Careón ophiolite, NW Spain: Suprasubduction zone setting for the youngest Rheic Ocean floor

The Careón ophiolite (Galicia, NW Iberian Massif) shows lithological and geochemical\udfeatures suggestive of an origin in a suprasubduction zone setting. As with other Devonian\udophiolites in the European Variscan belt, it was generated within a contracting Rheic Ocean.\udThis setting and the general absence of large Silurian-Devonian volcanic arcs on both of the\udRheic Ocean margins strongly suggest that this ocean was closed by intraoceanic subduction\uddirected to the north. This subduction removed the older normal (N) mid-oceanic-ridge basalt\ud(MORB) oceanic lithosphere and gave rise to a limited volume of new suprasubduction zone\udoceanic lithosphere. The Careón ophiolite is a key element in understanding the evolution of\udthe Rheic Ocean, which was the main oceanic domain that closed during the Paleozoic convergence\udof Gondwana and Laurussia, preceding the assembly of Pange