Volcanoes are not fed by liquid magma formed in large, underground caves called ‘magma’ chambers; instead, they are fed by so-called ‘mush’ reservoirs — areas of mostly solid crystals with magma in the small spaces between the crystals, according to new research from Imperial College London and the University of Bristol, UK.
Jackson et al propose that magma storage occurs by reactive melt flow in long-lived mush reservoirs, rather than by the commonly invoked process of fractional crystallization in magma chambers. Image credit: Julius Silver.
“We now need to look again at how and why eruptions occur from mush reservoirs,” said Imperial College London’s Professor Matthew Jackson, lead author of the study.
“We can apply our findings to understanding volcanic eruptions with implications for public safety and also to understand the formation of metal ore deposits associated with volcanic systems.”
In order to erupt, volcanoes need a source of magma — melted, liquid rock — containing relatively few solid crystals.
Traditionally, this magma was thought to be formed and stored in a magma chamber.
Recent studies of magma chemistry have challenged this view, leading to the suggestion of the mush reservoir model, where smaller pools of magma sit in the small gaps between solid crystals.
However, the mush reservoir model could not explain how magmas containing relatively few crystals arise and are delivered to volcanoes in order for them to erupt at the surface.
Now, with sophisticated modeling of mush reservoirs, Professor Jackson and co-authors come up with a solution.
Within the mush reservoir scenario, the magma is less dense than the crystals, causing it to rise up through the spaces between them.
As it rises, the magma reacts with the crystals, melting them and leading to local areas containing magma with relatively few crystals. It is these short-lived areas of increased magma that can lead to eruptions.
“A major mystery about volcanoes is that they were thought to be underlain by large chambers of molten rock. Such magma chambers, however, were very difficult to find,” said co-author Professor Stephen Sparks, from the University of Bristol.
“The new idea is that molten rock forms within largely crystalline hot rocks, spending most of its time in little pores within the rock rather than in large magma chambers.”
“However, the rock melt is slowly squeezed out to form pools of melt, which can then erupt or form ephemeral magma chambers.”
As well as the initiation of eruptions, the new mush reservoir model can help explain other phenomena in volcanic systems, such as how the magma chemical composition evolves and how much older crystals can be erupted within younger magmas.
The research was published in the journal Nature.
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M.D. Jackson et al. Chemical differentiation, cold storage and remobilization of magma in the Earth’s crust. Nature, published online December 3, 2018; doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0746-2
