Solidified igneous intrusions from originally liquid magma chambers display a large number of different sedimentary features. These features include the gravitational collapse of sidewalls producing slumps and the layering produced by gravitational settling of crystals. In the chamber fluid-dynamic processes such as convection are expected to occur due to cooling at the roof producing dense gravitationally unstable liquid, and the crystallisation of interstitial liquid changing the composition of the remaining liquid possibly reducing the density causing the liquid to rise up. The crystals which form in basaltic magma chambers have a high propensity to be mobilised due to convection and other fluid-dynamic processes including replenishment by a secondary intrusion. Convective mobilisation of plagioclase grains in vertical, tabular intrusions is seen from flat profiles of apparent aspect ratio as a function of dyke width. These flat profiles were formed due to scouring of gravitationally unstable sidewall mushes, and these crystals then become entrained in the convecting liquid. Convection only ceases once the volume of crystals in suspension reaches a critical volume fraction leading to an increase in viscosity, which dampens the vigour of convection. The majority of this study is performing and analysing a number of different experiments to look at the behaviour of different styles of analogue particle piles. Particle piles that are formed of inert, plastic particles are subjected to convection in the particle layer and in the bulk overlying fluid, and different styles of mobilisation depending on the heat flux driving convection and the density profile of the pile are observed. The mobilisation style goes from rolling of particles on the surface, to puffs of particles from the surface being lofted into the interior, followed by large particle fountains and then the entire particle pile being completely disaggregated and lofted into the interior of the chamber as the force driving convection is increased. The initiation of mobilisation can be explained by the fluidisation of a particle pile, whilst the high degrees of mobilisation seen in some high Rayleigh number regimes can be explaining by resuspending particles. In experiments where particle piles have a positive density profile (dense particles overlying low density particles) the underlying low density particles can break through the overlying layer in particle fountains and can be explained by a modified fluidisation parameter. These experiments lack the reactivity and cohesion that realistic crystal piles would have. To try and quantify this, I have also performed a series of experiments looking at the rheology of an ice-sucrose suspension, where ice crystals can sinter and aggregate together. Under sheared conditions the forces required to disaggregate ice aggregates can be calculated, with the viscosity of an ice-sucrose suspension being described by a power-law relationship of shear rate and crystal radius. The particle pile experiments show that mobilisation of equivalent crystal piles in magma chambers should be readily observed. As it is not observed, except in replenished magmatic systems, this suggests that the additional forces coming from cohesion and aggregation in crystal piles prevent mobilisation of magmatic crystals. The replenishment by secondary intrusions can lead to forces which overcome the strength of the pile.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:723536 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Gilbert, Andrew |
| Contributors | Holness, Marian ; Neufeld, Jerome ; Farr, Robert |
| Publisher | University of Cambridge |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/267176 |
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