Syn-orogenic alkaline magmatism and its relationship to the Moine Thrust Zone and the thermal state of the Lithosphere in NW Scotland

The alkaline complexes of NW Scotland lie in a zone sub-parallel to the Moine thrust and represent the NW edge of the otherwise overwhelmingly calc-alkaline late-orogenic magmatism of the Caledonian fold-belt. The emplacement of intrusives in Assynt overlapped the thrust movements and new U-Pb zircon ages for the Loch Ailsh intrusion (439 ± 4 Ma) provide are liable bracket, when combined with existing age data for the Loch Borralan intrusion …