Petrographic, Geophysical, Geochemical and Geochronological Study of Magma and Magmatism in the Iberian Peninsula and Archipelagos

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Geochemistry and Geochronology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 9353

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Geology and Subsurface, Centro Nacional Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (CN IGME—CSIC), C/Ríos Rosas 23, 28003 Madrid, Spain
Interests: igneous and metamorphic petrology; geological mapping; geochemistry; geochronology

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Guest Editor
Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: igneous and metamorphic petrology; geochemistry; geochronology

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Guest Editor
Institute of Earth Sciences, Universidade do Porto, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
Interests: petrology; structural geology; geophysics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Magmatism is the most important process for crustal growth and differentiation. Mantle or crustal decompression, volatile addition and heat-induced melting, on astenospheric and lithospheric scale, are essential mechanisms involved in the origin of primary partial melts, although fractional crystallisation, magma mixing and assimilation also play a significant role in their evolution. In many cases, magmatism favours ore-forming conditions and promotes the generation of profitable mineral deposits. The spatio-temporal and geophysico-chemical evolution of magmas is crucial to understand the nature of the mantle and/or crustal sources and the magmatic processes operating during melt extraction, magma ascent and their final emplacement, usually reflected in the mineral paragenesis, texture, structure and geochemical and isotopic features of igneous materials.

Igneous lithologies of distinct geochemical affinity (calc-alkaline, alkaline, tholeiitic and shoshonitic) and geophysical signature are widely distributed in the Iberian Peninsula, associated to diverse tectono-thermal episodes from Late Neoproterozoic to Late-Palaeozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic times. Magmatic rocks form a major component in western Iberia, although they are also profuse in its northeastern and southeastern edges. They are a fundamental constituent of the Spanish-Portuguese archipelagos. Critical elements mineralisations are usually related to these lithologies.

This Special Issue is intended to improve our knowledge regarding the processes involved in the generation and evolution of magmatism in the Iberian Peninsula and the Spanish-Portuguese archipelagos, contributing to a better understanding of transport and emplacement mechanisms, as well as the mineralization patterns in magmatic systems.

Dr. Enrique Merino Martínez
Dr. David Orejana García
Dr. Helena Sant’Ovaia
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Iberian magmatism
  • igneous petrology
  • mineralogy, chemistry and physics of magmas
  • geochemical and isotope magma composition
  • geochronology of magmatic processes
  • ore-forming processes in magmatic systems

