Magma Storage Conditions, Eruption Initiation and Magma Evolution Over Time: Investigating the Eruptions of Organ Caldera, Southern NM

Abstract:

The Organ caldera in southern New Mexico formed ~36 Ma from a series of three explosive, voluminous eruptions. The volcanic deposits are now exposed in the Organ Mountains and have a combined thickness of nearly 3 km and an estimated volume between 500 and1000 km³ (Seager & McCurry, 1988). This research uses analyses of quartz-hosted melt inclusions from the first- and last-erupted units to study the storage and differentiation of the magma body prior-to and during the initial eruption, as well as changes in the magma chamber over time as the eruptions progressed and ultimately ceased.

Previous work suggests the Organ magma chamber was compositionally stratified (Seager, 1981) erupting top-down and tapping less-evolved magmas over time. However, preliminary results suggest a more complex system; possibly a convecting, homogenized magma chamber or a series of dykes and sills. Results obtained using FTIR analyses of H₂O and CO₂ in melt inclusions have shown variable volatile contents from the first erupted unit (~2.3 to 6.8 weight percent H₂O, 0-118 ppm CO₂). Using these values, saturation pressures of 45 to 266 MPa were calculated, indicating a minimum pressure at which the melt inclusion was trapped. These pressures suggest magma storage depths for the first erupted magmas of ~2 to 9 km (with most inclusions trapped between 4 and 8 km) which is inconsistent with the initial eruption coming from the top of a normally stratified chamber. The large variation in volatile contents and storage depths can have many explanations, such as degassing and shallow crystallization during ascent, or perhaps a more complex, elongate magma storage system. These possibilities, and whether or not magma mixing/rejuvenation triggered the initial eruption, will be explored with the acquisition of major and trace element compositions of melt inclusions. Additionally, analyses of melt inclusions from the last erupted ignimbrite, which erupted ~0.5 Ma after the first eruption, will enable us to compare and contrast volatile contents, depths, and evolution of the magma chamber over time.