Emplacement of multiple magma sheets and wall rock deformation: Trachyte Mesa intrusion, Henry Mountains, Utah

A detailed structural and rock magnetic study of the Trachyte Mesa intrusion and deformed sedimentary wall rocks, Henry Mountains, Utah, indicates that the intrusion grew vertically and horizontally by the accumulation of multiple horizontal magma sheets. 2–3 cm thick shear zones recognized by intensely cataclasized plagioclase phenocrysts define the contact between sheets. Sheets have bulbous and / or steep frontal terminations and are flat on top. The foliation within the interior of the sheets, near the frontal termination, is subvertical. This steep foliation rotates into the subhorizontal shear zones near the top and bottom contacts and provides a magma flow direction indicator. Away from the frontal termination, the interior foliation rotates to become subhorizontal, similar to the fabric in recent analog experimental studies. Sheets are interpreted as being emplaced as plug flows. Both the field fabric and the rock magnetic data collected from 103 locations on the top of the intrusion and from 73 locations along a vertical cross section exposed in a stream gorge support a multi-stage model of intrusion growth. Emplacement begins as narrow magma channels and magma spreads radially outward from the channels to form sheets. Sheets are stacked upon one another and stop at the same lateral termination. The deformation of the sandstones at the margin of the intrusion, which are rotated upward from the margin to become the roof, is partitioned into layer parallel extension, shearing and layer-parallel shortening components. Bulk strain within the thickest sandstone layer indicates ∼20% thinning and microstructures indicate that the thinning was accommodated by grain-scale fracture-induced porosity collapse. Extension occurred as the layer was stretched over the margin of the rising intrusion. Shearing and layer-parallel shortening are a result of coupling with the underlying sheets as they advanced and accommodated through numerous faults parallel to bedding and at low angles to bedding. The deformation of thinner sedimentary layers is consistent with the sedimentary layering immediately in front of an advancing sheet being translated upward and over the top of the sheet as the hinge zone migrates with the front edge of the advancing sheet.