Geochronology and geochemistry of the tabaquito batholith (Frontal cordillera, argentina): Geodynamic implications and temporal correlations in the sw gondwana margin

The Tabaquito batholith (Frontal Cordillera, western Argentina), is mainly composed of shallowly emplaced granodiorite to minor monzogranite with abundant mafic microgranular enclaves. New sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe U–Pb zircon ages of c. 337 Ma (biotite granodiorite) and c. 284 Ma (mafic dyke) along with previously published geochronological data suggest that a long-lived magmatic system formed through at least two magmatic pulses at c. 337 and c. 322 Ma with later superimposition of Permian magmatism. The Tabaquito granitoids are metaluminous, calc-alkalic and magnesian with I-type affinity. Elevated Th/Nb, Y/Nb and La/Nb ratios along with negative Nb–Ta and positive Pb anomalies are consistent with a continental arc setting. Hf, Nd and Sr isotopic composition of the Tabaquito granitoids suggests that their source could result from mixing of an old felsic crustal component and a juvenile mafic to intermediate component. New geochronological and geochemical data together with published data reveal a continuous arc setting from the Carboniferous to the Permian in Argentina, and important magmatic compositional variations through time and space controlled by episodic fluctuations in the subduction angle of the oceanic plate. Reported and compiled data allow us to infer the continuity of the Carboniferous magmatic arc along the west margin of Gondwana.Fil: Moreno Moreno, Juan Antonio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra; ArgentinaFil: Dahlquist, Juan Andrés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra; ArgentinaFil: Morales Camera, Matías Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra; ArgentinaFil: Alasino, Pablo Horacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Secretaría de Industria y Minería. Servicio Geológico Minero Argentino. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Provincia de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja; ArgentinaFil: Larrovere, Mariano Alexis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Secretaría de Industria y Minería. Servicio Geológico Minero Argentino. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Provincia de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja; ArgentinaFil: Basei, Miguel A. S.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Galindo, Carmen. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; EspañaFil: Zandomeni, Priscila Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra; ArgentinaFil: Rocher, Sebastian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Secretaría de Industria y Minería. Servicio Geológico Minero Argentino. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Provincia de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja; Argentin

Los complejos metamórficos del retro-arco Famatiniano (noroeste de Argentina): caracterización geoquímica e isotópica de sus protolitos, e implicancias geotectónicas

