Mount Etna volcano was shaken during the summer 2001 by one of the most singular eruptive episodes of the last centuries. For about 3 weeks, several eruptive fractures developed, emitting lava flows and tephra that significantly modified the landscape of the southern flank of the volcano. This event stimulated the attention of thescientific community especially for the simultaneous emission of petrologically distinct magmas, recognized as coming from different segments of the plumbing system. Astratigraphically controlled sampling of tephra layers was performed at the most active vents of the eruption, inparticular at the 2,100 m (CAL) and at the 2,550 m (LAG) scoria cones. Detailed scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDS) analysesperformed on glasses found in tephra and comparison with lava whole rock compositions indicate an anomalousincrease in Ti, Fe, P, and particularly of K and Cl in the upper layers of the LAG sequence. Mass balance and thermodynamic calculations have shown that this enrichment cannot be accounted for by “classical” differentiation processes, such as crystal fractionation and magma mixing. The analysis of petrological features of the magmas involved in the event, integrated with the volcanological evolution, has evidenced the role played by volatiles in controlling the magmatic evolution within the crustal portion of the plumbing system. Volatiles, constituted of H2O, CO2, and Cl-complexes, originated from a deeplyseated magma body (DBM). Their upward migration occurred through a fracture network possibly developedby the seismic swarms during the period preceding the event. In the upper portion of the plumbing system, a shallower residing magma body (ABT) had chemical and physical conditions to receive migrating volatiles, which hence dissolved the mobilized elements producing theobserved selective enrichment. This volatile-induced differentiation involved exclusively the lowest erupted portion of the ABT magma due to the low velocity of volatiles diffusion within a crystallizing magma body and/or to the short time between volatiles migration and the onset of the eruption. Furthermore, the increased amount of volatiles in this level of the chamber strongly affected the eruptive behavior. In fact, the emission of these products at the LAGvent, towards the end of the eruption, modified the eruptive style from classical strombolian to strongly explosive.

Volatile-induced magma differentiation in the plumbing system of Mt. Etna volcano (Italy): evidence from glass in tephra of the 2001 eruption

FERLITO, Carmelo;VICCARO, MARCO;
2008-01-01

Abstract

Mount Etna volcano was shaken during the summer 2001 by one of the most singular eruptive episodes of the last centuries. For about 3 weeks, several eruptive fractures developed, emitting lava flows and tephra that significantly modified the landscape of the southern flank of the volcano. This event stimulated the attention of thescientific community especially for the simultaneous emission of petrologically distinct magmas, recognized as coming from different segments of the plumbing system. Astratigraphically controlled sampling of tephra layers was performed at the most active vents of the eruption, inparticular at the 2,100 m (CAL) and at the 2,550 m (LAG) scoria cones. Detailed scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDS) analysesperformed on glasses found in tephra and comparison with lava whole rock compositions indicate an anomalousincrease in Ti, Fe, P, and particularly of K and Cl in the upper layers of the LAG sequence. Mass balance and thermodynamic calculations have shown that this enrichment cannot be accounted for by “classical” differentiation processes, such as crystal fractionation and magma mixing. The analysis of petrological features of the magmas involved in the event, integrated with the volcanological evolution, has evidenced the role played by volatiles in controlling the magmatic evolution within the crustal portion of the plumbing system. Volatiles, constituted of H2O, CO2, and Cl-complexes, originated from a deeplyseated magma body (DBM). Their upward migration occurred through a fracture network possibly developedby the seismic swarms during the period preceding the event. In the upper portion of the plumbing system, a shallower residing magma body (ABT) had chemical and physical conditions to receive migrating volatiles, which hence dissolved the mobilized elements producing theobserved selective enrichment. This volatile-induced differentiation involved exclusively the lowest erupted portion of the ABT magma due to the low velocity of volatiles diffusion within a crystallizing magma body and/or to the short time between volatiles migration and the onset of the eruption. Furthermore, the increased amount of volatiles in this level of the chamber strongly affected the eruptive behavior. In fact, the emission of these products at the LAGvent, towards the end of the eruption, modified the eruptive style from classical strombolian to strongly explosive.
2008
Mount Etna; 2001 eruption; Tephra; Residual glass; Alkali enrichment; Volatile-induced differentiation; Chlorine
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11769/7971
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