Hostname: page-component-f554764f5-rvxtl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-17T05:09:38.578Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Tracking magmatic processes through Zr/Hf ratios in rocks and Hf and Ti zoning in zircons: An example from the Spirit Mountain batholith, Nevada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

L. Lowery Claiborne ,
C. F. Miller ,
B. A. Walker ,
J. L. Wooden ,
F. K. Mazdab  and
F. Bea
L. Lowery Claiborne*
Affiliation:
Earth and Environmental Sciences, Vanderbilt University, SC 5717 Science & Engineering Bldg., Stevenson Center Dr., Nashville, TN, USA
C. F. Miller
Affiliation:
Earth and Environmental Sciences, Vanderbilt University, SC 5717 Science & Engineering Bldg., Stevenson Center Dr., Nashville, TN, USA
B. A. Walker
Affiliation:
US Geological Survey, USGS-Stanford Micro-isotopic Analytical Center, Stanford University, Green Building, 367 Panama St., Stanford, CA, USA
J. L. Wooden
Affiliation:
US Geological Survey, USGS-Stanford Micro-isotopic Analytical Center, Stanford University, Green Building, 367 Panama St., Stanford, CA, USA
F. K. Mazdab
Affiliation:
US Geological Survey, USGS-Stanford Micro-isotopic Analytical Center, Stanford University, Green Building, 367 Panama St., Stanford, CA, USA
F. Bea
Affiliation:
Department of Mineralogy and Petrology, Campus Fuentenueva, University of Granada, 18002 Granada, Spain
*
*E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Zirconium and Hf are nearly identical geochemically, and therefore most of the crust maintains near-chondritic Zr/Hf ratios of ∼35–40. By contrast, many high-silica rhyolites and granites have anomalously low Zr/Hf (15–30). As zircon is the primary reservoir for both Zr and Hf and preferentially incorporates Zr, crystallization of zircon controls Zr/Hf, imprinting low Zr/Hf on coexisting melt. Thus, low Zr/Hf is a unique fingerprint of effective magmatic fractionation in the crust. Age and compositional zonation in zircons themselves provide a record of the thermal and compositional histories of magmatic systems. High Hf (low Zr/Hf) in zircon zones demonstrates growth from fractionated melt, and Ti provides an estimate of temperature of crystallization (TTiZ) (Watson and Harrison, 2005). Whole-rock Zr/Hf and zircon zonation in the Spirit Mountain batholith, Nevada, document repeated fractionation and thermal fluctuations. Ratios of Zr/Hf are ∼307–40 for cumulates and 18–30 for high-SiO2 granites. In zircons, Hf (and U) are inversely correlated with Ti, and concentrations indicate large fluctuations in melt composition and TTiZ (>100°C) for individual zircons. Such variations are consistent with field relations and ion-probe zircon geochronology that indicate a >1 million year history of repeated replenishment, fractionation, and extraction of melt from crystal mush to form the low Zr/Hf high-SiO2 zone.

