The northern Ossa-Morena Cadomian batholith (Iberian Massif): magmatic arc origin and early evolution

Diorites and related rocks in the Mérida area of northern Ossa-Morena (SW Iberia) are intrusive into Precambrian metavolcanic and metasedimentary sequences. Cumulate products from the H₂O-rich magmas are amphibole-rich gabbros to hornblendites. Major and trace element compositions, including Sr and Nd isotope data, allow the definition of a calc-alkaline series likely formed in relation to an immature arc setting. Crystallization of the intrusives has been established between ca. 570 and 580 Ma by U-Pb dating of constituent zircons. Garnet growth in dioritic rocks reflects a tectono–thermal overprint dated by Sm-Nd internal isochrons at around 555 Ma. Older Sm-Nd and Lu-Hf results between ca. 593 and 637 Ma on the same rocks suggest an earlier stage of regional metamorphism within the arc environment. The northern Ossa-Morena composite batholith and related metamorphic units have been tectonized and dismembered in the course of subsequent low-grade events during final stages of the Cadomian orogeny and the Variscan cycle. The units studied represent a well preserved segment of the arc region that evolved in Neoproterozoic times along the western border of Gondwana to conform the Cadomian–Avalonian basement of the Hercynian realm.This revised version was published in October 2004 with corrections to the names and order of the authors.