Search

The upper crustal volcanic section of the Oman suprasubduction zone ophiolite is divided into an older V1 sequence, overlain by slightly younger V2 lavas and (in places) a final V3 sequence. Paleomagnetic data from the V1 and V2 sequences of the northern massifs of the ophiolite have been used previously to infer that clockwise rotation of the Oman lithosphere began while the upper crust was actively accreting, with V1 lavas apparently more rotated than the overlying V2 units. This inference has been largely accepted by the geological community and has influenced models for the spreading history and geodynamic evolution of the Oman ophiolite.Here we present new paleomagnetic data from well-exposed and structurally well-constrained volcanic sequences in the Salahi and Fizh massifs of the ophiolite that discredit this interpretation. In contrast to previous studies that employed standard structural tilt corrections, we use a net tectonic rotation approach to determine rotation parameters, taking confidence limits on input variables into account using Monte Carlo modelling. Importantly, we correct the magnetization direction and structural orientation of the older V1 lavas for the effects of the net tectonic rotation of the younger V2 lavas prior to calculating rotation parameters for the older units. Results demonstrate that both massifs rotated ~120° clockwise around steeply-plunging rotation axes after eruption of the V2 lavas. This rotation occurred during roll-back of the Neotethyan subduction zone in response to impingement of the Arabian margin with the trench. Early rotation of the Salahi V1 lavas around shallowly-plunging, broadly ridge-parallel axes indicates only simple tilting between eruption of the V1 and V2 sequences, and no early rotation of the Fizh V1 lavas is required at all. These new constraints on the evolution of the ophiolite therefore provide no evidence of vertical axis rotation during accretion of the Oman volcanic sequences.

The Oman ophiolite is a natural laboratory for the study of processes operating above a nascent subduction zone. It formed in the Late Cretaceous by supra-subduction zone spreading and shortly afterwards was emplaced onto the Arabian continental margin. Twelve massifs in the ophiolite expose complete sections of the Neotethyan oceanic lithosphere, including upper mantle peridotites, lower crustal gabbros, and upper crustal sheeted dykes and lava flows. Previous palaeomagnetic studies have suggested that the southern massifs of the ophiolite were affected by a large-scale remagnetization event during emplacement, that completely replaced original remanences acquired during crustal accretion. In contrast, primary magnetizations are preserved throughout the northern massifs. This study aimed to: (i) apply palaeomagnetic, magnetic fabric and rock magnetic techniques to analyse crustal sections through the southern massifs of the Oman ophiolite to investigate further the extent and nature of this remagnetization event; and (ii) use any primary magnetizations that survived this event to document intraoceanic rotation of the ophiolite prior to emplacement. Our new data confirms that remagnetization appears to have been pervasive throughout the southern massifs, resulting in presence of shallowly-inclined NNW directions of magnetization at all localities. An important exception is the crustal section exposed in Wadi Abyad (Rustaq massif) where directions of magnetization change systematically through the gabbro-sheeted dyke transition. Demagnetization characteristics are shown to be consistent with acquisition of a chemical remanent overprint that decreased in intensity from the base of the ophiolite upwards. The top of the exposed Wadi Abyad section (in the sheeted dyke complex) appears to preserve original SE-directed remanences that are interpreted as primary seafloor magnetizations. Similar SE primary remanences were also isolated at a control locality in the Salahi massif, outside of the region of remagnetization. Net tectonic rotation analysis at these non-remagnetised sites shows an initial NNE-SSW strike for the supra-subduction zone ridge during spreading, comparable with recently published models for the regional evolution of the ophiolite.