51
Chaotic Mixing in the System Earth: Mixing Granitic
and Basaltic Liquids
Cristina De Camposl, Werner Ertel-Ingrisch
l
, Diego Perugini
2
,
Donald B. DingweU
l
and Giampero Poli
2
lEarth and Environ. Sc., LMU - Univ.
of
Munich
Theresienstr.
411III,
D-80333, Munich, Germany
(e-mail:
campos@min.uni-muencehn
.de)
2Dep
t.
of
Earth Sciences, Univ.
of
Perugia
Piazza
Universita, 06100 Perugia, Italy
Abstract:
A widely debated question in Geosciences is
if
and how viscous magmas with
extreme viscosity contrast mix under natural conditions. Chaotic mixing
in
magma
chambers
is
thought to play a central role not only in determining the timing and
dynamics
of
volcanic eruptions but may be
of
equal relevance for the evolutionary
history
of
our planet. To date the dynamics
of
chaotic mixing have been investigated
mostly both
in
analogue systems and numerical simulations. Here we report the first
experimental simulation
of
chaotic mixing dynamics in molten silicates
of
geologic
relevance and at geologically relevant temperatures (up to 1,700°C). A newly developed
device for the in-situ experimental simulation
of
chaotic dynamics has been successfully
developed and employed for this purpose. This device was designed in full awareness
of
the importance
of
chaotic dynamics for mixing processes; and earlier studies evidencing
that chaotic dynamics equally control magma mixing processes in nature.
Keywords: chaotic flow simulation, chaotic mixing, journal bearing system, newly
designed experimental device, high viscosity silicate melts.
1.
Introduction
Magmatic rocks are known to be formed by cooling
of
natural silicate
melts or magmas
of
wide compositional diversity. Primitive Earth is
thought to have been covered by at least one giant magma ocean
of
more than 2,000 km depth, at temperatures far exceeding 2,000°C
(Righter and Drake, 1999)[1]. At those temperatures magmas are
predominantly multi-component viscous fluids behaving according to
fluid dynamics (Reese and Solomatov,
2006)[2]. Since Hadean times,
different compositional magma layers must have been constantly
stirred and mingled together by thermal and/or compositional
convection, at different scales (Abe, 1997)[3]. With decreasing
temperature, magmas started to differentiate under wide range
of
crystallization rates and conditions. Even to the present day, this
process controls heat budget and changes in chemical composition
during magma segregation and crystallization. From this point
of
view,
magma mixing
is
one
of
the most active processes in the Earth, its