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Using computer physicochemical modeling methods, we determine the mineral compositions of igneous rocks corresponding to latite and trachyte, medium volcanic rocks of the subalkaline series 53 ≤ SiO2 ≤ 64.5 ≤ (Na2O + K2O) ≤ 14. The possibility of modifying the mineral composition of these rocks to enable their use as raw materials for the production of stone ceramics, stone-casting products, and mineral fibers is established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to evaluate the ability of a mixture of gabbro powder and dacite powder to promote plant growth, provide nutrients and alter soil chemical characteristics. Two experiments were conducted under different field conditions, in which black oat and beans were added with increasing doses (0 to 10 t ha-1) of the powder rock blend. The grain yield (beans), dry matter production (oats) and the nutritional status of the crops were evaluated. At the end of the experiments, soil samples were collected and subjected to chemical analysis. The application of the rocks resulted in an increase in bean productivity corresponding to 440 kg ha-1 at the dose of 7 t ha-1 in relation to the control. The application of the blend also resulted in an overall improvement in most commonly fertility parameters used, although this improvement was more evident only for phosphorus, copper, and zinc nutrients. In addition, the application of the rock mixture resulted in an increase in the foliar contents of potassium, zinc, copper, and manganese nutrients. Therefore, the material obtained by the mixture of gabbro and dacite, in the proportion of mixture tested, can be considered a multi-nutrient source with evident agronomic viability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this article, the stress–dilatancy relationship for crushed latite basalt is analysed by using Frictional State Theory. The relationship is bilinear, and the parameters α and β determine these two straight lines. At the initial stage of shearing, the mean normal stress increment mainly influences breakage, but at the advanced stage, it is shear deformation that influences breakage. At the advanced stage of shearing, the parameter αpt represents energy consumption because of breakage and βpt mainly represents changes in volume caused by breakage during shear. It is also shown that breakage effect is significant at small stress levels and the η-Dp plane is important to fully understand the stress–strain behaviour of crushed latite basalt in triaxial compression tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bingham Canyon is one of the world's largest porphyry Cu–Mo–Au deposits and was previously used as an example to emphasize the role of magma mixing and magmatic sulphide saturation in the enhancement of ore fertility of magmatic systems. We analyzed whole rocks, minerals, and silicate melt inclusions (SMI) from the co-genetic, ore-contemporaneous volcanic package (∼38 Ma). As opposed to previous propositions, whole-rock trace element signatures preclude shoshonite–latite genesis via mixing of melanephelinite and trachyte or rhyolite, whereas core to rim compositional profiles of large clinopyroxene phenocrysts suggests the amalgamation of the ore-related magma reservoir by episodic recharge of shoshonitic to latitic magmas with various degrees of differentiation. Major and trace element and Sr and Nd isotopic signatures indicate that the ore-related shoshonite–latite series were generated by low-degree partial melting of an ancient metasomatized mantle source yielding volatile and ore metal rich magmas. Latite and SMI compositions can be reproduced by MELTS modeling assuming 2-step lower and upper crustal fractionation of a primary shoshonite with minimal country rock assimilation. High oxygen fugacities ( ≈ NNO + 1 ) are prevalent as evidenced by olivine-spinel oxybarometry, high SO 3 in apatite, and anhydrite saturation. The magma could therefore carry significantly more S than would have been possible at more reducing conditions, and the extent of ore metal sequestration by magmatic sulphide saturation was minimal. The SMI data show that the latites were Cu rich, with Cu concentrations in the silicate melt reaching up to 300–400 ppm at about 60 wt% SiO 2 . The Au and Ag concentrations are also high (1.5–4 and 50–200 ppb, respectively), but show less variation with SiO 2 . A sudden drop in Cu and S concentrations in the silicate melt at around 65 wt% SiO 2 in the presence of high Cl, Mo, Ag, and Au shows that the onset of effective metal extraction by fluid exsolution occurred at a relatively late stage of magma evolution. Overall, our results show that fluid exsolution during simple magmatic differentiation of oxidized alkaline magmas is capable of producing giant porphyry Cu deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cerro Galán in NW Argentina records > 3.5 Myr of magmatic evolution of a major resurgent caldera complex. Beginning at 5.72 Ma, nine rhyodacitic ignimbrites (68–71 wt% SiO 2 ) with a combined minimum volume of > 1200 km 3 (Dense Rock Equivalent; DRE) have been erupted. The youngest of those ignimbrites is the eponymous, geochemically homogenous, caldera-forming 2.08 ± 0.02 Ma Cerro Galán Ignimbrite (CGI; > 630 km 3 DRE). Following this climactic supereruption, structural and magmatic resurgence led to the formation of a resurgent dome and post-climactic lava domes and their associated pyroclastic deposits. A clear transition from amphibole to sanidine-bearing magmas occurred during the evolution of Cerro Galán and is inferred to represent a shallowing of the magma system. We test this hypothesis here using experimental phase equilibria. We conducted a series of phase equilibria experiments on the post-climactic dome lithologies under H 2 O-saturated conditions using cold seal Waspaloy pressure vessels with an intrinsic log f O 2 of NNO + 1 ± 0.5 across a temperature-pressure range of 750–900 ° C and 50–200 MPa (P H2O = P total ), respectively. Petrologic and geochemical analysis of the post-climactic lithologies shows that the natural phase assemblage (plagioclase + quartz + biotite + sanidine + Fe-Ti oxides ± apatite ± zircon) is stable at < 50 MPa (P H2O ) and 805–815 °C. Applying experimental results to the CGI pumice, which has the same phenocryst phase assemblage and modal abundance, whole rock and phenocryst chemistry, and overlapping temperature