Conditions and Magmas Sources of the Summit and Flank Eruptions of Klyuchevskoy Volcano in 2020–2021: Isotope (Sr–Nd–Pb–O)-geochemical data

Abstract

In 2021, a unique event occurred on Klyuchevskoy volcano (Kamchatka). After over 30-year prevalence of summit eruptions, a flank vent was formed. It was named after the Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences G.S. Gorshkov. The eruption began immediately after the end of the summit crater activation in 2020–2021 at an altitude of 2850 m in the northwestern part of the volcano, where manifestations of flank volcanism were not observed earlier. This paper presents geochemical and isotopic Sr–Nd–Pb–O data on lavas of the summit and flank eruptions of Klyuchevskoy volcano in 2020–2021. A comparative petrographic analysis was carried out and the chemical composition of the Ol, Cpx, and Pl phenocrysts in these lavas was analyzed. The lavas of both eruptions are alumina andesitic basalts of normal alkalinity. Variations of major oxides in the lavas of the summit eruption and G.S. Gorshkov vent are SiO₂ 53.1–53.2 wt % and 51.6–53.2 wt %, MgO 5.6 wt % and 5.5–6.0 wt %; respectively. Temperature and pressure estimates showed that plagioclase crystallization occurred at 1210–1118°С and 12.3–3.6 kbar in lavas of the summit eruption and at 1203–1119°С and 9.0–3.3 kbar in lavas of the flank vent. The contents of major elements, similar conditions of plagioclase generations and compositional variations of Ol, Cpx, and Pl phenocrysts in the lavas of both eruptions indicate a genetic relationship of the magmas that fed the summit and flank eruptions. The lavas of the 2016 and 2020–2021 summit eruptions, as well as the lavas of the previous summit eruptions of Klyuchevskoy volcano are characterized by the persistent Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic characteristics: ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.703625–0.703626, ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd = 0.513085–0.513102, ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 18.3148–18.3179. Isotopic ratios ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb (15.5022–15.5107) and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb (37.9597–38.0143) are significantly higher for the lavas of the last summit and flank eruptions than for all Klyuchevskoy lavas of the past eruptions, which indicates more complex magma evolution at crustal levels. The values of δ¹⁸O = 6.49–7.39‰ (SMOW)-in the lavas of the considered eruptions are consistent with previously published data on Klyuchevskoy volcano. The lavas of the Gorshkov vent are enriched with Ba, Zr, Sr and other incompatible elements at constant MgO values in comparison with the lavas of the last summit eruptions, which points to the different evolutionary paths of their magmas. Sharply increased values of the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio (0.703673–0.703743) in the lavas of the G.S. Gorshkov vent, which were not previously observed in the lavas of Klyuchevskoy volcano, testify to the intense crustal assimilation of initial melts in the northwestern part of the volcano.