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Vapor-phase cristobalite as a durable indicator of magmatic pore structure and halogen degassing: an example from White Island volcano (New Zealand)

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Abstract

Vesicles in volcanic rocks are physical records of magmatic degassing; however, the interpretation of their textures is complicated by resorption, coalescence, and collapse. We discuss the textural significance of vesicle-hosted vapor-phase cristobalite (high-T, low-P SiO2 polymorph), and its utility as a complement to textural assessments of magmatic degassing, using a representative dacite bomb erupted from White Island volcano (New Zealand) in 1999. Imaging in 2D (SEM) and 3D (CT) shows the bomb to have 56% bulk porosity, almost all of which is connected (~ 99%) and devoid of SiO2 phases. The remaining (~ 1%) of porosity is in isolated, sub-spherical vesicles that have corroded walls and contain small (< 30 μm across) prismatic vapor-phase cristobalite crystals (98.4 ± 0.4 wt.% SiO2 with diagnostic laser Raman spectra). Halogen degassing models show vapor-phase cristobalite to be indicative of closed-system chlorine and fluorine partitioning into H2O-rich fluid in isolated pores. At White Island, this occurred during shallow (< 100s of meters) ascent and extensive (~ 50%) groundmass crystallization associated with slow cooling in a volcanic plug. Pristine textures in this White Island bomb demonstrate the link between pore isolation and vapor-phase cristobalite deposition. We suggest that because these crystals have higher preservation potential than the bubbles in which they form, they can serve as durable, qualitative textural indicators of halogen degassing and pre-quench bubble morphologies in slowly cooled volcanic rocks (e.g., lava flows and domes), even where emplacement mechanisms have overprinted original bubble textures.

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Acknowledgements

Australian Synchrotron access was gained from proposal 2016/1-M10503 and supported by the New Zealand Synchrotron Group. CIS acknowledges a VUW faculty strategic research grant 212525/3620, A. Möbis for access to FTIR facilities at Massey University, and the staff of the Otago Centre for Electron Microscopy for their valuable support. We also thank T. Shea and H. Balcone-Boissard for constructive reviews that helped to improve this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Victoria University, PO Box 600, Wellington, 6140, New Zealand

    C. Ian Schipper & Céline Mandon

  2. Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Rd, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia

    Anton Maksimenko

  3. Institute of Geosciences, University of Mainz, Becherweg 21, 55099, Mainz, Germany

    Jonathan M. Castro

  4. Department of Geology and Paleontology, National Museum of Nature and Science, 4-1-1- Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0005, Japan

    Chris E. Conway

  5. The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, 6140, New Zealand

    Peter Hauer

  6. Geology Department, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, 9016, New Zealand

    Martina Kirilova

  7. Wairakei Research Centre, GNS Science, 114 Karetoto Rd, Taupo, 3384, New Zealand

    Geoff Kilgour

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Ian Schipper, C., Mandon, C., Maksimenko, A. et al. Vapor-phase cristobalite as a durable indicator of magmatic pore structure and halogen degassing: an example from White Island volcano (New Zealand). Bull Volcanol 79, 74 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-017-1157-1

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