxides, e.g., CaO, TiO2, and Al2O3, with MgO, suggesting a fractional crystallization trend. SiO2 and Al2O3 increased, which coupled with decreasing MgO, suggested olivine fractionation. The negative correlations of CaO and Al2O3 with MgO meant the accumulation of spinel and mafic minerals. The compositions of olivines from the dunite and clinopyroxene peridotite in the Hongshishan plot within the Alaskan Global trend fields displayed a typical fractional crystallization trend similar to olivines in an Alaskan-type complex. The clinopyroxenes in the clinopyroxene peridotite primarily occur as a diopside and appear in the field of an Alaskan-type complex. The absence of orthopyroxene, less hydrous, and free of fluid inclusions in the chrome spinels means the absence of a magmatic origin of chromite-bearing peridotites in hydrous parental melts or scarce hydrous melts. Serpentinization, carbonatization, subduction modification, and enrichment may account for the LILE-enrichment and HFSE-depletion of peridotite rocks. Negative Eu anomalies and REE fractionations of mafic-ultramafic rocks may not be directly attributed to crustal assimilation. Petrological, mineralogical, and geochemical characteristics indicated the Hongshishan complex is not the member compositions of a typical ophiolite. However, it displays many similarities to Alaskan-type mafic-ultramafic intrusions related to subduction or arc magmas setting at ∼366.1 Ma and suffered subduction modification and enrichment. The Hongshishan complex is a unique Ir-Ru-rich chromite deposit in the southern margin of the Altaids orogenic belt. Chromites occur primarily in light yellow dunites, with banded, lenticular, veined, thin-bedded, and brecciated textures. Part of the chromite enrichment in IPGE (Os, Ir, Ru) and the chondrite-normalized spider diagram of PGE showed steep right-facing sloped patterns similar to those of the PGE-rich ophiolitic chromites.

Geochemical Insights from Clinopyroxene Phenocrysts into the Magma Evolution of an Alkaline Magmatic System from the Sanshui Basin, South China

The Sanshui Basin is located at the northern continental margin of the South China Sea and characterized by a continental rift basin. The bimodal volcanic rocks in Sanshui Basin record the early Cenozoic magmatic activity in the South China Block, but the magmatic evolution that produced the bimodal volcanic rocks is poorly understood. Clinopyroxenes in bimodal volcanic rocks in the Sanshui Basin provide an opportunity to investigate magma during magma ascent. In this work, we classified nine types of clinopyroxene phenocrysts according to composition and texture in cogenetic basalt-trachyandesite-comenditic trachyte, while the composition of unzoned clinopyroxene have an evolution sequence of diopside-hedenbergite-aegirine along with an increase in trace element contents with a decrease of Mg#, indicating that the genesis of clinopyroxene was dominated by fractional crystallization in a closed magma system. However, the clinopyroxenes with reversed zoning and multiple zoning record the process of magma mixing and recharge indicating an open magma system. While fractional crystallization is the dominant process, magma mixing, recharge, and crystal settling were also found to influence magma evolution. Thermobarometric calculations showed that clinopyroxene crystallized a several structural levels in the crust during magma ascent. In this study, we established a magma plumbing system that provides new constraints for the magma evolution in the Sanshui Basin.