Alkaline magma series

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The alkaline magma series is a chemically distinct range of magma compositions that describes the evolution of an alkaline mafic magma into a more evolved, silica-rich end member.

Contents

Geochemical characterization

Rocks in the alkaline magma series are distinguished from rocks in the subalkaline tholeiitic and calc-alkaline magma series by their high content of alkali metal oxides (K2O plus Na2O) relative to silica (SiO2). They are distinct from the rare peralkaline magmas, which have excess alkali oxides relative to alumina (Na2O + K2O > Al2O3). [1] [2] :Ch6

Alkaline magmas tend to show high titanium oxide (TiO2) content, typically in excess of 3% by weight. Other incompatible elements, such as phosphorus and light rare earth elements, are also elevated. This is attributed to a very low degree of partial melting of the source rock, with only 5% or less of the source rock going into the magma melt. [3]

Petrography

All alkaline series magmas are thought to have evolved from a primitive mafic alkaline magma, either an alkalic picrite basalt or an ankaramite. This evolves to an alkali olivine basalt or basanite. Thereafter the series branches to the sodic series, the potassic series, or the nephelinic, leucitic, and analcitic series. [1] [2] :Ch6

The sodic series evolves through hawaiite or nepheline hawaiite through mugearite or nepheline mugearite and benmoreite or nepheline benmoreite to trachyte or phonolite. The potassic series evolves through trachybasalt or leucite trachybasalt through tristanite or leucite tristanite to potassic trachyte or leucite phonolite. The nephelinic, leucitic and analcitic series evolves from nephelinite or melilite through analcite to leucitite or wyomingite. The latter two may also be produced by evolution of leucite trachybasalt. [2] :Ch6

The less evolved alkali rocks tend to contain phenocrysts of olivine, and almost all have augite phenocrysts with elevated titanium, aluminum, and sodium compared with the calcic augite phenocrysts of tholeiites. [3]

Peralkaline rhyolites (comendite or pantellerite) may be generated by fractionation of alkali basalt magma. [4]

Geologic context

Alkaline magmas are characteristic of continental rifting, areas overlying deeply subducted plates, or at intraplate hotspots. [2] :Ch6 They are more likely to be generated at greater depths in the mantle than subalkaline magmas. [2] :Ch23.6

Alkaline rocks are rare in the Archean, but become common in the Proterozoic. Alkaline rocks with an age close to 570 million years are common around the perimeters of many continental shields and are evidence of worldwide rifting at that time. [2] :Ch15.6

See also

Related Research Articles

Rhyolite Igneous, volcanic rock, of felsic (silica-rich) composition

Rhyolite is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral assemblage is predominantly quartz, sanidine, and plagioclase. It is the extrusive equivalent to granite.

Dacite Volcanic rock intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite

Dacite is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. It is composed predominantly of plagioclase feldspar and quartz.

Andesite Type of volcanic rock

Andesite is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predominantly of sodium-rich plagioclase plus pyroxene or hornblende.

Phonolite Uncommon extrusive rock

Phonolite is an uncommon extrusive rock, of intermediate chemical composition between felsic and mafic, with texture ranging from aphanitic (fine-grained) to porphyritic. Its intrusive equivalent is nepheline syenite.

Basanite A silica-undersaturated basalt

Basanite is an igneous, volcanic (extrusive) rock with aphanitic to porphyritic texture. It is composed mostly of feldspathoids, pyroxenes, olivine, and plagioclase and forms from magma low in silica and enriched in alkali metal oxides that solidifies rapidly close to the Earth's surface.

Volcanic rock Rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano

Volcanic rock is a rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of volcanic origin. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic rock is artificial, and in nature volcanic rocks grade into hypabyssal and metamorphic rocks and constitute an important element of some sediments and sedimentary rocks. For these reasons, in geology, volcanics and shallow hypabyssal rocks are not always treated as distinct. In the context of Precambrian shield geology, the term "volcanic" is often applied to what are strictly metavolcanic rocks. Volcanic rocks and sediment that form from magma erupted into the air are called "volcaniclastics," and these are technically sedimentary rocks.

Nepheline syenite

Nepheline syenite is a holocrystalline plutonic rock that consists largely of nepheline and alkali feldspar. The rocks are mostly pale colored, grey or pink, and in general appearance they are not unlike granites, but dark green varieties are also known. Phonolite is the fine-grained extrusive equivalent.

Anahim Volcanic Belt

The Anahim Volcanic Belt (AVB) is a west–east trending chain of volcanoes and related magmatic features in British Columbia, Canada. It extends from Athlone Island on the Central Coast, running eastward through the strongly uplifted and deeply dissected Coast Mountains to near the community of Nazko on the Interior Plateau. The AVB is delineated as three west-to-east segments that differ in age and structure. A wide variety of igneous rocks with differing compositions occur throughout these segments, comprising landforms such as volcanic cones, volcanic plugs, lava domes, shield volcanoes and intrusions.

