University Publications

A remarkable mafic-ultramafic dismembered ophiolitic units have been discovered for the first time in West Darfur State, West Sudan. Field survey coupled with petrographical studies and whole-rock chemical analysis to identify the origin of these new rock units. Scattered serpentinized mafic- ultramafic ophiolite components consist of dunite, layered gabbro and basaltic pillow lavas, are exposed withinlow-grade metavolcanics and metasediments, which consists of meta-andesite, chlorite schist, marble, graphitic schists and quartzites. The region has been affected by NE- SW shear zone with dextral strike slip movement. The tectonic discrimination diagrams revealed thatthe serpentinized mafic- ultramafic ophiolite rocks related to the volcanic arc field from the binary Nb/Th versus Y, while the ternary TiO2-K2O-P2O5 diagram, classifies them as both island arc tholeiite (IAT) and depleted Mantle Oceanic Floor Basalt (N-MORB). Whereas the geochemical signatures of the pillow lava basalt and layered gabbro samples have a typical mid-oceanic ridge basalt compared to the mafic- ultramafic samples, which assigned as oceanic island. The presence of serpentinized mafic- ultramafic ophiolitic units, metavolcanic rocks with associated flysch metasediments might suggest a juvenile oceanic environment.