The roles of microlites and phenocrysts during degassing of silicic magma
Abstract Silicic magmas span a wide range of eruptive styles between explosive and effusive, and transitions between these styles are commonplace. Yet the triggers of switches in eruptive style remain poorly understood. Eruptions are mostly driven by degassing of magmatic water and their eruption style - effusive or explosive - is likely governed by the efficiency of outgassing as well as magma ascent rate. Microlites and phenocrysts are often purported to promote heterogeneous bubble nucleation and outgassing, both key variables in the degassing dynamics that become crucial in controlling the eruptive style. Here, in order to shed light on the role of nature, size and abundance of crystals…
Determination of water speciation in hydrous haplogranitic glasses with partial Raman spectra
Abstract We use a mathematical approach to decompose the Raman water band at 3000 cm−1 to 3750 cm−1 into two partial Raman spectra corresponding to the individual Raman activity of the two water species, i.e., molecular water (H2Om) and OH-groups, present in hydrous rhyolitic glasses. The approach is based on a least-squares optimization algorithm and the assumption that the water band can be expressed as a linear combination of two partial Raman spectra. Our model makes no assumptions regarding the shape of the partial Raman spectra. The model input consists of about 700 Raman spectra from hydrous haplogranitic (HPG8) compositions with total water contents from 0.6 to 3.1 wt% and with know…
The viscous-brittle transition of crystal-bearing slilic melt: direct observation of magma rupture and healing
Magmas may fl ow or break depending on their deformation rate. The transition between such viscous and brittle behavior controls the style of volcanic eruptions. While the brittle failure of silicate melts is reasonably well characterized, the effect of crystals on the viscous-brittle transition has not yet been constrained. Here we examine the effect of suspended crystals on the mechanical failure of magmas using torsion experiments performed at temperatures (600‐ 900 °C), strain rates (10 ‐4 ‐10 ‐1 s ‐1 ), and confi ning pressures (200‐300 MPa) relevant for volcanic systems. We present a relationship that predicts the critical stress and associated strain rate at which magmas fail as a fu…