ALBERT

Description: The Kidnappers [~1200 km 3 dense rock equivalent (DRE)] and Rocky Hill (~200 km 3 DRE) caldera-forming events in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand, were erupted in close succession from the Mangakino volcanic centre. They have identical radiometric ages at ~1 Ma, yet erosion along the contact between the two deposits suggests that some years to decades separated the two eruptions. Field constraints and the similarities of crystal textures and compositions and glass chemistries of both eruption deposits demonstrate that they came from one overall magmatic system with a common crystal mush source. However, second-order variations in these parameters confirm that the Kidnappers and Rocky Hill deposits represent distinct events and are not the products of a single zoned magma chamber. The systematically zoned Kidnappers fall deposits provide evidence for the tapping of three discrete magma bodies, whereas the succeeding Kidnappers ignimbrite is compositionally more diverse. The transition from fall to flow deposition marks a change in the style of caldera collapse and the simultaneous evacuation of discrete but compositionally diverse melts, each of which underwent a distinct evolution and was held at slightly different P–T conditions prior to eruption. Contrasting plagioclase and orthopyroxene zonation patterns are present in pumices originating from three discrete magma bodies. Less evolved mafic melts interacted with the system, which mobilized portions of the final erupted melt through heating and volatile or chemical exchange in the mush. The two largest Kidnappers melt-dominant bodies were re-tapped in modified form, or re-established from their common mush source, prior to the Rocky Hill event. Rocky Hill pumices contain common, fluid-affected antecrystic crystal clots derived from chamber wall material. Amphibole compositions from each eruption reflect melt evolution processes and, in particular, the contemporaneous crystallization of biotite and breakdown of orthopyroxene. Plagioclase and orthopyroxene from Rocky Hill pumices share common zonation patterns with those from the two largest magma bodies in the Kidnappers. The rapid production of new melt-dominant bodies and the triggering of the Rocky Hill eruption reflect the ability of the magmatic system to rejuvenate on a geologically short timescale. The Mangakino centre did not follow a typical cycle of decreased activity after the supervolcanic Kidnappers event, instead producing a second caldera-forming eruption, within years to decades from the same system.

Description: The geochemistry of pyroclasts sampled from four volcanoes along the Kermadec arc in the SW Pacific is used to investigate the genesis of silicic magmas in a young (〈2 Myr), archetypical intra-oceanic arc setting. Raoul, Macauley and Raoul SW volcanoes in the northern Kermadec arc, and Healy volcano in the southern Kermadec arc have all recently erupted dacitic to rhyolitic crystal-poor pumice. In addition to whole-rock analyses, we present a detailed study of mineral and glass chemistries to highlight the complex structure of the Kermadec magmatic systems. Major and trace element bulk-rock compositions mostly fall into relatively narrow compositional ranges, forming discrete groups by eruption for Raoul, and varying with relative crystal contents for Healy. In contrast, pumices from Macauley cover a wide range of compositions, between 66 and 72·5 wt % SiO 2 . At all four volcanoes the trace element patterns of pumice are subparallel to both those of previously erupted basalts and/or whole mafic blebs found both as discrete pyroclasts and as inclusions within pumices. Pb and Sr isotopic compositions have limited ranges within single volcanoes, but vary considerably along the arc, being more radiogenic in the southern volcanoes. Distinctive crystal populations and zonation patterns in pumices, mafic blebs and plutonic xenoliths indicate that many crystals did not grow in the evolved magmas, but are instead mixed from other sources including gabbros and hydrothermally altered tonalites. Such open-system mixing is ubiquitous at the four volcanoes. Oxygen isotope compositions of both phenocrysts (silicic origin) and xenocrysts or antecrysts (mafic origin) are typical for mantle-derived melts. Whole-rock, glass and mineral chemistries are consistent with evolved magmas being generated at each volcano through ~70–80% crystal fractionation of a basaltic parent. Our results are not consistent with silicic magma generation via crustal anatexis, as previously suggested for these Kermadec arc volcanoes. Although crystallization is the dominant process driving melt evolution in the Kermadec volcanoes, we show that the magmatic systems are open to contributions from both newly arriving melts and wholly crystalline plutonic bodies. Such processes occur in variable proportions between magma batches, and are largely reflected in small-scale chemical variations between eruption units.

