Petrologic Consequences of the Magmatic Death of a Continental Arc: Vanda Dike Swarm, Dry Valleys, Antarctica

The Dry Valleys of southern Victoria Land, Antarctica, are notable for the presence of the Vanda dikes, prominent NE-trending swarms that crosscut a sequence of granitoid plutons. These older plutons are regional in extent and comprise 3 Cambro-Ordovician groups, including: a) calc-alkaline granitoids formed at an active plate margin during the Ross Orogeny (c. 505 Ma); b) adakitic granitoids, likely marking the conclusion of Ross Orogeny subduction-related activity (c. 490 Ma); and c) younger monzonitic plutons, probably generated in an intraplate extensional setting (Cox et al., 2000). The Vanda dikes crosscut the younger plutons, possibly between c. 490 and 477 Ma (Allibone et al., 1993; Encarnacion and Grunow, 1996). Dikes from the east wall of Bull Pass and the south wall of the Wright Valley range from 0.5-25 m wide with nearly vertical dips, are usually several km long, and, in the center of the swarms, occur with a frequency of ~18 dikes/km. Most have chilled margins and are surrounded by brittle fractures, indicative of shallow intrusion into cold country rock. Dike compositions are bimodal, most defining a trend at the boundary between the high-K calc-alkaline and shoshonite series in SiO2-K2O space; some Wright Valley dikes have slightly lower K2O and are calc-alkaline. Granite porphyry dikes are relatively homogeneous (69-73 wt.% SiO2), whereas the mafic dikes exhibit a wider range of compositions (49-57 wt.% SiO2). The felsic and mafic dikes have distinct trace element abundances but similar normalized distribution patterns, including fractionated heavy rare earth elements and negative Eu and high field-strength element anomalies. Average Sr/Y ratios of both the felsic and mafic dikes cluster around 20, well below a typical adakite signature. Major and trace element variations suggest that the felsic dikes may be differentiates of the mafic magmas. Field relations further indicate that the felsic lavas may represent, on average, a later phase of dike intrusion (Keiller, 1988; Allibone et al., 1993). The high-K calc-alkaline Vanda dike swarm likely represents the last phase of magmatism in a dying continental arc, perhaps accompanied by extension and uplift of the orogen. The relatively alkaline compositions of the dikes may result from lower degrees of melting, as subduction waned. References: Allibone, AH et al., New Zealand J of Geology and Geophysics, 36: 281-297, 1993. Cox, SC et al., New Zealand J of Geology and Geophysics, 43: 501-520, 2000. Encarnacion, J and Grunow, A, Tectonics, 15: 1325-1341, 1996. Keiller, IG, New Zealand Antarctic Record, 8: 25-34, 1988.