Diego Perugini

PetroGraph: A new software to visualize, model, and present geochemical data in igneous petrology

A new software, PetroGraph, has been developed to visualize, elaborate, and model geochemical data for igneous petrology purposes. The software is able to plot data on several different diagrams, including a large number of classification and “petrotectonic” plots. PetroGraph gives the opportunity to handle large geochemical data sets in a single program without the need of passing from one software to the other as usually happens in petrologic data handling. Along with these basic functions, PetroGraph contains a wide choice of modeling possibilities, from major element mass balance calculations to the most common partial melting and magma evolution models based on trace element and isotopic data. Results and graphs can be exported as vector graphics in publication-quality form, or they can be copied and pasted within the most common graphics programs for further modifications. All these features make PetroGraph one of the most complete software presently available for igneous petrology research.

Chaotic advection, fractals and diffusion during mixing of magmas: evidence from lava flows

Structures of magma mixing from three different lava flows have been analyzed and the degree of mingling has been quantified by measuring the contact perimeter between magmas and the fractal dimension of structures. In each lava flow, the values of these parameters suggest that the magma mixing structures were produced by chaotic dynamics induced by stretching and folding processes between the interacting magmas. The mingling of magmas has been simulated using a chaotic dynamical system consisting of repeated stretching and folding processes. The simulation shows the same patterns of variation of contact perimeter and fractal dimension as those observed in natural structures and indicates that magma interaction processes acted with different intensities in the three lava flows in response to different magmatic interaction regimes. Since physical dispersion of one magma inside another through stretching and folding processes and chemical exchanges are closely related, we performed coupled numerical simulations of chaotic advection and chemical diffusion. The results show a good agreement between the computed and natural structures, in particular, the occurrence in the same system of well- and poorly mixed regions. It is shown that magma interaction processes are able to generate magmatic masses having wide spatial heterogenity at many length scales. This occurrence can account for the presence of magmatic enclaves inside host rocks showing a variable degree of hybridization in both plutonic and volcanic environments.

Viscous fingering during replenishment of felsic magma chambers by continuous inputs of mafic magmas: Field evidence and fluid-mechanics experiments

Vegetation Island outcrops (Terra Nova Intrusive Complex, Antarctica) offer a unique example of the replenishment of a felsic magma chamber fossilized at the initial stages of intrusion of a mafic magma. The morphology of interfaces between the mafic and the felsic magma ranges from rounded to finger-like, and their quantification by means of fractal dimension indicates a wide variability of morphological complexity. Fluid-mechanics experiments of viscous fingering have been performed by injecting water + glycerin solutions with different viscosity ratios into pure glycerin using the Hele-Shaw cell. The fact that interface morphologies between the injected and the host fluid are identical to those observed on outcrops indicates that the latter shows the development of viscous fingering processes during the initial stages of intrusion of the mafic magma into the felsic magma chamber. The fractal dimension of the simulated structures was measured, and a very good exponential empirical relationship between the logarithm of viscosity ratio and fractal dimension has been derived. The empirical relationship is used to estimate viscosity ratios of natural structures by using measured values of fractal dimension. Results indicate that in the same magmatic system, a wide range of viscosity ratio existed between the two magmas. These results are used to reconstruct the mechanism of replenishment of the felsic magma chamber as characterized by continuous heating of the resident felsic magma by continuous inputs of the mafic magma.

