Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 47 (1980) 81-90 81

© Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands

[11

EXCESS RADIOGENIC Ar AND UNDISTURBED Rb-Sr SYSTEMS IN BASIC INTRUS1VES SUBJECTED

TO ALPINE METAMORPHISM IN SOUTHEASTERN SPAIN

E.H. HEBEDA, N.A.I.M. BOELRIJK, H.N.A. PRIEM, E.A.Th. VERDURMEN, R.H. VERSCHURE
z. It/.0. Laboratorium voor Isotopen-Geologie, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 H V Amsterdam (The Netherlands)

and

O.J. SIMON
Geologisch Instituut, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Nieuwe Prinsengracht 130, 1018 VZ Amsterdam (The Netherlands)

Received June 21, 1979

Revised version accepted November 28, 1979

Metamorphosed basic intrusives in the Alpine orogen of southern Spain contain relicts of unmetamorphosed
gabbroic rock. Rb-Sr investigation of one of these relicts indicates that the rock and constituent minerals remained
closed to Rb-Sr during the plurifacial Alpine metamorphism. The Rb-Sr isochron age is 146 -+ 3 Ma with initial
87Sr/86Sr of 0.7028 -+ 0.0001 (h87 Rb = 1.42 × 10 -11 a-l), which is taken as approaching the intrusion age. All
investigated relicts of unmetamorphosed rock are characterized by excess 4 OAr contents between about 6 × 10-6
and 14 × 10 -6 cm 3 NTP/g, whereas the metamorphosed parts of the basic intrusives rarely show this phenomenon.
It is argued that this argon, which is very inhomogeneously distributed, was acquired during the Alpine meta-
morphism. A comparison of the excess 4°Ar contents of the pyroxene and the plagioclase with published data
suggests that in all cases the crystals have acquired the argon under about the same prevailing 4 OAr partial pressure,
even when the geologic conditions were different.

1. Introduction the complexes originated, as well as their configura-

The internal (or Betic) zone o f the Betic Cordil-
leras, the Alpine orogenic belt along the Mediter-
ranean coast o f southern Spain, consists o f a large
number o f tectonic units separated b y major thrust
planes. In the central and eastern part the tectonic
units are usually grouped into four major tectonic
complexes (Fig. 1), in ascending order the Nevado-
Filabride, the Ballabone-Cuchar6n, the Alpujarride
and the Malaguide Complex [1,2]. All contain
(Permo-)Triassic (meta)sediments and, except for the
Ballabona-Cuchar6n Complex, older rocks. Post-
Triassic sediments are known with certainty only
from the Malaguide Complex. There still is much con-
troversy about the original paleogeographic arrange-
ment o f the areas from where the rocks now forming
tion with respect to the colliding European and
African plates [1,3,4].
Metamorphism is absent or very weak in the Mala-
guide Complex, but the rocks in all others show the
imprint o f regional metamorphism in Alpine time. In
the Nevado-Filabride Complex o f the eastern Sierra
de los Filabres four phases o f Alpine metamorphism
are recognized, successively in the glaucophane schist
facies, the quartz-albite-epidote-almandine and the
quartz-albite-muscovite-chlorite subfacies o f the green
schist facies and the almandine amphibolite facies
[5,6]. The rocks o f the Ballabona-Cuchar6n Complex
are characterized by metamorphism in the green-
schist facies; early glaucophane schist facies condi-
tions are locally suggested by the occurrence o f glau-
cophane and crossite relicts in some basic intrusives
82

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Fig. 1. Major tectonic units of the internal (or Betic) zone of the Betic Cordilleras. All investigated basic intrusives are in the
Nevado-FilabrideComplex and the Ballabona-Cuchar6n Complex. The Universal Transverse Mercator coordinates of the sampling
sites are: site 1, 06.80.05/42.18.65; site 2, 05.61.12/41.28.38; site 3, 05.82.55/41.19.47; site 4, 06.70.28/42.14.28; site 5,
06.46.75/41.86.43; site 6, 06.06.23/41.52.18; site 7, 05.70.25/41.24.70; site 8, 05.48.82/41.29.65.

