ALPINE TYPE

INTRUSION
&
OPHIOLITES
Nived Mahalunkar
Viraj Shelake
Yash Bagkar
Part 1 MSc
Contents
• Introduction
• Tectonic Setting of Alpine type intrusion
• Composition
• Sierra Nevada batholith
• Ophiolite Sequence
• Tectonic Settings & Distribution in world
• Emplacement of Ophiolites
• Types of Ophiolites
• Summary
Introduction
• Alpine type intrusion type of igneous intrusion that is associated
with mountain-building processes in convergent plate boundaries.
• Found in areas where tectonic forces cause the Earth's crust to
thicken and uplift, such as in the Alpine-Himalayan mountain belt.
• Ophiolite as first described from the alps in the early 20th century
and were later discovered from almost every orogenic belt on the
earth.
• In total there are 150 ophiolites identified in the world.
Tectonic setting of Alpine type intrusion
• These intrusions are associated
with compressional tectonic
forces, where one tectonic plate
is being pushed beneath another,
leading to crustal thickening and
the uplift of mountain ranges.
• Alpine-type intrusions generally
occur at relatively shallow depths
in the Earth's crust, typically
within the upper crust. They are
emplaced during the continental
collision process. World map of Alpide mountain belt
https://external-preview.redd.it/cqGGUKM_MELIRq-3jiUUBRxo5KvHfPFSmCkLwsLG2C8.png?auto=webp&s=ff55565f10b
310fef15d9cc471802c46b7e5ab2c
Composition
• The composition of the intrusions
can vary but often includes granitic
or felsic rocks.
• These rocks can be generated from
the partial melting of continental
crust, as heat and pressure
increase during the tectonic
collision.
• S- type granitoid derived due to Schematic cross section of the Himalayas showing the
partial melting of sedimentary dehydration and partial melting zones that provided the
lecucogranites.
rocks. After France- Lannord and Le Fort (1988) Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh, 79,183-195. from Winter (2011)
Sierra Nevada batholith
• In the Western United States, spanning
parts of California and Nevada a mountain
range.
• Formation of the Sierra Nevada batholith
is closely linked to the subduction of the
Farallon Plate beneath the North
American Plate during the Cenozoic Era.
• Composed of granitic rocks, including Sierra Nevada Batholith
granite and granodiorite. These rocks are
https://image.slideserve.com/1255112/sierra-nevada-batholith-l.jpg

felsic in composition and are typical of alpine type intrusions.

• Host for valuable mineral deposits, including gold, silver, and other
metals.
Ophiolite Sequence
• Tectonically emplaced successions of mafic and ultramafic rocks that
are considered to represent fragments of oceanic or back arc basin
crust
• An ideal ophiolite include from bottom to top:
i. Ultramafic tectonite (Harzburgite or Lherzolite)
ii. Layered Cumulate Gabbro's and Ultramafic rocks
iii. Non-Cumulate plagiogranites gabbros and diorites
iv. Sheeted diabase dykes
v. Pillow basalts
vi. Marine sediments
 Ophiolite succession and seismic layer of oceanic
crust
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ricardo-Valls/publication/326705942/figure/fig4/AS:11431281173345493@
1688830822804/Typical-ophiolitic-succession.ppm
Tectonic Settings & Distribution in world
Ophiolites have been described from three oceanic tectonic settings:
i. Mid ocean ridges
ii. Back arc basin
iii. Immature island arc
Distribution…….
• Oman (Semail), Sudan (Nubba mountains), Cyprus (Troodos island),
Albania (Mirdita ), Northern California, Trinity (California).
• In India Naga hill ophiolite at the India-Burma plate boundary.
Emplacement of Ophiolites
• Ophiolites are emplaced in arcs or collisional orogens by three major
mechanisms.
i. Obduction or thrusting of oceanic lithosphere onto a passive
continental margin during continental collision.
ii. Splitting on the upper part of a descending slab and obduction of a
thrust sheet onto a former arc.
iii. An addition of a slab of oceanic crust to accretionary prisms in an
arc setting.
A

Three mechanisms of ophiolite emplacement (a) obduction at a passive continental margin. (b)
obduction of oceanic lithosphere. (c) transfer of a slab of oceanic lithosphere to an accretionary prism.
https://www.bing.com/images/blob?bcid=SNXu21cyQDMGXkrv-sXHe4g2kpSV.....wE
Types of Ophiolites
SUBDUCTION RELATED
OPHIOLITES
• Includes suprasubduction zone
and volcanic arc types.
• Whose evolution is governed by
slab dehydration and
accompanying metasomatism of
the mantle.
• Melting of the subducting
sediments repeated episodes of
partial melting of
metasomatised peridotites.
SUBDUCTION UNRELATED
OPHIOLITES
• It includes continental margin
mid-ocean ridge and plume type
ophiolites.
• That generally have MORB
composition.
• Its developed during the closure
of the ocean basin whereas
involved during rift drift and sea
floor spreading.
Summary
• Alpine type intrusions the rocks are exposed overtime due to erosion
these rocks are plutonic rocks like granite, diorite, granodiorite.
• The process of crustal thickening can create conditions conducive to
the formation of granitic intrusions and other igneous rocks within
the upper crust.
• Ophiolites suites are slabs of ancient oceanic crust and they have
similarity with oceanic crust.
• Deep ultramafic rock associations of the Penrose sequence are
economically important for the presence of chromite and Platinum
References
• Philpotts, A., & Ague, J. (2022). Principles of igneous and
Metamorphic Petrology (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• Ronald B Parker; Petrology and Structural Geometry of Pre-Granitic
Rocks in the Sierra Nevada, Alpine County, California. GSA Bulletin
1961;; 72 (12): 1789–1805. doi:
https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1961)72[1789:PASGOP]2.0.CO;2
• Yildirim Dilek, Harald Furnes; Ophiolites and Their Origins. Elements
2014;; 10 (2): 93–100. doi:
https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.10.2.93
• S-i-A-M classification S-type granites - university at Buffalo.
https://www.nsm.buffalo.edu/courses/gly206/L08B_SIAMClassy.pdf
THANK YOU

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