Control on the Emplacement of the Andesite Lava Dome of the Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat by Degassing-Induced Crystallization R
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Paper 267 Disc Control on the emplacement of the andesite lava dome of the Soufriere Hills volcano, Montserrat by degassing-induced crystallization R. S. J. Sparks*,{, M. D. Murphy{, A. M. Lejeune{, R. B. Watts{, J. Barclay{ and S. R. Young} {Department of Earth Sciences, Bristol University, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK; {School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7JT, UK; }Montserrat Volcano Observatory, Mongo Hill, Montserrat, West Indies ABSTRACT Lava solidification is controlled by two mechanisms:external in the range 1013±1014 Pa s and mechanical strength 4 1 MPa. cooling and gas exsolution, the latter inducing crystallization due Deformation can be heterogeneous with extrusion along shear to increasing liquidus temperature. The andesite lava dome of the zones. Rheological stiffening in the upper conduit also causes Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat, is an extrusion dominated by large overpressures, shallow seismicity, and cyclic patterns of crystallization caused by gas exsolution where cooling is dome extrusion. Gas-rich porphyritic andesites tend to be the unimportant in controlling emplacement. In the magma least mobile kind of lava, because transition from magma into hot chamber the magma has an estimated viscosity of 7 6 106 Pa s. crystalline material was reached during ascent. During ascent, gas exsolution caused the magma to extrude in a highly crystalline state, with only 5±15% residual melt, viscosities Terra Nova, 12, 14±20, 2000 some rheological calculations and inclusions (Barclay et al., 1998) indicate Introduction measurements on the andesite which that the magma at depth contained 4±5 Two main mechanisms influence the show that viscosity increases by several wt% H2O in the rhyolitic (73±74% emplacement and solidification of lava orders of magnitude during decom- SiO2) melt phase. The temperature and flows. In one mechanism external cool- pression and gas exsolution. Field ob- water pressure conditions are estimated ing forms a thickening solid crust and servations and experiments also show at 830±8608C and about 125±140 MPa rheologically stiff zone which even- that the magma becomes strongly non- (Murphy et al. 2000). The absence of tually causes lava movement to cease Newtonian with deformation localized groundmass hornblende and presence (Fink and Griffiths, 1990). Another along shear zones. of clinopyroxene suggests that crystal- mechanism is gas exsolution during We contrast the behaviour of gas- lization occurred as magma ascended ascent and extrusion, which causes the rich porphyritic andesite with some and gas exsolved. Although there has lava to solidify due to a large increase in rhyolite lavas. Rhyolitic obsidian lavas been no significant variation in either the magma liquidus temperature. The remain as an undercooled melt during the bulk composition of the magma or implications of degassing-induced crys- extrusion, with much of the crystalliza- the proportions and compositions of tallization on lava emplacement and tion occurring after lava emplacement. the phenocrysts with time, the ground- conduit flow are being increasingly re- In contrast, for gas-rich porphyritic mass shows large variations in the de- cognized (e.g. Swanson et al., 1989; andesite magma, the timescale of crys- gree of crystallinity and texture (Fig. 1). Cashman, 1992; Geschwind and tallization is sufficiently fast that The main controlling factor on Rutherford, 1995; Stix et al., 1997; extensive crystallization occurs within groundmass textures is eruption rate. Hammer et al., 1999; Melnik and the conduit (Melnik and Sparks, 1999). Samples which erupted in explosive Sparks, 1999; Nakada and Motomura, As a consequence gas-rich andesite eruptions and rapidly emplaced dome 1999; Voight et al., 1999; Sparks and magmas can generate much less mobile lobes, have a high glass content (25±30 Pinkerton, 1978:, Westrich et al., 1988). lava than rhyolite, with a strong vol%) (Fig. 1a). The rapidly erupted Here we propose that degassing and tendency to form steep sided domes samples nevertheless have significant contemporaneous crystallization from and spines. proportions of microlites (20%), indi- undercooled melt can be the dominant cating that crystallization occurred mechanism controlling the emplace- during magma ascent. Hornblende Petrology and textures of the ment of some lava flows, particularly phenocrysts in rapidly erupted lava Soufriere Hills andesite those of intermediate (andesite or da- and in pumice are light green and pris- cite) composition, and that cooling is, The