Origin of dyke swarms in Wadi El Redi-Wadi Lahami area, southern Eastern Desert of Egypt

Abstract

Dykes predominate within the Neoproterozoic rocks, especially granites, of Wadi El Redi-Wadi Lahami area in the southern Eastern Desert of Egypt. The dyke swarms form three major suites: from the oldest to the youngest, they are basaltic andesite—Suite 1 (E-W and ENE-WSW), rhyolite—Suite 2 (NE-SW), and andesite—Suite 3 (NNE-SSW, NNW-SSE, and NW-SE). Despite the wide ranges of the dyke compositions, the feldspar and amphibole are usually the essential forming minerals. The plagioclase arrays between Ab0.9An99.10 in the basaltic andesite and Ab98.80An0.70 in the rhyolite, while sanidine ranges from Or44.60Ab49.70 to Or98.40Ab1.60. Amphibole in Suite 1 and 3 (Al2O3, TiO2, Na2O, and K2O are the lowest and those of SiO2 and CaO are the highest) samples are usually magnesio-hornblende, whereas it is edenite and tschermakite in Suite 2 dykes. Despite all parent magmas have calc-alkaline affinity, some elements such as Ni show an erratic behavior against the progressing differentiation from one magma chamber and implying for an assimilation of the country rocks. The high contents of amphibole, the depletion in Ti, and the enrichment in large-ion lithophile elements (such as K, Rb, Ba, Sr, and Ba) compared to the primitive mantle composition are consistent with parent hydrous melts generated due to extension above the subduction zone. The estimated compositions of liquids in equilibrium with amphiboles and the pressures at which they crystallized (4.61–7.8 kbar for the Suite 2 and 1.5–2 kbar for the Suites 1 and 3) are greatly varied. These are indications for a difference in the source regions of the parent magmas of the studied dykes. It is supposed that the Suite 1 and 2 dykes are a conjugate set emplaced due to the NW-SE crustal extension in the Arabian-Nubian shield, whereas the Suite 3 dykes generated due to the rifting along the Red Sea.