The Mogollon-Datil volcanic field is a large () silicic volcanic field in western New Mexico (Mogollon Mountains-Datil, New Mexico). It is a part of an extensive Eocene to Oligocene volcanic event which includes the San Juan volcanic field in southwestern Colorado, the Trans-Pecos volcanic field in west Texas and north central Mexico, the Boot Heel volcanic field in the bootheel of southwestern New Mexico and adjacent areas of Arizona and Mexico; and the vast volcanic field of the Sierra Madre Occidental of western Mexico. The Mogollon-Datil volcanic field was formed in "four discrete pulses representing synchronized activity of two separate cauldron complexes".
Geologic history The volcanic activity of the Mogollon-Datil began near present-day Las Cruces, New Mexico about 36.2 million years ago (mya) with the eruption of the Cueva Tuff from the Organ Caldera. Activity spread to the northwest to the Mogollon caldera by 34.0 mya, and this first pulse of activity died down around 33.5 mya. A second short pulse of activity occurred between 32.1 and 31.4 mya, with activity both in the existing southern part of the field and at a new caldera complex centered west of Socorro, New Mexico. The third and most extensive pulse of activity lasted from 29.0 to 27.4 mya. A fourth small pulse occurred from 26.1 to 24.3 mya.
The caldera eruptions produced enormous volumes of tuffs across the region. The first two pulses of activity produced a total volume of of tuffs, while the third pulse produced over of tuffs.
The silica-rich caldera eruptions were accompanied by eruptions of less silica-rich (mafic to intermediate) volcanic rock. These were mostly andesite during the first eruptive pulse, becoming less silica-rich (mostly basaltic andesite) in later eruptive pulses. The third eruptive pulse was also accompanied by less explosive rhyolite eruptions of the Taylor Creek Rhyolite, which may have come from a single magma chamber less enriched in volatiles.
The initial mafic to intermediate volcanism has chemical signatures typical of calc-alkaline volcanic rock of volcanic arcs. The later eruptions have been attributed to a "mini-plume" produced by the disintegration of the Farallon plate.
Formations The stratigraphic framework for the Mogollon-Datil volcanic field has undergone many revisions. The Datil Formation was originally defined by Winchester in 1920 to include all the extrusive units from the field. The Datil Formation was later promoted to group rank with the addition of some related sedimentary formations, such as the Baca Formation"Tertiary and Quaternary: Baca Formation" Open File Report 94 (1977), New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources, page 88Chapin, Charles E. et al. (1978) "Exploration framework of the Socorro geothermal area, New Mexico" pp. 114–129 In Chapin, Charles E. et al. (editors) Field guide to selected cauldrons and mining districts of the Datil-Mogollon volcanic field Special Publication NO. 7, New Mexico Geological Society, Winchester, Dean E. (1920) Geology of Alamosa Creek Valley, Socorro County, New Mexico with special reference to the occurrence of oil and gas U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 716-A, and the Spears Formation. The base of the group, as originally defined, rests unconformably on the Mesaverde Formation, and the series is succeeded by the Popotosa Formation of the Santa Fe Group.
