HR: 0800h
AN: V51A-1471    [Abstracts]
TI: Geologic Mapping, Volcanic Stages and Magmatic Processes in Hawaiian Volcanoes
AU: * Sinton, J M
EM: sinton@hawaii.edu
AF: University of Hawaii, Dept. Geology and Geophysics, Honolulu, HI 96822 United States
AB: The concept of volcanic stages arose from geologic mapping of Hawaiian volcanoes. Subaerial Hawaiian lava successions can be divided generally into three constructional phases: an early (shield) stage dominated by thin-bedded basaltic lava flows commonly associated with a caldera; a later (postshield) stage with much thicker bedded, generally lighter colored lava flows commonly containing clinopyroxene; calderas are absent in this later stage. Following periods of quiescence of a half million years or more, some Hawaiian volcanoes have experienced renewed (rejuvenated) volcanism. Geological and petrographic relations irrespective of chemical composition led to the identification of mappable units on Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui and Hawaii, which form the basis for this 3-fold division of volcanic activity. Chemical data have complicated the picture. There is a growing tendency to assign volcanic stage based on lava chemistry, principally alkalicity, into tholeiitic shield, alkalic postshield, and silica undersaturated rejuvenation, despite the evidence for interbedded tholeiitic and alkalic basalts in many shield formations, and the presence of mildly tholeiitic lavas in some postshield and rejuvenation formations. A consistent characteristic of lava compositions from most postshield formations is evidence for post-melting evolution at moderately high pressures (3-7 kb). Thus, the mapped shield to postshield transitions primarily reflect the disappearance of shallow magma chambers (and associated calderas) in Hawaiian volcanoes, not the earlier (~100 ka earlier in Waianae Volcano) decline in partial melting that leads to the formation of alkalic parental magmas. Petrological signatures of high-pressure evolution are high-temperature crystallization of clinopyroxene and delayed crystallization of plagioclase, commonly to <3 % MgO. Petrologic modeling using pMELTS and MELTS algorithms allows for quantification of the melting and fractionation conditions giving rise to various Hawaiian lithologies. This analysis indicates that the important magmatic process that links geologic mapping to volcanic stage is thermal state of the volcano, as manifest by depth of magma evolution. The only criterion for rejuvenation volcanism is the presence of a significant time break (more than several hundred thousand years) preceding eruption.
DE: 1036 Magma chamber processes (3618)
DE: 3610 Geochemical modeling (1009, 8410)
DE: 3640 Igneous petrology
DE: 8137 Hotspots, large igneous provinces, and flood basalt volcanism
DE: 8486 Field relationships (1090, 3690)
SC: Volcanology, Geochemistry, Petrology [V]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005