Kammerer, Melissa Maria (2011) Nature and origin of salt deposits around the crater of Erebus volcano, Antarctica. Master of Science in Geochemistry, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
| Reference Type | Thesis/Dissertation | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Access Rights | Open Access | ||
| Title | Nature and origin of salt deposits around the crater of Erebus volcano, Antarctica - Master of Science in Geochemistry | ||
| Authors | Kammerer, Melissa Maria | Primary Author | |
| Year | 2011 (October) | ||
| Publisher | New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology | ||
| Original Entry | Kammerer, M.M. (2011) Nature and origin of salt deposits around the crater of Erebus volcano, Antarctica (Doctoral dissertation, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology). | ||
| Classification | Not set | LoC | Not set |
| Mindat Ref. ID | 16191912 | Long-form Identifier | mindat:1:5:16191912:2 |
| GUID | 4042db33-ac08-4762-80f1-20e7c8cc078f | ||
| Full Reference | Kammerer, Melissa Maria (2011) Nature and origin of salt deposits around the crater of Erebus volcano, Antarctica. Master of Science in Geochemistry, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. | ||
| Plain Text | Kammerer, Melissa Maria (2011) Nature and origin of salt deposits around the crater of Erebus volcano, Antarctica. Master of Science in Geochemistry, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. | ||
| Abstract/Notes | Salt deposits are widespread around the summit crater of the active 3794- meter high Erebus volcano in Antarctica. The distribution, composition and formation of the salts provide insight into the interaction of the gas plume with the snow and rocks around the summit crater. The greatest salt accumulations are located within 1 km of the active crater and are found under rocks and in crevices in the lava flows as white to yellow incrustations, massive deposits, efflorescences, and needles. Salt deposits are most abundant downwind of the crater where individual salt accumulations of 20 grams or more are common. The salts are not associated with fumaroles or fumarolic ice towers but form under the ambient -15 to -65 o C temperatures. XRD analyses of Erebus salts has led to the positive identification of alunite, calcite, gypsum, halite, khademite, mirabilite, ralstonite, sylvite, and thenardite, along with numerous tentatively identified phases. New salt phases identified in this study include rancieite, katoite, and potassian-halite. SEM observations indicate that the salts are well crystallized on a very fine scale, with crystal size ranging between 1 to 20 microns. One of the most common crystal habits consists of well-formed fiberous habit, although angular, cubic, hexagonal, needle, rectangular, spindle, stacked plate, and sub-angular habits are also observed, along with cauliflower and shark-tooth textures. Multiple salt morphologies are present in each sample. Qualitative electron microprobe chemical scans indicate that a wide range of elements is present in the salts. These include Al, Cl, F, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, S, and Ti. The Erebus plume, snow, and ice samples around the summit region contain large quantities of Cl, F, and S, with lesser amounts of Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, and Na, some of which are major components of the salt deposits. The salts are rich in Al, K, Mn, and Mg, but these components are minor in the plume. This suggests that although some of the elements that form the salts are derived from the plume, interaction with rock fragments is an important component of the salt forming process, allowing for the scavenging of other elements. Salts from the summit crater form by weathering processes, which break up volcanic rocks, exposing fresh glass surfaces, which are then weathered/altered by reaction with the plume, liberating Al, Fe, Mn, Mg, and Ti. These liberated elements from the rock then combine with elements in the plume to form the well-crystallized salt deposits. The formation of the salts under such extreme temperatures conditions may have application to salt formation at other active planetary volcanoes. | ||
Map of Localities
Locality Pages
| Locality | Citation Details |
|---|---|
| Mount Erebus, Ross Island, Ross Archipelago, Victoria Land, Eastern Antarctica, Antarctica |
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