Syntectonic emplacement of the Middle Jurassic Concon Mafic Dike Swarm, Coastal Range, central Chile (33 degrees S)

Abstract

The Concon Mafic Dike Swarm (CMDS) consists of basaltic to andesitic dikes emplaced into deformed Late Palcozoic granitoids during the development of the Jurassic arc of central Chile. The dikes are divided into an early group of thick dikes (512 in) and a late group of thin dikes (0.5-3 m). Two new amphibole Ar-40/Ar-39 dates obtained from undeformed and deformed dikes, constrain the age of emplacement and deformation of the CMDS between 163 and 157 Ma. Based on radiometric ages, field observations, AMS studies and petrographic data, we conclude that the emplacement of the CMDS was syntectonic with the Jurassic arc extension and associated with sinistral displacements along the NW-trending structures that host the CMDS. The common occurrence of already deformed and rotated xenoliths in the dikes indicates that deformation in the granitoids started previously. The early thick dikes and country rocks appear to have been remagnetized during the exhumation of deep-seated coastal rocks in the Early Cretaceous (around 100 Ma). The remanent magnetization in late thin dikes is mainly retained by small amounts of low-Ti magnetite at high temperature and pyrrhotite at low temperature. The magnetization in these dikes appears to be primary in origin. Paleomagnetic results from the thin dikes also indicate that the whole area was tilted similar to 23 degrees to the NNW during cooling of the CMDS.

The NNW-SSE extension vectors deduced from the paleomagnetic data and internal fabric of dikes are different with respect to extension direction deduced for the Middle-Late Jurassic of nor-them Chile, pointing to major heterogeneities along the margin of the overriding plate during the Mesozoic or differences in the mechanisms driving extension during such period.