The evolution of a silicic magma system: isotopic and chemical evidence from the Woods Mountains volcanic center,eastern California |
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| Authors: | D S Musselwhite D J DePaolo M McCurry |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, 90024 Los Angeles, CA, USA;(2) Berkeley Center for Isotope Geochemistry, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of California, and Earth Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, 94720 Berkeley, CA, USA;(3) Department of Earth Sciences, New Mexico State University, 88003 Las Cruces, NM, USA |
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| Abstract: | The isotopic compositions of Nd and Sr and concentrations of major and trace elements were measured in flows and tuffs of the Woods Mountains volcanic center of eastern California to assess the relative roles of mantle versus crustal magma sources and of fractional crystallization in the evolution of silicic magmatic systems. This site was chosen because the contrast in isotopic composition between Precambrian-to-Mesozoic country rocks and the underlying mantle make the isotope ratios sensitive indicators of the proportions of crustal- and mantle-derived magma. The major eruptive unit is the Wild Horse Mesa tuff (15.8 m.y. old), a compositionally zoned rhyolite ignimbrite. Trachyte pumice fragments in the ash-flow deposits provide information on intermediate composition magma types. Crustal xenoliths and younger flows of basalt and andesite (10 m.y. old) provide opportunities to confirm the isotopic compositions of potential mantle and crustal magma sources inferred from regional patterns. The trachyte and rhyolite have  Nd values of -6.2 to -7.5 and initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios mostly between 0.7086 and 0.7113. These magmas cannot have been melted directly from the continental basement because the Nd values are too high. They also cannot have formed by closed system fractional crystallization of basalt because the 87Sr/86Sr ratios are higher than likely values for parental basalt. Both major and trace element variations indicate that crystal fractionation was an important process. These results require that the silicic magmas are end products of the evolution of mantle-derived basalt that underwent extensive fractional crystallization accompanied by assimilation of crustal rock. The mass fraction of crustal components in the trachyte and rhyolite is estimated to be between 10% and 40%, with the lower end of the range considered more likely. The generation of magmas with SiO2 contents greater than 60% appears to be dominated by crystal fractionation with minimal assimilation of upper crustal rocks. |
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