Large-scale silicic alkalic magmatism associated with the Buckhorn Caldera, Trans-Pecos Texas, USA: comparison with Pantelleria, Italy

Three major rhyolite systems in the northeastern Davis and adjacent Barrilla Mountains include lava units that bracketed a large pantelleritic ignimbrite (Gomez Tuff) in rapid eruptions spanning 300,000 years. Extensive silicic lavas formed the shields of the Star Mountain Formation (37.2 Ma-K/Ar; 36.84 Ma ³⁹Ar/⁴⁰Ar), and the Adobe Canyon Formation (37.1 Ma-K/Ar; 36.51-³⁹Ar/⁴⁰Ar). The Gomez Tuff (36.6 Ma-K/Ar; 36.74-³⁹Ar/⁴⁰Ar) blanketed a large region around the 18×24 km diameter Buckhorn caldera, within which it ponded, forming sections up to 500 m thick. Gomez eruption was preceded by pantelleritic rhyolite domes (36.87, 36.91 Ma-³⁹Ar/⁴⁰Ar), some of which blocked movement of Star Mountain lava flows. Following collapse, the Buckhorn caldera was filled by trachyte lava. Adobe Canyon rhyolite lavas then covered much of the region. Star Mountain Formation (~220 km³) is composed of multiple flows ranging from quartz trachyte to mildly peralkalic rhyolite; three major types form a total of at least six major flows in the northeastern Davis Mountains. Adobe Canyon Formation (~125 km³) contains fewer flows, some up to 180 m thick, of chemically homogenous, mildly peralkalic comendite, extending up to 40 km. Gomez Tuff (~220 km³) may represent the largest known pantellerite. It is typically less than 100 m thick in extra-caldera sections, where it shows a pyroclastic base and top, although interiors are commonly rheomorphic, containing flow banding and ramp structures. Most sections contain one cooling unit; two sections contain a smaller, upper cooling unit. Chemically, the tuff is fairly homogeneous, but is more evolved than early pantelleritic domes. Overall, although Davis Mountains silicic units were generated through open system processes, the pantellerites appear to have evolved by processes dominated by extensive fractional crystallization from parental trachytes similar to that erupted in pre- and post-caldera lavas. Comparison with the Pantelleria volcano suggests that the most likely parental magma for the Buckhorn series is transitional basalt, similar to that erupted in minor, younger Basin and Range volcanism after about 24 Ma. Roughly contemporaneous mafic lavas associated with the Buckhorn caldera appear to have assimilated or mixed with crustal melts, and, generally, may not be regarded as mafic precursors of the Buckhorn silicic rocks, They thus form a false Daly Gap as opposed to the true basalt/trachyte Daly gap of Pantelleria. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. This paper constitutes part of a special issue dedicated to Bill Bonnichsen on the petrogenesis and volcanology of anorogenic rhyolites.     

Effusive eruptions from a large silicic magma chamber: the Bearhead Rhyolite,Jemez volcanic field,NM

Large continental silicic magma systems commonly produce voluminous ignimbrites and associated caldera collapse events. Less conspicuous and relatively poorly documented are cases in which silicic magma chambers of similar size to those associated with caldera-forming events produce dominantly effusive eruptions of small-volume rhyolite domes and flows. The Bearhead Rhyolite and associated Peralta Tuff Member in the Jemez volcanic field, New Mexico, represent small-volume eruptions from a large silicic magma system in which no caldera-forming event occurred, and thus may have implications for the genesis and eruption of large volumes of silicic magma and the long-term evolution of continental silicic magma systems.⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating reveals that most units mapped as Bearhead Rhyolite and Peralta Tuff (the Main Group) were erupted during an ∼540 ka interval between 7.06 and 6.52 Ma. These rocks define a chemically coherent group of high-silica rhyolites that can be related by simple fractional crystallization models. Preceding the Main Group, minor amounts of unrelated trachydacite and low silica rhyolite were erupted at ∼11–9 and ∼8 Ma, respectively, whereas subsequent to the Main Group minor amounts of unrelated rhyolites were erupted at ∼6.1 and ∼1.5 Ma.The chemical coherency, apparent fractional crystallization-derived geochemical trends, large areal distribution of rhyolite domes (∼200 km²), and presence of a major hydrothermal system support the hypothesis that Main Group magmas were derived from a single, large, shallow magma chamber. The ∼540 ka eruptive interval demands input of heat into the system by replenishment with silicic melts, or basaltic underplating to maintain the Bearhead Rhyolite magma chamber.Although the volatile content of Main Group magmas was within the range of rhyolites from major caldera-forming eruptions such as the Bandelier and Bishop Tuffs, eruptions were smaller volume and dominantly effusive. Bearhead Rhyolite domes occur at the intersection of faults, and are cut by faults, suggesting that the magma chamber was structurally vented preventing volatiles from accumulating to levels high enough to trigger a caldera-forming eruption.     

