The “intraorogenic” Svecofennian Herräng mafic dyke swarm in east-central Sweden: age, geochemistry and tectonic significance

The Herräng mafic dykes form an E-W-trending dyke swarm within the Bergslagen lithotectonic unit of the Svecofennian orogen in east-central Sweden. They intrude the Svecofennian supracrustal rocks and early-orogenic granitoids, but are themselves cut by late Svecofennian pegmatites, and have undergone Svecofennian amphibolite-facies metamorphism, leading to their classification as “intraorogenic” Svecofennian dykes. They can be assigned an age between 1870 and 1850 Ma, with metamorphism of the dykes dated at 1848 ± 13 Ma by U-Pb in titanite. Their current mineralogy is dominated by metamorphic plagioclase and amphibole, with variable amounts of quartz and biotite, and minor to accessory titanite, apatite, epidote, pyrite, magnetite, ilmenite and zircon. Textures range from massive to strongly foliated. Twenty samples of dyke rocks from three subareas in the Roslagen region, including the Herräng type area, range in composition from basaltic to andesitic with 47 to 60 wt% SiO₂, broadly similar to the Dannemora dykes and the Avesta-Östhammar gabbros and diorites. Initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (at 1870 Ma) varies between 0.7026 and 0.7038, corresponding to initial ε_Sr between +5 and +21, and initial ε_Nd between −0.4 and +1.3, suggesting a slightly enriched to mildly depleted mantle source, similar to other Svecofennian mafic rocks. The dykes dominantly show a calc-alkaline volcanic arc signature related to subduction. They formed during an extensional episode, possibly related to incipient back-arc spreading or subduction roll-back following the main early-orogenic subduction-related Svecofennian magmatism, but penecontemporaneous with amphibolite-facies metamorphism in the area.