Search

A correct description and quantification of the geochemical behaviour of REE+Y (rare earth elements and Y) and HFSE (high field strength elements) is a key requirement for modelling petrological and volcanological aspects of magma dynamics. In this context, mafic alkaline magmas (MAM) are characterized by the ubiquitous stability of clinopyroxene from mantle depths to shallow crustal levels. On one hand, clinopyroxene incorporates REE+Y/HFSE at concentration levels that are much higher than those measured for olivine, plagioclase, and magnetite. On the other hand, the composition of clinopyroxene is highly sensitive to variations in pressure, temperature, and melt-water content, according to exchange-equilibria between jadeite and melt, and between jadeite/Ca-Tschermak and diopside-hedenbergite. As a consequence, the dependence of the partition coefficient on the physicochemical state of the system results in a variety of DREE+Y/DHFSE values that are sensitive to the magmatic conditions at which clinopyroxenes nucleate and grow. In order to better explore magma dynamics using clinopyroxene, a new P-T-H2O-lattice strain model specific to MAM compositions has been developed. The model combines a set of refined clinopyroxene-based barometric, thermometric and hygrometric equations with thermodynamically-derived expressions for the three lattice strain parameters, i.e., the strain-free partition coefficient (D0), the site radius (r0), and the effective elastic modulus (E).

Changes in magmatic assemblages and crystal stability as a response of CO2 flushing in basaltic systems have been never directly addressed experimentally, making the role of CO2 in magma dynamics still controversial and object of scientific debate. We conducted a series of experiments to understand the response of magmas from Etna volcano to CO2 flushing. We performed a first experiment at 300 MPa to synthesize a starting material composed of crystals of some hundreds of m and melt pools. This material is representative of an initial magmatic assemblage composed of plagioclase, clinopyroxene and a water undersaturated melt. In a second step, the initial assemblage was equilibrated at 300 and 100 MPa with fluids having different XCO2fl . Our experiments demonstrate that flushing basaltic systems with fluids may drastically affect crystal textures and phase equilibria depending on the amount of H2O and CO2 in the fluid phase. Since texture and crystal proportions are among the most important parameters governing the rheology of magmas, fluid flushing will also influence magma ascent to the Earths surface. The experimental results open new perspectives to decipher the textural and compositional record of minerals observed in volcanic rocks from Mt. Etna, and at the same time offer the basis for interpreting the information preserved in minerals from other basaltic volcanoes erupting magmas enriched in CO2.

Incorporation mechanisms of H_2 in silica glass were studied with Raman and infrared (IR) microspectroscopy. Hydrogenated samples were prepared at temperatures between 800 deg C and 955 deg C at 2 kbar total pressure. Hydrogen fugacities (f_{H_2}) were controlled using the double capsule technique with the iron-w\"ustite (IW) buffer assemblage generating f_{H_2} of 1290-1370 bars corresponding to H_2 partial pressures (P_{H_2}) of 960-975 bars. We found that silica glass hydrogenated under such conditions contains molecular hydrogen (H_2) in addition to SiH and SiOH groups. H_2 molecules dissolved in the quenched glasses introduce a band at 4136 cm^{-1} in the Raman spectra which in comparison to that of gaseous H_2 is wider and is shifted to lower frequency. IR spectra of hydrogenated samples contain a band at 4138 cm^{-1} which we assign to the stretching vibration of H_2 molecules located in non-centrosymmetric sites. The Raman and IR spectra indicate that the dissolved H_2 molecules interact with the silicate network. We suggest that the H_2 band is the envelope of at least three components due to the occupation of at least three different interstitial sites by H_2 molecules. Both, Raman and IR spectra of hydrogenated glasses contain bands at ~2255 cm^{-1} which may be due to the vibration of SiH groups.

A dome from Lipari Island (Southern Italy) consists of 12 vol. percent of circular, elongated and folded latitic enclaves hosted in a rhyolitic matrix. The dm- to cm-scale enclaves are more deformed than the mm-scale blobs. The critical value of the ratio between the viscous forces, which allow deformation and eventually break up blobs of latitic magma, and the interfacial tension forces is larger than 0.29. The Reynolds number is < 5.3. The equivalent radius and the axial ratio of the enclaves follow power-law distributions. This feature suggests that the break up and stretching of magmas are non-linear, scale-invariant, probably cyclic processes. The coexistence of enclaves of different shape and the self-similar size distributions suggest that chaotic advection plays a major role in the formation of mingled magmas. Caution must be used when measuring the finite strain from enclave shapes because they may break apart during the deformation., Comment: to be printed on Geophysical Research Letters