Cerro Toledo Rhyolite, Jemez Volcanic Field, New Mexico: 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of eruptions between two caldera-forming events

Abstract

The Cerro Toledo Rhyolite comprises a group of domes and tephra which were erupted during the interval between two caldera-forming ignimbrites, the Tshirege Member and Otowi Member of the Bandelier Tuff, in the Jemez Volcanic Field, New Mexico. To provide a chronologic framework for geochemical and isotopic studies on these rhyolites, which record the evolution of the Bandelier magma system during this interval, a 40 Ar/ 39 Ar geochronology study was undertaken. Pumice from major pyroclastic fall deposits within the rhyolite tephra and samples from the rhyolite domes were dated as well as the stratigraphically bracketing Bandelier Tuff. Analyzed crystal populations range from being fairly homogeneous juvenile material to very heterogeneous mixed juvenile and xenocrystic assemblages. In most cases dominant groups of juvenile sanidine crystals define 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages which agree with stratigraphic constraints. Plagioclase analyses are distinctly more scattered and do not typically define reasonable ages. The 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages for the two members of the Bandelier Tuff yield an interval of 380 ± 20 k.y. between these caldera-forming eruptions. During this interval nine major pyroclastic pumice units were deposited in the sections studied, for which six yield isochron ages, one a weighted mean age, one a maximum age, and one no reliable age due to lack of sanidine. 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dates on pumice fall units within the Cerro Toledo Rhyolite tephra indicate that eruptive activity occurred at >1.59, 1.54, 1.48, 1.37 and 1.22 Ma. 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating of Cerro Toledo Rhyolite domes indicates these were erupted within the caldera at 1.54, 1.45, 1.38–1.34, and 1.27 Ma. The dates obtained indicate that eruptive activity occurred throughout the 380 k.y. interval between the two members of the Bandelier Tuff, but suggest that eruptions producing both tephra and domes occurred during discrete intervals at ca. 1.54, 1.48, and 1.38–1.34 Ma. The interval from 1.34 to 1.38 Ma was particularly active; 7 of 18 units dated are these ages.