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 12305 KiB  
Article
A Multi-Method Approach to Geophysical Imaging of a Composite Pluton in North Portugal
by Cláudia Cruz, Fernando Noronha and Helena Sant’Ovaia
Minerals 2024, 14(4), 342; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14040342 - 26 Mar 2024
Viewed by 822
Abstract
Potassium (K), thorium (Th), and uranium (U) are good markers of magmatic or alteration processes and the surface concentrations of these radioelements can be mapped at the regional or local scale through radiometric (gamma) surveys. In this study, a radiometric survey was performed [...] Read more.
Potassium (K), thorium (Th), and uranium (U) are good markers of magmatic or alteration processes and the surface concentrations of these radioelements can be mapped at the regional or local scale through radiometric (gamma) surveys. In this study, a radiometric survey was performed in a post-orogenic pluton located in North Portugal, namely the Lamas de Olo Pluton, composed by three granitic facies. This pluton has already been intensively studied, including magnetic susceptibility, gravimetric, geochemical, and petrographic studies. The main objective of this work is to evaluate the radiometric data and combine them with other characteristics, such as magnetic susceptibility, and gravimetry, as well as to elucidate structures such as faults and fractures, outline geological boundaries, and identify alteration zones within various granites of the pluton. The radiometric approach reveals the spatial distribution of radioelements, offering a more distinct portrayal of the geology in the studied area. The radioactive heat production rate was calculated for the studied pluton, showing that the mean value is 4.09 µW m−3, surpassing the known mean values for granites. Our study highlights that radiometric measurements unveil compositional variations within granitic pluton and aid in identifying feeder zones. Furthermore, these measurements can be correlated with each type of granites, demonstrating associations with surface concentrations of K-Th-U. Our findings indicate a spatial alignment between the NE feeder root and a U-rich granite (Barragem granite), as evidenced by its elevated concentration of this radioelement. Conversely, the other root displays a notable relative concentration of Th, consistent with the Th-rich characteristics observed of the two other granites (Lamas de Olo and Alto dos Cabeços granites). Full article
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31 pages, 11704 KiB  
Article
Petrology and Geochemistry of Highly Differentiated Tholeiitic Magmas: Granophyres in the Messejana–Plasencia Great Dyke (Central Iberia)
by David Orejana, Carlos Villaseca, Emma Losantos and Pilar Andonaegui
Minerals 2024, 14(3), 316; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14030316 - 16 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1252
Abstract
The Messejana–Plasencia great dyke (MPGD) is a Late Triassic tholeiitic gabbro intrusion related to the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province. Its large outcrop extent (~530 km), combined with its prolongation below the Duero basin (additional 100 km), makes it one of the world’s largest [...] Read more.
The Messejana–Plasencia great dyke (MPGD) is a Late Triassic tholeiitic gabbro intrusion related to the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province. Its large outcrop extent (~530 km), combined with its prolongation below the Duero basin (additional 100 km), makes it one of the world’s largest dykes known. We have studied felsic granophyric bodies appearing in its northernmost segment at different scales, from mm-sized (interstitial micrographic pockets) to felsic dykes of up to 10 m thick and 1.5 km long, intruding within the gabbros. Significant differences exist in the mineral and whole-rock composition of gabbros and granophyres, including the Sr–Nd isotopic ratios. The chemical variation in the gabbros is coherent with fractionation of olivine, clinopyroxene and plagioclase at depth. However, the presence of a compositional gap between gabbros and granophyres (absence of intermediate compositions) and the formation of these late-stage intergranular felsic melts within the gabbro mesostasis suggest that they could be derived by liquid immiscibility. The Sr–Nd isotopic heterogeneity in the MPGD gabbros and the presence of zircons with Variscan ages (~286 Ma), inherited from granulitic rocks, indicate that the mafic magmas experienced some degree of lower crust assimilation during fractionation close to the Moho depth. On the contrary, the scarce xenocrystic Variscan zircon crystals found in a granophyric dyke within the MPGD gabbro display similar textures and ages (~299 Ma) to those of the country rock granites and point to contamination at a different crustal level. Full article
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24 pages, 9958 KiB  
Article
Deciphering Iberian Variscan Orogen Magmatism Using the Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility from Granites
by Helena Sant’Ovaia, Cláudia Cruz, Ana Gonçalves, Pedro Nogueira and Fernando Noronha
