Novel amphibole geobarometer for high-magnesium andesite and basalt magmas

Abstract

Experimental data on amphibole crystallization in water-saturated high-Mg andesite from Shiveluch volcano, Kamchatka, at 2, 3, and 5 kbar were used to calibrate a new geobarometer. The main parameters chosen to indicate the crystallization pressure of equilibrium amphibole is the ratio of tetrahedrally coordinated Al to the sum (Ti⁴⁺ + Fe³⁺), which is calculated by the 13eCNK technique with regard for crystal chemical considerations. The newly derived geobarometer is designed to evaluate pressure in the range of 2–12 kbar using amphibole from high-Mg andesite and basalt. The accuracy and reliability of the pressure estimates by the new geobarometer were tested by applying this geobarometer in studying amphibolized ultramafic xenoliths from the Dish Hill dike, California; magmatic amphibole hosted in cortlandite from the Shanuch intrusion, Kamchatka; and magmatic amphibole in the Pekul’ney Bay area, Chukotka. All estimates made with the newly developed geobarometer were reasonably close to values obtained by independent techniques.