Browsing by Subject "Igneous petrology"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Characterization and genetic relation of carbonatite and associated alkaline silicate rocks of Northwest Bull Hill, Bear Lodge Mountains, Northeast Wyoming(2012-12) Olinger, Danielle; Barnes, Calvin G.; Clark, James G.; Hetherington, Callum J.; Ridley, Moira K.A carbonatite-hosted rare earth element (REE) deposit is located in the Bear Lodge Mountains of northeast Wyoming. The carbonatite is emplaced as subvertical, northwest-trending dikes primarily situated within three diatreme structures. The carbonatite dikes of interest are located outside the northern boundary of the Bull Hill diatreme: northwest Bull Hill. These dikes trend north-south and have lower ore grades than dikes within the Bull Hill diatreme. Alkaline silicate rock units, which are the predominant igneous rock type in the Bear Lodge complex, are temporally and spatially related to carbonatite dike intrusions. This type of association is common for carbonatite intrusions worldwide and may indicate a genetic relationship exists between carbonatite and alkaline silicate magmas. The northwest Bull Hill carbonatite is composed primarily of fine-grained, anhedral calcite, coarse-grained, consertal calcite, coarse-grained, subhedral to euhedral calcite and from <5 to 20 % hexagonal REE-pseudomorphs of former REE-carbonates. These pseudomorphs are composed of ancylite, strontianite, barite, celestite, fibrous aggregates of bastnaesite group minerals, minor phlogopite, and minor Fe-sulfides. The chondrite normalized REE patterns for calcite vary as a function of texture and this variation is interpreted to result from the recrystallization of magmatic calcite in the presence of a hydrothermal fluid. This fluid was probably one with high concentrations of F- and CO32-, which act as complexing ligands. During recrystallization, the light REE were preferentially remobilized and sequestered into secondary REE-fluorocarbonates, which are present in REE-pseudomorphs. Alkaline silicate rock units are not readily classified on the basis of mesoscopic characteristics or bulk rock geochemistry. Much of the range of compositions observed among these units is ascribed infusion by carbonatite melt and fenitization associated with carbonatites intrusion. Lamprophyre compositions are distinct because they are intermediate in composition between carbonatite and the remaining alkaline silicate units. This compositional feature coupled with the presence of poly-mineralic “clots”, which are interpreted to be relict emulsions suggests that lamprophyre and carbonatite units may be genetically related via magma mixing or liquid immiscibility. Further assessment such a genetic link requires a larger data set that includes isotopic, major element, and trace element compositions of minerals and bulk rock.Item Geochemical and thermal insights into caldera-forming "super-eruptions"(2013-05) Lake, Ethan Taliaferro; Cloos, MarkExplosive, caldera forming "super-eruptions" (an eruption of VEI 8 or larger, resulting in 1000+ km³ of volcanic ejecta in ignimbrite sheets) are the single most destructive natural disaster native to Earth. Super-eruptions require three elements to occur: 1-crustal magmatic fluxes above background solidification rates, 2-growth of a batholith scale magma chamber, and 3-an eruption trigger. This study addresses these requirements with new petrographic and geochemical analyses and numerical simulations of crustal magma bodies. Crustal magmatic fluxes up to 10x steady-state arc rates are required to form volcanic provinces that host super-eruptions. Super-eruptions can occur in continental hot-spots or rift environments. Why arcs "flare-up" is the subject of active debate. Arcs may follow a regular cycle of lithospheric thickening, delamination, and asthenospheric upwelling (the Andean cycle); alternatively fertilized lithospheric mantle may undergo rapid melting. Targeted sampling (n = 165) of mapped but unsampled mafic and lamprophyric magmas in the San Juan magmatic locus of Colorado, an archetypical ignimbrite province, over three years identified both the lithospheric mantle reservoir and the most primitive San Juan magmas using optical petrography, whole rock geochemistry (n = 50) and Pb, Sr, and Nd isotope geochemistry (n = 32). These mafic magmas more closely resemble the continental lithosphere geochemically. Mixing models based on Energy Constrained Assimilation/Fractional-Crystallization (EC-AFC) indicate that the San Juan magmatism is the product of lithospheric melts and 30-40% crustal assimilation rather than asthenospheric upwelling. The Farallon flat-slab "pre-fluxed" and refrigerated the Colorado lithospheric mantle; removal of that slab at around 40 Ma triggered the SJVF "flare-up." Numerical simulations of crustal magma chamber growth indicate giant magma chambers form when high magma fluxes raise upper crustal temperatures to 300-400 °C at 5-10 km depth. These simulations focus on chamber growth, convection, and cooling at the expense of geometry or chamber mechanical failure with realistic sill-like geometry at the expense of thermal modeling. New 3D finite difference simulations emphasize the importance of geometry on chamber lifespan and crustal heating. A spherical chamber (i.e. model construct) requires 10x the cooling time of a 2km caldera footprint sill of same volume. Increasing sill thickness by 1km can double chamber longevity. Focused intrusions (i.e. 1D modeling) locally produce higher thermal gradients and preserve larger primary basalt volumes. Random intrusions in 3D yield basalt to crust ratios of 3-4:1 (required in the EC-AFC models). Random intrusion in 3D into the upper crust at "flare-up" fluxes ([greater than or equal to]10 km³ per k.y.) elevate average crustal geotherms by 10 °C / km, allowing for growth of batholithic scale magma chambers a wider footprint. Once situated in the upper crust, sub-caldera magma chambers cool inward forming moving crystallization and fluid saturation fronts. If the saturation front propagates faster than the crystallization front, nucleating fluid bubbles have the opportunity to grow, ascend, and collect at the chamber roof. New 2D finite difference models couple magma chamber cooling to fluid production to explore the conditions of fluid escape and collection. Less silicic magma composition, equant geometry, high ambient thermal gradient, and a stock all aid in fluid pocket growth by slowing the advance of the crystallization front (a fluid trap) and triggering saturation at lower fluid concentrations. Fluid pockets that grow to certain sizes ( > 500 m hemispherical bubble) have the potential to trigger an eruption by propagation of a fluid fracture to the surface. This mechanism possibly triggered the eruption of the 5000+ km³ Fish Canyon Tuff as well as smaller, recent eruptions (Pinatubo, El Chichón). Caldera forming super-eruptions occur in regions that meet these three requirements: 1-high magmatic flux, 2-rapid growth to batholithic size, and 3-a delayed eruption trigger. For the SJVF of Colorado melting of the "pre-fluxed" lithosphere provided the magmatic pulse which melted and heated the crust, forming a broad batholith. As magmatism peaked and began to wane, upper crustal magma chambers started to crystallize, exsolving fluids. These fluids ascended, collected, and fractured their way to the surface, triggering the Fish Canyon Tuff and other eruptions.