The Bearhead Rhyolite, Jemez Volcanic Field, NM
Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 107 32001) 241±264 www.elsevier.com/locate/jvolgeores Effusive eruptions from a large silicic magma chamber: the Bearhead Rhyolite, Jemez volcanic ®eld, NM Leigh Justet*, Terry L. Spell Department of Geosciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, 89154-4010, USA Received 23 February 2000; accepted 6 November 2000 Abstract 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 ¯ows. The Bearhead Rhyolite and associated Peralta Tuff Member in the Jemez volcanic ®eld, 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 3the Main Group) were erupted during an ,540 ka interval between 7.06 and 6.52 Ma. These rocks de®ne 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 3,200 km2), and presence of a major hydrothermal system support the hypothesis that Main Group magmas were derived from a single, large, shallow magma chamber.
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