Intrusion of basaltic magma into a crystallizing granitic magma chamber: The Cordillera del Paine pluton in southern Chile

1991 ◽  
Vol 108 (4) ◽  
pp. 396-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Michael
Processes ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 108
Author(s):  
Carlos Enrique Zambra ◽  
Luciano Gonzalez-Olivares ◽  
Johan González ◽  
Benjamin Clausen

This research numerically studies the transient cooling of partially liquid magma by natural convection in an enclosed magma chamber. The mathematical model is based on the conservation laws for momentum, energy and mass for a non-Newtonian and incompressible fluid that may be modeled by the power law and the Oberbeck–Boussinesq equations (for basaltic magma) and solved with the finite volume method (FVM). The results of the programmed algorithm are compared with those in the literature for a non-Newtonian fluid with high apparent viscosity (10–200 Pa s) and Prandtl (Pr = 4 × 104) and Rayleigh (Ra = 1 × 106) numbers yielding a low relative error of 0.11. The times for cooling the center of the chamber from 1498 to 1448 K are 40 ky (kilo years), 37 and 28 ky for rectangular, hybrid and quasi-elliptical shapes, respectively. Results show that for the cases studied, natural convection moved the magma but had no influence on the isotherms; therefore the main mechanism of cooling is conduction. When a basaltic magma intrudes a chamber with rhyolitic magma in our model, natural convection is not sufficient to effectively mix the two magmas to produce an intermediate SiO2 composition.


1961 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Wyllie ◽  
O. F. Tuttle

AbstractPT curves for the beginning of melting of five analysed shales in the presence of water vapour under pressure are 20° C. to 40° C. higher than the corresponding curve for granite. About 150° C. above the beginning of melting, the shales are half-melted; this is higher than the liquidus curve of most granites. Refractive indices of the quenched liquids (1·495–1·505) indicate a granitic or granodioritic composition. Quartz, cordierite, mullite, hypersthene, anorthite, etc., are developed in the partially fused shales. Partial fusion of shales by a granitic magma, even if superheated, would produce a liquid no more basic than granodiorite. The chemical characteristics of the shales are compared with average igneous rocks, and there appears to be no possibility that fusion of shales could produce a basaltic magma. Complete fusion would produce a melt with composition distinct from normal igneous magmas.


Author(s):  
R. A. Wiebe

ABSTRACT:Plutonic complexes with interlayered mafic and silicic rocks commonly contain layers (1–50 m thick) with a chilled gabbroic base that grades upwards to dioritic or silicic cumulates. Each chilled base records the infusion of new basaltic magma into the chamber. Some layers preserve a record of double-diffusive convection with hotter, denser mafic magma beneath silicic magma. Processes of hybridisation include mechanical mixing of crystals and selective exchange of H2O, alkalis and isotopes. These effects are convected away from the boundary into the interiors of both magmas. Fractional crystallisation aad replenishment of the mafic magma can also generate intermediate magma layers highly enriched in incompatible elements.Basaltic infusions into silicic magma chambers can significantly affect the thermal and chemical character of resident granitic magmas in shallow level chambers. In one Maine pluton, they converted resident I-type granitic magma into A-type granite and, in another, they produced a low-K (trondhjemitic) magma layer beneath normal granitic magma. If comparable interactions occur at deeper crustal levels, selective thermal, chemical and isotopic exchange should probably be even more effective. Because the mafic magmas crystallise first and relatively rapidly, silicic magmas that rise away from deep composite chambers may show little direct evidence (e.g. enclaves) of their prior involvement with mafic magma.


Author(s):  
Herbert E. Huppert ◽  
R. Stephen ◽  
J. Sparks

ABSTRACTWhen basaltic magma is emplaced into continental crust, melting and generation of granitic magma can occur. We present experimental and theoretical investigations of the fluid dynamical and heat transfer processes at the roof and floor of a basaltic sill in which the wall rocks melt. At the floor, relatively low density crustal melt rises and mixes into the overlying magma, which would form hybrid andesitic magma. Below the roof the low-density melt forms a stable layer with negligible mixing between it and the underlying hotter, denser magma. Our calculations applied to basaltic sills in hot crust predict that sills from 10-1500 m thick require only 2-200 years to solidify, during which time large volumes of overlying layers of convecting silicic magma are formed. These time scales are very short compared with the lifetimes of large silicic magma systems of around 106 years, and also with the time scale of 107 years for thermal relaxation of the continental crust. An important feature of the process is that crystallisation and melting occur simultaneously, though in different spots of the source region. The granitic magmas formed are thus a mixture of igneous phenocrysts and lesser amounts of restite crystals. Several features of either plutonic or volcanic silicic systems can be explained without requiring large, high-level, long-lived magma chambers.


