Investigating the Impact of an Exsolved H2O‐CO2 Phase on Magma Chamber Growth and Longevity: A Thermomechanical Model

Abstract Magmatic volatiles drive pressure, temperature, and compositional changes in upper crustal magma chambers and alter the physical properties of stored magmas. Previous studies suggest that magmatic H2O content influences the growth and longevity of silicic chambers through regulating the siz...

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Main Authors: Kathryn Scholz, Meredith Townsend, Christian Huber, Juliana Troch, Olivier Bachmann, Allie N. Coonin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2023-12-01
Series:Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GC011151
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author Kathryn Scholz
Meredith Townsend
Christian Huber
Juliana Troch
Olivier Bachmann
Allie N. Coonin
author_facet Kathryn Scholz
Meredith Townsend
Christian Huber
Juliana Troch
Olivier Bachmann
Allie N. Coonin
author_sort Kathryn Scholz
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Magmatic volatiles drive pressure, temperature, and compositional changes in upper crustal magma chambers and alter the physical properties of stored magmas. Previous studies suggest that magmatic H2O content influences the growth and longevity of silicic chambers through regulating the size and frequency of eruptions and impacting the crystallinity‐temperature curve. However, there has been comparatively little exploration of how CO2 impacts the evolution of magma chambers despite the strong influence of CO2 on H2O solubility and the high concentrations of CO2 often present in mafic systems. In this study, we integrate the thermodynamic effects of dissolved and exsolved H2O and CO2 with the mechanics of open‐system magma chambers that interact thermally and mechanically with the crust. We applied this model to investigate how intrinsic variations in magmatic H2O‐CO2 content influence the growth and longevity of silicic and mafic magma chambers. Our findings indicate that even with a tenfold increase in CO2 content (up to 10,000 ppm), CO2 plays a minimal role in long‐term chamber growth and longevity. While CO2 content affects the magma compressibility, the resulting changes in eruption mass are balanced out by a commensurate change in eruption frequency so that the time‐averaged eruptive flux and long‐term chamber behavior remain similar. In contrast, H2O content strongly influences chamber growth and longevity. In silicic systems, high H2O contents hinder magma chamber growth by increasing the total eruptive flux and steepening the slope of the crystallinity‐temperature curve. In mafic systems, high H2O contents promote magma chamber growth by flattening the slope of the crystallinity‐temperature curve.
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spelling doaj.art-01fa1f57e8464101893bf1835cb3642c2024-01-02T19:00:35ZengWileyGeochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems1525-20272023-12-012412n/an/a10.1029/2023GC011151Investigating the Impact of an Exsolved H2O‐CO2 Phase on Magma Chamber Growth and Longevity: A Thermomechanical ModelKathryn Scholz0Meredith Townsend1Christian Huber2Juliana Troch3Olivier Bachmann4Allie N. Coonin5Department of Earth Sciences University of Oregon Eugene OR USADepartment of Earth Sciences University of Oregon Eugene OR USADepartment of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Science Brown University Providence RI USAFaculty of Georesources and Material Sciences RWTH Aachen University Aachen GermanyInstitute of Geochemistry and Petrology ETH Zurich Zurich SwitzerlandDepartment of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Science Brown University Providence RI USAAbstract Magmatic volatiles drive pressure, temperature, and compositional changes in upper crustal magma chambers and alter the physical properties of stored magmas. Previous studies suggest that magmatic H2O content influences the growth and longevity of silicic chambers through regulating the size and frequency of eruptions and impacting the crystallinity‐temperature curve. However, there has been comparatively little exploration of how CO2 impacts the evolution of magma chambers despite the strong influence of CO2 on H2O solubility and the high concentrations of CO2 often present in mafic systems. In this study, we integrate the thermodynamic effects of dissolved and exsolved H2O and CO2 with the mechanics of open‐system magma chambers that interact thermally and mechanically with the crust. We applied this model to investigate how intrinsic variations in magmatic H2O‐CO2 content influence the growth and longevity of silicic and mafic magma chambers. Our findings indicate that even with a tenfold increase in CO2 content (up to 10,000 ppm), CO2 plays a minimal role in long‐term chamber growth and longevity. While CO2 content affects the magma compressibility, the resulting changes in eruption mass are balanced out by a commensurate change in eruption frequency so that the time‐averaged eruptive flux and long‐term chamber behavior remain similar. In contrast, H2O content strongly influences chamber growth and longevity. In silicic systems, high H2O contents hinder magma chamber growth by increasing the total eruptive flux and steepening the slope of the crystallinity‐temperature curve. In mafic systems, high H2O contents promote magma chamber growth by flattening the slope of the crystallinity‐temperature curve.https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GC011151magma chambersmagmatic volatilesnumerical modeling
spellingShingle Kathryn Scholz
Meredith Townsend
Christian Huber
Juliana Troch
Olivier Bachmann
Allie N. Coonin
Investigating the Impact of an Exsolved H2O‐CO2 Phase on Magma Chamber Growth and Longevity: A Thermomechanical Model
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
magma chambers
magmatic volatiles
numerical modeling
title Investigating the Impact of an Exsolved H2O‐CO2 Phase on Magma Chamber Growth and Longevity: A Thermomechanical Model
title_full Investigating the Impact of an Exsolved H2O‐CO2 Phase on Magma Chamber Growth and Longevity: A Thermomechanical Model
title_fullStr Investigating the Impact of an Exsolved H2O‐CO2 Phase on Magma Chamber Growth and Longevity: A Thermomechanical Model
title_full_unstemmed Investigating the Impact of an Exsolved H2O‐CO2 Phase on Magma Chamber Growth and Longevity: A Thermomechanical Model
title_short Investigating the Impact of an Exsolved H2O‐CO2 Phase on Magma Chamber Growth and Longevity: A Thermomechanical Model
title_sort investigating the impact of an exsolved h2o co2 phase on magma chamber growth and longevity a thermomechanical model
topic magma chambers
magmatic volatiles
numerical modeling
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GC011151
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