Yurchik Massifs in Kamchatka: Age and affiliation to magmatic associations

Petrographic and isotopic-geochemical data obtained on basic and ultrabasic rocks from the Yurchik Massif in the Ganal block of crystalline rocks in Kamchatka indicate that the distribution of major and trace elements in these rocks are analogous to those in the fractionation products of high-Al tholeiites occurring in island arcs in the eastern continental margin of Eurasia. Allivalites and dunites found as nodules in gabbronorites and gabbro of the massif are thought to be early cumulates of arc basalts. Petrographic and geochemical characteristics of the Yurchik Massif make it different from Ni-bearing Paleocene-Eocene (approximately 50 Ma) norite-cortlandite intrusions in the Sredinnyi Range of Kamchatka. U-Pb zircon and 40Ar/39Ar dates for rocks from the massif definitely testify to its younger, Early Miocene (approximately 22 Ma) age.