Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Quantitative field constraints on the dynamics of silicic magma chamber rejuvenation and overturn

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The catastrophic eruption of large-volume, crystal-rich silicic magmas is often proposed to be a consequence of reheating, melting and overturn of partially molten, buoyant silicic material following repeated injection of dense, hot mafic magma. To test this “rejuvenation hypothesis”, we analyze at high spatial resolution 33 examples of deformed interfaces between intrusive mafic and silicic layers in two plutons of the Coastal Maine Magmatic Province, USA. These deformed interfaces are thought to record the buoyant overturn of silicic crystal mush layers, apparently in response to the injection and cooling of hot, dense mafic magmas. We use spectral analysis and scaling theory along with petrologic and textural data to identify, characterize, and understand periodic deformations from the scale of individual crystals (≈1 cm) to the thicknesses of mafic and silicic layers. Deformations at the largest scale lengths (>100 m) are at wavelengths comparable to, or greater than, silicic layer thicknesses and support a conjecture that mafic recharge can cause large-scale Rayleigh–Taylor-type overturning of silicic mushy layers. By contrast, the smallest scales of individual crystals probably record effects related to production and buoyancy-driven rise of melt from the tops of silicic mushes in contact with overlying hot basalt, whereas intermediate scales are explained by compaction. Our results constrain the evolution of a thermal rejuvenation event and potentially identify a condition for a large-scale overturn of the magma chamber that may lead to eruption. This work provides the first quantitative field-based constraints on some of the key physical processes inherent to the rejuvenation hypothesis.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson AT (1991) Hourglass inclusions: theory and application to the Bishop Rhyolitic Tuff. Am Miner 76:530–547

    Google Scholar 

  • Annen C (2008) Conditions for the growth of a long-lived shallow crustal magma chamber below Mount Pelee volcano (Martinique, Lesser Antilles Arc). J Geophys Res Solid 113(B7):B07209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Annen C (2009) From plutons to magma chambers: thermal constraints on the accumulation of eruptible silicic magma in the upper crust. Earth Planet Sci Lett 284:409–416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bachl CA, Miller C, Miller J, Faulds JE (2001) Construction of a pluton: evidence from an exposed cross section of the Searchlight pluton, Eldorado Mountains, Nevada. Bull Geol Soc Am 113(9):1213–1228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bachmann O, Bergantz GW (2003) Rejuvenation of the Fish Canyon magma body: a window into the evolution of large-volume silicic magma systems. Geology 31(9):789–792

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bachmann O, Bergantz GW (2006) Gas percolation in upper-crustal silicic crystal mushes as a mechanism for upward heat advection and rejuvenation of near-solidus magma bodies. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 149:85–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bachmann O, Dungan MA (2002) Temperature-induced Al-zoning in hornblendes of the Fish Canyon magma, Colorado. Am Miner 87(8–9):1062–1076

    Google Scholar 

  • Bachmann O, Dungan MA, Lipman PW (2002) The Fish Canyon magma body, San Juan volcanic field, Colorado: rejuvenation and eruption of an upper-crustal batholith. J Petrol 43(8):1469–1503

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bacon CR (1986) Magmatic inclusions in silicic and intermediate volcanic rocks. J Geophys Res Solid 91(B6):6091–6112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryan SE, Peate IU, Peate DW, Self S, Jerram DA, Mawby MR, Marsh JSG, Miller JA (2010) The largest volcanic eruptions on Earth. Earth Sci Rev 102(3–4):207–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burgisser A, Bergantz G (2011) A rapid mechanism to remobilize and homogenize highly crystalline magma bodies. Nature 471(7337):212–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Busse FH (1989) Fundamentals of thermal convection. In: Peltier WR (ed) Mantle convection: plate tectonics and global dynamics. Gordon and Breach, New York

