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1. The 3.1 Ma to 100 ka evolution of the Goat Rocks Volcanic Complex: Persistence and evolution of magmatism at a long-lived major andesite locus on the Cascades Arc

   Wall, Kellie T. ( July 2022 , Theses and dissertations Oregon State University)

   PhD Dissertation Abstract: The imposing andesite stratovolcano is the characteristic expression of subduction zone magmatism, posing hazards to coastal populations and bearing insight into deep Earth processes. On a map of a typical volcanic arc, one can easily distinguish the approximately linear alignment and regular spacing of these major edifices that stand out from a diffuse distribution of mafic volcanoes (e.g. the Quaternary Cascades; Hildreth, 2007). The andesitic composite volcanoes have a reputation for being complex, open systems: crystal zoning “stratigraphies,” diverse crystal cargoes including antecrysts or xenocrysts, quenched magmatic inclusions, and variations in isotopic signatures are among the many lines of evidence that these systems involve a variety of igneous processes and melt sources. To investigate the development and evolution of such transcrustal magma factories, I have conducted a detailed temporal, spatial, and geochemical characterization of a long-lived arc volcanic center in the southern Washington Cascades, the Goat Rocks volcanic complex. Results from ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and U/Pb geochronology constrain the lifespan of the Goat Rocks volcanic complex from ~3.1 Ma to ~100 ka. During this time, four major composite volcanoes were built (as well as several smaller volcanoes). From oldest to youngest, these are Tieton Peak, Bear Creek Mountain, Lakemore »Creek volcano, and Old Snowy Mountain. Four volcanic stages are defined based on the lifespans of these centers and distinct compositional changes that occur from one to the next: Tieton Peak stage (3.1-2.6 Ma), Bear Creek Mountain stage (1.6-1.1 Ma), Lake Creek stage (1.1 Ma to 456 ka), and Old Snowy Mountain stage (440 ka to 115 ka). Two lava flow remnants also have ages in the interim between Tieton Peak stage and Bear Creek Mountain stage (2.3 Ma and 2.1 Ma), and their sources are not yet identified. The ages of the Bear Creek Mountain and Lake Creek stages in fact overlap, and the gap between Lake Creek stage and Old Snowy Mountain stage is only on the order of 10⁴ years. Based on supporting compositional evidence, the Bear Creek Mountain, Lake Creek, and Old Snowy Mountain stage volcanoes are considered to be the migrating surface expressions of a continuous magmatic system that was active over at least ~1.5 million years. It remains uncertain whether the gaps between the Tieton Peak stage, scattered early Pleistocene andesites, and Bear Creek Mountain stage are due to incomplete exposure/sampling or real quiescent periods earlier in the development of the Goat Rocks volcanic complex. Throughout the construction of the andesitic complex, mafic volcanoes were active on its periphery. These include the Miriam Creek volcano (~3.6-3.1 Ma), Devils Washbasin volcano (3.0-2.7 Ma), Hogback Mountain (1.1 Ma – 891 ka), Lakeview Mountain (194 ka), and Walupt Lake volcano (65 ka). Two basalt and basaltic andesite units (Qob₁ and Qob₂, 1.4 and 1.3 Ma; Hammond, 2017) also erupted from the Goat Rocks area, likely an older incarnation of Hogback Mountain. The suite of mafic magmas erupted in this region are all calcalkaline basalt (or basaltic andesite; CAB), but two compositional groups emerge from the trace element and isotopic data. Group 1 is LILE and LREE-enriched, with higher ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotopes, and includes compositions from Devils Washbasin, Lower Hogback Mountain, and Lakeview Mountain. Group 2 is less enriched in LILE and LREE and lower in ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, and includes the compositions of Miriam Creek, Qob1, Upper Hogback Mountain, Walupt Lake, and Coleman Weedpatch. The two groups are recurrent through time and with no geographic distinction; in fact, both types were tapped by the Hogback Mountain volcano. Together both of these groups, alongside CABs from Mount Adams and various basalts from Mount St. Helens, form a compositional array between the basalts of the High Cascades and the intraplate-type basalts (IPB) of Mount Adams and Simcoe volcanic field. These results lead to three conclusions. 1) Variably subduction-modified mantle is distributed across the region, perhaps either as stratified layers or a web-like network of fluid pathways amongst less metasomatized mantle. 2) Transitional compositions between the IPBs and typical “High Cascades” CAB/HAOT signature suggest a broader influence of the mantle domain that feeds IPBs—if asthenospheric mantle through a slab window, as suggested by Mullen et al. (2017), then perhaps it bleeds in smaller quantities over a broader area. This compositional trend solidifies the interpretation of the southern Washington Cascades as a unique and coherent “segment” of the arc (the Washington segment of Pitcher and Kent, 2019). 3) The recurrence of variable mafic magma types through time, and with no geographic boundaries, indicates that the compositional evolution of the Goat Rocks volcanic complex was not likely driven by a change in mafic input. Indeed, the Sr, Nd, Hf, and Pb isotope ratios of the intermediate to felsic suite are closely aligned with the local basalts and suggest a limited role of crustal assimilation. Importantly, several mineral thermometers (zircon, ilmenite-magnetite pairs, and amphibole) align in recording higher crystallization temperatures in Bear Creek Mountain to early Lake Creek time, a cooling trend through the Lake Creek stage, and a more diverse range of temperatures in the transition to Old Snowy Mountain stage. Thus, it is suggested that the compositional evolution at Goat Rocks represents a thermal cycle of waxing and waning magmatic flux: where the period of Bear Creek Mountain to early Lake Creek volcanism was the climactic phase of a vertically extensive magma homogenization factory, then the system waned and cooled, ultimately losing its ability to filter, homogenize, and enrich magmas.« less
2. Chemical and mechanical controls on metasomatic assimilation of eclogite blocks in high-pressure host gneiss

