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Compositional gaps in igneous rock suites controlled by magma system heat and water content

Nature Geoscience volume 6, pages 385–390 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

The differentiation of basaltic magmas to form more silica-rich magma is a fundamental process in crustal magmatism. However, suites of volcanic rocks erupted from individual volcanic centres rarely exhibit a compositional continuum between basalt and rhyolite. Instead, some rock suites exhibit marked compositional gaps1. The origin of such gaps has been attributed to partial melting of the crust2, the immiscibility of different magma types3, crystallization of specific mineral phases4 and processes occurring within magma chambers1,5,6. Here we couple high pressure and temperature experiments on mantle-derived basalt from St Vincent Volcano, Lesser Antilles, with variable water contents, to thermal models of magma differentiation. We show that the compositional distribution of the derivative magma varies as a function of water and heat content of the magmatic system, which is, in turn, related to the flux and duration of magma input. Systems that have relatively low heat content are characterized by compositional gaps, whose extent varies systemically with the water in the parent basalt. Irrespective of water content, compositional gaps diminish with time. Our approach can be used to retrieve information from volcanic rocks on their magmatic heat and water content in the parent basalt and hence explore these parameters as functions of tectonic settings and age.

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Figure 1: Experimental melt fractions (by weight) as a function of temperature at a range of pressures and H2O contents.
Figure 2: Time-integrated cumulative distribution functions of melt fractions compared with erupted magmas on St Vincent.
Figure 3: Kernel density functions of melt SiO2 in the modelled hot zone for different basalt H2O contents.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Leverhulme Trust and European Research Council (CRITMAG and VOLDIES). We thank Edinburgh Ion Microprobe Facility staff for analytical support.

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  1. School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK

    Elena Melekhova, Catherine Annen & Jon Blundy

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  1. Elena Melekhova
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  2. Catherine Annen
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  3. Jon Blundy
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Contributions

E.M. performed the experimental and analytical work; C.A. devised and ran the models; J.B. formulated the hypothesis and constructed the text.

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Correspondence to Elena Melekhova.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Melekhova, E., Annen, C. & Blundy, J. Compositional gaps in igneous rock suites controlled by magma system heat and water content. Nature Geosci 6, 385–390 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1781

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