Douglas B. Stoeser

Pan-African microplate accretion of the Arabian Shield

The late Proterozoic Arabian Shield is composed of at least five geologically distinct terranes (microplates) separated by four ophiolite-bearing suture zones. Three ensimatic island-arc terranes occur in the western shield, whereas the two terranes in the eastern shield have continental affinities. The western two sutures are island-arc-island-arc joins, whereas the eastern two sutures collectively form a major coilisional orogenic belt. Accretion of the five terranes to form an Arabian neocraton occurred from 715 to 630 Ma. After accretion, intracratonic deformation and magmatism related to collision continued and resulted in the formation of molasse, intermediate to silicic volcanic rocks, peralka-line to peraluminous granites (640-570 Ma), and a major left-lateral wrench fault system (∼630-550 Ma) which displaced the northern part of the Arabian neocraton ∼250 km to the northwest. These tectonic events represent the accretion of the Arabian portion of Gondwanaland during the Pan-African event.

Distribution of oceanic and continental leads in the Arabian-Nubian Shield

New common lead data for feldspar, whole-rock, and galena samples from the Arabian-Nubian Shield, together with data from previous work, can be divided into two main groups. Group I leads have oceanic (mantle) characteristics, whereas group II leads have incorporated a continental-crustal component of at least early Proterozoic age. The group I leads are found in rocks from the Red Sea Hills of Egypt and the western and southern parts of the Arabian Shield. Group II leads are found in rocks from the northeastern and eastern parts of the Arabian Shield, as well as from the southeastern Shield near Najran. They are also found in rocks to the south in Yemen, to the east in Oman, and to the west at Aswan, Egypt. This distribution of data suggests that the Arabian-Nubian Shield has an oceanic core flanked by rocks that have developed, at least in part, from older continental material. Two mechanisms are suggested by which this older lead component could have been incorporated into the late Proterozoic rocks, and each may have operated in different parts of the Shield. The older lead component either was derived directly from an underlying early Proterozoic basement or was incorporated from subducted pelagic sediments or sediments derived from an adjacent continent.New U-Pb zircon data indicate the presence of an early Proterozoic basement southeast of Jabal Dahul in the eastern Arabian Shield. These data, together with 2,000-Ma-old zircons from the Al Amar fault zone, verify the implication of the common lead data that at least a part of the eastern Arabian Shield has an older continental basement.Because continental margins are particularly favorable locations for development of ore deposits, these findings may have important economic implications, particularly for tin, tungsten, and molybdenum exploration.

Distribution and tectonic setting of plutonic rocks of the Arabian Shield

Abstract Although it is still not possible to model in detail the tectonic evolution of the Arabian Shield, its evolution can be interpreted in terms of the classic pattern of Phanerozoic plate tectonics (the ‘Wilson cycle’). During the first stage of evolution (900-630 Ma), plutonism was dominated by intermediate plutonic rocks (diorite, quartz diorite, tonalite and trondhjemite) and involved a progressive evolution from primitive tholeiitic series are rocks to mature calc-alkaline series rocks. These rocks formed in both ensimatic island arc and continental—marginal arc environments. The magmatic-arc stage was terminated by two collisions (680-630 Ma); between an accreted ensimatic arc terrane and a continental microplate and between the microplate and a continental(?) plate. These collisions resulted in a shift from arc magmatism dominated by intermediate plutonic rocks to collision-related granitic (granodiorite to monzogranite) magmatism (660-610 Ma). The final phase of plutonism within the Shield (610-510 Ma) was the formation of widespread postorogenic intracratonic evolved peraluminous to peralkaline alkali-feldspar granites. Such granites typically form during the terminal relaxation phase of continental collisions. Although minor amounts of evolved peraluminous granites are present in the eastern part of the Shield, well-developed S-type granites (tourmaline- or cordierite-bearing granite) appear to be lacking. Minor amounts of syenitic plutonic rocks were also emplaced throughout the Shield from about 620 to 550 Ma. The plutonic rock assemblage of the Arabian Shield is composed of approximately 37% granite, 19% granodiorite, 17% tonalite and trondhjemite, 1.3% dioritic rocks, 7% alkali-feldspar granite (including 2.3% alkali granite and 1.3% aluminous granite), 6% gabbro, and 1% syenitic rocks. Plutonic rocks compose approximately 55% of the outcrop area of the Shield.

