Remains of early Ordovician mantle-derived magmatism in the Santander Massif (Colombian Eastern Cordillera)

An Early Ordovician magmatic event has been documented in the Santander Massif (north-Eastern Cordillera, Colombia). Three U/Pb laser ablation ages of 477 ± 2 Ma (Arenig), were obtained from metamorphosed and foliated calc-alkaline diorites. The 176Hf/177Hf values in zircons from these meta-diorites, yielded epsilon Hf values (ɛHft) > 0 (Mean = 2 ± 1, at 477 Ma). These data allow interpretation of the origin of these zircons from a radiogenic initial Hf isotope source, which is characteristic of the Earthʹs mantle. This, together with the fact that the rocks have been affected subsequently by tectonometamorphic processes, suggests that the early Ordovician diorites have been emplaced in a supra-subduction tectonic setting, related to onset of the Iapetus Ocean closure.