   Menold, C.A. ; Grove, M. ; Macris, C.A. ( December 2019 , AGU Fall Meeting 2019)

   Mica- and garnet-rich selvages are often developed around eclogitized mafic blocks within felsic gneiss in HP to UHP metamorphic terranes. The development of these metasomatic features ranges from readily identified reaction zones between the eclogite and host gneiss to shear zones where the spatial relationships between eclogite blocks and host gneiss are completely obscured. Block-selvage relationships within the Luliang Shan HP/UHP belt (North Qaidam, China) and the Tso Morari UHP terrane (NW Himalaya, India) approximate end members of the selvage preservation process. Here we apply whole-rock and incompatible trace element compositions coupled with B and O isotopic data in white mica to constrain the relationship of metasomatism vs. deformation during selvage formation. Within the Luliang Shan, extensive fluid flow formed thick, compositionally hybridized phengite- and garnet-bearing selvages between eclogite (SiO2 ~ 50%) and quartzofeldspathic gneiss (SiO2 ~ 80%). The Luliang Shan HP selvages have intermediate SiO2 and range from 5-10 m in thickness as "halos" around spheroidal eclogite blocks. Volatile enrichment at near-UHP conditions in the selvage is indicated by enrichment of Li, Cs, Ba, Ar, and δ18O and very light δ11B values in phengite. The retrograde muscovite from the host gneiss is low in Li, Cs, Rb, and Srmore »but possess remarkably high B concentrations (up to 3000 ppm) and positive δ11B values that are best explained by interaction with fluids devolatilized from accreted sediments within cooler regions of the subduction zone. Alternatively, the Tso Morari UHP terrane features boudinaged discoids of eclogite encased within highly strained quartzofeldspathic gneiss. Whole rock major element sampling performed normal to the foliation reveal consistently high SiO2 (78-80%). Highly variable degrees of metasomatic recrystallization occur within the phengite-rich rocks spatially associated with eclogite. The selvage rocks exhibit heterogeneous degrees of enrichment in Li, Be, B, and Ba and yield δ11B values of -4 to -6‰ typical of undevolatilized oceanic and continental crust. We conclude that fluid-mediated metasomatic reaction between eclogite and gneiss at Tso Morari is sheared out into lenses that are incorporated into, and heterogeneously distributed throughout, the host gneiss.« less
3. Decoupled Trace Element and Isotope Compositions Recorded in Orthopyroxene and Clinopyroxene in Composite Pyroxenite Veins from the Xiugugabu Ophiolite (SW Tibet)

