Identification of the Calderas for Major Ignimbrites of the Altiplano-Puna Volcanic Complex, Central Andes, Including Two New Super-eruptions

The Neogene ignimbrite flare-up in the Altiplano-Puna Volcanic Complex (APVC) in the central Andes produced calderas and ignimbrites covering >70,000 km2 in Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina and totaling >11,000 km3 of magma. One of the questions related to this extraordinary occurrence is how long it took for these ignimbrites to be emplaced. In an effort to determine this, we have combined field correlations, high-precision 40Ar/39Ar dating, anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and characteristic remanent magnetism (ChRM) to constrain the dates of the eruptions. Herein we present the paleomagnetic data and preliminary interpretations, including the definition of two new super-eruptions in the APVC (including the youngest yet identified in the APVC). Several ignimbrites occupy similar stratigraphic positions. The Pastos Grandes and Tara Ignimbrites erupted 2.8-3.5 Ma, while the Chuhuilla, Alota, and Guacha Ignimbrites date between 5.3 and 5.6 Ma. The Pastos Grandes and Tara Ignimbrites have similar ChRM directions. The ChRM directions of the Alota and Guacha Ignimbrites are clearly distinct but the Chuhuilla Ignimbrite data have very large dispersion. The thermal demagnetization reveals a single component in nearly all the samples, which may indicate that the ignimbrites were emplaced above the magnetite Curie temperature. Current efforts center on refining and reducing the errors on the ChRM directions. AMS was used to determine flow directions and thus define the source areas for ignimbrites. The 3.51 Ma Tara Ignimbrite, first recognized as ponded ignimbrite in La Pacana caldera and thought to be erupted from there, is sourced in the Guacha caldera of Bolivia, likely from the western dome complex, which yields similar dates. Great thicknesses of Tara Ignimbrite are ponded within the Guacha caldera, and also around Cerro Zapaleri. This is the youngest super-eruption in the central APVC. The Pastos Grandes caldera was previously thought to have formed during the Chuhuilla Ignimbrite eruption at 5.45 Ma. Our AMS data show the Pastos Grandes Ignimbrite was erupted from the Pastos Grandes caldera and new dates show it was emplaced at 2.89 Ma, corroborated by the ChRM data. It is exposed over 6000 km2 with a volume of >800 km3, making it the youngest super-eruption in the APVC. This may have been the reactivation of the caldera after a ~2.5 million year hiatus in ignimbrite-forming eruptions. Our AMS data confirm that the Guacha, Laguna Colorado, and Vilama ignimbrites come from their eponymous calderas, with some topographic effects upon the flow directions.