Triassic tholeiitic dolerites («ophites») of the El Grado diapir (Pyrenees, Huesca, Spain): emplacement and composition

Abstract

Mesozoic dolerites in the south Pyrenean sector of El Grado (Huesca, Spain) preserve emplacement structures (fluidity structures at the top and load structures at the base) developed during their intrusion into unconsolidated marly-evaporitic Triassic sediments (Keuper facies). By analogy with other dolerites in the south Pyrenean domain, their emplacement age is equivalent to the uppermost Keuper facies terms, but prior to the final Triassic-early Liassic carbonated sediments. Radiometric ages (187-197±7 Ma) show that the emplacement occurred during the lower Liassic.
The petralogical differentiation from the chilled margin facies to the central facies, and also to the late pegmatitoids, is consistent with that obtained from major elements, trace elements and REE. Their tholeiitic affinity, as defined by their geochemical composition, is equivalent to that of similar racks in the Pyrenean domain. However, the rocks analyzed here, which are located at the external sector of this domain, display a greater petralogical and geochemical differentiation as compared to similar rocks in the central sectors of the Pyrenean domain.