Paper No. 8
Presentation Time: 9:00 AM-6:00 PM
GEOCHEMISTRY OF DIKES AND LAVAS FROM THE VATNSDALUR STRUCTURAL BASIN, SKAGI PENINSULA, NORTHWEST ICELAND
Vatnsdalfjall, in northwest Iceland, exposes the upper ~700 m of crust formed ~7 Ma ago at the extinct Hunafloi-Skagi rift zone. In general, the lava flows dip gently westward toward the abandoned rift axis, but are interrupted by a local area of steeply dipping lava flows known as the Vatnsdalur Structural Basin (VSB). The VSB is composed of three sequences of lava flows emplaced before, during, and after subsidence. Using the geochemistry (XRF, ICP-MS) of samples gathered in the field in 2006 and 2007 and previous data from Ackerly (2004) and McClanahan (2004), we were able to establish a basic eruptive history for the sequences. Major element analysis shows diverse rock types, including basalt, basaltic andesite, dacite, and rhyolite. Sequence 1 shows the greatest diversity and was primarily affected by mineral accumulation, while Sequences 2, 3, and the dikes follow the trend of a shallow level fractional crystallization model based on a modified parent magma from Sequence 1. Trace element ratios suggest the presence of 1 (or 2) parent magmas, although the intermediate to silicic lavas appear to be generated by a separate process. Sequence 1 contains various lava flows, each with a uniform thickness, emplaced on relatively flat terrain. Sequence 2 was emplaced on top of Sequence 1 as subsidence of the basin was occurring, creating lava flows that thicken toward the basin interior. Intermediate to silicic rocks are absent during this interval and dikes cut Sequence 1 to feed lavas in Sequence 2. After a period of erosion, Sequence 3 was erupted above Sequence 2. Dikes that feed Sequence 3 cut through Sequence 2. The development of the VSB may have been associated with a waning period in the magmatic system, where magmas cooled and evolved (following an evolutionary trend controlled by fractional crystallization) and there was little partial melting of the crust (given the lack of intermediate to silicic lavas).