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Crustal xenoliths from Calbuco Volcano, Andean Southern Volcanic Zone: implications for crustal composition and magma-crust interaction

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Abstract

Crustal xenoliths in the 1961 andesite flow of Calbuco Volcano, in the southern Southern Volcanic Zone (SSVZ) of the Andes, consist predominantly of pyroxene granulites and hornblende gabbronorites. The granulites contain plagioclase+pyroxene+magnetite±amphibole, and have pronounced granoblastic textures. Small amounts of relict amphibole surrounded by pyroxene-plagioclase-magnetite-glass symplectites are found in some specimens. These and similar textures in the gabbronorites are interpreted as evidence of dehydration melting. Mineral and bulk rock geochemical data indicate that the granulites are derived from an incompatible trace element depleted basaltic protolith that underwent two stages of metamorphism: a moderate pressure, high temperature stage accompanied by melting and melt extraction from some samples, followed by thermal metamorphism after entrainment in the Calbuco andesite lavas. High ɛNd T values (+4.0 to +8.6), Nd-isotope model ages of 1.7–2.0 Ga, and trace element characteristics like chondrite normalized La/Yb< and La/Nb≤1 indicate that the protoliths were oceanic basalts. Similar oceanic metabasalts of greenschist to amphibolite facies are found in the Paleozoic metamorphic belt that underlies the Chilean coastal ranges. Mineral and bulk rock compositions of the gabbronorite xenoliths indicate that they are cognate, crystallizing from the basaltic andesite magma at Calbuco. Crystallization pressures for the gabbros based on total Al contents in amphibole are 6–8 kbar. These pressures point to middle to lower crustal storage of the Calbuco magma. Neither granulite nor gabbro xenoliths have the appropriate geochemical characteristics to be contaminants of Calbuco andesites, although an ancient sedimentary contaminant is indicated by the lava compositions. The presence of oceanic metabasaltic xenoliths, together with the sedimentary isotopic imprint, suggests that the lower crust beneath the volcano is analogous to the coastal metamorphic belt, which is an accretionary complex of intercalated basalts and sediments that formed along the Paleozoic Gondwanan margin. If this is the case, the geochemical composition of the lower and middle crust beneath the SSVZ is significantly different from that of most recent SSVZ volcanic rocks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Florida International University, 33199, Miami, FL, USA

    Rosemary Hickey-Vargas & Mohammad J. Abdollahi

  2. Departamento de Geologia, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 13518, Correo 21, Santiago, Chile

    Miguel A. Parada & Leopoldo López-Escobar

  3. Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 02139, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Fred A. Frey

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  1. Rosemary Hickey-Vargas
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  2. Mohammad J. Abdollahi
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  3. Miguel A. Parada
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  4. Leopoldo López-Escobar
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  5. Fred A. Frey
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Hickey-Vargas, R., Abdollahi, M.J., Parada, M.A. et al. Crustal xenoliths from Calbuco Volcano, Andean Southern Volcanic Zone: implications for crustal composition and magma-crust interaction. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 119, 331–344 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00286933

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