Magma mixing enhanced by bubble ascent

Understanding the processes that affect the rate of liquid state homogenization provides fundamental clues on the otherwise inaccessible subsurface dynamics of magmatic plumbing systems. Compositional heterogeneities detected in the matrix of magmatic rocks represent the arrested state of a chemical equilibration. Magmatic homogenization has been divided into a) the mechanical interaction of magma batches (mingling) and b) the diffusive equilibration of compositional gradients, where diffusive equilibration is exponentially enhanced by progressive mechanical interaction [1]. The mechanical interaction between two distinct batches of magma has commonly been attributed to shear and folding movements between two liquids of distinct viscosities. A mode of mechanical interaction scarcely invoked is the advection of mafic material into a felsic one through bubble motion. Yet, experiments with analogue materials demonstrated that bubble ascent has the potential to enhance the fluid mechanical component of magma mixing [2]. Here, we present preliminary results from bubble-advection experiments. For the first time, experiments of this kind were performed using natural materials at magmatic temperatures. Cylinders of Snake River Plain (SRP) basalt were drilled with a cavity of defined volume and placed underneath cylinders of SRP rhyolite. Upon melting, the gas pocket, or bubble trapped within the cavity, rose into the rhyolite, so entraining a layer of basalt. Successive iterations of the same experiment at progressive intervals ensured a time series of magmatic interaction caused by bubble segregation. Variations in initial bubble size allowed the tracking of bubble volume to advected material ratio at defined viscosity contrast. The resulting plume-like structures that the advected basalt formed within the rhyolite were characterized by microCT and subsequent high-resolution EMP analyses. The mass of advected material per bubble correlated positively with bubble size. The progressive loss of advected basalt during bubble motion was quantified by microCT for defined viscosity couples. The diffusional gradient around the plume tail showed a progressive evolution of equilibration from bottom to top of the plume tail. A future aim is to compute the impact of bubble motion on the efficiency of magma mixing in dependence of volatile solubilities and pressure and viscosity variations. This has implications for the capacity of magma to produce bubbles in e.g. stratified magma chambers. [1] De Campos, C., D. Perugini, W. Ertel-Ingrisch, D. Dingwell, and G. Poli (2011), Enhancement of magma mixing efficiency by chaotic dynamics: an experimental study, Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 161(6), 863-881. [2] Thomas, N., S. Tait, and T. Koyaguchi (1993), Mixing of stratified liquids by the motion of gas bubbles: application to magma mixing, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 115(1-4), 161-175.