Magmatic and tectonic history of Jurassic ophiolites and associated granitoids from the South Apuseni Mountains (Romania)

The Jurassic ophiolites in the South Apuseni Mountains represent remnants of the Neotethys Ocean and belong to the East Vardar ophiolites that contain ophiolite fragments as well as granitoids and volcanics with island-arc affinity. New U–Pb zircon ages, and Sr and Nd isotope ratios give insights into their tectono-magmatic history. The ophiolite lithologies show tholeiitic MOR-type affinities, but are occasionally slightly enriched in Th and U, and depleted in Nb, which indicates that they probably formed in a marginal or back-arc basin. These ophiolites are associated with calc-alkaline granitoids and volcanics, which show trace element signatures characteristic for subduction-enrichment (high LILE, low HFSE). Low ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.703836–0.704550) and high ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios (0.512599–0.512616) of the calc-alkaline series overlap with the ratios measured in the ophiolitic rocks (0.703863–0.704303 and 0.512496–0.512673), and hence show no contamination with continental crust. This excludes a collisional to post-collisional origin of the granitoids and is consistent with the previously proposed intra-oceanic island arc setting. The new U–Pb ages of the ophiolite lithologies (158.9–155.9 Ma, Oxfordian to Early Kimmeridgian) and granitoids (158.6–152.9 Ma, latest Oxfordian to Late Kimmeridgian) indicate that the two distinct magmatic series evolved within a narrow time range. It is proposed that the ophiolites and island arc granitoids formed above a long-lived NE-dipping subduction zone. A sudden flip in subduction polarity led to collision between island arc and continental margin, immediately followed by obduction of the ophiolites and granitoids on top of the continental margin of the Dacia Mega-Unit. Since the granitoids lack crustal input, they must have intruded the Apuseni ophiolites before both magmatic sequences were obducted onto the continental margin. The age of the youngest granitoid (~153 Ma, Late Kimmeridgian) yields an estimate for the maximum age of emplacement of the South Apuseni ophiolites and associated granitoids onto the Dacia Mega-Unit.     

Evidence for Jurassic subduction from the Northern Calcareous Alps (Berchtesgaden; Austroalpine,Germany)

The closure of the western part of the Neotethys Ocean started in late Early Jurassic. The Middle to early Late Jurassic contraction is documented in the Berchtesgaden Alps by the migration of trench-like basins formed in front of a propagating thrust belt. Due to ophiolite obduction these basins propagated from the outer shelf area (=Hallstatt realm) to the interior continent (=Hauptdolomit/Dachstein platform realm). The basins were separated by nappe fronts forming structural highs. This scenario mirrors syn-orogenic erosion and deposition in an evolving thrust belt. Active basin formation and nappe thrusting ended around the Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian boundary, followed by the onset of carbonate platforms on structural highs. Starved basins remained between the platforms. Rapid deepening around the Early/Late Tithonian boundary was induced by extension due to mountain uplift and resulted in the reconfiguration of the platforms and basins. Erosion of the uplifted nappe stack including obducted ophiolites resulted in increased sediment supply into the basins and final drowning and demise of the platforms in the Berriasian. The remaining Early Cretaceous foreland basins were filled up by sediments including siliciclastics. The described Jurassic to Early Cretaceous history of the Northern Calcareous Alps accords with the history of the Western Carpathians, the Dinarides, and the Albanides, where (1) age dating of the metamorphic soles prove late Early to Middle Jurassic inneroceanic thrusting followed by late Middle to early Late Jurassic ophiolite obduction, (2) Kimmeridgian to Tithonian shallow-water platforms formed on top of the obducted ophiolites, and (3) latest Jurassic to Early Cretaceous sediments show postorogenic character.     

Petrology and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of some hellenic sub-ophiolite metamorphic rocks

Whole rock, electron microprobe analyses and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology of certain ophioliterelated metamorphic rocks from beneath the Pindos, Vourinos, Othris and Euboea ophiolites of Greece show that they were formed mainly from ocean-type basalts, in part under P-T conditions of the upper mantle and that they have ages between 170–180 m.y. The evidence presented is inconsistent with the view that these sub-ophiolite metamorphic rocks were produced by the obduction of ocean-type crust onto a continental margin, or that they are remnant slices of Palaeozoic ‘basement’, but is consistent with their formation by thrusting and related metamorphism occurring within ocean lithosphere during the Lower to Middle Jurassic. It is proposed that this intraoceanic metamorphism was caused by the inception of a fault zone which subsequently became the transport surface for the main phase of ophiolite emplacement that occurred in the Hellenides from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous.     