[ 7 - 9 ] . Most rocks o f the Alpujarride Complex dis-
play low-grade metamorphism, but the basal
sequences have been affected by higher-grade Alpine
regional metamorphism [ 4 , 1 0 - 1 2 ] .
Opinions differ strongly as to the direction(s) and
ages o f the phases of (over)thrusting. The onset of the
overthrust movements cannot be dated by biostrati-
graphical methods due to the apparent absence o f
post-Triassic sediments in the lower nappe complexes,
but they are thought to have started in the Late
Cretaceous to Paleocene [4]. All overthrusting came
to an end in the Early Miocene [13], in accordance
with a number o f K-Ar and Rb-Sr mica ages between
19 and 12 Ma [ 1 4 - 1 6 ] .

2. Basic intrusives
Basic intrusives (sills and dikes) are common in the
(Permo-)Triassic sequences of the two lower nappe
complexes and locally in deeper tectonic units of the
Alpujarride Complex. The intrusives underwent all
phases of Alpine deformation and metamorphism
[5,7-9,17]. Dating of such metabasites would thus
set a maximum age to the beginning of the over-
thrusting.
Fourteen samples from basic intrusives were col-
lected for isotopic dating (Fig. 1). The intrusives
occur in the Nevado-Filabride Complex (sites 2, 3,
7 and 8) and the BaUabona-Cuchar6n Complex
(sites 1,4, 5 and 6).
2.1. Basic intrusives in the Nevado-Filabride Complex
All sampling sites are situated in the so-called
Huertecica Brecciated Marble Zone of the Nevado-
Lubrin tectonic unit. The zone consists of a strongly
brecciated, heterogeneous sequence of marbles and
calcareous breccias, locally with gypsum and under-
lain by a pelitic-psammitic sequence [5,17-19]. The
basic intrusives vary strongly as to the extent of meta-
morphic recrystallization, grading from unmeta-
morphosed gabbroic rock, through blastophytic meta-
basite with the primary texture and relicts of the
igneous minerals still preserved, to albite.epidote
amphibolite wholly made of metamorphic minerals
and devoid of igneous textures. Such gradations can
be observed within a single intrusive body. At several
localities spheroidal relicts of unmetamorphosed gab-
broic rock are found within intrusives that for the
rest have undergone metamorphic recrystallization.
Of the intrusive of Lubrln (site 3), for example,
the greater part has been converted to a greenish mass
consisting of albite, chlorite, actinolitic hornblende,
calcite and opaque minerals, with some relicts of mag-
matic brown hornblende. Palimpsests of the original
ophitic texture are still discernable. Within the amphi-
bolitic mass spheroids of unmetamorphosed gabbroic
rock (up to about 1 m in diameter) have been pre-
served. Its constituents are zoned plagioclase
(andesine-labradorite to albite), olivine, clinopy-
roxene, minor amounts of brown hornblende, biotite
and opaque minerals, with apatite as an accessory.
Even the olivine shows hardly any serpentinization,
83
but the crystals display a faint pleochroism caused by
a multitude of extremely fine-grained inclusions of
unknown nature. They are arranged in streaks parallel
to the crystallographic c-axis, giving the crystals a
distinctly striped pattern. Similar fine-grained inclu-
sions are shown by the plagioclase crystals, but here they
are arranged in a zonal pattern, giving the crystals a
faint brownish tinge.
The spheroids appear to have acted as "armoured
relicts" with regard to the agents of the Alpine
regional metamorphism, probably because they were
shielded against the penetration of the circulating
fluid phases during the metamorphism. Similar relicts
of unmetamorphosed rock have been observed in
other basic intrusives in the Nevado-Filabride Com-
plex.
2.2. Basic intrusives in the Ballabona-Cuchar6n Com-
plex
The four investigated sites are situated in different
tectonic units of the Ballabona-Cuchar6n Complex.
Site 1 is an intrusion in the Tunnel unit [20], site 4
an intrusion in the Cantalares Formation of the
Bermejo unit [21 ], site 5 a sill between the "Palas
member" and the "tres bancos member" of the
Romero unit [9] and site 6 an intrusion in the Medro
Formation of the Enmedio unit [20]. It is thought
that the sill of site 5 has intruded into unconsolidated,
wet sediments, implying a Late Triassic age [9]. The
rocks grade from wholly metamorphosed metabasite
to gabbro showing only a weak imprint of metamor-
phism. Spheroids or other relicts of unmetamor-
phosed gabbroic rock have not been observed. The
intrusions differ from those in the Nevado-Filabride
Complex in containing granophyric quartz-feldspar
intergrowths and in the absence of olivine or pseudo-
morphs after olivine. It is thus doubtful whether the
suites of basic intrusives in the two nappe complexes
are consanguineous.
3. Experimental procedures and constants
The Rb and Sr contents of the pyroxene and horn-
blende were determined by X-ray fluorescence spec-
trometry, using a Philips PW 1450[AHP automatic
hardware programmed spectrometer. The samples
84

