Heterogeneous dacitic magmas and the role of crustal assimilation in the Sierra Chichinautzin Volcanic Field, central Mexico: a perspective from crustal xenoliths

ABSTRACT

The Sierra Chichinautzin Volcanic Field (SCVF) is constituted by diverse monogenetic volcanic structures with heterogeneous chemical composition. Dacitic magmas are widely distributed in this volcanic field and are the most felsic products. Tabaquillo lava is an example of such felsic rocks, it is porphyritic and highly crystalline, constituted by large phenocrysts of plagioclase and quartz (>1 mm long) + ortho and clinopyroxene + biotite and minor amphibole. Coarse-grained and equigranular clasts classified as ‘crystal-rich enclaves’ are also common in the lava flow, with variable compositions (basaltic andesite, andesite, and dacite) and ages of 0.35–0.36 Ma. The presence of metasandstone crustal xenoliths in the Tabaquillo lava flow, with a maximum sedimentation age of 150 Ma, attests to crustal assimilation of the Guerrero terrain rocks. Isotopic data of Tabaquillo lava and other volcanic rocks from the SCVF show notable variations (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.70379–0.70474; ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd = 0.51272–0.51288). Most of them lie in the mantle array but trending to the more radiogenic metasandstone xenolith and Guerrero terrain rocks (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.71271 and 0.71627), suggesting that SCVF magmas have partially assimilated these rocks. Interaction between SCVF magmas with metasandstone, quartzite, and skarn rocks took place at depths > 1.3 km, imprinting geochemical and isotopic characteristics on the felsic magmas and produced the diverse compositional lithologies in the entire SCVF. Additionally, crystal-rich enclaves produced during previous magmatic pulses stalled at different depths, were later mixed with the ascending mafic magma, and subsequently incorporated into the crystal cargo that reached the surface. The common presence of quartz crystals (sometimes with reaction rims of clinopyroxene) found in many SCVF lavas could derive from the crystal-rich magmatic enclaves and/or from the metasandstone basement rocks.

KEYWORDS:

• Crustal assimilation
• Chichinautzin Volcanic Field
• dacitic magmas
• Guerrero terrain
• crystal-rich magmatic enclaves

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by grants: DGAPA-UNAM IN101620 and IN101123 (to J.L. Arce). FRX analysis was performed at Laboratorio Nacional de Geoquímica y Mineralogía, Instituto de Geología, UNAM by P. Girón-García and ICP-MS analysis was conducted at Centro de Geociencias, UNAM, Juriquilla, Mexico by O. Pérez Arvizu. Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopic analysis was done at Laboratorio Universitario de Geoquímica Isotópica, UNAM, Mexico City, by G. Solís Pichardo, T. Hernández, and G. Arrieta. Microprobe analysis was performed at Laboratorio Universitario de Petrología, LANGEM-UNAM by C. Linares. U-Pb in zircon analysis was carried out at Laboratorio de Estudios Isotópicos, Centro de Geociencias, UNAM, Juriquilla, Mexico by C. Ortega and L. Solari. We appreciate M. Guerrero-Suástegui for sharing his knowledge about the metasandstone rocks from Ixtapan de la Sal area. Thanks to A.S. Saucedo-Avila, L.M. Bahena-Pita, N. Delgado-Martínez, and D. Sonora-Robles for their help during fieldwork. We are indebted to V.E. Ocampo-Barrera for his help during the zircon concentrate process. Critical comments and suggestions by two anonymous reviewers improved the final version.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by all authors. The first draft of the manuscript was written by José Luis Arce and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00206814.2024.2324301

Additional information

Funding

The results of this research were funded by grants from DGAPA-UNAM IN101620 and IN101123 (J.L. Arce).