Surface exposure dating of young basalts (1–200 ka) in the San Francisco volcanic field (Arizona, USA) using cosmogenic 3He and 21Ne

K–Ar ages of young basalts (<500 ka) are often higher than the actual eruption age, due to low potassium contents and the frequent presence of excess Ar in olivine and pyroxene phenocrysts. Geological studies in the San Francisco and Uinkaret volcanic fields in Arizona have documented the presence of excess 40Ar and have concluded that K–Ar ages of young basalts in these fields tend to be inaccurate. This new study in the San Francisco volcanic field presents 3Hec and 21Nec ages yielded by olivine and pyroxene collected from three Pleistocene basalt flows – the South Sheba (∼190 ka), SP (∼70 ka), and Doney Mountain (∼67 ka) lava flows, – and from one Holocene basalt, the Bonito Lava Flow (∼1.4 ka) at Sunset Crater. These data indicate that, in two of three cases, 40Ar/39Ar and K–Ar ages of the young basalts agree well with cosmic-ray surface exposure ages of the same lava flow, thus suggesting that excess 40Ar is not always a problem in young basalt flows in the San Francisco volcanic field. The exposure age of the Bonito lava flow agrees within uncertainty with dendrochronological and archeological age determinations. K–Ar and cosmogenic 3He and 21Ne ages from the SP flow are in agreement and much older than the OSL age (5.5–6 ka) reported for this lava flow. Furthermore, if the non-cosmogenic ages are assumed to be accurate, the subsequent calculated production rates at South Sheba and SP flow sample sites agree well with values in the literature.

► K–Ar ages of young basalts (<200 ka) are not always inaccurate.
► SP flow: K–Ar and exposure ages (70 ± 4 and 70 ± 7 ka) are older than OSL ages (∼6 ka).
► First absolute age of Sunset Crater (Bonito lava flow): ∼1.4 ka.
► SP flow 3He and 21Ne production rates in pyroxene: 119 ± 12 and 27 ± 3 at/g/yr.
► South Sheba flow 3He and 21Ne production rates also agree with those at SP flow and in literature.