Geochemistry, tectonic setting and metamorphism of mid-triassic volcanic rocks of Greece

Mid-Triassic volcanic rocks are preserved in about eight localities in the nappes of the external Hellenides, and are also widespread in the Pelagonian zone of central Greece. Most have suffered low-grade metamorphism. Immobile trace elements from 35 samples, 80 major element analyses, and pyroxene analyses show that these rocks are the product of an eastward dipping subduction zone. The subducted ocean was perhaps analogous to the Pennine zone of the Alps. The Othris and Pindos ophiolites are probably contemporaneous products of related back-arc extension.Metamorphic mineral assemblages in volcanic rocks of the Phyllite Series of the external Hellenides indicate high-pressure, low-temperature conditions, probably related to a second subduction that occurred prior to the main phase of Hellenide nappe emplacement in the Miocene.     

Geodynamic evolution of ophiolites from Albania and Greece (Dinaric-Hellenic belt): one, two, or more oceanic basins?

All the geological constraints for an exhaustive reconstruction of the Triassic to Tertiary tectonic history of the southern Dinaric-Hellenic belt can be found in Albania and Greece. This article aims to schematically reconstruct this long tectonic evolution primarily based on a detailed analysis of the tectonic setting, the stratigraphy, the geochemistry, and the age of the ophiolites. In contrast to what was previously reported in the literature, we propose a new subdivision on a regional scale of the ophiolite complexes cropping out in Albania and Greece. This new subdivision includes six types of ophiolite occurrences, each corresponding to different tectonic units derived from a single obducted sheet. These units are represented by: (1) sub-ophiolite mélange, (2) Triassic ocean-floor ophiolites, (3) metamorphic soles, (4) Jurassic fore-arc ophiolites, (5) Jurassic intra-oceanic-arc ophiolites, and (6) Jurassic back-arc basin ophiolites. The overall features of these ophiolites are coherent with the existence of a single, though composite, oceanic basin located east of the Adria/Pelagonian continental margin. This oceanic basin was originated during the Middle Triassic and was subsequently (Early Jurassic) affected by an east-dipping intra-oceanic subduction. This subduction was responsible for the birth of intra-oceanic-arc and back-arc oceanic basins separated by a continental volcanic arc during the Early to Middle Jurassic. From the uppermost Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous, an obduction developed, during which the ophiolites were thrust westwards firstly onto the neighboring oceanic lithosphere and then onto the Adria margin.     

Evidence for Neotethys rooted within the Vardar suture zone from the Voras Massif, northernmost Greece

Three conflicting models are currently proposed for the location and tectonic setting of the Eurasian continental margin and adjacent Tethys ocean in the Balkan region during Mesozoic–Early Tertiary time. Model 1 places the Eurasian margin within the Rhodope zone relatively close to the Moesian platform. A Tethyan oceanic basin was located to the south bordering a large “Serbo-Pelagonian” microcontinent. Model 2 correlates an integral “Serbo-Pelagonian” continental unit with the Eurasian margin and locates the Tethys further southwest. Model 3 envisages the Pelagonian zone and the Serbo-Macedonian zone as conjugate continental units separated by a Tethyan ocean that was sutured in Early Tertiary time to create the Vardar zone of northern Greece and former Yugoslavia. These published alternatives are tested in this paper based on a study of the tectono-stratigraphy of a completely exposed transect located in the Voras Mountains of northernmost Greece. The outcrop extends across the Vardar zone, from the Pelagonian zone in the west to the Serbo-Macedonian zone in the east.Within the Voras Massif, six east-dipping imbricate thrust sheets are recognised. Of these, Units 1–4 correlate with the regional Pelagonian zone in the west (and related Almopias sub-zone). By contrast, Units 5–6 show a contrasting tectono-stratigraphy and correlate with the Paikon Massif and the Serbo-Macedonian zone to the east. These units form a stack of thrust sheets, with Unit 1 at the base and Unit 6 at the top. Unstacking these thrust sheets places ophiolitic units between the Pelagonian zone and the Serbo-Macedonian zone, as in Model 3. Additional implications are, first, that the Paikon Massif cannot be seen as a window of Pelagonian basement, as in Model 1, and, secondly, Jurassic andesitic volcanics of the Paikon Massif locally preserve a gneissose continental basement, ruling out a recently suggested origin as an intra-oceanic arc.We envisage that the Almopias (Vardar) ocean rifted in Triassic time, followed by seafloor spreading. The Almopias ocean was consumed beneath the Serbo-Macedonian margin in Jurassic time, generating subduction-related arc volcanism in the Paikon Massif and related units. Ophiolites were emplaced onto the Pelagonian margin in the west and covered by Late Jurassic (pre-Kimmeridgian) conglomerates. Other ophiolitic rocks formed within the Vardar zone (Ano Garefi ophiolite, Unit 4) in latest Jurassic–Early Cretaceous time and were not deformed until Early Tertiary time. The Vardar zone finally sutured in the Early Tertiary creating the present imbricate thrust structure of the Voras Mountains.     

