Thermochronology and geochemistry of the Pan-African basement below the Sab'atayn Basin, Yemen

Autor(en)
Resi Veeningen, A. Hugh N Rice, David A. Schneider, Bernhard Grasemann
Abstrakt

Three important lithologies occur in two drill wells from the Pan-African basement underlying the Mesozoic Sab’atayn Basin, in a previously undocumented area of the Pan-African, 83 and 90 km NE of known exposures in Yemen. Cores from well 1 include amphibolite, with basaltic to andesitic compositions, affected by crustal contamination during emplacement into a thickened crust. Deeper in the well, an unfoliated dark red monzogranite has a U–Pb zircon age of 628.8 ± 3.1 Ma and a Rb–Sr biotite cooling age of 591.6 ± 5.8 Ma (∼300 °C). Regional constraints suggest emplacement in a transitional tectonic setting with compressional terrane amalgamation followed by extensional collapse. Sm–Nd isotope analysis yields a TDM model age of 1.24 Ga with negative εNd values, suggesting the monzogranite is part of the Al Bayda island arc terrane. Cores from well 2 contains a weakly deformed, massive (unbedded) medium grey meta-arkose exhibiting essentially no geochemical signature of weathering and with an almost pure dacitic composition. This rock may have been directly derived from an (extrusive) granitoid that was emplaced prior to, or during terrane amalgamation. A (U–Th–Sm)/He zircon age of 156 ± 14 Ma constrains the time of basement cooling to ∼180 °C, synchronous with basin formation. These lithologies provide new insights in the development of the Pan-African basement of Yemen, extending our knowledge of the nearby surface geology to the subsurface.

Organisation(en)
Institut für Geologie
Externe Organisation(en)
University of Ottawa
Journal
Journal of African Earth Sciences
Band
102
Seiten
131-148
Anzahl der Seiten
18
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2014.11.009
Publikationsdatum
02-2015
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
105124 Tektonik, 105105 Geochemie, 105106 Geodynamik, 105103 Erdölgeologie
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Geology, Earth-Surface Processes
Link zum Portal
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/59b65765-ca49-47fb-8b16-10de7f8ca34c