Geoscience Canada

Vol. 50 No. 2 (2023)
Series

Igneous Rock Associations 29. The Nenana Magnetitite Lava Flow, Alaska Range, Alaska

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  • Stephen P. Reidel,
  • Marty E. Ross,
  • Jennifer Kasbohm
Stephen P. Reidel
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Retired, Present address: 7207 West Old Inland Empire Highway Benton City, Washington 99320, USA
Biographie
Marty E. Ross
Professor Emeritus, Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
Jennifer Kasbohm
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA
DOI : https://doi.org/10.12789/geocanj.2023.50.197

Publié-e 2023-07-17

Mots-clés

  • Alaska Range,
  • Late Miocene,
  • Magnetitite Lava,
  • Nenana Basin,
  • Rhyolite

Comment citer

Reidel, S. P., Ross, M. E., & Kasbohm, J. (2023). Igneous Rock Associations 29. The Nenana Magnetitite Lava Flow, Alaska Range, Alaska. Geoscience Canada, 50(2), 53–71. https://doi.org/10.12789/geocanj.2023.50.197
Mention de droit d'auteur

Résumé

Les gisements de magnétitite comme ceux de El Laco (Chili) sont rares et d’origines controversées. Une coulée de lave de magnétitite inhabituelle recouvrant une coulée de rhyolite se trouve dans le centre-nord de la chaîne de l'Alaska et couvrait environ 750 km2 du bassin miocène de Nénana. La datation de la rhyolite et les relations entre la magnétite et les roches sédimentaires indiquent que les deux sont d'âge Miocène supérieur. La coulée de magnétitite est principalement composée de magnétite avec quelques altérations post-éruptives en hématite. La coulée de rhyolite et la coulée de magnétitite sont toutes les deux vésiculaires, mais la coulée de magnétitite présente également de petits joints colonnaires d'échelle millimétrique. Les zones vésiculaires de la coulée de magnétitite se transforment en roche massive à l'échelle d'une lame mince, suggérant qu’elles proviennent d’une lave en dégazage. Les échantillons de la coulée de magnétitite contiennent entre 12 et 26 % en poids de SiO2 et entre 45 et 75 % en poids de FeO. Les éléments de terres rares (ETR) et les éléments traces de la magnétitite et de la rhyolite présentent des patrons similaires mais avec une moindre abondance dans la magnétitite. La rhyolite et de magnétitite présentent toutes deux un patron de terres rares enrichi en éléments de terres rares légers avec une anomalie négative en Eu. L'analyse au microscope électronique montre que la majeure partie de la silice et de la teneur en éléments traces de la coulée de magnétitite provient de minéraux silicatés et de verre finement disséminés dans la magnétite. Ceci suggère que la magnétitite provient d'un magma qui s’était décomposé en une phase riche en silice et une phase riche en fer avant son éruption. Les fractures et les vésicules dans la coulée de magnétitite contiennent du verre et des minéraux rhyolitiques comme constituant mineurs suggérant que le magma de rhyolite a envahi les joints colonnaires dans la coulée de magnétitite solidifiée et est un corps subvolcanique semblable à un filon-couche dans la localité étudiée. La coulée de magnétitite a fait éruption avant la mise en place de la rhyolite, qui peut être extrusive à l'échelle régionale. Les caractéristiques de la magnétitite de Nénana et ses relations géologiques sont cohérentes avec les modèles génétiques qui invoquent la séparation du magma en liquides non miscibles riches en fer et en silicium pendant l'ascension.

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