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Geology, geochronology and chemical evolution of the island of Pantelleria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

L. Civetta
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Largo S. Marcellino 10, Napoli 80138, Italy
Y. Cornette
Affiliation:
Centre de Faibles Radioactivités, CNRS/CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
G. Crisci
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Castiglione Scalo, Cosenza, Italy
P. Y. Gillot
Affiliation:
Centre de Faibles Radioactivités, CNRS/CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
G. Orsi
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Largo S. Marcellino 10, Napoli 80138, Italy
C. S. Requejo
Affiliation:
Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares, IPEN C. Postal 11049, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil

Abstract

Potassium–argon dating, field relations, geochemical and strontium-isotope compositions are reported for the island of Pantelleria (Strait of Sicily, Italy). These data support the following model for the genesis and evolution through time of the volcanic system: the peralkaline rocks originated from mantle-derived parental magmas; the trachytic magma differentiated in a low pressure magma chamber by crystal–liquid fractionation. This process led to a chemically zoned magma chamber tapped at different levels by successive eruptions. During low-pressure differentiation the 87Sr/86Sr ratios of some of the most evolved Sr-poor rhyolitic magmas increased from 0.703 up to 0.708 by contamination with crustal material.

The chemical variation displayed by the products of each of the defined eruptive cycles in the last 50000 years suggests an open system behaviour of the magma chamber which is episodically refilled by more mafic parent magma, differentiated at high rate and episodically erupted.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

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