The western margin of the Arabian Shield along the Red Sea between Jordan and Yemen is littered with numerous mostly middle Miocene to Quaternary harrats (basalt fields). Harrat Uwayrid (HU) is one of them and which comprises a NW-SE oriented elongated field that extends for about ∼230 km in NW Saudi Arabia. Magmatic activities include older alkaline lava flows of transitional basalt, alkali basalt, hawaiite, and basanite and younger scoria basanite that erupted through the central segment of the older lavas. Based on chondrite-normalized Sm/Yb vs. La/Yb and Tb/Yb vs. La/Sm, the older transitional lavas were generated from spinel lherzolite whereas the younger lavas were generated from garnet lherzolite. Primitive mantle-normalized patterns are similar to OIB. 40Ar/39Ar plateau dating yield eruption ages of 10.15 ± 0.09 to 9.87 ± 0.04 Ma (n = 3) for the older alkaline basalts and 0.96 ± 0.03 to 0.16 ± 0.03 Ma (n = 5) for the younger basanites. 143Nd/144Nd ratios for both the older lavas and younger scoria are 0.51285-0.51292 whereby ɛNd (4.0-5.4) is positive; ratios of 87Sr/86Sr are low (0.7032 to 0.7039). 206Pb/204Pb (18.5305 to 19.3701) and 143Nd/144Nd vs. 87Sr/86Sr overlap FOZO-type mantle; we interpret the FOZO signature to indicate metasomatism of the asthenosphere from slabs subducted during construction of the 900-550 Ma Arabian-Nubian shield. HU record possible plume-related, potential temperatures of 1400-1490 °C and pressures of 2.0-4.4 GPa (∼70-140 km depth) within the range of the Afar Plume. Some HU scoria and lava also fall within the isotopic range of the Red Sea trough, Yemini flood basalt, and Afar Plume basalt. After Arabia-Eurasia collision in the Miocene, subsequent eastern movement of the Arabian Shield caused asymmetric drag of upwelling asthenosphere and possibly the Afar Plume, and magma chambers to beneath the western limb of the Arabian shield.
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Research Article|
April 22, 2025
Early Publication
Asymmetric magma chamber beneath the Red Sea system controlled Cenozoic alkaline magmatism in western margin of the Arabian Shield Available to Purchase
Scott A. Whattam;
Scott A. Whattam
*
1
Department of Geosciences, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia
*
Correspondence: [email protected]
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Hossein Azizi;
Hossein Azizi
2
Department of Mining Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kurdistan
, Sanandaj, Iran
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Oktarian Iskandar;
Oktarian Iskandar
1
Department of Geosciences, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia
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Mutasim Osman;
Mutasim Osman
1
Department of Geosciences, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia
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Daniel Heaton;
Daniel Heaton
3
College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University
, Corvalis, Oregon 97331-5503, U.S.A.
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Fatemeh Nouri;
Fatemeh Nouri
2
Department of Mining Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kurdistan
, Sanandaj, Iran
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Yanick Brice Lemdjou;
Yanick Brice Lemdjou
4
Key Laboratory of Metallogenic Prediction of Nonferrous Metals and Geological Environment Monitoring, Ministry of Education, School of Geosciences and Info-Physics, Central South University
, Changsha 410083, China
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Anthony Koppers
Anthony Koppers
3
College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University
, Corvalis, Oregon 97331-5503, U.S.A.
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Scott A. Whattam
*
1
Department of Geosciences, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia
Hossein Azizi
2
Department of Mining Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kurdistan
, Sanandaj, Iran
Oktarian Iskandar
1
Department of Geosciences, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia
Mutasim Osman
1
Department of Geosciences, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia
Daniel Heaton
3
College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University
, Corvalis, Oregon 97331-5503, U.S.A.
Fatemeh Nouri
2
Department of Mining Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kurdistan
, Sanandaj, Iran
Yanick Brice Lemdjou
4
Key Laboratory of Metallogenic Prediction of Nonferrous Metals and Geological Environment Monitoring, Ministry of Education, School of Geosciences and Info-Physics, Central South University
, Changsha 410083, China
Anthony Koppers
3
College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University
, Corvalis, Oregon 97331-5503, U.S.A.
*
Correspondence: [email protected]
Publisher: Geological Society of London
Received:
10 Dec 2024
Revision Received:
16 Mar 2025
Accepted:
12 Apr 2025
First Online:
19 Apr 2025
Online ISSN: 2041-479X
Print ISSN: 0016-7649
Funding
- Funder(s):KFUPM
- Award Id(s): CPG21107
- Award Id(s):
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by The Geological Society of London. All rights, including for text and data mining (TDM), artificial intelligence (AI) training, and similar technologies, are reserved. For permissions: https://www.lyellcollection.org/publishing-hub/permissions-policy. Publishing disclaimer: https://www.lyellcollection.org/publishing-hub/publishing-ethics
© 2025 The Author(s)
Journal of the Geological Society (2025) jgs2024-280.
Article history
Received:
10 Dec 2024
Revision Received:
16 Mar 2025
Accepted:
12 Apr 2025
First Online:
19 Apr 2025
Citation
Scott A. Whattam, Hossein Azizi, Oktarian Iskandar, Mutasim Osman, Daniel Heaton, Fatemeh Nouri, Yanick Brice Lemdjou, Anthony Koppers; Asymmetric magma chamber beneath the Red Sea system controlled Cenozoic alkaline magmatism in western margin of the Arabian Shield. Journal of the Geological Society 2025; doi: https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2024-280
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