CLINOPYROXENE THERMOBAROMETRY OF BASALTS FROM THE COSO AND BIG PINE VOLCANIC FIELDS, CALIFORNIA

Abstract

The Coso and Big Pine volcanic fields of eastern California exhibit different magmatic histories. The Big Pine field erupted only basalt lavas, some of which bear mantle xenoliths, whereas the Coso field erupted both basalt and rhyolite and is a major geothermal resource. These different magmatic products could be explained if Coso basalts stalled in the crust before erupting, providing heat to generate silicic magma, whereas Big Pine basalts erupted directly from mantle depths. Clinopyroxene–liquid thermobarometry indicates an average clinopyroxene crystallization depth of 45 km for Big Pine basalts and 19 km for Coso basalts, consistent with this hypothesis. Differences in crustal density, crustal structure, and prior magmatic history may have contributed to the different magmatic processes operating at each field. Our results indicate that the effects of analytical error, crystal zoning, and correlated errors on estimated temperatures and pressures from the thermobarometer are relatively small compared to intersample differences.