Geochemical and isotopic studies of two Ordovician metasedimentary units of the back-arc of the Famatinian orogenic belt (NW Argentina), the El Portezuelo metamorphic-igneous complex (EPMIC) and the La Cébila metamorphic complex (LCMC), in combination with published geochronology, show that their protoliths were diachronically developed in different sedimentary basins. Lithologic studies and whole-rock major and trace element geochemical analysis determine that the protoliths of both complexes belonged to sequences of clastic sedimentary rocks made up mainly of greywackes (metapsammites) and shales (metapelites). The metapelites have higher concentrations of Al2O3, Fe2O3(T), MgO, K2O, TiO2, Rb, Nb, V and Cr, and lower concentrations of SiO2 than the metapsammites. The negative correlation of SiO2 with these elements reveals higher contents of clay minerals in the metapelites. For both complexes, Al2O3/TiO2, La/Sc, Th/Sc, La/Co and Th/Cr ratios, REE patterns, Cr, Ni and V values, and La/Th-Hf, K-Rb and F1-F2 geochemical diagrams indicate that the metasediments derived from felsic to intermediate source rocks. Several tectonic setting discrimination diagrams suggest that the protoliths of the EPMIC and the LCMC were related to a magmatic arc tectonic setting. The greater lithological and geochemical variations observed in the LCMC indicate a more unstable depositional regime than for the EPMIC. Crustal residence ages obtained from Sm-Nd isotopic analysis indicate that the protoliths of the LCMC (~1.3�1.6 Ga) were younger than the protoliths of the EPMIC (~1.8�1.9 Ga). The geochemical variations and the isotopic data, together with previously published geochronology, allow relating the protoliths of each metamorphic complex to different depositional events. In this context, the possible precursor rocks of the EPMIC would be the Pampean low-grade metamorphic rocks of the Puncoviscana Formation, while the protoliths of the LCMC were Lower-Middle Ordovician sedimentary rocks. The westwards rejuvenation of the protoliths of the Famatinian back-arc metamorphic complexes such as the LCMC is consistent with the development of less stable basins associated with the emplacement to the west of the new orogenic front on the Gondwana margin.Los análisis geoquímicos e isotópicos de dos unidades metasedimentarias ordovícicas del retro-arco de la faja orogénica Famatiniana (noroeste argentino), el complejo metamórfico-ígneo El Portezuelo (CMIEP) y el complejo metamórfico La Cébila (CMLC), combinados con estudios geocronológicos previos, muestran que sus protolitos se desarrollaron diacrónicamente en cuencas sedimentarias diferentes. Estudios litológicos y análisis geoquímicos de roca total de elementos mayores y traza permiten determinar que los protolitos de ambos complejos pertenecieron a secuencias de rocas sedimentarias clásticas conformadas principalmente por grauvacas y pelitas. Las metapelitas se caracterizan por tener contenidos mayores en Al2O3, Fe2O3(T), MgO, K2O, TiO2, Rb, Nb, V y Cr, y menores en SiO2, que las metapsamitas. La correlación negativa mostrada en estos elementos con respecto al SiO2 denota la mayor proporción de material arcilloso en las rocas de origen pelítico. Para ambos complejos, las relaciones de Al2O3/TiO2, La/Sc, Th/Sc, La/Co y Th/Cr, los patrones de REE, los valores de Cr, Ni y V, y los diagramas geoquímicos La/Th-Hf, K-Rb y F1-F2 sugieren que los metasedimentos fueron derivados de fuentes félsicas a intermedias. Diversos diagramas geoquímicos de discriminación de ambientes tectónicos indican que los protolitos del CMLC y del CMIEP se relacionarían con ambientes de arco magmático. La mayor variación litológica y geoquímica observada en el CMLC permite inferir un régimen deposicional más inestable que el que habría controlado la sedimentación de los protolitos del CMIEP. Las edades de residencia cortical obtenidas a partir de análisis isotópicos Sm-Nd indican que los protolitos del CMLC (~1.3�1.6 Ga) eran más modernos que los protolitos del CMIEP (~1.8�1.9 Ga). Las variaciones geoquímicas establecidas, los datos isotópicos obtenidos, y los estudios geocronológicos previos, permiten relacionar los protolitos de cada complejo metamórfico a diferentes eventos deposicionales. En este sentido, las posibles rocas precursoras del CMIEP serían las rocas metamórficas pampeanas de bajo grado de la Formación Puncoviscana, mientras que los protolitos del CMLC correspondieron a depósitos sedimentarios de edad Ordovícico Temprano-Medio. El rejuvenecimiento hacia el oeste de los protolitos de los complejos metamórficos del retro-arco Famatiniano como el CMLC es consistente con el desarrollo de cuencas menos estables asociadas a la estructuración del nuevo frente orogénico instalado al oeste sobre el margen de Gondwana

High T/P evolution and metamorphic ages of the migmatitic basement of northern Sierras Pampeanas, Argentina: Characterization of a mid-crustal segment of the Famatinian belt

New petrologic, thermobarometric and U-Pb monazite geochronologic information allowed to resolve the metamorphic evolution of a high temperature mid-crustal segment of an ancient subduction-related orogen. The EI Portezuelo Metamorphic-Igneous Complex, in the northern Sierras Pampeanas, is mainly composed of migmatites that evolved from amphibolite to granulite metamorphic facies, reaching thermal peak conditions of 670-820 degrees C and 4.5-5.3 kbar. The petrographic study combined with conventional and pseudosection thermobarometry led to deducing a short prograde metamorphic evolution within migmatite blocks. The garnet-absent migmatites represent amphibolite-facies rocks, whereas the cordierite-garnet-K-feldspar-sillimanite migmatites represent higher metamorphic grade rocks. U-Pb geochronology on monazite grains within leucosome record the time of migmatization between approximate to 477 and 470 Ma. Thus, the El Portezuelo Metamorphic-Igneous Complex is an example of exhumed Early Ordovician anatectic middle crust of the Famatinian mobile belt. Homogeneous exposure of similar paleo-depths throughout the Famatinian back-arc and isobaric cooling paths suggest slow exhumation and consequent longstanding crustal residence at high temperatures. High thermal gradients uniformly distributed in the Famatinian back-arc can be explained by shallow convection of a low-viscosity asthenosphere promoted by subducting-slab dehydration. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de Argentina (CONICET)CONICET[PICT 0159]ANPCyT PICT[07-09686]Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT)CIUNTCIUNT[26-G222]ANPCyTAgencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT

Near-surface magma reservoir construction, prolonged cold storage, and defrosting as volcano feeder processes: A revealing case study in the Los Árboles pluton, NW Argentina

