EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF H2O AND CL- SOLUBILITIES IN F-ENRICHED SILICATE LIQUIDS; IMPLICATIONS FOR VOLATILE SATURATION OF TOPAZ RHYOLITE MAGMAS

Abstract

To interpret the degassing of F-bearing felsic magmas, the solubilities of H2O, NaCl, and KCl in topaz rhyolite liquids have been investigated experimentally at 2000, 500, and ≈1 bar and 700° to 975°C. Chloride solubility in these liquids increases with decreasing H2O activity, increasing pressure, increasing F content of the liquid from 0.2 to 1.2 wt% F, and increasing the molar ratio of ((Al + Na + Ca + Mg)/ Si). Small quantities of Cl- exert a strong influence on the exsolution of magmatic volatile phases (MVPs) from F-bearing topaz rhyolite melts at shallow crustal pressures. Water- and chloride-bearing volatile phases, such as vapor, brine, or fluid, exsolve from F-enriched silicate liquids containing as little as 1 wt% H2O and 0.2 to 0.6 wt% Cl at 2000 bar compared with 5 to 6 wt% H2O required for volatile phase exsolution in chloride-free liquids. The maximum solubility of Cl- in H2O-poor silicate liquids at 500 and 2000 bar is not related to the maximum solubility of H2O in chloride-poor liquids by simple linear and negative relationships; there are strong positive deviations from ideality in the activities of each volatile in both the silicate liquid and the MVP(s). Plots of H2O versus Cl- in rhyolite liquids, for experiments conducted at 500 bar and 910°-930°C, show a distinct 90° break-in-slope pattern that is indicative of coexisting vapor and brine under closed-system conditions. The presence of two MVPs buffers the H2O and Cl- concentrations of the silicate liquids. Comparison of these experimentally-determined volatile solubilities with the pre-eruptive H2O and Cl- concentrations of five North American topaz and tin rhyolite melts, determined from melt inclusion compositions, provides evidence for the exsolution of MVPs from felsic magmas. One of these, the Cerro el Lobo magma, appears to have exsolved alkali chloride-bearing vapor plus brine or a single supercritical fluid phase prior to entrapment of the melt inclusions and prior to eruption.