Keywords

zirconhafniumzirconiumhigh-silica graniteTi-in-zircon thermometryfractionation
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 70 , Issue 5 , October 2006 , pp. 517 - 543
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Ahrens, L. H. and Erlank, A. J. (1969) Hafnium. Handbook of Geochemistry, 2–5, sections B–O (Wedepohl, K. H., editor). Springer, Berlin.Google Scholar
Anderson, A. T., Davis, A. M. and Lu, F. (2000) Evolution of the Bishop Tuff rhyolitic magma based on melt and magnetite inclusions and zoned phenocrysts. Journal of Petrology, 41, 449–473.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bachl, C. A. (1997) The Searchlight pluton: An example of wholesale magmatic reconstruction of the upper crust during continental extension. MS thesis Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA, 114 pp.Google Scholar
Bachmann, O. and Bergantz, G. W. (2004) On the origin of crystal-poor rhyolites: extracted from batholithic crystal mushes. Journal of Petrology, 45, 1565–1582.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, D. R., Conte, A. M., Freda, C. and Ottolini, L. (2002) The effect of halogens on Zr diffusion and zircon dissolution in hydrous metaluminous granitic melts. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 142, 666–678.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bea, F. and Montero, P. (1999) Behavior of accessory phases and redistribution of Zr, REE, Y, Th, and U during metamorphism and partial melting of metapelites in the lower crust: An example from the Kinzigite Formation of Ivrea-Verbano, NW Italy. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 63, 1113–1153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bea, F., Montero, P. and Ortega, M. (2006) A LAICPMS evaluation of Zr reservoirs in common crustal rocks: Implications for zircon-forming processes. The Canadian Mineralogist, 44, 745–766.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belousova, E. A., Griffin, W. L., O'Reilly, S. Y. and Fisher, N. I. (2002) Igneous zircon: trace element composition as an indicator of source rock type. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 143, 602–622.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Briggs, R. M., Gifford, M. G., Moyle, A. R., Taylor, S. R., Norman, M. D., Houghton, B. F. and Wilson, C. J. N. (1993) Geochemical zoning and eruptive mixing in ignimbrites from Mangakino volcano, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 56, 175–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, S. J. A. and Fletcher, I. R. (1999) SHRIMP U-Pb dating of the pre-eruption growth history of zircons from the 340 ka Whakamaru Ignimbrite, New Zealand: Evidence for >250 k.y. magma residence times. Geology, 27, 1035–1038.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cates, N. L., Miller, J. S., Miller, C. F., Wooden, J. L., Erickson, S. and Means, M. (2003) Longevity of plutonic systems: SHRIMP evidence from Aztec Wash and Searchlight plutons, Nevada. Geological Society of America – Abstracts with Programs, 35, 63 Google Scholar
Charlier, B. L. A., Wilson, C. J. N., Lowenstern, J. B., Blake, S., Van Calsteren, P. W. and Davidson, J. P. (2005) Magma generation at a large, hyperactive silicic volcano (Taupo, New Zealand) revealed by U-Th and U-Pb systematics in zircons. Journal of Petrology, 46, 3–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coleman, D. S., Gray, W. and Glazner, A. F. (2004) Rethinking the emplacement and evolution of zoned plutons: Geochronologic evidence for incremental assembly of the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite, California. Geology, 32, 433–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, K. M. and Reid, M. R. (2003) Re-examination of crystal ages in recent Mount St. Helens lavas: implications for magma reservoir processes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 213, 149–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corfu, F., Hanchar, J. M., Hoskin, P. W. O. and Kinny, P. D. (2003) Atlas of zircon textures. Pp. 469–500 in: Zirco. (Hanchar, J. M. and P.Hoskin, W. O., editors). Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, 53, Mineralogical Society of America, Virginia and the Geochemical Society, Washington, D.C. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
