Abstract
Convergent margin volcanism is ultimately fed by magmas generated in the mantle, but the connection between the mantle and the eruption at the surface is typically obscured by cooling, crystallization and magma mixing within the crust1,2,3. Geophysical techniques are also not very effective in the lower and middle crust, where seismic events are rare and resolution is generally poor4,5. It has thus been unclear how fast mantle-derived magmas transit the crust and recharge crustal magma chambers. Here we use diffusion modelling of nickel zonation profiles in primitive olivines from diverse primary melts6,7,8,9,10 to show how mantle recharge may occur on timescales as short as eruptions themselves. In Irazú volcano in Costa Rica, magmas apparently ascend from their source region in the mantle through crust about 35 kilometres thick in just months to years, recharging hybrid basaltic andesites over the course of the eruption. These results show that large stratovolcanoes with shallow magma chambers11,12 may still preserve the deep record of their mantle origin in olivine crystals. This approach—documenting magma ascent timescales from the mantle beneath a convergent margin stratovolcano—can be applied to other eruptions that record magma mixing with recharge melts. Signs of volcanic unrest are typically monitored at the surface or upper crust; new efforts should look deeper, tracking magma movement from the base of the crust to the surface in the months to years before eruptions.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Kent, A. J. R., Darr, C., Koleszar, A. M., Salisbury, M. J. & Cooper, K. M. Preferential eruption of andesitic magmas through recharge filtering. Nature Geosci. 3, 631–636 (2010)
Annen, C., Blundy, J. D. & Sparks, R. S. J. The genesis of intermediate and silicic magmas in deep crustal hot zones. J. Petrol. 47, 505–539 (2006)
Dungan, M. A., Wulfe, A. & Thompson, R. Eruptive stratigraphy of the Tatara-San Pedro complex, 36 °S, Southern Volcanic Zone, Chilean Andes: reconstruction method and implications for magma evolution at long-lived arc volcanic centers. J. Petrol. 42, 555–626 (2001)
Shelly, D. R. & Hill, D. P. Migrating swarms of brittle-failure earthquakes in the lower crust beneath Mammoth Mountain, California. Geophys. Res. Lett. 38, L20307 (2011)
White, R. S. et al. Dynamics of dyke intrusion in the mid-crust of Iceland. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 304, 300–312 (2011)
Sobolev, A. V., Hofmann, A. W., Sobolev, S. V. & Nikogosian, I. K. An olivine-free mantle source of Hawaiian shield basalts. Nature 434, 590–597 (2005)
Straub, S. M., LaGatta, A. B., Martin-Del Pozzo, A. L. & Langmuir, C. H. Evidence from high-Ni olivines for a hybridized peridotite/pyroxenite source for orogenic andesites from the central Mexican Volcanic Belt. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 9, Q03007 (2008)
Wang, Z. & Gaetani, G. A. Partitioning of Ni between olivine and siliceous eclogite partial melt: experimental constraints on the mantle source of Hawaiian basalts. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 156, 661–678 (2008)
Li, C. & Ripley, E. M. The relative effects of composition and temperature on olivine-liquid Ni partitioning: statistical deconvolution and implications for petrologic modeling. Chem. Geol. 275, 99–104 (2010)
Straub, S. M. et al. Formation of hybrid arc andesites beneath thick continental crust. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 303, 337–347 (2011)
Alvarado, G. E. et al. Recent volcanic history of Irazú volcano, Costa Rica: alternation and mixing of two magma batches, and pervasive mixing. Spec. Pap. Geol. Soc. Am. 412, 259–276 (2006)
Dzierma, Y. et al. Imaging crustal structure in south central Costa Rica with receiver functions. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 11, Q08S26 (2010)
Carr, M. J. et al. Element fluxes from the volcanic front of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 8, Q06001 (2007)
Tamura, Y., Yuhara, M. & Ishii, T. Primary arc basalts from Daisen volcano, Japan: equilibrium crystal fractionation versus disequilibrium fractionation during supercooling. J. Petrol. 41, 431–448 (2000)
Alvarado Induni, G. E. Volcanology and Petrology of Irazú Volcano, Costa Rica PhD thesis, 1–261 (Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, 1993)
Petry, C., Chakraborty, S. & Palme, H. Experimental determination of Ni diffusion coefficients in olivine and their dependence on temperature, composition, oxygen fugacity, and crystallographic orientation. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 68, 4179–4188 (2004)
Holzapfel, C., Chakraborty, S., Rubie, D. C. & Frost, D. J. Effect of pressure on Fe-Mg, Ni and Mn diffusion in (FexMg1-x) 2SiO4 olivine. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 162, 186–198 (2007)
Spandler, C. & O’Neill, H. Diffusion and partition coefficients of minor and trace elements in San Carlos olivine at 1,300°C with some geochemical implications. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 159, 791–818 (2010)
Milman-Barris, M. et al. Zoning of phosphorus in igneous olivine. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 155, 739–765 (2008)
Qian, Q., O’Neill, H. S. C. & Hermann, J. Comparative diffusion coefficients of major and trace elements in olivine at ∼950 °C from a xenocryst included in dioritic magma. Geology 38, 331–334 (2010)
Arculus, R. J. & Wills, K. J. A. The petrology of plutonic blocks and inclusions from the Lesser Antilles island arc. J. Petrol. 21, 743–799 (1980)
Ghiorso, M. S., Hirschmann, M. M. & Reiners, P. W. &. Kress, V. C. III. The pMELTS: a revision of MELTS for improved calculation of phase relations and major element partitioning related to partial melting of the mantle to 3 GPa. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 3 doi:10.1029/2001GC000217 (2002)