  • Chapman M, Rhodes JM (1992) Composite layering in the Isle au Haut Igneous Complex, Maine: evidence for periodic invasion of a mafic magma into an evolving magma reservoir. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 51:41–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins WJ, Wiebe RA, Healy B, Richards SW (2006) Replenishment, crystal accumulation and floor aggradation in the megacrystic Kameruka Suite, Australia. J Petrol 47(11):2073–2104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davaille A, Jaupart C (1993) Transient high-rayleigh-number thermal convection with large viscosity variations. J Fluid Mech 253:141–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davaille A, Jaupart C (1994) Onset of thermal convection in fluids with temperature-dependent viscosity: application to the oceanic mantle. J Geophys Res Solid 99(B10):19853–19866

    Google Scholar 

  • Dullien FAL (1992) Porous media: fluid transport and pore structure. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Eichelberger JC (1995) Silicic volcanism: ascent of viscous magmas from crustal reservoirs. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci 23:41–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elwell RWD (1958) Granophyre and hybrid pipes in a dolerite layer of Slieve Gullion. J Geol 66(1):57–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elwell RWD, Skelhorn RR, Drysdall AR (1960) Inclined granitic pipes in the diorites of Guernsey. Geol Mag 97:89–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Falkner C, Miller C, Wooden J, Heizler M (1995) Petrogenesis and tectonic significance of the calc-alkaline, bimodal Aztec Wash pluton, Eldorado Mountains, Colorado River extensional corridor. J Geophys Res 100(B6):10453–10476

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert CM (1938) Welded tuff in eastern California. Bull Geol Soc Am 49(9/12):1829–1861

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins DP, Wiebe RA (2004) Discrete stoping events in granite plutons: a signature of eruptions from silicic magma chambers. Geology 32(12):1021–1024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodge KF, Carazzo G, Jellinek AM (2012) Experimental constraints on the deformation and breakup of injected magma. Earth Planet Sci Lett 325:52–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoover SR, Cashman KV, Manga M (2001) The yield strength of subliquidus basalts—experimental results. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 107(1):1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang N, Ovarlez G, Bertrand F, Rodts S, Coussot P, Bonn D (2005) Flow of wet granular materials. Phys Rev Lett 94(2):28301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huber C, Bachmann O, Manga M (2009) Homogenization processes in silicic magma chambers by stirring and mushification (latent heat buffering). Earth Planet Sci Lett 283:38–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huber C, Bachmann O, Dufek J (2012) Crystal-poor versus crystal-rich ignimbrites: a competition between stirring and reactivation. Geology 40(2):115–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huppert HE, Sparks RSJ (1988) The generation of granitic magmas by intrusion of basalt into continental crust. J Petrol 29(3):599–624

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jellinek AM, Depaolo DJ (2003) A model for the origin of large silicic magma chambers: precursors of caldera-forming eruptions. Bull Volcanol 65(5):363–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jellinek AM, Kerr RC (1999) Mixing and compositional stratification produced by natural convection 2. Applications to the differentiation of basaltic and silicic magma chambers and komatiite lava flows. J Geophys Res 104:7203–7218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jellinek AM, Kerr RC (2001) Magma dynamics, crystallization, and chemical differentiation of the 1959 Kilauea Iki lava lake, Hawaii, revisited. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 110(3–4):235–263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jellinek AM, Manga M (2004) Links between long-lived hot spots, mantle plumes, D′′, and plate tectonics. Rev Geophys 42(3):RG3002

    Google Scholar 

  • Jellinek AM, Kerr RC, Griffiths RW (1999) Mixing and compositional stratification produced by natural convection 1. Experiments and their application to Earth’s core and mantle. J Geophys Res 104(B4)

  • Karlstrom L, Rudolph ML, Manga M (2012) Caldera size modulated by the yield stress within a crystal-rich magma reservoir. Nat Geosci 5:402–405

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerr RC (1994) Melting driven by vigorous compositional convection. J Fluid Mech 280:255–285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leonard GS, Cole JW, Nairn IA, Self S (2002) Basalt triggering of the c. AD 1305 Kaharoa rhyolite eruption, Tarawera Volcanic Complex, New Zealand. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 115(3–4):461–486