Systematics of xenocrystic contamination: preservation of discrete feldspar populations at McCullough Pass Caldera revealed by Ar/Ar dating

Single crystal ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of K-feldspars from silicic volcanic rocks containing xenocrysts often yields a spectrum of ages slightly older than those of juvenile sanidine phenocrysts. In contrast, feldspars from thin, low-volume units of the Tertiary (14 Ma) McCullough Pass Tuff define discrete age populations at 14 Ma, 15 Ma, and 1.3 Ga, reflecting the time of eruption, xenocrysts from an older ignimbrite exposed in the caldera wall, and Proterozoic basement K-feldspars, respectively. Conductive cooling and diffusion modelling suggests preservation of such discrete populations is likely only when xenocrystic material is incorporated into the magma very near or at the surface, or is engulfed in thin, rapidly cooled pyroclastic flows during emplacement. Incorporation of xenocrysts into the subvolcanic magma chamber, into thick rhyolite domes or lava flows, or into large, welded ignimbrite sheets will result in partial or total resetting of the K/Ar isotopic system. Similarly, petrographic evidence such as exsolution lamellae may be homogenized under these conditions but not in thin ignimbrites. Extremely low diffusion rates for disordering of the Al–Si tetrahedral siting of basement feldspars suggests that they will retain their ordered structural state given rhyolitic magma temperatures. Thus, even when petrographic and K/Ar isotopic evidence for xenocrystic contamination is obscured, it may be preserved in the form of Al–Si ordering.     

Caldera resurgence during magma replenishment and rejuvenation at Valles and Lake City calderas

A key question in volcanology is the driving mechanisms of resurgence at active, recently active, and ancient calderas. Valles caldera in New Mexico and Lake City caldera in Colorado are well-studied resurgent structures which provide three crucial clues for understanding the resurgence process. (1) Within the limits of ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating techniques, resurgence and hydrothermal alteration at both calderas occurred very quickly after the caldera-forming eruptions (tens of thousands of years or less). (2) Immediately before and during resurgence, dacite magma was intruded and/or erupted into each system; this magma is chemically distinct from rhyolite magma which was resident in each system. (3) At least 1?km of structural uplift occurred along regional and subsidence faults which were closely associated with shallow intrusions or lava domes of dacite magma. These observations demonstrate that resurgence at these two volcanoes is temporally linked to caldera subsidence, with the upward migration of dacite magma as the driver of resurgence. Recharge of dacite magma occurs as a response to loss of lithostatic load during the caldera-forming eruption. Flow of dacite into the shallow magmatic system is facilitated by regional fault systems which provide pathways for magma ascent. Once the dacite enters the system, it is able to heat, remobilize, and mingle with residual crystal-rich rhyolite remaining in the shallow magma chamber. Dacite and remobilized rhyolite rise buoyantly to form laccoliths by lifting the chamber roof and producing surface resurgent uplift. The resurgent deformation caused by magma ascent fractures the chamber roof, increasing its structural permeability and allowing both rhyolite and dacite magmas to intrude and/or erupt together. This sequence of events also promotes the development of magmatic–hydrothermal systems and ore deposits. Injection of dacite magma into the shallow rhyolite magma chamber provides a source of heat and magmatic volatiles, while resurgent deformation and fracturing increase the permeability of the system. These changes allow magmatic volatiles to rise and meteoric fluids to percolate downward, favouring the development of hydrothermal convection cells which are driven by hot magma. The end result is a vigorous hydrothermal system which is driven by magma recharge.     

Effusive eruption of viscous silicic magma triggered and driven by recharge: a case study of the Cerro Chascon-Runtu Jarita Dome Complex in Southwest Bolivia

 The Cerro Chascon-Runtu Jarita Complex is a group of ten Late Pleistocene (∼85 ka) lava domes located in the Andean Central Volcanic Zone of Bolivia. These domes display considerable macroscopic and microscopic evidence of magma mixing. Two groups of domes are defined chemically and geographically. A northern group, the Chascon, consists of four lava bodies of dominantly rhyodacite composition. These bodies contain 43–48% phenocrysts of plagioclase, quartz, sanidine, biotite, and amphibole in a microlite-poor, rhyolitic glass. Rare mafic enclaves and selvages are present. Mineral equilibria yield temperatures from 640 to 750  °C and log ƒO₂ of –16. Geochemical data indicate that the pre-eruption magma chamber was zoned from a dominant volume of 68% to minor amounts of 76% SiO₂. This zonation is best explained by fractional crystallization and some mixing between rhyodacite and more evolved compositions. The mafic enclaves represent magma that intruded but did not chemically interact much with the evolved magmas. A southern group, the Runtu Jarita, is a linear chain of six small domes (<1 km³ total volume) that probably is the surface expression of a dike. The five most northerly domes are composites of dacitic and rhyolitic compositions. The southernmost dome is dominantly rhyolite with rare mafic enclaves. The composite domes have lower flanks of porphyritic dacite with ∼35 vol.% phenocrysts of plagioclase, orthopyroxene, and hornblende in a microlite-rich, rhyodacitic glass. Sieve-textured plagioclase, mixed populations of disequilibrium plagioclase compositions, xenocrystic quartz, and sanidine with ternary composition reaction rims indicate that the dacite is a hybrid. The central cores of the composite domes are rhyolitic and contain up to 48 vol.% phenocrysts of plagioclase, quartz, sanidine, biotite, and amphibole. This is separated from the dacitic flanks by a banded zone of mingled lava. Macroscopic, microscopic, and petrologic evidence suggest scavenging of phenocrysts from the silicic lava. Mineral equilibria yield temperatures of 625–727  °C and log ƒO₂ of –16 for the rhyolite and 926–1000  °C and log ƒO₂ of –9.5 for the dacite. The rhyolite is zoned from 73 to 76% SiO₂, and fractionation within the rhyolite composition produced this variation. Most of the 63–73% SiO₂ compositional range of the lava in this group is the result of mixing between the hybrid dacite and the rhyolite. Eruption of both groups of lavas apparently was triggered by mafic recharge. A paucity of explosive activity suggests that volatile and thermal exchanges between reservoir and recharge magmas were less important than volume increase and the lubricating effects of recharge by mafic magmas. For the Runtu Jarita group, the eruption is best explained by intrusion of a dike of dacite into a chamber of crystal-rich rhyolite close to its solidus. The rhyolite was encapsulated and transported to the surface by the less-viscous dacite magma, which also acted as a lubricant. Simultaneous effusion of the lavas produced the composite domes, and their zonation reflects the subsurface zonation. The role of recharge by hotter, more fluid mafic magma appears to be critical to the eruption of some highly viscous silicic magmas. Received: 23 August 1998 / Accepted: 10 March 1999     

