Uruguayan dyke swarms

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Shear zones and terranes in Uruguay after Gaucher et al. (2008).[1]

The Uruguayan dyke swarms consist of three groups of dykes of Precambrian age

that intrude Río de la Plata Craton and Brasiliano Cycle continental crust in Uruguay.
The dykes – including the Florida dyke swarm, the Nico Perez dyke swarm, and the
Treinta y Tres dyke swarm – are of mafic to intermediate composition and each group
lies in a separate tectono-stratigraphic terrane.[2] The rocks of the Florida dyke swarm
have been quarried since the 1960s and are used in the construction industry as
black dimension stone of very high quality, being marketed as "black granite".[3]

Uruguayan dyke swarms

Name Intruded terrane Age[2][4] Lithology Strike

1.790 ± Basaltic NE-SW, E-W and

Florida dyke swarm Piedra Alta Terrane
5 Ga andesite, andesite NW-SE

Nico Perez dyke ca. 0.750 Basalt, basaltic

Nico Perez Terrane NNE-SSW
swarm Ga andesite

Treinta y Tres dyke Cuchilla-Dionisio ca. 0.750

Basalt NNE-SSW
swarm terrane Ga
 Contents

 1Florida dyke swarm

 2Nico Perez dyke swarm
 3Treinta y Tres dyke swarm
 4References

Florida dyke swarm[edit]

The Florida dyke swarm (also known as Piedra Alta dyke swarm and Uruguayan dyke
swarm) crops out in the Piedra Alta Terrane of Río de la Plata Craton west of Sarandí
del Yí Shear Zone. The strike of the dykes has an arcuate pattern: it changes from west
to east from NE-SW to E-W and then near the shear zone to NW-SE.[2] The Florida
dykes have dips between 90° and 70°. [5] Common thicknesses are of 20–30 metres (66–
98 ft), with occasional dykes reaching thicknesses of 50 metres (160 ft) and 80 metres
(260 ft) and the smaller dykes being 0.5 metres (1 ft 8 in).[5][6] The dykes are made up
of basaltic andesite and andesite of the tholeiitic magma series.[5] The andesites have
higher titanium dioxide contents and are usually darker and more massive, two
characteristics that make them more valuable as decorative stone. The basalts instead
have lower titanium dioxide contents and grey colors. The dykes made up of basalt
might be slightly younger than the andesite dykes. [6]
Despite having some characteristics similar to those of igneous rocks formed
near subduction zones, the Florida dyke swarm rocks are unlikely to have formed in
such environment. Instead, the magma that formed the dykes is thought to be derived
from the partial melting of garnet peridotite in a parcel of the Earth's mantle that
was metasomatized without the direct influence of subduction.[5] These dykes are of Late
Paleoproterozoic age.[2] Nearby rapakivi granites of the Illescas Batholith are related to
the dyke swarm.[4] By the time of intrusion of the Florida dyke swarm, Piedra Alta
Terrane was experiencing extensional tectonics.[4]

Nico Perez dyke swarm[edit]

Tholeiitic basalt and basaltic andesite are the main rock types of Nico Perez dyke
swarm. Before solidifying as dykes the magmas fractionated minerals at relatively
shallow (upper crust) magma chambers. The dykes of the swarm have geochemical
heterogeinities that indicate they did not originate from the same magmas. Despite
having geochemical characteristics typical of subduction zone magmatism the dykes
are judged unlikely to have formed in such environment and are instead considered an
example of intraplate magmatism.[7]

Treinta y Tres dyke swarm[edit]

The Treinta y Tres dyke swarm intrude Brasiliano Cycle granitoids that crop out east
of Sierra Ballena Shear Zone. The dykes are about 750 million years old
(Neoproterozoic). Compared to the two other Uruguayan dyke swarms the Treinta y
Tres dyke swarm originated from lower degrees of partial melting in the mantle, but of
similar garnet peridotite sources.[8]