An early Miocene arc-tholeiitic magmatic dike event from the Alboran Sea — Evidence for precollisional subduction and back-arc crustal extension in the westernmost Mediterranean

A discussion is made on the general significance of an Early Miocene (22–23 Ma, K/Ar dating) basaltic dike swarm that outcrops within large areas of the central and western Betic Zone of the Betic Cordilleras (Southern Spain). This dike swarm is thought to represent the remains of one of the earliest magmatic episodes within the the Neogene volcanic province that is associated with the late orogenic evolution of the Alboran region, and undoubtedly offers the best preserved igneous material related to this early stage that is known at present. The dike rocks (hypabyssal equivalents of andesitic basalts and basaltic andésites) have both major and trace-element abundance patterns that are akin to those of arc-tholeiitic suites. The field relationships and areal distribution of the dike swarm suggest, on the other hand, that a major E-W-trending rifting belt could have been developing within the Alboran Block in oligo-miocene times, previous to its collision with adjacent continental borderlands in the Early-Middle Miocene. Because of their magmatic character and wide distribution, it is proposed that these dike rocks may be regarded as an indication of the existence of roughly contemporaneous (Oligo-Miocene) Benioff-Wadati zone activity under the Alboran Area, which also points towards the previous existence of subductable lithosphere in its surroundings. The main dilatational vector during dike emplacement was already normal to the present E-W stretching of the Alboran Basin proper, which also adds to the possibility that the latter had already started to individualize tectonically in Oligo-Miocene times, and that some of its present crustal features, especially a prominent E-W-trending pattern of magnetic anomalies, had been generated in relation with the dike event. Continued postcollisional Middle Miocene to Pliocene calc-alkaline to ultrapotassic volcanism in the same area could hence have resulted from decompression partial melting of an already contaminated, and still thermally anomalous, mantle wedge, connected with the occurrence of traverse strike-slip and extensional deep faulting within a crustal segment that stretches from southeastern Spain to Morocco.