The recent (<190 ka) volcanic history of Pantelleria is characterized by the eruption of nine peralkaline ignimbrites, ranging in composition from comenditic trachyte to comendite to pantellerite. The ~46 ka Green Tuff (GT) was the... more
The recent (<190 ka) volcanic history of Pantelleria is characterized by the eruption of nine peralkaline ignimbrites, ranging in composition from comenditic trachyte to comendite to pantellerite. The ~46 ka Green Tuff (GT) was the last of these ignimbrites, which was followed by many effusive and explosive low-volume eruptions of pantellerite from vents within the caldera moat and along the caldera rim. Although recent studies have shed additional light on the age, petrochemistry, and volcanology of the older ignimbrites, there is very little knowledge of magmatism that occurred between these older ignimbrites, primarily due to the very scarce exposures. In this paper, we present new field descriptions and geochemical data for three local peralkaline centers never studied before, two pre-GT and one post-GT, which share a similar setting with respect to the caldera scarps but differ in terms of their age, composition, and eruptive style. These centers include: (i) the older (~125...
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Carbonatitic dykes that crop out in the central western part of Fuerteventura Basal Complex (Ajuy, Punta de la Nao), were affected by the Miocene intrusive event responsible for contact metamorphism and partial melting of part of the... more
Carbonatitic dykes that crop out in the central western part of Fuerteventura Basal Complex (Ajuy, Punta de la Nao), were affected by the Miocene intrusive event responsible for contact metamorphism and partial melting of part of the alkaline-carbonatitic complex. Textural characteristics, monazite enriched in LREE (La, Ce, Nd) formation processes in microfractures that affect zircon crystals, show carbonatite interactions with hydrothermal fluids and partial REE remobilization. Pyrochlore is the main mineral carrier of rare earth elements (sum REE=216694 ppm), with high LREE (LaN=185816 and CeN=165209) with respect to HREE (YbN=2589 and LuN=1814) with a rather steep pattern (La/Yb)N=72 in REE diagram. The mineral paragenesis represented by the interstratified illite/smectite, chlorite and vermiculite allows to frame the hydrothermal event in zeolite facies (T\ub0 48 100-200 \ub0C)
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In the Ferra Valley, close to the S. Lucia del Mela village, the metapelites of the Mela tectonic Unit contain rare boudins of Grt-Cpx- and (Grt)-Plg amphibolites showing the following metamorphic evolution: a main regional event... more
In the Ferra Valley, close to the S. Lucia del Mela village, the metapelites of the Mela tectonic Unit contain rare boudins of Grt-Cpx- and (Grt)-Plg amphibolites showing the following metamorphic evolution: a main regional event characterized by amphibole stability, followed by the peak assemblage Cpx + Ca-plg + Ca-Grt and, later on, by a retrogressive event responsible for the development of Plg + Amph coronas around Ca-Grt. High-variance mineral assemblages have produced a bulk-rock effect which have driven equilibria amongst coexisting minerals, thus producing unreliable thermo-barometric results. A comparison with other Grt- Cpx amphibolites from the same Mela Unit, which in the literature are considered as retrograded eclogites, is difficult because the most representative of our samples suffered severe alkali loss and a metasomatic addition of calcium which have altered the protolith's original characteristics.