Analysis and simulation of magma mixing processes in 3D

Abstract Magma mixing structures from the lava flow of Lesbos (Greece) are analyzed in three dimensions using a technique that, starting from the serial sections of rock cubes, allows the reconstruction of the spatial distribution of magmas inside rocks. Two main kinds of coexisting structures are observed: (i) “active regions” (AR) in which magmas mix intimately generating wide contact surfaces and (ii) “coherent regions” (CR) of more mafic magma that have a globular shape and do not show large deformations. The intensity of mingling is quantified by calculating both the interfacial area (IA) between interacting magmas and the fractal dimension of the reconstructed structures. Results show that the fractal dimension is linearly correlated with the logarithm of interfacial area allowing discrimination among different intensities of mingling. The process of mingling of magmas is simulated using a three-dimensional chaotic dynamical system consisting of stretching and folding processes. The intensity of mingling is measured by calculating the interfacial area between interacting magmas and the fractal dimension, as for natural magma mixing structures. Results suggest that, as in the natural case, the fractal dimension is linearly correlated with the logarithm of the interfacial area allowing to conclude that magma mixing can be regarded as a chaotic process. Since chemical exchange and physical dispersion of one magma inside another by stretching and folding are closely related, we performed coupled numerical simulations of chaotic advection and chemical diffusion in three dimensions. Our analysis reveals the occurrence in the same system of “active mixing regions” and “coherent regions” analogous to those observed in nature. We will show that the dynamic processes are able to generate magmas with wide spatial heterogeneity related to the occurrence of magmatic enclaves inside host rocks in both plutonic and volcanic environments.

Strange attractors in magmas: evidence from lava flows

Abstract Magma mixing structures from three different lava flows (Salina, Vulcano and Lesbos) are studied in order to assess the possible chaotic origin of magma mixing processes. Structures are analysed using a new technique based on image analysis procedures that extract time series that are representative of the relative change in composition through the structures. These time series are then used to reconstruct the attractors underlying the magma mixing process and to calculate the fractal dimension of the attractors. Results show that attractors exist and possess fractional dimensions. This evidence suggests that the mixing of magmas is a chaotic process governed by a low number of degrees of freedom. In addition, fractal dimension analyses allows us to discriminate between different regimes of mixing in the three lava flows. In particular our analyses suggest that the lava flow of Salina underwent more turbulent mixing than the lava flows of Lesbos and Vulcano.

Elemental Imaging and Petro-Volcanological Applications of an Improved Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Quadrupole Plasma Mass Spectrometry

We report on the performance of the a new LA-ICP-MS instrumentation installed at the Physics and Geology Department of Perugia University empathizing its capabilities in elemental imaging and the progresses in trace element in situ determination and U/Pb geochronology. The analytical device consists in a Thermo Fisher Scientific iCAP Q quadrupole mass spectrometer coupled with a Teledyne/Photon Machine ArF Excimer G2 laser ablation system. Results show that, in trace element configuration at 40 micron, precisions are better than 6.5% whereas accuracies are better than 10%. Results also show improved precisions with respect the X7 + UP213 instrumentation in U/Pb geochronological studies. On this regard, concordia ages for the Plesovice and R33 Zircons analyzed as unknowns are in close agreement with the accepted values for these reference materials highlighting the accuracy of the method. The potentials in 2D element imaging are also reported and successfully tested on a zoned plagioclase from the alkali basaltic Santa Venera lava Flow. Results evidences that expanding the analysis to the second dimension will lead to more reliable and accurate results and it is going to open new prospective for the modeling of igneous systems.

Morphometric analysis of magmatic enclaves: a tool for understanding magma vesiculation and ascent

Abstract The extent of deformation of magmatic enclaves that occur in different portions of the Khaggiar endogenous lava dome (Island of Pantelleria, Italy) has been quantified using two morphometric techniques: thin-plate splines and fractals. Deformation of enclaves decreases from the outer portions of the dome to the more internal portions, defining two exponential trends. The amount and distribution of vesicles have also been quantified using image analysis of digital images obtained by a scanning electron microscope. The variation of deformation of enclaves correlates with the variation of their vesicle content, suggesting that deformation and vesiculation are related. We envisaged a continuous feedback system between vesiculation of enclaves and radial forces exerted by the surrounding host magma during the growth of the dome. These relationships are used as dynamic markers to infer the eruptive style of the endogenous dome. In particular, it is suggested that the variation of vesicularity of enclaves is related to the pressure exerted by magma on the extrusion vent. This resulted in enclaves being more vesicular and more deformed in the outer portions of the dome that emplaced first and at lower pressure, and less vesicular and less deformed in the more internal portions that emplaced later and at higher pressure. We interpret the occurrence of the two trends in the variation of deformation and porosity as related to two main eruptive pulses of dome growth.