David, K., Schiano, P. and Allègre, C. J. (2000) Assessment of the Zr/Hf fractionation in oceanic basalts and continental materials during petrogenetic processes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 178, 285–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, J. P. and Tepley, F. J. T. (1997) Recharge in volcanic systems: Evidence from isotope profiles of phenocrysts. Science, 275, 826–829.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davies, G. R., Halliday, A. N., Mahood, G. A. and Hall, C. M. (1994) Isotopic constraints on the production-rates, crystallization histories and residence times of pre-caldera silicic magmas, Long Valley, California. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 125, 17–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faulds, J. E., Geissman, J. W. and Mawer, C. K. (1990) Structural development of a major extensional accommodation zone in the Basin and Range Province, northwestern Arizona and southern Nevada: implications for kinematic models of continental extension. Geological Society of America, Memoir, 176, 37–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faulds, J. E., Geissman, J. W. and Shafiqullah, M. (1992) Implications of paleomagnetic data on Miocene extension near a major accommodation zone in the Basin and Range province, northwestern Arizona and southern Nevada. Tectonics, 11, 204–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faulds, J. E., Feuerbach, D. L., Reagan, M. K., Metcalf, R. V., Gans, P. and Walker, J. D. (1995) The Mount Perkins Block, northwestern Arizona: an exposed cross section of an evolving, pre-extensional to syn-extensional magmatic system. Journal of Geophysical Research, B, Solid Earth and Planets, 100, 15249–15266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faulds, J. E., Feuerbach, D. L., Miller, C. F. and Smith, E. I. (2001) Cenozoic evolution of the northern Colorado River Extensional Corridor, southern Nevada and Northwest Arizona. Guidebook – Pacific Section, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 78, 239–271.Google Scholar
Fowler, A. D., Prokoph, A., Stern, R. and Dupuis, C. (2002) Organization of oscillatory zoning in zircon: Analysis, scaling, geochemistry, and model of a zircon from Kipawa, Quebec, Canada. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 66, 311–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gans, P. B. and Bohrson, W. A. (1998) Suppression of volcanism during rapid extension in the Basin and Range province, United States. Science, 279, 66–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Glazner, A. F., Bartley, J. M., Coleman, D. S., Gray, W. and Taylor, R. Z. (2004) Are plutons assembled over millions of years by amalgamation from small magma chambers? GSA Today, 14, 4–11.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haapala, I., Ramo, O. T. and Volborth, A. (1996) Petrogenesis of the Miocene granite of the Newberry Mountains, Colorado River extensional corridor, southern Nevada. Geological Society of America – Abstracts with Programs, 28, 420 Google Scholar
Haapala, I., Ramo, O. T. and Frindt, S. (2005) Comparison of Proterozoic and Phanerozoic rift-related basaltic-granitic magmatism. Lithos, 80, 1–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanchar, J. M. and Miller, C. F. (1993) Zircon zonation patterns as revealed by cathodoluminescence and backscattered electron images; implications for interpretation of complex crustal histories. Chemical Geology, 110, 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanchar, J. M. and Watson, E. B. (2003) Zircon saturation thermometry. Pp. 89–110 in: Zirco. (Hanchar, J. M. and Hoskin, P. W. O., editors). Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, 53, Mineralogical Society of America, Virginia and the Geochemical Society, Washington, D.C. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanchar, J. M., Finch, R. J., Hoskin, P. W. O., Watson, E. B., Cherniak, D. J. and Mariano, A. N. (2001) Rare earth elements in synthetic zircon: Part 1, synthesis, and rare earth element and phosphorous doping. American Mineralogist, 86, 667–680.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harper, B. E., Miller, C. F., Koteas, G. C., Cates, N. L., Wiebe, R. A., Lazzareschi, D. S. and Cribb, J. W. (2004) Granites, dynamic magma chamber processes and pluton construction: the Aztec Wash pluton, Eldorado Mountains, Nevada, USA. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh – Earth Sciences, 95, 277–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, T. M. and Watson, E. B. (1983) Kinetics of zircon dissolution and zirconium diffusion and granitic melts of variable water content. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 84, 66–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heaman, L. M., Bowins, R. and Crocket, J. H. (1990) The chemical composition of igneous zircon suites: implications for geochemical tracer studies. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 54, 1597–1607.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heumann, A. and Davies, G. R. (1997) Isotopic and chemical evolution of the post-caldera rhyolitic system at Long Valley, California. Journal of Petrology, 38, 1661–1678.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hopson, C. A., Gans, P. B., Baer, E., Blythe, A. E., Calvert, A. and Pinnow, J. (1994) Spirit Mountain Pluton, southern Nevada; a progress report. Geological Society of America – Abstracts with Programs, 26, 60 Google Scholar
