MAGMATIC RELATIONSHIPS AND AGES OF CARIBBEAN ISLAND ARC THOLEIITES, BONINITES AND RELATED FELSIC ROCKS, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Abstract

Located in the Cordillera Oriental of the Dominican Republic, the Early Cretaceous Los Ranchos Fm (LRF) comprises a > 3-km thick sequence of volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks with variable geochemical characteristics, which is intruded by tonalite batholiths, minor gabbro/diorite plutons and mafic dykes. From top to bottom, three main stratigraphic units have been mapped: upper basaltic, intermediate rhyodacitic and lower basaltic. Combined detailed mapping, stratigraphy, geochemistry, Rb-Sr/Sm-Nd isotopic studies and U-Pb/Ar-Ar geochronology show that the mafic rocks of the LRF include boninites and LREE-depleted island arc tholeiites (IAT) in the lower unit, both which appear genetically related, whereas normal IAT occur in the upper unit. The source for these rocks is thought to reflect variably depleted mantle, overprinted by a subduction zone component. Contemporaneous Aptian U-Pb zircon ages were obtained for a rhyodacite from the intermediate unit (116.0 ± 0.8 Ma) and a tonalite of the Zambrana batholith (115.5 ± 0.3 Ma) that intrudes the LRF. The similarity of trace element signatures in both units argues for genetic link between the felsic volcanics of the LRF and the tonalite plutonism. Low-K rhyolites and tonalite batholiths are interpreted as products of secondary melting at the base of thickened early arc crust. 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages of hornblende in most tonalites are Albian (109-106 Ma) and interpreted as final cooling ages, prior to unroofing and growth of unconformable overlying reef limestones of the Hatillo Fm (112-100 Ma). The LREE-depleted IAT and boninites of lower basaltic unit are interpreted to have formed during subduction zone initiation in the Caribbean Island arc, and the normal IAT of the upper unit are thought to represent the subsequent establishment of the volcanic front. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.