Carboniferous plutonic activity in the Sierra Pampeanas region of NW Argentina resulted in the emplacement of several magma bodies at shallow levels, while contemporaneous volcanism was primarily recorded in the neighboring Puna region. One of these plutons, known as Los Árboles in the Sierra de Fiambalá, formed through two periods of significant felsic magma additions (326–322 Ma) and the subsequent development of tuffisites associated with subvolcanic dikes of predominantly mafic composition (315 ± 3 Ma). The presence of 2–5 -m wide tuffisite dikes, indicating subvolcanic depths (~ 1 km), provides an excellent opportunity to understand the connections between plutonic and volcanic processes. Our study reveals that for felsic magma batches to reach these subvolcanic depths, the input of synchronous mafic magmatism is a critical step. The Los Árboles pluton grew through alternating stages of accommodation by sheet intrusions, which subsequently merged during incubation into larger magma bodies with dominant lateral growth, forming a ductile halo. Both mildly alkaline mafic dike swarms and tuffisites intrude the pluton. The tuff-filled clastic dikes exhibit a variety of textural features and bulk rock compositions that indicate processes of late-stage heating and low-temperature remelting (~700 °C) of the host granite. Our findings document that magmatic plumbing systems, driven by mantle processes, can reach subvolcanic levels, induce brittle-ductile transitions in the host rock, and persist in a cold storage stage for millions of years, with temperatures below the granite solidus, and be potentially eruptive through defrosting.Fil: Alasino, Pablo Horacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Secretaría de Industria y Minería. Servicio Geológico Minero Argentino. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Provincia de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Rioja. Departamento Académico de Ciencias y Tecnologías Aplicadas a la Producción, al Ambiente y al Urbanismo. Instituto de Geología y Recursos Naturales;Fil: Rocher, Sebastian. Universidad Nacional de La Rioja. Departamento Académico de Ciencias y Tecnologías Aplicadas a la Producción, al Ambiente y al Urbanismo. Instituto de Geología y Recursos Naturales; . Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Dahlquist, Juan Andrés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra; ArgentinaFil: Paterson, S. R.. No especifíca;Fil: Larrovere, Mariano Alexis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Secretaría de Industria y Minería. Servicio Geológico Minero Argentino. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Provincia de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja; ArgentinaFil: Reinoso Carbonell, Virginia Valeria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Secretaría de Industria y Minería. Servicio Geológico Minero Argentino. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Provincia de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja; ArgentinaFil: Basei, M. A. S.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasi

Sheeted intrusion of granitic magmas in the upper crust – Emplacement and thermal evolution of the Guandacolinos pluton, NW Argentina

The Lower Carboniferous Guandacolinos pluton of northwestern Argentina (Western Sierras Pampeanas) preserves field, structural, and petrological evidence of sheet-like transport and assembly of granitic magmas in the upper crust. The pluton is a relatively small (~24 km2) subduction-related granitic body, elongated in map view, and hosted in Neoproterozoic metamorphic rocks. Exceptional exposure records a subparallel array of steep NNE-SSW trending structures, including steep contacts partly concordant with host rock structure, numerous sheets of granite separated by host rock rafts, abundant xenoliths, and magmatic and solid-state foliations. Along the eastern half of the pluton, the granite is massive and host rock inclusions are less abundant. Regional markers of the host rock are deflected along a concordant bulged contact in the northeastern region of the pluton. Field relations indicate emplacement by multiple material transfer processes including fracture propagation, magma wedging, stoping, and lateral shortening. Contrasting mechanisms imply a changing mechanical response of host rock and multiple stages of intrusion. Emplacement began with dominant brittle fracturing and intrusion of sheets influenced by host rock anisotropies, followed by a viscoelastic phase were larger batches of magma caused downward transfer of stoped blocks, lateral expansion, and minor ductile deformation of the host rock. Thermal modelling indicates that the construction of the pluton required lateral accretion rates in the order of dm/years and less than a few tens of thousands of years to form. This case study documents the ability of incrementally assembled sheeted intrusions to efficiently heat rocks of the upper crust and trigger conditions favourable for transfer and storage of magma

Silurian inverted Barrovian-type metamorphism in the Western Sierras Pampeanas (Argentina): a case of top to bottom heating?

