Conclusions

 

-> Solidified dikes within an edifice can create a local stress field that affects the orientations of subsequently intruded dikes

-> The rotations of closely spaced dikes may be used to relatively date the emplacement of the dikes.

 

Future Work

 

-> Analyze dike rotation with respect to burial depth

-> Collect data for other closely spaced dike pairs at Summer Coon to determine if the same relationships exist

-> Attempt to date the dikes in an absolute reference frame to determine if the proposed relative dating method is accurate

-> Apply the proposed model to other radial dike swarms in eroded volcanic edifices, for instance, Mt. Taylor in New Mexico