were measured as powders; the mass-absorption cor-
rections for both sample and external standard are
based upon the Compton scattering of the Mo-Ka
primary beam [22]. The Rb and Sr contents of the
whole-rock and the other minerals were determined
by mass-spectrometric isotope dilution. Sr isotopic
compositions were measured directly on unspiked Sr
and also calculated from the isotope dilution runs.
The Rb samples were prepared by a double cation
exchange procedure. Blanks for the total procedure
were 0 . 2 - 0 . 3 ng; as the nominal amounts of Rb
separated from the olivine and plagioclase were
about 50 ng, the error in the Rb content due to con-
tamination is less than 1% relative. The isotope mea-
surements were made on a computer-controlled
Varian CH5 mass-spectrometer with Faraday cage
collector and digital output (value of normalised
87Sr/a6Sr of the NBS 987 8r(CO3)2 standard mea-
sured as 0.71016 -+ 0.00008). For the analytical
accuracies, see Table 1.
Potassium contents were determined by flame
photometry with lithium internal standard and a
buffer of caesium chloride + aluminium nitrate.
Argon was extracted in a bakeable glass vacuum appa-
ratus and determined by isotope dilution techniques
on a GD-150 mass spectrometer. For K and Ar the
relative analytical accuracies are estimated at 1% and
2%, respectively.
The Rb-Sr isochron was computed by means of
a least-square regression analysis according to York
(1966, 1967). Errors in the calculated isochron age
and initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio are quoted at the 95% con-
fidence level as computed from the scatter o f the data
about the regression line.
The age calculations are based upon the following
constants (lUGS recommended values): ~.87Rb =
1.42 × 10 -11 a-1;X4°K~ = 4.962 × 10 -1° a - l ;
Xa°K e = 0.581 X 10 -1° a - l ; isotopic abundance
4°K = 0.01167 atom % total K.
4. Rb-Sr age of the basic intrusive near Lubrin
The Rb-Sr systematics o f one spheroid o f unmeta-
morphosed gabbro from an intrusive near the village
of Lubrin (ALM 104, site 3 ) w e r e investigated in
detail. Measurements were made on the whole-rock
and on the separated minerals clinopyroxene, olivine,
plagioclase, hornblende and biotite. The results are
listed in Table 1 and plotted in the isochron diagram
of Fig. 2.
The data-points are very well linearly correlated
and define an isochron o f 146 -+ 3 Ma with initial
878r/86Sr o f 0.7028 -+ 0.0001. This age is essentially
determined by the biotite: the pair whole-rock/
biotite yields an age o f 146 Ma with initial 87Sr/86Sr
of 0.7027. If the biotite is excluded from the calcula-
tion, the other points define an isochron of 126 Ma,
but in view of the large error limits this age can be
taken to be concordant with the biotite age o f
146 Ma.
We assume that the age o f 146 Ma represents a

TABLE 1
Rb-Sr data of the basic intrusive near Lubrfil (ALM 104, site 3)

Sample Rb Sr 87Sr/86Sr ** 87Rb/86 Sr ***

(ppm) * (ppm) *

Whole-rock 2.75 (4) 195 (4) 0.70281 (5) 0.0407

Pyroxene (0.03) 24.3 0.70287 (0.0036)
Olivine 0.237 (2) 4.19 (2) 0.70311 (5) 0.1637
Plagioclase 0.319 (2) 505 (2) 0.70282 (4) 0.00183
Hornblende 1.6 70.1 0.70304 0.0665
Biotite 125 (2) 48.5 (2) 0.71828 (3) 7.4716

* Isotope dilution data, except for the pyroxene and hornblende which were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. (2)
and (4), average of two and four analyses, respectively.
** (3), (4) and (5), average of three, four and five analyses, respectively. Accuracies estimated at 0.03%.
*** Accuracy estimated at 2% for the whole-rock and biotite, and 10% for the olivine, plagioclase and hornblende. The accuracy
for the pyroxene is very poor because of the low Rb content; these data were not used for the isochron calculation.