The stratigraphic framework proposed by Cather, Chamberlin, and Ratte in 1994 divides the units associated with the Mogollon-Datil volcanic field into three groups and removes the Baca Formation:
Volcanic Units Sedimentary Units Mogollon Group tuff of Turkey Springs (24.3 Ma) Bearwallow Mountain Andesite (27 to 23 Ma) Uvas Basaltic Andesite La Jara Peak Basaltic Andesite South Canyon Tuff (27.4 Ma) Lemitar Tuff (28.0 Ma) Apache Springs Tuff (28.0 Ma) Bloodgood Canyon Tuff (28.0 Ma) Squirrel Springs Andesite Shelley Peak Tuff (28.1 Ma) Vicks Peak Tuff (28.4 Ma) La Jencia Tuff (28.7 Ma) Davis Canyon Tuff (29.0 Ma) Sawmill Canyon Formation Luis Lopez Formation basaltic andesite of Poverty Creek Spears GroupSouth Crosby Peak Formation Rincon Windmill Formation Chavez Canyon Formation Dog Springs Formation Rubio Peak Formation Palm Park Formation Pueblo Creek Formation Bell Top Formation Rock Springs Formation Red Rock Ranch Formation Piloncillo Sediments unit of East Red Canyon sandstone of Monument Park sandstone of Escondido Mountain volcaniclastic unit of Canon del Leon volcaniclastic unit of Largo Creek lacuna (31.4-29.0 Ma)Datil Group Tadpole Ridge Tuff (31.4 Ma) Caballo Blanco Tuff Hells Mesa Tuff (32.0 Ma) Box Canyon Tuff (33.5 Ma) Blue Canyon Tuff (33.7 Ma) Cooney Tuff (34.0 Ma) andesite of Dray Leggett Canyon Rock House Canyon Tuff (34.2 Ma) tuff of Bishop Peak (34.8 Ma) Kneeling Nun Tuff (34.9 Ma) Bell Top Formation (#3: 35.0 Ma) Sugarlump Tuff tuff of Farr Ranch Datil Well Tuff (35.0 Ma) andesite of White House Canyon Dona Ana Tuff Squaw Mountain Tuff (35.8 Ma) Achenbach Park Tuff (35.8 Ma) Cueva Tuff (36.2 Ma) Cather, Chamberlin, and Ratte find that the Alum Mountain Formation in the southern part of the field may span the lacuna between the Mogollon and Datil Groups, though they suggest a tentative assignment to the Mogollon Group. Still further south, voluminous volcanic activity in northern Chihuahua took place in this time period and no lacuna exists.
Clasts of the Vicks Peak and La Jencia Tuffs have been found in the gravel beds of the Benavidez Member of the Cerro Conejo Formation in the Rio Puerco valley west of Albuquerque. These suggest that the outflow sheets of the Datil-Mogollon volcanic field reached as far north as the northern edge of the younger Mount Taylor volcanic field, where they interfingered with the Chuska Sandstone and with cherty gravels eroded off the Zuni Mountains. This outflow sheet was subsequently completely eroded away north of the Rio Salado.
Notable calderas
Northern complex Socorro-Magdalena caldera cluster
Location: West of Socorro, South of Magdalena, and Southeast of Datil.Chamberlin, Richard M., McIntosh, William C., and Chapin, Charles E., "Oligocene calderas, mafic lavas and radiating mafic dikes of the Socorro-Magdalena magmatic system, Rio Grande rift, New Mexico: surface expression of a miniplume?"
Name Associated tuff Coordinates Age Bear Trap Caldera tuff of Turkey Springs 24.3 Ma Mount Withington Caldera South Canyon Tuff 27.4 Ma Hardy Ridge Caldera Lemitar Tuff 28 Ma Sawmill Canyon Caldera La Jencia Tuff 28.7 Ma Socorro Caldera Hells Mesa Tuff 32 Ma
Southern complex Located from Las Cruces to Mogollon: Name Associated tuff Coordinates Age Bursum Caldera Bloodgood Canyon Tuff 28.0 Ma Gila Cliff Dwellings Caldera Shelley Peak TuffDavis Canyon Tuff 28.1 Ma29.0 Ma Nogal Caldera Vicks Peak Tuff 28.4 Ma Twin Sisters Caldera Tadpole Ridge TuffCaballo Blanco Tuff 31.4 Ma31.7 Ma Schoolhouse Mountain Caldera Box Canyon Tuff 33.5 Ma Mogollon Caldera(just one fragment in the Bursum Caldera wall) Cooney TuffFanney RhyoliteApache Springs Tuff 34.0 Ma Emory Caldera Kneeling Nun TuffFall Canyon Tuff 34.9 Ma Organ Caldera Squaw Mountain Tuff Achenback Park Tuff Cueva Tuff citing from 35.8 Ma35.8 Ma36.2 Ma
See also List of volcanoes in the United States List of volcanic fields Datil-Mogollon Section
Notes
Further reading Elston, W. E. (1976) "Glossary of stratigraphic terms of the Mogollon-Datil volcanic province" pp. 135–145 In Elston, W. E. and Northrop, S. A. Cenozoic volcanism in southwestern New Mexico: A Volume in Memory of Rodney C. Rhodes, 1943–1975 New Mexico Geological Society Special Publication No. 5, Socorro, New Mexico,