8 research outputs found
UâPb age constraints on Variscan magmatism and NiâCuâPGE metallogeny in the OssaâMorena Zone (SW Iberia)
New UâPb zircon ages from the Santa Olalla Igneous Complex have been obtained, which improve
the knowledge of the precise timing of Variscan magmatism in the OssaâMorena Zone, SW Iberia. This
complex has a special relevance as it hosts the most important NiâCuâplatinum group element (PGE)
mineralization in Europe: the Aguablanca deposit. UâPb zircon ages have been obtained for seven samples
belonging to the Santa Olalla Igneous Complex and spatially related granites. With the exception of the Cala
granite (352 ± 4 Ma), which represents an older intrusion, the bulk of samples yield ages that cluster around
340 3 Ma: the Santa Olalla tonalite (341.5 ± 3 Ma), the Sultana hornblende tonalite (341 ± 3 Ma), a
mingling area at the contact between the Aguablanca and Santa Olalla stocks (341 ± 1.5 Ma), the Garrote
granite (339 ± 3 Ma), the Teuler granite (338 ± 2 Ma), and dioritic dykes from the Aguablanca stock
(338.6 ± 0.8 Ma). The BodonalâCala porphyry, which has also been dated (530 ± 3 Ma), comprises a group
of sub-volcanic rhyolitic intrusions belonging to the BodonalâCala volcano-sedimentary complex, which hosts
the igneous rocks. The knowledge that emplacement of the Aguablanca deposit was related to episodic
transtensional tectonic stages during the Variscan orogeny will be fundamental in future mineral exploration in
the OssaâMorena Zone