Time evolution of chemical exchanges during mixing of rhyolitic and basaltic melts

We present the first set of chaotic mixing experiments performed using natural basaltic and rhyolitic melts. The mixing process is triggered by a recently developed apparatus that generates chaotic streamlines in the melts, mimicking the development of magma mixing in nature. The study of the interplay of physical dynamics and chemical exchanges between melts is carried out performing time series mixing experiments under controlled chaotic dynamic conditions. The variation of major and trace elements is studied in detail by electron microprobe and Laser Ablation ICP-MS. The mobility of each element during mixing is estimated by calculating the decrease in the concentration variance in time. Both major and trace element variances decay exponentially, with the value of exponent of the exponential function quantifying the element mobility. Our results confirm and quantify how different chemical elements homogenize in the melt at differing rates. The differential mobility of elements in the mixing system is considered to be responsible for the highly variable degree of correlation (linear, nonlinear, or scattered) of chemical elements in many published inter-elemental plots. Elements with similar mobility tend to be linearly correlated, whereas, as the difference in mobility increases, the plots become progressively more nonlinear and/or scattered. The results from this study indicate that the decay of concentration variance is in fact a robust tool for obtaining new insights into chemical exchanges during mixing of silicate melts. Concentration variance is (in a single measure) an expression of the influence of all possible factors (e.g., viscosity, composition, and fluid dynamic regime) controlling the mobility of chemical elements and thus can be an additional petrologic tool to address the great complexity characterizing magma mixing processes.

Fractal analysis of experimentally generated pyroclasts: A tool for volcanic hazard assessment

Rapid decompression experiments on natural volcanic rocks mimick explosive eruptions. Fragment size distributions (FSD) of such experimentally generated pyroclasts are investigated using fractal geometry. The fractal dimension of fragmentation, D, of FSD is measured for samples from Unzen (Japan) and Popocatépetl (Mexico) volcanoes.Results show that: (i) FSD are fractal and can be quantified by measuring D values; (ii) D increases linearly with potential energy for fragmentation (PEF) and, thus, with increasing applied pressure; (iii) the rate of increase of D with PEF depends on open porosity: the higher the open porosity, the lower the increase of D with PEF; (iv) at comparable open porosity, samples display a similar behavior for any rock composition.The method proposed here has the potential to become a standard routine to estimate eruptive energy of past and recent eruptions using values of D and open porosity, providing an important step towards volcanic hazard assessment.

Concentration variance decay during magma mixing: a volcanic chronometer.

The mixing of magmas is a common phenomenon in explosive eruptions. Concentration variance is a useful metric of this process and its decay (CVD) with time is an inevitable consequence during the progress of magma mixing. In order to calibrate this petrological/volcanological clock we have performed a time-series of high temperature experiments of magma mixing. The results of these experiments demonstrate that compositional variance decays exponentially with time. With this calibration the CVD rate (CVD-R) becomes a new geochronometer for the time lapse from initiation of mixing to eruption. The resultant novel technique is fully independent of the typically unknown advective history of mixing – a notorious uncertainty which plagues the application of many diffusional analyses of magmatic history. Using the calibrated CVD-R technique we have obtained mingling-to-eruption times for three explosive volcanic eruptions from Campi Flegrei (Italy) in the range of tens of minutes. These in turn imply ascent velocities of 5-8 meters per second. We anticipate the routine application of the CVD-R geochronometer to the eruptive products of active volcanoes in future in order to constrain typical “mixing to eruption” time lapses such that monitoring activities can be targeted at relevant timescales and signals during volcanic unrest.