2019 | Experiment-Modelling Synergy as a Tool to Reconstruct Magma Origin and Evolution

We aim at testing and developing an approach that combines experimental simulations with ther- modynamic modelling of magmatic system. Such a combination is required for quantitative thermo- dynamic reconstruction of magma genesis and evolution. Experimental methods provide fundamen- tal thermodynamic data on the relations and compositions of magmatic phases. However, their out- put is limited to a series of point-studies at fixed conditions and bulk compositions requiring extensive interpolations and elusive extrapolations. On the contrary, recent developments in thermodynamic modelling of magmatic phase relations provide a continuum of modeled data in a range of conditions but the prediction ability of the modelling relies on available calibrations and suffers from the lack of quantitative reference thermodynamic data. While both approaches deliver important but individual ways for understanding magmas, their synergy should give a higher-level step in our ability to study magmatic systems. We will focus on the Eifel magmatic system, which is one of the important examples connecting magma genesis in the mantle, evolution in the crust and eruption to the surface. A preliminary study on Eifel magmatism (Rummel et al., 2017, Tectonophysics, 723: 242-260) showed that natural pet- rological observations can be successfully combined with thermodynamic modelling. The modeling needs however tuning by precise calibration from the experiments. When the approach is elaborated, it can be applied to other magmatic systems. Cooperation There are on-going research projects at JGU (Petrology, Geophysics, Volcanology) on the mag- matic system of the Eifel, at the current time running unfortunately in parallel. We are going to im- prove this situation by joining complementary approaches from several groups in one thermodynamic tool. In the first step, we will establish a method allowing us to model magmatic processes for a given system of the Eifel. If successful, in the following years of the TeMaS program this approach will be extended to include the research of other groups, i.e., petrology and geochemistry, zircon dating (Heidelberg, Schmitt; JGU, Mertz), mineral geochemistry (Frankfurt, Woodland), to broaden our tool towards timescales of magma evolution.