Geologic map of the Black Range tin district, New Mexico

Fríes, Carl; Butler, Arthur Pierce

doi:10.3133/ofr431

Cited by 3 publications

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“…This suggestion originates from the study of a group of Oligocene rhyolite-lava domes and flows in New Mexico-the Taylor Creek Rhyolite-some of which are in uninterrupted stratigraphic sequence with variably welded fallout deposits that are pyroclastic products of the lava-producing eruptions. In some instances, welding of fallout deposits has resulted in rocks that resemble quietly effusive lavas; in fact, these rocks have been mapped as such by earlier investigators (Fries and Butler, 1943;Lawrence, 1985;Richter and others, 1986;Eggleston, 1987). Some of the lava-like rocks, however, are seen to be of welded-particle origin when examined in thin section (Duffield, 1987b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Eruptive fountains of silicic magma and their possible effects on the tin content of fountain-fed lavas, Taylor Creek Rhyolite, New Mexico

Duffield

1990

Geological Society of America Special Papers

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The Taylor Creek Rhyolite, a group of Tertiary high-silica-rhyolite lava domes and flows in southwestern New Mexico, contains cassiterite-bearing veins whose tin was derived from the host rhyolite as it degassed, cooled, and devitrified immediately after emplacement. Theoretical considerations and studies of fumarolic deposits at many volcanoes worldwide indicate that tin is highly mobile in a vapor phase, probably as halogen complexes, thus favoring the occurrence of such auto-mineralization in a cooling-lava environment. Mass-balance calculations for the New Mexico situation indicate that much of the tin evolved during devitrification of the rhyolite cannot be accounted for in the mineralized deposits. Some of this "missing" tin almost certainly was dispersed into alluvium during erosion of mineralized parts of the lavas, and some may have been transferred to the atmosphere around fumaroles rooted in the cooling lavas. In addition, tin may have been lost to the atmosphere from Taylor Creek Rhyolite magma that was erupted in fountains. The recent recognition of fountain-fed fallback in the New Mexico rhyolite field suggests that this third means of moving tin out of erupting magma may indeed have contributed to the overall tin history in the Taylor Creek Rhyolite magma system.Fountain-fed flows of silicic lavas are not well known, whereas mafic counterparts are known to be common as a result of observations of many eruptions of basaltic magma. Characteristic properties of silicic magmas that collectively tend to result in relatively high viscosity inhibit the occurrence of eruption columns whose fallback is hot enough to thoroughly weld and perhaps totally rehomogenize into a melt that subsequently feeds lava flows. However, high volumetric rates of eruption, high magmatic temperature (relative to solidus temperature), and any other conditions that help to reduce viscosity, in concert with factors that result in relatively brief periods of trajectory for lava clots, favor the formation of fountain-fed silicic lava flows. Fluorine-rich magma of about 830°C produced such silicic lavas in the Taylor Creek Rhyolite, and rocks with a similar mode of emplacement in other volcanic areas are herein hypothesized to be far more abundant than presently recognized. Possible examples elsewhere include large-volume sheets of silicic lavas in southwestern Idaho (eruption temperature of 950° to 1,100°C) and in Trans-Pecos Texas, where lava-flow and welded pyroclastic textures intermixed within individual eruptive units have led to confusion and difficulty in interpreting the mechanism of emplacement. Documentation of fountain-fed silicic lavas is rare; eruptions of silicic magmas are infrequent relative to the average human Duffield, W. A., 1990, Eruptive fountains of silicic magma and their possible effects on the tin content of fountain-fed lavas, Taylor Creek Rhyolite, New Mexico, in Stein, H. J., and Hannah, J. L., eds., Ore-bearing granite systems; Pedogenesis and mineralizing processes: Geological Society of America Speci...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Eruptive fountains of silicic magma and their possible effects on the tin content of fountain-fed lavas, Taylor Creek Rhyolite, New Mexico

Duffield

1990

Geological Society of America Special Papers

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“…Originally described by Fries and Butler (1943) as a "porphyritic tin-bearing rhyolite," parts of this map unit have since been remapped in more detail by Lawrence and Richter (1986), Richter and others (1986a, b), and Eggleston (1987).…”

Section: Geology Of the Taylor Creek Rhyolitementioning

confidence: 97%

“…In the vicinity of the Taylor Creek Rhyolite, detailed mapping has been performed by Fries and Butler (1943), Lawrence and Richter (1986), Richter and others (1986a, b), and Eggleston (1987). Figure 2 shows a simplified stratigraphic column for volcanic rocks in the Taylor Creek Rhyolite area of the northern Black Range.…”

Section: Geologic Setting Of the Taylor Creek Rhyolitementioning

confidence: 99%

Origin of Taylor Creek rhyolite magma, Black Range, New Mexico, based on Nd-Sr isotope studies