Eruptive history of Mount Mazama and Crater Lake Caldera, Cascade Range, U.S.A.

New investigations of the geology of Crater Lake National Park necessitate a reinterpretation of the eruptive history of Mount Mazama and of the formation of Crater Lake caldera. Mount Mazama consisted of a glaciated complex of overlapping shields and stratovolcanoes, each of which was probably active for a comparatively short interval. All the Mazama magmas apparently evolved within thermally and compositionally zoned crustal magma reservoirs, which reached their maximum volume and degree of differentiation in the climactic magma chamber 7000 yr B.P.The history displayed in the caldera walls begins with construction of the andesitic Phantom Cone 400,000 yr B.P. Subsequently, at least 6 major centers erupted combinations of mafic andesite, andesite, or dacite before initiation of the Wisconsin Glaciation 75,000 yr B.P. Eruption of andesitic and dacitic lavas from 5 or more discrete centers, as well as an episode of dacitic pyroclastic activity, occurred until 50,000 yr B.P.; by that time, intermediate lava had been erupted at several short-lived vents. Concurrently, and probably during much of the Pleistocene, basaltic to mafic andesitic monogenetic vents built cinder cones and erupted local lava flows low on the flanks of Mount Mazama. Basaltic magma from one of these vents, Forgotten Crater, intercepted the margin of the zoned intermediate to silicic magmatic system and caused eruption of commingled andesitic and dacitic lava along a radial trend sometime between 22,000 and 30,000 yr B.P. Dacitic deposits between 22,000 and 50,000 yr old appear to record emplacement of domes high on the south slope. A line of silicic domes that may be between 22,000 and 30,000 yr old, northeast of and radial to the caldera, and a single dome on the north wall were probably fed by the same developing magma chamber as the dacitic lavas of the Forgotten Crater complex. The dacitic Palisade flow on the northeast wall is 25,000 yr old. These relatively silicic lavas commonly contain traces of hornblende and record early stages in the development of the climatic magma chamber.Some 15,000 to 40,000 yr were apparently needed for development of the climactic magma chamber, which had begun to leak rhyodacitic magma by 7015 ± 45 yr B.P. Four rhyodacitic lava flows and associated tephras were emplaced from an arcuate array of vents north of the summit of Mount Mazama, during a period of 200 yr before the climactic eruption. The climactic eruption began 6845 ± 50 yr B.P. with voluminous airfall deposition from a high column, perhaps because ejection of 4−12 km³ of magma to form the lava flows and tephras depressurized the top of the system to the point where vesiculation at depth could sustain a Plinian column. Ejecta of this phase issued from a single vent north of the main Mazama edifice but within the area in which the caldera later formed. The Wineglass Welded Tuff of Williams (1942) is the proximal featheredge of thicker ash-flow deposits downslope to the north, northeast, and east of Mount Mazama and was deposited during the single-vent phase, after collapse of the high column, by ash flows that followed topographic depressions. Approximately 30 km³ of rhyodacitic magma were expelled before collapse of the roof of the magma chamber and inception of caldera formation ended the single-vent phase. Ash flows of the ensuing ring-vent phase erupted from multiple vents as the caldera collapsed. These ash flows surmounted virtually all topographic barriers, caused significant erosion, and produced voluminous deposits zoned from rhyodacite to mafic andesite. The entire climactic eruption and caldera formation were over before the youngest rhyodacitic lava flow had cooled completely, because all the climactic deposits are cut by fumaroles that originated within the underlying lava, and part of the flow oozed down the caldera wall.A total of 51−59 km³ of magma was ejected in the precursory and climactic eruptions, and 40−52 km³ of Mount Mazama was lost by caldera formation. The spectacular compositional zonation shown by the climactic ejecta — rhyodacite followed by subordinate andesite and mafic andesite — reflects partial emptying of a zoned system, halted when the crystal-rich magma became too viscous for explosive fragmentation. This zonation was probably brought about by convective separation of low-density, evolved magma from underlying mafic magma. Confinement of postclimactic eruptive activity to the caldera attests to continuing existence of the Mazama magmatic system.     

