CATHERINE MOLLOY, PHIL SHANE, and IAN NAIRN
Pre-eruption thermal rejuvenation and stirring of a partly crystalline rhyolite pluton revealed by the Earthquake Flat Pyroclastics deposits, New Zealand
Journal of the Geological Society of London (January 2008), 165(1):435-447

Abstract:
The Earthquake Flat Pyroclastics form a c. 10 km ³ rhyolite deposit erupted at c. 50 ka from the margin of Okataina Volcanic Centre, immediately following the caldera-forming eruption of the Rotoiti Pyroclastics (c. 100 km ³ ) from vents c. 20 km to the NE. Earthquake Flat Pyroclastics deposits display textural and compositional complexity on a crystal-scale consistent with rejuvenation of a near-crystalline pluton in the upper crust. Quartz and plagioclase crystals are resorbed, whereas hornblende and biotite are euhedral. Fe-Ti oxides indicate large variations in pre-eruption temperatures (702-805 degrees C). Differences of up to 70 degrees C within pumice lapilli show that crystals were chaotically juxtaposed during magma stirring and evacuation. Chemical zoning within hornblende crystals is consistent with rimward increases of c. 50 degrees C. These features are consistent with a convective self-stirring process. Previous isotope studies demonstrate a long (>100 ka) crystallization history for the magma. Resorption of crystals deep in the magma may have produced a Ca-, Fe- and Mg-enriched rhyolite melt that allowed the growth of reverse-zoned hornblende. Microdiorite lithic fragments in the Earthquake Flat Pyroclastics and Rotoiti deposits and a basaltic eruption that immediately preceded the Rotoiti eruption suggest that mafic underplating beneath Okataina Volcanic Centre provided a major thermal and volatile pulse to drive the caldera eruptions.