Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The identification of a large OIB-type volcanic sequence on top of an obducted nappe in the Lesser Caucaus of Armenia helps us explain the obduction processes in the Caucasus region that are related to dramatic change in the global tectonics of the Tethyan region in the late Lower Cretaceous. The ophiolitic nappe preserves three distinct magmatic series, obducted in a single tectonic slice over the South Armenian Block during the Coniacian-Santonian (88-83 Ma), the same time as the Oman ophiolite. Similar geological, petrological, geochemical and age features for various Armenian ophiolitic massifs (Sevan, Stepanavan, and Vedi) argue for the presence of a single large obducted ophiolite unit. The ophiolite, shows evidence for a slow-spreading oceanic environment in Lower to Middle Jurassic. Serpentinites, gabbros and plagiogranites were exhumed by normal faults, and covered by radiolarites. Few pillow-lava flows have infilled the rift grabens. The ophiolite lavas have hybrid geochemical composition intermediate between Arc and MORB signatures: (La/Yb)(N) = 0.6-0.9: (Nb/Th)(N) = 0.17-0.57; (Nd-143/Nd-144)(i) = 0.51273-0.51291; (Sr-87/Sr-86)(i) = 0.70370-0.70565; (Pb-207/Pb-204)(i) = 15.4587-15.5411; (Pb-208/Pb-204)(i) = 37.4053-38.2336; (Pb-206/Pb-204)(i) = 17.9195-18.4594. These compositions suggest they were probably formed in a back-arc basin by melting of a shallow asthenosphere source contaminated by a deeper mantle source modified by subducted slab-derived products. Sr-87/Sr-86 ratios and petrological evidence show that these lavas have been intensely altered by mid-oceanic hydrothermalism as well as by serpentinites, which are interpreted as exhumed mantle peridotites. The gabbros have almost the same geochemical composition as related pillow-lavas: (La/Yb)(N) = 0.2-2.3; (Nb/Th)(N) = 0.1-2.8; (Nd-143/Nd-144)(i) = 0.51264-0.51276: (Sr-87/Sr-86)(i) = 0.70386-0.70557; (Pb-207/Pb-204)(i) = 15.4888-15.5391; (Pb-208/Pb-204)(i) = 37.2729-37.8713; (Pb-206/Pb-204)(i) = 17.6296-17.9683. Plagiogranites show major and trace element features similar to other Neo-Tethyan plagiogranites (La/Yb)(N) = 1.10-7.92; (Nb/Th)(N) = 0.10-0.94; but display a less radiogenic Nd isotopic composition than basalts [(Nd-143/Nd-144)(i) = 0.51263] and more radiogenic (Sr-87/Sr-86)(i) ratios. This oceanic crust sequence is covered by variable thicknesses of unaltered pillowed OIB alkaline lavas emplaced in marine conditions. Ar-40/Ar-39 dating of a single-grain amphibole phenocryst provides a Lower Cretaceous age of 117.3 +/- 0.9 Ma, which confirms a distinct formation age of the OIB lavas. The geochemical composition of these alkaline lavas is similar to plateau-lavas [(La/Yb)(N) = 6-14; (Nb/Th)(N) = 0.23-0.76; (Nd-143/Nd-144)(i) = 0.51262-0.51271; (Sr-87/Sr-86)(i) = 0.70338-0.70551; (Pb-207/Pb-204)(i) = 15.5439-15.6158; (Pb-208/Pb-204)(i) = 38.3724-39.3623; (Pb-206/Pb-204)(i) = 18.4024-19.6744].;They have significantly more radiogenic lead isotopic compositions than phiolitic rocks, and fit the geochemical compositions of hot-spot derived lavas mixed with various proportions of oceanic mantle. In addition, this oceanic + plateau sequence is covered by Upper Cretaceous calc-alkaline lavas: (La/Yb)(N) = 2.07-2.31; (Nb/Th)(N) = 0.08-0.15; (Nd-144/Nd-143)(i) = 0.51271-0.51282; (Sr-117/Sr-116)(i) = 0.70452-0.70478), which were likely formed in a supra-subduction zone environment. During the late Lower to early Upper Cretaceous period, hot-spot related magmatism related to plateau events may have led to significant crustal thickening in various zones of the Middle-eastern Neotethys. These processes have likely hindered subduction of some of the hot and thickened oceanic crust segments, and allowed them to be obducted over small continental blocks such as the South Armenian Block.
ISSN: 0024-4937

hal-00443855
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00443855
DOI : 10.1016/j.lithos.2009.02.006

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The continental South Armenian Block – part of the Anatolide–Tauride South Armenian microplate – of Gondwana origin rifted from the African margin after the Triassic and collided with the Eurasian margin after the Late Cretaceous. During the Late Cretaceous, two northward dipping subduction zones were simultaneously active in the northern Neo-Tethys between the South Armenian Block in the south and the Eurasian margin in the north: oceanic subduction took place below the continental Eurasian margin and intra-oceanic subduction resulted in ophiolite obduction onto the South Armenian Block in the Late Cretaceous.The paleolatitude position of the South Armenian Block before its collision with Eurasia within paleogeographic reconstructions is poorly determined and limited to one study. This earlier study places the South Armenian Block at the African margin in the Early Jurassic. To reconstruct the paleolatitude history of the South Armenian Block, we sampled Upper Devonian–Permian and Cretaceous sedimentary rocks in Armenia. The sampled Paleozoic rocks have likely been remagnetized. Results from two out of three sites sampled in Upper Cretaceous strata pass fold tests and probably all three carry a primary paleomagnetic signal. The sampled sedimentary rocks were potentially affected by inclination shallowing. Therefore, two sites that consist of a large number of samples (> 100) were corrected for inclination shallowing using the elongation/inclination method.These are the first paleomagnetic data that quantify the South Armenian Block's position in the Tethys ocean between post-Triassic rifting from the African margin and post-Cretaceous collision with Eurasia. A locality sampled in Lower Campanian Eurasian margin sedimentary rocks and corrected for inclination shallowing, confirms that the corresponding paleolatitude falls on the Eurasian paleolatitude curve. The north–south distance between the South Armenian Block and the Eurasian margin just after Coniacian–Santonian ophiolite obduction was at most 1000 km.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01365871
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01365871
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2015.01.012