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Oxidized sulfur-rich mafic magma at Mount Pinatubo, Philippines

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Abstract

Basaltic fragments enclosed in andesitic dome lavas and pyroclastic flows erupted during the early stages of the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, contain amphiboles that crystallized during the injection of mafic magma into a dacitic magma body. The amphiboles contain abundant melt inclusions, which recorded the mixing of andesitic melt in the mafic magma and rhyolitic melt in the dacitic magma. The least evolved melt inclusions have high sulfur contents (up to 1,700 ppm) mostly as SO4 2–, which suggests an oxidized state of the magma (NNO+1.4). The intrinsically oxidized nature of the mafic magma is confirmed by spinel–olivine oxygen barometry. The value is comparable to that of the dacitic magma (NNO+1.6). Hence, models invoking mixing as a means of releasing sulfur from the melt are not applicable to Pinatubo. Instead, the oxidized state of the dacitic magma likely reflects that of parental mafic magma and the source region in the sub-arc mantle. Our results fit a model in which long-lived SO2 discharge from underplated mafic magma accumulated in the overlying dacitic magma and immiscible aqueous fluids. The fluids were the most likely source of sulfur that was released into the atmosphere during the cataclysmic eruption. The concurrence of highly oxidized basaltic magma and disproportionate sulfur output during the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption suggests that oxidized mafic melt is an efficient medium for transferring sulfur from the mantle to shallow crustal levels and the atmosphere. As it can carry large amounts of sulfur, effectively scavenge sulfides from the source mantle and discharge SO2 during ascent, oxidized mafic magma forms arc volcanoes with high sulfur fluxes, and potentially contributes to the formation of metallic sulfide deposits.

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Notes

  1. Earlier estimates of the oxidation state of the dacitic magma (NNO+2 to +3) were made using Fe–Ti oxides in the eruption products (Matthews et al. 1992; Hattori 1993; Pallister et al. 1996). Recent experimental work (Evans and Scaillet 1997) showed that Fe–Ti-oxide oxygen barometry used by previous workers overestimates oxidation states outside its calibration range. Re-calibrated values indicate an oxidation state between NNO+1.5 to +1.7.

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Acknowledgements

C. Thornber, T.M. Gerlach, A. Gurenko, and an anonymous journal reviewer are thanked for helpful reviews, which helped to clarify many points in the manuscript. E. Essene and P. Roeder are thanked for stimulating discussions about chromite–olivine oxygen barometry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Earth Sciences, Gothenburg University, 413 20 Göteborg, Sweden

    J. C. M. de Hoog

  2. Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa , ON, K1N 6N5, Canada

    J. C. M. de Hoog & K. H. Hattori

  3. US Geological Survey, Hawaii National Park, HI 96718, USA

    R. P. Hoblitt

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  1. J. C. M. de Hoog
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  2. K. H. Hattori
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  3. R. P. Hoblitt
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Correspondence to J. C. M. de Hoog.

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de Hoog, J.C.M., Hattori, K.H. & Hoblitt, R.P. Oxidized sulfur-rich mafic magma at Mount Pinatubo, Philippines. Contrib Mineral Petrol 146, 750–761 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-003-0532-4

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