Petrology of the Coyaguayma ignimbrite, northern Puna of Argentina: Origin and evolution of a peraluminous high-SiO 2 rhyolite magma

The Coyaguayma ignimbrite is a strongly peraluminous (SP), sillimanite, garnet-bearing silicic rhyolite which erupted in the northern Puna segment of the central Andean plateau in the Upper Miocene (~11Ma), a period that was characterized by the eruption of voluminous (100s to 1000s km 3) dacitic ignimbrites of high-K calc-alkaline affinity. In this region, the SP magmatic rocks are both rare and small, but their importance is potentially much greater as rocks of this type are usually interpreted as products of crustal melting and therefore useful for addressing mantle addition vs crustal recycling in the central Andes.The phenocryst assemblage of the Coyaguayma ignimbrite comprises plagioclase (An26-18), quartz, Ba-rich and Ba-poor sanidine, minor Al-rich ferromagnesian minerals (Al T- and Al VI-rich biotite, almandine-spessartine garnet) and sillimanite, as well as accessory zircon and monazite. Textural relations suggest that the accessory and ferromagnesian phases crystallized before quartz and feldspars. Mineral equilibria suggest that crystallization of the rhyolite magma began at ~5kbar and 800°C, and continued almost isobarically to 720°C, causing the residual liquid to increase H 2O contents from ~4-5% to ~7.5% before eruption.Most major features (e.g., high SiO 2, A/CNK >1.3, low CaO, MgO, TiO 2 and FeO) and trace element patterns (low Ba, Sr, Th, LREE and Eu/Eu*; high Rb, U, Y and Nb), along with the thermobarometric constraints on magmatic P, T and water contents are consistent with an origin by mica dehydration melting of metapelitic sources (e.g., typical biotite-muscovite gneisses from the outcropping S Puna basement). However, the relatively low initial 87Sr/ 86Sr (~0.7125), and high 143Nd/ 144Nd (~0.512200) ratios invalidate a pure crustal origin. Instead, we propose contamination of calc-alkaline dacitic magmas similar to typical Puna ignimbrites by metapelite at mid-crustal settings (≥18km depth). Geochemical modeling that satisfies the chemical and isotopic data suggests mixing of 70% dacite and ~30% of metapelite partial melts, followed by extensive (70%) fractionation of plagioclase, K-feldspar, quartz and biotite, with minor magnetite and apatite from the hybrid magma. Sillimanite in the Coyaguayma rhyolite is interpreted as a restite mineral or a product of incongruent melting of the metapelite, which was preserved intact in the hybrid melt due to local equilibrium.This petrogenetic model explains most characteristics of crystal-poor SP rhyolites from the Puna plateau (e.g., Tocomar, Ramadas rhyolites) and it may be more generally applicable to occurrences of SP magmas in Andean-type continental arcs dominated by calc-alkaline magmatism.Fil: Caffe, Pablo Jorge. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Trumbull, Robert. German Research Centre for Geosciences; AlemaniaFil: Siebel, Wolfgang. Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; Alemani

Identification of uppercrustal discontinuities using dip curvature analysis of isostatic residual gravity: examples from the central Andes

Structural analysts are often faced with the problem of identifying prominent structural discontinuities covered by post-tectonic sedimentary or volcanic rocks. Gravity fields are often used to delineate the trace of buried discontinuities but are frequently found to be too crude to localize discontinuities adequately. Here, we introduce the importance of dip curvature of the isostatic residual gravity for identifying upper-crustal discontinuities. The relationship between Bouguer gravity, isostatic residual gravity and its dip curvature, first-order structural elements and distribution of Neogene volcanic rocks was examined in the central Andean plateau, more specifically, the southern Altiplano and the Puna...conferenc

The composition of amphibole phenocrysts in Neogene mafic volcanic rocks from the Puna plateau: Insights on the evolution of hydrous back-arc magmas

In typical Andean arc magmas, amphibole appears as a phenocryst phase only after considerable differentiation. However, some near-primitive volcanic rocks (high-Mg andesites and basalts) from monogenetic centers in the Puna plateau of Argentina also contain amphibole phenocrysts, implying special conditions of hydrous magma generation in this back-arc setting. This study documents typical examples from Southern and Northern Puna regions and uses the major and trace-element compositions of amphibole to constrain a petrogenetic model for the hydrous magmas. There are significant differences in the nature of amphiboles and their host lavas depending on location of the volcanic centers in the Southern and the Northern Puna regions. In the Southern Puna, basaltic andesitic lavas have Sr/Y values >40 and amphiboles show skeletal forms and occur in an assemblage with olivine and pyroxene. The amphibole compositions are relatively Al- and Ti-poor compared to the Northern Puna. Thermobarometry indicates amphibole crystallization temperatures of 960–1000 °C at moderate pressure (1000 °C) and pressures (6–8 kbar). Furthermore, the chemical composition of amphibole phenocrysts in the Northern Puna Campo Negro center suggests an alkaline affinity of the parental magmas which, together with radiogenic isotope data from earlier studies, indicates a significant contribution of the enriched lithosphere in the magma source. The new data collectively suggest high pressure evolution of hydrous magmas in the Southern Puna, whereas the Northern Puna magmas underwent more differentiation at higher levels in the crust. This contrast in the evolution history of magmas below both regions can be connected with their position relative to partial melting zones in the mid-upper crust, which are larger and longer-lived in the north than in the south, thus favoring a slower ascent of magmas in that region.Fil: Maro, Guadalupe. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Trumbull, Robert. German Research Centre for Geosciences; AlemaniaFil: Caffe, Pablo Jorge. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Jofré, Cynthia Betina. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Filipovich, Ruben Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; ArgentinaFil: Frick, Daniel A.. German Research Centre for Geosciences; Alemani

Tourmaline Reference Materials for the In Situ Analysis of Oxygen and Lithium Isotope Ratio Compositions

Three tourmaline reference materials sourced from the Harvard Mineralogical and Geological Museum (schorl 112566, dravite 108796 and elbaite 98144), which are already widely used for the calibration of in situ boron isotope measurements, are characterised here for their oxygen and lithium isotope compositions. Homogeneity tests by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) showed that at sub‐nanogram test portion masses their 18O/16O and 7Li/6Li isotope ratios are constant within ± 0.27‰ and ± 2.2‰ (1s), respectively. The lithium mass fractions of the three materials vary over three orders of magnitude. SIMS homogeneity tests showed variations in 7Li/28Si between 8% and 14% (1s), which provides a measure of the heterogeneity of the Li contents in these three materials. Here we provide recommended values for δ18O, Δ’17O and δ7Li for the three Harvard tourmaline reference materials based on results from bulk mineral analyses from multiple, independent laboratories using laser‐ and stepwise fluorination gas mass spectrometry (for O), and solution multi‐collector inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectroscopy (for Li). These bulk data also allow us to assess the degree of inter‐laboratory data that might be present in such datasets. This work also re‐evaluates the major element chemical composition of the materials by electron probe microanalysis and investigates the presence of a chemical matrix effect on SIMS instrumental mass fractionation with regards to δ18O determinations, which was found to be < 1.6‰ between these three materials. The final table presented here provides a summary of the isotope ratio values that we have determined for these three materials. Depending on their starting mass either 128 or 256 splits have been produced of each material, assuring their availability for many years into the future