Geology and tectonic setting of the Mule Creek caldera,New Mexico,U.S.A.

The 10-km diameter Mule Creek caldera is the youngest felsic eruptive center in the Mogollon-Datil volcanic field of southwestern New Mexico. The caldera forms a topographic basin surrounded by a raised rim. The caldera wall is well displayed on the south and west sides of the structure where it dips 20–30 degrees toward the center of the basin. Mudflow breccia fills the caldera and is banked up against the caldera wall. Post-caldera porphyritic quartz latite domes and flows crop out along the ring-fracture zone. The caldera is superimposed upon an older volcanic complex of flow-banded rhyolite and porphyritic andesite lava. The Mule Creek caldera probably originated by explosive eruption of about 10 km³ of pumice and ash, in part preserved in the matrix of the mudflow breccia. Periods of explosive volcanism during the deposition of mudflow breccia are documented by tuffaceous beds interbedded with the breccia. A thin rhyolite ash-flow sheet originated in the caldera and overlies the mudflow breccia. The youngest felsic rocks around the caldera are (1) domes and flows of crystal-rich porphyritic quartz latite of variable mineralogy, interpreted as a defluidized magma, and (2) widespread crystal-poor, flow-banded rhyolite, dated at 18.6 m.y., which is not directly related to the caldera sequence. The Mule Creek caldera and other volcanic features farther south represent the only documented overlap of felsic volcanism with early stages of Basin-Range tectonism in the Mogollon-Datil field.     

40Ar/39Ar Ages and stratigraphy of the Latera caldera,Italy

The Latera caldera is a well-exposed volcano where more than 8 km³ of mafic silica-undersaturated potassic lavas, scoria and felsic ignimbrites were emplaced between 380 and 150 ka. Isotopic ages obtained by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar analysis of single sanidine crystals indicate at least four periods of explosive eruptions from the caldera. The initial period of caldera eruptions began at 232 ka with emplacement of trachytic pumice fallout and ignimbrite. They were closely followed by eruption of evolved phonolitic magma. After roughly 25 ky, several phonolitic ignimbrites were deposited, and they were followed by phreatomagmatic eruptions that produced trachytic ignimbrites and several smaller ash-flow units at 191 ka. Compositionally zoned magma then erupted from the northern caldera rim to produce widespread phonolitic tuffs, tephriphonolitic spatter, and scoria-bearing ignimbrites. After 40 ky of mafic surge deposit and scoria cone development around the caldera rim, a compositionally zoned pumice sequence was emplaced around a vent immediately northwest of the Latera caldera. This activity marks the end of large-scale explosive eruptions from the Latera volcano at 156 ka.     

Origin and evolution of mid-Cretaceous, garnet-bearing, intermediate and silicic volcanics from Canterbury, New Zealand

The Mt Somers Volcanics are part of a suite of mid-Cretaceous (89 ± 2 Ma) intermediate to silicic volcanics, erupted onto an eroded surface of Torlesse sediments. Rock types vary from basaltic andesite to high-silica rhyolite. Andesites are medium- to high-K with phenocrysts of plagioclase, orthopyroxene and pigeonite. Dacites are peraluminous and commonly contain granulite facies xenoliths and garnet xenocrysts. Equilibrium mineral assemblages indicate metamorphic pressures of close to 6 kbar at 800°C. Rhyolites are peraluminous with phenocrysts of quartz, sanidine, plagioclase, biotite, garnet and orthopyroxene. The ferromagnesian phases show textural evidence of magmatic crystallization and are chemically distinct from xenocryst phases in dacites. Equilibrium assemblages indicate that early magmatic crystallization occurred at close to 7 kbar (20 km depth) at above 850°C, with melt-water contents of less than 3.5%. Major-element contents, trace-element contents and an initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.7085 indicate that the rhyolites formed by partial melting of dominantly quartzo-feldspathic Torlesse sediments, leaving a granulite-facies residue. The chemical variation displayed by the rhyolites is best explained by fractional crystallization of the observed high-pressure phenocryst assemblage. Most elements show a compositional gap between rhyolite and dacite. The major-element, trace-element and Sr isotope compositions of the intermediate lavas are best explained by assimilation of lower crustal material combined with fractional crystallization in mantle-derived tholeiitic magmas. Magmatism was the result of heat and magma flux from the mantle, during the change from compressive to extensional tectonics after the culmination of the Rangitata Orogeny.     

