The Central Sudetic Ophiolite (European Variscan Belt): precise U-Pb zircon dating and geotectonic implications

Precise U-Pb zircon dating using the chemical abrasion - isotope dilution - thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS) method constrains the age of the Central Sudetic Ophiolite (CSO) in the Variscan Belt of Europe. A felsic gabbro from the sle(z) over dota Massif contains zircon xenocrysts dated at 404.8 +/- 0.3 Ma and younger crystals dated at 402.6 +/- 0.2 Ma that determine the final crystallization age of the gabbro. An identical age of 402.7 +/- 0.3 Ma was determined for plagiogranite from the Nowa Ruda-Slupiec Massif, and plagiogranite from the Braszowice-Brzeznica Massif yields a similar, but less reliable, age of > 401.2 Ma. The different massifs in the CSO are therefore considered as tectonically dismembered fragments of a single oceanic domain formed at c. 402.6-402.7 Ma (Early Devonian - Emsian). The magmatic activity recorded in the CSO was contemporaneous with the high-temperature/high-pressure metamorphism of granulites and peridotites in the Gory Sowie Massif, separating dismembered parts of the CSO. This suggests geodynamic coupling between the continental subduction recorded in the Gory Sowie and the oceanic spreading recorded in the CSO. Regional geological data indicate that the CSO was obducted before c. 383 Ma, less than 20 Ma after its formation at an oceanic spreading centre. The CSO is shown to be one of the oldest and first obducted among the Devonian ophiolites of the Variscan Belt. The CSO probably originated in an evolved back-arc basin in which the influence of subduction-related fluids and melts increased with time, from negligible during the formation of predominant mid-ocean-ridge-type magmatic rocks to strong at later stages, when rodingites, epidosites and other minor lithologies formed.

Automated summary

Precise U-Pb zircon dating has constrained the age of the Central Sudetic Ophiolite in the Variscan Belt of Europe, indicating that the different massifs in the Ophiolite are tectonically dismembered fragments of a single oceanic domain formed around 402.6-402.7 Ma. The magmatic activity in the Ophiolite was contemporaneous with high-temperature/high-pressure metamorphism in the region, suggesting geodynamic coupling between continental subduction and oceanic spreading.