Zircon U-Pb dating of Mesozoic volcanic and tectonic events in northwest Palmer Land and southwest Graham Land, Antarctica

New whole rock Rb-Sr and zircon U-Pb geochronological data and Sm-Nd isotopic data are presented from the central magmatic arc domain of the Antarctic Peninsula in the area of northwest Palmer Land and southwest Graham Land, Rb-Sr isochrons indicate an age of 169±6 Ma for basement orthogneisses and 132±9 to 71±9 Ma for plutons. A U-Pb age of 183 ± 2.1 Ma, with no detectable inheritance, on zircons from an orthogneiss from Cape Berteaux provides the first reliable age for the orthogneisses, which are interpreted as metamorphosed silicic volcanic rocks, and Sm-Nd data indicate derivation in a mature volcanic arc. The age indicates they may be correlatives of the Jurassic ‘Chon Aike’ volcanism of the eastern Antarctic Peninsula. A U-Pb zircon age of 107 ± 1.7 Ma on a terrestrial volcanic sequence overlying an uncomformity strongly suggests a mid-Cretaceous age for the extensive volcanic cover of northwest Palmer Land that was previously thought to be Jurassic. The unconformity is interpreted to have been a result of compressional uplift related to the Palmer Land event. This is the first date for the event in the western part of the central magmatic arc terrane of the Antarctic Peninsula

A precise late Permian 40Ar/39Ar age for Central Iberian camptonitic lamprohyres

The Avila batholith of central Spain is composed, predominantly, of crustal-melt peraluminous granites cut by small-scale mafic alkaline bodies. Dating of the Gredos sector mafic camptonitic lamprophyre dykes was undertaken to constrain the Late Variscan tectonomagmatic evolution of the region. A well constrained late Permian, Capitanian, age of 264.5 ± 1.3 Ma was obtained by 40Ar/39Ar geochronology using amphibole separates. This new age clearly distinguishes the dykes from other episodes of alkaline mafic magmatism in the region. We suggest that the lamprophyre dykes were emplaced into already solidified granitoids after the tectonic control on magma generation changed from purely extensional to transtensional

The spatial and compositional evolution of the Jurassic Ghorveh-Dehgolan plutons of the Zagros Orogen, Iran: SHRIMP zircon U-Pb and Sr and Nd isotope evidence

The Ghorveh-Dehgolan plutons of the northern Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone, Zagros Orogen, comprise seven composite intrusive bodies that were generated during northeastward subduction of Neotethys beneath the Iranian sector of the Eurasian plate. Zircon U-Pb SHRIMP dating reveals that the magmatic activity spanned from ~160 to ~140Ma. It started with intrusion of arc-related calc-alkaline mafic to intermediate rocks closely followed by felsic I-type granitoids. This magmatism was post-dated by felsic alkaline A-type granites. In addition to compositional changes over time, the plutons forming the arc young towards the southwest: the north Ghorveh batholith (161±4Ma) and Shanevareh (160±2Ma); Qalaylan (159±3Ma); then central Ghorveh, Galali and Saranjianeh (151±0.2Ma to 148±1Ma); and, lastly, the south Ghorveh batholith (147±3Ma) and Bolbanabad-Havarpan (144±1Ma). Whatever the process driving the changes, be it arc- or ridge-collision with the subducting system, slab roll-back, slab breakoff, subduction initiation transference, etc., the progression from I-type to A-type magmatism appears to mark a significant change from a collisional to an extensional setting in the region in the Late Jurassic. Geochemical and isotopic characteristics of the Ghorveh-Dehgolan plutons indicate that Arabian-Nubian-like crust was an important component of the magmatic sources

The spatial and compositional evolution of the Late Jurassic Ghorveh-Dehgolan plutons of the Zagros Orogen, Iran: SHRIMP zircon U-Pb and Sr and Nd isotope evidence

The Ghorveh-Dehgolan plutons of the northern Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone, Zagros Orogen, comprise seven composite intrusive bodies that were generated during northeastward subduction of Neotethys beneath the Iranian sector of the Eurasian plate. Zircon U-Pb SHRIMP dating reveals that the magmatic activity spanned from ~160 to ~140Ma. It started with intrusion of arc-related calc-alkaline mafic to intermediate rocks closely followed by felsic I-type granitoids. This magmatism was post-dated by felsic alkaline A-type granites. In addition to compositional changes over time, the plutons forming the arc young towards the southwest: the north Ghorveh batholith (161 ± 4Ma) and Shanevareh (160 ± 2Ma); Qalaylan (159 ± 3Ma); then central Ghorveh, Galali and Saranjianeh (151 ± 0.2Ma to 148± 1Ma); and, lastly, the south Ghorveh batholith (147 ± 3Ma) and Bolbanabad-Havarpan (144 ± 1Ma). Whatever the process driving the changes, be it arc- or ridge-collision with the subducting system, slab roll-back, slab break-off, subduction initiation transference, etc., the progression from I-type to A-type magmatism appears to mark a significant change from a collisional to an extensional setting in the region in the Late Jurassic. Geochemical and isotopic characteristics of the Ghorveh-Dehgolan plutons indicate that Arabian-Nubian-like crust was an important component of the magmatic sources