New Data on mid-Miocene Rhyolite Volcanism in Eastern Oregon Extend Early, co-CRBG Rhyolite Flare up and Constrain Storage Sites of Grande Ronde Flood Basalts

Abstract:

The classical view of relating mid-Miocene rhyolites of the tri-state area of Oregon, Nevada, and Idaho to the flood basalts of the Columbia River Basalt was that a mantle plume impinging along the Oregon-Idaho border first causes eruption of the flood basalts but shortly thereafter causes generation of rhyolites at the McDermitt volcanic field from which then hot-spot track rhyolites developed progressively younging towards Yellowstone. More recent work reveals rhyolites as old as found at McDermitt (~16.5 Ma) to occur along a wide E-W tangent along the Oregon-Nevada-Idaho border. And now, our data extend such early rhyolites (>16 Ma) to several locations further north within and in the periphery of the Lake Owyhee Volcanic Field (LOVF) adding to the geographically orphaned old age of 16.7 Ma of the Silver City Rhyolite, Idaho. Hence, the rhyolite flare-up associated with flood basalt magmatism occurred within a circular area of ~400 km centered 100 km NNE of McDermitt. Consequently, no south-to-north progression exists in the onset of rhyolite volcanism; instead, rhyolites started up at the same time over this large area. Province-wide rhyolite volcanism was strongest between ~16.4 and 15.4 Ma coincident with eruptions of the most voluminous member of the CRBG – the Grande Ronde Basalt (GRB). Field evidence for such bimodal volcanism consists of intercalated local GRB units with the Dinner Creek Tuff and Littlefield Rhyolite in the Malheur River Gorge corridor. GRB eruption sites exist and were likely fed from reservoirs residing below or near rhyolitic chambers. Presently, we have petrological evidence for pinning down GRB storages sites to areas from where rhyolites of the Dinner Creek Tuff and lava flows of the Littlefield Rhyolite erupted. In summary, input of GRG and other CRBG magmas were driving co-CRBG rhyolite volcanism which in turn may have influenced whether flood basalt magmas erupted locally or travelled in dikes to more distally located areas.