and f O 2 as the post-climactic deposits, suggests that these pre-eruptive conditions (P H2O < 50 MPa) are relevant for the magmas that sourced the climactic CGI supereruption as well. Amphibole in the early Cerro Galán ignimbrites (Toconquis Group; 5.72–4.51 Ma, and the Cueva Negra Ignimbrite, 3.77 ± 0.08 Ma) records crystallization across a range of pressures (500 to 200 ± 60 MPa). In the interval between the eruption of the Cueva Negra ignimbrite and the CGI (2.08 ± 0.02 Ma) the complex magma system shallowed and stalled at low pressures (< 100 MPa), resulting in a more simple magma reservoir configuration represented by a large-volume, geochemically homogenous magma body. The shallowing of the Cerro Galán magma system during this time explains the marked transition from amphibole to sanidine-bearing magmas and seems to characterize many large silicic caldera-forming magma systems that erupt over million year timescales to generate long-lived volcanic complexes. The post-climactic history of Cerro Galán is informed through a detailed investigation of the textural differences among the post-climactic dome lithologies, and a comparison of those textures with previously published decompression experiments. These suggest that the highly vesiculated, pumiceous clasts with rare microlites represent magma stored within the core of the lava dome that decompressed relatively rapidly (0.003–0.0003 MPa s −1 ) and evolved via closed system degassing. Resulting over-pressure of the dome may have triggered superficial explosion. In contrast, dense clasts with abundant crystalline silica precipitates represent more typical dome-forming magmas that decompressed more slowly (< 0.00005 MPa s −1 ), evolved via open system degassing, and form the outer carapace of a lava dome. Integrating decompression histories with results from new phase equilibria experiments suggests that during post-climactic volcanic activity at Cerro Galán, remnant CGI dome-forming magmas ascended from the shallow magma reservoir (< 4 km) to motivate resurgent uplift and erupt as lava domes either explosively as vesiculated clasts or effusively as dense clasts that make up the outer structure of lava domes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use the deposit sequence resulting from the first catastrophic caldera collapse event recorded at Santorini (associated with 184 ka Lower Pumice 1 eruption), to study the shallow conduit dynamics at the peak of caldera collapse. The main phase of the Lower Pumice 1 eruption commenced with the development of a sustained buoyant eruption column, producing a clast-supported framework of rhyodacitic white pumice (LP1-A). The clasts have densities of 310-740 kg m, large coalesced vesicles that define unimodal size distributions and moderate to high vesicle number densities (1.2 × 10-1.7 × 10 cm). Eruption column collapse, possibly associated with incipient caldera collapse, resulted in the development of pyroclastic flows (LP1-B). The resulting ignimbrite is characterised by rhyodacitic white pumice with a narrow density range (250-620 kg m) and moderate to high vesicle number densities (1.3 × 10-2.1 × 10 cm), comparable to clasts from LP1-A. An absence of deep, basement-derived lithic clast assemblages, together with the occurrence of large vesicles and relatively high vesicle number densities in pumice from the fallout and pyroclastic flow phases, suggests shallow fragmentation depths, a prolonged period of bubble nucleation and growth, and moderate rates of decompression prior to fragmentation (7-11 MPa s). Evacuation of magma during the pyroclastic flow phase led to under-pressurisation of the magma reservoir, the propagation of faults (associated with the main phase of caldera collapse) and the formation of 20 m thick lithic lag breccias (LP1-C). Rhyodacitic pumices from the base of the proximal lithic lag breccias show a broader range of density (330-990 kg m), higher vesicle number densities (4.5 × 10-1.1 × 10 cm) and higher calculated magma decompression rates of 15-28 MPa s than pyroclasts from the pre-collapse eruptive phases. In addition, the abundance of lithic clasts, including deeper, basement-derived lithic assemblages, records the opening of new vents and a deepening of the fragmentation surface. These data support numerical simulations which predict rapid increases in magma decompression and mass discharge rates at the onset of caldera collapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The active volcano of Ischia, an island off-shore the city of Naples, Southern Italy, has a discontinuous volcanic activity characterized by caldera-forming paroxysmal eruptions, lava flows, and lava domes, and thus offers the opportunity to study the complexity of magma storage, differentiation, and extraction mechanisms in a long-lived magma reservoir. The overall geochemical composition of erupted magmas varies from shoshonite to latite and trachyte/trachyphonolite. Their Sr and Nd, isotope composition variation is typical of subduction-related magmas, akin to other potassic magmas of the Neapolitan District, and there is a complete overlap of radiogenic isotope composition among shoshonite, latite, and trachyte/trachyphonolite. The lack of systematic radiogenic isotope covariation during differentiation suggests that the radiogenic isotope variability could be a signature of each magma pulse that subsequently evolved in a closed-system environment. Erupted magmas record a recurrent evolutionary process consisting of two-step fractional crystallization along similar liquid lines of descent for each magma pulse, suggesting near steady-state magma chamber conditions with balanced alternating periods of replenishment, differentiation, and eruption. The dominant role of fractionating feldspars determines a significant depletion of Sr (<10 ppm) coupled with high Rb/Sr (>200) in the residual trachyte magma. Several more-evolved trachytes have anomalous radiogenic 87Sr/86Sri (>0.707) coupled with high 87Rb/86Sr (>50), all other geochemical and isotopic characteristics being similar to normal 87Sr/86Sri trachytes at the same degree of evolution. This radiogenic Sr isotope signature is not consistent with assimilation of crustal material and demands for a time-related in-growth of 87Sr during storage within the magma chamber. Rb-Sr isochrons on separated mineral-groundmass pairs provide robust constraints on a prolonged pre-eruptive history ranging