Paleomagnetism and Rock Magnetic Properties from Quaternary Lavas and Tuffs of the Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field

We report paleomagnetic and rock magnetic from rhyolite lava flows, ignimbrites, and basalt flows associated with the Yellowstone Caldera, within and surrounding Yellowstone National Park. These data were collected in order to understand sources of magnetic variations observed in high resolution aeromagnetic data reported by Finn and Morgan (2002), and to better understand the evolution of the Yellowstone magmatic system. Most paleomagnetic samples are from volcanic rocks of the third eruptive cycle (1.2 Ma to 0.070 Ma), including the ca. 0.640 Ma Lava Creek Tuff, postcaldera rhyolite flows, and contemporaneous marginal or post-caldera basalt flows. Magnetic intensities for samples ranged from 0.12 A/m to 5.9 A/m, with volume susceptibilities of 2.14x10-4 to 1.45x10-3 SI; Q ratios range from 0.67 to 23.8. As expected, most sites yield well-defined paleomagnetic directions of north declination and moderate positive inclination consistent with remanence acquisition during the Brunhes polarity chron. However, a few sites from older units such as the rhyolites of the Harlequin Lake (0.839 ± 0.007 Ma) and Lewis Canyon (0.853 ± 0.008 Ma) flows, and the basalts from the Junction Butte flow (at Tower Falls, 2.16 ± 0.04 Ma) and Hepburn Mesa (2.2 Ma) yield reverse polarity magnetizations (40Ar/39Ar dates from Obradovich, 1992, and Harlan, unpublished (Hepburn Mesa flow)). Rock magnetic behavior, including high coercivities during AF demagnetization, high laboratory unblocking temperatures, and susceptibility vs. temperature determinations indicate that remanence in the rhyolitic samples is carried by a combination of single or pseudo-single domain magnetite and/or hematite; in the basalt flows magnetite and high-Ti titanomagnetite carrys the remanence. Paleomagnetic results from 46 sites in 27 separate flows yields a grand mean direction with a declination of 356.9° and inclination of 61.9° (k = 35.2, α95 = 4.8°). VGPs calculated from the site-mean directions yield a paleomagnetic pole at 128.4°E, 89.1°N (K = 18.9, A95 = 6.6°), which is 0.9° ± 5.0° from Earth's spin axis. The results suggests that our sample population averages paleosecular variation, despite the episodic and discontinuous record of volcanic activity associated with the Yellowstone Caldera.