Age=146 - +3 M a
0704 ( 87Sr/86sr)O = 0" 7020 ~ 0.0001
0~ OLM
~ cpx
0702
o, R /8osr
Fig. 2. Rb-Sr isochron plot of whole-rock and separated
minerals from a relict of unmetamorphosed gabbroic rock
within the metamorphosed basic intrusive near Lubrfn
(site 3). BIO = biotite; HBL = hornblende; OLV = olivine;
PLG = plagioclase; CPX = clinopyroxene; WR = whole-rock.
minimum age for the basic intrusion. The geological
relationships only indicate that the basaltic magma-
tism took place during or later than the Late Triassic
and before the Early Miocene. However, basaltic
flows and intrusions of Late Jurassic and Early Creta-
ceous age have been reported from sedimentary
sequences at several places in the Subbetic Zone of
southeastern Spain [16,23] and the Haut Atlas of
Morocco [24,25]. The age of 146 Ma (Late Jurassic,
approximately Oxfordian [26]) could thus very well
approach the true age of the basic intrusives in the
Nevado-Filabride Complex. This implies that the
overthrusting of the nappe complex started not
earlier than the Late Jurassic. It does not imply, how-
ever, that the same age can be assigned to the basic
intrusives in the Ballabona-Cuchar6n Complex.
It is remarkable that the spheroid of unmetamor-
phosed gabbroic rock was not only shielded against
Alpine metamorphism as far as the mineralogical
composition is concerned, but also remained closed,
or nearly so, with respect to its Rb-Sr systems. Ap-
parently, the local absence of fluid phases under con-
ditions o f regional metamorphism in a relatively dry
rock prevents not only the occurrence of metamor-
phic reactions, but also the Rb-Sr isotopic redistribu-
tion between the constituent minerals. A similar
observation has been reported for pre-Alpine biotites
from ultramaflc masses in the Alps [27].
85
5. The K-Ar systems
The whole-rock and separated minerals of the un-
metamorphosed gabbro investigated for their Rb-Sr
0.720
relationships (ALM 104) were also analysed for K-At.
From the same intrusive (site 3) two other samples of
0.716
unmetamorphosed gabbro (ALM 20 and 37) were
analysed, along with a sample of the amphibolitic
part (ALM 38). Moreover, K-Ar whole-rock measure-
ments were made on 10 samples from seven other
o2
basic intrusives, six of unmetamorphosed or weakly
metamorphosed gabbroic-doleritic rock and four of
metabasite. The analytical data and calculated ages
are given in Table 2.
The apparent ages of the analysed samples vary
greatly (Fig. 3), without any correlation with their
geologic position. All nine samples of unmetamor-
phosed or weakly metamorphosed gabbroic-doleritic
rock contain varying amounts of excess radiogenic
At, ranging from about 6 × 10 -6 to 14 × 10 -6 cm 3
NTP/g with respect to the Rb-Sr age of 146 Ma. Of
the five metabasite samples, however, only one con-
tains some excess radiogenic Ar (ALM 38); all others
show younger K-At ages, apparently resulting from
partial or complete Ar loss during the Alpine meta-
morphism.
The metabasite sample ALM 38 containing excess
radiogenic Ar comes from the amphibolitic mass in
the basic intrusive near Lubrfn (site 3), but the con-
i i I
R b - S r A GE of the i ntr us i on
O.5 1.0 15 2.0
apparent AGE (Ga)
Fig. 3. Histogram of apparent K-Ar ages of basic intrusives in
the internal (Betic) zone of the Betic Cordilleras. Hatched,
samples from metamorphosed rocks; blank, samples from
unmetamorphosed or weakly metamorphosed rocks; B10 =
biotite; CPX = clinopyroxene; OLV = olivine; PLG = plagio-
clase; all others, sieve fractions (-250, +125 t~m) of the
whole-rock. The Rb-Sr isochron age of the Lubrfn metabasite
(site 3) is also shown.
86

TABLE 2
K-Ar data of the investigated basic intrusives

Sample K Radiogenic 4 OAr Atmospheric 40 Ar Apparent age Excess 4°Ar **

No. * (wt.%) (10 -6 cma NTP/g) (% of total 40Ar) (Ga) (10--6 cm3
NTP/g)

