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A tale of two magmas, Fuego, Guatemala

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Abstract

Fuego volcano in Guatemala erupted in 1974 in a basaltic sub-Plinian event, which has been well documented and studied. In 1999, after a period of quiescence lasting 20 years, Fuego erupted again, this time less violently, but with persistent low-level activity. This study investigates the link between these episodes. Previous melt inclusion studies have shown magma erupted in 1974 to have been a volatile-rich hybrid tapped from a vertically extensive system. By contrast, magma erupted in 1999 and 2003 is similar in composition to that erupted in 1974, but melt inclusions are more evolved. Although melt inclusions from the later period are CO2 rich (up to ∼1,500 ppm), they have low H2O concentration (max 1.5 wt.%, compared to ∼6 wt.% in 1974). These melt inclusions have a modified H2O concentration due to diffusive re-equilibration at shallow pressures. Despite this diffusive exchange, both eruptions show evidence of recent mingling of the same low and higher K melts, one of which was slightly cooler than the other and as a result traversed the amphibole stability field. (210Pb/226Ra) data on selected bulk rock samples from 1974 suggest that whereas the cooler, more evolved end-member may have been degassing since the last major eruption in the 1930s, the warmer end-member intruded at most a decade prior to the 1974 eruption. The two end-members are thus batches of the same magma emplaced shallowly ∼30 years apart during which time the older batch was cooled and differentiated before mixing with the younger influx. The presence of the same two melts in the later eruptions suggests that magma in 1999 and 2003 is partly residual from 1974. The current eruptive activity is clearing the system of this residual magma prior to an expected new magma batch.

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Acknowledgements

KB and JS thank Otoniel Matias (and INSIVUMEH), John Lyons and Bill Rose for indispensable help with sample collection. The help of Lynda Williams and Richard Hervig was fundamental to data collection at the Arizona State University National SIMS Facility, which is supported by NSF EAR-0622775. Gordon Moore kindly lent us his H2O–CO2 glass standards. Bill Rose and Olivier Reubi are thanked for their thorough reviews of an earlier version of this work. During this research, KB was supported by a Rubicon fellowship from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and JS by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University, 3450 University Street, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Kim Berlo & John Stix

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, UK

    Kim Berlo

  3. School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Kurt Roggensack

  4. GEOTOP, Université du Québec à Montréal, Succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Bassam Ghaleb

Authors
  1. Kim Berlo
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  2. John Stix
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  3. Kurt Roggensack
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  4. Bassam Ghaleb
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Correspondence to Kim Berlo.

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Editorial responsibility: M. Manga

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Supplementary data table (excel file

(1) Bulk rock XRF and ICP-MS data, (2) bulk rock 210Pb and 226Ra activities and (3) melt inclusion compositions, major elements (EMPA, anhydrous), trace elements (SIMS) and H2O + CO2 (SIMS). Olivine host composition and calculated pressure and temperature for olivine–host pairs. (XLS 74 kb)

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Berlo, K., Stix, J., Roggensack, K. et al. A tale of two magmas, Fuego, Guatemala. Bull Volcanol 74, 377–390 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-011-0530-8

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