Description: New geochemical and isotopic data are presented for volumetrically minor, depleted low-Ti basalts that occur in the Plateau Basalt succession of central East Greenland (CEG), formed during the initial stages of opening of the North Atlantic at 55 Ma. The basalts have mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB)-like geochemistry (e.g. depleted light rare earth elements) and are distinct from the high-Ti lavas that dominate the sequence. Rare earth element geochemistry implies derivation from a source more depleted than the typical MORB source, and suggests polybaric melting and contributions from both spinel- and garnet-facies mantle. The low-Ti basalts have Sr–Nd–Pb–Hf isotopic characteristics that are similar to those of depleted magmas from Iceland (e.g. Theistareykir) and adjacent ridges (Kolbeinsey and Reykjanes) and distinct from global MORB (e.g. negative 207 Pb, and Hf and Nd isotope compositions that plot above the mantle reference line). Isotope and trace element data indicate the involvement of two depleted source components. One component has isotopic compositions similar to other depleted components identified in the North Atlantic and has high Rb/Zr and Ba/Nb. The second is isotopically less depleted with lower Rb/Zr and Ba/Nb. Small degrees of crustal contamination (〈 1%) by both amphibolitic and granulitic crust result in relatively large changes in isotopic composition ( c . 1% lower for 206 Pb/ 204 Pb and 0·1% higher for 87 Sr/ 86 Sr depending on the contaminant). Negative Nb suggests a MORB affinity for the low-Ti magmas; however, they are distinguished from global normal (N)-MORB on the basis of vertical deviations from the Northern Hemisphere Reference Line (negative 207 Pb and positive 208 Pb), and relative enrichments in Ba, Sr and Pb. The isotopic compositions of the low-Ti CEG basalts suggest correlation with modern depleted components beneath Iceland and adjacent ridges, considered to be derived from upper mantle sources polluted by the Iceland plume. However, small positive Pb peaks when normalized to MORB, and lower Nb distinguish the CEG low-Ti basalts from depleted Icelandic compositions. The lower Nb (〈 0) and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr, and suggestion of higher 206 Pb/ 204 Pb in crustally uncontaminated parental melts imply a closer affinity to compositions from the oceanic ridges surrounding Iceland (especially the Reykjanes Ridge), yet they are subtly distinct on the basis of available trace element data. We suggest that this depleted component was an integral part of the plume that melted primarily during the rapid lithospheric uplift and extension associated with continental break-up.

