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Eruptive history of an alkali basaltic diatreme from Elie Ness, Fife, Scotland

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Abstract

The Elie Ness diatreme (Fife, Scotland) is an ideal place to study the internal architecture and emplacement processes of diatremes. Elie Ness is one of approximately 100 alkali basaltic diatremes and intrusions in the East Fife area, emplaced during Upper Carboniferous to Early Permian times into an extensive rift system in the northern Variscan foreland. Within the diatreme, seven lithofacies and three lithofacies associations (LFAs 1–3) are recognised. Field, petrographic and geochemical studies demonstrate that the diatreme experienced a protracted history of eruption and infill, initially driven by volatile expansion and later by magma–water interaction. Massive lapilli tuffs of LFA 1 contain abundant highly vesicular juvenile scoria and magma-coated clasts, which are best explained by a magmatic origin for the early explosive eruptions. On a large-scale, the tuffs are well mixed and locally exhibit small-scale degassing structures attributed to fluidisation processes occurring within the diatreme fill. The occurrence of abundant volcaniclastic autoliths and megablocks within LFA 1 can be explained by subsidence of volcaniclastic strata from the maar crater and upper diatreme during emplacement. Pyroclastic density current deposits of LFA 2 form a series of continuous sheets across the diatreme, some of which may have originated from phreatomagmatic explosions in a neighbouring vent. We attribute the overall bedding pattern to a combination of primary volcanic processes and post-depositional folding related to movement along an adjacent fault. Minor steeply inclined breccias and tuffs of LFA 3 cross-cut the LFA 2 succession and are interpreted as late-stage volcaniclastic dykes and conduits, signalling the final phase of eruptive activity at Elie Ness. The study offers new insights into the volcanic evolution of diatremes fed by low viscosity, alkali-rich magmas.

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Acknowledgments

We dedicate this paper to Professor (Edward) Howel Francis, who has made many contributions to understanding the volcanic geology of the Fife diatremes. TG acknowledges generous support from the Timothy Jefferson Field Research Fund of the Geological Society of London, the Clough and Mykura Fund of the Geological Society of Edinburgh and the Curry Fund of the Geologist’s Association. We thank Thorvaldur Thordarson, Linda Kirstein and Steve Sparks for the stimulating discussions. We acknowledge thoughtful and detailed reviews by Volker Lorenz and Richard Brown and careful editorial handling by Pierre-Simon Ross. Special thanks go to Gary Hincks for producing the illustration shown in Fig. 14.

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  1. Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK

    T. M. Gernon

  2. School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JW, UK

    B. G. J. Upton

  3. School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1RJ, UK

    T. K. Hincks

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Gernon, T.M., Upton, B.G.J. & Hincks, T.K. Eruptive history of an alkali basaltic diatreme from Elie Ness, Fife, Scotland. Bull Volcanol 75, 704 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-013-0704-7

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