Timescales of quartz crystallization estimated from glass inclusion faceting using 3D propagation phase-contrast x-ray tomography: examples from the Bishop (California, USA) and Oruanui (Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand) Tuffs

Ayla Pamukcu (ayla.s.pamukcu@vanderbilt.edu)1, Guilherme A. R. Gualda (g.gualda@vanderbilt.edu)1, Alfred T. Anderson, Jr. (canderso@uchicago.edu)2

1Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Vanderbilt University; 2Department of Geophysical Sciences, The University of Chicago

V31C-2801

(b)

(a)

• Faceting of glass inclusions occurs over time at magmatic temperatures through dissolution and re-precipitation. This volume transported by this process is ΔV.

• The extent to which a glass inclusion is faceted can be used as a proxy for residence time of a crystal. Quartz is ideal for studies of glass inclusion faceting because Si is the only diffusing element.

• Both size and position of a glass inclusion within a crystal influence the extent to which an inclusion will facet in a given time interval:

• Large inclusions facet more slowly than smaller inclusions - greater volume of material to diffuse• Inclusions near center of crystal will be more faceted than those at edge - included for a longer time

BACKGROUNDGlass Inclusion Faceting & Timescales

Propagation Phase-Contrast X-ray Tomography

Geology/Samples

Oruanui Tuff• Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand

• Erupted ~26.5 ka, 10 phases

• ~530 km3 of ash fall, pyroclastic density currents, and intracaldera material

• 99% high-silica rhyolite, 1% more mafic material

• Samples:• P1577 (ash fall)• ORN-016 (ash fall)• ORN-067 (ash fall)

RESULTS

Faceting & Residence Times

• Large SNSVR values indicate faceted or elongate inclusions. Large ENSVR values indicate faceted inclusions.

• Generally, smaller inclusions have larger SNSVR/ENSVR values - smaller inclusions are more faceted than larger inclusions.

• Scatter in SNSVR values reflects more elongated shape of some inclusions (see Glass Inclusion Shapes).

• All inclusions are faceted to some extent (ENSVR, SNSVR >1).

• Most small inclusions are fully faceted (lie on 1:1 line), but larger inclusions are not fully faceted (lie above 1:1 line).

• Residence times must be greater than those recorded by fully faceted inclusions but less than those recorded by partially faceted inclusions.

a. Standard absorption-contrast tomographic image

b. Standard propagation phase-contrast tomographic image

c. Edge-detected absorption-contrast tomographic image

d. Edge-detected propagation phase-contrast tomographic image

e. 3D rendering of inclusion circled in b & d. Inclusion (solid) is overlain with a fitted ellipsoid (dotted).

f. Blue: volume representing the intersection of inclusion and ellipsoid; Red: excess volume of inclusion; Green: excess volume of ellipsoid

RESULTS

Propagation phase-contrast tomography provides a new way to study glass inclusions in situ and in 3D. Edge-enhancement permits quantification of glass inclusion geometry, with a slight decrease in image resolution. Images obtained here have 2.77 μm/voxel resolution, such that inclusions >10 voxels (~30 µm) in one direction can be quantitatively resolved, though smaller inclusions can be qualitatively resolved.

Bishop Tuff• Eastern California, USA

• Erupted ~760 ka, many phases classified broadly into early- and late-erupted deposits (Wilson & Hildreth, 1997)

• ~1000 km3 of ash fall, ignimbrite, and intracaldera material

• High-silica rhyolite

• Samples (all early-erupted):• BB08-21b (ash fall)• BC17-Ia15 (ignimbrite)• F8-15 (ash fall)

Above: Long Valley Caldera and early- and late-erupted Bishop Tuff outflow

deposits

• Increasing aspect ratio indicates more elongation of inclusions.

• ORN-067 inclusions are more elongated than those in Bishop and other Oruanui samples.

• F8-15 inclusions are dominantly more spherical (peak between 1.0-1.2) and are generally more spherical than inclusions in other Bishop and Oruanui samples.

• Equivalent radius = radius of a sphere of the same volume as a given inclusion. Minimum resolvable inclusion has equivalent radius of ~17 μm.

• BC17-Ia15 and F8-15 have a greater abundance of inclusions than the BB08 and Oruanui samples. Sample F815 has a noticeably greater abundance of large inclusions than other samples.

• Size distribution and abundances of ORN-067 inclusions are similar to that of BC17-Ia15 and F8-15 samples. P1577 and BB08-21b samples have noticeably fewer inclusions.

CONCLUSIONS

1. Propagation phase-contrast x-ray tomography can be used successfully to image glass inclusions in quartz crystals. Image resolution of 2.77 μm/voxel allows inclusions with a volume greater than 1000 voxels (~21,000 μm3) to be quantitatively resolved and measured. Inclusions smaller than this size can be qualitatively resolved.

2. Glass inclusions show a wide array of aspect ratio in both Oruanui and Bishop Tuff samples. Inclusions in Oruanui sample ORN-067 are more elongate in shape than in other samples from both systems. Inclusions in F8-15 are dominantly more spherical in shape and are more spherical than inclusions in other Oruanui and Bishop samples.

3. Bishop Tuff samples have a greater abundance of inclusions, particularly sample F8-15, which has a strikingly large number of large inclusions.

4. SNSVR and ENSVR values for both Oruanui and Bishop samples suggest smaller inclusions are more faceted than larger inclusions and that all inclusions are faceted to some extent.

5. Many small inclusions in both the Oruanui and Bishop Tuffs are fully faceted, but larger inclusions are not yet entirely faceted. The residence times calculated from the excess volumes of the inclusions and the best fit ellipsoid (volume transported during faceting) suggest residence times of 101-103 a (including 2σ error) in both Oruanui and Bishop samples.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was funded by an NSF EAPSI to A. Pamukcu and NSF EAR-1151337 to G. Gualda. Use of the Advanced Photon Source, an Office of Science User Facility operated for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory, was supported by the U.S. DOE under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. Additional thanks go to M. Rivers for assistance at APS.

Sphe

re-n

orm

alize

d su

rface

are

a –t

o-vo

lum

e ra

tio (S

NSV

R)

Inclusion Volume (μm3)

0.95

1.05

1.15

1.25

1.35

1.45

1.55

103 104 105 106 107

SNSVR = 1

Inclusion Volume (μm3)

Ellip

soid

-nor

mal

ized

surfa

ce a

rea

–to-

volu

me

ratio

(EN

SVR)

0.95

1.05

1.15

1.25

103 104 105 106 107

P1577ORN-016ORN-067BB08-21bBC17-Ia15F8-15

ENSVR = 1

Time To Fully Facet (a)

Tim

e To

Obs

erve

d Sh

ape

(a)

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

P1577ORN-016ORN-067BB08-21bBC17-Ia15F8-15

Partially Faceted

Fully

Face

ted

Left: Oruanui ash flow deposits Right: Oruanui ash fall deposits(from Manville & Wilson, 2004)

500 μm

a. b.

c. d.

e. f.

Glass Inclusion Shapes

Abun

danc

e

Aspect Ratio (Max/Min Axis) Equivalent Radius (μm)

Glass Inclusion Sizes

Abun

danc

e

0

5

10

15

20

25

17 20 25 30 35 40 45 50+

P1577 n = 35ORN-016 n = 1ORN-067 n = 75BB08-21b n = 70BC17-Ia15 n = 72F8-15 n = 110

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3.0+

P1577 n = 35ORN-016 n = 1ORN-067 n = 72BB08-21b n = 69BC17-Ia15 n = 71F8-15 n = 109

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