How Magma Forms - The University of Texas at Arlington ... · How Magma Forms • Sources of heat for melting rocks • Factors that control melting temperatures • Other considerations:

How Magma Forms

•  Sources of heat for melting rocks •  Factors that control melting temperatures •  Other considerations:

– Volatiles – Change in Pressure (Decompression Melting)

Heat Flow on Earth An increment of heat, q, transferred into a body produces a proportional incremental rise in temperature, T, given by

q = Cp * T

where Cp is called the molar heat capacity of J/mol-degree at constant pressure; similar to specific heat, which is based on mass (J/g-degree).

1 calorie = 4.184 J and is equivalent to the energy necessary to raise 1 gram of of water 1 degree centigrade. Specific heat of water is 1 cal /g°C, where rocks are ~0.3 cal /g°C.

Heat Transfer Mechanisms •  Radiation: involves emission of EM energy from the surface of hot

body into the transparent cooler surroundings. Not important in cool rocks, but increasingly important at T’s >1200°C

•  Advection: involves flow of a liquid through openings in a rock whose T is different from the fluid (mass flux). Important near Earth’s surface due to fractured nature of crust.

•  Conduction: transfer of kinetic energy by atomic vibration. Cannot occur in a vacuum. For a given volume, heat is conducted away faster if the enclosing surface area is larger.

•  Convection: movement of material having contrasting T’s from one place to another. T differences give rise to density differences. In a gravitational field, lower density (generally colder) materials sink.

Earth’s Energy Budget •  Solar radiation: 50,000 times greater than all other energy sources; primarily

affects the atmosphere and oceans, but can cause changes in the solid earth through momentum transfer from the outer fluid envelope to the interior.

•  Radioactive decay: 238U, 235U, 232Th, 40K, and 87Rb all have t1/2 that >109 years and thus continue to produce significant heat in the interior; this may equal 50 to 100% of the total heat production for the Earth. Extinct short-lived radioactive elements such as 26Al were important during the very early Earth.

•  Tidal Heating: Earth-Sun-Moon interaction; much smaller than radioactive decay.

•  Primordial Heat: Also known as accretionary heat; conversion of kinetic energy of accumulating planetismals to heat.

•  Core Formation: Initial heating from short-lived radioisotopes and accretionary heat caused widespread interior melting (Magma Ocean) and additional heat was released when Fe sank toward the center and formed the core.

Magmatic Examples of Heat Transfer Thermal Gradient = T between adjacent hotter and cooler masses

Heat Flux = rate at which heat is conducted over time from a unit surface area

Heat Flux = Thermal Conductivity * T

Thermal Conductivity = K; rocks have very low values and thus deep heat has been retained!

convection in the mantle

models

observed heat flow warm: near ridges cold: over cratons

from: http://www.geo.lsa.umich.edu/~crlb/COURSES/270

from: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~vdpluijm/gs205.html

Global Heat Flow

Earth’s Geothermal Gradient A

ppro

xim

ate

Pres

sure

(GPa

=10

kbar

)

Average Heat Flux is 0.09 watt/meter2

or 90 mW/m2

Geothermal gradient = T/ z

Viscosity, which measures resistance to flow, of mantle rocks is 1018 times tar at 24°C !

Crustal Geothermal Gradients

Crustal Rocks Melt!

20-30 °C/km in orogenic belts; gradient cannot remain constant with depth!

At 200 km would be 4000°C

In contrast, gradient is ~7 °C/km in trenches

Causes of Mantle Melting

-Increase T

-Decrease P

-Add Water

Plagioclase Water-saturated vs. Dry Solidi

Alkaline vs. Sub-alkaline Rocks

Analyses of a global sample of 41,000 igneous rocks of all ages

<- Basalts

46.7% widely scattered

53.3% tightly clustered in a central band

Attributes of Total Alkalies Diagram •  Magmatic rocks constitute a continuous chemical

spectrum, i.e. no breaks or discontinuities. Other elemental combinations show similar trends.

•  Questions? –  How is such a chemical spectrum created? –  Is there a similar range in liquid (magma)

compositions? –  What processes of magma generation from solid rocks

can give rise to the observed range? –  Could this spectrum be generated from a much

narrower source range and the derived liquids modified to yield the observed diversity?

How Magmas of Different � Compositions Evolve

•  Sequence of Crystallization and Melting •  Differentiation •  Partial Melting •  Assimilation •  Mixing of Magmas

Bowen’s Reaction Series

Magmatic �Differentiation: �Crystal Settling

Sedimentary Structures �in Layered Igneous Intrusions

From: http://www.uoregon.edu/~dogsci/kays/313/plutonic.html

Harzburgite bands in Josephine Ophiolite, Oregon

Magmatic Cross-Beds �in Skaergaard Layered Intrusion

From: http://www.uoregon.edu/~dogsci/kays/313/plutonic.html

Binary Eutectic Phase Relations

Magmatic Differentiation: Assimilation

Evidence for Assimilation - Adirondacks

From: http://s01.middlebury.edu/GL211A/FieldTrip2.htm

Magmatic�Differentiation:�Magma �Mixing

Melt Inclusions in Quartz in Pantellerite

From: http://wrgis.wr.usgs.gov/lowenstern/ Mahood and Lowenstern, 1991

Evidence for Magma Mixing - Adirondacks

From: http://s01.middlebury.edu/GL211A/FieldTrip3.htm

The Relationship of Igneous Activity to Tectonics

•  Igneous Processes at Divergent Boundaries –  MORB genesis and decompression melting

•  Intraplate Igneous Activity –  “Hot” or “Wet” spots and mantle plumes

•  Igneous Processes at Convergent Boundaries –  Downing plate crustal melting or volatile flux melting

in the mantle wedge

Earth’s Plates

MORB �Decompression �Melting

Decompression Melting and MORB Genesis

Mantle Plumes - “Hot” or “Wet” Spots?

Seismic Tomographic Image of Iceland Plume

From: ICEMELT Seismic Experiment - Wolfe et al., 1997

Contour of -2.5% shear wave velocity anomaly

Numerical Simulation of Plume Melting

From: http://www.geophysik.uni-frankfurt.de/geodyn/island/tp2_en.html

Dynamic Plume Models

From: http://www.geophysik.uni-frankfurt.de/geodyn/island/tp2_en.html

Super Plumes?

From: www.seismo.berkeley.edu/~gung/_Qplume/

Volcanic Hot Spots on Earth’s Surface (dots)

Global shear wave velocity anomalies in deep mantle

Volatile Fluxing Mantle Wedge

Volatile Fluxing of Mantle Wedge

Downgoing Slab Crustal Melting

Primitive Mantle Melts vs. �Remelting of the Lower Crust

Igneous Rocks and Plate Tectonic Setting