Degassing-induced chemical heterogeneity at the 2011-2012 Cordón Caulle eruption

Paisley, Rebecca and Berlo, Kim and Whattam, Jack and Schipper, C. Ian and Tuffen, Hugh (2019) Degassing-induced chemical heterogeneity at the 2011-2012 Cordón Caulle eruption. Volcanica, 2 (2). pp. 211-237. ISSN 2610-3540

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Abstract

Low H2O concentrations preserved in the erupted products from the 2011-2012 eruption at Cordón Caulle, Chile, have limited its use as a recorder of the shallow degassing processes responsible for the observed hybrid activity. However, volatile trace element heterogeneity (e.g. Li, Pb, Tl) is observed in different textural domains (e.g. breccias, tuffisites), which each represent the competing processes of fracturing, gas fluxing and melt relaxation occurring at different locations within the upper conduit. Elemental depletions in tuffisite veins record scavenging of metals by the fluxing gas phase. Preserved concentration gradients indicate deep-conduit degassing events are short-lived (~minutes), whilst late-stage activity involves hours of gas venting from a single location. Later-erupted material is more degassed than earlier-erupted bombs indicating a progressive loss of volatiles with eruption duration. Combining in situ textural and volatile trace element analyses can constrain evolving degassing processes in systems that are depleted in H2O and CO2