Unmetamorphosed or weakly metamorphosed gabbroic-doleritic rocks

ALM 19 (2) 0.187 7.35 50 0.80 6.2
ALM 20 (3) 0.215; 0.215 8.62; 8.73 29; 30 0.82 7.4
ALM 24 (1) 0.472; 0.479 10.7; 9.91 28 ; 22 0.49 7.5
ALM 37 (3) 0.176;0.173 14.6; 15.2 11; 16 1.4 13.9
ALM 103 (1) 0.455 ; 0.454 7.42 51 0.38 4.7
ALM 104 (3) 0.176;0.176 11.1;15.3;19.1;12.0;13.7 9;7;10;4;10 1.4 13.2
ALM 107 (7) 0.336; 0.335 13.7 19 0.83 11.7
ALM 113 (8) 0.091;0.091 9.84 22 1.7 9.3
ALM 114 (8) 0.096;0.095 11.5 14 1.8 10.9
Separated minerals from sample ALM 104
Pyroxene 0.001 1.51 ; 2.30; 2.08 47; 23; 27 6.1 2.0
Olivine 0.014 5.50; 7.18; 6.51 12; 12; 15 0.36 6.3
Plagioclase 0.0846;0.0854 10.4; 10.6 26; 18 1.8 10.0
Hornblende 0.561;0.566 12.1; 12.0 9;8 0.48 8.7
Biotite 5.49; 5 . 5 5 39.3;40.9;41.6 4; 4; 7 0.18 7.9
Amphibolitic mass
ALM 38 (3) 0.077;0.076 0.792 80 0.25 0.3
Metabasites
ALM 17 (1) 0.936 ; 0.933 3.29 ; 3.45 59 ; 57 0.09
ALM 25 (4) 1.03 ; 1.04 1.62 42 0.04
ALM 26 (5) 0.628 ; 0.625 1.54 83 0.06
ALM 27 (6) 0.873 ; 0.869 2.5 0 48 0.07

* Sieve fractions: whole-rocks, -250, +125/~m; pyroxene and olivine, -100, +80 ~m; plagioclase, hornblende and biotite, -125,
+63 ~m. The numbers between brackets refer to the sites of the intrusives shown on the map of Fig. 1.
** With reference to the Rb-Sr age of 146 Ma.

centration in this sample is much smaller than in the
three samples of unmetamorphosed gabbro from the
same intrusive (0.3 × 10 -6 cm 3 versus about 7 X 10 -6
to 14 X 10 -6 cm 3 NTP/g). The sample of unmeta-
morphosed gabbro from which the minerals were
separated (ALM 104) contains about 13 X 10 -6 cm a
NTP/g excess radiogenic Ar. Although the analyses
were made on aliquots of 0.5 to 0.8 g, the reproduci-
bility of the five Ar determinations is extremely poor.
(Table 2), however, in comparison with the analytical
precision usually obtained in our laboratory. This
indicates that the excess radiogenic Ar is very inhomo-
geneously distributed through the rock.
Analysis of the constituent minerals shows that
the excess radiogenic Ar is not confined to a single or
a few mineral components, but that it is distributed
through all components of the rock. However, much
less excess radiogenic Ar occurs in the constituent
minerals than in the whole-rock. The highest concen-
tration in any of the minerals is about 10 X 10 -6 cm 3
NTP/g, some 30% lower than in the whole-rock. This
discrepancy may partly be attributed to the fact that
the separated minerals were ground to a finer grain
size than the whole-rock: - 1 2 5 , +63/am for the
plagioclase, hornblende and biotite and - 1 0 0 , + 8 0 / l m
for the pyroxene and olivine, versus - 2 5 0 , +I 25/~m
for the whole-rock. It appears that the rock contains
sites with a very high excess radiogenic Ar content,
part of which is set free during the grinding and
mineral separation. Such sites may be, for example,
interstitial grains of K-feldspar [28], grain boundaries,
fluid inclusions, and defects within the crystal lattice