Soufriere Hills andesite (58±61% tine and lack reaction rims, indicating in some circumstances, unimportant in SiO2) contains 35±45 vol% phenocrysts ascent of the magma in a few days or their emplacement. The andesite lava (hornblende, plagioclase, orthopyrox- less (Devine et al., 1998). Samples, dome of the Soufriere Hills volcano, ene, titanomagnetite and minor quartz) which are inferred to have spent signif- Montserrat, provides an example of a and 15±20% microphenocrysts (lengths icant amounts of time in the dome lava dome dominated by degassing- 80±300 mm). The groundmass (crystals (typically a few weeks or months), have induced crystallization. We present 5 80 mm) is composed of plagioclase a highly crystalline fine-grained microlites with subordinate pyroxene groundmass (Fig. 1b) and much less *Correspondence: Tel.: +44/ 01179 545419; and Fe±Ti-oxide and a residual high- glass (5±15 vol%). Cristobalite (3± Fax: +44/ 01179 253385; E-mail: steve. Si rhyolite glass (76±80 wt% SiO2). 15%) occurs as a fine devitrification [email protected] Phase equilibria and studies of melt product of glass and vapour precipitate 14 *C 2000 Blackwell Science Ltd Ahed Fig marker Bhed Table marker Ched Ref end Dhed Ref start Ref marker Paper 267 Disc Terra Nova, Vol 12, No. 1, 14±20 Control on the emplacement of the Soufriere andesite lava dome . R. S. J. Sparks et al. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ber 1996, 40% of the dome collapsed over a 9-h period, removing about 11.7 6 106 m3 of lava from a dome with a precollapse volume 29 6 106 m3 (Ro- bertson et al., 1998). The interior of the dome represented by the collapse scar was exposed to a depth of 210 m. The pyroclastic flow deposits of the 17 Sep- tember 1996 eruption consist of dense juvenile blocks derived from the dome, with a highly crystalline groundmass and low proportions (5 15 vol%) of high-silica rhyolite interstitial glass, and contain oxidized hornblende. Pre- dominantly the blocks represent the in- terior of the dome that had grown over the preceding few months (Sparks et al., 1998). Similarly many of the other major dome collapses in the eruption have sampled deep (4 100 m) into the dome and generated clasts with predomi- nantly highly crystalline groundmasses. All of these observations indicate that significant groundmass crystalliza- tion occurred both as the magma as- cended and within the dome. Observations of dome growth The Soufriere Hills dome is classified morphologically in the spiny to lobate category of Fink and Griffiths (1998). The morphology varies from large in- dividual spines (Fig. 2), to a blocky conical structure with many spiny pro- trusions (Fig. 3a,b) to smoother lobes (Fig. 3a,c). Spines consist of tall pinna- cles (Fig. 2) and extrude in a few days with dimensions up to 60 m tall and 30± 50 m wide. Lobes are larger scale struc- tures, which extrude asymmetrically (Fig. 4). Spines and lobes extrude along smooth curving surfaces (Fig. 3b,c), with striations in the movement. Fault breccias are also observed along these surfaces, which are interpreted as shear Fig. 1 Backscattered electron micrograph images of the groundmass lava of Soufriere zones moving in stick-slip fashion. Hills Volcano, Montserrat. (a) Lava block from pyroclastic flow (August 1996) Shear zones with large surface areas following rapid period of dome growth. Microlites and microphenocrysts of feldspar (104 m2 scale) control the extrusion of (Pl) and oxide (Ox) are set in a rhyolite glass (Gl), seen as the grey continuous phase lobes at displacement rates of 20±30 m containing vesicles (Ve). The smallest-scale speckles in the glass are sections across tiny day71 (Fig. 3). Few samples of the microlite needles. White scale-bar is 10 mm. (b) Lava block from pyroclastic flow, Montserrat lava show flow foliation illustrating typical texture of dome material after prolonged residence within the dome. Coarser microlites of feldspar (Pl) and oxide are set in a finer mixture of feldspar, in the groundmass. However, samples cristobalite (seen as numerous tiny dark blebs and marked Cr) and residual glass (Gl). with well-developed foliations and White scale-bar is 100 mm. fragmented phenocrysts are found in explosive ejecta (Robertson et al., 1998). These samples are similar to in vesicles (Fig. 1b; Baxter et al., 1999). tion rims consistent with slow magma cataclasites at the margins of large Hornblende, from dome samples which ascent rates (Devine et al., 1998). spines in the Mount Unzen dome, Ja- have resided for more than a few days in Major episodes of dome collapse ex- pan. They are interpreted as samples the dome, is typically blackened by cavate material originating deep within from shear zones deep within the dome oxidation and sometimes shows reac- the dome. For example, on 17 Septem-