Abstract
SILICA-rich lavas, erupted at island-arc or continental volcanoes, are often produced by a complex process involving the assimilation of crust into a crystallizing, mantle-derived basaltic magma1. The different strontium, neodymium and oxygen isotopic compositions of mantle-derived magmas and continental crust provide a powerful method for tracing the different contributions to continental silicic magmas, and for understanding the parameters controlling the composition and volume of erupted magma1–4. In the large rhyolite eruptive centres of the western United States, the largest-volume, explosive rhyolite eruptions have more mantle-like Nd isotope ratios than other silicic lavas from the same centre2–4, a relationship that has been interpreted as reflecting increased influx of mantle-derived basaltic magma to a crustal magma chamber before large-volume eruptions1. Here we report isotope data for lavas from Unzen volcano, which suggest a similar relationship: the Nd isotope composition is more mantle-like in three larger-volume dacite eruptions (>0.1 km3) than in one small-volume (0.02 km3) eruption. We accordingly suggest that, in small-volume systems like Unzen, where the timescales for magma-chamber evolution are of the order of decades, isotope data such as those presented here might be used in volcanic hazard evaluation.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
DePaolo, D. J., Perry, F. & Baldridge, W. S. Proc. R. Soc. Edinb. 83, 439–446 (1992).
Halliday, A. N. et al. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 94, 274–290 (1989).
Hildreth, W., Halliday, A. N., & Christiansen, R. L. J. Petrol. 32, 63–138 (1991).
DePaolo, D. J., Perry, F. V. & Baldridge, W. S. Geol. Soc. Am. Abstr. 23, A396 (1991).
Letouzey, J. & Kimura, M. Mar. Petrol. Geol. 2, 111–130 (1985).
Nakada, S. & Kamata, H. Bull. Volcanol. Soc. Japan 33, 273–289 (1988).
Nakada, S. & Tanaka, M. Bull. Volcanol. Soc. Japan 36, 113–121 (1991).
Nakada, S. & Fujii, T. J. Volcanol. geotherm. Res. (in the press).
DePaolo, D. J. J. geophys. Res. 86, 10470–10488 (1981).
Clayton, R. N. & Mayeda, T. K. Geochim cosmochim Acta 27, 43–52 (1963).
DePaolo, D. J. Neodymium Isotope Geochemistry: An Introduction (Springer, Heidelberg, 1988).
Chen, C.-H. thesis, National Taiwan Univ. (in Chinese) (1989).
Matsuhisa, y. & Kurasawa, H. J. Volcanol. geotherm. Res. 18, 483–510 (1983).
Terakado, Y. & Nakamura, N. Contrib. Miner. Petrol. 87, 407–417 (1984).
Perry, F. V., DePaolo, D. J. & Baldridge, W. S. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. (in the press).
DePaolo, D. J. J. Petrol. 26, 925–951 (1985).
Albarede, F. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta (in the press).
Huppert, H. E. & Sparks, R. S. J. J. Petrol. 29, 599–624 (1988).
Spera, F. J. & Crisp, J. A. J. Volcanol. geotherm. Res. 11, 169–187 (1981).
Okubo, Y., Graf, R. J., Hansen, R. O., Ogawa, K. & Tsu, H. Japan. Geophys. 53, 481–494 (1985).
Ehara, S. Tectonophysics 159, 269–278 (1989).
Cortini, M. & Hermes, O. D. Contrib. Miner Petrol. 77, 47–55 (1981).
Cortini, M. & Scandone, R. J. Volcanol. geotherm. Res. 12, 393–400 (1982).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chen, CH., DePaolo, D., Nakada, S. et al. Relationship between eruption volume and neodymium isotopic composition at Unzen volcano. Nature 362, 831–834 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/362831a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/362831a0
This article is cited by
-
Geochemical hazard indicators
Nature (1993)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