Structural and geochronological relationships of metamorphic soles of eastern Mediterrranean ophiolites to surrounding units: indicators of intra‐oceanic subduction and emplacement

This paper is a synthesis of structural and geochronological data from eastern Mediterranean ophiolitic metamorphic rocks and surrounding units to interpret the intra‐oceanic subduction and ophiolite emplacement mechanism.

Metamorphic rocks occur as discontinuous tectonic slices at the base of the ophiolites, generally between the peridotite tectonites and volcanic‐sedimentary units, and locally in fault zones in the overlying peridotites. They consist essentially of amphibolite, and in lesser quantities, micaschist, quartzite, epidotite and marble.

Geological and geochronological data indicate that recrystallization of the metamorphic rocks occurred in the oceanic environment. The contact between the metamorphic rocks and the hanging‐wall is parallel to the foliation of the metamorphic rocks, and is interpreted as the fossil plane of intra‐oceanic subduction. Structural relationships suggest that intra‐oceanic subduction was situated between two lithospheric blocks separated by an oceanic fracture zone. Therefore the Neotethyan ophiolites with metamorphic soles represent the remnants of the overriding oceanic lithosphere's training slices of the metamorphic rocks at the base.

In the Anatolian region, radiometric dating of metamorphic rocks from the Taurus and Izmir‐Ankara‐Erzincan zone ophiolites yield nearly identical ages. Besides, palaeontological and structural data indicate coeval opening and similar oceanic ridge orientation. Consequently it is highly probable that Taurus and Izmir‐Ankara‐Erzincan zone ophiolites represent fragments of the same oceanic lithosphere derived from a single spreading zone. Palaeontological data from underlying volcanic and sedimentary units point out that the opening of the Neotethyan ocean occurred during Late Permian‐Middle Triassic time in the Iranian‐Oman region, during Middle Triassic in Dinaro‐Hellenic area, and finally during Late Triassic in the Anatolian region.

Radiometric dating of the metamorphic rocks exhibit that the intra‐oceanic thrusting occurred during late Lower‐early Late Jurassic for Dinaro‐Hellenic ophiolites, late Lower‐early Late Cretaceous for Anatolian, Iranian and Oman ophiolites well before their obduction on the Gondwanian continent. Neotethyan ophiolites were obducted onto various sections of the Gondwanian continent from late Upper Jurassic to Palaeocene time, Dinaro‐Hellenic ophiolites during late Upper Jurassic‐early Lower Cretaceous onto the Adriatic promontory, Anatolian, Iranian and Oman ophiolites from late Lower Cretaceous to Palaeocene onto the Aegean, Anatolian and Arabic promontories.     

New structural and petrologic data on Mesozoic schists in the Rhodope (Bulgaria): geodynamic implications

Structural analysis of low-grade rocks highlights the allochthonous character of Mesozoic schists in southeastern Rhodope, Bulgaria. The deformation can be related to the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous thrusting and Tertiary detachment faulting. Petrologic and geochemical data show a volcanic arc origin of the greenschists and basaltic rocks. These results are interpreted as representing an island arc-accretionary complex related to the southward subduction of the Meliata–Maliac Ocean under the supra-subduction back-arc Vardar ocean/island arc system. This arc-trench system collided with the Rhodope in Late Jurassic times. To cite this article: N.G. Bonev, G.M. Stampfli, C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

