Geochemistry and Geochronology of the Neoproterozoic Backarc Basin Khzama Ophiolite (Anti-Atlas Mountains, Morocco): Tectonomagmatic Implications

• Published in: Minerals (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 56
• Main Authors: Latifa Chaib, Abdelhak Ait Lahna, Hassan Admou, Nasrrddine Youbi, Warda El Moume, Colombo Celso Gaeta Tassinari, João Mata, Miguel Angelo Stipp Basei, Kei Sato, Andrea Marzoli, Jean-Louis Bodinier, Andreas Gärtner, Moulay Ahmed Boumehdi, Mohamed Khalil Bensalah, Abderrahmane Soulaimani, Kevin Hefferan, Lhou Maacha, Amine Bajddi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 01-01-2021
• Subjects: Anti-Atlas; geochemistry; Neoproterozoic Ophiolites; sheeted dikes; U-Pb geochronology
• ISSN: 2075-163X
• DOI: 10.3390/min11010056

The Khzama ophiolite is a highly dismembered complex located in the Siroua inlier of the Moroccan Anti-Atlas Belt. It consists of ultramafic rocks, cumulate gabbros, sheeted dikes, pillow lavas, and an overlying volcano-sedimentary sequence. Three main tectonic slices of sheeted dike complexes are studied in detail along three rivers, exposing well preserved outcrops where individual dikes are clearly distinguishable from the intruded host rock (Assif n’Tinzla, Assif n’Tasriwine, and Assif n’Iriri). Sheeted dikes of the Khzama ophiolitic complex are basaltic to andesitic in composition, displaying a clear sub-alkaline nature. We identify two sets of dikes that originate from lower High-Ti series (HTS) lavas and overlying upper Low-Ti series (LTS) lava. The immobile trace-element signatures of these rocks point to a genesis on a backarc environment with magmas sourced in a supra-subduction zone (SSZ) at the spinel peridotite zone. The obtained SHRIMP U-Pb data of the gabbro represent the first radiometric age of zircon extracted from the mafic rocks that were intruded by the sheeted dike complex of the Khzama ophiolite. These grains yield a concordia age of 763 ± 5 Ma, which is consistent with the 761.1 + 1.9/−1.6 and 762 + 1/−2 Ma U-Pb zircon ages of plagiogranites of Siroua. Based on their mineralogy, modal proportions, and major element chemistry, the felsic dikes are classified as high silica–low alumina trondhjemites or plagiogranites. These plagiogranites were likely formed by the partial melting of mafic rocks rather than by extreme fractional crystallization. A plagiogranite dated at 777 ± 4.7 Ma (U-Pb on zircon) is significantly older than the ca. 762 Ma plagiogranites previously recorded for the Khzama locality, suggesting a long-lived supra-subduction zone (SSZ) with conditions for the hydrous melting of mafic rocks.