Oligocene High-Silica Felsic Magmatism in Juvenile Intra-Oceanic Arc Crust, North Sulawesi Arc, Indonesia

Abstract

The North Sulawesi arc (NSUA) constitutes the northern arm of Sulawesi Island and is characterized by complex Cenozoic records of magmatism and tectonics. Zircon U-Pb geochrono-logical and Hf-O isotopic data, whole-rock major oxides, trace elemental, and Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic data of the high-silica granites from the NSUA document their petrogenesis and tectonic setting. Zircon elemental analysis of the granitic samples shows a juvenile oceanic crust origin and the U-Pb geochronology indicates their Oligocene ages between 30.4 and 27.3 Ma. The samples have high SiO₂ (75.05 wt.%–79.38 wt.%) and Na₂O (4.48 wt.%–5.67 wt.%), low K₂O (0.15 wt.%–1.34 wt.%) and MgO (0.07 wt.%–0.91 wt.%) contents, belonging to calc-alkaline I-type high-silica granites. They have enriched LREE and LILE, and depleted HREE and HFSE, showing significant Eu, Sr, Nb, and Ta negative anomalies. These high-silica granites have low (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)_i ratios (0.704 412–0.704 592), positive ε _Nd(t) values (from +5.1 to +6.6), positive zircon ε _Hf(t) values (from +10.1 to +18.8), low zircon δ¹⁸O values (4.20‰–5.02‰), and similar Pb isotope compositions to the Indian Ocean MORB. Such signatures suggest that these high-silica granites were derived by partial melting process of the juvenile arc crust in an intra-oceanic setting. The felsic magmatism in the NSUA was likely driven by mantle upwelling and decompression melting during the Oligocene, in response to slab roll-back linked with the convergence of the East Sulawesi ophiolitic crust or the microcontinental fragments.

Keywords

high-silica granite / Oligocene / intra-oceanic arc / North Sulawesi arc (NSUA) / geochemistry / tectonics

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