In this study, connections between chemical composition, eruption style, and topographic features of two shield volcanoes on the Snake River Plain, Idaho are examined. These relationships may then be applied to understanding silicate volcanic features throughout the inner solar system. Despite their similar ages and geographic locations, two young basaltic shield volcanoes—Kimama Butte (87 Ka) and Rocky Butte (95 Ka)—have strikingly different topographic profiles. The Kimama Butte shield has a diameter of 9 km and a height of 210 m. In contrast, Rocky Butte has a broad 36 km topographic shield that rises 140 m with less than 1° slopes. The vent crater at Rocky Butte developed as a large lava blister inflated and then collapsed forming a crater in which a lava lake developed. Little spatter accumulated throughout the eruption. In contrast, high spatter mounds and spatter-fed flows flank the main summit crater at Kimama Butte. Major- and trace-element compositions of the basaltic lavas are similar at the two shields, but distinct in Ni and Al2O3. The lavas range in TiO2 concentrations from 2.6–4.5 wt.% for Kimama Butte and 2.6–4.3 wt.% for Rocky Butte. These ranges can be related to magma evolution by fractional crystallization involving plagioclase and olivine without clinopyroxene. Compositions of the pre-eruptive phenocrysts are also similar at both shields but show variation with evolution. Olivine cores in the more primitive lavas are more Mg-rich (Fo80-72) than those in the evolved rocks (Fo65-55). Plagioclase cores are similarly more calcic in the more primitive flows (An78-68) than in the evolved ones (An65-52). Like other olivine-tholeiites on the Snake River Plain, the fO2 and fH2O were probably low with fO2 at -2△QFM and 0.1 wt.% H2O. Pressure of crystallization estimated from MELTS models is less than 3 kbar (~10 km deep). Calculated temperatures and magma viscosities overlap at both Kimama Butte (1226 to1147°C and 158 to14 Pa·s) and Rocky Butte (1251 to 1145°C and 75 to 8 Pa·s). However, Kimama Butte magma viscosities extend ~80 Pa·s higher than those for Rocky Butte lavas. The higher magma viscosities are the result of higher phenocryst proportions in spatter and spatter-fed lavas concentrated near the vent. Because lava temperature, volatile content, and chemical composition overlap at the two volcanoes, they are probably not important controls of shield-volcano morphology. This suggests that steep-capped shields are not created as a simple function of having more silicic lavas. Melt viscosities are also similar, but Rocky Butte lacks the phenocryst-rich (>30 vol %), higher magma viscosity lavas and the high spatter ramparts that form the cap at Kimama Butte. Thus, we conclude that eruption style and phenocryst content play the most important role in developing a low-shield volcano summit. Where eruptions shifted from lava lake overflow and tube development to late fountaining with short spatter-fed phenocryst-rich flows, steeper, higher shields develop.

Mineral chemistry and petrography of basalts from the Kimama drill core recovered by Hotspot: Snake River Scientific Drilling Project, Idaho establish crystallization conditions of these lavas. Twenty-three basalt samples, from 20 individual lava flows were sampled from the upper 1000 m (of the 1912 m drilled) core drilled on the axis of the Snake River Plain, and represent approximately 3 m.y. of volcanism (rocks at the bottom of the hole are ~6 Ma). Rock from the upper 1000 m are typically fresh, while those lower in the core are more altered and are less likely to preserve fresh phenocrysts to analyze. Intratelluric phenocrysts (pre-eruption) are: olivine, plagioclase and Cr-spinel inclusions in olivine and plagioclase; groundmass phases (post-eruption) are: olivine, plagioclase, clinopyroxene, magnetite and ilmenite. Olivine core compositions range from Fo84-68, plagioclase cores range from An80-62, clinopyroxene ranges in composition from Wo47-34, En47-28, Fs30-15, spinel inclusions are Cr (up to 20 wt % Cr2O3) and Al-rich (up to 35 wt % Al2O3) and evolve to lower concentrations of Cr and Al and higher Fe and Ti, chromian titanomagnetite to magnetite, and ilmenite are groundmass oxide phases. Thermobarometry of Kimama core basalts indicates that the phenocryst phases crystallized at temperatures of 1155 to 1255°C at depths of 7 to 17 km, which is within or near the seismically imaged mid-crustal sill. Plagioclase hygrometry suggests that these lavas are relatively anhydrous with less than 0.4 wt % H2O. Groundmass phases crystallized at lower temperatures (<1140°C) after eruption. Oxygen fugacity inferred from Fe-Ti oxide equilibria is at or just below the QFM buffer. The origin of the basaltic rocks of the Snake River Plain has been attributed to a mantle plume or to other, shallow mantle processes. Mineral and whole rock major and trace element geochemistry of the olivine tholeiites from the Kimama core are used to distinguish between these two sources (deep or shallow mantle). Whole rock compositions were corrected for plagioclase and olivine fractionation to calculate primary liquids to estimate mantle potential temperatures. Olivine phenocrysts have the pyroxenite source characteristics of low Mn and Ca, but a peridotite source characteristic of low Ni. Thus, trace element models were used to test whether there is pyroxenite in the source of the Snake River Plain basalts, as hypothesized for Hawaii and other plume-related hotspots (e.g., Sobolev et al., 2005; Herzberg, 2011). Olivine chemistry and trace element models establish that the basalt source is a spinel peridotite, not a pyroxenite. The average mantle potential temperature obtained for these samples is 1577°C, 177°C hotter than ambient mantle, suggesting that the basaltic liquids were derived from a thermal plume. Silica activity barometry shows that melt segregation occurs between 80 and 110 km depth, which is within or very near the spinel stability field, and suggests that the lithosphere has been eroded by the plume to a maximum depth of 80 km, and recent mantle tomography suggests that it may be even thinner.