Hoskin, P. W.O. (2000) Patterns of chaos: Fractal statistics and the oscillatory chemistry of zircon. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 64, 1905–1923.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoskin, P. W. O. and Schaltegger, U. (2003) The composition of zircon and igneous and metamorphic petrogenesis. Pp. 27–62 in: Zirco. (Hanchar, J. M. and Hoskin, P. W. O., editors). Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, 53, Mineralogical Society of America, Virginia and the Geochemical Society, Washington, D.C. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howard, K. A. and John, B. E. (1987) Crustal extension along a rooted system of imbricate low angle faults: Colorado River Extensional Corridor, California, and Arizona. Pp. 299–311 in: Continental Tectonic. (Coward, M. P., Dewey, J. F., and Hancock, P. L., editors). Special Publication, 28, Geological Society of London.Google Scholar
Howard, K. A., John, B. E., Davis, G. A., Anderson, J. L. and Gans, P. B. (1994) A guide to Miocene extension and magmatism in the lower Colorado River region, Nevada, Arizona, and California. US Geological Survey Report, OF 94–0246, 54pp.Google Scholar
Howard, K. A., Wooden, J. L., Simpson, R. W. and Pease, V. L. (1996) Extension-related plutonism along the Colorado River extensional corridor. Geological Society of America – Abstracts with Programs, 28, 450.Google Scholar
Jia, Y. Q. (1991) Crystal radii and effective ionic radii of the rare earth ions. Journal of Solid State Chemistry, 95, 184–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, J. A. and Grunder, A. L. (2000) The making of intermediate composition magma in a bimodal suite: Duck Butte Eruptive Center, Oregon, USA. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 95, 175–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keppler, H. (1993) Influence of fluorine on the enrichment of high field strength trace elements in granitic rocks. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 114, 479–488.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linnen, R. L. (2005) The effect of water on accessory phase solubility in subaluminous and peralkaline granitic melts. Lithos, 80, 267–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linnen, R. L. and Keppler, H. (2002) Melt composition control of Zr/Hf fractionation in magmatic processes. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 66, 3293–3301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mahood, G. A. (1981) A summary of the geology and petrology of the Sierra La Primavera, Jalisco, Mexico. Journal of Geophysical Research, 86, 10137–10152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazdab, F. K. and Wooden, J. L. (2006) Trace element analysis in zircon by ion microprobe (SHRTMP-RG): technique and applications. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta Supplement, 70(18), 405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Metz, J. M. and Mahood, G. A. (1991) Development of the Long Valley, California, magma chamber recorded in precaldera rhyolite lavas of Glass Mountain. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 106, 379–397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, J. S. and Wooden, J. L. (2004) Residence, resorption and recycling of zircons in Devils Kitchen rhyolite, Coso Volcanic field, California. Journal of Petrology, 45, 2155–2170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, C. F., McDowell, S. M. and Mapes, R. W. (2003) Hot and cold granites? Implications of zircon saturation temperatures and preservation of inheritance. Geology, 31, 529–532.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, J. S., Miller, C. F., Cates, N. L., Wooden, J. L., Means, M. A. and Ericksen, S. (2004) Time scales of pulsatory magmatic construction and solidification in Miocene subvolcanic systems, Eldorado Mountains, Nevada (USA). Transactions of the American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting, EOS, 85, JA 496.Google Scholar
Miller, C. F., Lowery, L. E. and Bea, F. (2005) Zircons and Zr/Hf: Assessing magmatic fractionation in the crust. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 15, A10.Google Scholar
Pupin, J. P. (2000) Granite genesis related to geodynamics from Hf–Y in zircon. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, 91, 245–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putnis, A., Fernandez-Diaz, L. and Prieto, M. (1992) Experimentally produced oscillatory zoning in the (Ba,Sr)SO4 solid solution. Nature, 358, 743–745.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reagan, M.K, Sims, K. W. W., Erich, J., Thomas, R. B., Cheng, H., Edwards, R. L., Layne, G. and Ball, L. (2003) Time-scales of differentiation from mafic parents to rhyolite in North American continental arcs. Journal of Petrology, 44, 1703–1726.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, M. R., Coath, C. D., Harrison, T. M. and McKeegan, K.D (1997) Prolonged residence times for the youngest rhyolites associated with Long Valley Caldera: (super 230) Th- (super 238) U ion microprobe dating of young zircons. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 150, 27–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmitt, A. K., Lindsay, J. M., de Silva, S. and Trumbull, R. B. (2003) U-Pb zircon chronostratigraphy of early–Pliocene ignimbrites from La Pacana, North Chile: implication for the formation of stratified magma chambers. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 120, 43–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shannon, R. D. (1976) Revised effective ionic radii and systematic studies of interatomic distances in halides and chalcogenides. Acta Crystallographica, A32, 751–767.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shore, M. and Fowler, A. D. (1996) Oscillatory zoning in minerals: a common phenomenon. The Canadian Mineralogist, 34, 1111–1126.Google Scholar