Deformation history of the ophiolite sequence from the Balagne Nappe,northern Corsica: insights in the tectonic evolution of Alpine Corsica

In Alpine Corsica, the Jurassic ophiolites represent remnants of oceanic lithosphere belonging to the Ligure‐Piemontese Basin located between the Europe/Corsica and Adria continental margins. In the Balagne area, a Jurassic ophiolitic sequence topped by a Late Jurassic–Late Cretaceous sedimentary cover crops out at the top of the nappe pile. The whole ophiolitic succession is affected by polyphase deformation developed under very low‐grade orogenic metamorphic conditions. The original palaeogeographic location and the emplacement mechanisms for the Balagne ophiolites are still a matter of debate and different interpretations for its history have been proposed. The deformation features of the Balagne ophiolites are outlined in order to provide constraints on their history in the framework of the geodynamic evolution of Alpine Corsica. The deformation history reconstructed for the Balagne Nappe includes five different deformation phases, from D1 to D5. The D1 phase was connected with the latest Cretaceous/Palaeocene accretion into the accretionary wedge related to an east‐dipping subduction zone followed by a Late Eocene D2 phase related to emplacement onto the Europe/Corsica continental margin. The subsequent D3 phase was characterized by sinistral strike‐slip faults and related deformations of Late Eocene–Early Oligocene age. The D4 and D5 phases were developed during the Early Oligocene–Late Miocene extensional processes connected with the collapse of the Alpine belt. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stratigraphy and tectonics of a time-transgressive ophiolite obduction onto the eastern margin of the Pelagonian platform from Late Bathonian until Valanginian time,exemplified in northern Evvoia,Greece

The obduction of an ophiolite sheet onto the eastern Pelagonian carbonate platform complex of the Hellenides began during the Late Bathonian and ended with the final emplacement of the ophiolite during Valanginian time. The early stages of obduction caused subaerial exposure of the platform, recorded by an unconformity of Callovian age, which is marked by laterites overlying folded and faulted, karstic substrates. The laterites have distinct ophiolitic geochemical signatures, indicating that emergent ophiolite had been undergoing lateritic weathering. This unconformity coincides with widespread western Tethyan, Callovian gaps, indicating that the obduction in the Hellenides was probably related to far-reaching plate tectonic processes. Resumed gravitational pull and rollback of the subducted, oceanic leading edge of the temporarily exposed ophiolite. Platform drowning continued into Tithonian–Valanginian time, documented initially by reefal carbonates and then by below-CCD, carbonate-free radiolarian cherts and shales. Subsequently, siliciclastic turbidites, which apparently originated from uplifted Variscan basement, were deposited together with and over the radiolarite as the ophiolite nappe sheet advanced. The nappe substrate underwent tectonic deformations of varying intensity, while polymictic mélange and syntectonic sedimentary debris accreted beneath the ophiolite and at the nappe front. The provenience of the ophiolite nappe complexes of northern Evvoia most probably has to be looked for in the Vardar ocean.     

Boninitic and tholeiitic basaltic lavas and dikes from dispersed Jurassic East Othris ophiolitic units,Greece: petrogenesis and geodynamic implications

ABSTRACT

Pillow lavas, massive lava flows, and sub-volcanic dikes of tholeiitic basaltic composition are found to be members of the Vrinena, Aerino, Eretria, and Velestino dispersed Middle–Upper Jurassic ophiolitic units in East Othris. The Vrinena and Eretria ophiolitic units appear to have been emplaced onto the Pelagonian continental margin during the Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous, whereas the Aerino and Velestino units seem to have been finally emplaced during post-Palaeocene times. Geochemically these are divided into two groups: Group I includes subduction-related boninites and low-Ti basalts from the Vrinena and Aerino units, and Group II high-Ti basalts show spreading-type characteristics occurring in the Eretria and Velestino units. Primary magma of the Group I volcanics appears to have been formed after high partial melting degrees (~18%) of a highly depleted harzburgitic mantle source, under relatively high temperatures (mantle potential temperature ~1372°C). Petrogenetic modelling also suggests that the primary magma of the Group II volcanics were formed after lower partial melting degrees (~7%) of a moderately depleted mantle source. The petrological and geochemical data from the East Othris dispersed and diversely emplaced ophiolitic units provide evidence of a common intra-oceanic supra-subduction zone (SSZ) origin within the Pindos oceanic strand of the Western Tethys. Specifically, Group I lavas and dikes from Vrinena seem to represent the extrusive part of an almost complete fore- to island-arc ophiolitic sequence. Dikes of Aerino most likely correspond to fore-arc magmatic material that intruded within exhumed serpentinized ultramafic rocks through a subduction channel that developed close to the slab and towards the fore-arc and the accretionary prism. The Group II volcanics either corresponded to a fore-arc magmatic expression, which extruded earlier than Group I volcanics and prior to the establishment of a mature subduction zone, or represent back-arc to island-arc magmatism that was contemporaneous to the fore-arc magmatic activity during rollback subduction.     