2.8-Ma ash-flow caldera at Chegem River in the northern Caucasus Mountains (Russia), contemporaneous granites, and associated ore deposits

Diverse latest Pliocene volcanic and plutonic rocks in the north-central Caucasus Mountains of southern Russia are newly interpreted as components of a large caldera system that erupted a compositionally zoned rhyolite-dacite ash-flow sheet at 2.83 ± 0.02 Ma (sanidine and biotite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar). Despite its location within a cratonic collision zone, the Chegem system is structurally and petrologically similar to typical calderas of continental-margin volcanic arcs. Erosional remnants of the outflow Chegem Tuff sheet extend at least 50 km north from the source caldera in the upper Chegem River. These outflow remnants were previously interpreted by others as erupted from several local vents, but petrologic similarities indicate a common origin and correlation with thick intracaldera Chegem Tuff. The 11 × 15 km caldera and associated intrusions are superbly exposed over a vertical range of 2,300 m in deep canyons above treeline (elev. to 3,800 m). Densely welded intracaldera Chegem Tuff, previously described by others as a rhyolite lava plateau, forms a single cooling unit, is > 2 km thick, and contains large slide blocks from the caldera walls. Caldera subsidence was accommodated along several concentric ring fractures. No prevolcanic floor is exposed within the central core of the caldera. The caldera-filling tuff is overlain by andesitic lavas and cut by a 2.84 ± 0.03-Ma porphyritic granodiorite intrusion that has a cooling age analytically indistinguishable from that of the tuffs. The Eldjurta Granite, a pluton exposed low in the next large canyon (Baksan River) 10 km to the northwest of the caldera, yields variable K-feldspar and biotite ages (2.8 to 1.0 Ma) through a 5-km vertical range in surface and drill-hole samples. These variable dates appear to record a prolonged complex cooling history within upper parts of another caldera-related pluton. Major W-Mo ore deposits at the Tirniauz mine are hosted in skarns and hornfels along the roof of the Eldjurta Granite, and associated aplitic phases have textural features of Climax-type molybdenite porphyries in the western USA. Similar ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages, mineral chemistry, and bulk-rock compositions indicate that the Chegem Tuff, intracaldera intrusion, and Eldjurta Granite are all parts of a large magmatic system that broadly resembles the middle Tertiary Questa caldera system and associated Mo deposits in northern New Mexico, USA. Because of their young age and superb three-dimensional exposures, rocks of the Chegem-Tirniauz region offer exceptional opportunities for detailed study of caldera structures, compositional gradients in volcanic rocks relative to cogenetic granites, and the thermal and fluid-flow history of a large young upper-crustal magmatic system.     

Geological evolution of a pleistocene rhyolitic center — Sierra La Primavera, Jalisco, México

The Sierra La Primavera volcanic complex consists of late Pleistocene comenditic lava flows and domes. ash-flow tuff, air-fall pumice, and cold caldera-lake sediments. The earliest lavas were erupted about 120,000 years ago, and were followed approximately 95,000 years ago by the eruption of about 20 km³ of magma as ash flows that form the compositionally-zoned Tala Tuff. Collapse of the roof zone of the magma chamber led to the formation of a shallow 11-km-diameter caldera. It soon filled with water, forming a caldera lake in which sediment began to collect. At about the same time, two central domes erupted through the middle of the lake and a “giant pumice horizon”, an important stratigraphic marker, was deposited. Shortly thereafter ring domes erupted along two parallel arcs: one along the northeast portion of the ring fracture, and the other crossing the middle of the lake. All these events occurred during a period of approximately 5,000–10,000 years. Sedimentation continued and a period of volcanic quiescence was marked by the deposition of some 30 m of fine-grained ashy sediments virtually free from pumice lapilli. Approximately 75,000 years ago, a new group of ring domes erupted at the southern margin of the lake. These domes are lapped by only 10–20 m of sediments, as uplift resulting from renewed insurgence of magma brought an end to the lake. This uplift culminated in the eruption, beginning approximately 60,000 years ago, of aphyric lavas along a southern arc. The youngest of these lavas erupted approximately 20,000–30,000 years ago.The four major fault systems in the Sierra La Primavera are related to caldera collapse or to uplift caused by the insurgence of the southern are magma. Steam vents and larga-discharge 65°C hot springs are associated with the faulting. Calculated equilibrium temperatures of the geothermal fluids are 170°C, but temperatures in excess of 240°C have been encountered in an exploratory drill hole.A seismic survey showed attenuation of both S and P waves within the caldera, P waves attenuated more severely than S waves. The greatest attenuation is associated with an area of steam vents, and the rapid lateral variations in attenuation suggest that they are produced by a shallow geothermal system rather than by underlying magma.     

The eruptive history of the Tequila volcanic field, western Mexico: ages, volumes, and relative proportions of lava types

