Chapter 19: Magmatic components of a tilted plutonic system, Klamath Mountains, California

The Slinkard pluton (SP) and Wooley Creek batholith (WCB) are the lower and upper parts, respectively, of a tilted Middle Jurassic magma system. The SP and lower WCB intruded structurally lower ophiolitic melange of the Marble Mountain terrane; the upper WCB intruded successively structurally higher metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks of the western and eastern Hayfork terranes. The predominant volume of the system comprised a two-layer chamber in which an upper dacitic magma crystallized to form tonalite to granite in the upper WCB and a lower andesitic magma crystallized to form gabbro to tonalite in the lower WCB and SP. The upper part of the system had Sr-, = 0.7043 and a range of δ¹⁸O from +8.7 to +11.2°/oo; the lower part had average Sr_i = 0.7046 and δ¹⁸O from +8.1 to +8.8°/W The two layers of the system are separated by a transition zone that is intermediate in isotopie composition. The compositional differences between upper and lower parts of the system can be explained as (1) the result of intrusion of two separate pods of noncogenetic magma, or (2) the product of in situ assimilation-fractional crystallization. The second explanation requires that a relatively ⁸⁷Sr-rich contaminant such as the structurally lower Marble Mountain terrane was assimilated in the lower part of the system, whereas an ¹⁸O-rich, generally ⁸⁷Sr-poor contaminant such as the structurally intermediate western Hayfork terrane was assimilated by the upper part. Trace-element evidence suggests that gradational upward zoning (from gabbro to granite) resulted from an upward decrease in the efficiency of crystal-melt segregation and crystal accumulation. H₂O-rich basaltic magma preceded development of the two-layer system, and basaltic pulses into the lower part of the system continued during most of its solidification history. Most basaltic rocks display evidence of some degree of fractional crystallization and interaction with crustal rocks; however, a few have low Srj and high concentrations of Cr and Ni, characteristics of undifferentiated mantle melts. Two-mica granite of the western Slinkard pluton cannot be related to the remainder of the system by fractional crystallization. High dl sO, high Ba, and low Sr abundances suggest that the two-mica granite is probably a partial melt of crustal material.