from a few tens to hundreds of thousands of years at relatively low temperature (~750 °C). Remarkably, also normal trachytes with high 87Rb/86Sr (>200) yield a magma residence time from some 4 to 27 kyr, implying that the long-lived history of Ischia magmas is not limited to the anomalous 87Sr/86Sri trachytes. This long-lived history could be a characteristic feature of the magma chamber reservoir of this active volcano, which other volcanic products (i.e., shoshonite and latite) cannot disclose due to their lower Rb/Sr (i.e., low 87Sr in-growth rate) and higher magma storage temperature (>900 °C) (i.e., rapid Sr isotope homogenization via diffusion). The magma chamber dynamics of the active volcano of Ischia, probed on the basis of geochemical and radiogenic isotope tools, is consistent with recent models of complex magma chamber reservoirs made up of multiple discrete melt pockets, isolated by largely crystalline mush portions, maintained in a steady-state thermal flux regime with no mass exchange, and with reactivation shortly before eruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of large-scale cyclic triaxial tests were conducted on latite basalt aggregates (ballast) to investigate how the frequency affects the permanent deformation and degradation of railway ballast. During testing the frequency was varied from 5 Hz to 60 Hz to simulate a range of train speeds from about 40 km/h to 400 km/h. Three categories of permanent deformation mechanisms were observed in response to the applied cyclic loads, namely, the inception of plastic shakedown ( ≤ 20 Hz), then plastic shakedown and ratcheting (30 Hz ≤ ≤ 50 Hz), followed by plastic collapse at higher frequencies ( ≥ 60 Hz). The permanent strain of ballast and particle breakage increased with the frequency and number of load cycles. A cyclic strain ratio was introduced to capture the effect of frequency on the permanent axial and volumetric strains, respectively. An empirical equation was formulated to represent this relationship for latite basalt, and a critical train speed was identified. A good correlation was obtained between particle breakage and volumetric strain under cyclic loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sheds new light on the origin and evolution of the north Kozara ophiolite, a part of the Sava-Vardar Zone. The Sava-Vardar Zone is regarded as a relict of the youngest Tethyan realm in the present-day Balkan Peninsula. The north Kozara ophiolite consists of a bimodal igneous association comprising isotropic to layered gabbros, diabase dykes and basaltic pillow lavas (basic suite), as well as relicts of predominantly rhyodacite lava flows and analogous shallow intrusions (acid suite). The rocks of the basic suite show relatively flat to moderately light-REE enriched patterns with no or weak negative Eu-anomaly, whereas those of the acid suite exhibit steeper patterns and have distinctively more pronounced Eu- and Sr- negative anomalies. Compared to the known intra-ophiolitic granitoids from the Eastern Vardar Zone, the acid suite rocks are most similar to those considered to be oceanic plagiogranites. The new geochemical data suggest that the basic suite rocks are similar to enriched mid-ocean ridge basalts. The geochemical characteristics of the acid suite rocks indicate that their primary magmas most probably originated via partial melting of gabbros from the lower oceanic crust. Our study confirms the oceanic nature of the north Kozara Mts rock assemblage, and suggests that it may have formed within an anomalous ridge setting similar to present-day Iceland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution reports a detailed study on in situ Sr isotope analyses, along with textural and compositional characteristics, of plagioclase phenocrysts occurring in the rhyodacitic dome-lavas and associated mafic enclaves, erupted during the last magmatic activity at Nisyros volcano (Greece). Dome-lavas and enclaves have a paragenesis dominated by plagioclase. We recognize five different types of plagioclase based on their specific textures and composition. Dome-lava plagioclases (Type-1) are mainly large (1-5 mm), subhedral, clear, and poorly zoned crystals with low An content (An). The plagioclase phenocrysts (Type-4 and Type-5) and groundmass microlites crystallizing in the enclaves, and found in dome-lavas as xenocrysts, have high An content (An). In both dome-lavas and enclaves, two other types of plagioclase do also occur: (1) plagioclase phenocrysts with size and core composition similar to those of Type-1 having a dusty sieve zone (DSZ) at the rims (Type-2); (2) plagioclases with a DSZ affecting the entire crystal but a thin rim (Type-3). The drilled plagioclases have Sr/Sr negatively correlated with their An content. Low An cores of Type-1 and Type-2 have quite homogeneous Sr/Sr (0.7044-0.7046), whose values are more radiogenic than their host magmas (0.70403-0.70408) and similar to those of the previous Upper Pumice (UP) rhyolite magma (0.70438-0.70456). The DSZs of Type-2 and Type-3 show lower and scattered Sr/Sr (0.70397-0.70426) with intermediate and variable An content. High An cores of Type-4 and Type-5 have the least radiogenic Sr isotope composition (0.70379) in equilibrium with that measured in the enclaves (0.70384-0.70389). We demonstrate that Type-1 plagioclase crystallizes in the previous UP rhyolitic magmas representing the silica-rich magma from which the dome-lava melts derived by open system evolutionary processes (e.g., mixing, mingling, and crystal migration), caused by successive refilling of mafic enclave-forming magma. The Type-2 plagioclase derives from entrainment of Type-1 into the still molten enclave magma. The DSZs originated in response to the interaction between the low An plagioclase and the enclave mafic melt in which dissolution and re-crystallization acted together as function of the interaction time. Type-1 and Type-2 plagioclases record, therefore, a long-lived timescale of events starting from their crystallization in the UP rhyolite. Instead, the different width of DSZs (Type-2 and Type-3) seems to indicate short different interaction timescales between the single crystals and the enclave melt (from few hours to some 40 days). These microanalytical data contribute to the understanding of the origin of the rhyodacitic dome-lavas at Nisyros volcano and to set robust constraints on the dynamics of mingling/mixing processes