ALBERT

Description: : In the Purrido Ophiolite (Cabo Ortegal Complex), new U–Pb zircon dating of the amphibolite G03-8 (by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) confirms the existence of a dominant Mesoproterozoic zircon population with a refined age of 1155 ± 14 Ma. However, the U–Pb zircon dating of two more amphibolite samples (by sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe) has provided new ages of 395 ± 3 Ma and 395 ± 2 Ma, respectively, interpreted as the crystallization age. Hf isotope data for zircon show that most of the Devonian zircons crystallized from a juvenile depleted mantle source. The Mesoproterozoic zircons have relatively juvenile Hf isotopic composition reflecting some influence of an older component. A few Devonian zircon crystals show evidence of mixing with an older component represented by the Mesoproterozoic zircons. The whole-rock Sm–Nd isotope data indicate an important heterogeneity in the composition of the Purrido amphibolites, only compatible with the generation of their protoliths from two sources. We interpret these puzzling data as resulting from the mixing of a Devonian mantle-derived magma with a Mesoproterozoic basement. These new data provide new perspectives in the interpretation of the most common ophiolites across the Variscan suture in Europe. Supplementary material: Analytical methods, zircon U–Th–Pb SHRIMP analytical data, zircon U–Th–Pb LA-ICP-MS analytical data, zircon Lu–Hf LA-MC-ICPMS analytical data and whole-rock Sm–Nd isotope data are available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18449 .