A Paleozoic anorthosite massif related to rutile-bearing ilmenite ore deposits, south of the Polochic fault, Chiapas Massif Complex, Mexico

The Chiapas Massif Complex in the southern Maya terrane is mostly composed of late Permian igneous and meta-igneous rocks. Within this complex in southern Mexico and in the adjacent San Marcos Department of Guatemala, south of the Polochic fault, several small outcrops (~10 km²) of a Phanerozoic andesine anorthosite massif were found following an E-W trend similar to the Polochic-Motagua Fault System. Such anorthosites are related to rutile-bearing ilmenite ore deposits and hornblendite-amphibolite bands (0.1-3 meters thick). The anorthosites show recrystallization and metamorphic retrogression (rutile with titanite rims), but no relicts of high-grade metamorphic minerals such as pyroxene or garnet have been found. In Acacoyagua, Chiapas, anorthosites are spatially related to oxide-apatite rich mafic rocks; in contrast, further to the west in Motozintla, they are related to monzonites. Zircons from these monzonites yield a Permian U-Pb age (271.2×1.4 Ma) by LA-MC-ICPMS. Primary mineral assemblage of the anorthosites include mostly medium to fine-grained plagioclase (>90%) with rutile and apatite as accessory minerals, occasionally with very low amounts of quartz. Massive Fe-Ti oxide lenses up to tens of meters in length and few meters thick are an ubiquitous constituent of these anorthosites and their mineralogy include ilmenite (with exsolution lamellae of Ti-magnetite), rutile, magnetite, clinochlore, ×spinel, ×apatite, ×zircon and srilankite (Ti₂ZrO₆, first finding of this phase in Mexico). Rutile occurs within the massive ilmenite in two morphological types: (1) fine-grained (5-40 μm) rutile along ilmenite grain boundaries or fractures, and (2) coarse-grained rutile (<5 mm) as discrete grains, whereas magnetite and srilankite only appear as small grains along ilmenite boundaries. Zircon is present as discontinuously aligned small grains (10-40 μm) forming rims around many rutile and ilmenite grains. Attempts to date zircon rims by U-Pb using LA-MC-ICPMS yielded unreliable results due to extremely low U concentrations (<4 ppm). Geochemical analyses revealed that the Chiapanecan anorthosites contain by average ~58% SiO₂, ~25% Al₂O₃, ~7% CaO, ~6% Na₂O, >1000 ppm Sr, and positive europium anomalies. The anorthosites probably represent the exhumed roots of a deep-seated and differentiated mafic body of late Permian age as part of the Chiapas batholith, apparently precluding major displacements across the Polochic fault.