Early Miocene magmatism in the Western Cordillera of Colombia: implications for magma source and evolution

Lower Miocene plutons exposed in the Western Cordillera of Colombia record the reinitiation of continental arc magmatism in the Northern Andes after a period of magmatic quiescence between the Late Eocene and Early Miocene. Petrography, U-Pb zircon geochronology, whole-rock geochemistry, mineral chemistry, and zircon Hf isotope data from these plutons are used to reconstruct the Miocene magmatic evolution in the Colombian Andes and understand its relation with the major plate-tectonic reorganization experienced by the NW South American continental margin during the Lower Miocene. We examined a suite of gabbros, granodiorites and tonalites from Danubio, Pance and Tatamá plutons, formed between 21 Ma and 15 Ma. Gabbros present highly positive εHf values (+13.5 and + 11.5) with low Th/La and La/Yb ratios, and granodiorites and tonalites present lower εHf values (+14.3 to + 6.4). The results of this contribution show a major asthenospheric source with absent or minor melting of subducted sediments, and contribution of oxidized aqueous fluids. The compositional diversification of these magmas was controlled by fractional crystallization and, in the Tatamá pluton, also by local assimilation of continental crust at lower crustal levels of the upper plate. Subsequently, these magmas were emplaced in the Cretaceous to Palaeogene volcanic and sedimentary rocks in the uppermost crust. The renewed magmatic activity recorded by the studied plutons suggests a normal to step subduction of the elder Farallon Plate during the Neogene subduction re-organization in the Colombian Andes, as well as the local presence of continental crust fragments in the lower crust of the Western Cordillera of Colombia.