Intracaldera volcanic activity, Toledo Caldera and Embayment, Jemez Mountains, New Mexico

The Toledo caldera was formed at 1.47±0.06 Ma during the catastrophic eruption of the lower member, Bandelier Tuff. The caldera was obscured at 1.12±0.03 Ma during eruption of the equally voluminous upper member of the Bandelier Tuff that led to formation of the Valles caldera. Earlier workers interpreted a 9-km-diameter embayment, located NE of the Valles caldera (Toledo embayment), to be a remnant of the Toledo caldera. Drill hole data and new K-Ar dates of Toledo intracaldera domes redefine the position of Toledo caldera, nearly coincident with and of the same dimensions as the younger Valles caldera. The Toledo embayment may be of tectonic origin or a small Tschicoma volcanic center caldera. This interpretation is consistent with distribution of the lower member of the Bandelier Tuff and with several other field and drilling-related observations. Explosive activity associated with Cerro Toledo Rhyolite domes is recorded in tuff deposits located between the lower and upper members of the Bandelier Tuff on the northeast flank of the Jemez Mountains. Recorded in the tuff deposits are seven cycles of explosive activity. Most cycles consist of phreatomagmatic tuffs that grade upward into Plinian pumice beds. A separate deposit, of the same age and consisting of pyroclastic surges and flows, is associated with Rabbit Mountain, located on the southeast rim of the Valles-Toledo caldera complex. These are the surface expression of what may be a thicker, more voluminous intracaldera tuff sequence. The combined deposits of the lower and upper members of the Bandelier Tuff, Toledo and Valles intracaldera sediments, tuffs, and dome lavas form what we interpret to be a wedge-shaped caldera fill. This sequence is confirmed by deep drill holes and gravity surveys. This fill accumulated in depressions formed during precaldera rifting and episodes of caldera collapse. We interpret the Toledo-Valles caldera complex to be a pair of nearly coincident trapdoor calderas, with the hinge on the west side and thick caldera fill in the east.