Andesite Melt Crystallization under Moderate Hydrogen Pressures: An Experimental Study

Abstract

Important problems of magma differentiation, formation of native metals, and ore-forming processes in the Earth’s crust are often related to participation of hydrogen. In this paper, new experimental data on the crystallization of andesite melts at high temperatures (900–1250°C) and hydrogen pressures (10–100 MPa) have been obtained, which clarify the possible role of hydrogen in the processes occurring in andesite melts in the Earth’s crust and during volcanism under strongly reduced conditions (\(f{\text{O}}_{2}\) = 10^–17–10^–18). In the crystallization experiments, it was found out that the compositions of the crystals (pyroxenes and plagioclases) formed in experiments on crystallization of andesite melt under hydrogen pressure closely correspond to the crystal compositions of lava flows of Avacha volcano in Kamchatka. This result can be considered as an experimental confirmation of the participation of hydrogen in the volcanic process.