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Trans-Crustal Evolution of Magmas: Clues from Thermodynamic and Geochemical Modelling,...
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Trans-Crustal Evolution of Magmas: Clues from Thermodynamic and Geochemical Modelling, Thermo-Barometry and Experimental Petrology

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Geochemistry and Geochronology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 1272

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Simone Costa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, sezione di Pisa (Italy), Via Cesare Battisti 53, 56125 Pisa, PI, Italy
Interests: volcanology; igneous petrology; geochemistry
Dr. Alberto Caracciolo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Nordic Volcanological Center, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, 102 Reykjavik, Iceland
Interests: volcanology; igneous petrology; geochemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Magmas in transcrustal reservoirs undergo several processes, such as crystal-melt separation, mixing, assimilation of cumulates or crustal rocks, and decompression-driven crystallization, leading to their evolution and differentiation. These processes occur under a broad range of pressures and temperatures, affecting mineral chemistry, crystal/melt ratios, and the extraction of residual melts from mush zones. This results in a wide range of compositions in erupted/exhumed products, showcasing distinct differentiation regimes. Thermo-barometry based on mineral-melt pairs and high-temperature, high-pressure experimental petrology aids in understanding the formation and evolution of magmatic systems by estimating crystallization temperatures, storage depths, and chemical exchanges in response to pressure and temperature variations. Geochemical models based on major and trace elements, isotopic compositions, and thermodynamic models based on energy minimization and mass balance in open magmatic systems quantify processes such as magma mixing, crystallization, and crustal assimilation. These models simulate the complex interactions between resident magmas and recharging melts, providing predictions on phase equilibria and geochemical evolution within open-system magma bodies. This Special Issue mainly aims to collect original scientific contributions combining thermo-barometry, experimental petrology, or geochemical and thermodynamic modelling that help expand our knowledge of the evolution of magma stored within the Earth's crust.

Dr. Simone Costa
Dr. Alberto Caracciolo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • magma evolution
  • thermo-barometry
  • thermodynamic modelling
  • geochemical modelling
  • igneous and experimental petrology

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 3819 KiB  
Article
Evolution of Mafic Tungnárhraun Lavas: Transcrustal Magma Storage and Ascent Beneath the Bárðarbunga Volcanic System
by Tanya Furman, Denali Kincaid and Collin Oborn Brady
Minerals 2025, 15(7), 687; https://doi.org/10.3390/min15070687 - 27 Jun 2025
Viewed by 487
Abstract
The Tungnárhraun basalts in southern Iceland record a transcrustal magma system formed during Holocene deglaciation. These large-volume (>1 km3) Early through Mid-Holocene lavas contain ubiquitous plagioclase feldspar macrocrysts that are too primitive to have grown from the host lavas. Thermobarometry based [...] Read more.
The Tungnárhraun basalts in southern Iceland record a transcrustal magma system formed during Holocene deglaciation. These large-volume (>1 km3) Early through Mid-Holocene lavas contain ubiquitous plagioclase feldspar macrocrysts that are too primitive to have grown from the host lavas. Thermobarometry based on plagioclase melt and clinopyroxene melt equilibrium reveals a transcrustal structure with at least three distinct storage regions. A lower-crustal mush zone at ~14–30 km is fed by primitive, low 87Sr/86Sr magmas with diverse Ti/K and Al/Ti signatures. Plagioclase feldspar growth is controlled by an experimentally determined pseudoazeotrope where crystals develop inversely correlated An and Mg contents. The rapid ascent of magmas to mid-crustal levels (~8–9 km) allows the feldspar system to revert to conventional thermodynamic phase constraints. Continued plagioclase growth releases heat, causing olivine and pyroxene to be resorbed and giving the magmas their characteristic high CaO/Al2O3 values (~0.8–1.0) and Sc contents (~52 ppm in matrix material). Mid-Holocene MgO-rich lavas with abundant plagioclase feldspar macrocrysts erupted directly from this depth, but both older and younger magmas ascended to a shallow-crustal storage chamber (~5 km) where they crystallized olivine, clinopyroxene, and plagioclase feldspar and evolved to lower MgO contents. The Sr isotope differences between the plagioclase macrocrysts and their carrier melts suggest that the fractionation involves the minor assimilation of country rock. This model does not require the physical disruption of an established and long-lived gabbroic cumulate mush. The transcrustal structures documented here existed in south Iceland at least throughout the Holocene and likely influenced much of Icelandic magmatism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trans-Crustal Evolution of Magmas: Clues from Thermodynamic and Geochemical Modelling, Thermo-Barometry and Experimental Petrology)
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18 pages, 6291 KiB  
Article
Petrological Exploration of Magma Storage and Evolution Conditions at the Eastern Virunga Volcanic Province (Rwanda, East African Rift System)
by Fabio Colle, Teresa Trua, Serena Giacomelli, Massimo D’Orazio and Roberto Valentino
Minerals 2025, 15(7), 666; https://doi.org/10.3390/min15070666 - 20 Jun 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 308
Abstract
The Virunga Volcanic Province (VVP), located in the western branch of the East African Rift System, hosts a variety of alkaline lavas erupted from closely spaced volcanic centers. However, the magmatic system of this region, particularly in its eastern sector, remains insufficiently constrained. [...] Read more.
The Virunga Volcanic Province (VVP), located in the western branch of the East African Rift System, hosts a variety of alkaline lavas erupted from closely spaced volcanic centers. However, the magmatic system of this region, particularly in its eastern sector, remains insufficiently constrained. In this study, we present a petrological and geochemical investigation of basaltic to trachytic lavas from the eastern VVP. Thermobarometric analysis of mineral phases indicates that basalts originated from magma storage zones between 4 and 30 km deep, with crystallization temperatures of ~1200 °C and melt H2O contents lower than 1 wt%. In contrast, more evolved magmas crystallized at similar depths, but at lower temperatures (~1050 °C) and higher H2O contents, ranging from 2 to 4 wt%. Thermodynamic modelling suggests that extensive (up to 70%) fractional crystallization of an assemblage dominated by olivine, clinopyroxene, and plagioclase can produce the more evolved trachytic derivatives from basaltic parental melts. When integrated with previous studies from other VVP volcanoes, our findings deepen the understanding of the architecture of the magmatic system beneath the region, suggesting it resembles a well-developed multi-level plumbing system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trans-Crustal Evolution of Magmas: Clues from Thermodynamic and Geochemical Modelling, Thermo-Barometry and Experimental Petrology)
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