Insights Into the Geochemical Evolution of the Youngest Toba Tuff (Sumatra, Indonesia) Magma Chamber Through the Lens of Zircon-Hosted Melt Inclusions
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AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Allan Lerner for the degree of Master of Science in Geology presented on August 24, 2015 Title: Insights into the Geochemical Evolution of the Youngest Toba Tuff (Sumatra, Indonesia) Magma Chamber Through the Lens of Zircon-hosted Melt Inclusions Abstract approved: __________________________________________________________________________ Adam J.R. Kent Supervolcanic eruptions are among the most catastrophic phenomena on Earth, erupting 100s-1000s of cubic kilometers of magma, and producing devastating local effects and global climate perturbations. The largest supervolcanic eruption of the last 28 Ma was the 74 ka Youngest Toba Tuff (YTT) eruption from Sumatra, Indonesia, which erupted 2,800 – 5,300 km3 of magma and may have pushed the human species to the brink of extinction. Despite the global significance of such events, the magmatic evolution that builds to super- eruptions remains poorly understood. The mineral zircon provides a unique potential to gain multidimensional insights into the pre-eruptive evolution of magma chambers by combining mineral and melt inclusion chemistry with U-series mineral dating. We combine zircon U-Th dating and trace element chemistry with zircon-hosted melt inclusion chemistries and volatile abundances to investigate the magmatic evolution preceding the YTT eruption. To begin, we present the first detailed study of the susceptibility of zircon-hosted inclusions to syn- or post-entrapment modification of melt compositions. We conclude that boundary layer effects are negligible in even very small zircon-hosted inclusions owing to the slow growth rate of zircon crystals. Post-entrapment crystallization (PEC) of the zircon host phase is also a trivial concern, owing to the low Zr content of most melts. PEC of other daughter phases is recognized (< ~2% amphibole and sanidine), but these effects are also minor relative to melt inclusions in many major-phase minerals. The diffusive exchange of water from zircon-hosted melt inclusions is modeled to occur in less than 10 ka, and requilibration may occur within decades-centuries. Therefore, water contents of zircon- hosted inclusions represent late-stage storage conditions rather than long-term records of magmatic water. Zircon-hosted inclusions should remain diffusively sealed to all melt species, apart from H+, He, and Li+, over typical magmatic system timescales (104-105 yrs). Therefore, we conclude that zircon is a robust, albeit small, melt inclusion host and entrapped inclusions will be largely representative of the melt environments in which they formed. We then apply the multidimensional utility of zircon to gain insights into the pre- eruptive evolution of the YTT magmatic system. YTT zircon grains have U-Th crystallization ages spanning from the ~74 ka eruption age to > 375 ka, reinforcing earlier findings that the YTT system was long-lived. A progressive increase of U in zircon growth zones from < 500 to ~1,500 ppm indicates that the YTT system, or a portion of it, became highly fractionated between 130-200 ka. A lull in zircon formation between ~110-130 ka is contemporaneous with a previously recognized increase in chemical diversity of allanite, possibly reflecting a period of enhanced thermal input into the system. We identify two main populations of zircon-hosted melt inclusions. A low-MgO type is chemically evolved (> 280 ppm Rb, ~125 ppm Ba, 25-30 ppm Sr, < 0.03 wt% MgO) and has high water contents (3.8-5.7 wt% H2O), consistent with formation and storage in a highly fractionated crystal mush ~4-9 km deep. A high-MgO type (250-260 ppm Rb, 160-450 ppm Ba, 35-55 ppm Sr, 0.04-0.07 wt% MgO) has compositions similar to matrix glasses, and is typically less hydrous (0.5-3.5 wt% H2O), suggesting shallow (< 3 km) formation, storage, and syn-eruptive degassing in a less evolved melt. Melt inclusions dated via U-Th measurements of their entrapping zircon zones show no clear temporal differences between the two MgO populations. Rather, melt inclusions entrapped throughout the entire YTT history have relatively invariant major element compositions, and also have no discernible temporal trends in volatile abundances. We largely attribute these findings to the narrow stability field in which zircon crystallize, which inherently limits the compositional range of zircon-hosted inclusions. Zircon-hosted melt inclusions (particularly the high-MgO type) of many ages occur within sealed reentrant melt-channels. This suggests that melt inclusions in YTT zircon grains commonly formed as the system re-established zircon saturation following periods of zircon dissolution