Author(s):  
W. J. Collins ◽  
S. R. Richards ◽  
B. E. Healy ◽  
P. I. Ellison

Field, petrographic and geochemical evidence from the K-feldspar megacrystic Kameruka pluton, Lachlan Fold Belt, southeastern Australia, suggests that complex, multicomponent, mafic microgranular enclaves (MME) are produced by two-stage hybridisation processes. Stage 1 mixing occurs in composite dykes below the pluton, as mafic and silicic melts ascend through shared conduits. Pillows formed in these conduits are homogeneous, fine-to medium-grained stage 1 MME, which typically range from basaltic to granitic compositions that plot as a sublinear array on Harker diagrams. Stage 2 hybridisation occurs in the magma chamber when the composite dykes mix with the resident magma as synplutonic dykes. The stage 2 hybrids also form linear chemical arrays and range from basaltic to granodioritic compositions, the latter resembling the more mafic phases of the pluton. Stage 2 MME are distinguished from stage 1 types by the presence of K-feldspar xenocrysts and a more heterogeneous nature: they commonly contain stage 1 enclaves. Subsequent disaggregation and dispersal of stage 2 hybrid synplutonic dykes within the magma chamber produces a diverse array of multi-component MME.Field evidence for conduit mixing is consistent with published analogue experimental studies, which show that hybrid thermo-mechanical boundary layers (TMBL) develop between mafic and silicic liquids in conduits. A mechanical mixing model is developed, suggesting that the TMBL expands and interacts with the adjacent contrasting melts during flow, producing an increasing compositional range of hybrids with time that are mafic in the axial zone, grading to felsic in the peripheral zones in the conduit. Declining flow rates in the dyke and cooling of the TMBL zones produce a pillowing sequence progressing from mafic to felsic, which explains the general observation of more MME in more silicic hosts.The property of granitic magmas to undergo transient brittle failure in seismic regimes allows analogies with fractured solids to be drawn. The fracture network in granitic magmas consists of through-going ‘backbone’ mafic and silicic ± composite dykes, and smaller ‘dangling’ granitic dykes locally generated in the magma chamber. Stage 1 hybrids form in composite backbone dykes and stage 2 hybrids form where they intersect dangling dykes in the magma chamber. With subsequent shear stress recovery, the host magma chamber reverts to a visco-plastic material capable of flow, resulting in disaggregation and dispersal of these complex, hybrid synplutonic dykes, and a vast array of double and multicomponent enclaves potentially develop in the pluton.


1992 ◽  
Vol 129 (4) ◽  
pp. 437-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Bernstein ◽  
Minik T. Rosing ◽  
C. Kent Brooks ◽  
Dennis K. Bird

AbstractThe gabbros of the Tertiary Kap Edvard Holm Layered Serieshave a stratigraphic thickness of more than 5000 m. Earlier work has shown that the range in cumulus mineral compositions is restricted (plagioclase An81—An51; olivine Fo85—Fo66; pyroxenes Ca43Mg46Fe11 to Ca43Mg37Fe20). Field evidence of magma injections is common, which together with the restricted range in mineral chemistry suggests that the magma chamber was frequently replenished by a less fractionated magma. A detailed study of a 600 m section (900–1500 m) in the Lower Layered Series reveals a period of crystallization when the magma chamber behaved as a closed system (900–1300 m). The rocks formed during this periodare well-laminated olivine–gabbros (900–110 m), which evolved to well-laminated oxide-gabbros (1100–1300 m). Compositional trends in the cumulusminerals are towards more evolved compositions (plagioclase An64—An58, pyroxene Mg# from 80 to 76) with stratigraphic height. From 1300 m to 1500 m, granular olivine-gabbros dominate, with moreprimitive mineral compositions (plagioclase An67—An76, pyroxene Mg# from 78 to 82). The transition olivine–gabbro to oxide-gabbro at 1100m is a consequence of fractional crystallization, and it is shown how changes in activities of FeO and Fe203 in the magma are reflected in the total iron content of plagioclases.The transition from oxide-gabbro to olivine-gabbro at 1300 m results from replenishment by less evolved basaltic magma. On the basis of calcic pyroxene chemistry and the mineral crystallization sequence it is concluded that the Kap Edvard Holm Layered Series crystallized from a tholeiitic magma similar to MORB. Melanogabbroic units occur throughout the intrusion as discordant to subconcordant sill-like bodies 0.2–2.0 m thick. The melanogabbroic units consist of Cr-rich augite-olivine-plagioclase heteradcumulates and contain deformed mica crystals of pre-emplacement origin. These units crystallized from a wet, MgO-rich magma which was injected into the layered host gabbros after the formation of the cumulus pile, but before the magma was completely solidified.The Kap Edvard Holm Layered Series has several parallels with the plutonic part of ophiolite sequences. These include: cumulus mineral assemblage, compositions of the minerals and the restricted range in compositions with stratigraphic height; field evidence of repeated replenishment of basaltic magma; dyke swarms overlying the roof zone of the magma chamber; and the existence of a late intrusive suite of wet, MgO-rich magma. These parallels suggest that the processes involved in the formation of the Kap Edvard Holm Layered Series were similar to those involved in the formation of the crustalpart of many ophiolites and beneath present-day spreading ridges. The Kap Edvard Holm Layered Series is therefore believed to represent a shallow-level magma chamber which acted as a reservoir for basaltic flows at the continental margin during the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean.


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