A ring dike or ring dyke is an Intrusive rock igneous body that is circular, oval or arcuate in plan and has steep contacts.[Billings, Marland P. "Section of Geology and Mineralogy: Ring-dikes and Their Origin." Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences 5.6 Series II (1943): 131–44] While the widths of ring dikes differ, they can be up to several thousand meters.[Johnson, Scott E., S. R. Paterson, and M. C. Tate. "Structure and emplacement history of a multiple-center, cone-sheet–bearing ring complex: The Zarza Intrusive Complex, Baja California, Mexico." Geological Society of America Bulletin 111.4 (1999): 607–19).] The most commonly accepted method of ring dike formation is directly related to collapse .[Gudmundsson, Agust. "Formation of collapse calderas." Geology 16.9 (1988): 808–10.]
Caldera collapse and ring dike formation
Collapse calderas form due to the emptying of a
magma chamber.
Effusive eruptions that take place on the flanks of the associated
volcano and a
Fissure vent system that direct
magma away from the chamber are both mechanisms that can empty a magma chamber. As pressure in the magma chamber changes, an increase in tensile stresses create tension fractures at the surface of the
volcano. The geometry of the top of the magma chamber dictates the location and magnitude of the tension fractures. In addition, it was found that the higher the radius to depth ratio of the magma chamber, the higher the probability of forming a collapse
caldera.
Once a tension threshold is approached, the roof of the magma chamber collapses in on itself, and is known as cauldron subsidence.[Blatt, Harvey, Robert Tracy, and Brent Owens. Petrology: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Macmillan, 2006. ] Tension fractures extend deeper in the profile and shear fractures or form in a circular pattern around the caldera and are known as . Ring faults can be either vertical or steeply dipping faults.[Gudmundsson, Agust, Joan Marti, and Elisenda Turon. "Stress fields generating ring faults in volcanoes." Geophysical Research Letters 24.13 (1997): 1559–62] The magma of a ring dike is typically composed of acidic or intermediate composition due to the less dense melt that exists at the top of the magma chamber.[O'keefe, John A., Paul D. Lowman, and Winifred Cameron. "Lunar Ring Dikes from Orbiter I." Science 155.3758 (1967): 77–79.]
Another mechanism of ring dike formation
It has been hypothesized that ring dikes may form when inclined sheets are captured within a ring fault system, which cause them to act as feeder dikes. The deflection of the sheets may be caused by the difference in material properties between and within the fault zone.
Implications
Whether or not a caldera ring fault dips inward or outward from the center of subsidence is a highly contentious issue. Ring faults near the surface are subject to
erosion and
mass wasting, changing the morphology of the caldera walls and making it difficult to tell the dip of the fault at formation.
Well known examples
Ossipee ring-dike complex
About 36 ring dikes have been found in the Ossipee Mountains in
New Hampshire.
Caldera subsidence appears to be the mechanism leading to the formation of some of the ring dikes, but not all of them. The composition ranges from
monzonite to quartz
syenite.
[Modell, David. "Ring-Dike Complex of the Belknap Mountains. New Hampshire." Geological Society of American Bulletin 47.12 (1936): 1885–1932.]
Loch Bà ring dike
The Loch Bà ring dike, found on the Isle of Mull in
Scotland, serves as a classic example of a well formed ring dike.
[Young, Davis A., Mind Over Magma: The Story of Igneous Petrology,
Princeton University Press, 2003, pp. 341–42, ] This
Intrusive rock body forms an oval and its diameter can be measured at roughly 5.8 km by 8.5 km. The width of the dike varies throughout the profile, with a maximum width of approximately 300 meters. The composition varies from
rhyolite to
felsite, with
of
alkali feldspar and
mafic minerals.
See also
