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Title
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Asymmetrical magma chamber beneath the Red Sea system controlled Cenozoic alkaline magmatism on the western margin of the Arabian Shield
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Type
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JournalPaper
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Keywords
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the Red Sea system, alkaline magmatism, Arabian Shield
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Abstract
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The western margin of the Arabian Shield along the Red Sea between Jordan and Yemen is littered with numerous (mostly mid-Miocene to Quaternary) basalt fields known as harrats. Harrat Uwayrid consists of a NW–SE-oriented elongated field that extends for c. 230 km in NW Saudi Arabia. The magmatic activities include older alkaline lava flows of transitional basalt, alkali basalt, hawaiite and basanite, together with younger scoria basanite that erupted through the central segment of the older lavas. Based on chondrite-normalized Sm/Yb v. La/Yb and Tb/Yb v. La/Sm diagrams, we show that the older transitional lavas were generated from spinel lherzolite, whereas the younger lavas were generated from garnet lherzolite. The primitive-mantle-normalized patterns are similar to those of ocean island basalts. 40Ar/39Ar plateau dating yields eruption ages of 10.15 ± 0.09 to 9.87 ± 0.04 Ma (n = 3) for the older alkaline basalts and 0.96 ± 0.03 to 0.16 ± 0.03 Ma (n = 5) for the younger basanites. The 143Nd/144Nd ratios for both the older lavas and the younger scoria are 0.51285–0.51292 and 𝜀Nd (4.0–5.4) is positive; the ratios of 87Sr/86Sr are low (0.7032–0.7039). The range of 206Pb/204Pb (18.5305–19.3701) values and the 143Nd/144Nd v. 87Sr/86Sr ratios overlap those of FOcal ZOne (FOZO)-type mantle; we interpret this FOZO signature to indicate metasomatism of the asthenosphere from slabs subducted during the construction of the 900–550 Ma Arabian–Nubian Shield. Harrat Uwayrid records (possibly plume-related) potential temperatures of 1400–1490°C and pressures of 2.0–4.4 GPa (c. 70–140 km depth), which are within the range of the Afar plume. Some Harrat Uwayrid scoria and lava also fall within the isotopic range of basalts in the Red Sea trough, Yemini flood basalts and Afar plume basalts. After the collision of Arabia–Eurasia in the Miocene, the subsequent eastern movement of the Arabian Shield caused asymmetrical drag of the upwelling asthenosphere (and possibly also the Afar plume) and the magma chambers to a location beneath the western limb of the Arabian Shield.
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Researchers
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Anthony Koppers (Not In First Six Researchers), Yanick Brice Lemdjou (Not In First Six Researchers), Fatemah Nouri (Not In First Six Researchers), Daniel Heaton (Fifth Researcher), Mutasim Osman (Fourth Researcher), Iskandar Iskandar (Third Researcher), Hossein Azizi (Second Researcher), Scott A. Whattam (First Researcher)
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