The Tachakoucht-Iriri-Tourtit arc complex (Moroccan Anti-Atlas): Neoproterozoic records of polyphased subduction-accretion dynamics during the Pan-African orogeny

We report new mapping, tectonic, metamorphic and U-Pb zircon dating data on the polyphased Tachakoucht-Iriri and Tourtit arc-related units within the Moroccan Pan-African belt (Sirwa window, Anti-Atlas). The studied area contains four different sub-units, from south to north: (1) the Tachakoucht gneisses intruded to its northern part by (2) Iriri intrusions. To the north, the Tachakoucht-Iriri massif is thrusted by (3) the south-verging 760 Ma Khzama ophiolitic sequence intruded by (4) the Tourtit meta-granitic complex. The Tachakoucht gneiss represents former andesitic to dacitic porphyritic rocks crystallized around 740-720 Ma in an intra-oceanic arc setting (IOAS). Subsequently, it has been buried and metamorphosed to 700 °C, 8 kbar in response to early accretion of the arc onto the West African Craton (WAC). This tectono-metamorphic event also led to the dismembering and stacking of back-arc ophiolite onto the arc unit. Subsequently, the Iriri intrusions, a suite of hydrous mafic dykes (hornblende gabbro and fine-grained basalt) and ultramafic (hornblendite) plutons showing subduction zone affinities, intruded the Tachakoucht gneiss under P-T conditions of 750-800 °C and 2-5 kbar. Emplacement of Iriri intrusions led locally to pronounced partial melting of the Tachakoucht gneiss and to the production of leucogranitic melts. These melts crop out into the Iriri-Tachakoucht gneiss contacts as leucogneissic bands (former leucosomes, dated at 651 ± 5 Ma) but also intruded the Khzama ophiolite to form the Tourtit granite (dated at 651 ± 3 Ma). These ages (651-641 Ma) also constrain the timing of Iriri intrusion emplacement. The entire complex has been overprinted by a second deformation event under greenschist to amphibolite facies conditions marked by transposition of primary structures and a development of mylonitic shear zones. These results and those published on the Bou Azzer window show that two phases of subduction-related magmatism occurred in the Anti-Atlas belt and that they were separated by an early accretion of the intra-oceanic arc system (IOAS) onto the West African craton passive margin. Our interpretations also validate thermo-mechanical models predicting an intense perturbation of subduction dynamics during arc-continent collision (i.e. composite subductions, polarity reversal) which can expand the production of typical hydrous arc magma and induces a late magmatic phase after partial or total accretion of the IOAS.