Mantle source characteristics and magmatic processes during the 2021 La Palma eruption

Abstract

The 2021 eruption of La Palma (September 19-December 13) was the first subaerial eruption in the Canary Islands in 50 years. Approximately 0.2 km3 of lava erupted from a newly formed, broadly basaltic composite volcanic edifice on the northwestern flank of the Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge. Comprehensive sampling of the olivine- and clinopyroxene-phyric lavas over the eruption period reveals temporal changes in mineralogy and bulk rock geochemistry from tephrite to basanite. Initial tephrite lavas have low MgO (∼6 wt.%) and elevated TiO2 (∼4 wt.%) and contain amphibole crystals and gabbroic micro-xenoliths. In contrast, lavas with progressively more mafic compositions erupted to approximately day 20 of the eruption and thereafter remained as basanite (∼8 wt.% MgO; 3.7 wt.% TiO2) until eruption termination. Temporal changes in lava chemistry reflect initial eruption of fractionated magmas that crystallized 5-10% olivine and clinopyroxene, as well as minor spinel, sulfide, and magnetite, followed by later eruption of deeper-sourced and more primitive magma. Vanadium-in-olivine oxybarometry indicates parental magmas were oxidized (fO2 = +1.5 to +2 FMQ) with 8.2 ±0.8 wt.% MgO and were generated from between 2.5-3% partial melting of a mantle source potentially containing a pyroxenite component (Xpx = 0.31 ±0.12). Day 1-20 tephrites have more radiogenic 187Os/188Os (0.143-0.148) and lower Pd, Pt, Ir and Os contents than post day 20 basanites (187Os/188Os = 0.141-0.145). Combined with available seismic data, the lavas provide a high-resolution record of eruptive evolution. Initial fractionated tephrite magma was stored in the upper lithosphere up to four years prior to eruption, consistent with pre-cursor seismicity and the presence of partially reacted amphibole and micro-xenoliths. The later lavas of the eruption were fed by more primitive basanitic parental magmas that were likely sourced from the deeper portion of the magma storage system that is underplating the island. Precursor events to the 2021 La Palma eruption involved seismicity and magma emplacement, storage and differentiation, which was followed by mobilisation, eruption, and eventual exhaustion of stored magma and partial melts. This magmatic progression is similar to that documented from the 1949 and 1971 Cumbre Vieja eruptions. Ocean islands with limited basaltic magma supply show similarities to the magmatic evolution observed in large silicic systems, where initial magma emplacement and differentiation is followed by later magma remobilisation that induces volcanic activity.