Linking the NE Anatolian and Lesser Caucasus ophiolites: evidence for large-scale obduction of oceanic crust and implications for the formation of the Lesser Caucasus-Pontides Arc

In the Lesser Caucasus and NE Anatolia, three domains are distinguished from south to north: (1) Gondwanian-derived continental terranes represented by the South Armenian Block (SAB) and the Tauride–Anatolide Platform (TAP), (2) scattered outcrops of Mesozoic ophiolites, obducted during the Upper Cretaceous times, marking the northern Neotethys suture, and (3) the Eurasian plate, represented by the Eastern Pontides and the Somkheto-Karabagh Arc. At several locations along the northern Neotethyan suture, slivers of preserved unmetamorphozed relics of now-disappeared Northern Neotethys oceanic domain (ophiolite bodies) are obducted over the northern edge of the passive SAB and TAP margins to the south. There is evidence for thrusting of the suture zone ophiolites towards the north; however, we ascribe this to retro-thrusting and accretion onto the active Eurasian margin during the latter stages of obduction. Geodynamic reconstructions of the Lesser Caucasus feature two north dipping subduction zones: (1) one under the Eurasian margin and (2) farther south, an intra-oceanic subduction leading to ophiolite emplacement above the northern margin of SAB. We extend our model for the Lesser Caucasus to NE Anatolia by proposing that the ophiolites of these zones originate from the same oceanic domain, emplaced during a common obduction event. This would correspond to the obduction of non-metamorphic oceanic domain along a lateral distance of more than 500?km and overthrust up to 80?km of passive continental margin. We infer that the missing volcanic arc, formed above the intra-oceanic subduction, was dragged under the obducting ophiolite through scaling by faulting and tectonic erosion. In this scenario part of the blueschists of Stepanavan, the garnet amphibolites of Amasia and the metamorphic arc complex of Erzincan correspond to this missing volcanic arc. Distal outcrops of this exceptional object were preserved from latter collision, concentrated along the suture zones.     

A new classification of the Turkish terranes and sutures and its implication for the paleotectonic history of the region

