Late Cenozoic volcanism, subduction, and extension in the Lassen region of California, southern Cascade Range

Abstract

Some 537 volcanic vents younger than 7 Ma are identified and these are classified into five age intervals and five compositional categories based on SiO2 content. Maps of vents by age and composition illustrate regionally representative volcanic trends. By 2 Ma, the eastern limit of volcanism had contracted westward toward the late Quaternary arc. Late Quaternary volcanism is concentrated around and north of the silicic Lassen volcanic center. The belt of most recent volcanism (25-0 ka) has been active since at least 2 Ma. Most mafic volcanism is calcalkaline basalt and basaltic andesite. Normal faults and linear groups of vents are evidence of widespread crustal extension throughout most of the Lassen region. NNW orientation of maximum horizontal stress is indicated. The Lassen volcanic region is thought to occur above the subducting Gorda North plate but also within a broad zone of distributed extension that occurs in the North American lithosphere east and southeast of the present Cascadia subduction zone. The scarcity of volcanic rocks older than 7 Ma suggests that a more compressive lithospheric stress regime prior to the late Miocene extensional episode may have suppressed volcanism. -from Authors