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Ustica Island, southern Tyrrhenian Sea, is constituted of Quaternary alkaline volcanics. A variety of enclaves representative of deep to supra-crustal settings were recently found in a hawaiitic lava flow. Enclaves consist of: (i)... more
Ustica Island, southern Tyrrhenian Sea, is constituted of Quaternary alkaline volcanics. A variety of enclaves representative of deep to supra-crustal settings were recently found in a hawaiitic lava flow. Enclaves consist of: (i) Ultramafic meta-cumulates, i.e. clinopyroxenites and wherlites characterized by variably deformed porphyroclastic to granoblastic textures. (ii) Mafic cumulates, i.e. gabbros (± amphibole) and troctolites, the first often characterized by
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DOI of original article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2013.10.038.⁎ Corresponding author at: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, via Ugo la Malfa 153, Palermo 90146, Italy. Tel.: +39 91 6809273; fax: +39 9 6809449.E-mail... more
DOI of original article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2013.10.038.⁎ Corresponding author at: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, via Ugo la Malfa 153, Palermo 90146, Italy. Tel.: +39 91 6809273; fax: +39 9 6809449.E-mail address: alessandra.correale@ingv.it (A. Correale).Sample Mineral
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ABSTRACT The Green Tuff (GT) Plinian eruption, the largest in magnitude at Pantelleria, erupted 3 to 7 km 3 DRE of pantellerite magma and a small volume of trachyte. Fifty-nine anorthoclase-hosted melt inclusions from the two basal pumice... more
ABSTRACT The Green Tuff (GT) Plinian eruption, the largest in magnitude at Pantelleria, erupted 3 to 7 km 3 DRE of pantellerite magma and a small volume of trachyte. Fifty-nine anorthoclase-hosted melt inclusions from the two basal pumice members were analyzed by FT-IR spectroscopy in order to assess the pre-eruptive H 2 O content in the pantellerite melt. Microanalytical methods were used to determine major element, Cl, F and S contents. Melt inclusions and glassy groundmasses have a nearly homogeneous pantelleritic composition (peralkaline index = 1.9-2.2) and variable water contents ranging from 1.4 to as high as 4.2 wt %, i.e. much higher than the 1.4 wt % of earlier published studies. The chlorine content is constant at about 1 wt %. Combined Cl and H 2 O data were used to estimate a confining pressure of about 50 MPa (depth around 2-3 km) for the GT magma chamber. The chamber was characterized by a compositional zoning with a dominant pantellerite overlying a trachyte magma. Soon after the GT eruption, intra-caldera volcanism was dominated by the eruption of voluminous trachyte lava flows, while pantellerite melt production resumed after about 20 ka with numerous low-volume, mildly explosive (Strombolian) to effusive eruptions. Comparison with data from the literature reveals that, despite the different explosivity, the post-caldera Strombolian eruptions and the GT Plinian eruption were fed by pantelleritic magmas with similar water contents. Chlorine and CO 2 contents suggest that the young magma reservoirs feeding the Strombolian to effusive activity were deeper (h ≥ 4.5 km) than the much larger (based on erupted volumes) magma chamber which fed the GT eruption. © 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.
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Research Interests: Geology, Geochemistry, Petrology, Experiment, Phase equilibria, and 3 moreKey words, Pumice, and Basalt
We report the infrared activity, in the spectral region of the OH stretching modes, of different composite silicate glasses whose chemical composition is established by X-ray fluorescence measurements. The analysis of the absorption line... more
We report the infrared activity, in the spectral region of the OH stretching modes, of different composite silicate glasses whose chemical composition is established by X-ray fluorescence measurements. The analysis of the absorption line profiles is made in terms of different spectral contributions, Gaussian in shape. The comparison with analogous spectra obtained in vitreous silica samples with impurity concentrations&amp;amp;amp;lt; 100 part per million moles is evidence of the effects of the different oxides on the vibrational properties of the OH ...
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... ROTOLO Silvio G. ; LA FELICE Sonia ; MANGALAVITI Angela ; LANDI Patrizia ; Résumé / Abstract. Pantelleritic pumice fall on the northern slopes of M. Grande have built a complex sequence of interfingered deposits emitted by closely... more
... ROTOLO Silvio G. ; LA FELICE Sonia ; MANGALAVITI Angela ; LANDI Patrizia ; Résumé / Abstract. Pantelleritic pumice fall on the northern slopes of M. Grande have built a complex sequence of interfingered deposits emitted by closely spaced eruptive vents which are ...
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Although the oldest volcanic rocks exposed at Pantelleria (Strait of Sicily) are older than 300 ka, most of the island is covered by the 45-50 ka Green Tuff ignimbrite, thought to be related to the Cinque Denti caldera, and younger lavas... more
Although the oldest volcanic rocks exposed at Pantelleria (Strait of Sicily) are older than 300 ka, most of the island is covered by the 45-50 ka Green Tuff ignimbrite, thought to be related to the Cinque Denti caldera, and younger lavas and scoria cones. Pre-50 ka rocks (predominantly rheomorphic ignimbrites) are exposed at isolated sea cliffs, and their stratigraphy and chronology are not completely resolved. Based on volcanic stratigraphy and K/Ar dating, it has been proposed that the older La Vecchia caldera is related to ignimbrite Q (114 ka), and that ignimbrites F, D, and Z (106, 94, and 79 ka, respectively) were erupted after caldera formation. We report here the paleomagnetic directions obtained from 23 sites in ignimbrite P (133 ka) and four younger ignimbrites, and from an uncorrelated (and loosely dated) welded lithic breccia thought to record a caldera-forming eruption. The paleosecular variation of the geomagnetic field recorded by ignimbrites is used as correlative tool, with an estimated time resolution in the order of 100 years. We find that ignimbrites D and Z correspond, in good agreement with recent Ar/Ar ages constraining the D/Z eruption to 87 ka. The welded lithic breccia correlates with a thinner breccia lying just below ignimbrite P at another locality, implying that collapse of the La Vecchia caldera took place at ~130-160 ka. This caldera was subsequently buried by ignimbrites P, Q, F, and D/Z. Paleomagnetic data also show that the northern caldera margin underwent a ~10° west-northwest (outwards) tilting after emplacement of ignimbrite P, possibly recording magma resurgence in the crust.