in terms of crystal exchange pathways and enclave disaggregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The 60km3 Hamblin–Cleopatra stratovolcano produced shoshonite, latite, and trachyte lavas throughout its Miocene eruptive history. Low-silica rhyolite and silica-undersaturated hawaiite erupted before and after lavas of the Hamblin–Cleopatra volcano. Shoshonite, latite, and trachyte resulted from contamination of felsic (trachyte to low-silica rhyolite) anatectic liquids with crystals from hawaiite. Most of the entrained crystals were not in equilibrium with liquid represented by groundmass, but were mingled with liquid shortly before eruption. Crystal aggregates are common inclusions in the lavas, and are sources of the contaminating minerals. The resulting bulk compositions of these porphyritic lavas form a continuum that resembles a liquid line of descent, as dictated by mass balance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Chahgaz Zn-Pb-Cu volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposit occurs within a metamorphosed bimodal volcano-sedimentary sequence in the south Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone (SSZ) of southern Iran. This deposit is hosted by rhyodacitic volcaniclastics and is underlain and overlain by rhyodacitic flows, volcaniclastics, and pelites. Peperitic textures between rhyodacite flows and contact pelites indicate that emplacement of the rhyodacite occurred prior to the lithification of the pelites. The rhyodacitic flows are calc-alkaline, and show rare earth and trace elements features characteristic of arc magmatism. Zircons extracted from stratigraphic footwall and hanging-wall rhyodacitic flows of the Chahgaz deposit yield concordant U-Pb ages of 175.7 ± 1.7 and 172.9 ± 1.4 Ma, respectively, and a mean age of 174 ± 1.2 Ma. This time period is interpreted to represent the age of mineralization of the Chahgaz deposit. This Middle Jurassic age is suggested as a major time of VMS mineralization within pull-apart basins formed during Neo-Tethyan oblique subduction-related arc volcano-plutonism in the SSZ. Galena mineral separates from the layered massive sulphide have uniform lead isotope ratios of 206Pb/204Pb = 18.604-18.617, 207Pb/204Pb = 15.654-15.667, and 208Pb/204Pb = 38.736-38.769; they show a model age of 200 Ma, consistent with the derivation of Pb from a Late Triassic, homogeneous upper crustal source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The solubility of Au in Cl- and S-bearing hydrous rhyodacitic and andesitic melts has been experimentally investigated at 1050°C, 200MPa and log fO2 close to the Ni/NiO solid oxygen buffer (NNO). The concentrations of Au in the experimental glasses have been determined using Laser Ablation ICP-MS (LA) with special efforts to avoid incorporation of Au micronuggets in the analysis. It is concluded that metal micronuggets are an experimental artefact and produced by Au partitioning into the fluids during heating with consequent precipitation on fluid dissolution in the melting glass powder. Hence, the micronuggets do not represent quench phases and must be excluded from the analysis. The micro-analytical data obtained by LA show that Au concentrations vary from ∼0.2 to ∼2.5ppm by weight, generally consistent with the literature data for other melt compositions. The measured Au concentrations increase with increasing amounts of Cl and S dissolved in the silicate melt and show a correlation with the apparent activities of Cl and S in the system. The apparent activities of Cl and S are defined by the simplified linear relationship between volatile concentrations in the melt and activity of volatiles. The maximum activity (a ∗ =1) is assumed to be reached at the saturation of the systems in respect of Cl-rich brine or FeS liquid for Cl and S, respectively. The dependence of Au solubility on the concentrations/activities of Cl and S at the fixed redox conditions shows that Au may form not only oxide- but also Cl- and S-bearing complexes in silicate melts. Furthermore, it indicates that exsolution of S and Cl from the melt by degassing/segregation/crystallization processes may lead to mobilization and extraction of Au into the fluid, liquid and/or mineral phase(s). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Numerous research studies have been carried out in the recent past to determine the influence on the resilient modulus of railway ballast of parameters such as stress history, number of loading cycles, density, grading, fines content, maximum grain size, aggregate type, particle shape and moisture content. However, the influence of particle breakage on the resilient modulus has not been described in depth. The current study highlights the influence of particle breakage on the resilient modulus of latite ballast (commonly used in railway track in New South Wales, Australia). Aggregate degradation is represented by the ballast breakage index (BBI). Laboratory test results indicate that the BBI has a profound influence on the resilient modulus of ballast. The resilient modulus increases with BBI, irrespective of the effective confining pressure. In addition, a simple hyperbolic relationship has been proposed between the resilient modulus and the bulk stress for latite ballast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: As part of the Karoo large igneous province (LIP), the ∼700 km-long and ∼182 Ma-old Lebombo monocline outcrops inland of a younger Mozambique Lowland cover that separates it from the Indian Ocean. Detailed mapping of a particularly well exposed Olifant River traverse across this monocline correlates basaltic and rhyodacitic lava units within the Lebombo Group to at least three hosted generations of intrusions within the monocline-parallel Northern Lebombo dyke swarm, implying that a much denser feeder dyke swarm is covered by younger flows. Measured attitudes and thicknesses of up to 197 lavas and 791 dykes statistically quantify a structural cross section, from which a properly weighted lava log of nearly 5 km basalts inter-bedded with an overlying >3.5 km of rhyodacites is constructed. The geological section is compatible with a slightly deeper (sub-lava) section through the innermost ∼30 km''s of a relatively narrow East Greenland margin, to which the Lebombo monocline can be rigorously compared. In both cases, field relationships are consistent with early tectonic extension being overwhelmed by dyke dilation within margin-parallel swarm segments that may have been injected laterally from central magma chambers. Thus, it is argued that the Lebombo monocline is part of a successfully rifted margin that, furthermore, belongs to a distinct class of highly volcanic and relatively narrow margins, which only form proximal to classical triple rift LIP centers, where an elevated magma flux sustains a magmatic mode of extension. For the Karoo LIP, this conforms with (1) a tight Gondwana reconstruction of Africa with Antarctica, (2) successful breakup during intense ∼182 Ma emplacement of the Lebombo Group, (3) triple rift formation, together with a short-lived (∼181–178 Ma) Okavango dyke swarm, and (4) anomalously thick igneous crust formation during continued ∼2.5 cm/yr separation into a loose ∼155 Ma plate configuration of Africa and Antarctica. