Granites, dynamic magma chamber processes and pluton construction: the Aztec Wash pluton, Eldorado Mountains, Nevada, USA

The mid-Miocene Aztec Wash pluton is divisible into a relatively homogeneous portion entirely comprising granites (the G zone, or GZ), and an extremely heterogeneous zone (HZ) that includes the products of the mingling, mixing and fractional crystallisation of mafic and felsic magmas. Though far less variable than the HZ, the GZ nonetheless records a dynamic history characterised by cyclic deposition of the solidifying products of the felsic portion of a recharging, open-system magma chamber.