Periodicity of Karoo rift zone magmatism inferred from zircon ages of silicic rocks: Implications for the origin and environmental impact of the large igneous province

Abstract

New U-Pb ages for zircons constrain the duration of silicic magmatism and timing of coeval mafic magmatism across the main rift zone of the Karoo large igneous province in Mozambique. Our 190 ± 2 Ma, 188.4 ± 0.9 Ma, 181.7 ± 1.0 Ma, 180 ± 3 Ma, 178 ± 2 Ma and 172 ± 2 Ma ages support periodicity of Karoo magmatism previously inferred from 40Ar/39Ar age data. The ∼ 190–188 Ma ages confirm early onset of magmatism and the ∼ 182–178 Ma ages correlate the bimodal volcanic successions of the Lower Zambezi and the Movene Formation with widespread silicic magmatism across the rift zone. The ∼ 172 Ma age corresponds to waning magmatic activity. The age range and Hf isotopic compositions of zircons indicate up to ∼9 Ma lifespan for the Jurassic silicic magma chambers and suggest that the ∼2700–400 Ma xenocrysts represent crustal sources of the host rocks. The available chronological data indicate that the ∼183 Ma main phase magmatism was largely confined within the main Karoo and Kalahari basins and that the preceding and subsequent phases were mainly associated with the Karoo rift zone. Judging from geochemical literature, different kinds of magmas were erupted during the successive magmatic phases. We calculate from published geochemical data that the mafic main phase magmas were relatively poor in CO2 and SO2 and the lava stacking patterns point to low eruption rates, which suggests that degassing of sedimentary wall-rocks of intrusions probably triggered the coeval Pliensbachian-Toarcian extinction. In contrast, the mafic late phase magmas were rich in CO2 and SO2 and at least some of the lavas indicate high eruption rates. We propose that efficient degassing from widespread mafic magmatism and explosive eruption of over 30,000 km3 of silicic magmas in the Karoo rift zone linked the ∼182–178 Ma late phase magmatism with contemporaneous global biosphere crises.