The San Francisco Mountain lavas exposed in the upper portion of the southeast slope of Humphreys Peak are composed of three petrographically distinct types: (1) a lower series of hornblende pyroxene andesites; (2) a group of hypersthene dacites; and (3) an upper series of olivine andesites. These rocks have been shown to be related by crystallization differentiation through comparison of groundmass and bulk rock-chemical data. The major and trace elements from rocks representative of the volcanic field form continuous trends, an indication of differentiation rather than separate and discrete magma sources. Xenoliths found in the volcanic field are composed of the proper major and trace element contents to allow their extraction from a primary melt to form residual melts of more silicic lavas. The alkali olivine basalts, probably formed by partial melting of the mantle at a depth of 35-60 km, may well have differentiated to the alkali-rich highalumina basalts at depths of 15-35 km (the lower crust of the Colorado Plateau) by removal of olivine and clinopyroxene. Some of both lava types erupted periodically onto the surface while others continued to differentiate. Removal of plagioclase, with more minor amounts of olivine and pyroxenes (of less mafic composition than those above), from the high-alumina basalts eventually may have resulted in magmas similar in composition to the intermediate and more silicic rocks. The intermediate and silicic magmas contain hornblende and probably formed between 5 and 8 km. This places a minimum depth of penetration by the normal faults, such as the Mesa Butte fault, along which many silicic centers are aligned, at a depth of 5-8 km. Because of the continuous linear trends of the chemical data and the repetition over the past 6 m.y. of most of the rock types, the mantle beneath this southwestern margin of the Colorado Plateau apparently has not changed significantly during the past 6 m.y., nor is it likely to be very heterogeneous. ?? 1979.
Additional publication details
The petrogenesis and trace-element geochemistry of intermediate lavas from humphreys peak, san francisco volcanic field, arizona