Petrogenetic implications of Ba-sanidine in the Lionato Tuff (Colli Albani Volcanic District, Central Italy)

Abstract

A vitric fiamme containing BaO-bearing sanidine (BaO = 11 wt.%) was sampled (via di Fioranello, Rome) in the pyroclastic products of the Lower Flow Unit (LFU) belonging to the Villa Senni Eruption Unit in the Colli Albani Volcanic District (Roman Comagmatic Province, Central Italy). The fiamme of the LFU is essentially made up of glass, in which scarce phenocrysts of BaO-bearing sanidine, leucite and Al₂O₃-bearing Ca-clinopyroxene occur. In this paper the various parameters controlling barium partitioning between alkali feldspar and LFU liquid, are discussed.