Vapor-phase crystallization from a hydrous silicate melt: an experimental simulation of diktytaxitic texture

Groundmass textures of volcanic rocks provide valuable insights into the processes of magma ascent, crystallization, and eruption. The diktytaxitic texture, characterized by a lath-shaped arrangement of feldspar microlites forming glass-free and angular pores, is commonly observed in silicic dome-forming rocks and Vulcanian ashfall deposits. This texture has the potential to control the explosivity of volcanic eruptions because its micropore network allows pervasive degassing during the final stages of magma ascent and eruption. However, the exact conditions and kinetics of the formation of diktytaxitic textures, which are often accompanied by vapor-phase cristobalite, remain largely unknown. Here, we show that the diktytaxitic texture and vapor-phase minerals, cristobalite and alkali feldspar, can be produced from bulk-andesitic magma with rhyolitic glass under water-saturated, near-solidus conditions (± ~10 MPa and ± ~20 °C within the solidus; 10–20 MPa and 850 °C for our starting pumices). Such crystallization proceeds through the partial evaporation of the supercooled melt, followed by the deposition of cristobalite and alkali feldspar as a result of the system selecting the fastest crystallization pathway with the lowest activation energy. The previously proposed mechanisms of halogen-induced corrosion or melt segregation by gas-driven filter pressing are not particularly necessary, although they may occur concurrently. Diktytaxitic groundmass formation is completed within 4–8 days, irrespective of the presence or composition of the halogen. These findings constrain the outgassing of lava domes and shallow magma intrusions and provide new insights into the final stages of hydrous magma crystallization on Earth.