The eruptive history of the Tequila volcanic field (1600 km²) in the western Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt is based on ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar chronology and volume estimates for eruptive units younger than 1 Ma. Ages are reported for 49 volcanic units, including Volcán Tequila (an andesitic stratovolcano) and peripheral domes, flows, and scoria cones. Volumes of volcanic units 1 Ma were obtained with the aid of field mapping, ortho aerial photographs, digital elevation models (DEMs), and ArcGIS software. Between 1120 and 200 kyrs ago, a bimodal distribution of rhyolite (~35 km³) and high-Ti basalt (~39 km³) dominated the volcanic field. Between 685 and 225 kyrs ago, less than 3 km³ of andesite and dacite erupted from more than 15 isolated vents; these lavas are crystal-poor and show little evidence of storage in an upper crustal chamber. Approximately 200 kyr ago, ~31 km³ of andesite erupted to form the stratocone of Volcán Tequila. The phenocryst assemblage of these lavas suggests storage within a chamber at ~2–3 km depth. After a hiatus of ~110 kyrs, ~15 km³ of andesite erupted along the W and SE flanks of Volcán Tequila at ~90 ka, most likely from a second, discrete magma chamber located at ~5–6 km depth. The youngest volcanic feature (~60 ka) is the small andesitic volcano Cerro Tomasillo (~2 km³). Over the last 1 Myr, a total of 128±22 km³ of lava erupted in the Tequila volcanic field, leading to an average eruption rate of ~0.13 km³/kyr. This volume erupted over ~1600 km², leading to an average lava accumulation rate of ~8 cm/kyr. The relative proportions of lava types are ~22–43% basalt, ~0.4–1% basaltic andesite, ~29–54% andesite, ~2–3% dacite, and ~18–40% rhyolite. On the basis of eruptive sequence, proportions of lava types, phenocryst assemblages, textures, and chemical composition, the lavas do not reflect the differentiation of a single (or only a few) parental liquids in a long-lived magma chamber. The rhyolites are geochemically diverse and were likely formed by episodic partial melting of upper crustal rocks in response to emplacement of basalts. There are no examples of mingled rhyolitic and basaltic magmas. Whatever mechanism is invoked to explain the generation of andesite at the Tequila volcanic field, it must be consistent with a dominantly bimodal distribution of high-Ti basalt and rhyolite for an 800 kyr interval beginning ~1 Ma, which abruptly switched to punctuated bursts of predominantly andesitic volcanism over the last 200 kyrs.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at Editorial responsility: J. Donnelly-NolanThis revised version was published online in January 2005 with corrections to Tables 1 and 3.An erratum to this article can be found at     

Apoyo caldera, Nicaragua: A major quaternary silicic eruptive center

Apoyo caldera, near Granada, Nicaragua, was formed by two phases of collapse following explosive eruptions of dacite pumice about 23,000 yr B.P. The caldera sits atop an older volcanic center consisting of lava flows, domes, and ignimbrite (ash-flow tuff). The earliest lavas erupted were compositionally homogeneous basalt flows, which were later intruded by small andesite and dacite flows along a well defined set of N—S-trending regional faults. Collapse of the roof of the magma chamber occurred along near-vertical ring faults during two widely separated eruptions. Field evidence suggests that the climactic eruption sequence opened with a powerful plinian blast, followed by eruption column collapse, which generated a complex sequence of pyroclastic surge and ignimbrite deposits and initiated caldera collapse. A period of quiescence was marked by the eruption of scoria-bearing tuff from the nearby Masaya caldera and the development of a soil horizon. Violent plinian eruptions then resumed from a vent located within the caldera. A second phase of caldera collapse followed, accompanied by the effusion of late-stage andesitic lavas, indicating the presence of an underlying zoned magma chamber. Detailed isopach and isopleth maps of the plinian deposits indicate moderate to great column heights and muzzle velocities compared to other eruptions of similar volume. Mapping of the Apoyo airfall and ignimbrite deposits gives a volume of 17.2 km³ within the 1-mm isopach. Crystal concentration studies show that the true erupted volume was 30.5 km³ (10.7 km³ Dense Rock Equivalent), approximately the volume necessary to fill the caldera. A vent area located in the northeast quadrant of the present caldera lake is deduced for all the silicic pyroclastic eruptions. This vent area is controlled by N—S-trending precaldera faults related to left-lateral motion along the adjacent volcanic segment break. Fractional crystallization of calc-alkaline basaltic magma was the primary differentiation process which led to the intermediate to silicic products erupted at Apoyo. Prior to caldera collapse, highly atypical tholeiitic magmas resembling low-K, high-Ca oceanic ridge basalts were erupted along tension faults peripheral to the magma chamber. The injection of tholeiitic magmas may have contributed to the paroxysmal caldera-forming eruptions.     

<Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar/<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar dating of the eruptive history of Mount Erebus,Antarctica: summit flows,tephra, and caldera collapse

Eruptive activity has occurred in the summit region of Mount Erebus over the last 95 ky, and has included numerous lava flows and small explosive eruptions, at least one plinian eruption, and at least one and probably two caldera-forming events. Furnace and laser step-heating ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages have been determined for 16 summit lava flows and three englacial tephra layers erupted from Mount Erebus. The summit region is composed of at least one or possibly two superimposed calderas that have been filled by post-caldera lava flows ranging in age from 17 ± 8 to 1 ± 5 ka. Dated pre-caldera summit flows display two age populations at 95 ± 9 to 76 ± 4 ka and 27 ± 3 to 21 ± 4 ka of samples with tephriphonolite and phonolite compositions, respectively. A caldera-collapse event occurred between 25 and 11 ka. An older caldera-collapse event is likely to have occurred between 80 and 24 ka. Two englacial tephra layers from the flanks of Mount Erebus have been dated at 71 ± 5 and 15 ± 4 ka. These layers stratigraphically bracket 14 undated tephra layers, and predate 19 undated tephra layers, indicating that small-scale explosive activity has occurred throughout the late Pleistocene and Holocene eruptive history of Mount Erebus. A distal, englacial plinian-fall tephra sample has an age of 39 ± 6 ka and may have been associated with the older of the two caldera-collapse events. A shift in magma composition from tephriphonolite to phonolite occurred at around 36 ka.Editorial responsibility: Julie Donnelly-Nolan     

