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Arc volcano activity driven by small-scale metasomatism of the magma source

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Abstract

Arc volcanism arises from the release of fluids from the descending slab, which enables melting in the mantle wedge by lowering the solidus temperature. Metasomatism—compositional alteration by fluids—of the mantle is known to have an important role in magma production in volcanic arcs over long spatial and temporal scales. However, the episodic eruption of individual arc volcanoes is generally thought to be regulated primarily by the evolution and recharge of crustal magma reservoirs, with no established link to mantle processes. Here we show a link between eruptive activity in the 1999–2016 eruption sequence of Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador and small-scale metasomatism of the magma source. From high-resolution time series of the Pb and Sr isotopic composition of ashes, we determine that during the eruption sequence, the average rate of magma production varies logarithmically with the degree of source metasomatism, and that the sequence ended because of the exhaustion of the metasomatized source during its final weeks. Such an association points to mantle metasomatism over short spatial and temporal scales regulating magma production and ultimately eruptive activity of Tungurahua volcano. The influence of metasomatism on individual eruptions has been recognized for basaltic shield volcanoes, but our findings suggest that it is also a plausible mechanism to produce long-lasting eruptions at andesitic arc volcanoes.

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Fig. 1: Location maps.
Fig. 2: History and sampling of the 1999–2016 eruption sequence of the Tungurahua volcano.
Fig. 3: Pb and Sr isotopic composition of ash samples plotted against time.
Fig. 4: Temporal evolution of eruptive activity and deep source components.
Fig. 5: Temporal evolution of crustal components.
Fig. 6: Rate of deep magma supply plotted against magma source components.

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Data availability

All data generated during this study are included in this published article (and its Supplementary Information files). Data are also available from the EarthChem repository (https://doi.org/10.26022/IEDA/112767).

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Acknowledgements

This work is part of the ‘Laboratoire Mixte International’ programme entitled ‘Seismes et Volcans dans les Andes du Nord’. The research was financed by the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, the French Government Laboratory of Excellence initiative number ANR-10-LABX-0006, the Region Auvergne and the European Regional Development Fund. This is Laboratory of Excellence ClerVolc contribution number 581. Tungurahua volcano monitoring was supported by Ecuadorian Government Project SENPLADES: Generación de Capacidades para la Emisión de Alertas Tempranas.

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  1. I. Vlastélic

    Present address: Observatoire Volcanologique et Sismologique de Guadeloupe, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Gourbeyre, Guadeloupe

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, IRD, OPGC, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    I. Vlastélic, N. Sainlot, P. Samaniego, F. Nauret, D. Auclair & A. Gannoun

  2. Instituto Geofísico, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito, Ecuador

    P. Samaniego, B. Bernard & S. Hidalgo

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Contributions

I.V. designed the study, coordinated the analyses and wrote the paper. N.S. performed the isotopic analyses and wrote the paper. P.S. designed the study and contributed to data interpretation. B.B. collected samples and contributed to data interpretation. F.N. and S.H. contributed to the discussions and interpretation of the data. D.A. supervised Sr isotope measurements. A.G. supervised Pb isotope measurements

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Correspondence to I. Vlastélic.

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Nature Geoscience thanks Jorge E. Romero, Simon Turner and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Primary handling editors: Stefan Lachowycz and Rebecca Neely, in collaboration with the Nature Geoscience team.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Table 1

Sr–Pb isotope composition of juvenile ash samples from the 1999–2016 eruptions of Tungurahua volcano.

Supplementary Table 2

Compositions of the four end-member components used in the mixing model.

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Vlastélic, I., Sainlot, N., Samaniego, P. et al. Arc volcano activity driven by small-scale metasomatism of the magma source. Nat. Geosci. 16, 363–370 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01143-0

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