Fingerprinting young ignimbrites in Dominica (Lesser Antilles): Constraints from bulk REEs, apatite chemistry, and U-Th zircon chronology

Abstract:

Multiple methods of fingerprinting tephra deposits enable distinction of separate magma batches beneath the island of Dominica. Previous studies have invoked a single large batholith but apatite REE chemistry is inconsistent with generation of multiple ignimbrites by fractional crystallization. The crystal-rich, andesite-dacite (58-66 wt% SiO₂) ignimbrites comprise the largest explosive eruption in the Caribbean in the last 200 kyr, erupting a magma volume >58 km³ (Carey and Sigurdsson, 1980). Although the ignimbrites appear to emanate from several vents, their broad similarity in bulk chemistry, phase assemblage (pl + opx + cpx + hbl + ilm + mag + zrn + ap), and mineral composition, has led previous workers to suggest that Dominica is underlain by a single large batholith eruptions younging from north to south. However, bulk REE chemistry, solution ICP-MS chemistry of individual apatite grains, and ion microprobe U-Th dating of zircon rims from pumice clasts suggest a more complex plumbing system. More than 150 pumice clasts from northernmost (Morne aux Diables), northern (Wesley, Pointe Ronde, Grand Savanne), central (Layou, Roseau, Rosalie), and southern (Grand Bay, Grand Fonde) ignimbrites were analyzed for bulk chemistry. Geographically controlled differences exist in the concavity of the middle-heavy REE (Dy*). In central Dominica, apatites from the more evolved Layou Ignimbrite are depleted in middle REE compared to the nearby Roseau Ignimbrite, belying a genetic relationship via fractional crystallization. U-Th zircon rim ages in the northernmost and northern deposits were in secular equilibrium (>350 ka), whereas the central and southern ignimbrites yielded several populations of crystallization ages: Layou (99±12 ka), Roseau (139±12 ka; 65±17 ka), and Grand Bay (107±15 ka; 211±61 ka). Collectively, these observations are consistent with partial melting of magma batches prior to eruption rather than fractional crystallization of a single magma chamber.