The Turkish part of the Tethyan realm is represented by a series of terranes juxtaposed through Alpine convergent movements and separated by complex suture zones. Different terranes can be defined and characterized by their dominant geological background. The Pontides domain represents a segment of the former active margin of Eurasia, where back-arc basins opened in the Triassic and separated the Sakarya terrane from neighbouring regions. Sakarya was re-accreted to Laurasia through the Balkanic mid-Cretaceous orogenic event that also affected the Rhodope and Strandja zones. The whole region from the Balkans to the Caucasus was then affected by a reversal of subduction and creation of a Late Cretaceous arc before collision with the Anatolian domain in the Eocene. If the Anatolian terrane underwent an evolution similar to Sakarya during the Late Paleozoic and Early Triassic times, both terranes had a diverging history during and after the Eo-Cimmerian collision. North of Sakarya, the Küre back-arc was closed during the Jurassic, whereas north of the Anatolian domain, the back-arc type oceans did not close before the Late Cretaceous. During the Cretaceous, both domains were affected by ophiolite obduction, but in very different ways: north directed diachronous Middle to Late Cretaceous mélange obduction on the Jurassic Sakarya passive margin; Senonian synchronous southward obduction on the Triassic passive margin of Anatolia. From this, it appears that the Izmir-Ankara suture, currently separating both terranes, is composite, and that the passive margin of Sakarya is not the conjugate margin of Anatolia. To the south, the Cimmerian Taurus domain together with the Beydağları domain (part of the larger Greater Apulian terrane), were detached from north Gondwana in the Permian during the opening of the Neotethys (East-Mediterranean basin). The drifting Cimmerian blocks entered into a soft collision with the Anatolian and related terranes in the Eo-Cimmerian orogenic phase (Late Triassic), thus suturing the Paleotethys. At that time, the Taurus plate developed foreland-type basins, filled with flysch-molasse deposits that locally overstepped the lower plate Taurus terrane and were deposited in the opening Neotethys to the south. These olistostromal deposits are characterized by pelagic Carboniferous and Permian material from the Paleotethys suture zone found in the Mersin mélange. The latter, as well as the Antalya and Mamonia domains are represented by a series of exotic units now found south of the main Taurus range. Part of the Mersin exotic material was clearly derived from the former north Anatolian passive margin (Huğlu-type series) and re-displaced during the Paleogene. This led us to propose a plate tectonic model where the Anatolian ophiolitic front is linked up with the Samail/Baër-Bassit obduction front found along the Arabian margin. The obduction front was indented by the Anatolian promontory whose eastern end was partially subducted. Continued slab roll-back of the Neotethys allowed Anatolian exotics to continue their course southwestward until their emplacement along the Taurus southern margin (Mersin) and up to the Beydağları promontory (Antaya-Mamonia) in the latest Cretaceous–Paleocene. The supra-subduction ocean opening at the back of the obduction front (Troodos-type Ocean) was finally closed by Eocene north–south shortening between Africa and Eurasia. This brought close to each other Cretaceous ophiolites derived from the north of Anatolia and those obducted on the Arabian promontory. The latter were sealed by a Maastrichtian platform, and locally never affected by Alpine tectonism, whereas those located on the eastern Anatolian plate are strongly deformed and metamorphosed, and affected by Eocene arc magmatism. These observations help to reconstruct the larger frame of the central Tethyan realm geodynamic evolution.     

Nature and evolution of the Neo-Tethys in central Tibet: synthesis of ophiolitic petrology,geochemistry, and geochronology

In this paper, we summarize results of studies on ophiolitic mélanges of the Bangong–Nujiang suture zone (BNSZ) and the Shiquanhe–Yongzhu–Jiali ophiolitic mélange belt (SYJMB) in central Tibet, and use these insights to constrain the nature and evolution of the Neo-Tethys oceanic basin in this region. The BNSZ is characterized by late Permian–Early Cretaceous ophiolitic fragments associated with thick sequences of Middle Triassic–Middle Jurassic flysch sediments. The BNSZ peridotites are similar to residual mantle related to mid-ocean-ridge basalts (MORBs) where the mantle was subsequently modified by interactions with the melt. The mafic rocks exhibit the mixing of various components, and the end-members range from MORB-types to island-arc tholeiites and ocean island basalts. The BNSZ ophiolites probably represent the main oceanic basin of the Neo-Tethys in central Tibet. The SYJMB ophiolitic sequences date from the Late Triassic to the Early Cretaceous, and they are dismembered and in fault contact with pre-Ordovician, Permian, and Jurassic–Early Cretaceous blocks. Geochemical and stratigraphic data are consistent with an origin in a short-lived intra-oceanic back-arc basin. The Neo-Tethys Ocean in central Tibet opened in the late Permian and widened during the Triassic. Southwards subduction started in the Late Triassic in the east and propagated westwards during the Jurassic. A short-lived back-arc basin developed in the middle and western parts of the oceanic basin from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. After the late Early Jurassic, the middle and western parts of the oceanic basin were subducted beneath the Southern Qiangtang terrane, separating the Nierong microcontinent from the Southern Qiangtang terrane. The closing of the Neo-Tethys Basin began in the east during the Early Jurassic and ended in the west during the early Late Cretaceous.     

The East Anatolia-Lesser Caucasus ophiolite:An exceptional case of large-scale obduction,synthesis of data and numerical modelling

