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Small volume andesite magmas and melt–mush interactions at Ruapehu, New Zealand: evidence from melt inclusions

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Abstract

Historical eruptions from Mt. Ruapehu (New Zealand) have been small (<0.001 km3 of juvenile magma) and have often occurred without significant warning. Developing better modelling tools requires an improved understanding of the magma storage and transport system beneath the volcano. Towards that end, we have analysed the volatile content and major element chemistry of groundmass glass and phenocryst-hosted melt inclusions in erupted samples from 1945 to 1996. We find that during this time period, magma has been stored at depths of ~2–9 km, consistent with inferences from geophysical data. Our data also show that Ruapehu magmas are relatively H2O-poor (<2 wt%) and CO2-rich (≤1,000 ppm) compared to typical arc andesites. Surprisingly, we find that melt inclusions are often more evolved than their transporting melt (as inferred from groundmass glass compositions). Furthermore, even eruptions that are separated by less than 2 years exhibit distinct major element chemistry, which suggests that each eruption involved magma with a unique ascent history. From these data, we infer that individual melt batches rise through, and interact with, crystal mush zones formed by antecedent magmas. From this perspective, we envision the magmatic system at Ruapehu as frequently recharged by small magma inputs that, in turn, cool and crystallise to varying degrees. Melts that are able to erupt through this network of crystal mush entrain (to a greater or lesser extent) exotic crystals. In the extreme case (such as the 1996 eruption), the resulting scoria contain melt inclusion-bearing crystals that are exotic to the transporting magma. Finally, we suggest that complex interactions between recharge and antecedent magmas are probably common, but that the small volumes and short time scales of recharge at Ruapehu provide a unique window into these processes.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Science and Innovation (MSI) Geological Hazards Programme (GHZ) in the form of a PhD studentship to GK at the University of Bristol. Holly Goddard and Neville Orr are thanked for their assistance with sample preparation. We gratefully acknowledge support from NERC for access to the SIMS facility, Edinburgh, where Cees-Jan de Hoog provided expert guidance and patience. Stuart Kearns and Ben Buse are thanked for their support with EPMA and SEM analyses. JB is supported by ERC Advanced Grant “CRITMAG” and a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. KC acknowledges funding from the AXA Research Fund. Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for constructive and helpful reviews that helped us clarify and significantly improve the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Bristol, BS8 1RJ, UK

    Geoff Kilgour, Jon Blundy, Kathy Cashman & Heidy M. Mader

  2. Wairakei Research Centre, GNS Science, Taupo, 3330, New Zealand

    Geoff Kilgour

  3. Department of Geological Sciences, 1272 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403, USA

    Kathy Cashman

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  1. Geoff Kilgour
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  2. Jon Blundy
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  4. Heidy M. Mader
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Correspondence to Geoff Kilgour.

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Communicated by G. Moore.

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Kilgour, G., Blundy, J., Cashman, K. et al. Small volume andesite magmas and melt–mush interactions at Ruapehu, New Zealand: evidence from melt inclusions. Contrib Mineral Petrol 166, 371–392 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-013-0880-7

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