The petrology and geochemistry of Gharyan volcanic province of NW Libya

Abstract

Gharyan Volcanic Province (GVP) is one of the four major outpouring volcanic provinces (Jabal as Sawda, Jabal Al Haruj, and Jabal Nuqay) in Libya. It culminates the extreme NNW–SSE linear trend with the other province which defines a systematic decrease in age from NWW to SSE. The voluminous petrologic and chronologic episode in GVP is the Old Lava Series (OLS). This OLS (55–50Ma) is flown over 1000km of Mesozoic rocks that are sliced by Wadi Ghan fault zone. The second cycle is represented by the phonolite–trachyte intrusions (40Ma). Those intrusions occur in the form of laccoliths and plugs where Wadi Ghan fault zone has a conspicuous effect in their emplacement behavior. The Late Volcanic Center (LVC) is the main young volcanic activity in the province (<12Ma). They show different mode of eruptions on the continuous plateau of OLS. Young Lava Series (YLS) are minor eruptions that have a distinctive appearance on the field and landsat image by occupying an ancient buried wadies.The compound phonolite laccoliths in Garyat Gamatat al–Gharyiha area increase in relief northwardly due to the imparity of denudation with the OLS flows at the southern portions of the area. One of those phonolite samples shows a crustal contamination due to its anomalous in Sr content. The radial pattern of OLS flows in urban area has some differentiation degree by their relative evolution from basalts to basaltic andesites. The chemistry of LVC in the same area does not show close concordance with the LVC basanitic suite of Busrewil and Wadsworth (1980). On other hand, the basaltic sill in Garyat Gamatat al–Gharyiha area is belonging to the LVC activity in GVP by their concordant with the geochemistry of LVC basanitic phase. The ultrabasic rocks in the investigated areas are four-phase lherzolite (olivine+orthopyroxene+clinopyroxene+spinel) restrict only in LVC phase as sub-rounded nodules. These xenoliths penetrate the whole crust with relatively large velocity by melts with sub-continental mantle source (OIB) beneath GVP.