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International audienceAmphibole is widely employed to calculate crystallization temperature and pressure, although its potential as a geobarometer has always been debated. Recently, Ridolfi et al. (Contrib Mineral Petrol 160:45-66, 2010) and Ridolfi and Renzulli (Contrib Mineral Petrol 163:877-895, 2012) have presented calibrations for calculating temperature, pressure, fO2, melt H2O, and melt major and minor oxide composition from amphibole with a large compositional range. Using their calibrations, we have (i) calculated crystallization conditions for amphibole from eleven published experimental studies to examine the problems and the potential of the new calibrations; and (ii) calculated crystallization conditions for amphibole from basaltic-andesitic pyroclasts erupted during the paroxysmal 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi in Java, Indonesia, to infer pre-eruptive conditions. Our comparison of experimental and calculated values shows that calculated crystallization temperatures are reasonable estimates. Calculated fO2 and melt SiO2 content yields potentially useful estimates at moderately reduced to moderately oxidized conditions and intermediate to felsic melt compositions. However, calculated crystallization pressure and melt H2O content are untenable estimates that largely reflect compositional variation in the crystallizing magmas and crystallization temperature and not the calculated parameters. Amphibole from Merapi's pyroclasts yields calculated conditions of ~200-800 MPa, ~900-1,050 °C, ~NNO + 0.3-NNO + 1.1, ~3.7-7.2 wt% melt H2O, and ~58-71 wt% melt SiO2. We interpret the variations in calculated temperature, fO2, and melt SiO2 content as reasonable estimates, but conclude that the large calculated pressure variation for amphibole from Merapi and many other arc volcanoes is evidence for thorough mixing of mafic to felsic magmas and not necessarily evidence for crystallization over a large depth range. In contrast, bimodal pressure estimates obtained for other arc magmas reflect amphibole crystallization from mafic and more evolved magmas, respectively, and should not necessarily be taken as evidence for crystallization in two reservoirs at variable depth

International audienceLow permeability dome rocks may contribute to conduit overpressure development in volcanic systems, indirectly abetting explosive activity. The permeability of dome-forming rocks is primarily controlled by the volume, type (vesicles and/or microcracks), and connectivity of the void space present. Here we investigate the permeability-porosity relationship of dome-forming rocks and pumice clasts from Merapi’s 1888 to 2013 eruptions and assess their possible role in eruptive processes, with particular emphasis on the 2010 paroxysmal eruption. Rocks are divided into three simple field classifications common to all eruptions: Type 1 samples have low bulk density and are pumiceous in texture; Type 2 samples, ubiquitous to the 2010 eruption, are dark grey to black in hand sample and vary greatly in vesicularity; and Type 3 samples are weakly vesicular, light grey in hand sample, and are the only samples that contain cristobalite. Type 2 and Type 3 rocks are present in all eruptions and their permeability and porosity data define similar power law relationships, whereas data for Type 1 samples are clearly discontinuous from these trends. A compilation of permeability and porosity data for andesites and basaltic andesites with published values highlights two microstructural transitions that exert control on permeability, confirmed by modified Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) analysis. Permeability is microcrack- and diktytaxitic-controlled at connected porosities, φc, < 10.5 vol.%; vesicle- and microcrack-controlled at 10.5 < φc < 31 vol.%; and likely vesicle-controlled for φc > 31 vol.%. Type 3 basaltic andesites, the least permeable of the measured samples and therefore the most likely to have originated in the uppermost low-permeability dome, are identified as relicts of terminal domes (the last dome extruded prior to quiescence). Cristobalite commonly found in the voids of Type 3 blocks may not contribute significantly to the reduction of the permeability of these samples, mainly because it is associated with an extensive microporous, diktytaxitic texture. Indeed, the low permeability of these rocks is more likely associated with their lower fracture density. We propose that diktytaxitic textures may arise from late-stage gas filter pressing of a silica-rich melt phase, which leaves behind a microlite-supported groundmass and cristobalite in neighbouring vesicles. Due to the ubiquity of the Type 3 rocks in all Merapi eruptions, we do not invoke the emplacement of a low-permeability cap as having favoured a particularly high pressurization and subsequent high explosivity of the 2010 eruption. The debate as to the reasons for the highly explosive 2010 eruption rages on