Discussion:
• Enclaves—
The term "enclave" is to describe fragments of foreign rocks enclosed in homogeneous igneous
A nomenclature for four major types of enclaves:
(Didier and Barbarin (1991))
Surmicaceous, schlieren, xenolith, and magmatic;
• Surmicaceous:
o Have elongated, sub-rounded disk shapes. Contacts of the enclave with the host granitoid are
sharp. Textures are foliated metamorphic (schistose to gneissic) and some show evidence of
folding.
o Mineralogical assemblages include: biotite, plagioclase, cordierite, garnet, muscovite,
andalusite, sillimanite & quartz.
o A possible origin of surmicaceous enclaves is fragments of deep country rocks not exposed at
the surface that was carried up by the ascending magma.
• Schlieren enclaves
o Elongated or oblate in shape. They have gradual contacts, planar orientations,
and may lie in magmatic foliation.
o Common minerals include biotite, tourmaline, and muscovite, and they may be
enriched in accessory phase minerals. Mostly it’s composed of fine-grained,
biotite-rich segregations.
o Schlieren are typically associated near pluton margins, and are more common in
anatectic granites rather than high-level intrusions. Schlieren enclaves are
suspected to originate from the disruption of other enclaves or mineral
cumulates, by either convection currents or magmatic flow regimes (Didier and
Barbarin, 1991).
• Xenoliths
o Xenoliths are rock fragments or single crystals (xenocrysts) from the country
o rock, incorporated into the magma chamber either during magma ascent or emplacement.
o Xenoliths are angular and exhibit sharp contacts with the host. Evidence for thermal (or contact) metamorphism and
recrystallization textures exists along the enclave-host contact. Xenoliths are typically found near the intrusion margins.
• Magmatic enclaves
o These are the most common and abundant of enclaves found in granitoid rocks. Other names for this type of
enclave include microgranitoid, or microgranular enclaves.
o Most studies show that magmatic enclaves are the product of hybridization between two distinct magmas.
However, there are other ways whereby they can be generated, such as when re-crystallized rock fragments are
reincorporated into the host.
An example of Mafic enclave:
Mafic enclave with a broken and rotated tip. Crack filled in by felsic fractionated granite.
• Magma mixing—
Magma mixing is the mixing of two or more magmas or magma batches to form a hybrid
Some important factors influencing mixing:
• How viscosity might affect mixing:
The viscosity ratio, and to a smaller extent individual viscosity values, control
whether the magmas will mix or mingle.
If the viscosities are similar, mixing is more likely to occur. When viscosity
contrasts are great, plume development and mingling processes are favored.
Overall, the numerical and experimental models support that fluids of
contrasting viscosity would mingle, whereas fluids of similar viscosities
would more readily mix.
• The impact of H2O on magma mixing:
Contact between magma and water, either ground or surface water, leads to explosive
hydrovolcanic activity.
If the water:magma ratio is significant, the water vapour expands around the magma until the
shell of vapour crashes back down onto the magma, leading to fragmentation of the magma and
quenching to glass.
Eruption of a magma into water or over ground water often leads to hyaloclastite formation consisting principly of glassy shards.
• Temperature contrasts:
Vigorous convection currents may disrupt the interface between the two magmas.
In additional to driving thermal plumes, temperature provides constraints on the
interaction of the two magmas.
When two magmas come in contact they will equilibrate in temperature. Once the
magmas equilibrate in temperature the felsic magma will have a reduced viscosity
due to heating and crystal dissolution. Cooling and thus crystallization of the mafic
magma will increase its viscosity. If the initial temperatures are very different, the
mafic magma is likely to quench against the felsic magma. Quenching restricts the
amount of chemical exchange and will preserve original features of the quenched
magma. If the temperature between the two magmas is similar, the mafic magma
will remain liquid and able to mix with the felsic magma.