Unique Tholeiitic Lavas at Craters of the Moon, Idaho
Stone GT, National Park Service, Prinz M, Leeman WP, Vitaliano CJ, Murtaugh JG. 1970. Unique Tholeiitic Lavas at Craters of the Moon, Idaho
Basic geology and chemical composition of lava and volcanic rocks at CRMO (Craters of the Moon National Monument) This draft copy is missing the tables and all figs except no. 1 Geographic location: Regional, including CRMO. Late Pleistocene and Holocene lavas at Craters of the Moon in the eastern Snake River Plain are extraordinarly rnriched in P2O5, total iron, alkalis, Ba, Ga, Y, Zr, rare-earth elements, and radiogenic strontium. The series is silica-saturated and ranges from basic “olivine-tholeiitic andesite” containing fluorapatite microphenocrysts ("apatite basalt”) to less abundant “tholeiitic latite”. Chemical and mineralogical data indicate that Craters of the Moon and similar unusual lavas in the Snake River Plain are related to associated Snake River olivine tholeiites dominantly by fractional crystallization. Variation within the Craters of the Moon series also expresses control by crystal fractionation. Contamination probably was not important in its petrogenesis (except as a possible source of SR87).
- Type
- Unpublished Report
- Authors
- Stone, G; National Park Service; Prinz, M; Leeman, W; Vitaliano, C; Murtaugh, J
- Date of Issue
- 1970
- Units
- CRMO
- Keywords
- Lava, Lava Flows, Minerals, Physical Sciences, Tholeiites