Stix, J. and Gorton, M. P. (1990) Changes in silicic melt structure between the two Bandalier Caldera-forming eruptions, New Mexico, USA: Evidence from zirconium and light rare earth elements. Journal of Petrology, 31, 1261–1283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stix, J., Goff, F., Gorton, M. P., Heiken, G. and Garcia, S. R. (1988) Restoration of compositional zonation in the Bandalier silicic magma chamber between two caldera-forming eruptions – geochemistry and origin of the Cerro Toledo rhyolite, Jemez Mountains, New Mexico. Journal of Geophysical Research, 93, 6129–6147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vazquez, J. A. and Reid, M. R. (2002) Timescales of magma storage and differentiation of voluminous high-silica rhyolites at Yellowstone caldera, Wyoming. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 144, 274–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vazquez, J. A. and Reid, M. R. (2004) Probing the accumulation history of the voluminous Toba magma. Science, 305, 991–993.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Volborth, A. (1973) Geology of the granite complex of the Eldorado, Newberry, and northern Dead Mountains, Clark County, Nevada. Bulletin – Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, 80, 40pp.Google Scholar
Walker, B. A., Miller, C. F., George, B. E., Ludington, S., Wooden, J. L., Bleick, H. A. and Miller, J. S. (2005) The Spirit Mountain batholith: Documenting magma storage in the upper crust one pulse at a time. Transactions of the American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting, EOS, 86, JA516.Google Scholar
Walker, B. A., Miller, C. F., Lowery Claiborne, L., Wooden, J. and Miller, J. S. (2006) Batholith construction: New insights concerning timescales and physical processes from the Spirit Mountain Batholith, southern Nevada. Journal of Volcanological and Geothermal Research (in press).Google Scholar
Wallace, G. S. and Bergantz, G. W. (2002) Wavelet-based correlation (WBC) of zoned crystal populations and magma mixing. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 202, 133–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wark, D. A. and Miller, C. F. (1993) Accessory mineral behavior during differentiation of a granite suite: monazite, xenotime and zircon in the Sweetwater Wash pluton, southeastern California, U.S.A. Chemical Geology, 110, 49–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, E. B. and Harrison, T. M. (1983) Zircon saturation revisited: temperature and composition effects in a variety of crustal magma types. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 64, 295–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, E. B. and Harrison, T. M. (2005) Zircon thermometer reveals minimum melting conditions on earliest Earth. Science, 308, 841–844.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watson, E. B. and Liang, Y. (1995) A simple model for sector zoning in slowly grown crystals: Implications for growth rate and lattice diffusion, with emphasis on accessory minerals in crustal rocks. American Mineralogist, 80, 1179–1187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, E. B., Wark, D. A. and Thomas, J. B. (2006) Crystallization thermometers for zircon and rutile. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 151, 413–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, J. C. and Urbanczyk, K. M. (2001) Origin of a silica-oversaturated quartz trachyte-rhyolite suite through combined crustal melting, magma mixing, and fractional crystallization; the Levya Canyon Volcano, Trans-Pecos magmatic province, Texas. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 111, 155–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiebe, R. A. and Hawkins, D. P. (2004) Multiple replenishments in an evolving silicic magma chamber: The Vinalhaven intrusive complex, Maine, USA. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 68, A672.Google Scholar
Wooden, J. L., Mazdab, F. K., Barth, A. P., Miller, C. F. and Lowery, L. E. (2006) Temperatures (Ti) and compositional characteristics of zircon: Early observations using high mass resolution on the USGS-Stanford SHRIMP-RG. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta Supplement, 70(18), 707.CrossRefGoogle Scholar