Melting of the juvenile lower crust in a far-field response to roll-back of the southern Neotethyan oceanic lithosphere: the Oligocene adakitic dacites, NE Turkey

Abstract

Late Cenozoic tectono-thermal events and associated magmatism in the Sakarya Zone (SZ) are still contested. Although documented in the western part of the SZ, thus far, no magmatic activity has been identified in the eastern part of the Oligocene SZ. Here, we report a newly identified Oligocene magmatism to interpret the genesis with tectonic setting and gain new insight into the geological evolution of the eastern SZ. We present extensive geochemical, bulk-rock SrNd and zircon Hf isotope, and zircon UPb chronological analyses for the Tepebaşı dacites in the Artvin area, NE Turkey. Zircon UPb dating analyses revealed a dacite formation age of ~29.8 ± 0.3 Ma. Geochemically, with a K2O/Na2O ratio of 0.5 to 0.6, they are composed of rocks of a medium-K calc-alkaline adakitic affinity. The samples are further characterized by low Y (6–7 ppm), and high Sr (362–588 ppm) and Sr/Y ratios (58–98), with low Mg# (41–45) values, demonstrating a close affinity with the crustal source of adakitic rocks. They have slightly radiogenic isotope concentrations (87Sr/86Sr(t) = 0.70460–0.70544, εNd(t) = +1.7 to +2.0), and single-stage Nd model ages of TDM1 = 0.61–0.63 Ga, as well as uniform and positive εHf (t) of 8.2–10.5, with young Hf depleted mantle ages (TDM1 = 0.31–0.41 Ga). These isotopic features, in combination with the geochemical signature, preclude a mantle origin. Instead, they most likely originated from a juvenile mafic lower crustal material by low degree partial melting (<%5) rather than through partial fusion of a subducting slab or thickened lower crust. Trace element modeling reveals that the mafic juvenile lower crust is composed of <10% garnet-bearing amphibolite. Furthermore, trace element compositions imply that adakitic melts formed in an extensional setting without delamination of a thick mafic lower continental crust. We conclude that the Oligocene adakitic magmatism originated in an intracontinental setting, which was subjected to far-field extensional forces induced by roll-back of south Neotethyan oceanic lithosphere just before its detachment in the collision zone. We believe that hot asthenospheric upwelling due to the far-field extension induced by the roll-back of the southern branch of the Neotethyan oceanic lithosphere triggered adakitic magmatism. The heat induced by the upwelling of the asthenosphere likely led to the heat-fluxed melting of juvenile mafic crustal material in such an extensional tectonic setting during the Oligocene epoch in the eastern SZ.