The circle creek rhyolite, a volcanic complex in northern Elko county, Nevada

Abstract

The Circle Creek Rhyolite is a multiple-source mass of fayalite-ferro-augite rhyolite, forming an extensive complex in northern Elko County, Nevada, with a diameter of about 8 miles and an exposed area of about 36 square miles. From the structure of the flow layering and the complex sequence of microbrecciation structures, it seems to be a relatively thick mass that rose passively through many fissures to flood a sag basin in the older rocks, which are as young as the early Pliocene Idavada Volcanics, a sequence of ignimbrites and tuffs. Chemical analyses, thin-sections, and X-ray diffractometer studies show that the Circle Creek Rhyolite is a two-feldspar rhyolite. The interrelations of the pyroxene phases are unusually complex. The Circle Creek is partly concealed by later tuffs, gravels, and olivine basalt and is cut by two sequences of high-angle faults of different ages.