Essexite Dark gray or black holocrystalline plutonic rock

Essexite, also called nepheline monzogabbro, is a dark gray or black holocrystalline plutonic igneous rock. Its name is derived from the type locality in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States.

Trachyandesite

Trachyandesite is an extrusive igneous rock with a composition between trachyte and andesite. It has little or no free quartz, but is dominated by sodic plagioclase and alkali feldspar. It is formed from the cooling of lava enriched in alkali metals and with an intermediate content of silica.

The tholeiitic magma series is one of two main magma series in subalkaline igneous rocks, the other being the calc-alkaline series. A magma series is a chemically distinct range of magma compositions that describes the evolution of a mafic magma into a more evolved, silica rich end member. Rock types of the tholeiitic magma series include tholeiitic basalt, ferro-basalt, tholeiitic basaltic andesite, tholeiitic andesite, dacite and rhyolite. The variety of basalt in the series was originally called tholeiite but the International Union of Geological Sciences recommends that tholeiitic basalt be used in preference to that term.

The calc-alkaline magma series is one of two main subdivisions of the subalkaline magma series, the other subalkaline magma series being the tholeiitic series. A magma series is a series of compositions that describes the evolution of a mafic magma, which is high in magnesium and iron and produces basalt or gabbro, as it fractionally crystallizes to become a felsic magma, which is low in magnesium and iron and produces rhyolite or granite. Calc-alkaline rocks are rich in alkaline earths and alkali metals and make up a major part of the crust of the continents.

The TAS classification can be used to assign names to many common types of volcanic rocks based upon the relationships between the combined alkali content and the silica content. These chemical parameters are useful, because the relative proportions of alkalis and silica play an important role in determining actual mineralogy and normative mineralogy. The classification appears to be and can be simple to use for rocks that have been chemically analyzed. Except for the following quotation from Johannsen (1937), this entry is based upon Le Maitre and others (2002).

Leucitite

Leucitite or leucite rock is an igneous rock containing leucite. It is scarce, many countries such as England being entirely without them. However, they are of wide distribution, occurring in every quarter of the globe. Taken collectively, they exhibit a considerable variety of types and are of great interest petrographically. For the presence of this mineral it is necessary that the silica percentage of the rock should be low, since leucite is incompatible with free quartz and reacts with it to form potassium feldspar. Because it weathers rapidly, leucite is most common in lavas of recent and Tertiary age, which have a fair amount of potassium, or at any rate have potassium equal to or greater than sodium; if sodium is abundant nepheline occurs rather than leucite.

Hawaiite is an olivine basalt with a composition between alkali basalt and mugearite. It was first used as a name for some lavas found on the island of Hawaii.

Shoshonite is a type of igneous rock. More specifically, it is a potassium-rich variety of basaltic trachyandesite, composed of olivine, augite and plagioclase phenocrysts in a groundmass with calcic plagioclase and sanidine and some dark-colored volcanic glass. Shoshonite gives its name to the shoshonite series and grades into absarokite with the loss of plagioclase phenocrysts and into banakite with an increase in sanidine. Shoshonite was named by Iddings in 1895 for the Shoshone River in Wyoming.

Alkali basalt Type of volcanic rock

Alkali basalt or alkali olivine basalt is a dark-colored, porphyritic volcanic rock usually found in oceanic and continental areas associated with volcanic activity, such as oceanic islands, continental rifts and volcanic fields. Alkali basalt is characterized by relatively high alkali (Na2O and K2O) content relative to other basalts and by the presence of olivine and titanium-rich augite in its groundmass and phenocrysts, and nepheline in its CIPW norm.

Trachybasalt

Trachybasalt is a volcanic rock with a composition between trachyte and basalt. It resembles basalt but has a high content of alkali metal oxides. Minerals in trachybasalt include alkali feldspar, calcic plagioclase, olivine, clinopyroxene and likely very small amounts of leucite or analcime.

São Tomé and Príncipe both formed within the past 30 million years due to volcanic activity in deep water along the Cameroon line. Long-running interactions with seawater and different eruption periods have generated a wide variety of different igneous and volcanic rocks on the islands with complex mineral assemblages.

References

  1. 1 2 Irvine, T. N.; Baragar, W. R. A. (1 May 1971). "A Guide to the Chemical Classification of the Common Volcanic Rocks". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 8 (5): 523–548. doi:10.1139/e71-055.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Philpotts, Anthony R.; Ague, Jay J. (2009). Principles of igneous and metamorphic petrology (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   9780521880060.
  3. 1 2 Blatt, Harvey; Tracey, Robert J. (1996). Petrology: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic (2nd ed.). New York: W.H. Freeman. pp. 164–165. ISBN   0716724383.
  4. Shao, Fengli; Niu, Yaoling; Regelous, Marcel; Zhu, Di-Cheng (February 2015). "Petrogenesis of peralkaline rhyolites in an intra-plate setting: Glass House Mountains, southeast Queensland, Australia". Lithos. 216–217: 196–210. doi:10.1016/j.lithos.2014.12.015.