Danyushevsky, L. V. & Plechov, P. Petrolog3: integrated software for modeling crystallization processes. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 12, Q07021 (2011)
Rutherford, M. J. Magma ascent rates. Rev. Mineral. Geochem. 69, 241–271 (2008)
Weaver, S. L., Wallace, P. J. & Johnston, A. D. A comparative study of continental vs. intraoceanic arc mantle melting: experimentally determined phase relations of hydrous primitive melts. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 308, 97–106 (2011)
Benjamin, E. et al. High water contents in basaltic magmas from Irazu Volcano, Costa Rica. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 168, 68–92 (2007)
Lizarralde, D. et al. Crustal structure along the active Costa Rican volcanic arc. Am. Geophys. Union Fall Mtg Abstr.. T13A–2176. (2010)
Klein, F. W. Earthquakes at Loihi Submarine Volcano and the Hawaiian Hot Spot. J. Geophys. Res. 87, 7719–7726 (1982)
Tarasewicz, J., Brandsdóttir, B., White, R. S., Hensch, M. & Thorbjarnardóttir, B. Using microearthquakes to track repeated magma intrusions beneath the Eyjafjallajökull stratovolcano, Iceland. J. Geophys. Res. 117, B00C06 (2012)
Costa, F. & Dungan, M. A. Short time scales of magmatic assimilation from diffusion modeling of multiple elements in olivine. Geology 33, 837–840 (2005)
Sisson, T. W. & Bronto, S. Evidence for pressure-release melting beneath magmatic arcs from basalt at Galunggung, Indonesia. Nature 391, 883–886 (1998)
Grove, T. L. et al. Magnesian andesite and dacite lavas from Mt. Shasta, northern California: products of fractional crystallization of H2O-rich mantle melts. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 148, 542–565 (2004)
Costa, F. & Morgan, D. in Timescales of Magmatic Processes: From Core to Atmosphere (eds Dosseto, A., Turner, S. P. & Van Orman, J. A. ) 125–159 (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)
White, R. W. Ultramafic inclusions in basaltic rocks from Hawaii. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 12, 245–314 (1966)
Jarosewich, E., Gooley, R. & Husler, J. Chromium augite — a new microprobe reference sample. Geostand. Newsl. 11, 197–198 (1987)
Taura, H., Yurimoto, H., Kurita, K. & Sueno, S. Pressure dependence on partition coefficients for trace elements between olivine and the coexisting melts. Phys. Chem. Miner. 25, 469–484 (1998)
Jarosewich, E., Nelen, J. A. & Norberg, J. A. Reference samples for electron microprobe analysis. Geostand. Newsl. 4, 43–47 (1980)
Norman, M. D. Melting and metasomatism in the continental lithosphere: laser ablation ICPMS analysis of minerals in spinel lherzolites from eastern Australia. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 130, 240–255 (1998)
Sobolev, A. V. et al. The amount of recycled crust in sources of mantle-derived melts. Science 316, 412–417 (2007)
Ruprecht, P. & Cooper, K. M. Integrating the uranium-series and elemental diffusion geochronometers in mixed magmas from volcán Quizapu, Central Chile. J. Petrol. 53, 841–871 (2012)
Couch, S., Sparks, R. S. J. & Carroll, M. R. Mineral disequilibrium in lavas explained by convective self-mixing in open magma chambers. Nature 411, 1037–1039 (2001)
Ruprecht, P. & Wörner, G. Variable regimes in magma systems documented in plagioclase zoning patterns: El Misti stratovolcano and Andahua monogenetic cones. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 165, 142–162 (2007)
Ruprecht, P., Bergantz, G. W. & Dufek, J. Modeling of gas-driven magmatic overturn: tracking of phenocryst dispersal and gathering during magma mixing. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 9, Q07017 (2008)
Acknowledgements
We thank G. Alvarado for help during tephra sampling and S. Straub for discussions on olivine partitioning. The work was funded by a Feodor-Lynen Fellowship from the Alexander-von-Humboldt foundation to P.R. and NSF grant EAR 0948533 to T.P. This is Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory contribution 7695.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
P.R. designed the study and led the sampling, analytical, diffusion and thermal modelling efforts. P.R. and T.P. equally contributed to the discussions and interpretation of the data and both participated equally in the writing stages.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Supplementary information
Supplementary Information
This file contains Supplementary Text, Supplementary Figures 1-8 and additional references. (PDF 4495 kb)
Supplementary Table 1
This table shows the data for Ni diffusion mixing-to-eruption timescales for Irazú olivines. (XLSX 42 kb)
Supplementary Table 2
This table contains data for melt inclusion compositions. (XLSX 53 kb)
Supplementary Table 3
This table contains LA-ICPMS data for reversely zoned crystals. (XLSX 393 kb)
Supplementary Table 4
This table contains data for Monte-carlo variations. (XLSX 39 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ruprecht, P., Plank, T. Feeding andesitic eruptions with a high-speed connection from the mantle. Nature 500, 68–72 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12342
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12342
This article is cited by
-
Arc volcano activity driven by small-scale metasomatism of the magma source
Nature Geoscience (2023)
-
Eruptions from the deep
Nature Geoscience (2023)
-
Years of magma intrusion primed Kīlauea Volcano (Hawai'i) for the 2018 eruption: evidence from olivine diffusion chronometry and monitoring data
Bulletin of Volcanology (2023)
-
Mixing and eruption of mafic magmas of the Sipisupisu volcano, the Toba volcanic system, Indonesia
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology (2023)
-
Experimental measurements of the viscosity and melt structure of alkali basalts at high pressure and temperature
Scientific Reports (2022)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.