Palaeoproterozoic Continental MORB-type Tholeiites in the Karelian Craton: Petrology, Geochronology, and Tectonic Setting

TLDR: In this paper, the authors used the results of U^Pb (zircon) and Sm^Nd internal isochron dating for MORB-type tholeiitic dikes in the Karelian Craton, eastern Fennoscandian Shield.

Abstract: Major-element, lithophile trace element, and Sm^Nd and U^Pb zircon isotopic data are presented for Palaeoproterozoic mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB)-type tholeiitic dikes ranging in age from 2140 3 to 2126 5 Ma studied at six localities within three terranes in the Karelian Craton, eastern Fennoscandian Shield. All the studied dikes have remarkably uniform geochemical and isotope characteristics.They are tholeiitic basalts with low contents of large ion lithophile elements, high field strength elements, and rare earth elements (REE), nearly flat chondrite-normalized REE patterns [(La/Sm)n1⁄4 0·9^1·2, (Gd/Yb)n1⁄41·0^1·2], and positive Ti, Nb, and Zr anomalies in the primitive mantle-normalized diagrams. The dikes also show relatively uniform initial Nd isotope compositions, with eNd values ranging fromþ1·4 toþ3·0, despite the occurrence of these dikes within Archaean terranes with different crustal history. According to the results of U^Pb (zircon) and Sm^Nd internal isochron dating the crystallization age of the dikes is constrained to be c. 2·14 Ga. The studied MORB-type tholeiitic dikes are probably comagmatic with Palaeoproterozoic MORB-type basalts that have previously been recognized in the Karelian Craton, and might represent relicts of their magma feeder system.The uniformity of ages and geochemical and isotope characteristics of the MORB-type dikes and volcanic rocks suggest that they are probably related to a common magmatic event.This event was nearcontemporaneous with the eruption of high-Ti plume-related basalts and intrusion of dikes in the c. 2·1 Ga Jatulian continental flood basalt province. Geochemical modelling indicates that the chemical and isotopic compositions of the dikes are best explained by derivation of their parental magmas by partial melting of a uniformly depleted mantle source in the spinel peridotite stability field, followed by fractional crystallization and minor (56%) assimilation of continental crustal material. This suggests that magma-storage processes in upper crustal chambers were very short-lived; this could be the