TY - JOUR
T1 - Interpreting chemical compositions of small scale basaltic systems
T2 - a review
AU - McGee, Lucy E.
AU - Smith, Ian E.M.
PY - 2016/10/1
Y1 - 2016/10/1
N2 - Small scale basaltic magmatic systems occur in all of the major tectonic environments of planet Earth and are characteristically expressed at the Earth's surface as fields of small monogenetic cones. The chemical compositions of the materials that make up these cones reflect processes of magma generation and differentiation that occur in their plumbing system. The volumes of magmas involved are very small and significantly their compositional ranges reveal remarkably complex processes which are overwhelmed or homogenized in larger scale systems. Commonly, compositions are basaltic, alkalic and enriched in light rare earth elements and large ion lithophile elements, although the spectrum extends from highly enriched nephelinites to subalkalic and tholeiitic basalts. Isotopic analyses of rocks from volcanic fields almost always display compositions which can only be explained by the interaction of two or more mantle sources. Ultimately their basaltic magmas originate by small scale melting of mantle sources. Compositional variety is testament to melting processes at different depths, a range of melting proportions, a heterogeneous source and fractionation, magma mixing and assimilation within the plumbing system that brings magmas to the surface. The fact that such a variety of compositions is preserved in a single field shows that isolation of individual melting events and their ascent is an important and possibly defining feature of monogenetic volcanism, as well as the window their chemical behavior provides into the complex process of melt generation and extraction in the Earth's upper mantle.
AB - Small scale basaltic magmatic systems occur in all of the major tectonic environments of planet Earth and are characteristically expressed at the Earth's surface as fields of small monogenetic cones. The chemical compositions of the materials that make up these cones reflect processes of magma generation and differentiation that occur in their plumbing system. The volumes of magmas involved are very small and significantly their compositional ranges reveal remarkably complex processes which are overwhelmed or homogenized in larger scale systems. Commonly, compositions are basaltic, alkalic and enriched in light rare earth elements and large ion lithophile elements, although the spectrum extends from highly enriched nephelinites to subalkalic and tholeiitic basalts. Isotopic analyses of rocks from volcanic fields almost always display compositions which can only be explained by the interaction of two or more mantle sources. Ultimately their basaltic magmas originate by small scale melting of mantle sources. Compositional variety is testament to melting processes at different depths, a range of melting proportions, a heterogeneous source and fractionation, magma mixing and assimilation within the plumbing system that brings magmas to the surface. The fact that such a variety of compositions is preserved in a single field shows that isolation of individual melting events and their ascent is an important and possibly defining feature of monogenetic volcanism, as well as the window their chemical behavior provides into the complex process of melt generation and extraction in the Earth's upper mantle.
KW - Basalt geochemistry
KW - Mantle melting
KW - Small-scale volcanism
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84976307786&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2016.06.007
DO - 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2016.06.007
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:84976307786
SN - 0377-0273
VL - 325
SP - 45
EP - 60
JO - Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research
JF - Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research
ER -