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindline J, Crawford WA, Crawford ML (2004) A bimodal volcanic–plutonic system: the Zarembo Island extrusive suite and the Burnett Inlet intrusive complex. Can J Earth Sci 41(4):355–375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lipman PW, Steven TA, Mehnert HH (1970) Volcanic history of the San Juan mountains, Colorado, as indicated by potassium–argon dating. Bull Geol Soc Am 81(8):2329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lister JR, Kerr RC (1989) The effect of geometry on the gravitational instability of a buoyant region of viscous fluid. J Fluid Mech 202(4):577–594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahood GA (1990) Second reply to comment of RSJ Sparks, HE Huppert and CJN Wilson on “Evidence for long residence times of rhyolitic magma in the Long Valley magmatic system: the isotopic record in the precaldera lavas of Glass Mountain". Earth Planet Sci Lett 99:395–399

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin D, Griffiths R, Campbell I (1987) Compositional and thermal convection in magma chambers. Contrib Miner Petrol 96(4):465–475

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKenzie D (1984) The generation and compaction of partially molten rock. J Petrol 25(3):713

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michaut C, Jaupart C (2011) Two models for the formation of magma reservoirs by small increments. Tectonophysics 500(1–4):34–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller C, Miller J (2002) Contrasting stratified plutons exposed in tilt blocks, Eldorado Mountains, Colorado River rift, NV, USA. Lithos 61(3–4):209–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore WB (2008) Heat transport in a convecting layer heated from within and below. J Geophys Res 113:B11407

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy MD, Sparks RSJ, Barclay J, Carroll MR, Brewer TS (2000) Remobilization of andesite magma by intrusion of mafic magma at the Soufriere Hills volcano, Montserrat, West Indies. J Petrol 41(1):21–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niemela JJ, Skrbek L, Sreenivasan KR, Donnelly RJ (2000) Turbulent convection at very high rayleigh numbers. Nature 404(6780):837–840

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olson P, Singer H (1985) Creeping plumes. J Fluid Mech 158:511–531

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pallister JS, Hoblitt RP, Reyes AG (1992) A basalt trigger for the 1991 eruptions of Pinatubo volcano. Nature 356(6368):426–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Philpotts AR, Shi J, Brustman C (1998) Role of plagioclase crystal chains in the differentiation of partly crystallized basaltic magma. Nature 395(6700):343–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pons J, Barbey P, Nachit H, Burg JP (2006) Development of igneous layering during growth of pluton: the Tarçouate Laccolith (Morocco). Tectonophysics 413(3–4):271–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rampino MR, Self S (1992) Volcanic winter and accelerated glaciation following the Toba super-eruption. Nature 359:50–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roscoe R (1952) The viscosity of suspensions of rigid spheres. Brit J Appl Phys 3:267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saar MO, Manga M, Cashman KV, Fremouw S (2001) Numerical models of the onset of yield strength in crystal–melt suspensions. Earth Planet Sci Lett 187(3):367–379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott T, Kohlstedt DL (2006) The effect of large melt fraction on the deformation behavior of peridotite. Earth Planet Sci Lett 246(3–4):177–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seaman SJ, Wobus RA, Wiebe RA, Lubick N, Bowring SA (1995) Volcanic expression of bimodal magmatism: the Cranberry Island–Cadillac Mountain Complex, coastal Maine. J Geol 103:301–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Self S (2006) The effects and consequences of very large explosive volcanic eruptions. Phil Trans R Soc A 364(1845):2073–2097

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shirley DN (1987) Differentiation and compaction in the Palisades Sill, New Jersey. J Petrol 28(5):835–865

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sisson TW, Grove TL, Coleman DS (1996) Hornblende gabbro sill complex at Onion Valley, California, and a mixing origin for the Sierra Nevada batholith. Contrib Miner Petrol 126(1):81–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder D (2000) Thermal effects of the intrusion of basaltic magma into a more silicic magma chamber and implications for eruption triggering. Earth Planet Sci Lett 175:257–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder D, Tait S (1995) Replenishment of magma chambers: comparison of fluid-mechanic experiments with field relations. Contrib Miner Petrol 122:230–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder D, Tait S (1996) Magma mixing by convective entrainment. Nature 379:529–531