Kaguyak dome field and its Holocene caldera,Alaska Peninsula

Kaguyak Caldera lies in a remote corner of Katmai National Park, 375 km SW of Anchorage, Alaska. The 2.5-by-3-km caldera collapsed ~ 5.8 ± 0.2 ka (¹⁴C age) during emplacement of a radial apron of poorly pumiceous crystal-rich dacitic pyroclastic flows (61–67% SiO₂). Proximal pumice-fall deposits are thin and sparsely preserved, but an oxidized coignimbrite ash is found as far as the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, 80 km southwest. Postcaldera events include filling the 150-m-deep caldera lake, emplacement of two intracaldera domes (61.5–64.5% SiO₂), and phreatic ejection of lakefloor sediments onto the caldera rim. CO₂ and H₂S bubble up through the lake, weakly but widely. Geochemical analyses (n = 148), including pre-and post-caldera lavas (53–74% SiO₂), define one of the lowest-K arc suites in Alaska. The precaldera edifice was not a stratocone but was, instead, nine contiguous but discrete clusters of lava domes, themselves stacks of rhyolite to basalt exogenous lobes and flows. Four extracaldera clusters are mid-to-late Pleistocene, but the other five are younger than 60 ka, were truncated by the collapse, and now make up the steep inner walls. The climactic ignimbrite was preceded by ~ 200 years by radial emplacement of a 100-m-thick sheet of block-rich glassy lava breccia (62–65.5% SiO₂). Filling the notches between the truncated dome clusters, the breccia now makes up three segments of the steep caldera wall, which beheads gullies incised into the breccia deposit prior to caldera formation. They were probably shed by a large lava dome extruding where the lake is today.     

Geology of the peralkaline volcano at Pantelleria,Strait of Sicily

Situated in a submerged continental rift, Pantelleria is a volcanic island with a subaerial eruptive history longer than 300 Ka. Its eruptive behavior, edifice morphologies, and complex, multiunit geologic history are representative of strongly peralkaline centers. It is dominated by the 6-km-wide Cinque Denti caldera, which formed ca. 45 Ka ago during eruption of the Green Tuff, a strongly rheomorphic unit zoned from pantellerite to trachyte and consisting of falls, surges, and pyroclastic flows. Soon after collapse, trachyte lava flows from an intracaldera central vent built a broad cone that compensated isostatically for the volume of the caldera and nearly filled it. Progressive chemical evolution of the chamber between 45 and 18 Ka ago is recorded in the increasing peralkalinity of the youngest lava of the intracaldera trachyte cone and the few lavas erupted northwest of the caldera. Beginning about 18 Ka ago, inflation of the chamber opened old ring fractures and new radial fractures, along which recently differentiated pantellerite constructed more than 25 pumice cones and shields. Continued uplift raised the northwest half of the intracaldera trachyte cone 275 m, creating the island's present summit, Montagna Grande, by trapdoor uplift. Pantellerite erupted along the trapdoor faults and their hingeline, forming numerous pumice cones and agglutinate sheets as well as five lava domes. Degassing and drawdown of the upper pantelleritic part of a compositionally and thermally stratified magma chamber during this 18-3-Ka episode led to entrainment of subjacent, crystal-rich, pantelleritic trachyte magma as crenulate inclusions. Progressive mixing between host and inclusions resulted in a secular decrease in the degree of evolution of the 0.82 km³ of magma erupted during the episode.The 45-Ka-old caldera is nested within the La Vecchia caldera, which is thought to have formed around 114 Ka ago. This older caldera was filled by three widespread welded units erupted 106, 94, and 79 Ka ago. Reactivation of the ring fracture ca. 67 Ka ago is indicated by venting of a large pantellerite centero and a chain of small shields along the ring fault. For each of the two nested calderas, the onset of postcaldera ring-fracture volcanism coincides with a low stand of sea level.Rates of chemical regeneration within the chamber are rapid, the 3% crystallization/Ka of the post-Green Tuff period being typical. Highly evolved pantellerites are rare, however, because intervals between major eruptions (averaging 13–6 Ka during the last 190 Ka) are short. Benmoreites and mugearites are entirely lacking. Fe-Ti-rich alkalic basalts have erupted peripherally along NW-trending lineaments parallel to the enclosing rift but not within the nested calderas, suggesting that felsic magma persists beneath them. The most recent basaltic eruption (in 1891) took place 4 km northwest of Pantelleria, manifesting the long-term northwestward migration of the volcanic focus. These strongly differentiated basalts reflect low-pressure fractional crystallization of partial melts of garnet peridotite that coalesce in small magma reservoirs replenished only infrequently in this continental rift environment.     

