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Magma genesis and chamber processes at Los Humeros caldera, Mexico—Nd and Sr isotope data

Nature volume 302, pages 52–55 (1983)Cite this article

Abstract

The Mexican volcanic belt (MVB), a roughly east–west structure, consists of many late Tertiary and Quaternary cindercones, domes, calderas and stratovolcanoes1,2. Los Humeros caldera (approximately 19°40′ N latitude, 97°25′ W longitude) lies on the northeastern part of the MVB where the belt overlaps with another major volcanic province, the Eastern cordillera3 (Fig. 1). A compilation6 of the bulk chemical analyses of the two major volcanic provinces indicates that the MVB is characterized largely by calc-alkaline series whereas rocks of the alkaline series dominate the Eastern cordiliera (EC). Pleistocene to Recent basaltic to rhyolitic volcanism in Los Humeros caldera, one of the best known examples of a well-developed caldera in Mexico7–9, presumably associated with the subduction of Cocos plate along the Middle America trench, shows that the initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios range from 0.7039 to 0.7048 and the initial 143Nd/144Nd ratios from 0.5126 to 0.5129. We show here that these isotope ratios are negatively correlated and lie on the mantle array defined by MORB and oceanic island rocks; implying that Los Humeros magmas were generated in the upper mantle with very little, if any, contribution from the subducted oceanic crust, sediments or continental crust.

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Author notes

  1. Surendra P. Verma

    Present address: Instituto de Investigaciones Eléctricas, Geotermia, Apartado Postal 475, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island, 02881, USA

    Surendra P. Verma

  2. Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Delegación Coyoacán, 04510, D.F., México

    Surendra P. Verma

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  1. Surendra P. Verma
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Verma, S. Magma genesis and chamber processes at Los Humeros caldera, Mexico—Nd and Sr isotope data. Nature 302, 52–55 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/302052a0

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