James Clifford Ratte

Geochronology of the Arabian Shield, western Saudi Arabia: K-Ar results

An orogenic event, correlated with the Pan-African event in eastern Africa, affected the Arabian Peninsula between 510 and 610 m.y. ago and is well-recorded geochronologically. The event probably included two thermal pulses or maxima, the first occurring between 560 and 610 m.y. ago and the second between 510 and 540 m.y. ago. The earlier pulse, the more severe one, included the majority of the igneous activity and metamorphism. During the last part of the 510- to 610-m.y. period, left-lateral strike-slip faulting occurred along a set of northwest-trending en echelon fracture zones, whose composite displacement may be as large as 240 km. At least one and probably more orogenic events affected the Arabian Peninsula before the Pan-African event, but only minimum ages can be assigned to these, because thermal effects of the 510- to 610-m.y. event have reset K-Ar ages. Major diorite-granite batholiths, however, formed before 760 m.y. ago.

Time-stratigraphic framework for the Eocene-Oligocene Mogollon-Datil volcanic field, southwest New Mexico

A time-stratigraphic framework for discontinuously exposed regional ignimbrites in the Eocene-Oligocene Mogollon-Datil volcanic field has been established using correlations aided by 40Ar/39Ar age determinations and paleomagnetic analyses. 40Ar/39Ar age spectra from sanidine separates (25 regional ignimbrites, 85 samples, 97 spectra) yield well-defined plateau ages that are precise (within-sample and within-unit 1σ < ± 0.5%) and agree closely with independently established stratigraphic order. Paleomagnetic remanence directions (404 sites) from individual ignimbrite outflow sheets are generally vertically and horizontally uniform throughout facies ranging from thick (100-500 m), densely welded, proximal ignimbrites to thin (1.5-30 m), unwelded, distal fringes. Between-unit differences in paleomagnetic directions provide useful correlation criteria, particularly for units having ages too close to be resolved using 40Ar/39Ar dating. The Mogollon-Datil time-stratigraphic framework clarifies ignimbrite history and provides improved age control for intercalated lavas and sedimentary rocks. Ignimbrite activity was strongly episodic; outflow sheets were primarily erupted in four discrete pulses representing synchronized activity of two separate cauldron complexes. Activity in the southern complex began at 36.2 Ma near Las Cruces, New Mexico, and subsequently migrated 220 km northwest, culminating in the 28.0 Ma Bursum cauldron. Activity in the northern complex, located west of Socorro, New Mexico, underwent a less defined and more modest 40-km westward migration over its 32.0 to 24.3 Ma life span. The four pulses of ignimbrite activity were (1) 36.2-24.3 Ma, 12 major units, >1,500 km3 total volume; (2) 32.0-31.4 Ma, three major units, >1,500 km3 volume; (3) 29.1-27.4 Ma, nine major units, >6,000 km3; and (4) 24.3 Ma, one major unit. The third and largest ignimbrite pulse was accompanied by extensive rhyolitic dome and flow eruptions in the area between the two main cauldron complexes.

The evolution of the Eagle Peak volcano — a distinctive phase of middle miocene volcanism in the western Mogollon-Datil volcanic field, New Mexico

Abstract The andesitic to dacitic Eagle Peak volcano represents a distinctive phase of Middle Miocene, post-caldera volcanism in the western part of the Mogollon-Datil volcanic field in southwestern New Mexico. Erupted during Basin and Range extensional tectonism, rocks of the Eagle Peak volcano are chemically and isotopically distinct from the bimodal suite, extension-related basalt and rhyolite that also erupted in this area from the Early Miocene to the Pleistocene. Instead, they have close petrogenetic affinities to the early post-caldera (~ 27–23 Ma) calc-alkaline, Bearwallow Mountain Andesite erupted from shield volcanos aligned along prominent Basin and Range fault structures. Geologic mapping and detailed petrographic and chemical studies of the Eagle Peak volcano has enabled the distinction of five different flow units, a central plug and a feeder dike. The flows were erupted from a central vent and two subsidiary “satellitic” centers on the western and southwestern flanks of the volcano. 40 Ar 39 Ar age-spectrum and paleomagnetic studies indicate that the Eagle Peak volcano was active between 12.1 and 11.4 Ma; its activity spanned at least one magnetic polarity reversal. With exception of late satellitic eruptions on the northwestern margin of the volcano, central vent and satellitic flows were erupted in rapid succession and have an average age of 11.7 Ma. The central plug yielded a plateau age of 11.4 Ma, which is a minimum of 90,000 years (2σ) younger than the 11.7 Ma average age of the central vent and satellitic flows. Major-oxide, trace-element and isotope geochemistry define two distinct magmatic series: a central vent and a satellitic series. Rocks of the satellitic series, although similar in modal mineralogy and rare earth element patterns, are slightly more alkaline and relatively enriched in the high field strength elements Nb, Ta, P and Ti compared to the central vent eruptives. Sr and Nd isotopes further demonstrate these differences; a sample of the satellitic flows exhibits lower ( 87 Sr 86 Sr )i (0.7084) and higher ϵNd values (ϵNd = −4.8) relative to an upper flow of the central vent series [ ( 87 Sr 86 Sr ) i = 0.7096), ϵ Nd = −8.5 ]. Major- and trace-element data support petrogenetic models based on periodic tapping of the central vent and satellitic series magmas, which both evolved by crystal fractionation. Central vent magmas evolved mainly by a modified process of filter pressing that accompanied the transfer of magma from a deep into a higher-level reservoir. Thus, a portion of the melt with some of the original crystals was extracted during this transer changing the resulting bulk magma chemistry but not affecting the major phenocryst compositions. In contrast, crystal fractionation within the satellitic magmas accompanied a progressive evolution in both phenocryst composition and bulk magma chemistry. Although temporally associated with bimodal basalt-rhyolite volcanism ( ( 87 Sr 86 Sr ) i = 0.7030-0.7057, ϵ Nd = 0 to +9.12 ], and are substantially more primitive than Eagle Peak rocks [ ( 87 Sr 86 Sr ) i = 0.70839-0.70958, ϵ Nd = − 8.4 to − 4.9 ]. In contrast, Eagle Peak volcanics are geochemically more similar to the 27-23 Ma post-caldera Bearwallow Mountain Andesite, which is characterized by ( 87 Sr 86 Sr ) i = 0.7070–0.7102 and ϵNd = −8.15 to −5.95. The Eagle Peak volcanics, like the Bearwallow Mountain Andesite, assimilated a significant component of crustal material and were both likely derived from a similar lithospheric mantle source beneath the western Mogollon-Datil volcanic field.