Reece¹,

Ruíz²,

Duffield³

et al. 1990

Geological Society of America Special Papers

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Taylor Creek high-silica tin-bearing rhyolites are found in the northern Black Range of the Mogollon-Datil volcanic field in southwestern New Mexico, occurring near the stratigraphic top of a thick mid-Tertiary volcanic section. Initial t Nd values for the high-silica rhyolite lavas range from -5.0 to -6.2, which are similar to those of the Garcia Camp tuff, a pyroclastic phase of the Taylor Creek Rhyolite. The older Kneeling Nun tuff, which crops out in the same area, also has a similar t Nd( value, which indicates that the high-silica rhyolites and spatially associated silicic tuffs were derived from an isotopically similar source. Comparison with data from lower crustal xenoliths and data bearing on the isotopic compositions of the lower crust suggest that the melts were derived from 80 to 50 percent lower crustal sources. The Poverty Creek basaltic andesite and Bearwallow Mountain Formation andesite, stratigraphically below and above Taylor Creek Rhyolite, respectively, have more positive eNdi values of -4.7 and -2.3, respectively, indicating a greater mantle component.Initial 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios vary from 0.7046 to 0.7131 for the Taylor Creek Rhyolite. There is a broad positive correlation between initial ^Sr/^Sr and Sr content and a negative correlation with Rb, Ta, and Th content. These variations may be explained by late-stage upper crustal assimilation of radiogenic and relatively Sr-rich wall and roof rocks. Whole-rock Sr contents of the least radiogenic rocks as low as 3 ppm indicate that little assimilation would be required to affect the original Sr isotopic signature of the Taylor Creek Rhyolite magma. The Nd isotopes, however, were not measurably affected by the upper crustal processes.

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“…Flow rhyolite crops out in two small areas: in Shaw Canyon, on the southeast margin of the mapped area, and in two tributaries to Long Canyon, on the southwest margin of the mapped area. Both areas of outcrop are isolated windows, undoubtedly continuous beneath younger cover; similar rocks are more extensively exposed in the south half of the Pelona quadrangle (Fries and Butler, 1943). In neither area has the base of the flow rhyolite been seen.…”

Section: Rhyolite Flow Unit (Tdrf)mentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Contiguous quadrangles are nearly completely covered by reconnaissance geologic maps (Fries and Butler, 1943;Willard, 1957aWillard, , 1957bWillard and Givens, 1958;Weber and Willard, 1959).…”

Section: Nature and Scope Of Investigationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geology of the north half of the Pelona quadrangle, Catron County, New Mexico

Stearns¹

1962

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The north half of the Pelona quadrangle lies in the Datil-Mogollon volcanic plateau of west-central NM. The area includes the western third of the San Augustin Plains, a broad intermontane basin of the continental divide.Pre-tertiary rocks, including Yeso, Glorieta, and San Andres Formations, and Triassic Sandstone crop out in one small area. They are overlain unconformably by about 3,000 ft of volcanic and associated sedimentary rocks, assigned to the mid-Tertiary Datil Formation. In the mapped area, the lower third of the formation is volcanic conglomerate, sandstone, and siltstone. Rhyolite, latite, and andesite flows, breccias, and tuffs, together with sedimentary beds, comprise the upper two-thirds of the formation. Variations in the nature of materials erupted from various centers at various times have led to complex intertonguing of the several facies. Individual lithologic units can be mapped readily in an area of this size, but they cannot be expected to maintain their identity in areas of much greater extent.The Datil Formation is overlain with mild unconformity by a younger volcanic formation, given no formal name here, which attains a maximum thickness of 2,500 ft locally. Basalt and andesite-basalt comprise by far the greatest volume of the younger volcanic formation, but rhyolite, latite, andesite, and alluvial materials are intercalated locally. The formation is probably of late Tertiary and Quaternary age.The San Agustin Plains occupy a graben, with inferred structural relief of at least 4,000 ft. The graben is younger than the younger volcanic formation. More than half the structural relief has been reduced by sedimentation. Most of the sediments antedate extinct Lake San Agustin, which occupied the graben in Wisconsin time. There is no evidence of tectonic activity in the graben younger than extinct Lake San Agustin.Volcanic rocks in the uplands peripheral to the graben are gently warped and broken by numerous normal faults. A broad dome, the crest of which lies southwest of Horse Mountain, is older than the younger volcanic formation, as are some normal faults near the south boundary of the mapped area. A broad basin in Tularosa Mountains, the rim of which is an essentially continuous horst, and a series of arcuate, tilted fault blocks between the Tularosa Mountains and the Mangas Mountains are younger that the younger volcanic formation. A structural high between the area of arcuate fault blocks and the San Agustin Plains is probably continuous across the mouth of Patterson Canyon, between the Tularosa Mountains and the Structural dome southwest of Horse Mountain.

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Geologic map of the Black Range tin district, New Mexico

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Eruptive fountains of silicic magma and their possible effects on the tin content of fountain-fed lavas, Taylor Creek Rhyolite, New Mexico

Eruptive fountains of silicic magma and their possible effects on the tin content of fountain-fed lavas, Taylor Creek Rhyolite, New Mexico

Origin of Taylor Creek rhyolite magma, Black Range, New Mexico, based on Nd-Sr isotope studies

Geology of the north half of the Pelona quadrangle, Catron County, New Mexico

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