Minerals 2024, 14(3), 309; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14030309 - 15 Mar 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1623
Abstract
In this paper, we have synthesized the information derived from more than 20 papers and PhD theses on the anisotropy of the magnetic susceptibility (AMS) of 19 Variscan granite plutons, spanning the period between 320 Ma and 296 Ma. The AMS data are [...] Read more.
In this paper, we have synthesized the information derived from more than 20 papers and PhD theses on the anisotropy of the magnetic susceptibility (AMS) of 19 Variscan granite plutons, spanning the period between 320 Ma and 296 Ma. The AMS data are obtained from 876 sampling sites with more than 7080 AMS measurements and a re-interpretation is proposed. The studied granites exhibit a magnetic susceptibility (Km) ranging from 30 to 10,436 × 10−6 SI units. Most granites typically exhibit Km values below 1000 × 10−6 SI, indicative of paramagnetic behavior. Biotite serves as the main carrier of iron (Fe), emphasizing the reduced conditions prevalent during the formation of granite melts in the Variscan orogeny. The AMS fabrics of the studied granite plutons record the magma strain, expressing the chronologic evolution of the stress field during the orogeny. This chronologic approach highlights the magmatic events between around 330 and 315 Ma, occurring in an extensional regime, in which the Borralha pluton is an example of a suite that recorded this extensional AMS fabric. Plutons with ages between 315 and 305 Ma show AMS fabrics, pointing out their emplacement in a compressional tectonic regime related to the Variscan collision. The plutons, younger than 305 Ma, record AMS fabrics indicating that the tectonic setting for emplacement changes from a wrench regime to an extensional one at the end of the collision stage. This is evident as there is a chronological overlap between the granites that exhibit AMS fabrics indicating extension and the ones that have AMS fabrics indicating a wrench regime. Full article
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38 pages, 10082 KiB  
Article
The Esquinzo Ultra-Alkaline Rock Suite of Fuerteventura Basal Complex (Canary Islands): Evidence for Origin of Carbonatites by Fractional Crystallization
by Ramón Casillas, Agustina Ahijado, Géza Nagy, Attila Demény and Carlos Fernández
Minerals 2024, 14(3), 295; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14030295 - 11 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1745
Abstract
The origin of the carbonatites that appear on Earth is one of the most controversial current topics in the petrogenesis of igneous rocks. Situated in the northern sector of the Basal Complex of Fuerteventura (Canary Islands), the Miocene Esquinzo ultra-alkaline plutonic rock complex [...] Read more.
The origin of the carbonatites that appear on Earth is one of the most controversial current topics in the petrogenesis of igneous rocks. Situated in the northern sector of the Basal Complex of Fuerteventura (Canary Islands), the Miocene Esquinzo ultra-alkaline plutonic rock complex is composed of pyroxenites, melteigites-ijolites-urtites, malignites-nepheline syenites, carbonatites, silicocarbonatites, nephelinites and nepheline phonolites. This work tries to establish the genesis of this massif of ultra-alkaline rocks with associated carbonatites from Fuerteventura (which are very rare in the oceans). The geochemical characteristics of these rocks and the minerals that are included in them have allowed us to establish their origin. This complex was generated by three successive magmatic events associated with differentiation of melanephelinite magmas emplaced in the oceanic crust. Silicocarbonatite and calciocarbonatite (sövites) dykes are related to the first magmatic event and were formed by fractional crystallization of H2O- and CO2-rich ijolite magmas. The melanephelinite magmas that formed these plutonic ultra-alkaline rocks were apparently generated as partial melts of asthenospheric mantle, which assimilated enriched lithospheric mantle material as they ascended. The upwelling of this large body of anomalous asthenospheric Miocene material exceeded the deformation associated with plate motions and led to an oceanic rifting event in Fuerteventura. Full article
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37 pages, 16476 KiB  
Article
Peraluminous Rare Metal Granites in Iberia: Geochemical, Mineralogical, Geothermobarometric, and Petrogenetic Constraints
by Francisco Javier López-Moro, Alejandro Díez-Montes, Susana María Timón-Sánchez, Teresa Llorens-González and Teresa Sánchez-García
Minerals 2024, 14(3), 249; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14030249 - 28 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1346
Abstract
The intensive variables, geochemical, mineralogical, and petrogenetic constraints of the Iberian peraluminous rare metal granites (RMGs), many of them unknown, are presented. The mineral chemistry of ore and gangue minerals, whole rock analyses, geothermobarometry, melt water and phosphorus contents, mass balance, and Rayleigh [...] Read more.
