Petrology, geochemistry and geodynamic setting of Proterozoic igneous suites of the Orós fold belt (Borborema Province, Northeast Brazil)

The Orós belt is a metamorphosed and deformed supracrustal sequence whose deposition started at ca. 1.8 Ga. The volcanic rocks form an essentially bimodal association with a predominance of felsic volcanics. Mafic volcanics show geochemical and Nd isotopic differences which point to separate origins for each type. The mafic rocks are either chemically similar to EMORBs or are transalkaline types, enriched in LILE and LREE and relatively depleted in HFSE but with different isotopic signatures. One mafic type is associated with dominant andesites in a suite which could have evolved by an AFC process involving a Transamazonian-age source rock which later produced some of the overlying felsic volcanics. The rhyolites have variable geochemical signatures, all typical of anatectic products derived from continental crustal rocks. Sedimentary rocks are dominated by pelitic types of different provenances, accompanied by minor arenites and lesser carbonate rocks and calc-silicates. The depositional environment of the supracrustal sequence was continental, and a number of lines of evidence suggest that a rift environment probably developed during relaxation following the Transamazonian orogeny. The most abundant igneous rocks are felsic plutonics, emplaced nearly 100 Ma after the volcanic activity, but whose geochemical signature is similar to that of most of the rhyolites. These are cut by more alkaline anorogenic intrusives. The volcano-sedimentary sequence was intruded at ca. 0.9 Ga by a mafic-ultramafic sill. All deformation and metamorphism occurred during the Brasiliano orogeny, which was accompanied by the intrusion of syn-tectonic granites.The Orós belt, therefore, represents an intracontinental ensialic late Paleoproterozoic volcano-sedimentary basin initially related to strain relaxation of the crust. With subsequent collapse and development of faults, the anorogenic alkaline granites intruded at ca. 1.7 Ga. Based on the data available on this province, the Orós belt forms a part of a series of supracrustal belts of different ages, which were consolidated and welded in the Brasiliano orogeny.Within the Borborema Province, supracrustal sequences with ages of ≈ 2.0-1.9 Ga, ≈ 1.8-1.7 Ga (Orós), ≈ 1.1-1.0 Ga, and ≈ 0.6 Ga are presently known. All were aglutinated or amalgamated to neighboring blocks during the Brasiliano orogenic cycle.