such as structural holes, edge dislocations and anion
vacancies [29].
Cases of basic rocks with whole-rocks containing
a higher excess radiogenic Ar content than the con-
stituent minerals have also been reported from else-
where. For the Early Jurassic diabase dikes in Liberia
Dalrymple et al. [30] described two samples (L3 and
L6) with a higher content of excess radiogenic Ar in
the whole-rock than in the constituent plagioclase
and pyroxene.
6. Origin of the excess radiogenic Ar
A magmatic origin does not seem to be a plau-
sible explanation for the excess radiogenic Ar in the
rocks under discussion. The highest amounts of
excess 4°Ar of undoubtedly magmatic derivation are
reported for basaltic lavas erupted at the deep ocean
floor [31,32] and they are at least one order of mag-
nitude smaller. Also, incorporation of excess radio-
genic Ar in the magma at the time of the intrusion
and crystallization [30] does not provide a satis-
factory explanation, as it is difficult to visualize how
enough heat can have been set free by the relatively
small intrusive to release substantial amounts of
radiogenic Ar from the wall rock in a cold crustal
environment.
We postulate that the excess radiogenic Ar in the
basic intrusives was acquired during Alpine meta-
morphism. When the outgassing of the crustal block
started at the beginning of the metamorphism, say
about 70 Ma ago, the prevailing 4°Ar pressure must
have been higher in the environmental country rocks
(much of them Triassic pelitic sediments, converted
to schists during the metamorphism) than in the rela-
tively small basic intrusives. If we assume a K content
between 0.5 and 2.5% for the sediments, as much as
between 3 X 10 -6 and 15 × 10 -6 c m 3 NTP/g radio-
genic Ar was generated in situ in the time interval
between deposition and metamorphism (of the order
of 150 Ma); in addition there was an unknown
amount of inherited radiogenic Ar, already present
in the detrital minerals at the time of deposition.
Much or all of this Ar was set free during the Alpine
metamorphism and became available as a gaseous
phase to the basic intrusives with radiogenic Ar con-
tents of the order of 0.5 × 10 -6 to 1.5 X 10 -6 cm 3
87
NTP/g. This difference in partial pressure of 4 ° A r
between the basic intrusives and the environmental
rocks resulted in an introduction of 4°Ar into the
basic rocks. A similar explanation has been invoked
for the excess radiogenic Ar observed in the Precam-
brian dolerites of Suriname [33].
During the subsequent metamorphic recrystalliza-
tions, the 4°At acquired from the degassing environ-
mental rocks was expelled again from the basic intru-
sives. Most of the strongly recrystallized metabasites
therefore now contain none or very little excess
radiogenic Ar. However, in those portions of the basic
intrusives that were sufficiently shielded against the
agents of metamorphism to preserve their original
mineralogical compostion and to remain closed with
regard to Rb-Sr, the acquired 4°Ar was not, or only
partially expelled.
The release of the accumulated radiogenic Ar from
the environmental country rocks may very well have
started before the beginning of the metamorphic
reconstitution of the rocks. One might speculate that
the introduction of excess radiogenic Ar took place at
the onset of the first phase of regional metamor-
phism, the synkinematic glaucophane schist facies.
Due to the penetrative deformation under the prevail-
ing high-pressure conditions, passage ways may have
been opened, allowing the introduction of the 4 ° A r
gas into the basic intrusives with a lower prevailing
4°Ar partial pressure and incorporation in the mineral
components. During the metamorphic reconstitution
of the intrusives the original igneous rock has survived
unchanged in relatively small domains, apparently
because they remained shielded against percolating
fluids and consequently did not adjust to the meta-
morphic conditions. Possibly, this shielding was
brought about by the reconstituted rock mass sur-
rounding these domains, which mass may have acted
as a "protective armour". Much or all the newly
acquired excess radiogenic Ar remained stored within
such "armoured relicts" of unmetamorphosed gab-
broic-doleritic rock during the later phase of meta-
morphism.
7. Excess radiogenic Ar in pyroxene and plagioclase
In the histograms of Fig. 4 the contents of excess
radiogenic Ar in pyroxene and plagioclase from the
88
T T
PYROXENE
1 2
re
ILl
m
=E I I I
.-3 10
Z o
@ PLAGIOCLASE
',V.
20 40 60
4OArexce ss(Cm3 g-1 )
Fig. 4. Histograms of excess radiogenic Ar contents in
pyroxenes and plagioclases from basic intrusives. Open circle,
Great Dyke, Rhodesia [ 36]; open asterisks, diabase dikes,
Liberia [ 30] ; triangles, Avanavero Dolerite, Suriname [ 33 ] ;
diamonds, Roraima Dolerites, Guyana [ 37 ] ; closed circles,
Freetown Complex, Sierra Leone [38] ; closed asterisks,
Lubrl"n metabasites, this study.
unmetamorphosed gabbro sample ALM 104 are
plotted, along with the contents published for these
minerals from a number of other basic intrusives. For
each mineral the contents appear to be o f the same
magnitude, in spite of the fact that the excess radio-
genic Ar has been acquired by different mechanisms
and under different pressuretemperature conditions.
Experimental studies have shown that there is a pro-
portionality between the amount of incorporated
noble gases and the partial pressure [34], so it may be
assumed that the minerals have acquired their excess
radiogenic Ar under approximately the same environ-
mental partial 4°Ar pressure. In those cases where
data are available for the corresponding pyroxene and
plagioclase from the same rock sample, the amount
of excess radiogenic Ar appears to be about five times
572 64.1
!i
%
~2o
10
o o
L~27c
• o •1•
L 27 d "~ L 27a
t i
0.2 0.4 0.6 O. 8 1.0
K(%)
Fig. 5. Plot of excess radiogenic Ar content versus K content
of the plagioclases in Fig. 4. Open asterisks and encircled
asterisks, diabase dikes, Liberia, intrusive into 2.7 Ga and 550
Ma old basement, respectively [ 29 ] ; triangles, Avanavero
Dolerite, Suriname [ 32] ; diamonds, Roraima Dolerites,
Guyana [35] ; closed asterisk, Lubr{n metabasite, this study.
L27a is from the chilled border zone, L27c and d are from
the coarse-grained interior part of a dike [29].
higher in the plagioclase than in the pyroxene; the
ratios are 5.1 in our sample ALM 104, between 4.9
and 6.7 in the samples from the Liberian dikes [30]
and 5.0 for one sample from the Precambrian
Avanavero Dolerite in Suriname [33].
For the plagioclase the excess radiogenic Ar con-
tents are plotted against the corresponding K con-
tents in Fig. 5, along with those calculated from the
published data. There appears to be no correlation
between b o t h variables, nor between these variables
and the nature o f the country rock. For example, the
Early Jurassic basic dikes intrusive into the 550 Ma
old basement and those intrusive into the 2.7 Ga old
basement of Liberia contain both excess radiogenic
Ar contents o f the same order of magnitude [30] :
mean values o f about 7 X 10 -6 and 9 X 10 -6 cm 3
NTP/g, respectively, assuming that the dikes are o f
the same age as the Freetown Complex in Sierra
Leone, i.e. 193 Ma [35]. The only significant differ-
ence between b o t h groups may be that the latter
shows a larger spread in the K contents than the
former. There also appears to be no consistent differ-
ence in excess radiogenic Ar content between plagio-
clase from the chilled border zone and from the more

