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Petrology and Geochemistry of El Chichón and Tacaná: Two Active, yet Contrasting Mexican Volcanoes

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Active Volcanoes of Chiapas (Mexico): El Chichón and Tacaná

Part of the book series: Active Volcanoes of the World ((AVOLCAN))

Abstract

El Chichón and Tacaná have been widely considered subduction-related volcanoes, although they show differences in mineral assemblage and magma composition. El Chichón emitted potassium- and sulfur-rich trachyandesites and trachybasalts during its eruptive history, whereas Tacaná erupted basalts to dacites with moderate potassium contents, and minor high-Ti magmas. The magmatic evolution in both volcanoes involved similar fractionating assemblages of Fe-Ti oxides, olivine, plagioclase, pyroxenes, amphibole and apatite. Both K2O/P2O5 ratios and isotopic signatures, indicate that the melts of El Chichón and Tacaná experienced significant crustal contamination. Magma genesis for both volcanoes has been related to the northeastward subduction of the Cocos Plate. Even if such origin agrees with the location of Tacaná, situated 100 km above the Cocos Benioff Zone, a subduction origin is at odds with recent tectonic and geophysical data obtained for southern Mexico for El Chichón, located about 400 km from the trench. In this chapter we review the existing petrographic and geochemical data for El Chichón and Tacaná volcanoes, in order to understand their magma genesis and evolution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Geología, Cd. Universitaria Coyoacan, UNAM, 04510, Coyoacan, Mexico

    José Luis Arce & John Duncan Keppie

  2. Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA

    James Walker

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  1. José Luis Arce
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  2. James Walker
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Correspondence to José Luis Arce .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, Germany

    Teresa Scolamacchia

  2. Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México UNAM- Campus Morelia, Morelia, Mexico

    José Luis Macías

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Arce, J.L., Walker, J., Keppie, J.D. (2015). Petrology and Geochemistry of El Chichón and Tacaná: Two Active, yet Contrasting Mexican Volcanoes. In: Scolamacchia, T., Macías, J. (eds) Active Volcanoes of Chiapas (Mexico): El Chichón and Tacaná. Active Volcanoes of the World. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-25890-9_2

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