We present new,geological,metamorphic,geochemical and geochronological data on the East Anatolian-Lesser Caucasus ophiolites.These data are used in combination with a synthesis of previous data and numerical modelling to unravel the tectonic emplacement of ophiolites in this region.All these data allow the reconstruction of a large obducted ophiolite nappe,thrusted for>100 km and up to 250 km on the Anatolian-Armenian block.The ophiolite petrology shows three distinct magmatic series,highlighted by new isotopic and trace element data:(1)The main Early Jurassic Tholeiites(ophiolite s.s.)bear LILEenriched,subduction-modified,MORB chemical composition.Geology and petrology of the Tholeiite series substantiates a slow-spreading oceanic environment in a time spanning from the Late Triassic to the Middle-Late Jurassic.Serpentinites,gabbros and plagiogranites were exhumed by normal faults,and covered by radiolarites,while minor volumes of pillow-lava flows infilled the rift grabens.Tendency towards a subduction-modified geochemical signature suggests emplacement in a marginal basin above a subduction zone.(2)Late Early Cretaceous alkaline lavas conformably emplaced on top of the ophiolite.They have an OIB affinity.These lavas are featured by large pillow lavas interbedded a carbonate matrix.They show evidence for a large-scale OIB plume activity,which occurred prior to ophiolite obduction.(3)Early-Late Cretaceous calc-alkaline lavas and dykes.These magmatic rocks are found on top of the obducted nappe,above the post-obduction erosion level.This series shows similar Sr-Nd isotopic features as the Alkaline series,though having a clear supra-subduction affinity.They are thus interpreted to be the remelting product of a mantle previously contaminated by the OIB plume.Correlation of data from the Lesser Caucasus to western Anatolia shows a progression from back-arc to arc and fore-arc,which highlight a dissymmetry in the obducted oceanic lithosphere from East to West.The metamorphic P-T-t paths of the obduction sole lithologies define a southward propagation of the ophiolite:(1)P-T-t data from the northern Sevan-Akera suture zone(Armenia)highlight the presence and exhumation of eclogites(1.85±0.02 GPa and 590±5℃)and blueschists below the ophiolite,which are dated at ca.94 Ma by Ar-Ar on phengite.(2)Neighbouring Amasia(Armenia)garnet amphibolites indicate metamorphic peak conditions of 0.65±0.05 GPa and 600±20 C with a U-Pb on rutile age of 90.2±5.2 Ma and Ar-Ar on amphibole and phengite ages of 90.8±3.0 Ma and 90.8±1.2 Ma,respectively.These data are consistent with palaeontological dating of sediment deposits directly under(Cenomanian,i.e.>93.9 Ma)or sealing(Coniacian-Santonian,i.e.,≤89.8 Ma),the obduction.(3)At Hinis(NE Turkey)PT-t conditions on amphibolites(0.66±0.06 GPa and 660±20℃,with a U-Pb titanite age of80.0±3.2 Ma)agree with previous P-T-t data on granulites,and highlight a rapid exhumation below a top-to-the-North detachment sealed by the Early Maastrichtian unconformity(ca.70.6 Ma).Amphibolites are cross-cut by monzonites dated by U-Pb on titanite at 78.3±3.7 Ma.We propose that the HT-MP metamorphism was coeval with the monzonites,about 10 Ma after the obduction,and was triggered by the onset of subduction South of the Anatolides and by reactivation or acceleration of the subduction below the Pontides-Eurasian margin.Numerical modelling accounts for the obduction of an"old"~80 Myr oceanic lithosphere due to a significant heating of oceanic lithosphere through mantle upwelling,which increased the oceanic lithosphere buoyancy.The long-distance transport of a currently thin section of ophiolites(<1 km)onto the Anatolian continental margin is ascribed to a combination of northward mantle extensional thinning of the obducted oceanic lithosphere by the Hinis detachment at ca.80 Ma,and southward gravitational propagation of the ophiolite nappe onto its foreland basin.     

Petrogenetic evolution of the Koziakas ophiolite complex (W. Thessaly, Greece)

Summary The Koziakas ophiolitic complex is situated in W. Thessaly and is interpreted as an incomplete ophiolite sequence, thrust over the Western Thessaly Unit (W.T.U.). Two tectonically distinct units represent it: (1) the lower unit with a metamorphic sole and a tectonosedimentary mélange and (2) the upper unit including mantle peridotites and basaltic lavas. The mantle peridotites are composed by harzburgite, lherzolite and plagioclase lherzolite intruded by a sparse network of gabbroic, plagiogranitic and doleritic dykes. The volcanic sequence of the upper unit can be geochemically subdivided into four groups of basalts with: (1) tholeiitic N-type MORB affinities, (2) low-Ti boninitic affinities, (3) subalkalic E-MORB type affinities and (4) alkali characteristics displaying a different petrogenetic evolution with respect to the other groups. The magmatic history of the Koziakas ophiolite is in agreement with extensive fractional crystallization and variable degrees of partial melting of a heterogeneous mantle source, yielding, magmas mainly of MORB composition. Modal and cryptic metasomatic phenomena of the mantle peridotites as well as Sr-Nd isotopic ratios imply that this melt contained also a hydrous component derived from melting of a subducted lithosphere. The above geochemical characteristics and the correlation with the adjacent ophiolite suites of Pindos, Othris and Vourinos indicate that Koziakas ophiolitic complex formed in a small backarc basin situated at the eastern margin of the greater Pindos Ocean, between the Western Thessaly Unit (W.T.U.) and the Pelagonian continent.     

