Geochemistry and timing of post-metamorphic dyke emplacement in the Mersin Ophiolite (southern Turkey): New age constraints from 40Ar/39Ar geochronology |
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Authors: | Osman Parlak Michel Delaloye |
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Affiliation: | Universitéde Genève, Département de Minéralogie, 1211 Genève 4, Switzerland;Çukurova University, Geology Department, 01330 Adana, Turkey |
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Abstract: | The Mersin ophiolite, which is a relic of the late Cretaceous Neotethyan ocean domain in the eastern Mediterranean, is situated on the southern flank of the central Tauride belt. The ophiolite body is cross-cut at all structural levels by numerous mafic dyke intrusions. The dykes do not intrude the underlying melange of platform carbonates. Therefore, dyke emplacement post-dates the formation of the opholite and metamorphic sole but pre-dates the final obduction onto the Tauride platform. The post-metamorphic dyke swarms suggest the geochemical characteristics of Island Arc Tholeiites (IAT). 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of the post-metamorphic microgabbroic-diabasic dykes cutting both mantle tectonites and metamorphic sole revealed ages ranging from 89.6 ± 0.7–63.8 ± 0.9 Myr old, respectively, indicating widespread magmatic activity during the Late Cretaceous-early Palaeocene in the Neotethyan ocean. These data suggest that island arc development in the Neotethyan ocean in southern Turkey was as early as Late Cretaceous. |
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