The plutonic record of a silicic ignimbrite from the Latir volcanic field, New Mexico

Zircon U-Pb geochronologic data for plutonic rocks in the Latir volcanic field, New Mexico, demonstrate that the rocks are dominated by plutons that post-date ignimbrite eruption. Only zircon from the ring dike of the Questa caldera yields the same age (25.64 +/- 0.08 Ma) as zircon from the caldera-forming Amalia Tuff (25.52 +/- 0.06 Ma). The post-caldera Rio Hondo pluton was assembled incrementally over at least 400 ka. The magma accumulation rate for the exposed portion of the Rio Hondo pluton is estimated to be 0.0003 km(3) a(-1), comparable to rates for other plutons, and too slow to support accumulation of large eruptible magma volumes. Extrapolation of the accumulation rate for the Rio Hondo pluton over the history of the Latir volcanic field yields an estimated volume of plutonic rocks comparable to the calculated volume under the field as determined by geophysical studies. We propose that the bulk of the plutonic rocks beneath the volcanic center accumulated during periods of low volcanic effusivity. Furthermore, because the oldest portion of the Rio Hondo pluton is the granitic cap exposed beneath a gently dipping roof contact, the roof granite cannot be a silicic liquid fractionated from the deeper (younger) portions of the pluton. Instead, our data suggest that the compositional heterogeneity of the Rio Hondo pluton is inherited from lower crustal sources. We suggest that if magma fluxes are high enough, zoned ignimbrites can be formed by evolution of the melt compositions generated at the source with little or no shallow crustal differentiation.