Abstract
O'Hara and co-workers1,2 have recently summarized some of the evidence accumulated for open-system, cyclic magmatic systems and provided useful geochemical equations for the replenishment/eruption cycles of an ideal magma reservoir. I show here that O'Hara's theory fits the situation where the volcanic eruption taps the more differentiated magma before the mixing stage. An alternative ideal model is discussed, which is applicable to the more common process of hybrid magma eruption. In mid-ocean ridge basalts, this new model may explain why large variations in incompatible elements coexist with moderate depletion of compatible elements.
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Albarede, F. Regime and trace-element evolution of open magma chambers. Nature 318, 356–358 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/318356a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/318356a0
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