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Magma recharge in persistently active basaltic–andesite systems and its geohazards implications: the case of Villarrica volcano, Chile

Cortés, J. A.; Gertisser, R.; Calder, E. S.

Authors

J. A. Cortés

E. S. Calder



Abstract

We report whole-rock chemistry, mineral chemistry, and volatile content from Villarrica volcano’s major recent paroxysms and background activity. Composition of the volcanic products are basalt to basaltic andesite with whole-rock SiO2 content between 50 and 56 wt%, and a mineralogy dominated by olivine (Fo71-80), clinopyroxene (Mg# ~ 50) and plagioclase (An60–80). Volatile contents in melt inclusions are up to 1.5 wt% H2O, 500 ppm CO2, 1230 ppm sulfur and 580 ppm chlorine. Regardless of the type of activity, there are no substantial variations in whole-rock composition or the volatile content when the activity switches from background activity to a major paroxysm, strongly suggesting that this shift does not just depend on the arrival of new magma in the shallow magmatic system. Geothermobarometry constrains crystallization of the major mineral phases at various depths between 3 and 12.7 km, suggesting that degassing of a volatile-rich recharge magma occurs deeper than 12 km, producing efficient mixing throughout the whole system, and sustaining the lava lake activity in Villarrica’s summit crater. The occurrence of a permanent lava lake also suggests that the magma recharge must be close to continuous and therefore sudden changes between background and paroxysmal volcanic activity are likely controlled by relatively small changes in the rate of recharge and/or the volatile release rate in the magmatic system. This has important implications for the understanding of eruption triggers and the forecasting of volcanic eruptions.

Citation

Cortés, J. A., Gertisser, R., & Calder, E. S. (2024). Magma recharge in persistently active basaltic–andesite systems and its geohazards implications: the case of Villarrica volcano, Chile. International Journal of Earth Sciences, 113, 1145–1163. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-024-02414-w

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Apr 9, 2024
Online Publication Date May 10, 2024
Publication Date 2024-07
Deposit Date Jun 7, 2024
Publicly Available Date Jul 17, 2024
Journal International Journal of Earth Sciences
Print ISSN 1437-3254
Electronic ISSN 1437-3262
Publisher Springer
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 113
Pages 1145–1163
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-024-02414-w
Keywords Villarrica volcano, Magma recharge, Persistent degassing, Paroxysmal activity
Public URL https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/847093

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Magma recharge in persistently active basaltic–andesite systems and its geohazards implications: the case of Villarrica volcano, Chile (4 Mb)
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Licence
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Publisher Licence URL
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.






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