during thermal recharge events. A number of zircon grains have melt channels actively open to the grain exterior, which are rimmed with 1-3 μm of cathodoluminescence-bright (low-U) zircon growth. These dissolution/regrowth features are texturally similar to dissolution zones and high-temperature overgrowths described previously in YTT quartz; collectively, these textures provide evidence of a major thermal perturbation(s) 10s-100s of years before the YTT eruption. We conclude that high-T, mafic recharge events occurred throughout the pre-eruptive YTT evolution, and suggest that one or more large recharge events triggered the cataclysmic 74 ka YTT eruption. © Copyright by Allan Lerner August 24, 2015 All Rights Reserved Insights into the Geochemical Evolution of the Youngest Toba Tuff (Sumatra, Indonesia) Magma Chamber Through the Lens of Zircon-hosted Melt Inclusions by Allan Lerner A THESIS Submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Presented August 24, 2015 Commencement June 2016 Master of Science thesis of Allan Lerner presented on August 24, 2015 APPROVED: Major Professor, representing Geology Dean of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences Dean of the Graduate School I understand that my thesis will become part of the permanent collection of Oregon State University libraries. My signature below authorizes release of my thesis to any reader upon request. Allan Lerner, Author ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am extremely grateful to the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science and to the Geology department for building and maintaining such a high degree of scientific excellence. It is has been greatly encouraging to be within an atmosphere bristling with such motivation and dedication to pursuing a better understanding of our planet. I am particularly thankful for the opportunity to have shared time with enthusiastic peers of all backgrounds and research interests who have opened me up to new perspectives on Earth Sciences. I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Adam Kent, for sharing his insights, motivation, encouragement, and patience. I have grown a tremendous amount as a scientist during my Masters degree, and could not have done so without the strong support that he has provided me while at OSU. I am also indebted to his encouragements to look ahead to my future schooling and career. Huge thanks to my committee members, Dr. Shan de Silva, and Dr. Anita Grunder, and Dr. Tom Dietterich for their endless repositories of witty, and insightful, scientific banter, and for finally teaching me about the subject I have decided to focus my career around. I express much appreciation for sticking through the difficulties of summer thesis scheduling. My appreciation goes out to Rick Hervig and the ASU-SIMS lab, as well as Axel Schmitt, Patrick Boehnke, and the UCLA-SIMS lab for assistance with sample analyses and data reduction. I would also like to thank Sarah Fowler for her assistance with MELTS modeling, and Elizabeth Cottrell for sharing her melt inclusion equilibration codes. I deeply thank the funding sources that supported me during this work: a Provost’s fellowship from Oregon State University, a grant from the Oregon State University General Research Fund, and graduate research scholarships from the Geological Society of America and from the Mazamas outdoor society. I have been very fortunate to be surrounded by a wonderful set of academic peers while at OSU. In particular, I would like to deeply thank John Dilles, Roger Nielsen, Frank Tepley, and the entire VIPER research group for innumerable insights into all things magmatic, and for the lifelong sense of community and inspiration apparel. Thank you to my fellow Kentian research group: Brad Pitcher, Richard Bradshaw, Jenny DiGiulio, Kyle Krawl, and Matt Loewen for sharing friendships and scientific wisdom. Additionally, I am very grateful to selfless assistance provided by Nansen Olson, Elinor Utevsky, Federico Cernuschi, Curtis Johnson, Bethany Murphy, and many other VIPER students along the way. Specifically, huge thanks to Adonara Mucek for sharing her Toba samples and for her zircon extraction secrets; to Richard Bradshaw and Madison Myers for their invaluable assistance with MATLAB modeling; and to Morgan Chow for providing so much support, food, and cheer during thesising. Lastly, thank you to all my far-flung friends and family for endless support and smiles; thank you to Kumo the dog for taking me on walks towards the end; and thank you to the Cascadia Subduction Zone for continuing to remain locked while I lived in the depths of Wilkinson Hall. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................. 1 Framework for Assembly and Storage of Supervolcanic Magma Bodies .........................................................