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The viscosity of latitic melts occurring as enclaves in the rhyolitic lava flow of Rocche Rosse (RR, Lipari, Aeolian Islands, Italy) has been measured in the high T range (1323–1473 K) for a dissolved water content varying from 1.23 to 4.39 wt.%. Measurements were performed by the falling sphere method in an internally heated gas pressure vessel. As expected, the viscosity of latite decreases with increasing water content and temperature. No pressure effect was detected between 200 and 500 MPa. Combining the new viscosity data for hydrous melts with data for dry latite of similar base composition [Giordano, D., Mangiacapra, A., Potuzak, M., Russell, J.K., Romano, C., Dingwell, D.B., Di Muro, A., 2006. An expanded non-Arrhenian model for silicate melt viscosity: a treatment for metaluminous, peraluminous and peralkaline liquids. Chemical Geology 229, 42–56.] we propose an empirical equation to estimate the viscosity of latitic melts as a function of temperature and water content over the range 101 to 1012 Pa s. The obtained relationship reproduces the experimental data with a 1σ standard deviation of 0.22 log units. However, the empirical model is not constrained by data for hydrous melts at high viscosity and, therefore, it can only be used at low temperatures for water-poor melts. The viscosity data were used to model mixing–mingling processes between latitic and rhyolitic magmas at conditions relevant for the Rocche Rosse (RR, Lipari, Aeolian Islands) and La Fossa Cone 1888–1890 (LFC, Vulcano, Aeolian Islands) eruptions. The results demonstrate that the ratio between mafic and silicic end-members is the main parameter governing mixing–mingling interactions between magmas. This study suggests a faster ascent of magma underneath Vulcano compared to Lipari, which may be taken into account in hazard forecasting. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Hydrothermal experiments were conducted to determine the partitioning of Cl between rhyolitic to rhyodacitic melts, apatite, and aqueous fluid(s) and the partitioning of F between apatite and these melts at ca. 200MPa and 900–924°C. The number of fluid phases in our experiments is unknown; they may have involved a single fluid or vapor plus saline liquid. The partitioning behavior of Cl between apatite and melt is non-Nernstian and is a complex function of melt composition and the Cl concentration of the system. Values of D Cl apat/melt (wt. fraction of: Cl in apatite/Cl in melt) vary from 1 to 4.5 and are largest when the Cl concentrations of the melt are at or near the Cl-saturation value of the melt. The Cl-saturation concentrations of silicate melts are lowest in evolved, silica-rich melts, so with elevated Cl concentrations in a system and with all else equal, the maximum values of D Cl apat/melt occur with the most felsic melt. In contrast, values of D F apat/melt range from 11 to 40 for these felsic melts, and many of these are an order of magnitude greater than those applying to basaltic melts at 200MPa and 1066–1150°C. The Cl concentration of apatite is a simple and linear function of the concentration of Cl in fluid. Values of D Cl fluid/apat for these experiments range from 9 to 43, and some values are an order of magnitude greater than those determined in 200-MPa experiments involving basaltic melts at 1066–1150°C. In order to determine the concentrations and interpret the behavior of volatile components in magmas, the experimental data have been applied to the halogen concentrations of apatite grains from chemically evolved rocks of Augustine volcano, Alaska; Krakatau volcano, Indonesia; Mt. Pinatubo, Philippines; Mt. St. Helens, Washington; Mt. Mazama, Oregon; Lascar volcano, Chile; Santorini volcano, Greece, and the Bishop Tuff, California. The F concentrations of these magmas estimated from apatite–melt equilibria range from 0.06 to 0.12wt% and are generally equivalent to the concentrations of F determined in the melt inclusions. In contrast, the Cl concentrations of the magmas estimated from apatite–melt equilibria (e.g., ca. 0.3–0.9wt%) greatly exceed those determined in the melt inclusions from all of these volcanic systems except for the Bishop Tuff where the agreement is good. This discrepancy in estimated Cl concentrations of melt could result from several processes, including the hypothesis that the composition of apatite represents a comparatively Cl-enriched stage of magma evolution that precedes melt inclusion entrapment prior to the sequestration of Cl by coexisting magmatic aqueous and/or saline fluid(s). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Two sets of cooling experiments were run at atmospheric conditions for two anhydrous starting latitic and trachytic melts: 1) five cooling rates (25, 12.5, 3, 0.5, and 0.125 °C/min) between 1300° and 800 °C, and 2) a 0.5 °C/min cooling rate from 1300 °C with quench temperatures at 1200°, 1100°, 1000° and 900 °C. Trachytic run-products are invariably glassy. Nucleation is also suppressed in the latitic run-products at the three highest cooling rates. Conversely, in the 0.5 and 0.125 °C/min runs, latites have a crystal content of ∼90 vol.%. The phases are: plagioclase, clinopyroxene, glass and iron-bearing oxide (in order of abundance). The variable quench temperatures, investigated by coupling experiments with Pt wire and Pt capsule sample containers in set 2, again did not produce crystallization of trachyte, whereas latitic samples are characterized by ∼10 vol.