Interpreting anomalous magnetic fabrics in ophiolite dikes

Abstract

Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) may reveal mineral orientation-distributions defining magmatic flow-axes in igneous dikes. The mafic silicates are the best indication of magmatic flow but Fe–Ti accessories may contribute more to the bulk susceptibility. If the orientation-distributions of the two subfabrics are incongruent, anomalous fabrics will occur that do not reflect magma-flow axes. For ophiolite dikes, ocean-floor metamorphism changes the mineralogy producing new Fe-oxides by retrogression and exsolution from mafic silicates and by the oxidation of primary oxides. Incompatibly oriented ‘ferro’-magnetic subfabrics may be isolated by anisotropy of anhysteretic remanence (AARM). Anomalous AMS fabrics in ophiolites elsewhere have been attributed to inverse-fabric contributions from single-domain magnetite in varying combinations. However, in ophiolite dikes from the Troodos ophiolite of Cyprus, anomalous fabrics arise from ocean-floor metamorphism extensively or completely replacing the original magnetite and titanomagnetite accessory phases with titanomagnetite (∼Fe 2.4Ti 0.6O 4=TM60) and its oxidised versions, titanomaghemite, to varying degrees according to depth beneath the ocean-floor, distance from spreading axis and proximity to transform-faults. At best, the oxide orientation-distribution defined by AARM could only be indirectly related to magma-flow if its nucleation-orientation controlled by a host-lattice. However, more commonly the topotactic lattice reorganization produces weaker ARM fabric anisotropies. Although ‘recrystallized’, oxidised TM60 dominates the bulk low-field susceptibility, its anisotropy is generally too feeble to compete with the flow-fabric defined by the AMS contribution from paramagnetic mafic silicates.