Recent Rift Volcanism in the Northern Gulf of California and the Salton Through: Why a Preponderance of Evolved Magmas?

Quaternary volcanoes and shallow intrusions throughout the northern Gulf Extensional Province provide a unique opportunity to characterize active crustal accretion associated with extreme continental rifting. In the Lower Delfin basin and Isla San Luis volcanic rocks have compositional continuity from basaltic andesite (>54 % SiO2) to sub-alkaline rhyolite, whereas Roca Consag in the Wagner basin, and Cerro Prieto are homogeneous, low-K, lithoidal, microlithic dacites. Salton Buttes surface lavas and a seamount in the Upper Delfin basin are dominantly rhyolitic. Basaltic xenoliths, intrusive basaltic sills and altered subsurface rhyolites are known from the Salton Trough and Cerro Prieto. All Quaternary volcanic rocks in the region have depleted (relative to CHUR) Nd isotopic compositions with ɛNd of +8.5 and +6.3 in the Salton Buttes and marginally lower values (+6.5 to +4.1) for Roca Consag, Lower Delfin basin and Isla San Luis. Rhyolite from the Upper Delfin basin yielded ɛNd of +2.2. These values are consistent with overall depleted 87Sr/86/Sr ratios (0.70353-0.70382). Only rhyolites from Lower and Upper Delfin basin have higher 87Sr/86Sr (0.70492 -0.70661) compared to coexisting andesites, which implies hydrothermal alteration and/or minor contamination by continental crust and/or sediments. Volcanic rocks within individual basins thus represent variably differentiated and, to a smaller degree, contaminated, co- genetic suites, as indicated by negative Eu anomalies that reflect plagioclase fractionation in rhyolites. Ion microprobe ages of zircons from Roca Consag are heterogeneous. The youngest ages are ~120 ka and several pre-Quaternary xenocrysts were observed, but the data define a dominant peak at ~1 Ma. The isotope data suggest recent differentiation of dominantly mantle-derived young crust. The preponderance of intermediate to felsic volcanism in the northern Gulf of California suggests that only low- density magmas can reach shallow levels where they may form a significant volume of new crust within the active rift basins.