Sulfur-rich mafic magma injection into the felsic magma chamber beneath Asama volcano, central Japan: Records in olivine-hosted melt inclusions from the Itabana and Tenmei eruptions

Abstract

Even though no basalts have erupted at Asama volcano, its large, felsic magma chamber standing beneath the summit is frequently replenished by cryptic injections of mafic magma of basalt-basaltic andesite composition. This mafic magma is preserved within melt inclusions trapped in olivine phenocrysts collected from the old Itabana pumice of the Kurofu stage and the Tenmei pumice of the current Maekake stage. The trapped mafic melts provide a detailed and vivid record of cryptic mafic magma injection into the felsic chamber where they admix to erupt andesite magma. The main phenocrysts of plagioclase, orthopyroxene, and clinopyroxene, commonly seen in the erupted products, are derived from the felsic magmas and trapped felsic melts of dacite-rhyolite compositions, containing low sulfur contents (0.3 wt% of SO₃ or less; most are lower than 0.10 wt%). In contrast, the mafic melts, entrapped by olivine phenocrysts, show high concentrations of SO₃, up to 1.06 wt% for Itabana and SO₃ 0.65 wt% for Tenmei. In addition, the olivine phenocryst commonly encloses early crystalline phases precipitated from the sulfur-rich mafic magma, such as Cr-spinel, Mg-rich orthopyroxene, Fe, Cu, and Ni-bearing sulfides, and often Al-rich clinopyroxene. The olivine-hosted mafic melt inclusions always contain numerous vesicles. Furthermore, they are often included as hourglass-shaped trapped melts, exhibiting snapshots of intense foaming and gas phase exsolution during the olivine growth and probably in the process of the cryptic injection into the felsic magma beneath the Asama summit. Our new data contributes to a better understanding of the magmatic system of the Asama volcano but also highlight the importance of the “Excess sulfur problem”, especially concerning the 1783 Tenmai eruption, which was contemporary to the Laki Fires.