% of oxides, pyroxenes and plagioclase (in order of appearance), at temperature <1000 °C. Effects of (preferential) heterogeneous nucleation on sample holders, of superheating degree, and chemical species loss during cooling are absent for both melt compositions. The difference of solidification paths between these two silicate melts can be ascribed only to their small chemical differences. In comparison with calculated equilibrium conditions all the experimental latitic and trachytic run-products revealed strong kinetic effects, interpretable in the light of the nucleation theory. The glass-forming ability (GFA) of trachyte is higher, whereas their critical cooling rate (Rc) is lower (<0.125 °C/min), in comparison to latitic melts (Rc>0.5 °C/min). The experimental results carried out in this study can be applied to lava flows and domes; trachytic lavas are able to flow for longer period with respect to latitic ones in a metastable condition. Glass-rich terrestrial lavas, i.e. obsidians, can be the result of sluggish nucleation kinetics due to the relative high polymerisation of evolved silicate melts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: With U-Pb zircon dating, we determined the age of rhyodacites composing sedimentary covers among coarse-terrigenous rocks of the lowermost Chaya Formation of the Akitkan Group (North Baikal volcanoplutonic belt). These rocks are considered to have formed during the sedimentation. The dates (1863±9 Ma) permitted estimation of the age of basal beds of the Chaya Formation and substantiate the age boundary between the Khibelen and Chaya Formations of the Akitkan Group. The determined age and earlier dates of igneous rocks intruding the Chaya Formation deposits suggest that the latter accumulated for ∼10 Myr. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A continuous-coring borehole recently drilled at Camaldoli della Torre on the southern slopes of Somma–Vesuvius provides constraints on the volcanic and magmatic history of the Vesuvian volcanic area since c. 126 ka bp. The cored sequence includes volcanic units, defined on stratigraphical, sedimentological, petrological and geochemical grounds, emitted from both local and distal vents. Some of these units are of known age, such as one Phlegraean pre-Campanian Ignimbrite, Campanian Ignimbrite (39 ka), Neapolitan Yellow Tuff (14· 9 ka) and Vesuvian Plinian deposits, which helps to constrain the relative age of the other units. The main rock types encountered are shoshonite, phonotephrite, latite, trachyte and phonolite. The sequence includes, from the base upwards: a thick succession of pyroclastic units emplaced between 126 and 39 ka, most of them attributed to eruptions that occurred in the Phlegraean area; the Campanian Ignimbrite; the products of a local tuff cone formed between 39 ka and the deposition of the products of the earliest activity of the Mt. Somma volcano; the products of the Somma–Vesuvius volcano, which include from the base upwards a thick sequence of lavas, pyroclastic rocks and the products of a local spatter cone dated between 3· 7 ka and ad 79. The data obtained from the study of the borehole show that, before the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption, low-energy explosive volcanism took place in the Vesuvian area, whereas mostly high-energy explosive eruptions characterized the Campi Flegrei activity. In the Vesuvian area, Campanian Ignimbrite deposition was followed by the eruption of a local tuff cone and a long repose time, which predated the formation of the Mt. Somma edifice. Since 18· 3 ka (Pomici di Base eruption) the activity of Somma–Vesuvius became mostly explosive with rare lava effusions. The shallowest cored deposits belong to the Camaldoli della Torre cone, formed between the Pomici di Avellino and Pomici di Pompei eruptions (3· 7 ka–ad 79). New geochemical and Sr–Nd–Pb–B-isotopic data on samples from the drilled core, together with those available from the literature, allow us to further distinguish the volcanic rocks as a function of both their provenance (i.e. Phlegraean or Vesuvian areas) and age, and to identify different magmatic processes acting through time in the Vesuvian mantle source(s) and during magma ascent towards the surface. Isotopically distinct magmas, rising from a mantle source variably contaminated by slab-derived components, stagnated at mid-crustal depths (8–10 km below sea level) where magmas differentiated and were probably contaminated. Contamination occurred either with Hercynian continental crust, mostly during the oldest stages of Vesuvian activity (from 39 to 16 ka), or with Mesozoic limestone, mostly during recent Vesuvian activity. Energy constrained assimilation and fractional crystallization (EC-AFC) modelling results show that contamination with Hercynian crust probably occurred during differentiation from shoshonite to latite. Contamination with limestone, which is not well constrained with the available data, might have occurred only during the transition from shoshonite to tephrite. From the ‘deep’ reservoir, magmas rose towards a series of shallow reservoirs, in which they differentiated further, mixed, and fed volcanic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Middle Cenozoic evolution of magmatism in the Schmidt Peninsula between 37 and 25 Ma began with eruptions of subalkaline and moderately alkaline andesite, latite, trachyandesite, and trachyrhyolite lavas and ended with subvolcanic intrusions of highly alkaline strongly undersaturated essexites. According to trace-element data, magmatism evolved from melting of a mantle source in the zone of ocean-continent plate convergence to small-degree partial melting in lithospheric mantle at the final stage. This succession is generally typical of Late Cenozoic continental-margin magmatism in southeastern Russia. The similarity in the Middle and Late Cenozoic stages of magmatism is evidence for their individual significance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article features a variety of minerals found in the Goboboseb Mountains in the Brandberg region, Namibia. Some of the finest prehnite and quartz has been collected in the region. The rocks in the mountains consist of interbedded basalts and quartz latites. Analcime occurs together with prehnite, quartz, calcite, and heulandite in the prehnite diggings.

