Thermal and Compositional Evolution of the Mid-Miocene Searchlight Magmatic System (Nevada, USA) as Recorded in Zircon

TL;DRAbstract

The middle Miocene Searchlight pluton (~17-15.8 Ma) in southern Nevada, USA, located in the Colorado River Extensional Corridor, has an extensive spatially and temporally associated volcanic record. Regional extension has rotated a large crustal block ca. 90° to expose a 12-13 km section of crust that included parts of the Searchlight pluton and its volcanic cover in the adjacent Highland Range. Recent geochronology and geochemistry of the pluton and volcanic strata have shown that the construction of the Searchlight magma system was piecemeal. We examined the growth and dynamics of the Searchlight magma system using zircon trace elements from U/Pb age-dated plutonic and volcanic rocks. Zircon trace element indices for magmatic temperature and evolution, including Ti, Hf, Th, U, Th/U, Yb/Gd, and Eu/Eu*, showed a strong correlation to rock type and age. The Searchlight magmatic system has recorded a complex solidification history, a progression from a trachyandesitic to rhyolitic compos

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