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TEXTURAL AND MICROANALYSIS OF IGNEOUS ROCKS: TOOLS ...

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<strong>TEXTURAL</strong> <strong>AND</strong> <strong>MICROANALYSIS</strong> <strong>OF</strong> <strong>IGNEOUS</strong> <strong>ROCKS</strong>: <strong>TOOLS</strong> FOR<br />

UNDERST<strong>AND</strong>ING <strong>IGNEOUS</strong> PROCESSES<br />

Abstract<br />

by<br />

William Scott Kinman<br />

Mantle characterization is vital for understanding magmatism. The notion<br />

that source characteristics are preserved transparently in primitive magmas from<br />

mantle to eruption can be misleading. The crust acts a cool density filter leading<br />

primitive magmas to pool, partially crystallize, and thus evolve. The details of<br />

this evolution are seldom completely born out by whole-rock geochemistry. Dur-<br />

ing crustal processing of magmas, crystal populations may be recycled between<br />

geochemical reservoirs such as end-members involved in magma mixing, assimi-<br />

lated country rock, or from variably evolved zones of a solidifying magma body.<br />

Crystals act as physical vessels to carry compositional and temporal information<br />

about magma evolution beyond whole-rock compositions. Textural and microana-<br />

lytical approaches differ from whole-rock approaches, because they provide a way<br />

to dissect crystal populations to reveal their chemical evolution as well as physical<br />

details of their nucleation and growth. Retrieval of these types of information are<br />

vital for understanding crustal magma evolution. The overarching goal of this<br />

work is to better understand the physical manner in which magmas solidify, and<br />

hence evolve, remains a fundamental problem in igneous petrology. I use crystal<br />

size distributions to identify related crystal populations. I use EPMA, LA-ICP-<br />

MS, and a microdrilling Sr isotope method to understand the provenance of select

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