The Huckleberry Ridge Tuff, Yellowstone: evacuation of multiple magmatic systems in a complex episodic eruption

Abstract

Abstract The 2·08 Ma, ∼2500 km3 Huckleberry Ridge Tuff (HRT) eruption, Yellowstone, generated two fall deposits and three ignimbrite members (A, B, C), accompanying a ∼95 x 65 km caldera collapse. Field data imply that the pre-A fall deposits took weeks to be erupted, then breaks of weeks to months occurred between members A and B, and years to decades between B and C. We present compositional and isotopic data from single silicic clasts (pumice or fiamme) in the three ignimbrite members, plus new data from co-eruptive mafic components to reconstruct the nature and evacuation history of the HRT crustal magmatic complex. Geochemical data, building on field characteristics, are used to group nine silicic clast types into seven compositional suites (A1-A3; B1; C1-C3) within their respective members A, B and C. Isotopic data are then added to define four magmatic systems that were tapped simultaneously and/or sequentially during the eruption. Systems 1 and 2 fed the initial fall deposits and then vented throughout member A, accompanied by trace amounts of mafic magma. In member A, volumetrically dominant system 1 is represented by a rhyolite suite (A1: 73·0–77·7 wt % SiO2, 450–1680 ppm Ba) plus a distinct low-silica rhyolite suite (A2: 69·2–71·6 wt % SiO2, >2500 ppm Ba). System 2 yielded only a low-Ba, high-silica rhyolite suite (A3: 76·7–77·4 wt % SiO2, ≤250 ppm Ba). Glass compositions in pumices from systems 1 and 2 show clustering, indicative of the same multiple melt-dominant bodies identified in the initial fall deposits and earliest ignimbrite. Member B samples define suite B1 (70·7–77·4 wt % SiO2, 540–3040 ppm Ba) derived from magmatic system 1 (but not 2) that had undergone mixing and reorganisation during the A: B time break, accompanying mafic magma inputs. Mafic scoriae erupted in upper member B cover similar compositions to the member A clasts, but extend over a much broader compositional range. Member C clast compositions reflect major changes during the B: C time break, including rejuvenation of magmatic system 2 (last seen in member A) as suite C3 (75·3–77·2 wt % SiO2, 100–410 ppm Ba), plus the appearance of two new suites with strong crustal signatures. Suite C2 is another rhyolite (74·7–77·6 wt % SiO2, with Ba decreasing with silica from 2840 to 470 ppm) that defines magmatic system 3. Suite C2 also shows clustered glass compositions, suggesting that multiple melt-dominant bodies were a repetitive feature of the HRT magmatic complex. Suite C1, in contrast, is dacite to rhyolite (65·6–75·0 wt % SiO2, with Ba increasing with silica from 750 to 1710 ppm) that defines magmatic system 4. Compositions from magmatic systems 1 and 2 dominantly reflect fractional crystallization, but include partial melting of cumulates related to earlier intrusions of the same mafic magmas as those syn-eruptively vented. Country rock assimilation was limited to minor amounts of a more radiogenic (with respect to Sr) evolved contaminant. In contrast, systems 3 and 4 show similar strongly crustal isotopic compositions (despite their differences in elemental composition) consistent with assimilation of Archean rocks via partial melts derived from cumulates associated with contrasting mafic lineages. System 3 links to the same HRT mafic compositions co-erupted in members A and B. In contrast, system 4 links to olivine tholeiite compositions erupted in the Yellowstone area before, sparsely during, and following the HRT itself. All four magmatic systems were housed beneath the HRT caldera area. Systems 1 and 2 were hosted in Archean crust that had been modified by Cretaceous/Eocene magmatism, whereas systems 3 and 4 were hosted within crust that retained Archean isotopic characteristics. The extreme compositional diversity in the HRT highlights the spatial and temporal complexities that can be associated with large-volume silicic magmatism.