Magma Intrusion Mechanics in Sedimentary Basins
Summary
In sedimentary basins, magma intrudes as sills, dykes and laccoliths into layered sequences, driven by buoyancy contrasts and regional stress fields. Tabular sills propagate concordantly along bedding planes, often exploiting shale or weak layers, and may merge into saucer-shaped complexes that induce forced folding and surface uplift. Dykes ascend discordantly through fractures and faults, guided by pre-existing weaknesses. Laccoliths form when lateral magma spreading elevates overlying strata, creating dome-like structures. Thermal diffusion around intrusions generates metamorphic aureoles that alter host-rock properties and fluid pathways. Magma overpressure and differential pressure gradients lead to tensile and shear fracturing, localising flow and influencing intrusion geometry. Modern studies combine field mapping, analogue experiments, seismic imaging and numerical modelling to resolve three-dimensional shapes, stress evolution and host-rock response, insights crucial for understanding volcanic hazards, basin evolution and subsurface fluid flow.
Research from Nature Portfolio
Recent structural and geodetic analyses at a silicic pluton in Southeast Iceland have linked field mapping and photogrammetry to quantify roof uplift and floor subsidence during emplacement of c. 2.5 km3 of magma. Results reveal that piecemeal floor collapse accommodated much influx aseismically, while magmatic overpressure generated tensile and shear fracturing in the roof, implying detectable seismicity prior to eruption. Fracture arrangement and overpressure dynamics are shown to govern both local deformation patterns and eventual eruption loci in silicic reservoirs, refining models of volcanic unrest.
Magma Intrusion Mechanics in Sedimentary Basins publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in magma intrusion mechanics in sedimentary basins across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Sill: Tabular, sheet-like magma intrusion emplaced concordantly between sedimentary layers.
Dyke: Planar magma body that cuts discordantly across sedimentary strata.
Laccolith: Lens-shaped intrusion that causes uplift and doming of overlying sediments.
Thermal aureole: Zone of contact metamorphism in host rock surrounding a magma intrusion.
Magma overpressure: Excess pressure within a magma body above the ambient lithostatic load.
Viscoelastic fingering: Instability forming finger-like magma lobes driven by viscoelastic behaviour during emplacement.
References
- Three-dimensional geological modelling of igneous intrusions in LoopStructural v1.5.10. Geoscientific Model Development (2024).
- Inversions of Surface Displacements in Scaled Experiments of Analog Magma Intrusion. Geophysical Research Letters (2024).
- Volcanic unrest as seen from the magmatic source: Reyðarártindur pluton, Iceland. Scientific Reports (2024).
- Structure, emplacement mechanism and magma-flow significance of igneous fingers – Implications for sill emplacement in sedimentary basins. Journal of Structural Geology (2019).
- Structure and dynamics of surface uplift induced by incremental sill emplacement. Geology (2017).
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