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Title: Thermobarometry of cumulate xenoliths: implications for basalt ponding under the Colorado Plateau, Arizona

Conference · · Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States)
OSTI ID:6459225

Many recent studies in petrology have alluded to ponding of basaltic magma at the base of the crust as a heat source for simultaneous assimilation/fractional crystallization and metamorphic processes. New thermodynamic data permit calibration of thermobarometers involving common gabbroic assemblages in the system CMAS. Two reactions involving the mineral assemblages opx, cpx, plag, and spinel can be combined to yield unique solutions for pressure and temperature. A third relationship applicable to this assemblage is the two pyroxene thermometer. Activity models are available for all of these components. These relationships have been applied to mafic cumulate xenoliths entrained in basalt lavas of the San Francisco Peaks Volcanic Field, yielding equilibration conditions of P = 12.2-14.5 kbars and T = 1200-1100/sup 0/C. These pressures are coincident with a MOHO depth of 40-45kms and may be an excellent example of massively accumulated and fractionated alkaline basalt underlying anorogenic continental crust, giving rise to crustal melting processes manifested by the Quaternary silicic volcanism of the field.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA)
OSTI ID:
6459225
Report Number(s):
CONF-8510489-
Journal Information:
Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States), Vol. 17; Conference: 98. annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Orlando, FL, USA, 28 Oct 1985
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English