slowly c o o l e d , coarser-grained i n t e r i o r p a r t (for e x a m -
pie L 2 7 a a n d L 2 7 d , respectively, b o t h c o n t a i n i n g
a b o u t 2.7 X 10 -6 c m 3 N T P / g [ 3 0 ] ) .
Acknowledgements
We are m u c h i n d e b t e d t o Dr. P.A.M. A n d r i e s s e n ,
Z.W.O. L a b o r a t o r i u m voor I s o t o p e n - G e o l o g i e , A m -
s t e r d a m , a n d Drs. H. H e l m e r s , D e p a r t m e n t o f Geol-
ogy, U n i v e r s i t y o f A m s t e r d a m , for h e l p f u l discussions
a n d critically reading t h e m a n u s c r i p t . T h e m a n u s c r i p t
b e n e f i t t e d f r o m t h e critical review b y Prof. Dr. F.
B e g e m a n n , Mainz. We t h a n k Dr. N.J. Snelling, Insti-
t u t e o f Geological Sciences, L o n d o n , for placing at
o u r disposal u n p u b l i s h e d d a t a o f t h e F r e e t o w n C o m -
plex, Sierra L e o n e . This w o r k f o r m s p a r t o f t h e
research programme of the "Stichting voor Isotopen-
Geologisch Onderzoek", supported by the Nether-
lands O r g a n i s a t i o n for t h e A d v a n c e m e n t o f Pure
R e s e a r c h (Z.W.O.).
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