Magmatic history of the Oldest Toba Tuff inferred from zircon U–Pb geochronology

The magmatic history of the Oldest Toba Tuff (OTT), the second largest in volume after the Youngest Toba Tuff (YTT), northern Sumatra, Indonesia, was investigated using U–Pb zircon dating by LA-ICP-MS. Zircon dates obtained from surface and interior sections yielded ages of 0.84 ± 0.03 Ma and 0.97 ± 0.03 Ma, respectively. The youngest OTT zircon ages were in accordance with the (40)Ar/(39)Ar eruption age of ~ 0.8 Ma, whereas the oldest zircon dates were ~ 1.20 Ma. Therefore, the distribution of zircon U–Pb ages is interpreted to reflect protracted zircon crystallization, suggesting that the estimated 800–2,300 km(3) of OTT magma accumulated and evolved for at least 400,000 years prior to eruption. This result is comparable to the volume and timescales of YTT magmatism. The similarities of both magmatic duration and geochemistry between OTT and YTT may indicate that they are similar in size and that the caldera collapse that generated OTT might be much larger previously interpreted.