Magma and volatile supply to post-collapse volcanism and block resurgence in Siwi caldera (Tanna Island, Vanuatu arc)

Abstract

Siwi caldera, in the Vanuatu arc (Tanna island), is a rare volcanic complex where both persistent eruptive activity (Yasur volcano) and rapid block resurgence (Yenkahe horst) can be investigated simultaneously during a post-caldera stage. Here we provide new constraints on the feeding system of this volcanic complex, based on a detailed study of the petrology, geochemistry and volatile content of Yasur-Siwi bulk-rocks and melt inclusions, combined with measurements of the chemical composition and mass fluxes of Yasur volcanic gases. Major and trace element analyses of Yasur-Siwi volcanic rocks, together with literature data for other volcanic centers, point to a single magmatic series and possibly long-lived feeding of Tanna volcanism by a homogeneous arc basalt. Olivine-hosted melt inclusions show that the parental basaltic magma, which produces basaltic-trachyandesites to trachyandesites by ∼50-70% crystal fractionation, is moderately enriched in volatiles (∼1 wt % H. 2O, 0·1 wt % S and 0·055 wt % Cl). The basaltic-trachyandesite magma, emplaced at between 4-5 km depth and the surface, preserves a high temperature (1107 ± 15°C) and constant H. 2O content (~1 wt %) until very shallow depths, where it degasses extensively and crystallizes. These conditions, maintained over the past 1400 years of Yasur activity, require early water loss during basalt differentiation, prevalent open-system degassing, and a relatively high heat flow (~10. 9W). Yasur volcano releases on average ≥ 13·4 × 10. 3 tons d. -1 of H. 2O and 680 tons d. -1 of SO. 2, but moderate amounts of CO. 2 (840 tons d. -1), HCl (165 tons d. -1), and HF (23 tons d. -1). Combined with melt inclusion data, these gas outputs constrain a bulk magma degassing rate of ~5 × 10. 7 m. 3 a. -1, about a half of which is due to degassing of the basaltic-trachyandesite. We compute that 25 km. 3 of this magma have degassed without erupting and have accumulated beneath Siwi caldera over the past 1000 years, which is one order of magnitude larger than the accumulated volume uplift of the Yenkahe resurgent block. Hence, basalt supply and gradual storage of unerupted degassed basaltic-trachyandesite could easily account for (or contribute to) the Yenkahe block resurgence. © The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.