Distribution, lithology and ages of late Cenozoic volcanism on the eastern margin of the Great Basin, West-Central Utah
The eastern margin of the Basin and Range province in central Utah is the locus of late Cenozoic volcanic activity and has witnessed several volcanic episodes within the last three million years. The Twin Peaks volcanic center became active 2.7 m.y. ago producing rhyodacite and rhyolite from a shallow silicic magma body accompanied by voluminous eruptions of basalt. Between about 1 and 0.3 m.y. ago there were eruptions of high silica rhyolite from a deep-seated magma source beneath the Mineral Mountains together with primitive and strongly fractionated mafic magmas of the Cove Fort subprovince. Within this volcanic area are two localities, Roosevelt Hot Springs and Sulfurdale, which have high temperature waters at or near the surface. To the north in the Black Rock Desert, volcanism extended from 1.5 m.y to only several hundred years ago. The activity was dominated by basaltic eruptions, but the area contains the youngest known rhyolite body in Utah (0.4 m.y.). Volcanic vents are located along major crustal discontinuities in the Black Rock Desert, along ring fracture systems at Twin Peaks, and are aligned along trends of north-south normal faulting in the Mineral Mountains and Cove Fort areas. The localization of volcanism is consistent with high strain rates on a regional scale associated with extension of the Basin and Range. The variety of lithologies observed is consistent with a model of fundamentally basaltic magmatism which augments melting in the lower crust to produce silicic magmas. The majority of the mafic magmas that reach the surface are modified by fractionation with the most primitive varieties erupted to the west.
- Research Organization:
- Utah Univ., Salt Lake City (USA). Dept. of Geology and Geophysics
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC07-79ID12079
- OSTI ID:
- 5766359
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ID/12079-131; ESL-86007-TR; ON: DE86009898
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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