Analysis and Simulation of Magma Mixing Processes in 3D

Magma mixing structures from the lava flow of Lesbos (Greece) are analyzed in three dimensions using a technique that, starting from the serial sections of rock cubes, allows the reconstruction of the spatial distribution of magmas inside rocks. Two main kinds of coexisting structures are observed: (i) ‘‘active regions’’ (AR) in which magmas mix intimately generating wide contact surfaces and (ii) ‘‘coherent regions’’ (CR) of more mafic magma that have a globular shape and do not show large deformations. The intensity of mingling is quantified by calculating both the interfacial area (IA) between interacting magmas and the fractal dimension of the reconstructed structures. Results show that the fractal dimension is linearly correlated with the logarithm of interfacial area allowing discrimination among different intensities of mingling. The process of mingling of magmas is simulated using a three-dimensional chaotic dynamical system consisting of stretching and folding processes. The intensity of mingling is measured by calculating the interfacial area between interacting magmas and the fractal dimension, as for natural magma mixing structures. Results suggest that, as in the natural case, the fractal dimension is linearly correlated with the logarithm of the interfacial area allowing to conclude that magma mixing can be regarded as a chaotic process. Since chemical exchange and physical dispersion of one magma inside another by stretching and folding are closely related, we performed coupled numerical simulations of chaotic advection and chemical diffusion in three dimensions. Our analysis reveals the occurrence in the same system of ‘‘active mixing regions’’ and ‘‘coherent regions’’ analogous to those observed in nature. We will show that the dynamic processes are able to generate magmas with wide spatial heterogeneity related to the occurrence of magmatic enclaves inside host rocks in both plutonic and volcanic environments.