Whole-rock and mineral compositions of three eruptive deposits from the Twin Falls caldera, associated with the Yellowstone hotspot, provide a window into melt generation and evolution for hot, dry, A-type rhyolites. Three rhyolitic units were sampled via the Kimberly drill-core as a part of project HOTSPOT, a study focused on mantle plume and continental lithosphere interaction. Previous work has been done to collect high resolution U-Pb zircon ages, and Hf- and O-isotopic compositions. This study examined the geochemistry of apatite and zircon along with host rock compositions in the context of this previous work. The Kimberly core sampled the Shoshone Rhyolite (6.06 Ma, 120 m thick), Kimberly Member (7.70 Ma, 169 m thick), and Castleford Crossing Member (7.96 Ma, >1400 m thick). Apatite compositions more closely reflect the composition of their whole rock hosts than zircons. SiO2 content is higher in apatite of the Kimberly Member at (1.1 ± 0.75 wt.%), vs (0.72 ± 0.47 wt.%) for the Castleford Crossing and (0.84 ± 0.27 wt.%) for the Shoshone Rhyolite. REEs compensate for Si substitution in these apatites, with the Kimberly Member most enriched. Volatile contents in the apatites are typical of metaluminous A-type rhyolites, with very low Cl and high F concentrations. Average Ti-in-zircon crystallization temperatures were highest in the Castleford Crossing Member (847 ± 68°C), followed by the Shoshone Rhyolite (806 ± 78°C), and then the Kimberly Member (804 ± 70°C). Oxygen fugacity calculated from zircons has average ΔQFM values for the Shoshone (0.8), Kimberly (-0.2), and Castleford Crossing (0.2). Hf concentrations and Eu anomalies are comparable in zircons from all three units. REE patterns in zircons are also similar and concentrations of REEs in the Shoshone and Kimberly units are similar even though the whole rock compositions of all three units are distinct. Less than 15% of zircons in the Kimberly and Castleford Crossing rhyolites have CL-dark cores enriched in several REEs, U, and Th. These CL-dark cored zircons are likely xenocrysts entrained from chemically evolved granite and then overgrown with less enriched rims prior to eruption. There are several apatite grains with Si-LREE enriched rims in the Kimberly Member, which serves as further evidence of assimilation of silicic igneous rock by the Kimberly Member before eruption. Principal component analysis of the geochemical data distinguishes between the units using both whole-rock and apatite compositions. However, zircon compositions are not statistically distinguishable using PCA. A global comparison of Ti, U, Th, Yb, and Nb concentrations in zircons show that the zircons in the Central Snake River Plain are similar to zircons in Hawaiian basalts, while younger zircons from Yellowstone formed in cooler more differentiated magma. We propose that the zircon and apatite chemical patterns and trends confirm the A-type origin of Snake River Plain rhyolites and make it unlikely that they represent partial melts of felsic continental crust but are instead derived in large part from partial melts of young mafic crust--the midcrustal sill.

