| Summary: | Two subvertical gabbroic dikes with widths of similar to 350 m (East-Muren) and >= 500 m (West-Muren) crosscut continental flood basalts in the Antarctic extension of the similar to 180 Ma Karoo large igneous province (LIP) in Vestfjella, western Dronning Maud Land. The dikes exhibit unusual geochemical profiles; most significantly, initial (at 180 Ma) epsilon(Nd) values increase from the dike interiors towards the hornfelsed wallrock basalts (from - 15.3 to - 7.8 in East-Muren and more gradually from - 9.0 to - 5.5 in West-Muren). In this study, we utilize models of partial melting and energy-constrained assimilation-fractional crystallization in deciphering the magmatic evolution of the dikes and their contact aureoles. The modeling indicates that both gabbroic dikes acquired the distinctly negative epsilon(Nd) values recorded by their central parts by varying degrees of assimilation of Archean crust at depth. This first phase of deep contamination was followed by a second event at or close to the emplacement level and is related to the interaction of the magmas with the wallrock basalts. These basalts belong to a distinct Karoo LIP magma type having initial epsilon(Nd) from - 2.1 to + 2.5, which provides a stark contrast to the epsilon(Nd) composition of the dike parental magmas (- 15.3 for East-Muren, - 9.0 for West-Muren) previously contaminated by Archean crust. For East-Muren, the distal hornfelses represent partially melted wallrock basalts and the proximal contact zones represent hybrids of such residues with differentiated melts from the intrusion; the magmas that were contaminated by the partial melts of the wallrock basalts were likely transported away from the currently exposed parts of the conduit before the magma-wallrock contact was sealed and further assimilation prevented. In contrast, for West-Muren, the assimilation of the wallrock basalt partial melts is recorded by the gradually increasing epsilon(Nd) of the presently exposed gabbroic rocks towards the roof contact with the basalts. Our ...
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