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solomatov VS (1995) Scaling of temperature- and stress-dependent viscosity convection. Phys Fluids 7:266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solomatov VS, Moresi LN (1997) Three regimes of mantle convection with non-newtonian viscosity and stagnant lid convection on the terrestrial planets. Geophys Res Lett 24(15):1907–1910

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sparks RSJ, Marshall LA (1986) Thermal and mechanical constraints on mixing between mafic and silicic magmas. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 29(1–4):99–124. doi:10.1016/0377-0273(86)90041-7

    Google Scholar 

  • Sparks RSJ, Sigurdsson H, Wilson L (1977) Magma mixing: a mechanism for triggering acid explosive eruptions. Nature 267:315–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thayalan V, Jellinek AM, Lenardic A (2006) Recycling the lid: effects of subduction and stirring on boundary layer dynamics in bottom-heated planetary mantle convection. Geophys Res Lett 33(20):L20318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner JS (1980) Buoyancy Effects in Fluids. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Wark DA, Hildreth W, Spear F, Cherniak DJ, Watson EB (2007) Pre-eruption recharge of the Bishop magma system. Geology 35(3):235–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Welch P (1967) The use of fast Fourier transform for the estimation of power spectra: a method based on time averaging over short, modified periodograms. IEEE Trans Audio Electroacoust 15(2):70–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead J, Luther D (1975) Dynamics of laboratory diapir and plume models. J Geophys Res 80(5):705–717

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiebe RA (1974) Coexisting intermediate and basic magmas, Ingonish, Cape Breton Island. J Geol 82:74–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiebe RA (1993a) Basaltic injections into floored silicic magma chambers. Eos Trans AGU 1(74):1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiebe RA (1993b) The Pleasant Bay layered gabbro–diorite, coastal maine: ponding and crystallization of basaltic injections into a silicic magma chamber. J Petrol 34(3):461–489

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiebe RA (1994) Silicic magma chambers as traps for basaltic magmas: the Cadillac Mountain intrusive complex, Mount Desert Island, Maine. J Geol 102:423–437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiebe RA (2004) Late-stage mafic injection and thermal rejuvenation of the Vinalhaven granite, Coastal Maine. J Petrol 45(11):2133–2153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiebe RA, Collins WJ (1998) Depositional features and stratigraphic sections in granitic plutons: implications for the emplacement and crystallization of granitic magma. J Struct Geol 20(9–10):1273–1289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiebe RA, Blair K, Hawkins DP, Sabine C (2002) Mafic injections, in situ hybridization, and crystal accumulation in the Pyramid Peak granite, California. Bull Geol Soc Am 114(7):909–920

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiebe RA, Jellinek AM, Markley MJ, Hawkins DP, Snyder D (2007) Steep schlieren and associated enclaves in the Vinalhaven granite, Maine: possible indicators for granite rheology. Contrib Miner Petrol 153(2):121–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wildemuth CR, Williams MC (1984) Viscosity of suspensions modeled with a shear-dependent maximum packing fraction. Rheol acta 23(6):627–635

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolff JA, Gardner JN (1995) Is the Valles caldera entering a new cycle of activity? Geology 23(5):411–414

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was funded in part by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and the National Science Foundation. We thank Jonathan Miller and an anonymous referee for constructive and thoughtful comments that improved this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Road, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    A. A. Bain & A. M. Jellinek

  2. Geology Department, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616-8605, USA

    R. A. Wiebe

Authors
  1. A. A. Bain
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. M. Jellinek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. A. Wiebe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. A. Bain.

Additional information

Communicated by T. L. Grove.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

PDF (9292 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bain, A.A., Jellinek, A.M. & Wiebe, R.A. Quantitative field constraints on the dynamics of silicic magma chamber rejuvenation and overturn. Contrib Mineral Petrol 165, 1275–1294 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-013-0858-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-013-0858-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation