Geodynamic framework of the magmatic activity of Cretaceous Léré basin (Southwestern Chad, Central Africa)

Abstract

Numerous 5 to 20 m-wide dolerite dykes crosscut vertically to sub-vertically basement granitoids around and within the Cretaceous Léré basin, SW Chad (Central Africa). They extend along strike on several hundred meters length. Léré dolerites exhibit various textures, from classical doleritic texture to sub-ophitic via ophitic and intersertal textures. They are composed of euhedral and subhedral crystals of andesine and labradorite, anorthoclase, augite, olivine, ilmenite and Ti-magnetite. Calcite and amphibole are present. Estimated crystallization temperatures are between 1050 and 1105 ± 50 °C. Occurrence of dyke swarms in Léré basin is controlled by Pan-African strike-slip faults created during an extensional tectonic phase during Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic. These lavas, analyzed with ICP-MS and ICP-AES, are basalt, trachybasalt and basaltic trachyandesite with some continental tholeiite affinity. Dolerites of Léré basin have evolved by limited fractional crystallization differentiation, accompanying by minor assimilation process. Three groups of rocks are identified (according to Y/Nb ratios), linked to different mantle sources which have intermediate compositions between E-MORB and OIB.