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Clinopyroxene thermobarometry of basalts from the Coso and Big Pine volcanic fields, California

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Abstract

The Coso and Big Pine volcanic fields of eastern California exhibit different magmatic histories. The Big Pine field erupted only basalt lavas, some of which bear mantle xenoliths, whereas the Coso field erupted both basalt and rhyolite and is a major geothermal resource. These different magmatic products could be explained if Coso basalts stalled in the crust before erupting, providing heat to generate silicic magma, whereas Big Pine basalts erupted directly from mantle depths. Clinopyroxene–liquid thermobarometry indicates an average clinopyroxene crystallization depth of 45 km for Big Pine basalts and 19 km for Coso basalts, consistent with this hypothesis. Differences in crustal density, crustal structure, and prior magmatic history may have contributed to the different magmatic processes operating at each field. Our results indicate that the effects of analytical error, crystal zoning, and correlated errors on estimated temperatures and pressures from the thermobarometer are relatively small compared to intersample differences.

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Acknowledgments

Research in the Coso field has been aided over the years by the U.S. Navy’s Geothermal Program Office. We especially thank Frank Monastero for encouragement, expert advice, and a thorough technical review of this manuscript. Keith Putirka and Gordon Moore provided constructive and positive reviews for the journal, and Putirka helped us to properly implement the thermobarometer. Pre-submission reviews by Drew Coleman and Larry Benninger greatly aided the science and presentation. We thank Alan Boudreau for help with the microprobe analyses.

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  1. B. E. Mordick

    Present address: Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, 1201 Lake Robbins Drive, The Woodlands, TX, 77380, USA

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  1. Department of Geological Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3315, USA

    B. E. Mordick & A. F. Glazner

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  1. B. E. Mordick
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  2. A. F. Glazner
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Correspondence to A. F. Glazner.

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Communicated by T.L. Grove

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Mordick, B.E., Glazner, A.F. Clinopyroxene thermobarometry of basalts from the Coso and Big Pine volcanic fields, California. Contrib Mineral Petrol 152, 111–124 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-006-0097-0

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