Post-Emplacement Behaviour of Magma Reservoirs

Abstract:

For common crustal structures and melt compositions, basalts are buoyant in the lower crust and negatively buoyant in the upper crust. Intrusion and storage can occur at a depth or an interface where the density of magma becomes larger than that of the overlying rocks. After emplacement, magma density typically increases due to the formation of dense minerals. Fully solidified mafic bodies have bulk densities between 3000-3100 kg m$^{-3}$ which are much higher than those of the continental rocks they intruded. This negative density contrast is much stronger than the positive one that drove magma ascent. We investigate the dynamical consequences of this marked buoyancy reversal using 3D laboratory experiments on viscous fluids and 2D numerical calculations with complex crustal rheologies. Material is emplaced at a density interface, such that its density is between those of the upper and lower layers. Its bulk density increases as temperature decreases and eventually exceeds that of the lower layer. We observe that the intrusion tends to spread laterally in an initial phase and to sag, and in some cases sink, in a later phase when its density exceeds that of the host. We identified two distinct instability modes. One consists of a single diapiric-like sinker and the other takes the form of spectacular nearly axisymmetric Rayleigh-Taylor-type downwellings. An intermediate mode consists of several long wavelength blobs which disrupt the initial symmetrical arrangement. The transition between the two modes is mainly determined by the aspect ratio of the intrusion at the onset of instability. Sagging can lead to full-fledged sinking to the base of the crust depending mainly on the temperature of country rocks. This proceeds over timescales that are relevant for true magmatic systems (in a range of a few kyr to a few Myr). At shallow crustal depths, cold temperatures and stiff country rocks are able to withstand the load of a large and dense intrusion. Significant post-emplacement deformation and sagging can occur, however, if the intrusion is due to repeated injections over a long time interval. These findings are discussed with reference to a few large igneous complexes for which extensive petrological, geophysical and geochemical data are available, with a focus on their shapes and density relationships with surrounding rocks.