40Ar/39Ar Ages of Palm Park Volcanic Rocks, South-Central New Mexico F.C
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New Mexico Geological Society Downloaded from: http://nmgs.nmt.edu/publications/guidebooks/69 40Ar/39Ar ages of Palm Park volcanic rocks, south-central New Mexico F.C. Ramos and Heizler, M.T., Hampton, B.A., 2018, pp. 165-171 Supplemental data available: http://nmgs.nmt.edu/repository/index.cfm?rid=2018005 in: Las Cruces Country III, Mack, Greg H.; Hampton, Brian A.; Ramos, Frank C.; Witcher, James C.; Ulmer-Scholle, Dana S., New Mexico Geological Society 69th Annual Fall Field Conference Guidebook, 218 p. This is one of many related papers that were included in the 2018 NMGS Fall Field Conference Guidebook. Annual NMGS Fall Field Conference Guidebooks Every fall since 1950, the New Mexico Geological Society (NMGS) has held an annual Fall Field Conference that explores some region of New Mexico (or surrounding states). Always well attended, these conferences provide a guidebook to participants. 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HAMPTON1 1Department of Geological Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003 USA; [email protected] 2New Mexico Geochronology Research Laboratory, New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Socorro, NM 87801 ABSTRACT—Volcanic rocks of the Palm Park Formation, exposed in multiple locations throughout south-central New Mexico, are composed of volcanic and volcanoclastic rocks that are lithologically and compositionally variable at scales within individual exposures and between exposures at different localities. 40Ar/39Ar ages of plagioclase and biotite from Palm Park volcanic rocks range from ~43.5 to ~39.5 Ma. These eruption ages can be used to correlate exposures throughout south-central New Mexico and are generally consistent with zircon ages from the same units. Overall, these ages constrain the timing of magmatism related to the Laramide Orogeny as it transitioned to magmatism associated with the ignimbrite flare-up. This is a poorly studied portion of the middle Tertiary magmatic history of southern New Mexico and Palm Park Formation volcanic units provide an excellent opportunity to refine our knowledge of the geologic history of this time interval. INTRODUCTION ever, related to Palm Park Formation volcanic sources that are local in nature (Ramos et al., this volume). Although the ages of late-Eocene, ignimbrite flare-up-re- Here, 40Ar/39Ar ages are determined for a range of Palm Park lated magmatism have been well documented in south-central lithologies that include ash-fall tuffs and andesitic and dacitic New Mexico (e.g., Zimmerer and McIntosh, 2013; Verplanck lavas exposed in the Doña Ana Mountains, Robledo Mountains, et al., 1999; Ramos et al., this volume), little is known about and Sierra de las Uvas Mountains (Fig. 1). These 40Ar/39Ar ages the specific ages of middle- to late-Eocene volcanism and vol- are compared to the zircon ages of Creitz et al. (this volume) caniclastic sedimentation that occurred just prior to this time that were obtained from the same or similar rocks. In gener- period. Tectonically, the period encompasses the transition al, Palm Park Formation rocks can be difficult to date because between Laramide orogenesis and the onset of late Eocene/ they are commonly altered and thus new ages determined here early Oligocene bimodal volcanism (prior to initiation of Rio will ultimately provide a critical temporal foundation in which Grande rifting in this region at ~36 Ma) and is reflected in the to correlate and understand the origins of highly disparate and volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of the Palm Park Formation. poorly understood exposures of Palm Park Formation rocks The Palm Park Formation in south-central New Mexico is scattered throughout south-central New Mexico (e.g., in the composed of an agglomeration of lithologically variable volca- Organ, Caballo, Potrillo, and southern San Andres Mountains). nic rocks and volcanoclastic sedimentary rocks, mostly andes- itic or dacitic in composition, that are scattered throughout the METHODS region. Although lavas within regional stratigraphic sections are local in