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Generation of CO2-rich melts during basalt magma ascent and degassing

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Abstract

To test mechanisms of basaltic magma degassing, continuous decompressions of volatile-bearing (2.7–3.8 wt% H2O, 600–1,300 ppm CO2) Stromboli melts were performed from 250–200 to 50–25 MPa at 1,180–1,140 °C. Ascent rates were varied from 0.25 to ~1.5 m/s. Glasses after decompression show a wide range of textures, from totally bubble-free to bubble-rich, the latter with bubble number densities from 104 to 106 cm−3, similar to Stromboli pumices. Vesicularities range from 0 to ~20 vol%. Final melt H2O concentrations are homogeneous and always close to solubilities. In contrast, the rate of vesiculation controls the final melt CO2 concentration. High vesicularity charges have glass CO2 concentrations that follow theoretical equilibrium degassing paths, whereas glasses from low vesicularity charges show marked deviations from equilibrium, with CO2 concentrations up to one order of magnitude higher than solubilities. FTIR profiles and maps reveal glass CO2 concentration gradients near the gas–melt interface. Our results stress the importance of bubble nucleation and growth, and of volatile diffusivities, for basaltic melt degassing. Two characteristic distances, the gas interface distance (distance either between bubbles or to gas–melt interfaces) and the volatile diffusion distance, control the degassing process. Melts containing numerous and large bubbles have gas interface distances shorter than volatile diffusion distances, and degassing proceeds by equilibrium partitioning of CO2 and H2O between melt and gas bubbles. For melts where either bubble nucleation is inhibited or bubble growth is limited, gas interface distances are longer than volatile diffusion distances. Degassing proceeds by diffusive volatile transfer at the gas–melt interface and is kinetically limited by the diffusivities of volatiles in the melt. Our experiments show that CO2-oversaturated melts can be generated as a result of magma decompression. They provide a new explanation for the occurrence of CO2-rich natural basaltic glasses and open new perspectives for understanding explosive basaltic volcanism.

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Acknowledgments

We thank A. Aiuppa, A. Bertagnini, S. Calvari, M. Pompilio and M. Ripepe for fruitful discussions. Detailed and constructive reviews by R. Brooker, J. Lowenstern and an anonymous reviewer, and the editorial work of M. Schmidt, have considerably improved the presentation of this study. This project has been financially supported by INGV and DPC (Project Paroxysm), by the University of Palermo, the Observatoire pour les Sciences de l’Univers en Région Centre (OSUC) and is part of the VUELCO (EC FP7) and DEGAZMAG (ANR Blanc) projects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ISTO, UMR 7327, Univ. Orléans, 45071, Orléans, France

    Michel Pichavant, Ida Di Carlo, Bruno Scaillet, Alain Burgisser, Nolwenn Le Gall & Caroline Martel

  2. ISTO, UMR 7327, CNRS, 45071, Orléans, France

    Michel Pichavant, Ida Di Carlo, Bruno Scaillet, Alain Burgisser, Nolwenn Le Gall & Caroline Martel

  3. ISTO, UMR 7327, BRGM, BP 36009, 45060, Orléans, France

    Michel Pichavant, Ida Di Carlo, Bruno Scaillet, Alain Burgisser, Nolwenn Le Gall & Caroline Martel

  4. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, Università di Palermo, Via Archirafi 22, 90123, Palermo, Italy

    Ida Di Carlo & Silvio G. Rotolo

  5. Sezione di Palermo, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Via U. La Malfa 153, 90146, Palermo, Italy

    Silvio G. Rotolo

  6. ISTerre, UMR 5275, Université de Savoie, 73376, Le Bourget du Lac, France

    Alain Burgisser

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  1. Michel Pichavant
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Correspondence to Michel Pichavant.

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Communicated by M. Schmidt.

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Pichavant, M., Di Carlo, I., Rotolo, S.G. et al. Generation of CO2-rich melts during basalt magma ascent and degassing. Contrib Mineral Petrol 166, 545–561 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-013-0890-5

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