Alkaline igneous rocks of the Crowsnest Formation in southwestern Alberta and in the Howell Creek area in southeastern British Columbia have been suggested previously to be cogenetic. To test this hypothesis, samples of both suites were characterized petrographically and their major and trace element geochemistry was determined. A subset of the samples was analyzed for whole-rock Sr and Nd isotope geochemistry. The samples of the two suites are latites, trachytes, and phonolites based on the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) total alkalis versus silica (TAS) diagram. Samples from both suites show similar patterns on mantle-normalized trace element diagrams, being enriched relative to mantle values but depleted in the high field-strength elements Nb, Ta, and Ti relative to the large-ion lithophile elements. The chondrite-normalized rare-earth element (REE) patterns for both suites are light REE enriched, with no Eu anomaly and flat heavy REE. The isotope geochemistry of both suites is characterized by low initial 87Sr/86Sr (SrT = 0.704 to 0.706) and low εNdT (–7 to –16). The Howell Creek samples have lower εNdT and higher SrT than do the Crowsnest samples. Based on the intra- and intersuite differences in the isotope geochemistry, we conclude that these samples are not cogenetic, but rather represent samples that have experienced similar evolutionary histories from a heterogeneous source region in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Camaquã Basin, developed during the last phases of the Brazilian/Pan-African Orogeny and was filled with a thick volcano-sedimentary succesion, in which two volcanic events of alkaline affinity are represented by the Acampamento Velho Alloformation and the Rodeio Velho Member. The Acampamento Velho Alloformation records a bimodal event with a lower association of mafic flows and an upper association of felsic pyroclastic rocks and flows. It was formed during extension, after the subduction of the Adamastor oceanic plate beneath the Rio de La Plata continental plate at the end of the Neoproterozoic III. The second event, the Rodeio Velho Member, represented by mafic flows, intrusions and piroclasts, took place during overall extensional tectonism, probably in the middle Ordovician. Rb, Sr, Sm, and Nd isotopic measurements were carried out on samples from both units. Regardless the event they represent, all the samples display negative values for epsilon Nd, ranging from 2.97 to 10.31 for the Acampamento Velho Alloformation and from 8.39 to 13.92 for the Rodeio Velho Member. The initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios vary from 0.706 to 0.707 and from 0.704 to 0.707 for the Acampamento Velho Alloformation and Rodeio Velho Member, respectively. Mafic flow deposits in both units show a preferential enrichment in Ba relative to Th. Flow samples from the Rodeio Velho Member also display a distinctive enrichment in the Ba/Th ratio, without a change in the initial Sr, compared to the mafic flow deposits from the Acampamento Velho Alloformation, which show a slight enrichment in those ratios. As for the Acampamento Velho Alloformation, the mafic lavas could be a mixture of depleted mantle-derived basalts plus 20% to 30% of crustal contamination by sediment (probably Neoproterozoic arkosic quartzites). The formation of a magmatic chamber and the separation of the magma into two fractions gave rise initially to the mafic rocks at the base of the Acampamento Velho Alloformation The other magma fraction underwent a significant enrichment in crustal component before the felsic rocks of this Alloformation were formed. The flows from the Rodeio Velho Member originated in a distinct magma chamber, with EM I characteristics that was much more enriched in incompatible elements and depleted in radiogenic Sr. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The 1960 rhyodacitic fissure eruption in the Cordón Caulle Volcanic Complex (CCVC), located in Southern Andes (40.5°S) was a unique volcanic episode. The remarkable eruption was triggered by the greatest recorded subduction-zone earthquake, starting 38 h after the main shock, 240 km inland. The structural behaviour, two compound fissures opening along a margin-oblique (NW) structure related to the Quaternary evolution of the CCVC, suggests that the prefractured nature of the upper crust in the Southern Andes was an influential condition for volcanic eruptions. From historical data and morphologic and structural analysis, we suggest that NW structures constitute pathways of steady magmatic ascent. Thus, during the great seismic event, and catalysed by the fluid pressure around a fault, it would have been reactivated allowing, initially, the propagation of a non-Andersonian dyke. Then, the silicic magma would have reached the surface by ‘seismic pumping’. Once the initial activity in the reactivated segments ceased, the local stress field would have changed, favouring the formation of new failures, this time almost parallel to the maximum horizontal stress, and promoting magma transport as Andersonian dykes. Although the rheologic characteristics of the silicic lavas erupted together with the structural behaviour and seismic features of this eruptive cycle constitute rather exceptional conditions in the Southern Andes record, the prefractured nature of the upper crust and the shifting propagation of Andersonian and non-Andersonian dykes provide a theoretical framework to analyse the neotectonics of the volcanic arc in a convergent margin. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Donlin Creek gold deposit, southwestern Alaska, has an indicated and inferred resource of approximately 25 million ounces (Moz) Au at a cutoff grade of 1.5 g/t. The ca. 70 Ma deposit is hosted in the Late Cretaceous Kuskokwim flysch basin, which developed in the back part of the arc region of an active continental margin, on previously accreted oceanic terranes and continental fragments. A hypabyssal, mainly rhyolitic to rhyodacitic, and commonly porphyritic, 8- x 3-km dike complex, part of a regional ca. 77 to 58 Ma magmatic arc, formed a structurally competent host for the mineralization. This deposit is subdivided into about one dozen distinct prospects, most of which consist of dense quartz ± carbonate veinlet networks that fill north- northeast-striking extensional fractures in the northeast-trending igneous rocks. The sulfide mineral assemblage is dominated by arsenopyrite, pyrite, and, typically younger, stibnite; gold is refractory within the arsenopyrite. Sericitization, carbonatization, and sulfidation were the main alteration processes. Fluid inclusion studies of the quartz that hosts the resource indicate dominantly aqueous ore fluids with also about 3 to 7 tool percent CO2 ± CH4 and a few tenths to a few mole percent NaCl + KCl. The gold-bearing fluids were mainly homogeneously trapped at approximately 275° to 300°C and at depths of 1 to 2 km. Some of the younger stibnite may have been deposited by late-stage aqueous fluids at lower temperature. Measured δ18O values for the gold-bearing quartz range between 11 and 25 per mil; the estimated δ18O fluid values range from 7 to 12 per mil, suggesting a mainly crustally derived fluid. A broad range of measured 6D values for hydrothermal micas, between -150 and -80 per mil, is suggestive of a contribution from devolatilization of organic matter and/or minor amounts of mixing with meteoric fluids. Gold-associated hydrotherrnal... