Magma genesis and chamber processes at Los Humeros caldera, Mexico—Nd and Sr isotope data

Abstract

The Mexican volcanic belt (MVB), a roughly east–west structure, consists of many late Tertiary and Quaternary cindercones, domes, calderas and stratovolcanoes1,2. Los Humeros caldera (approximately 19°40′ N latitude, 97°25′ W longitude) lies on the northeastern part of the MVB where the belt overlaps with another major volcanic province, the Eastern cordillera3 (Fig. 1). A compilation6 of the bulk chemical analyses of the two major volcanic provinces indicates that the MVB is characterized largely by calc-alkaline series whereas rocks of the alkaline series dominate the Eastern cordiliera (EC). Pleistocene to Recent basaltic to rhyolitic volcanism in Los Humeros caldera, one of the best known examples of a well-developed caldera in Mexico7–9, presumably associated with the subduction of Cocos plate along the Middle America trench, shows that the initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios range from 0.7039 to 0.7048 and the initial 143Nd/144Nd ratios from 0.5126 to 0.5129. We show here that these isotope ratios are negatively correlated and lie on the mantle array defined by MORB and oceanic island rocks; implying that Los Humeros magmas were generated in the upper mantle with very little, if any, contribution from the subducted oceanic crust, sediments or continental crust.