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Oldoinyo Lengai is probably most famous for being the only active volcano on Earth which is erupting natrocarbonatitic magma. However, the mildly explosive natrocarbonatitic activity is alternating with highly explosive, nephelinitic eruptions of which the most recent episode occurred in September 2007 (and lasted until April 2008). Here we present petrographic observations, mineral chemistry as well as major- and trace element analyses of samples covering the evolution of the eruption with time. In the early phases of the eruption, the phenocryst assemblages are dominated by the carbonate minerals nyerereite and gregoryite, but as the eruption progresses the mineralogy becomes dominated by silicate minerals like nepheline, pyroxene, garnet, alumoåkermanite, combeite and wollastonite. The observed major- and trace element variations during the 2007–2008 eruption indicate mixing between a natrocarbonatitic magma and a combeite–wollastonite-bearing nephelinitic magma (CWN), with higher portions of natrocarbonatite in the early stages of the eruption. Euhedral and uncorroded clinopyroxene crystals are abundant in the late 2007 deposits but quickly start to break-down and corrode as the eruption continues, indicating that the natrocarbonatite and the CWN are not in fact conjugate magmas derived from a single magma reservoir, but must have evolved separately in the crust from the point of immiscibility. When these magmas interact beneath the volcano, a hybrid silicate magma forms (where clinopyroxene is no longer stable) and the composition of this hybrid causes the overall solubility of CO 2 in the system to decrease drastically. This results in rapid exsolution of CO 2 ( g ) which is allowed to expand during ascent, and we conclude that this is most likely the reason behind the unexpected vigor in the explosive eruptions of Oldoinyo Lengai. This massive release of CO 2 during ascent may also explain the petrographic features of the pyroclasts as these are dominated by near-spherical droplets with moderate vesicularities, indicative of being transported in a hot gas-stream/jet in the upper conduit and forming an aerosol-type spray. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Lake Natron–Engaruka Monogenetic Volcanic Field (LNE-MVF) in northern Tanzania consists of more than 150 vents of Upper Pleistocene to Holocene age that are scattered over an area of 2500km2. Here we describe the petrological characteristics of these eruptions in detail and link the magma chemistry to eruptive behavior when the magmas reach the surface. Erupted magmas are predominantly of melilititic or nephelinitic compositions (70 and 25%, respectively), together with minor amounts of basanites (5%). The melilititic magmas form by small degrees (1–2%) of partial melting of a metasomatized upper-mantle source (containing 1–4% garnet together with both amphibole and phlogopite). The melilitites ascend very rapidly through the lithosphere prior to eruption minimizing the effect of fractional crystallization and/or crustal contamination. These eruptions also frequently carry relatively large amounts of mantle debris to the surface which is also reflected in their bulk-rock compositions. The nephelinitic rock suite, on the other hand, forms by larger degrees of melting (2–4%) at higher levels of the sub-continental lithosphere containing less garnet (≪1%). The scarcity of mantle debris in the nephelinitic eruption deposits, combined with the more evolved magma chemistry, indicates ponding in crustal reservoirs en-route to the surface. For many of the nephelinitic magmas this ponding resulted in fractional crystallization of predominantly olivine, which is also one of the principal phenocryst phases in these rocks. However, these periods of residence in the crust must have been short as none of the investigated rocks show any clear evidence of being affected by crustal contamination. Within the LNE-MVF a rough correlation between magma chemistry and resulting volcanic landforms is recognized. Large maar volcanoes and tuff cones/rings are predominantly of melilititic composition, whereas the nephelinites typically form scoria cones. This is attributed to the fact that melilititic magmas can hold more CO2 dissolved in the liquid compared to nephelinites, in combination with a rapid ascent from the upper mantle to the surface for the melilitites (<1–2days). We interpret the violent exsolution of CO2 (in response to rapid decompression) to be responsible for the higher explosivity of the melilititic eruptions compared to the nephelinitic magmas within the LNE-MVF. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Ashes from Oldoinyo Lengai were collected four days after the onset of the recent explosive episode (i.e., on September 7th 2007). The ash is composed of poorly-vesicular natrocarbonatite droplets, vesicular microcrystalline nephelinite shards, and a mixed variety containing both silicate and carbonate minerals in variable proportions. Simple mixing calculations show that the whole-rock composition of the ashes can be explained by mixing natrocarbonatite and nephelinite magmas with a ratio of 4:1. The dominant silicate minerals are clinopyroxene, nepheline, Ti-andradite, wollastonite and alumoåkermanite. Ti-magnetite is the most common oxide mineral. This mineral assemblage is similar to that present in the 1966 eruption products. In contrast to the 1966–1967 explosive eruption where clinopyroxene is resorbed and corroded, the ashfall from September 7th contains a large amount of euhedral clinopyroxene crystals, suggesting that magma mixing was heterogeneous and incomplete in this initial stage of the eruption. This is also supported by the petrography of the ashes. The composition of the dominant carbonate minerals (i.e., gregoryite and nyerereite) and the fluidal textures of the natrocarbonatite droplets suggest mixing of higher-viscosity nephelinite and low-viscosity natrocarbonatite magmas. Characteristic carbonate minerals produced by alteration cannot be found in the ashes. This suggests limited interaction with the older, pre-existing, natrocarbonatites inside the summit crater of the volcano. The carbonate minerals show textural evidence of being partially resorbed into the hotter nephelinitic magma. At least part of this decomposition of carbonate phases (releasing CO2 and contributing to increased explosivity) must have occurred within the volcanic edifice such that the released gas is allowed to expand during decompression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a paroxysmal ash eruption on 4 September 2007 and the highly explosive activity continuing in 2008, Oldoinyo Lengai (OL) has dramatically changed its behavior, crater morphology, and magma composition after 25 years of quiet extrusion of fluid natrocarbonatite lava. This explosive activity resembles the explosive phases of 1917, 1940-1941, and 1966-1967, which were characterized by mixed ashes with dominantly nephelinitic and natrocarbonatitic components. Ash and lapilli from the 2007-2008 explosive phase were collected on the slopes of OL as well as on the active cinder cone, which now occupies the entire north crater having buried completely all earlier natrocarbonatite features. The lapilli and ash samples comprise nepheline, wollastonite, combeite, Na-åkermanite, Ti-andradite, resorbed pyroxene and Fe-Ti oxides, and a Na-Ca carbonate phase with high but varying phosphorus contents which is similar, but not identical, to the common gregoryite phenocrysts in natrocarbonatite. Lapilli from the active cone best characterize the erupted material as carbonated combeite-wollastonite-melilite nephelinite. The juvenile components represent a fundamentally new magma composition for OL, containing 25-30 wt.% SiO, with 7-11 wt.% CO, high alkalies (NaO 15-19%, KO 4-5%), and trace-element signatures reminiscent of natrocarbonatite enrichments. These data define an intermediate composition between natrocarbonatite and nephelinite, with about one third natrocarbonatite and two thirds nephelinite component. The data are consistent with a model in which the carbonated silicate magma has evolved from the common combeite-wollastonite nephelinite (CWN) of OL by enrichment of CO and alkalies and is close to the liquid immiscible separation of natrocarbonatite from carbonated nephelinite. Material ejected in April/May 2008 indicates reversion to a more common CWN composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]