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We present here petrological and geochemical data on volcanics cropping out in southern and northeastern walls of the Valle del Bove (Mt. Etna), belonging to the Rocche, Serra Giannicola Grande and Canalone della Montagnola Units. These... more
We present here petrological and geochemical data on volcanics cropping out in southern and northeastern walls of the Valle del Bove (Mt. Etna), belonging to the Rocche, Serra Giannicola Grande and Canalone della Montagnola Units. These units constitute the remnants of several volcanoes that were active in the time span 102-80 ka, i.e. before the growth of the Ellittico-Mongibello strato-volcano.
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Pantelleria volcano has a particularly intriguing evolutionary history intimately related to the peralkaline composition of its explosively erupted magmas. Due to the stratigraphic complexity, studies over the last two decades have... more
Pantelleria volcano has a particularly intriguing evolutionary history intimately related to the peralkaline composition of its explosively erupted magmas. Due to the stratigraphic complexity, studies over the last two decades have explored either only the pre-Green Tuff ignimbrite volcanism or the post-Green Tuff activity. We here focus on the whole evolutionary history, detailing the achievements since the first pioneering studies, in order to illustrate how the adoption and integration of progressively more accurate methods (40Ar/39Ar, paleomagnetism, petrography, and detailed field study) have provided many important independent answers to unresolved questions. We also discuss rheomorphism, a distinct feature at Pantelleria, at various scales and possible evidence for multiple, now hidden, caldera collapses. Although the evolutionary history of Pantelleria has shown that each ignimbrite event was followed by a period of less intense explosivity (as could be the present-day case)...
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Ustica Island, southern Tyrrhenian Sea, is constituted of Quaternary alkaline volcanics. A variety of enclaves representative of deep to supra-crustal settings were recently found in a hawaiitic lava flow. Enclaves consist of: (i)... more
Ustica Island, southern Tyrrhenian Sea, is constituted of Quaternary alkaline volcanics. A variety of enclaves representative of deep to supra-crustal settings were recently found in a hawaiitic lava flow. Enclaves consist of: (i) Ultramafic meta-cumulates, i.e. clinopyroxenites and wherlites characterized by variably deformed porphyroclastic to granoblastic textures. (ii) Mafic cumulates, i.e. gabbros (± amphibole) and troctolites, the first often characterized by
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Igneous activity from the late Miocene to historic time (most recently 1891 CE) in the Strait of Sicily has created two volcanic islands (Pantelleria and Linosa) and several seamounts. These volcanoes are dominated by transitional (ol +... more
Igneous activity from the late Miocene to historic time (most recently 1891 CE) in the Strait of Sicily has created two volcanic islands (Pantelleria and Linosa) and several seamounts. These volcanoes are dominated by transitional (ol + hy-normative) to alkaline (ne-normative) basaltic lavas and scoriae; volcanic felsic rocks (peralkaline trachyte-rhyolite) crop out only on Pantelleria. Although most likely erupted through continental crust, basalts demonstrate no evidence of crustal contamination and are geochemically similar to oceanic island basalts (OIB). Despite their isotopic similarities, there are considerable compositional differences with respect to major and trace element geochemistry both between and within the two islands that are due to short-length scale mantle heterogeneity beneath the region as well as variability in partial melting and magma storage conditions. Published geophysical surveys suggest that lithospheric thickness beneath both islands is ~60 km; this is...
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Mount Etna is a complex magmatic system characterized bya continuous variability both in terms of eruptive style and composition of erupted products. Currently, its volcanic activity is marked by high gas fluxes (of above all SO2), both... more
Mount Etna is a complex magmatic system characterized bya continuous variability both in terms of eruptive style and composition of erupted products. Currently, its volcanic activity is marked by high gas fluxes (of above all SO2), both during eruptive and non-eruptive periods .
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A peralkaline microgranitic enclave was found enclosed in the Green Tuff ignimbrite on Pantelleria island. This enclave represents the intrusive equivalent of pantelleritic lava flows. Its K Na-feldspar has been dated by 39ArAOAr and... more
A peralkaline microgranitic enclave was found enclosed in the Green Tuff ignimbrite on Pantelleria island. This enclave represents the intrusive equivalent of pantelleritic lava flows. Its K Na-feldspar has been dated by 39ArAOAr and gave a plateau age of 517 ± 19 ka. This age is considerably older than all outcropping rocks dated so far ( < 324 ka), and requires to shift the onset of magmatc activity on Pantelleria back in time.