The intensive variables, geochemical, mineralogical, and petrogenetic constraints of the Iberian peraluminous rare metal granites (RMGs), many of them unknown, are presented. The mineral chemistry of ore and gangue minerals, whole rock analyses, geothermobarometry, melt water and phosphorus contents, mass balance, and Rayleigh modeling were performed to achieve these objectives. These procedures allow us to distinguish two main contrasting granitic types: Nb-Ta-rich and Nb-Ta-poor granites. The former have lower crystallization temperatures, higher water contents, and lower emplacement pressures than Nb-Ta-poor granites. Nb-Ta-rich granites also have higher fluoride contents, strong fractionation into geochemical twins, higher Na contents, and different evolutionary trends. At the deposit scale, the fractional crystallization of micas properly explains the variation in the Ta/Nb ratio in both Nb-Ta-poor and Nb-Ta-rich RMGs, although in higher-grade granites, the variation is not as clear due to the action of fluids. Fluid phase separation processes especially occurred in the Nb-Ta rich granites, thus transporting halogens and metals that increased the grades in the top and sometimes in the core of granites. Gas-driven filter pressing processes facilitated the migration of fluid and melt near solidus melt in Nb-Ta-rich granites. The geochemical signature of the Iberian rare metal granites mainly follows the trends of two-mica granites and P-rich cordierite granites, but also of granodiorites. Full article
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26 pages, 13784 KiB  
Article
Alkaline Silicate Metasomatism Recorded through Fe-Ti-Rich Mantle Xenoliths from the Calatrava Volcanic Field (Spain)
by Javier García Serrano, Carlos Villaseca, Cecilia Pérez-Soba and Manuel Jesús Román-Alpiste
Minerals 2024, 14(3), 241; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14030241 - 27 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1121
Abstract
Much of the lithospheric subcontinental mantle (SCLM) sampled in the Calatrava Volcanic Field (CVF) shows refertilization by alkaline metasomatic agents. The Cerro Pelado and El Palo ultramafic xenolith suites record the best evidence of this type of metasomatism in this volcanic field. Several [...] Read more.
Much of the lithospheric subcontinental mantle (SCLM) sampled in the Calatrava Volcanic Field (CVF) shows refertilization by alkaline metasomatic agents. The Cerro Pelado and El Palo ultramafic xenolith suites record the best evidence of this type of metasomatism in this volcanic field. Several groups of peridotite (lherzolite, wehrlite, and dunite) and pyroxenite (clinopyroxenite and websterite) xenoliths have been distinguished. Despite having scarce phlogopites and amphiboles as modal metasomatic phases, all studied xenoliths present a variable cryptic metasomatism, highlighted by the strong Fe-Ti enrichment and fractionated REE patterns in the most evolved wehrlite and pyroxenite varieties. They show a common trend of an Fe-Ti-Ca increase, whereas the pyroxenites are more depleted in Fe compared to the lherzolites and wehrlites. Trace-element (REE and multi-trace) patterns are roughly similar among them, suggesting different interactions and refertilization degrees by alkaline silicate melts. The same Sr–Nd isotopic EAR composition, combined with trace-element chemistry of metasomatic xenolith phases and phenocrysts from the Calatrava volcanics, highlights the main role of this magmatism in percolation processes beneath Central Iberia. These mantle xenoliths also show variable amounts of interstitial glass that originated by in situ partial melting, favored by the enriched chemical nature of cryptically metasomatized clinopyroxene during their volcanic transport. This alkaline-refertilized mantle type represents the main domain within the SCLM beneath Central Iberia, as was also recorded in other Western European Cenozoic volcanic fields. Full article
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Magnetic features of minerals from the Permian alkaline dykes (Spanish Central System)
Authors: Vicente Carlos Ruiz-Martinez
Affiliation: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Title: Geochemistry of Carboniferous plutonism-volcanism and their relations with the volcanogenic massive sulphide mineralisation in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, Sudportuguese Zone, Spain
Authors: Alejandro Díez-Montes
Affiliation: CSIC-IGME - Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, Madrid, Spain

Title: Zoned calc-silicate nodules in a migmatite complex (NW Portugal): petrology, geochemistry, structure and metamorphic evolution
Authors: Maria dos Anjos Ribeiro
Affiliation: University of Porto

Title: The trachytic lobe-hyaloclastitic complex of the Taburiente Caldera (La Palma, Canary Island): volcanic activity of a salic nature in the submarine growth of oceanic islands.
Authors: R. Casillas, J.; De la Nuez, J.R.; Colmenero, M.L.; Quesada, C.; Fernández, F. Jourdan
Affiliation: Universidad de la Laguna

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