Abstract
Ishikoshi Andesite is the Middle Miocene, amphibole-bearing, two pyroxene andesite lava flow located in the forearc area of the Northeast Japan arc, which covers the area of 8 km EW and 7 km NS and has the thickness of >180 m. In this study it is divided into peripheral lava (PL) and central lava (CL), which are distributed in the peripheral and central parts of the volcanic edifice, respectively. PL bears groundmass pigeonite or shows higher FeO*/MgO trend with fractionation and CL does not bear pigeonite and lower FeO*/MgO trend, therefore PL is tholeiitic and CL is calc-alkaline. PL shows petrological features that are compatible with crystallization differentiation. CL has several features that suggest magma mixing such as non-equilibrium plagioclase phenocrysts, but evidences for magma mixing are not robust. In comparison to similar lava flows, PL and CL seem to form a composite lava flow because clear geological boundary between PL and CL cannot be observed and FeO*/MgO ratio of CL tend to be higher in the marginal portion. We also find that two-pyroxene equilibrium temperature of CL (760-850 ℃)is lower than that of PL (970-990 ℃). CL should have been too viscous at this temperature (>1010 Pa·s in anhydrous state) to form a dike, thus it should have effused through the vent which PL formed to be composite lava flow with PL. Ishikoshi Andesite has columnar joints rather than platy joints. In comparison to other lava flows which have platy joints in Japan, it is possible that less anisotropic crystals, low eruption temperature (high viscosity) and/or large phenocryst size have prevented Ishikoshi Andesite from formation of foliation along which platy joints develop in the lava.