nature, accompanying ash-fall deposits likely orig- Whole rock samples were collected from eight individual inate from more distal volcanic sources. Overall, these rocks sites (Fig. 1, Table 1) encompassing four regional Palm Park are primarily andesites or dacites and are difficult to strati- exposures including those in the Sierra de las Uvas (Bell graphically correlate across localities. Top Mountain), Robledo (Apache and Faulkner Canyons), The oldest exposed section of the Palm Park Formation is Doña Ana (Cleofas Canyon), and Organ Mountains (Fillmore marked by a light-colored ash-fall tuff (PALMP(RB/AC)-02) Canyon). Two additional samples, one from the basal portion in the Robledo Mountains (Seager et al., 2008) that yields a and one from the upper portion of the Palm Park Formation weighted-mean zircon age of 45.0±0.8 Ma (Creitz et al., this in Cleofas Canyon in the Dona Ana Mountains, collected by volume). This ash-fall tuff is present in Palm Park strata but Ramos et al. (this volume), will also be discussed. Whole rocks may originate from a more distal source and not reflect the were crushed and sieved to obtain the largest grains available same local magmatic sources as most Palm Park Formation (typically >50 to <300 um). Individual plagioclase feldspars volcanic rocks (Ramos et al., this volume). Similarly, the and biotite (from a single dacite from Cleofas Canyon) were youngest section of the Palm Park Formation is defined by an hand picked from sieve fractions. Plagioclase crystals were ash fall tuff (PALMP(SU/BT)-01) in the uppermost Palm Park etched in 10% hydrofluoric acid for 5-20 minute intervals, Formation in the Sierra de las Uvas Mountains that yields a rinsed in distilled water, and sonicated to obtain crystals free weighted-mean zircon age of 39.6±0.5 Ma (Creitz et al., this of adhering materials. Plagioclases chosen for single crystal volume). This tuff may also originate from a distal magmatic analyses ranged from 0.1 to 3 mg. Biotite from the Cleofas source (Ramos et al., this volume). Intervening strata are, how- Canyon dacite was gently cleaned in water. 166 RamosRAMOS, HetEIZLE al._FIGURE_01R, AND HAMPTON B A 108°W 106°W Caballo Mtns. Black Point of Range Socorro Rocks S O U T H E R N Carrizozo N E W M E X I C O Palm 33°N Alamagordo Valley Silver City Rincon Deming Carlsbad Las Cruces Hills 32°N 32°40'N 25 Major towns Study area San Diego 0 100 Km Mtns. Middle-late Eocene igneous rocks (~46–36 Ma) Late Cret.-mid. Eocene igneous rocks (~80–46 Ma) Selden San Andres Goodsight Mtns. Sierra de las Uvas Hills Doña Ana Uvas Valley Mtns. Mtns. BT CC Hardscrabble Hill Cooke’s FC Range 32°20'N Robledo Mtns. FL AC Sleeping Organ Lady Hills LAS Mtns. CRUCES Potrillo 0 10 Km 107°30'W Mtns. 106°40'W Pliocene–Present alluvium/colluvium and sedimentary and volcanic rocks (includes Camp Rice and Paomas Fms.) - Latest stage of Rio Grande Rift Neogene normal faults Late Eocene–Pleistocene sedimentary and volcanic rocks (includes Bell Top Fm. and equivalent caldera complexes, Modern Rio Grande river Thurman/Uvas Fms., as well as Hayner Ranch and Rincon Valley Fms.) - Early/middle stages of Rio Grande Rift Major interstates/highways Middle–late Eocene (~46–36 Ma) volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks (includes Palm Park and Rubio Peak Fms. as well Major towns as Orejon Andesite and Cleofas Andesite) - Pre Rio Grande Rift/post-Laramide deformation Field localities: Paleocene–early Eocene sedimentary rocks (includes the Love Ranch Fm.) BT - Bell Top Mountain - Final deformational stage of the Laramide Orogeny FC - Faulkner Canyon Paleozoic sedimentary rocks (includes Bliss Sandstone, Montoya and Fusselman Fms., as well as Hueco, Abo, and AC - Apache Canyon Yeso Fms.) - Passive margin (Camb–Miss) and Ancestral Rocky Mtns (Penn–Perm) CC - Cleofas Canyon Precambrian metamorphic and igneous rocks - Mazatzal basement province (Paleoproterozoic) and Mesoproterozoic FL - Fillmore Canyon granitoids FIGURE 1. Regional map of south-central New Mexico showing sample locations of whole rocks collected for this study. Palm Park Formation air-fall tuffs were collected from Apache Canyon (Robledo Mountains) and Bell Top Mountain (Sierras de las Uvas Mountains).