Abstract Title: Experimental Lava-Water Interactions and Consequences of LIP Emplacement for Marine Chemistry and Productivity

Abstract Submitted to: VOLCANOLOGY, GEOCHEMISTRY, AND PETROLOGY

Abstract Text:

Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) are voluminous magmatic events that in some cases have coincided with mass extinctions and oceanic anoxic events. During oceanic LIPs, and even continental LIPs such as the Deccan Traps and Siberian Traps, interactions between lavas and surface water were widespread. Lava-water interactions are known to impact water chemistry as lavas quench and alter to form palagonitic glass. Tholeiitic magmas carry biologically important elements such as iron and phosphorus. To quantify fluxes of these elements we performed large- scale experiments with the Syracuse Lava Project in which molten basalt of known composition was poured into water under controlled water salinity and pH conditions. The products of these experiments display morphologies that strongly resemble natural hyaloclastites. We analyzed the composition of the quenched magma to determine, via mass balance, the fluxes of key nutrients and trace metals, with implications for whether and how LIPs directly affect marine ecosystems.