The evolution of the Peach Spring Tuff magmatic system as revealed by accessory mineral textures and compositions

The Peach Spring Tuff (PST), a large Miocene ignimbrite located in the southwestern USA, is distinctive in its abundance of U, Th, and REE concentrating accessory minerals (zircon, sphene, allanite, chevkinite). We have examined textures and compositions of these accessory minerals and magnetite, as well as glasses, in pumice clasts and fiamme from the PST outflow and intracaldera by a variety of methods. Textures of crystal populations were assessed qualitatively in thin sections and crystal separates, and quantitatively by differential absorption x-ray tomography (DAT) to obtain quantitative textural information (i.e. crystal size distributions, CSDs). We have also analyzed REE compositions of glasses by LA-ICPMS and zircon and sphene by SHRIMP-RG. Pumice clasts and fiamme from the outflow sheet and intracaldera deposits range in composition and crystal content, from relatively crystal-poor rhyolites to crystal-rich trachytes, with intracaldera fiamme on the less silicic end of this spectrum. REE trends in zircon and sphene grains reveal a simple fractionation history in rhyolites, but MREE enrichment in sphene edges in trachytes suggest final growth from a less evolved melt. Ti-in-zircon and Zr-in-sphene thermometry reveals lower temperature growth at edges of grains from rhyolites (down to ~730 °C), while edges from trachytes record warmer temperatures (up to ~980 °C). Trace element variations and estimated temperatures also suggest that zircon has a more protracted history of growth than other accessory phases. Textures are consistent with the geochemical results. Phenocrysts in rhyolites tend to be euhedral, while those from intracaldera trachytes display resorption features. Zircon and allanite+chevkinite size distributions in outflow pumice clasts and intracaldera fiamme generally display exponential CSDs, consistent with a simple growth and nucleation history. Sphene and magnetite size distributions in outflow samples are generally kinked, with large numbers of small (<100 µm) crystals, suggestive of enhanced nucleation due to rapid decompression. In intracaldera fiamme, the abundance of large sphene crystals (>200 µm) is considerably lower than what is found for the other accessory phases, and sphene CSDs have concave-down shapes for crystals <100 µm. These features are consistent with resorption. The lack of a concave-down section in zircon and allanite+chevkinite CSDs is likely due to comparatively slower growth rates of these phases. These results suggest that the PST was a zoned system affected by a late-stage heating event, which may have triggered eruption, followed by eruptive decompression. Timescales of crystallization calculated from magnetite size distributions suggest this decompression event occurred at most months to a year before eruption. One outflow pumice clast of trachyte composition follows compositional trends of intracaldera trachytes and textural trends of outflow rhyolites, suggesting that these events affected different regions of the chamber to different extents.