Description: One hypothesis for the origin of alkaline lavas erupted on oceanic islands and in intracontinental settings is that they represent the melts of amphibole-rich veins in the lithosphere (or melts of their dehydrated equivalents if metasomatized lithosphere is recycled into the convecting mantle). Amphibole-rich veins are interpreted as cumulates produced by crystallization of low-degree melts of the underlying asthenosphere as they ascend through the lithosphere. We present the results of trace-element modelling of the formation and melting of veins formed in this way with the goal of testing this hypothesis and for predicting how variability in the formation and subsequent melting of such cumulates (and adjacent cryptically and modally metasomatized lithospheric peridotite) would be manifested in magmas generated by such a process. Because the high-pressure phase equilibria of hydrous near-solidus melts of garnet lherzolite are poorly constrained and given the likely high variability of the hypothesized accumulation and remelting processes, we used Monte Carlo techniques to estimate how uncertainties in the model parameters (e.g. the compositions of the asthenospheric sources, their trace-element contents, and their degree of melting; the modal proportions of crystallizing phases, including accessory phases, as the asthenospheric partial melts ascend and crystallize in the lithosphere; the amount of metasomatism of the peridotitic country rock; the degree of melting of the cumulates and the amount of melt derived from the metasomatized country rock) propagate through the process and manifest themselves as variability in the trace-element contents and radiogenic isotopic ratios of model vein compositions and erupted alkaline magma compositions. We then compare the results of the models with amphibole observed in lithospheric veins and with oceanic and continental alkaline magmas. While the trace-element patterns of the near-solidus peridotite melts, the initial anhydrous cumulate assemblage (clinopyroxene ± garnet ± olivine ± orthopyroxene), and the modelled coexisting liquids do not match the patterns observed in alkaline lavas, our calculations show that with further crystallization and the appearance of amphibole (and accessory minerals such as rutile, ilmenite, apatite, etc.) the calculated cumulate assemblages have trace-element patterns that closely match those observed in the veins and lavas. These calculated hydrous cumulate assemblages are highly enriched in incompatible trace elements and share many similarities with the trace-element patterns of alkaline basalts observed in oceanic or continental setting such as positive Nb/La, negative Ce/Pb, and similiar slopes of the rare earth elements. By varying the proportions of trapped liquid and thus simulating the cryptic and modal metasomatism observed in peridotite that surrounds these veins, we can model the variations in Ba/Nb, Ce/Pb, and Nb/U ratios that are observed in alkaline basalts. If the isotopic compositions of the initial low-degree peridotite melts are similar to the range observed in mid-ocean ridge basalt, our model calculations produce cumulates that would have isotopic compositions similar to those observed in most alkaline ocean island basalt (OIB) and continental magmas after ~0·15 Gyr. However, to produce alkaline basalts with HIMU isotopic compositions requires much longer residence times (i.e. 1–2 Gyr), consistent with subduction and recycling of metasomatized lithosphere through the mantle. EM magmas cannot readily be explained without appealing to other factors such as a heterogeneous asthenosphere. These modelling results support the interpretation proposed by various researchers that amphibole-bearing veins represent cumulates formed during the differentiation of a volatile-bearing low-degree peridotite melt and that these cumulates are significant components of the sources of alkaline OIB and continental magmas. The results of the forward models provide the potential for detailed tests of this class of hypotheses for the origin of alkaline magmas worldwide and for interpreting major and minor aspects of the geochemical variability of these magmas.

Description: We conducted 1 atm experiments on a synthetic Hawaiian picrite at f O 2 values ranging from the quartz–fayalite–magnetite (QFM) buffer to air and temperatures ranging from 1302 to 1600°C. Along the QFM buffer, olivine is the liquidus phase at ~1540°C and small amounts of spinel (〈 0·2 wt %) are present in experiments conducted at and below 1350°C. The olivine becomes progressively more ferrous with decreasing temperature [Fo 92 · 3 to Fo 87 · 3 , where Fo = 100 x Mg/(Mg + Fe), atomic]; compositions of coexisting liquids reflect the mode and composition of the olivine with concentrations of SiO 2 , TiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 , and CaO increasing monotonically with decreasing temperature, those of NiO and MgO decreasing, and FeO* (all Fe as FeO) remaining roughly constant. An empirical relationship based on our data, T (°C) = 19·2 x (MgO in liquid, wt %) + 1048, provides a semi-quantitative geothermometer applicable to a range of Hawaiian magma compositions. The olivine–liquid exchange coefficient, = (FeO/MgO) ol /(FeO/MgO) liq , is 0·345 ± 0·009 (1 ) for our 11 experiments. A literature database of 446 1 atm experiments conducted within 0·25 log units of the QFM buffer (QFM ± 0·25) yields a median of 0·34; values from single experiments range from 0·41 to 0·13 and are correlated with SiO 2 and alkalis in the liquid, as well as the forsterite (Fo) content of the olivine. For 78 experiments with broadly tholeiitic liquid compositions (46–52 wt % SiO 2 and ≤ 3 wt % Na 2 O + K 2 O) coexisting with Fo 92 – 80 olivines, and run near QFM (QFM ± 0·25), is approximately independent of composition with a median value of 0·340 ± 0·012 (error is the mean absolute deviation of the 78 olivine–glass pairs from the database that meet these compositional criteria), a value close to the mean value of 0·343 ± 0·008 from our QFM experiments. Thus, over the composition range encompassed by Hawaiian tholeiitic lavas and their parental melts, ~ 0·34 and, given the redox conditions and a Fo content for the most magnesian olivine phenocrysts, a parental melt composition can be reconstructed. The calculated compositions of the parental melts are sensitive to the input parameters, decreasing by ~1 wt % MgO for every log unit increase in the selected f O 2 , every 0·5 decrease in the Fo-number of the target olivine, and every 0·015 decrease in . For plausible ranges in redox conditions and Fo-number of the most MgO-rich olivine phenocrysts, the parental liquids for Hawaiian tholeiites are highly magnesian, in the range of 19–21 wt % MgO for Kilauea, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.

