Early Paleogene alkaline magmatism in the Subandean Ranges of Jujuy Province

Abstract

The Zapla Range (Jujuy province) represents the southern edge of the central Andean Subandean Ranges in Argentina. In the northernmost area of the Zapla Range, basaltic rocks are interbedded in the Mealla Formation. These volcanic units form part of the post-rift magmatism of the Salta rift basin, which mainly focused on the Lomas de Olmedo sub-basin to the east. In this paper, six of these basaltic occurrences are characterized on the basis of new geological, petrographic and geochemical data, in order to explore their emplacement, petrogenesis and possible tectonic setting during rift evolution. Peperites in the upper contact of sills evidence the interaction between basalts and unconsolidated or poorly consolidated wet sediments. This implies that there was concomitance between sedimentation and subsurface magma emplacement, suggesting a Paleocene age for the magmatic event according to zircon U-Pb data available for Mealla Formation rocks. Other basaltic units show hipocrystalline textures and lack peperites at the top, which points to their extrusive nature. Additionally, some of these lava flows are spatially associated with pyroclastic deposits that reveal the occurrence of explosive hydrovolcanic eruptions. The study rocks are classified as alkaline basalts and basanites with high Mg# and Ni- and Cr-rich compositions, close to primitive magmas. They show affinity with continental intraplate settings. The analyses of Ba/Nb, Nb/La, (La/Yb)N, (La/Sm)N, (Gd/Yb)N and (Dy/Yb)N ratios, as well as normalized trace and rare earth element patterns, suggests a genesis by low degrees of partial melting of a residual garnet-bearing mantle source. Therefore, basalts from this part of the Subandean Ranges evidence a magmatic episode probably linked to an extensional reactivation stage of the Salta Group rift system in the Lomas de Olmedo depocenter during the Paleocene (∼60 Ma).