Part 2: Newly Discovered Localities of Mantle and Crustal Base Xenoliths in the State of San Luis Potosí, Mexico
Keywords:
volcanoes, alkalic rocks, xenoliths, Quaternary, San Luis Potosi, MexicoAbstract
There are numerous volcanic vents of Quaternary age (?) in the central part of the state of San Luis Potosí. These basic monogenetic volcanoes occasionally include xenoliths of ultramafic to felsic granulites. The most important localities with xenoliths in the state are seven maars, which are sometimes associated with small cinder and lava cones that also carry xenoliths.
Based on the geographic distribution, the chemical and mineralogical composition of the lavas, and the xenolith sets, the volcanoes of San Luis Potosí have been divided into the Ventura and Santo Domingo groups. In addition to these volcanoes, there is, in the western part of the state, a wide region with scattered cinder cones (Espíritu Santo volcanic field).
Some of the new xenolith localities (e.g., Cerro Verde) belong to the Ventura group. Others (Villa de Ramos, El Tezontle, and Cerro Las Cuevas) are in the Espíritu Santo volcanic field, a region where the pre-volcanic basement differs from that beneath the other volcanic groups.
The xenolith-bearing rocks in the new localities are olivine basanites and nephelinites (SiO₂ = 41–44%, normative Ne up to 25%). The chemical and mineralogical composition of Espíritu Santo's alkalic rocks more closely resembles Ventura's basanite than Santo Domingo's alkalic basalt. The xenolith assemblages in all the new localities contain spinel lherzolite (Ol > Opx > Cpx >> Spl), feldspathic granulites, and pyroxenites. In addition to these inclusions, the volcanoes in Villa de Ramos have abundant clinopyroxene and magnetite megacrysts. So far, kaersutite—commonly found in Santo Domingo's maars—has not been identified in any of the new localities.
Xenolith transport appears to be related to two factors: (1) magma composition, which is invariably alkalic (i.e., with normative Ne), and (2) phreatomagmatic eruptions. The presence of a base-surge deposit beneath the cinder cone of Cerro Las Cuevas suggests that this may be a common feature in all the xenolith-bearing cinder and lava cones in the region.
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