U-Pb dating of interspersed gabbroic magmatism and hydrothermal metamorphism during lower crustal accretion, Vema lithospheric section, Mid-Atlantic Ridge

New U/Pb analyses of zircon and xenotime constrain the timing of magmatism, magmatic assimilation, and hydrothermal metamorphism during formation of the lower crust at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The studied sample is an altered gabbro from the Vema lithospheric section (11°N). Primary gabbroic minerals have been almost completely replaced by multiple hydrothermal overprints: cummingtonitic amphibole and albite formed during high-temperature hydration reactions and are overgrown first by kerolite and then prehnite and chlorite. In a previous study, clear inclusion-free zircons from the sample yielded Th-corrected 206Pb/238U dates of 13.528 ± 0.101 to 13.353 ± 0.057 Ma. Ti concentrations, reported here, zoning patterns and calculated Th/U of the dated grains are consistent with these zircons having grown during igneous crystallization. To determine the timing of hydrothermal metamorphism, we dated a second population of zircons, with ubiquitous <1–20 µm chlorite inclusions, and xenotimes that postdate formation of metamorphic albite. The textures and inclusions of the inclusion-rich zircons suggest that they formed by coupled dissolution-reprecipitation of metastable igneous zircon during or following hydrothermal metamorphism. Th-corrected 206Pb/238U dates for the inclusion-rich zircons range from 13.598 ± 0.012 to 13.503 ± 0.018 Ma and predate crystallization of all but one of the inclusion-free zircons, suggesting that the inclusion-rich zircons were assimilated from older hydrothermally altered wall rocks. The xenotime dates are sensitive to the Th correction applied, but even using a maximum correction, 206Pb/238U dates range from 13.341 ± 0.162 to 12.993 ± 0.055 Ma and postdate crystallization of both the inclusion-rich zircons and inclusion-free igneous zircons, reflecting a second hydrothermal event. The data provide evidence for alternating magmatism and hydrothermal metamorphism at or near the ridge axis during accretion of the lower crust at a ridge-transform intersection and suggest that hydrothermally altered crust was assimilated into younger gabbroic magmas. The results of this study show that high-precision U-Pb dating is a powerful method for studying the timing of magmatic and hydrothermal processes at mid-ocean ridges

Rapid crustal accretion and magma assimilation in the Oman-U.A.E. ophiolite: High precision U-Pb zircon geochronology of the gabbroic crust

New high-precision U/Pb zircon geochronology from the Oman-United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) ophiolite provides insight into the timing and duration of magmatism and the tectonic setting during formation of the lower crust. The new data come from a well-preserved and exposed crustal section in the center of the Wadi Tayin massif. Single grain and grain fragment [superscript 206]Pb/[superscript 238]U dates from upper-level gabbros, tonalites/trondhjemites and gabbroic pegmatites, corrected for initial Th exclusion, range from 112.55 ± 0.21 to 95.50 ± 0.17 Ma, with most data clustered between 96.40 ± 0.17 to 95.50 ± 0.17 Ma. Zircon dates from upper-level gabbros are most consistent with the ophiolite forming at a fast spreading ridge with half-rates of 50–100 km/Ma. Dates from tonalites/trondhjemites and from a gabbroic pegmatite associated with a wehrlite intrusion overlap with dates from adjacent upper-level gabbros, suggesting that any age differences between these three magmatic series are smaller than the analytical uncertainties or intrasample variability in the dates. Three of the dated upper-level gabbros and a single gabbroic pegmatite from the base of the crust have >1 Ma intrasample variability in single grain dates, suggesting assimilation of older crust during the formation or crystallization of the magmas. Whole rock ε[subscript Nd](t) of seven samples, including the upper-level gabbros with variable zircon dates, have tightly clustered initial values ranging from ε[subscript Nd](96 Ma) = 7.59 ± 0.23 to 8.28 ± 0.31. The ε[subscript Nd] values are similar to those from other gabbros within the ophiolite, suggesting that any assimilated material had a similar isotopic composition to primitive basaltic magmas. The new dates suggest that the studied section formed at a fast spreading mid-ocean ridge between ~96.4–95.5 Ma. The large intrasample variability in zircon dates in some samples is unexpected in this setting, and may be related to propagation of a younger ridge into older oceanic lithosphere.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant OCE-0727914