This paper focuses on one orogenic belt that formed during the Rinconada phase on the final stage of the Famatinian orogeny, between 445 and 410 Ma, which is well exposed at Sierra de Ramaditas and neighbouring ranges in western Argentina. The Ramaditas Complex is formed by metasedimentary and meta-ultrabasic rocks and amphibolites. This complex forms the upper nappe of a thrust stack resulting from westward thrusting. Deformation consists of an early high-temperature S1 foliation (stromatic migmatites), coeval with thrusting and metamorphism. Metamorphism attained peak P–T conditions of 6.0–6.9 kbar and 795–810 °C, at c. 440 Ma, i.e. coincident with the Rinconada orogenic phase. The lower unit and intermediate nappes crop out in the nearby sierras of Maz and Espinal and underwent low- to medium-grade Silurian metamorphism, respectively, together with the upper nappe, defining an inverted Barrovian-type metamorphism with T decreasing and P increasing downwards across the thrust stack (i.e. westward). We argue that the Rinconada orogenic phase developed near the continental margin of SW Gondwana, during a magmatic lull following accretion of the Precordillera terrane to the continental margin at c. 470 Ma. The active margin jumped to the west after accretion, and flat-slab subduction resumed in the early Silurian, provoking thrusting and imbrication of nappe stack under the still hot root (800–900 °C) of the older Famatinian magmatic arc. This ‘hot-iron’ process explains both the inverted Barrovian-type metamorphism and the missing overburden of 21 to 24 km implied by the P estimate

Mafic rocks of the Ordovician Famatinian magmatic arc (NW Argentina): New insights into the mantle contribution

We studied the petrogenesis of mafic igneous rocks in the Famatinian arc in the western Sierra Famatina (NW Argentina), an Early Ordovician middle-crustal section in the proto-Andean margin of Gondwana. Mafic rock types consist of amphibolite, metagabbro, and gabbro, as well as pod- and dike-like bodies of gabbro to diorite composition. Field relations together with geochemical and isotopic data for the mafic rocks of the western Sierra de Famatina (at 29°S) define two contrasting suites, which can be correlated with similar assemblages noted in other parts of the orogen. Amphibolite, metagabbro, and gabbro bodies are mostly the oldest intrusive rocks (older than 480 Ma), with the host tonalite and post-tonalite mafic dikes being slightly younger. The older mafic suite is tholeiitic to calc-alkaline and isotopically evolved, except for most of the amphibolite samples. The younger suite is calc-alkaline, typically displaying subduction-related geochemical signatures, and it is isotopically more juvenile. Whole-rock chemical composition and isotopic analyses are compatible with a progressive mixing of different isotopic reservoirs. Pyroxenite (±garnet) was likely the dominant source of the older gabbroic magmas, whereas peridotite dominated in the source of the younger suite, implying that the mafic magma experienced a progressive shift toward more juvenile compositions though time (over 20 m.y.). Pyroxenitederived melts could have been generated by lithospheric foundering followed by upwelling of primitive melts by adiabatic decompression of mantle wedge peridotite.Centro de Investigaciones Geológica

O–H–Sr–Nd isotope constraints on the origin of the Famatinian magmatic arc, NW Argentina

We report a study of whole-rock O–H–Sr–Nd isotopes of Ordovician igneous and metamorphic rocks exposed at different crustal palaeodepths along c. 750 km in the Sierras Pampeanas, NW Argentina. The isotope compositions preserved in the intermediate rocks (mostly tonalite) (average δ18O = +8.7 ± 0.5‰, δD = −73 ± 14‰, 87Sr/86Srt = 0.7088 ± 0.0001 and εNdt = −4.5 ± 0.6) show no major difference from those of most of the mafic rocks (average δ18O = +8 ± 0.8‰, δD = −84 ± 18‰, 87Sr/86Srt = 0.7082 ± 0.0016 and εNdt = −4 ± 1.1), suggesting that most of their magmas acquired their crustal characteristics in the mantle. The estimate of assimilation of crustal material (δ18O = +12.2 ± 1.7‰, δD = −89 ± 21‰, 87Sr/86Srt = 0.7146 ± 0.0034 and εNdt = −6.9 ± 0.7) by the tonalite is in most samples within the range 10–20%. Felsic magmas that reached upper crustal levels had isotope values (δ18O = +9.9 ± 1.5‰, δD= −76 ± 5‰, 87Sr/86Srt = 0.7067 ± 0.0010, εNdt = −3.5 ± 1.4) suggesting that they were not derived by fractionation of the contaminated intermediate magmas, but evolved from different magma batches. Some rocks of the arc, both igneous (mostly gabbro and tonalite) and metamorphic, underwent restricted interaction with meteoric fluids. Reported values of δ18O of magmatic zircons from the Famatinian arc rocks (+6 to +9‰) are comparable to our δ18O whole-rock data, indicating that pervasive oxygen isotope exchange in the lower crust was not a major process after zircon crystallization