北祁连缝合带油葫芦沟蛇绿岩中花岗斑岩锆石U Pb年龄及地质意义

蛇绿岩是保存在陆或弧上的大洋岩石圈残片,是洋中脊扩张或板块俯冲消减过程的产物。花岗质岩石可存在于蛇绿岩形成的不同阶段,是研究蛇绿岩形成演化和精确定年的重要岩石单元。油葫芦沟蛇绿岩是北祁连缝合带中具有代表性的蛇绿岩残片之一,对侵入到玄武岩中的花岗斑岩进行地球化学分析,结果表明花岗斑岩具有过铝和高钾特征,稀土和微量元素表现出明显的LREE富集,具有典型的仰冲型花岗岩特征。对花岗斑岩进行LA ICP MS锆石U Pb测年,20个测点数据的206Pb/238U加权平均年龄为(4975±15) Ma,该年龄代表了花岗斑岩的形成年龄及蛇绿岩仰冲就位的时代。结合北祁连蛇绿岩带的地质概况、年龄数据和地球化学特征,认为油葫芦沟蛇绿岩在晚寒武世仰冲就位,为北祁连洋向北俯冲提供了重要的时间约束。     

沉积记录约束班公湖-怒江缝合带东巧蛇绿岩的仰冲过程

班公湖-怒江缝合带（班怒带）分割了北部的羌塘地体和南部的拉萨地体,代表曾经消失的大洋——班公湖-怒江洋（班怒洋）。蛇绿岩从西部的日土到东部的丁青断续分布,是记录班怒洋演化的重要载体。长期以来关于班怒带蛇绿岩何时形成、在哪里形成、如何就位的研究薄弱。本文基于对班怒带中段东巧蛇绿岩之上的一套海陆过渡相地层（东巧组）的地层学、沉积学和物源研究,认为东巧蛇绿岩在晚侏罗世Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian之前仰冲到一个亲拉萨的被动大陆边缘之上。在此基础上,结合蛇绿岩年代学和地球化学数据,重建了东巧蛇绿岩从形成到仰冲至地表的过程,探讨了东巧蛇绿岩仰冲的动力学机制及其大地构造意义。     

Late Cretaceous oceanic crust and Early Tertiary foreland basin development, Euboea, Eastern Greece

In northern Euboea (Eastern Greece), Late Cretaceous platform carbonates of the Pelagonian Zone pass depositionally upwards into Maastrichtian hemipelagic limestones, possibly reflecting a rifting event in the adjacent Neotethys. This is followed by a c. 1 km-thick unit of siliciclastic turbidites, debris flows and detached limestone blocks. Thrust intercalations of ophiolitic rocks comprise altered pillow basalts and ultramafic rocks with ophicalcite. Calcite veins in sheared serpentinite contain planktonic foraminifera and the ophicalcite is directly overlain, with a depositional contact, by Globotruncana-bearing pelagic limestones and calciturbidites of Maastrichtian age. The ophiolitic rocks are interpreted as Late Cretaceous oceanic crust and mantle, that formed at a fracture zone, or rifted spreading axis within a Neotethyan, Vardar basin to the east. During the Early Tertiary (Palaeocene–Eocene), the Neotethyan basin began to close, with development of a subduction-accretion complex, mainly comprising sheared, trench-type sandstones, associated with ophiolitic slices. In response to trench/margin collision, the Pelagonian carbonate platform foundered and limestone debris flows and olistoliths were shed into a siliciclastic foreland basin. Suturing of the Neotethyan ocean basin then resulted in westwards thrusting of oceanic units over the foreland basin, thrusting of slices of inferred Late Cretaceous Pelagonian carbonate platform slope and large-scale recumbent folding.