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Chlorine is a minor element present in obsidians in quantities greater than in average igneous rocks. The chlorine concentration in obsidians is generally low, of the order of tenths of wt %, but it exhibits an appreciable differentiation... more
Chlorine is a minor element present in obsidians in quantities greater than in average igneous rocks. The chlorine concentration in obsidians is generally low, of the order of tenths of wt %, but it exhibits an appreciable differentiation among geological sources. Despite these characteristics, chlorine has rarely been taken into consideration as a possible indicator of obsidian provenance and it does not appear in the chemical analytical tables accompanying the geochemical characterisation of obsidian samples. In this work, after an overview of chlorine geochemistry and cycle, we present thirty-one new electron microprobe (EPMA) analyses, including Cl, of geologic obsidians sampled from the four sources of the Central Mediterranean, exploited in prehistoric times (Monte Arci, Palmarola, Lipari and Pantelleria). The results are compared with 175 new EPMA analyses, including Cl, of archaeological obsidians already characterised in previous work and of known provenance. As such it was...
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This paper provides new petrochemical and paleomagnetic data from obsidian sub-sources on the island of Pantelleria, exploited since the Neolithic. Data has been obtained from 14 obsidian samples from 4 locations: Fossa della Pernice (2... more
This paper provides new petrochemical and paleomagnetic data from obsidian sub-sources on the island of Pantelleria, exploited since the Neolithic. Data has been obtained from 14 obsidian samples from 4 locations: Fossa della Pernice (2 sites), Salto la Vecchia and Balata dei Turchi. Here, we aim to better characterize these obsidians using a cross-disciplinary and multi-analytical approach, to further understand their archaeological significance. Major element analyses (EMP) have enabled two compositional super-groups to be distinguished: (i) Fossa della Pernice, less peralkaline and (ii) Balata dei Turchi–Salto la Vecchia, distinctly more peralkaline and having almost identical chemical patterns. Trace element analyses (LA-ICP-MS) corroborate major element groupings, with the Balata dei Turchi–Salto la Vecchia super-group being further characterized by a pronounced negative europium anomaly. Glass H2O contents (FT-IR) reveal an overlap among all the sub-sources (H2O = 0.1–0.3 wt. ...
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The origin of peralkaline silicic rocks is still obscure and stands perhaps as one of the last major unsettled issues in classic igneous petrology. The debate goes back to the end of the 18th century and despite intensive petrological,... more
The origin of peralkaline silicic rocks is still obscure and stands perhaps as one of the last major unsettled issues in classic igneous petrology. The debate goes back to the end of the 18th century and despite intensive petrological, geochemical and laboratory efforts the consensus has yet to emerge as to which mechanisms produce peralkaline derivatives. Bowen (1937) first proposed that the shift from metaluminous to peralkaline field was due to extensive fractionation of calcic plagioclase. Perhaps the best illustration of such an hypothesis is provided by the Boina rock series in the Ethiopian rift studied by Barberi et al. (1975). However, such an hypothesis still awaits experimental confirmation. A different view has been expressed for the origin of peralkaline rhyolites erupted in the central part of the Kenya Rift Valley. There, a partial melting of crustal protoliths has been advocated on the basis of geochemical arguments (Macdonald et al., 1987). The origin of peralkaline...
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The occurrence of carbonatites in oceanic settings is very rare if compared with their continental counterpart, having been reported only in Cape Verde and Canary Islands. This paper provides an overview of the main geochemical... more
The occurrence of carbonatites in oceanic settings is very rare if compared with their continental counterpart, having been reported only in Cape Verde and Canary Islands. This paper provides an overview of the main geochemical characteristics of oceanic carbonatites, around which many debates still exist regarding their petrogenesis. We present new data on trace elements in minerals and whole-rock, together with the first noble gases isotopic study (He, Ne, Ar) in apatite, calcite, and clinopyroxene from Fuerteventura carbonatites (Canary Islands). Trace elements show a similar trend as Cape Verde carbonatites, almost tracing the same patterns on multi-element and REE abundance diagrams. 3He/4He isotopic ratios of Fuerteventura carbonatites reflect a shallow (sub-continental lithospheric mantle, SCLM) He signature in their petrogenesis, and they clearly differ from Cape Verde carbonatites, i.e., fluids from a deep and low degassed mantle with a primitive plume-derived He signature ...