Fractal Analysis of Enclaves as a New Tool for Estimating Rheological Properties of Magmas During Mixing: The Case of Montaña Reventada (Tenerife, Canary Islands)

Abstract

© 2014, Springer Basel. The volcanic unit of Montaña Reventada on the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) is an example of magma mingling and mixing in which the eruptive process was triggered by an intrusion of basanite into a phonolite magma chamber. The eruption started with emplacement of a basanitic scoria deposit followed by emplacement of a phonolitic lava flow characterized by the presence of mafic enclaves. These enclaves represent approximately 1 % of the outcrop and are basanitic, phono-tephritic and tephri-phonolitic in composition. The morphology of each enclave is different, varying from rounded to complex finger-like structures usually with cuspate terminations. In this study we quantified textural heterogeneity related to the enclaves generated by the mixing process and thus provided a new perspective on the 1100 Ad Montaña Reventada eruption. The textural study was performed by use of fractal geometry methods and the results show that the logarithm of the viscosity ratio between the phonolitic magma and the enclaves ranges between 0.39 and 0.81, with a mode at 0.49. This enables us to infer the water content is 2–2.5 wt% for the phonolitic magma and 1.5–2 wt% for the basanitic magma and the enclaves.