The crustal history of volcanic rocks can be inferred from the mineralogy and compositions of their phenocrysts which record
episodes of magma mixing as well as the pressures and temperatures when magmas cooled. Submarine lavas erupted on the Hilo
Ridge, a rift zone directly east of Mauna Kea volcano, contain olivine, plagioclase, augite ±orthopyroxene phenocrysts. The
compositions of these phenocryst phases provide constraints on the magmatic processes beneath Hawaiian rift zones. In these
samples, olivine phenocrysts are normally zoned with homogeneous cores ranging from ∼ Fo
81 to Fo
91. In contrast, plagioclase, augite and orthopyroxene phenocrysts display more than one episode of reverse zoning. Within each
sample, plagioclase, augite and orthopyroxene phenocrysts have similar zoning profiles. However, there are significant differences
between samples. In three samples these phases exhibit large compositional contrasts, e.g., Mg# [100 × Mg/(Mg+Fe
+2)] of augite varies from 71 in cores to 82 in rims. Some submarine lavas from the Puna Ridge (Kilauea volcano) contain phenocrysts
with similar reverse zonation.
The compositional variations of these phenocrysts can be explained by mixing of a multiphase (plagioclase, augite and orthopyroxene)
saturated, evolved magma with more mafic magma saturated only with olivine. The differences in the compositional ranges of
plagioclase, augite and orthopyroxene crystals between samples indicate that these samples were derived from isolated magma
chambers which had undergone distinct fractionation and mixing histories. The samples containing plagioclase and pyroxene
with small compositional variations reflect magmas that were buffered near the olivine + melt ⇒Low-Ca pyroxene + augite +
plagioclase reaction point by frequent intrusions of mafic olivine-bearing magmas. Samples containing plagioclase and pyroxene
phenocrysts with large compositional ranges reflect magmas that evolved beyond this reaction point when there was no replenishment
with olivine-saturated magma. Two of these samples contain augite cores with Mg# of ∼71, corresponding to Mg# of 36–40 in
equilibrium melts, and augite in another sample has Mg# of 63–65 which is in equilibrium with a very evolved melt with a Mg#
of ∼30. Such highly evolved magmas also exist beneath the Puna Ridge of Kilauea volcano. They are rarely erupted during the
shield building stage, but may commonly form in ephemeral magma pockets in the rift zones.
The compositions of clinopyroxene phenocryst rims and associated glass rinds indicate that most of the samples were last equilibrated
at 2–3 kbar and 1130–1160 °C. However, in one sample, augite and glass rind compositions reflect crystallization at higher
pressures (4–5 kbar). This sample provides evidence for magma mixing at relatively high pressures and perhaps transport of
magma from the summit conduits to the rift zone along the oceanic crust-mantle boundary.
Received: 8 July 1998 / Accepted: 2 January 1999