Alkaline and calc-alkaline lavas near Los Volcanes, Jalisco, Mexico: geochemical diversity and its significance in volcanic arcs

Abstract

A remarkably diverse suite of lavas erupted during the late-Pliocene at the volcanic front of the western Mexican Volcanic Belt near the town of Los Volcanes, Jalisco. This region is much closer to the Middle America Trench than the main axis of Quaternary andesite-dacite stratovolcanoes, and volcanism occurred in a complex tectonic regime involving both subduction of the young Rivera Plate and transverse crustal extension of the Jalisco structural block. The variety of lava types covers a wide spectrum from highly potassic minettes and leucitites to calc-alkaline basalts and andesites which are compositionally similar to those erupted elsewhere in the Mexican Volcanic Belt. Other alkaline varieties intermediate between these extremes include absarokites, trachybasalts and trachyandesites. Phlogopite, amphibole and apatite are common phenocryst phases; whole-rock compositions show a wide range of alkali contents (e.g. K2O of 1.0–8.6 wt.%), and typically contain >5 wt.% MgO. MgO, Ni, V and Cr show little systematic decrease with increasing SiO2, suggesting that these lavas have evolved from primitive, mantle derived magmas with a wide range of SiO2 contents. Strong enrichments in incompatible trace elements are observed in all of the lavas (Sr 700–5100 ppm, Ba 470–4800, Ce 22–325 ppm, Zr 90–700 ppm), as is the relative enrichment of large ion lithophile (Ba, Sr, Rb) and light rare-earth elements (La, Ce) over the high field strength elements (Ti, Zr) which is typical of magmas in volcanic arcs. This enrichment pattern suggests that these magmas come from source regions which contain incompatible element-rich phases such as phlogopite, amphibole and apatite. The petrological and geochemical features of the lavas which occur in the Los Volcanes region provide direct evidence of the extreme heterogeneity which may exist in magma source regions at convergent margins. The complex tectonic regime in western Mexico further suggests that rifting and crustal extension play an important role in the generation and successful ascent of melts from enriched regions of the sub-arc mantle.