Description: We measured Ni partitioning between olivine and melt, , in experiments on mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) encapsulated in olivine at pressures from 1 atm to 3·0 GPa and temperatures from 1400 to 1550°C. We present a series of experiments where the temperature ( T ) at each pressure ( P ) was selected so that the liquid composition remained approximately constant over the entire P–T range. This approach allowed us to investigate the effects of T and P on , independent of substantial changes in liquid composition. Our experiments show that for a liquid with ~18 wt % MgO, decreases from 5·0 to 3·8 as the temperature increases from 1400 to 1550°C. Fitting our experimental results and literature data to thermodynamic expressions for as a function of both temperature and liquid composition shows that the small variations in liquid composition in our experiments account for little of the observed variation of . Because the changes in volume and heat capacity of the exchange reaction are small, , the Ni partition coefficient on a molar basis, is well described by with = 4375 K and = –2·023 for our data ( = 4338 K and = –1·956 for our experiments combined with a compilation of literature data). This expression is easy to use and applicable to a wide range of pressures, temperatures, and phase compositions. Based on our results and data from the literature, the temperature dependence of leads to the prediction that when a deep partial melt from a peridotitic mantle source is brought to low pressure and cooled, the first Mg-rich olivines to crystallize can have significantly higher NiO contents than those in the residual source from which the melt was extracted. This enrichment in Ni is driven by the difference between the temperature of low-pressure crystallization and the temperature of melt extraction from the residue. The average observed enrichment of Ni in forsteritic olivine phenocrysts from Hawaii—relative to the typical olivines from mantle peridotites—is consistent with a simple scenario of high-temperature partial melting of an olivine-bearing source at the base of the lithosphere followed by low-temperature crystallization of olivine. The most extreme enrichments of Ni in Hawaiian olivine phenocrysts and the lower Ni contents of some olivines can also be explained by the known variability of Ni contents of olivines from mantle peridotites via the same simple scenario. Although we cannot rule out alternative hypotheses for producing the high-Ni olivines observed in Hawaii and elsewhere, these processes or materials are unnecessary to account for NiO enrichments in olivine. The absolute temperature, in addition to the difference between the temperature of melt segregation from the residue and the temperature of low-pressure crystallization, is a significant factor in determining the degree of Ni enrichment in olivine phenocrysts relative to the olivines in the mantle source. The moderate Ni enrichment observed in most komatiitic olivines compared with those of Hawaii may result from the higher absolute temperatures required to generate MgO-rich komatiitic melts. Observed NiO enrichments in early crystallizing komatiitic olivine are consistent with their high temperatures of crystallization and with a deep origin for the komatiite parental melts.

Description: We describe a 2.5-D, frequency domain, viscoelastic waveform tomography algorithm for imaging with seismograms of teleseismic body and surface waves recorded by quasi-linear arrays. The equations of motion are discretized with p -adaptive finite elements that allow for geometric flexibility and accurate solutions as a function of wavelength. Artificial forces are introduced into the media by specifying a known wavefield along the model edges and solving for the corresponding scattered field. Because of the relatively low frequency content of teleseismic data, regional scale tectonic settings can be parametrized with a modest number of variables and perturbations can be determined directly from a regularized Gauss–Newton system of equations. Waveforms generated by the forward problem compare well with analytic solutions for simple 1-D and 2-D media. Tests of different approaches to the inverse problem show that the use of an approximate Hessian serves to properly focus the scattered field. We also find that while full waveform inversion can provide significantly better resolution than standard techniques for both body and surface wave tomography modelled individually, joint inversion both enhances resolution and mitigates potential artefacts.