Ardnamurchan 3D cone-sheet architecture explained by a single elongate magma chamber

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 3; no. 1; p. 2891
• Main Authors: Burchardt, Steffi, Troll, Valentin R., Mathieu, Lucie, Emeleus, Henry C., Donaldson, Colin H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 08-10-2013; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 704/2151/213; 704/2151/431; 704/2151/536; 704/2151/598; Elongation; GEOLOGY; Humanities and Social Sciences; Magma; multidisciplinary; PETROLOGY; Science; STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY; Volcanoes; VOLCANOLOGY
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/srep02891

The Palaeogene Ardnamurchan central igneous complex, NW Scotland, was a defining place for the development of the classic concepts of cone-sheet and ring-dyke emplacement and has thus fundamentally influenced our thinking on subvolcanic structures. We have used the available structural information on Ardnamurchan to project the underlying three-dimensional (3D) cone-sheet structure. Here we show that a single elongate magma chamber likely acted as the source of the cone-sheet swarm(s) instead of the traditionally accepted model of three successive centres. This proposal is supported by the ridge-like morphology of the Ardnamurchan volcano and is consistent with the depth and elongation of the gravity anomaly underlying the peninsula. Our model challenges the traditional model of cone-sheet emplacement at Ardnamurchan that involves successive but independent centres in favour of a more dynamical one that involves a single, but elongate and progressively evolving magma chamber system.