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Today, volcanic sulfur emissions into the atmosphere are measured spectroscopically from the ground, air and space. For eruptions prior to the satellite era, two main sulfur proxies are used, the rock and ice core records, as illustrated by Peccia et al. (2023, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023gl103334). The first approach is based on calculations of the sulfur content of the magma, while the second uses traces of sulfur deposited in ice. Both approaches have their limitations. For glaciochemistry, the volcano responsible for a sulfur anomaly is often unknown and the atmospheric pathway by which the sulfur reached the ice uncertain. The petrologic method relies, too, on uncertain estimates of eruption size and a number of geochemical assumptions that are hard to verify. A deeper knowledge of processes occurring both within magma bodies prior to eruption, and within volcanic plumes in the atmosphere is needed to further our understanding of the impacts of volcanism on climate. Plain Language Summary: Volcanic emissions of sulfur gases during large eruptions can change the global climate. Today, advanced spectroscopic tools allow us to measure sulfur from the ground, air and space. But to understand the impacts of volcanic activity on climate back through history we need to estimate volcanic sulfur releases in other ways. Clues can be found in the pumice deposits found around a volcano and, perhaps more surprisingly, in the ice caps of the polar regions, which receive the eventual fallout from large eruptions. Both approaches have limitations that are addressed in a recent work by Peccia et al. (2023, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023gl103334) and that are at the focus of our commentary. Key Points: The impact of volcanic activity on climate remains difficult to quantify for eruptions prior to the instrumental eraThe petrological and glaciochemical methods each provide answers, but are still fraught with large uncertaintiesWe need to further our understanding of the physicochemical processes occurring both within magma reservoirs and volcanic plumes [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The behavior of Fe3+ during mantle partial melting strongly influences the oxidation state of the resulting magmas, with implications for the evolution of the atmosphere's oxidation state. Here, we challenge a prevailing view that low‐degree partial melts are more oxidized due to the incompatible behavior of Fe3+. Our study is based on measurements of Fe3+/∑Fe along with major, minor, trace and volatile elements in olivine‐ and plagioclase‐hosted melt inclusions of CO2 undersaturated mantle melts in South West Indian Ridge lava. These inclusions record minimum entrapment pressures equivalent to depths up to 10 km below the seafloor, record magma ascent rates of 0.03–0.19 m/s, and display exceptionally high CO2/Ba, CO2/Rb, and CO2/Nb ratios, indicative of a CO2‐rich mantle source. Accounting for fractional crystallization, we find a uniform melt oxidation state (with an Fe3+/ΣFe at 0.140 ± 0.005 at MgO = 10 wt.%) that displays no systematic variation with major, minor, volatile or trace element contents, thus providing no evidence for a relationship between the degree of partial melting and Fe3+/ΣFe. This can be explained by efficient buffering of Fe3+/∑Fe and fO2 of mid‐ocean ridge basalt melts by their surrounding mantle and/or a decrease in the bulk peridotite‐melt Fe2O3 partition coefficient with increasing partial melting. We conclude that changes in the Earth's upper mantle temperature over geological time need not have affected the oxidation state of volcanic products or of the atmosphere. Key Points: Discovery and characterization of a new suite of CO2‐undersaturated melt inclusionsHigh CO2/CITE ratio suggests a CO2‐rich mantle domainNo relation between degree of partial melting and Fe3+/ΣFe indicates efficient buffering or decreasing Fe2O3 partition coefficient with T [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phase equilibrium experiments are essential for robustly and accurately constraining the intensive parameters of magma systems and their fractionation history, which is particularly true for A‐type granites crystallized from H2O‐rich melts and at reducing conditions. Here, we constrain the crystallization conditions of the ferroan (A‐type), Sn‐mineralized Qitianling granite of South China, which formed during a major event of crustal formation and reorganization in the Mesozoic. To characterize the magma system conditions and fractionation, we have carried out a series of experiments on three representative, amphibole‐bearing samples. The experiments were performed at 100–700 MPa (mainly at 200 and 300 MPa), at an fO2 of ~NNO−1.3 (1.3 log unit below the Ni‐NiO buffer) or ~NNO+2.4, at 660 to 900 °C, and at variable H2Omelt (~3–9 wt %). They show that the Qitianling magmas last crystallized at ≥300–350 MPa, at a H2Omelt ≥ 6.5–8.0 wt %, and that magmatic fO2 was ~NNO−1.3 ± 0.5 at above‐solidus conditions. Amphibole texture in the rocks suggests an early crystallization of this mineral, hence that water‐rich (≥4 wt % H2O in melt) conditions prevailed early during the magmatic evolution, prior to amphibole crystallization. At all investigated conditions, amphibole crystallization requires at least 5–6 wt % dissolved H2O, being even absent in the more potassic composition. We interpret this as resulting from the elevated K2O content of the investigated compositions that inhibits amphibole crystallization in metaluminous granitic systems. The experimental liquid line of descent obtained at 200–300 MPa mimics the geochemical trend expressed by the pluton suggesting that fractionation occurred in the upper crustal reservoir. Key Points: A‐type Qitianling magmas were produced at high temperature (>900 °C) and with initial H2Omelt ≥ 4 wt %Crystallization of Qitianling granites occurred at ≥300–350 MPa, NNO−1.3 ± 0.5, and near‐solidus H2O melt ≥ 6.5–8.0 wt %Fractionation of the magmas occurred at or close to the level of final emplacement and crystallization [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modes of magma emplacement may provide key information on geodynamic‐tectonic settings of magmatism, when the threshold of magma volume and duration of emplacement process is crossed, brittle/ductile crustal deformation behavior, and volumes and rates of magma transfer in the crust. The majority of upper‐crustal granitic intrusions are incrementally emplaced as laccoliths or sills, while midcrustal or deeper‐level granitic intrusions appear to be predominantly emplaced as sills or lopoliths, but relatively few examples have been studied. We present a case study on the Jurassic Qitianling pluton from South China, which was constructed in the upper part of the middle crust (at a depth of ~10–15 km). To characterize its emplacement mechanism and evolution, we have combined field and microscopic observations, Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility measurements and Bouguer gravity anomaly modeling. The main findings are (1) the generally undeformed granite‐country rock contacts with a narrow thermal aureole, (2) irregularly wavy and gradational contacts between the main granite facies, (3) dominant subhorizontal magnetic fabrics in the granites with a scattered magnetic foliation, (4) rare occurrence of dykes, and (5) a subcircular surface and lopolith‐like pluton geometry. Accordingly, we suggest that the Qitianling pluton forms an ~25‐km wide and ~5‐km thick lopolith that was incrementally emplaced during a period of tectonic quiescence, most likely by under‐accretion of multiple magma sheets deflected from magma pulses that ascended through pipe‐like channels. The mineralogical and compositional variation of the pluton may be the result of in situ fractionation, fractionation at deeper crustal level, or variation in source‐derived melt compositions. Key Points: The Jurassic Qitianling pluton was emplaced as a lopolith‐ to sill‐like body at the upper part of the middle crust (at ~10–15 km) during a period of tectonic quiescenceThe pluton was constructed by downward accretion of multiple magma pulses ascent along pipe‐like channelsAnisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility is an efficient tool for identifying possible contacts between incrementally emplaced magma pulses [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]