   https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egac046  

   Zhang, Zhen-Yu ; Liu, Chuan-Zhou ; Liang, Yan ; Zhang, Chang ; Liu, Tong ; Zhang, Wei-Qi ; Ji, Wen-Bin ( June 2022 , Journal of Petrology)

   Abstract Pyroxenite veins and dikes are commonly observed in the mantle section of ophiolites. Because of their mantle occurrence, these pyroxenites are free from crustal contamination and offer a unique opportunity for studying mantle compositions and melt–rock interaction processes. We conducted an integrated petrological and geochemical study of a suite of composite orthopyroxenite, websterite, and pyroxene-bearing dunite veins from the Xiugugabu ophiolite located on the western segment of Yarlung–Zangbo Suture Zone. The dunite is separated from the host peridotite by a layer of pyroxenite, forming a composite vein system. Systematic variations in major, minor, and trace element compositions in minerals across the composite veins are observed. Two generations of orthopyroxenes in the pyroxenites are characterized by high Mg#, low TiO2 concentrations, and depleted patterns of incompatible trace elements. Clinopyroxenes in the pyroxenites are characterized by high Mg#, low contents of TiO2 and Na2O, spooned shaped REE patterns, and a negative Zr anomaly. Through major and trace element modeling, we showed that both orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene were in equilibrium with melts with different compositions. This hypothesis is further confirmed by distinct initial Nd and Hf isotope ratios in the two pyroxenes. A model for the formation of composite pyroxenite veins ismore »developed, whereby hydrous and silica-rich melts percolate along the margins of a dunite channel. The orthopyroxenite was formed by the reaction between a hydrous, silica-rich melt and the surrounding peridotite. The websterite is formed by reactive crystallization of a hybrid melt produced by mixing silica-rich melt and the melt formed by remelting of previously depleted peridotite in the deeper part of the mantle column. The extremely enriched Nd–Hf isotope compositions of the pyroxenite veins (εNd = −20.3 to +11.5 and εHf = −13.2 to +25.3, 125 million years ago) can be explained by the addition of ancient, recycled sediments to the mantle source in a supra-subduction setting. Based on the low-Cr# spinel in the Xiugugabu dunites (Cr# = 19–50) and the depleted nature of the parental melt of the Xiugugabu pyroxenites, we deduced that the formation of pyroxenites postdate the formation of the Xiugugabu ophiolite at ~125–130 Ma. Collectively, results from this study have provided support to the hypothesis that the Xiugugabu ophiolite experience a two-stage evolution, i.e., firstly formed in a mid-ocean ridge setting and subsequently modified in a supra subduction zone.« less
4. Mush, Melts and Metasediments: a History of Rhyolites from the Okataina Volcanic Centre, New Zealand, as Captured in Plagioclase

   https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egab038  

   Sas, May ; Shane, Phil ; Kuritani, Takeshi ; Zellmer, Georg F ; Kent, Adam J ; Nakagawa, Mitsuhiro ( August 2021 , Journal of Petrology)

