Attempts of whole-rock K/Ar dating of mesozoic volcanic and hypabissal igneous rocks from the Central Subbetic (Southern Spain): A case of differential Argon loss related to very low-grade metamorphism

Abstract

12 samples of basic intrusives within Triassic rocks «ophites») and 11 samples of volcanic and associated intrusives within Jurassic to Early Cretaceous sequences of the Subbetic Zone were subjected to whole-rock K/Ar dating in combination with chemical/petrological analysis. Satisfactory results were obtained only from a number of samples of volcanic rocks, however, analytical ages commonly agree, within about 10 relative percent, with those deduced from stratigraphic location. «Ophite» samples, on the other hand, may reveal considerably lower analytic ages than the volcanics and show much stronger scattering, even among samples collected within a small area. It is argued that the inferred loss of Ar results from very-low-grade alpine metamorphic alteration, which affected the «ophites» more intensely than the higher volcanic rocks. Other post-emplacement chemical changes, such as the degree of secondary oxidation of Fe, are also distintive among the two groups of samples, and are to some extent consistent with the above view in that the alteration environment of the ophites should have produced conditions for more penetrative fluid-rock interactions and homogeneous recrystallization. Overall, the magmatic activity from which the ophitic rocks originated might have started in the Late Triassic and continued in the Lower Jurassic. 80th, the «ophites» and the volcanics are though to be the result of magmatic events Collowing tensional to transtensive crustal movements affecting the external basins of the Betic Cordilleras Crom Late Triassic to Early Cretaceous times.