Adakitic Dacites Formed by Intracrustal Crystal Fractionation of Water-rich Parent Magmas at Nevado de Longaví Volcano (36·2°S; Andean Southern Volcanic Zone, Central Chile)

Abstract

The mid-Holocene eruptive products of Nevado de Longaví volcano (36·2°S, Chile) are the only reported occurrence of adakitic volcanic rocks in the Quaternary Andean Southern Volcanic Zone (33–46°S). Dacites of this volcano are chemically distinct from other evolved magmas of the region in that they have high La/Yb (15–20) and Sr/Y (60–90) ratios and systematically lower incompatible element contents. An origin by partial melting of high-pressure crustal sources seems unlikely from isotopic and trace element considerations. Mafic enclaves quenched into one of the dacites, on the other hand, constitute plausible parental magmas. Dacites and mafic enclaves share several characteristics such as mineral chemistry, whole-rock isotope and trace element ratios, highly oxidizing conditions (NNO + 1·5 to >NNO + 2, where NNO is the nickel–nickel oxide buffer), and elevated boron contents. A two-stage mass-balance crystal fractionation model that matches both major and trace elements is proposed to explain magmatic evolution from the least evolved mafic enclave to the dacites. Amphibole is the main ferromagnesian phase in both stages of this model, in agreement with the mineralogy of the magmas. We also describe cumulate-textured xenoliths that correspond very closely to the solid assemblages predicted by the model. We conclude that Nevado de Longaví adakitic dacites are the products of polybaric fractional crystallization from exceptionally water-rich parent magmas. These basaltic magmas are inferred to be related to an exceptionally high, but transient input of slab-derived fluids released from serpentinite bodies hosted in the oceanic Mocha Fracture Zone, which projects beneath Nevado de Longaví. Fractional crystallization that is modally dominated by amphibole, with very minor garnet extraction, is a mechanism for generating adakitic magmas in cold subduction zones where a high flux of slab-derived fluids is present.