   Abstract The Okataina Volcanic Centre (OVC), located in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand, is a dominantly rhyolitic magmatic system in an arc setting, where eruptions are thought to be driven by mafic recharge. Here, Sr–Pb isotopes, and compositional and textural variations in plagioclase phenocrysts from 10 rhyolitic deposits (two caldera, one immediately post-caldera, four intra-caldera, and three extra-caldera) are used to investigate the OVC magmatic system and identify the sources and assimilants within this diverse mush zone. Plagioclase interiors exhibit normal and reverse zoning, and are commonly in disequilibrium with their accompanying glass, melt inclusions, and whole-rock compositions. This indicates that the crystals nucleated in melts that differed from their carrier magma. In contrast, the outermost rims of crystals exhibit normal zoning that is compositionally consistent with growth in cooling and fractionating melts just prior to eruption. At the intra-crystal scale, the total suite of 87Sr/86Sr ratios are highly variable (0·7042–0·7065 ± 0·0004 average 2SE); however, the majority (95 %) of the crystals are internally homogeneous within error. At whole-crystal scale (where better precision is obtained), 87Sr/86Sr ratios are much more homogeneous (0·70512–0·70543 ± 0·00001 average 2SE) and overlap with their host whole-rock Sr isotopic ratios. Whole-crystal Pb isotopic ratios also largely overlap withmore »whole-rock Pb ratios. The plagioclase and whole-rock isotopic compositions indicate significant crustal assimilation (≥20 %) of Torlesse-like metasediments (local basement rock) by a depleted mid-ocean ridge mantle magma source, and Pb isotopes require variable fluid-dominant subduction flux. The new data support previous petrogenetic models for OVC magmas that require crystal growth in compositionally and thermally distinct magmas within a complex of disconnected melt-and-mush reservoirs. These reservoirs were rejuvenated by underplating basaltic magmas that serve as an eruption trigger. However, the outermost rims of the plagioclase imply that interaction between silicic melts and eruption-triggering mafic influx is largely limited to heat and volatile transfer, and results in rapid mobilization and syn-eruption mixing of rhyolitic melts. Finally, relatively uniform isotopic compositions of plagioclase indicate balanced contributions from the crust and mantle over the lifespan of the OVC magmatic system.« less
5. Evidence of Carboniferous arc magmatism preserved in the Chicxulub impact structure

   https://doi.org/10.1130/B35831.1  

   Ross, Catherine H. ; Stockli, Daniel F. ; Rasmussen, Cornelia ; Gulick, Sean P.S. ; de Graaff, Sietze J. ; Claeys, Philippe ; Zhao, Jiawei ; Xiao, Long ; Pickersgill, Annemarie E. ; Schmieder, Martin ; et al ( April 2021 , GSA Bulletin)

   Determining the nature and age of the 200-km-wide Chicxulub impact target rock is an essential step in advancing our understanding of the Maya Block basement. Few age constraints exist for the northern Maya Block crust, specifically the basement underlying the 66 Ma, 200 km-wide Chicxulub impact structure. The International Ocean Discovery Program-International Continental Scientific Drilling Program Expedition 364 core recovered a continuous section of basement rocks from the Chicxulub target rocks, which provides a unique opportunity to illuminate the pre-impact tectonic evolution of a terrane key to the development of the Gulf of Mexico. Sparse published ages for the Maya Block point to Mesoproterozoic, Ediacaran, Ordovician to Devonian crust are consistent with plate reconstruction models. In contrast, granitic basement recovered from the Chicxulub peak ring during Expedition 364 yielded new zircon U-Pb laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) concordant dates clustering around 334 ± 2.3 Ma. Zircon rare earth element (REE) chemistry is consistent with the granitoids having formed in a continental arc setting. Inherited zircon grains fall into three groups: 400−435 Ma, 500−635 Ma, and 940−1400 Ma, which are consistent with the incorporation of Peri-Gondwanan, Pan-African, and Grenvillian crust, respectively. Carboniferous U-Pb ages, trace element compositions, and inherited zirconmore »grains indicate a pre-collisional continental volcanic arc located along the Maya Block’s northern margin before NW Gondwana collided with Laurentia. The existence of a continental arc along NW Gondwana suggests southward-directed subduction of Rheic oceanic crust beneath the Maya Block and is similar to evidence for a continental arc along the northern margin of Gondwana that is documented in the Suwannee terrane, Florida, USA, and Coahuila Block of NE México.« less