Origin and tectonic significance of the metamorphic sole and isolated dykes of the Divriği ophiolite (Sivas, Türkiye): evidence for slab break-off prior to ophiolite emplacement

Abstract: The Late Cretaceous Divri¤i ophiolite of east-central Anatolia comprises, from bottom to top, an ophiolitic mélange, metamorphic sole and remnants of oceanic lithosphere. The ophiolitic mélange has been thrust onto the Lower Carboniferous–Campanian Munzur Limestone (Tauride platform), and is in turn tectonically overlain by the metamorphic sole. The metamorphic-sole rocks are represented by amphibolite, plagioclase amphibolite, plagioclase-amphibole schist, plagioclase-epidote-amphibole schist and calc-schist. The oceanic-lithosphere remnant exhibits a complete section, excluding volcanic rocks, comprising mantle tectonites, ultramafic to mafic cumulates, isotropic gabbros and sheeted dykes. Isolated dykes intrude the metamorphic sole and mantle tectonites at different structural levels. The metamorphic-sole rocks beneath the Divri¤i ophiolite can be divided into two groups with distinct geochemical features. The first group is tholeiitic (Nb/Y=0.07–0.18), whereas the second group is alkaline (Nb/Y=1.77–3.48) in chemistry. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns, N-MORB-normalized spider diagrams and tectonic discrimination diagrams suggest that the protolith of the first group was similar to island-arc tholeiitic basalts, whereas the protolith of the second group was more akin to within-plate alkali basalts. The isolated dykes cutting the metamorphic sole and the mantle tectonites exhibit alkaline (Nb/Y=0.68–2.11) character and are geochemically similar to within-plate alkaline basalts. The geochemical evidence suggests that the Late Cretaceous Divri¤i ophiolite formed in a suprasubduction zone tectonic setting t