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Title: Quaternary tephra from the Valles caldera in the volcanic field of the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico identified in western Canada

Journal Article · · Quaternary Research
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2018.139· OSTI ID:1495150
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [2]
  1. Univ. of Toronto, ON (Canada). Dept. of Earth Sciences
  2. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  3. Univ. of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta (Canada). Dept. of Geography
  4. Aberystwyth Univ., Wales (United Kingdom). Dept. of Geography and Earth Sciences
  5. U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

A fine-grained, up to 3-m-thick tephra bed in southwestern Saskatchewan, herein named Duncairn tephra (Dt), is derived from an early Pleistocene eruption in the Jemez Mountains volcanic field of New Mexico, requiring a trajectory of northward tephra dispersal of ~1500 km. An unusually low CaO content in its glass shards denies a source in the closer Yellowstone and Heise volcanic fields, whereas a Pleistocene tephra bed (LSMt) in the La Sal Mountains of Utah has a very similar glass chemistry to that of the Dt, supporting a more southerly source. Comprehensive characterization of these two distal tephra beds along with samples collected near the Valles caldera in New Mexico, including grain size, mineral assemblage, major- and trace-element composition of glass and minerals, paleomagnetism, and fission-track dating, justify this correlation. Two glass populations each exist in the Dt and LSMt. The proximal correlative of Dt1 is the plinian Tsankawi Pumice and co-ignimbritic ash of the first ignimbrite (Qbt1g) of the 1.24 Ma Tshirege Member of the Bandelier Tuff. Finally, the correlative of Dt2 and LSMt is the co-ignimbritic ash of Qbt2. Mixing of Dt1 and Dt2 probably occurred during northward transport in a jet stream.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC); USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
89233218CNA000001
OSTI ID:
1495150
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-18-21041
Journal Information:
Quaternary Research, Vol. 91, Issue 2; ISSN 0033-5894
Publisher:
University of Washington - Cambridge University PressCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 4 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (1)

Tephra glass chemistry provides storage and discharge details of five magma reservoirs which fed the 75 ka Youngest Toba Tuff eruption, northern Sumatra journal October 2019

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Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
Earth Sciences
tephra
Valles caldera
Bandelier Tuff
New Mexico
glass
trace elements
fission-track dating
paleomagnetism
Saskatchewan
Utah