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Department of Earth Sciences

Staff and Postgraduate Students

Publication details for Prof Jon Davidson

Davidson, J.P. & Wilson, B.M. (2011). Differentiation and source processes at Mt Pelee and the Quill; active volcanoes in the Lesser Antilles Arc. Journal of Petrology 52(7-8): 1493-1531.

Author(s) from Durham

Abstract

Volcanic rocks erupted at Mt Pele¤e (Martinique; central Lesser Antilles) and the Quill volcano (Statia; northern Lesser Antilles) define distinct differentiation trends, each of which can be accounted for largely by fractional crystallization of plagioclase, amphibole and Fe^Ti oxides. This assemblage is seen commonly in associated cumulate nodules, although the petrography of the lavas is pyroxene þ plagioclase þ Fe^Ti oxides. Thus differentiation is con- trolled, in part, by cryptic amphibole fractionation. At a given degree of differentiation incompatible trace element abundances tend to be higher at Mt Pele¤ e, and REE patterns are more fractionated than is the case at the Quill. Isotopic ratios of Sr and Pb correlate with indices of differentiation (e.g. wt % SiO2) at both volcanoes (more convincingly at Mt Pele¤ e), indicating that differentiation is also an open-system process. When the differentiation trends for the two volcanoes are compared they do not converge towards a single par- ental magma composition, suggesting that the primary magmas for the Quill and Mt Pele¤ e are different. This difference is most prob- ably due to mantle source variations. The source of the Mt Pele¤ e magmas appears to be more enriched in incompatible elements, con- sistent with a greater proportion of admixed subducted sediment. This observation is in agreement with previous studies that have documented an increasing sediment contribution southwards along the arc. However, comparison with available data for other volcanoes along the arc does not reveal a consistent along-arc trend, suggesting that a model of sediment^source mixing is oversimplified and that additional factors such as variable fluid contributions from the sub- ducted slab may be important.

Notes

http://petrology.oxfordjournals.org/content/52/7-8/1493.abstract