Abstract
Compositional zonation in ignimbrites is relatively common, and is often inferred to record gradual withdrawal by an eruption of a density-stratified magma chamber (with silicic magma towards the top and more dense, mafic magma at the bottom). We show that this model does not match observations at the ca. 0.1 Ma Zaragoza ignimbrite from Los Humeros caldera in central Mexico. Detailed petrologic studies reveal a more complex scenario: the ignimbrite exhibits a `double' vertical zonation based on the compositions of pumice lapilli. We present evidence for mingling and limited mixing occurred during or immediately before the caldera-forming eruption. One possibility to explain the observations is that the ignimbrite eruption occurred in response to intrusion of a hybridized andesitic magma into a rhyodacitic magma chamber.