La Pacana caldera and the Atana Ignimbrite — a major ash-flow and resurgent caldera complex in the Andes of northern Chile

The recently discovered La Pacana caldera, 60 × 35 km, is the largest caldera yet described in South America. This resurgent caldera of Pliocene age developed in a continental platemargin environment in a major province of ignimbrite volcanism in the Central Andes of northern Chile at about 23° S latitude. Collapse of La Pacana caldera was initiated by the eruption of about 900 km³ of the rhyodacitic Atana Ignimbrite. The Atana Ignimbrite was erupted from a composite ring fracture system and formed at least four major ash-flow tuff units that are separated locally by thin air-fall and surge deposits; all four sheets were emplaced in rapid succession about 4.1 ± 0.4 Ma ago. Caldera collapse was followed closely by resurgent doming of the caldera floor, accompanied by early postcaldera eruptions of dacitic to rhyolitic lava domes along the ring fractures. The resurgent dome is an elongated, asymmetrical uplift, 48.5 × 12 km, which is broken by a complex system of normal faults locally forming a narrow discontinuous apical graben. Later, postcaldera eruptions produced large andesitic and dacitic stratocones along the caldera margins and dacitic domes on the resurgent dome beginning about 3.5 Ma ago and persisting into the Quaternary. Hydrothermally altered rocks occur in the eroded cores of precaldera and postcaldera stratovolcanoes and along fractures in the resurgent dome, but no ore deposits are known. A few warm springs located in salars within the caldera moat appear to be vestiges of the caldera geothermal system.     

Refinement of the late Quaternary geologic history of Erebus volcano,Antarctica using Ar/Ar and Cl age determinations

Six new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and three cosmogenic ³⁶Cl age determinations provide new insight into the late Quaternary eruptive history of Erebus volcano. Anorthoclase from 3 lava flows on the caldera rim have ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of 23 ± 12, 81 ± 3 and 172 ± 10 ka (all uncertainties 2σ). The ages confirm the presence of a second, younger, superimposed caldera near the southwestern margin of the summit plateau and show that eruptive activity has occurred in the summit region for 77 ± 13 ka longer than previously thought. Trachyte from “Ice Station” on the eastern flank is 159 ± 2 ka, similar in age to those at Bomb Peak and Aurora Cliffs. The widespread occurrences of trachyte on the eastern flank of Erebus suggest a major previously unrecognized episode of trachytic volcanism. The trachyte lavas are chemically and isotopically distinct from alkaline lavas erupted contemporaneously in the summit region < 5 km away.     

Ar/Ar ages of tephras intercalated in astronomically tuned Neogene sedimentary sequences in the eastern Mediterranean

We present new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data for sanidine and biotite derived from volcanic ash layers that are intercalated in Pliocene and late Miocene astronomically dated sequences in the Mediterranean with the aim to solve existing inconsistencies in the intercalibration between the two independent absolute dating methods. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar sanidine ages are systematically younger by 0.7-2.3% than the astronomical ages for the same ash layers. The significance of the discrepancy disappears except for the upper Ptolemais ashes, which reveal the largest difference, if an improved full error propagation method is applied to calculate the absolute error in the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages. The total variance is dominated by that of the activity of the decay of ⁴⁰K to ⁴⁰Ar (∼70%) and that the amount of radiogenic ⁴⁰Ar_p in the primary standard GA1550 biotite (∼15%). If the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages are calculated relative to an astronomically dated standard, the influence of these parameters is greatly reduced, resulting in a more reliable age and in a significant reduction of the error in ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating.Astronomically calibrated ages for Taylor Creek Rhyolite (TCR) and Fish Canyon Tuff (FCT) sanidine are 28.53±0.02 and 28.21±0.04 Ma (±1 S.E.), respectively, if we start from the more reliable results of the Cretan A1 ash layer. The most likely explanation for the large discrepancy found for the younger Ptolemais ash layers (equivalent to FCT of 28.61 Ma) is an error in the tuning of this part of the sequence.     

The geology of Mount Hasan stratovolcano, central Anatolia, Turkey

Mount Hasan is a double-peaked stratovolcano, located in Central Anatolia, Turkey. The magmas erupted from this multi-caldera complex range from basalt to rhyolite, but are dominated by andesite and dacite. Two terminal cones (Big Mt. Hasan and Small Mt. Hasan) culminate at 3253 m and 3069 m respectively. There are four evolutionary stages in the history of the volcanic complex (stage 1: Kecikalesi volcano, 13 Ma, stage 2: Palaeovolcano, 7 Ma, stage 3: Mesovolcano and stage 4: Neovolcano). The eruptive products consist of lava flows, lava domes, and pyroclastic rocks. The later include ignimbrites, phreatomagmatic intrusive breccias and nuées ardentes, sometimes reworked as lahars. The total volume is estimated to be 354 km³, the area extent 760 km². Textural and mineralogical data suggest that both magma mixing and fractional crystallization were involved in the generation of the andesites and dacites. The magmas erupted from the central volcanoes show a transition with time from tholeite to calc-alkaline. Three generations of basaltic strombolian cones and lava flows were emplaced contemporaneously with the central volcanoes. The corresponding lavas are alkaline with a sodic tendency.