Obsidians of Pantelleria (Strait of Sicily): A Petrographic, Geochemical and Magnetic Study of Known and New Geological Sources

Abstract This paper provides new petrochemical and paleomagnetic data from obsidian sub-sources on the island of Pantelleria, exploited since the Neolithic. Data has been obtained from 14 obsidian samples from 4 locations: Fossa della Pernice (2 sites), Salto la Vecchia and Balata dei Turchi. Here, we aim to better characterize these obsidians using a cross-disciplinary and multi-analytical approach, to further understand their archaeological significance. Major element analyses (EMP) have enabled two compositional super-groups to be distinguished: (i) Fossa della Pernice, less peralkaline and (ii) Balata dei Turchi–Salto la Vecchia, distinctly more peralkaline and having almost identical c…

Experimental and thermodynamic constraints on mineral equilibrium inpantelleritic magmas

Abstract Crystallization experiments on two pantellerites from Pantelleria, Italy, provide new evidence for the relationships between mineral phases in pantelleritic rocks as well as the influence of temperature and redox conditions on mineral assemblages. Experiments were performed at 1 kbar with temperature ranging between 750–900°C, and fluid saturation conditions with XH2O (=H2O/H2O+CO2) between 0 and 1. Redox conditions were fixed at, or slightly below, the FMQ buffer. Results show that at temperature of 900 °C pantelleritic magmas are well above the liquidus regardless their water content; we also observed a decrease in liquidus temperature (800°C) with increasingly reducing condition…

Experimental investigation on peralkaline silicic magmas of Pantelleria Island: inferences on pre-eruptive conditions, magma evolution and water solubility

Contrasting Styles of Inter-Caldera Volcanism in a Peralkaline System: Case Studies from Pantelleria (Sicily Channel, Italy)

The recent (<190 ka) volcanic history of Pantelleria is characterized by the eruption of nine peralkaline ignimbrites, ranging in composition from comenditic trachyte to comendite to pantellerite. The ~46 ka Green Tuff (GT) was the last of these ignimbrites, which was followed by many effusive and explosive low-volume eruptions of pantellerite from vents within the caldera moat and along the caldera rim. Although recent studies have shed additional light on the age, petrochemistry, and volcanology of the older ignimbrites, there is very little knowledge of magmatism that occurred between these older ignimbrites, primarily due to the very scarce exposures. In this paper, we present new fi…

Natural Laboratories for Field Observation About Genesis and Landscape Effects of Palaeo-Earthquakes: a Proposal for the Rocca Busambra and Monte Barracù Geosites (West Sicily)

Earthquakes are phenomena that are still being learned by the scientific community, and poorly known, especially as regards the prevention, by the population. Having a more complete knowledge is a basic step in understanding the vastness and intensity of the destructive phenomenon that involves a great amount of people. The recent earthquakes occurred in Central Italy (L’Aquila and Amatrice earthquakes) are examples that demonstrate the importance of having knowledge about these phenomena to contrast their destructive effects. We present a geological field trip to recognise causes and landscape effects of palaeo-earthquakes recorded in the Mesozoic rock successions outcropping in Sicily. Th…

Water solubility in trachytic and pantelleritic melts: an experimental study

International audience; Solubility experiments were performed on a trachyte and a pantellerite from Pantelleria. The trachyte has SiO 2 = 65.2 wt%, Al 2 O 3 = 15.2 wt% and a peralkaline index (P.I. = molar[(Na 2 O + K 2 O)/Al 2 O 3 ]) ∼ 1 while the pantellerite has SiO 2 = 72.2 wt%, Al 2 O 3 = 11 wt% and a P.I. = 1.3. Solubility experiments were performed in the pressure range of 50-300 MPa at T = 950°C for the trachyte and 50-200 MPa at T = 850°C for the pantellerite. The water content of experimental glasses was determined by Karl Fischer titration, elemental analyser and FT-IR spectroscopy. Water content appears similar in both compositions for analogous pressure conditions, varying from…

Experimental constraints on pre-eruptive conditions of a chemically-zoned peralkaline ignimbrite: the Green Tuff eruption at Pantelleria Island (Italy)

Pantelleria island is the type locality for pantellerite, an iron and alkali-rich rhyolite. The eruptive products outcropping in the island fall in a mafic end member (mildly alkaline basalt) and a felsic end member (metaluminous trachytes and pantellerites). A key event in the volcanological history of the island is the Green Tuff eruption the sole ignimbrite at Pantelleria compositionally zoned from crystal-poor pantellerite at the base to crystal-rich trachyte at the top. We experimentally investigated the phase relations of the pantelleritic end member AI = 1.8 (agpaitic index = molar ratio Na2O+K2O/Al2O3) and trachyte end member AI = 1.05 of the Green Tuff eruption. The intensive varia…

Volatiles and trace elements content in melt inclusions from the zoned Green Tuff ignimbrite (Pantelleria, Sicily): petrological inferences

International audience; The island of Pantelleria is one of the best known localities of bimodal mafic-felsic magmatism (alkali basalt and trachyte-pantellerite). Among the felsic rocks, the coexistence in a single eruption of products of both trachyte and pantellerite compositions is limited to few occurrences, the Green Tuff (GT) ignimbrite being one of these. The GT is compositionally zoned from pantellerite (70.1 wt% SiO2, mol Na+K/Al = 1.86, 1871 ppm Zr) at the base to crystal-rich (>30 vol%) comenditic trachyte (63.4 wt% SiO2, mol Na+K/Al = 1.10, 265 ppm Zr) at the top, although the pantellertic compositions dominate the erupted volume. We present here new data on melt inclusions (MIs…

Phase equilibria of Pantelleria trachytes (Italy): constraints on pre-eruptive conditions and on the metaluminous to peralkaline transition in silicic magmas.

Pantelleria Island is the type locality of pantellerite, an iron and alkali-rich rhyolite (P.I=molar Na2O+K2O/Al2O3 >1.05). Peralkaline rhyolites (i.e pantellerite and comendite) and trachytes usually represent the felsic end-members in continental rift systems (e.g., Pantelleria, Tibesti, Ethiopia, Afar, Kenya, Bain and Range, South Greenland) and in oceanic sland settings (Socorro Is., Easter Is., Iceland and Azores). The origin of peralkaline rhyolites in the different tectonic settings is still a matter of debate and three hypotheses have been suggested: (a) crystal fractionation of alkali-basalt in a shallow reservoir to produce a trachyte which subsequently gives rise to a pantelle…