Magma differentiation and volatile evolution at Fuego Volcano, Guatemala

Fuego is an active stratovolcano in Guatemala that has erupted mainly basaltic magma in recent times. The last large eruption, a subplinian (VEI 4), occurred in 1974 and produced pyroclastic flows and ash fall for 10 days. Many smaller eruptions with pyroclastic, lava and lahars flows have occurred since then and activity is intermittently ongoing. Melt inclusions in olivine phenocrysts from the 1974 eruption testify to the presence of variably crystallized magma over a range of depths. Melt inclusions from 1999 and 2004 overlap and extend the 1974 fractional crystallization trend to lower pressure. Melt inclusions from 1974 record high H2O (~6 wt %) and high CO2 (~2500 ppm) concentrations. In contrast the later eruptions have much lower H2O (maximum observed 1 wt %), but CO2 concentrations up to ~1500 ppm. Whereas melts recorded by the later eruptions could be residual from the magma erupted in 1974, these high CO2 concentrations combined with a somewhat higher alkali concentration point to a more complex process or combination of processes. This contribution will examine the origin and associated implications of these later melts.