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Plagioclase population dynamics and zoning in response to changes in temperature and pressure

  • Benjamin J. Andrews ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: September 4, 2021
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 106 Issue 9

Abstract

Zoned plagioclase crystals are often interpreted as proxies for magmatic history because the mineral is present in most silicic magmas and has compositional sensitivity to magmatic conditions (pressure, temperature, and composition) with slow internal diffusion that preserves compositional zones. Changes in growth rates and crystal dissolution present challenges to quantitatively relating time to particular zoning patterns. The numerical model SNGPlag uses Rhyolite MELTS to determine the equilibrium phase assemblage and compositions for a user-defined magma composition experimentally determined instantaneous nucleation and growth rates, and reasonable dissolution rates to examine plagioclase crystallization and population dynamics through time. The model tracks the numbers, sizes, morphologies, and compositional zoning of plagioclase crystals through time in response to changes in pressure, temperature, and volume or mass inputs. Model results show that significant fractions of time are functionally missing from the crystal record because of effectively zero growth rates or erased from the record through dissolution; in some instances, those processes can together remove >>50% of time from the crystal record. The results show that temperature- (or pressure-) cycling alone will not produce substantial compositional zoning but that the addition of new magma is required to grow complexly zoned phenocrysts. Comparison of the input pressure-temperature-time series with compositional transects shows that the crystal record is biased toward more recent intervals and periods of decreasing temperature (i.e., neither the peak temperatures nor intervals of prolonged, cool storage are favored). Crystallization (or dissolution during heating) acts to return magmas to near-equilibrium crystal fractions within hundreds of days.

Keywords: Plagioclase; zoning; nucleation; growth; dissolution; numerical model; crystal population

Acknowledgments

The SNGPlag model benefited from helpful discussions with K. S. Befus, M.S. Ghiorso, and G. Sosa-Ceballos. C. Huber and A. Kent provided thoughtful reviews that improved this manuscript.

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Received: 2020-02-24
Accepted: 2020-10-17
Published Online: 2021-09-04
Published in Print: 2021-09-27

© 2021 Mineralogical Society of America

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  13. Controls on tetrahedral Fe(III) abundance in 2:1 phyllosilicates—Discussion
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  15. New Mineral Names*
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https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2021-7491
Keywords for this article
Plagioclase; zoning; nucleation; growth; dissolution; numerical model; crystal population

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Stable and transient isotopic trends in the crustal evolution of Zealandia Cordillera
  2. An evolutionary system of mineralogy, Part V: Aqueous and thermal alteration of planetesimals (~4565 to 4550 Ma)
  3. Cr2O3 in corundum: Ultrahigh contents under reducing conditions
  4. Plagioclase population dynamics and zoning in response to changes in temperature and pressure
  5. Limited channelized fluid infiltration in the Torres del Paine contact aureole
  6. Quantitative determination of the shock stage of L6 ordinary chondrites using X-ray diffraction
  7. A new method to rapidly and accurately assess the mechanical properties of geologically relevant materials
  8. Two-stage magmatism and tungsten mineralization in the Nanling Range, South China: Evidence from the Jurassic Helukou deposit
  9. Constraints on scheelite genesis at the Dabaoshan stratabound polymetallic deposit, South China
  10. Crystal chemistry of schreibersite, (Fe,Ni)3P
  11. Letter
  12. Elastic geobarometry: How to work with residual inclusion strains and pressures
  13. Controls on tetrahedral Fe(III) abundance in 2:1 phyllosilicates—Discussion
  14. Controls on tetrahedral Fe(III) abundance in 2:1 phyllosilicates—Reply
  15. New Mineral Names*
  16. Book Review
  17. Book Review: Geochronology and Thermochronology
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