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Rapid extraction of discrete magma batches from a large differentiating magma chamber: the Central Plateau Member rhyolites, Yellowstone Caldera, Wyoming

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Abstract

The Central Plateau Member rhyolites have been erupted between 173 and 70 ka and are the youngest Yellowstone intracaldera rhyolites. They mostly comprise very voluminous lava flows totaling ~600 km3 in volume. Their eruptive vents define two NNW-trending lineaments which are aligned with regional faults. We present new whole rock, glass, and mineral analyses and propose a petrogenetic and volcano-tectonic model for these rhyolites. At a caldera-wide scale, there is a temporal enrichment in elements such as Nb, Y and HREE, and a depletion in Sr, Ba, and Ce/Yb. Simultaneously, clinopyroxene becomes less magnesian while Ti contents in quartz decrease. By contrast, quartz in all rhyolites is rounded and bears long glass re-entrants, suggesting heating. Based on these data and observations, we propose that the Central Plateau Member rhyolites have been generated as follows. A hydrothermally altered low-δ18O rhyolitic protolith beneath the Mallard Lake Resurgent Dome in the southwestern part of the caldera started to melt at ~250 ka. Repeated heating pulses caused the melting front to expand radially, and a large crystal mush formed beneath much of the caldera. The mush was able to differentiate but not erupt due to its high crystallinity and viscosity. Further inputs of heat and silicic magma in this mush increased the degree of melting, forming crystal-poor magma batches which erupted a few hundred to a few thousand years later through regional faults to form the Central Plateau Member rhyolites.

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Acknowledgments

The assistance of Bill Minarik and Lang Shi for the ICP-MS and electron microprobe work has been essential to the completion of this project. Crystal Mann helped with pyroxene analyses and Glenna Keating helped obtaining XRF analyses. We thank Alfred Anderson of the University of Chicago, Raymond Mineau of the Université du Québec à Montréal, and Jack Wilcock of McGill University for their assistance with CL imaging. Comments from Ilya Bindeman and an anonymous reviewer, as well as discussions with Jonathan Hanson, Jorge Vazquez and Kathryn Watts, significantly improved the quality of this manuscript. We thank Yan Lavallée, Abby Peterson and Tyler Barton for their assistance in the field. Fieldwork was carried out under National Park Service Research and Collecting Permit YELL-05478; we acknowledge advice from the Yellowstone National Park Research Permit Office, as well as Jake Lowenstern and John Eichelberger for their permit proposal reviews. This research was supported by grants to JS from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and le Fonds Québécois pour la Recherche sur la Nature et les Technologies. GG acknowledges a scholarship from GEOTOP-Université du Québec à Montréal-McGill.

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  1. Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University, 3450 University street, Montreal, QC, H3A 2A7, Canada

    Guillaume Girard & John Stix

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  1. Guillaume Girard
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Correspondence to Guillaume Girard.

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Communicated by T. L. Grove.

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Girard, G., Stix, J. Rapid extraction of discrete magma batches from a large differentiating magma chamber: the Central Plateau Member rhyolites, Yellowstone Caldera, Wyoming. Contrib Mineral Petrol 160, 441–465 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-009-0487-1

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