H2O- and temperature-zoning in magma chambers: The example of the Tufo Giallo della Via Tiberina eruptions (Sabatini Volcanic District, central Italy)

Textural and chemical variations of juvenile clasts are widely observed in pyroclastic deposits. In particular, the co-existence of whitish, pumiceous, and dark grey, scoriaceous, juvenile clasts has been observed in many eruptive units of well-known volcanoes (i.e., Somma–Vesuvius, Vulsini, Colli Albani, Stromboli). Here we report the example of the Tufo Giallo della Via Tiberina (TGVT) pyroclastic succession, which comprises two eruptive units emplaced at ca. 561 and 548 ka, during the early explosive activity of the Sabatini Volcanic District (SVD; Roman Province, central Italy). TGVT deposits, as well as underlying pyroclastic products (FAD, ca. 582 ka), are characterized by coexisting whitish pumice and black–grey scoria clasts showing common phonolitic composition but different textural features: white pumice is highly vesicular, vitrophyric, and contains scarce, > 50 µm-sized, feldspar and clinopyroxene crystals, while black–grey scoria is poorly vesicular, highly crystallized, and contains diffuse leucite phenocrysts. The latter records crystallization under H2O-undersaturated conditions, as opposed to the vitrophyric texture of white pumice indicating higher temperature and H2O concentration. On these grounds, a thermally and H2O-zoned pre-eruptive system has been modelled for the phonolitic magma chambers feeding the early SVD events, in which white pumice and black–grey scoria represent the inner and peripheral portions of the reservoirs, respectively. Extensive leucite + clinopyroxene crystallization in the H2O-undersaturated, peripheral portions of the reservoirs, resulted in water flux toward the inner zones, where the higher temperature and increasing H2O content acted to delay crystallization in the white pumice-feeder magma. The withdrawal of white pumice at the eruption onset produced decompression of the peripheral magma, triggering black–grey scoria eruption during the late phases of explosive events.