Geochemistry and origin of felsites and associated A-type granites at Wadi Atalla area, Central Eastern Desert, Egypt: Implication for genesis of Neoproterozoic post-collisional highly silicic melts

Abstract

Alkaline volcanics (felsites) and A-type granites are spatially and temporally associated in the Wadi Atalla area, Central Eastern Desert, Egypt. These rocks represent final Neoproterozoic magmatic activity in the Northern Nubian Shield. Wadi Atalla felsites form NW-trending elongate mass consisting of silicic volcanics, which is intruded by A-type granites of Um Had and Um Effein plutons. Field relations indicate that both felsites and A-type granites were emplaced in a series of magmatic pulses. Felsites include tuffaceous, porphyritic and hypabyssal varieties, while A-type granites comprise syenogranite and alkali feldspar granite. Geochemically, they are highly silicic rocks and display a narrow range of SiO2. They have high-K alkaline nature with metaluminous to peraluminous character and were erupted in a post-collisional tectonic setting. Mineral chemistry of biotite supports the alkaline and A-type characters of the studied rocks. Atalla felsites and associated A-type granites show light REE enrichment relative to heavy REE [(La/Lu)n = 2.67–5.72] with pronounced negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 0.15–0.52). Compositional similarities between Atalla felsites and A-type granites in the studied area suggest that the intrusive and extrusive events are broadly related. The systematic variation of major- and trace-element contents of the felsites and A-type granites indicates derivation from similar sources through partial melting of juvenile crustal rocks, followed by extensive fractional crystallization. The main fractionated phases are feldspars, with minor role of fractionation of amphibole, biotite, apatite and FeTi oxides. Multiple saturation calculations indicate water-saturated storage and final equilibration conditions for the felsites ranging from 788 °C at 90 MPa to 740 °C at 255 MPa. The parental magmas of the felsites and A-type granites were linked to lithospheric delamination and upwelling of asthenospheric mantle material. This process led to generation of mantle melts that supplied heat to melt the juvenile crust of the Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS), along with crustal uplift recorded by intersecting strike-slip faults and shear zones. Atalla felsites represent a distinctive post-collisional alkaline volcanic phase in the Nubian Shield that has been emplaced in an extensional tectonic regime, during a phase of fracturing and crustal uplift, which followed the end of the Pan-African orogeny. This volcanic phase is younger than the Dokhan volcanics in the Eastern Desert and older than the typical Katherina volcanics in southern Sinai.