Precambrian basement character of Yemen and correlations with Saudi Arabia and Somalia

Abstract The Precambrian basement of Yemen occupies a key location in the Pan-African orogen of Gondwana. This paper reviews geological, isotopic and geochronological data and presents new Pb- and Nd-isotope data which help define distinct gneiss terranes within this basement, constraining correlations of these terranes with neighbouring regions of Saudi Arabia and Somalia. Existing whole-rock Pb- and Nd-isotopic data are also summarised. These data should facilitate a more objective assessment of the contribution of the Yemen Precambrian to Cenozoic magmatism associated with the opening of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Guidelines to classification and nomenclature of Arabian felsic plutonic rocks

Abstract Well-defined procedures for classifying the felsic plutonic rocks of the Arabian Shield on the basis of petrographic, chemical and lithostratigraphic criteria and mineral-resource potential have been adopted and developed in the Saudi Arabian Deputy Ministry for Mineral Resources over the past decade. A number of problems with conventional classification schemes have been identified and resolved; others, notably those arising from difficulties in identifying precise mineral compositions, continue to present difficulties. The petrographic nomenclature used is essentially that recommended by the International Union of Geological Sciences. Problems that have arisen include the definition of: (1) rocks with sodic, zoned or perthitic feldspar, (2) trondhjemites, and (3) alkali granites. Chemical classification has been largely based on relative molar amounts of alumina, lime and alkalis, and the use of conventional variation diagrams, but pilot studies utilizing univariate and multivariate statistical techniques have been made. The classification used in Saudi Arabia for stratigraphic purposes is a hierarchy of formation-rank units, suites and super-suites as defined in the Saudi Arabian stratigraphic code. For genetic and petrological studies, a grouping as ‘associations’ of similar and genetically related lithologies is commonly used. In order to indicate mineral-resource potential, the felsic plutons are classed as common, precursor, specialized or mineralized, in order of increasing exploration significance.

Age and petrology of the Tertiary As Sarat volcanic field, southwestern Saudi Arabia

Abstract Harrat As Sarat forms the second smallest and southernmost of the basalt fields of western Saudi Arabia and is part of a voluminous Red Sea rift-related continental alkali basalt province. The rocks of the As Sarat were emplaced during the first stage of Red Sea rifting and represent the northernmost extension of the Tertiary Trap Series volcanics that occur mainly in the Yemen Arab Republic and Ethiopia. The field consists of up to 580 m of basalt flows, that are intruded by basaltic plugs, necks, minor dikes, and highly evolved peralkaline trachyte intrusions. K-Ar ages indicate that the As Sarat field formed between 31 and 22 Ma and contains an eruption hiatus of one million years that began about 25 Ma ago. Pre-hiatus flows are primarily hypersthene normative intersertal subalkaline basalt, whereas the majority of post-hiatus flows are nepheline normative alkali basalt and hawaiite with trachytic textures. Normative compositions of the basalts are consistent with their genesis by partial melting at varying depths. Trace element abundances in the basalt indicate that varying degrees of partial melting and fractional crystallization (or crystal accumulation) had major and minor roles, respectively, in development of compositional variation in these rocks. Modeling indicates that the pre-hiatus subalkaline basalts represent 8–10 percent mantle melting at depths of about 70 km and the post-hiatus alkali basalts represent 4–9 percent mantle melting at depths greater than 70 km.

Contrasting zircon morphology and UPb systematics in peralkaline and metaluminous post-orogenic granite complexes of the Arabian Shield, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Uzircon ages are reported for seven metaluminous-to-peralkaline post-orogenic granites from the Late Proterozoic Arabian Shield of Saudi Arabia. Zircons from the metaluminous rocks are prismatic, with length-to-width ratios of ∼ 2–4: 1 and small pyramidal terminations. In contrast, zircons from three of the four peralkaline complexes either lack well-developed prismatic faces (are pseudo-octahedral) or are anhedral. Some zircons from the peralkaline granites contain inherited radiogenic Pb and have very high common Pb contents (206Pb/204Pb < 150), making the UPb method poorly suited for determining the age of these rocks. Zircons in the metaluminous granites do not contain inheritance and yield well-defined concordia intercepts. The span of ages of the seven complexes (670-470 Ma) indicates that post-orogenic granitic magmatism was not a singular event in the Arabian Shield but rather occurred as multiple intrusive episodes from the Late Proterozoic to the Middle Ordovician.

Geophysical interpretation of U, Th, and rare earth element mineralization of the Bokan Mountain peralkaline granite complex, Prince of Wales Island, southeast Alaska

AbstractA prospectivity map for rare earth element (REE) mineralization at the Bokan Mountain peralkaline granite complex, Prince of Wales Island, southeastern Alaska, was calculated from high-resolution airborne gamma-ray data. The map displays areas with similar radioelement concentrations as those over the Dotson REE-vein-dike system, which is characterized by moderately high %K, eU, and eTh (%K, percent potassium; eU, equivalent parts per million uranium; and eTh, equivalent parts per million thorium). Gamma-ray concentrations of rocks that share a similar range as those over the Dotson zone are inferred to locate high concentrations of REE-bearing minerals. An approximately 1300-m-long prospective tract corresponds to shallowly exposed locations of the Dotson zone. Prospective areas of REE mineralization also occur in continuous swaths along the outer edge of the pluton, over known but undeveloped REE occurrences, and within discrete regions in the older Paleozoic country rocks. Detailed mineralogica...