Geochronology and geochemistry of Cryogenian gabbros from the Ambatondrazaka area, east-central Madagascar: Implications for Madagascar-India correlation and Rodinia paleogeography

• New geochronological and geochemical data for the Imorona-Itsindro Suite.
• The ∼797–772 Ma Ambatondrazaka gabbros were produced in an intra-plate setting.
• They were derived from an ancient enriched lithospheric mantle source.
• The proposal of the Greater Dharwar Craton is favored.
• The “Andean-type arc” hypothesis on the western margin of Rodinia is challenged.

Tectonic setting of the ca. 840–760 Ma Imorona-Itsindro Suite throughout central Madagascar is critical to understanding Madagascar-India correlation in pre-Gondwana time and the paleogeography of the rifting Rodinia. Here, we present new geochronological and geochemical data for gabbros of this suite from the Ambatondrazaka area in east-central Madagascar. SIMS U-Pb zircon dating reveals that the gabbros emplaced between ca. 797 and 772 Ma. They define a typical tholeiitic trend on the AFM and FeOT/MgO vs. SiO2 plots, which is confirmed by the occurrence of layered Fe-Ti-V oxide mineralization. Owing to the high-K nature, they were previously misinterpreted as a “calc-alkaline” association produced in a mature continental arc. Indeed, it implies in return an intra-plate affinity for tholeiitic rocks. Their high Zr/Y, La/Y and Ti/V ratios differ from those of typical arc and back-arc mafic suites but are compatible with an intra-plate setting. Additionally, they are characterized by low AlZ/TiO2 ratios in clinopyroxene, further supporting an intra-plate environment. The negative ɛNd(t) (−8.4 to −5.1) and zircon ɛHf(t) (−6.84 to −3.08) values, together with enriched trace element signatures, indicate their derivation from an enriched lithospheric mantle source. Considering the initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.705409–0.706892) and Nd modal ages (∼2.1–2.4 Ga), we postulate that this mantle reservoir has EM1-type isotopic characteristics and was enriched by a Late Neoarchean “super accretion event”. Taken together, our results question the existence of the Betsimisaraka Suture but support the proposal that the Malagasy Shield and the Dharwar Craton of India are parts of the same entity – the Greater Dharwar Craton. Within this framework, the widely cited hypothesis that an extensive Andean-type arc was developed along the northwestern margin of the rifting Rodinia is challenged, at least that the magmatic arc did not extend to the Malagasy Shield.