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kulshan caldera (4.5×8 km), at the northeast foot of Mount Baker, is filled with rhyodacite ignimbrite (1.15 Ma) and postcaldera lavas and is only the third Quaternary caldera identified in the Cascade arc. A gravity traverse across the caldera yields a steep-sided, symmetrical, complete Bouguer anomaly of −16 mGal centered over the caldera. Density considerations suggest that the caldera fill, which is incised to an observed thickness of 1 km, may be about 1.5 km thick and is flat-floored, overlying a cylindrical piston of subsided metamorphic rocks. Outflow sheets have been stripped by advances of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, but the climactic fallout (Lake Tapps tephra) is as thick as 30 cm some 200 km south of the caldera. Ten precaldera units, which range in 40Ar/39Ar age from 1.29 to 1.15 Ma, are dikes and erosional scraps that probably never amounted to a large edifice. A dozen postcaldera rhyodacite lavas and dikes range in age from 1.15 to 0.99 Ma; rhyodacites have subsequently been absent, the silicic reservoir having finally crystallized. At least 60 early Pleistocene intermediate dikes next intruded the caldera fill, helping energize an acid–sulfate hydrothermal system and constituting the main surviving record of an early postcaldera andesite–dacite pile presumed to have been large. Most of the pre- and postcaldera rhyodacites were dated by 40Ar/39Ar or K–Ar methods, and 13 were drilled for remanent magnetic directions. In agreement with the radiometric ages, the paleomagnetic data indicate that eruptions took place before, during, and after the Jaramillo Normal Polarity Subchron, and that one rhyodacite with transitional polarity may represent the termination of the Jaramillo. Most of the biotite–hornblende–orthopyroxene–plagioclase rhyodacite lavas, dikes, and tuffs are in the range 68–73% SiO2, but there were large compositional fluctuations during the 300-kyr duration of the rhyodacite episode. The rhyodacitic magma reservoir was wider (11 km) than the caldera that collapsed into it (8 km). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In situ Sr-isotope and microchemical studies were used to determine the provenance of K-feldspar megacrysts hosted in mafic alkaline potassic, ultrapotassic rocks and in differentiated rocks from two nearby volcanic apparatus in central Italy.At Monte Cimino volcanic complex, mafic leucite-free ultrapotassic megacryst-bearing rocks of olivine latitic composition are associated with evolved latite and trachyte. Here, latites and trachytes straddle the sub-alkaline field. Age-corrected 87Sr/86Sr values (Sri) of the analysed Cimino olivine latites vary from 0.71330 and 0.71578 and strongly increase at constant Mg value. Latite and trachyte have lower Sri than olivine latites ranging between 0.71331 and 0.71361. Sri of K-feldspar megacrysts from olivine latites are between 0.71352 and 0.71397, but core and rim 87Sr/86Sr ratios within individual megacryst are indistinguishable. In all the mafic rocks, the megacrysts are not in isotopic equilibrium with the hosts. K-feldspar megacrysts from both the latite and trachyte have similar Sr-isotope compositions (Sri=0.71357–0.71401) to those in the olivine latites. However, Sri of megacryst in the trachyte vary significantly from core to rim (Sri from 0.71401 to 0.71383). As with the olivine latites, the K-feldspar megacrysts are not in isotopic equilibrium with bulk rock compositions of the latite or trachyte.At Vico volcano, megacryst-bearing rocks are mafic leucite-free potassic rocks, mafic leucite-bearing ultrapotassic rocks and old trachytic rocks. The mafic leucite-bearing and leucite-free rocks are a tephri-phonolite and an olivine latite, respectively. A megacryst in Vico trachyte is isotopically homogeneous (Sri core=0.71129, rim=0.71128) and in equilibrium with the host rock (Sri bulk rock=0.71125). Sri of megacryst from tephri-phonolite is clearly not in isotopic equilibrium with its host (Sri bulk rock=0.71158), and it increases from core (Sri=0.71063) to rim (Sri=0.71077). A megacryst in Vico olivine latite is isotopically homogeneous (Sri core=0.71066, rim=0.71065), but not in equilibrium with the host rock (Sri bulk rock=0.71013).The Sr isotope microdrilling technique reveals that Cimino megacrysts were crystallised in a Cimino trachytic magma and were subsequently incorporated by mixing/mingling processes in the latitic and olivine latitic melts. A model invoking the presence of a mafic sub-alkaline magma, which was mixed with the olivine latite, is proposed to justify the lack of simple geochemical mixing relation between Cimino trachytes and olivine latites. This magmatological model is able to explain the geochemical characteristics of Cimino olivine latites, otherwise ascribed to mantle heterogeneity.The similarity of core Sri of megacrysts hosted in Vico tephri-phonolite and olivine latite suggests that the K-feldspar megacrysts are co-genetic. Isotopic equilibrium between megacryst and Vico host trachyte indicates that the trachyte is the parent of this megacryst. On the contrary, the megacrysts hosted in tephri-phonolite and olivine latite do not derive from the old trachytic magma because no diffusion process may explain the core to rim Sr isotope increase of the xenocryst hosted in the tephri-phonolite. The megacrysts hosted in the Vico mafic rocks might derive from a trachytic melt similar in composition to the old Vico trachytes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]