A large explosive silicic eruption in the British Palaeogene Igneous Province.

ABSTRACT: Large-volume pyroclastic eruptions are not known from the basalt-dominated British Palaeogene Igneous Province (BPIP), although silicic magmatism is documented from intra-caldera successions in central volcanoes and from small-volume ash-layers in the associated lava fields. Exceptions are the Sgùrr of Eigg (58.7 Ma) and Òigh-sgeir pitchstones in the Inner Hebrides (>30 km apart), which have been conjectured to represent remnants of a single large silicic event. Currently available major element data from these outcrops differ, however, creating a need to test if the two pitchstones are really related. We employ a systematic array of methods ranging from mineralogy to isotope geochemistry and find that samples from the two outcrops display identical mineral textures and compositions, major

SUBMITTER: Troll VR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6345756 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature