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Experimental constraints on the origin of pahoehoe “cicirara” lavas at Mt. Etna Volcano (Sicily, Italy)

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Abstract

We present results from phase equilibria experiments conducted on the most primitive pahoehoe “cicirara” trachybasaltic lava flow ever erupted at Mt. Etna Volcano. This lava is characterized by a pahoehoe morphology in spite of its high content of phenocrysts and microphenocrysts (>40 vol%) with the occurrence of centimetre-sized plagioclases (locally named cicirara for their chick-pea-like appearance). Our experiments have been performed at 400 MPa, 1100–1150 °C and using H2O and CO2 concentrations corresponding to the water-undersaturated crystallization conditions of Etnean magmas. Results show that olivine does not crystallize from the melt, whereas titanomagnetite is the liquidus phase followed by clinopyroxene or plagioclase as a function of melt–water concentration. This mineralogical feature contrasts with the petrography of pahoehoe cicirara lavas suggesting early crystallization of olivine and late formation of titanomagnetite after plagioclase and/or in close association with clinopyroxene. The lack of olivine produces MgO-rich melt compositions that do not correspond to the evolutionary behaviour of cicirara magmas. Moreover, in a restricted thermal path of 50 °C and over the effect of decreasing water concentrations, we observe abundant plagioclase and clinopyroxene crystallization leading to trace element enrichments unlikely for natural products. At the same time, the equilibrium compositions of our mineral phases are rather different from those of natural cicirara phenocrysts and microphenocrysts. The comparison between our water-undersaturated data and those from previous degassing experiments conducted on a similar Etnean trachybasaltic composition demonstrates that pahoehoe cicirara lavas originate from crystal-poor, volatile-rich magmas undergoing abundant degassing and cooling in the uppermost part of the plumbing system and at subaerial conditions where most of the crystallization occurs after the development of pahoehoe surface crusts.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Tim McClinton and Hiroaki Sato (as Reviewers) and Michael Manga (as Associate Editor) for their useful and constructive suggestions. We kindly thank A. Cavallo for assistance during electron microprobe analysis. The research activities of the HP-HT laboratory of the INGV were supported by the European Observing System Infrastructure Project (EPOS). F. Vetere would like to acknowledge the Marie Curie Fellowship 297880 SolVoM and D. Perugini the European Research Council for the Consolidator Grant ERC-2013-CoG Proposal No. 612776 - CHRONOS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, Università di Perugia, Piazza Università 1, 06100, Perugia, Italy

    F. Vetere & D. Perugini

  2. Institute for Mineralogy, Leibniz University of Hannover, Callinstr. 3, 30167, Hannover, Germany

    F. Vetere & F. Holtz

  3. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Via di Vigna Murata 605, 00143, Roma, Italy

    S. Mollo, G. Iezzi & P. Scarlato

  4. Dipartimento di Fisica e Science della Terra, Università di Ferrara, Via Saragat 1, 44122, Ferrara, Italy

    P. P. Giacomoni & M. Coltorti

  5. Dipartimento di Ingegneria & Geologia, Università G. d’Annunzio, Via Dei Vestini 30, 66013, Chieti, Italy

    G. Iezzi

  6. Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Università di Catania, Via A. Longo 19, 95125, Catania, Italy

    C. Ferlito

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  1. F. Vetere
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Vetere, F., Mollo, S., Giacomoni, P.P. et al. Experimental constraints on the origin of pahoehoe “cicirara” lavas at Mt. Etna Volcano (Sicily, Italy). Bull Volcanol 77, 44 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-015-0931-1

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