New SHRIMP U-Pb data from the Famatina Complex : Constraining Early-Mid Ordovician Famatinian magmatism in the Sierras Pampeanas, Argentina

New SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages are reported for igneous and sedimentary rocks of the Famatina Complex, constraining the age of the magmatism and the ensialic basins. Together with whole-rock and isotope geochemistry for the igneous rocks from the complex, these ages indicate that the voluminous parenta...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Dahlquist, Juan Andrés, Pankhurst, Robert J., Rapela, Carlos Washington, Galindo, Carmen, Alasino, Pablo Horacio, Fanning, Christopher M., Saavedra, John, Baldo, Edgardo Gaspar Agustín
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2008
Country:Argentina
Institution:Universidad Nacional de La Plata
Repository:SEDICI (UNLP)
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/97251
Online Access:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/97251
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Geología
Ciencias Naturales
U-pb shrimp circon
Famatinian orogeny
Ensialic basins
Magmatism
Description
Summary:New SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages are reported for igneous and sedimentary rocks of the Famatina Complex, constraining the age of the magmatism and the ensialic basins. Together with whole-rock and isotope geochemistry for the igneous rocks from the complex, these ages indicate that the voluminous parental magmas of metaluminous composition were derived by partial melting of an older lithosphere without significant asthenospheric contribution. This magmatism was initiated in the Early Ordovician (481 Ma). During the Mid-Late Ordovician, the magmatism ceased (463 Ma), resulting in a short-lived (no more than ~20 Ma) and relatively narrow (~100–150 km) magmatic belt, in contrast to the long-lived cordilleran magmatism of the Andes. The exhumation rate of the Famatina Complex was considerably high and the erosional stripping and deposition of Ordovician sediments occurred soon after of the emplacement of the igneous source rocks during the Early to mid-Ordovician. During the upper Mid Ordovician the clastic contribution was mainly derived from plutonic rocks. Magmatism was completely extinguished in the Mid Ordovician and the sedimentary basins closed in the early Late Ordovician.