4 The Yellowstone Hotspot Province: Prehistory, Timing, Extent, Volcanic Products, and Hydrothermal Consequences

Wednesday, 15 May 2019
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Room C123


ESTABLISHING THE MAGMATIC CHEMICAL IDENTITIES OF GRANDE RONDE BASALT LAVAS, COLUMBIA RIVER FLOOD BASALT PROVINCE: RESOLVING COMPOSITIONAL VARIATIONS FROM MAGMATIC AND ALTERATION PROCESSES

Paper number: 4-9
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 10:20 AM – 10:40 AM


Authors


Abstract

Defining the magmatic compositions of Grande Ronde Basalt (GRB) lavas is essential to determining their chemostratigraphy and understanding their petrogenesis. Reidel and Tolan (2013, GSA SP 497, p. 117-153) have recognized 25 GRB members each of which represent multiple eruptions. Members have been characterized chemically mainly by ranges in TiO2 and MgO abundances. Compositional differences between lavas of some sequentially erupted members can be small, particularly among the low-Mg members, and both immobile (e.g., Ti) and mobile element (e.g., Mg) abundances in a normalized analysis are susceptible to modification by alteration. In addition, Reidel and Tolan (2013) provide only average analyses for entire members, or occasionally for some subunits within members, thereby precluding comparisons with new data and independent evaluations of the chemostratigraphy. As shown by Sawlan (Geosphere, 2018, v. 14, p. 286-303), Al-Ti variations for the Sentinel Bluffs Member (SB) are useful in distinguishing negatively-correlated magmatic Al-Ti variations from alteration-generated, positively correlated Al-Ti variations to supra-magmatic values. Sawlan (2018) attributed magmatic Al-Ti variations, as well as variations of other major elements, to clinopyroxene and plagioclase fractionation. Here I examine >1,500 analyses of R2 and N2 GRB lavas by applying the mass analysis methodology introduced by Sawlan (2018). Magmatic negative Al-Ti variations are also observed among samples from low-Mg members, but such trends are offset to higher Ti and are not precisely colinear. In addition, the Al-Ti magmatic trends for some members span a similar TiO2 range but are offset by differences in Al2O3 abundances, making it difficult to associate some altered low-Mg samples to a given member. This problem is addressed by expanding mass analysis to mobile major elements, which decrease linearly with decreasing sample mass, thereby enabling calculation of parent mobile element abundances using two or more magmatic Al-Ti baselines. The estimated parent compositions are then compared to those of unaltered samples defining the magmatic baselines. The objective is to develop reliable criteria for identifying and better characterizing the compositions of GRB members.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 51, No. 4

doi: 10.1130/abs/2019CD-329686

© Copyright 2019 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.