Source and magmatic evolution inferred from geochemical and Sr-O-isotope data on hybrid lavas of Arso, the last eruption at Ischia island (Italy; 1302AD)

Abstract

Geochemical and isotopic (87Sr/86Sr and 18O/16O) data have been acquired on whole rock and separated mineral samples from volcanic products of the 1302 AD Arso eruption, Ischia volcanic island (Gulf of Naples, Southern Italy), to investigate magmatic processes. Our results highlight petrographic and isotopic disequilibria between phenocrysts and their host rocks. Similar disequilibria are observed also for more mafic volcanic rocks from Ischia and in the Phlegraean Volcanic District in general. Moreover, 87Sr/86Sr and 18O/16O values suggest mixing between chemically and isotopically distinct batches of magma, and crystals cargo from an earlier magmatic phase. The radiogenic Sr isotope composition suggests that the mantle source was enriched by subduction-derived sediments. Furthermore, magmas extruded during the Arso eruption were affected by crustal contamination as suggested by high oxygen isotope ratios. Assimilation and fractional crystallization modelling of the Sr-O isotope compositions indicates that not more than ~ 7% of granodioritic rocks from the continental crust have been assimilated by a mantle-derived mafic magma. Hence the recent volcanic activity of Ischia has been fed by distinct batches of magma, variably contaminated by continental crust, that mixed during their ascent towards the surface and remobilized phenocrysts left from earlier magmatic phases.