Recent Volcanism in the Puyehue--Cordon Caulle Region, Southern Andes, Chile (40?5?S): Petrogenesis of Evolved Lavas

Puyehue Volcano (40?5?S) in the southern volcanic zone (33?–46?)of the Andes is a largely basaltic stratovolcano constructedon a highly eroded, dominantly andesitic volcanic center. Duringgrowth of Puyehue Volcano there was a trend from basaltic tomore siliceous lavas, and the most recent eruptions (1921–22,1960) are Cordon Caulle rhyodacites and rhyolites erupted fromfissures northwest of the volcano. These basaltic through rhyoliticlavas define a medium-K₂O suite of tholeiitic affinity withtrace element and Pb-isotopic signatures typical of volcanicrocks associated with subduction zones. Most of the evolved lavas, ranging from andesite to rhyolite,formed by low to moderate pressure ( 5 kb) fractional crystallizationof a plagioclase-dominated anhydrous assemblage. Magma mixingproduced aphyric basaltic andesites with anomalously high incompatibleelement contents and latestage andesites with disequilibriumphenocryst assemblages. The age progression from abundant basaltto younger, less voluminous, more silicic lavas reflects increasinglygreater degrees of fractional crystallization which caused theapparent compositional gap between mixing end members to widen. There is no evidence in the silicic lavas for assimilation ofgeochemically distinctive continental crust. Puyehue basaltsare surprisingly more heterogeneous in ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (0?70378–0?70416)and incompatible element abundance ratios (e.g., La/Sm, Ba/Nb)than the more evolved lavas. This geochemical variability mayreflect subcrustal source heterogeneities or contamination bylower crust. The older basaltic andesites and andesites underlyingthe Puyehue edifice have Sr and Nd isotopic ratios and incompatibleelement abundance ratios within the range of Puyehue basalts.Apparently, similar sources and processes were involved in theirgenesis.