Crustal Storage and Ascent Rates of the Mt. Shasta Primitive Magnesian Andesite

Primitive arc magmas provide a critical glimpse into the geochemical evolution of subduction zone magmas, as they represent the most unadulterated mantle-derived magmas observed in nature in these tectonic environments and are the precursors of the more abundant andesites and dacites typical in arcs. To date, the study of primitive arc magmas has largely focused on their origins at depth, while significantly less is known about pre-eruptive crustal storage and ascent history. This study examines the crustal storage and ascent history of the Mt. Shasta primitive magnesian andesite (PMA), the demonstrated dominant parent magma for the abundant mixed andesites erupted at Mt. Shasta. Petrographic and geochemical observations of the PMA identify a mid-crustal magma mixing event with a less evolved relative of the PMA recorded in multiple populations of reversely zoned clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene phenocrysts. Prior phase equilibrium experiments and thermobarometric calculations as part of this study suggest the PMA experienced storage, mixing with a less evolved version of itself, and subsequent crystallization at 5kbar and 975°C. Modeling of Fe-Mg interdiffusion between the rims and cores of the reversely-zoned clinopyroxene and orthopyroxenes suggest this mixing, crystallization and subsequent ascent occurred within 10 years, or ~2.9 (+6.5 / -2.5) years, prior to eruption. Ascent from 5kbar or ~15 km, with no meaningful shallower storage, suggests minimum crustal transit rates of ~5 km/year. This rate is comparable to only a couple of other similar types of crustal transit rates (and slower than the much faster, syn-eruptive ascent rates measured through methods like olivine-hosted melt embayment volatile gradients and U-series isotope measurements on other arc magmas). The results of this study help to constrain the pre-eruptive history and ascent rates of hydrous primitive arc magmas, illuminating their magmatic processes during ascent. When combined with geophysical signals of magma movement, mixing to eruption timescales such as this have the power to inform volcanic hazard models for monogenetic, cinder cone eruptions in the Southern Cascades.