The Snake River Plain (SRP) is one of the best-preserved examples of continental hotspot volcanis, with a continuous record of volcanism that extends over 16 Ma to the present. Yellowstone-Snake River Plain records the migration of plume-tail volcanism from inception at the Bruneau-Jarbridge caldera complex at 12.6 Ma to its present locus, under the Yellowstone Plateau. Records kept by the Snake River Plain volcanic actions include rhyolite lavas and ignimbritesm minor coeval basalts, and an overlying veneer of younger basalts. The central SRP has received comparatively little attention in the past. The Kimama core hole was drilled as part of Project Hotspot, the Snake River Scientific Drilling Project, which seeks to understand the long-term volcanic and sediment logical history of the SRP volcanic province. The Kimama core hole is the only part of the SRP that has not been scientifically drilled and cored to a significant depth in the past. Investigations of subsurface stratigraphy in continental volcanic provinces such as the SRP-YP are limited by the by the relatively low depth and spatial distribution of cored wells. The study of the Kimama core provides us with a continuous record of basalt and minor sediment deposition. The long-term volcanic history of the SRP, documented by moving magma and its composition, demonstrates that magmatism is mantle plume-derived. Our investigation of the Kimama core, combined with new mantle tomography, provides evidence that refutes non-plume models for the origin of the Snake River Plain volcanic province.

There are four distinguishable groundwater systems in the Boise area, Idaho, U.S.A., identified as modern batholith, thermal batholith, Boise frontal fault, and Nampa-Caldwell systems (Figure 1). Modern batholith and thermal batholith groundwaters are located in Tertiary to Cretaceous aged granites and granodiorites of the Atlanta lobe of the Idaho Batholith. The frontal fault system near Boise, ID defines the southeastern edge of the Idaho Batholith, and divides the batholith from the western Snake River Plain. The Nampa-Caldwell system is in the volcanic, fluvial and pluvial sediments of the western Snake River Plain. Groundwater ages for these systems are modern, 5-15 ka, 10-20 ka, and 20-40 ka respectively. Local meteoric water lines (LMWL) using the delta 2H and delta 18O composition of the groundwater were defined for each system using linear regression techniques. LMWL had variable and defined single slopes of 6.94 and 8. Deuterium excess values (d) were found for each system for each linear regression method. Relative differences of the deuterium excess value assuming the two single slope methods were similar. Changes in moisture source humidity and temperature, and Boise area recharge temperatures calculated from stable isotopic data and the deuterium excess factor agree with other published data. At the moisture source there was a 9% humidity increase and a 7-6 °C decrease of sea surface temperature between the present and the last glacial maximum (LGM). The local temperature decreased 4-5 °C from the present to the LGM for the Boise area.

This dissertation analyzes the spatial distribution and kinematics of the Late Cenozoic Basin and Range (BR) and cross normal fault (CF) systems and their related graben basins around the Snake River Plain (SRP), and investigates the spatio-temporal patterns of lavas that were erupted by the migrating Yellowstone hotspot along the SRP, applying a diverse set of GIS-based spatial statistical techniques. The spatial distribution patterns of the normal fault systems, revealed by the Ripley's K-function, display clustered patterns that correlate with a high linear density, maximum azimuthal variation, and high box-counting fractal dimensions of the fault traces. The extension direction for normal faulting is determined along the major axis of the fractal dimension anisotropy ellipse measured by the modified Cantor dust method and the minor axis of the autocorrelation anisotropy ellipse measured by Ordinary Kriging, and across the linear directional mean (LDM) of the fault traces. Trajectories of the LDMs for the cross faults around each caldera define asymmetric sub-parabolic patterns similar to the reported parabolic distribution of the epicenters, and indicate sub-elliptical extension about each caldera that may mark the shape of hotspot’s thermal doming that formed each generation of cross faults. The decrease in the spatial density of the CFs as a function of distance from the axis of the track of the hotspot (SRP) also suggests the role of the hotspot for the formation of the cross faults. The parallelism of the trend of the exposures of the graben filling Sixmile Creek Formation with the LDM of their bounding cross faults indicates that the grabens were filled during or after the CF event. The global and local Moran’s I analyses of Neogene lava in each caldera along the SRP reveal a higher spatial autocorrelation and clustering of rhyolitic lava than the coeval basaltic lava in the same caldera. The alignment of the major axis of the standard deviational ellipses of lavas with the trend of the eastern SRP, and the successive spatial overlap of older lavas by progressively younger mafic lava, indicate the migration of the centers of eruption as the hotspot moved to the northeast.

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