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Lightning-strike fusion of gabbro and formation of magnetite-bearing fulgurite, Cornone di Blumone, Adamello, Western Alps, Italy

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Abstract

The Adamello gabbro exposed on the summit of Cornone di Blumone, Western Alps, Italy, has been fused by lightning strikes to form magnetite-rich fulgurites produced by melting of magnetite, hornblende, calcic plagioclase and minor clinopyroxene. The composition of quench magnetite in the fulgurite is 44.4 Fe3O4; 27.5 MgFe2O4; 15.1 FeAl2O4; 7.9 Fe2TiO4; 2.5 Fe2SiO4; 1.9 CaFe2O4; 0.8 MnFe2O4 and is inferred to have crystallized from a low-Si, Fe-rich melt under high oxidation conditions of about 1 log unit below the log10ƒO2 of hematite–magnetite. The low Si, Fe-rich melt is considered to have been produced from fusion of magnetite + hornblende-rich areas of the host gabbro and/or possible separation of an immiscible high Fe2O3/FeO Fe-rich, low-Si melt from a more siliceous glass during superheating. Skeletal-dendritic morphologies of magnetite in the fulgurite indicate crystallization under conditions of extreme supercooling. Juxtaposition of areas exhibiting different growth habits and crystal sizes of magnetite may reflect compositionally different local melt domains and/or small differences in the delicate balance between nucleation and growth in domains that had slightly different, although ultrafast, cooling rates.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Institut für Geowissenschaften (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg) personnel: Daniel Weidenmann for collecting fused gabbro from the summit of Cornone di Blumone; Isolde Schmidt for XRF analyses; and Sigrid Hirth-Walther for FeO, H2O+ and CO2 determination. The paper was considerably improved by the constructive comments and suggestions by two anonymous reviewers to whom we are grateful. One reviewer is thanked for kindly providing a comprehensive reference list of publications on fulgurites.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, 136-701, Korea

    Rodney H. Grapes

  2. Institut für Geowissenschaften, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, 79104, Freiburg, Germany

    Hiltrud Müller-Sigmund

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  1. Rodney H. Grapes
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  2. Hiltrud Müller-Sigmund
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Correspondence to Rodney H. Grapes.

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Editorial handling: J.G. Raith

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Grapes, R.H., Müller-Sigmund, H. Lightning-strike fusion of gabbro and formation of magnetite-bearing fulgurite, Cornone di Blumone, Adamello, Western Alps, Italy. Miner Petrol 99, 67–74 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-009-0100-3

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