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The Central Sudetic Ophiolite (European Variscan Belt): precise U–Pb zircon dating and geotectonic implications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 August 2020

Marek Awdankiewicz Open the ORCID record for Marek Awdankiewicz [Opens in a new window] ,
Ryszard Kryza ,
Krzysztof Turniak ,
Maria Ovtcharova  and
Urs Schaltegger
Marek Awdankiewicz*
Affiliation:
University of Wrocław, Institute of Geological Sciences, Pl. Maksa Borna 9, 50-204Wrocław, Poland
Ryszard Kryza
Affiliation:
University of Wrocław, Institute of Geological Sciences, Pl. Maksa Borna 9, 50-204Wrocław, Poland
Krzysztof Turniak
Affiliation:
University of Wrocław, Institute of Geological Sciences, Pl. Maksa Borna 9, 50-204Wrocław, Poland
Maria Ovtcharova
Affiliation:
University of Geneva, Department of Earth Sciences, rue des Maraichers 13, 1205Geneva, Switzerland
Urs Schaltegger
Affiliation:
University of Geneva, Department of Earth Sciences, rue des Maraichers 13, 1205Geneva, Switzerland
*
Author for correspondence: Marek Awdankiewicz, Email: marek.awdankiewicz@uwr.edu.pl
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Abstract

Precise U–Pb zircon dating using the chemical abrasion – isotope dilution – thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS) method constrains the age of the Central Sudetic Ophiolite (CSO) in the Variscan Belt of Europe. A felsic gabbro from the Ślęża Massif contains zircon xenocrysts dated at 404.8 ± 0.3 Ma and younger crystals dated at 402.6 ± 0.2 Ma that determine the final crystallization age of the gabbro. An identical age of 402.7 ± 0.3 Ma was determined for plagiogranite from the Nowa Ruda–Słupiec Massif, and plagiogranite from the Braszowice–Brzeźnica Massif yields a similar, but less reliable, age of > 401.2 Ma. The different massifs in the CSO are therefore considered as tectonically dismembered fragments of a single oceanic domain formed at c. 402.6–402.7 Ma (Early Devonian – Emsian). The magmatic activity recorded in the CSO was contemporaneous with the high-temperature/high-pressure metamorphism of granulites and peridotites in the Góry Sowie Massif, separating dismembered parts of the CSO. This suggests geodynamic coupling between the continental subduction recorded in the Góry Sowie and the oceanic spreading recorded in the CSO. Regional geological data indicate that the CSO was obducted before c. 383 Ma, less than 20 Ma after its formation at an oceanic spreading centre. The CSO is shown to be one of the oldest and first obducted among the Devonian ophiolites of the Variscan Belt. The CSO probably originated in an evolved back-arc basin in which the influence of subduction-related fluids and melts increased with time, from negligible during the formation of predominant mid-ocean-ridge-type magmatic rocks to strong at later stages, when rodingites, epidosites and other minor lithologies formed.

Keywords

Variscan BeltSudetesophioliteageDevonianRheic Ocean
Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 158 , Issue 3 , March 2021 , pp. 555 - 566
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

†

Deceased

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