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Formation of shoshonites from calcalkaline basalt magmas: geochemical and experimental constraints from the type locality

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Abstract

Independence volcano, Montana is a major center of the Absaroka volcanic field, from which absarokite, shoshonite, and banakite were originally defined. One magmatic trend at Independence volcano, from high-alumina tholeiitic basalt through shoshonite to high-K dacite, may be modeled by fractional crystallization of observed phenocryst phases (plagioclase, hypersthene, augite, and magnetite). Trace-element and Sr and Nd isotopic compositions of rocks are consistent with this model.

Compositions of partial melts from experiments on four rocks at 1 atm and at 10 kbar demonstrate that rock compositions represent a nearly-anhydrous liquid line of descent at a pressure much closer to 10 kbar than to 1 atm. The line of descent involves crystallization of orthopyroxene, not olivine, resulting in strong enrichment in K2O with little increase in SiO2. Crystallization at either lower pressures or with water present, involving olivine, results in enrichment in both SiO2 and K2O.

High-pressure (10 kbar) fractional crystallization of basaltic magma, resulting in formation of shoshonites, may occur at the base of thick crust (e.g., in continental interiors or in very mature arcs). At least a portion of the relationship between K2O content of arc-related magmas and depth to the Benioff Zone may be attributed to thickening of crust towards the back-arc, resulting in higher pressures of fractionation in Moho-level chambers.

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  1. James K. Meen

    Present address: Department of Geology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27514, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

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  1. Department of Geosciences, The Pennsylvania State University, 16802, University Park, PA, USA

    James K. Meen

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Meen, J.K. Formation of shoshonites from calcalkaline basalt magmas: geochemical and experimental constraints from the type locality. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 97, 333–351 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00371997

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