Magnetic fabric in folded sills and lava flows. A case study in the Permian basalts of the Anayet Massif (Pyrenean Axial Zone, Spain)

The shallow intrusive bodies and lava flows emplaced within the Permian upper red unit in the Anayet Massif, represent a magmatic episode that occurred about 255 Ma (Saxonian) in the Pyrenean Axial Zone (northern Spain). Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) measurements, in both igneous bodies and their host rocks, allow us to infer the existence of magnetic fabrics of tectonic origin linked to the main cleavage-related folding episode. The relationship between the susceptibility axes and the field structures is the criterion that permits to differentiate normal from inverse magnetic fabrics in the igneous samples. The structural interpretation of all AMS data taken from the igneous bodies and sedimentary host rocks, is in accordance with a folding model which include: (i) flattening associated with cleavage formation during fold amplification in incompetent layers (host pelites), responsible for a magnetic lineation at high angles with respect to the regional folding axis and (ii) buckling in competent (conglomerates and igneous bodies) levels, responsible for a magnetic lineation parallel to the regional fold axes.     

Pervasive horizontal fabric and rapid vertical extrusion: Lateral overturning and margin sub-parallel flow of deep crustal migmatites, northeastern Bohemian Massif

In the West Sudetes, northeastern Bohemia Massif, geochronometry provides evidence for repeated episodes of rapid cooling that contrasts sharply with an absence of structural evidence for significant tectonic exhumation by crustal extension. Instead, high-grade assemblages of the Orlica–Snieznik Complex have a regional sub-horizontal foliation and sub-horizontal lineations that trend parallel to narrow sub-vertical shear zones containing exhumed high-pressure assemblages. Mesoscopic petrofabrics combined with anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) data from amphibolite facies to migmatitic meta-sedimentary and meta-igneous rocks reveal remarkably consistent average lineations that plunge shallowly to the SSW on both steep and sub-horizontal NNE-trending planar fabrics. The dominant SSW–NNE fabric orientation is parallel to the Bohemia–Brunia suture, which marks a major boundary along the eastern margin of the massif. The shape of the AMS ellipsoid is predominantly oblate, revealing flattened fabrics, with only local prolate ellipsoids. We envisage that the continental Brunian indentor operated as a rigid backstop and allowed the migmatized lower crustal orogenic root to be exhumed along the Bohemian margin shortly following terminal arc collision. Sub-vertical extrusion of the orogenic root was arrested in the mid-crust, where the lower ductile crust was laterally overturned at the base of rigid upper crustal blocks. Upon reaching the crustal high-strength lid the exhumed ductile mass of continental material laterally spread sub-parallel to the margin, underwent subsequent supra-Barrovian metamorphism, and quickly cooled. The application of AMS techniques to high-grade metamorphic rocks in concert with macroscopic structural observations is a powerful approach for resolving the deformation history of a terrane where visible rock fabrics can be tenuous.     

Magnetic fabrics and their relationship with the emplacement of the Piracaia pluton,SE Brazil

Magnetic fabric and rock-magnetism studies were performed on the four units of the 578 ± 3-Ma-old Piracaia pluton (NW of São Paulo State, southern Brazil). This intrusion is roughly elliptical (~32 km²), composed of (i) coarse-grained monzodiorite (MZD-c), (ii) fine-grained monzodiorite (MZD-f), which is predominant in the pluton, (iii) monzonite heterogeneous (MZN-het), and (iv) quartz syenite (Qz-Sy). Magnetic fabrics were determined by applying both anisotropy of low-field magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and anisotropy of anhysteretic remanent magnetization (AARM). The two fabrics are coaxial. The parallelism between AMS and AARM tensors excludes the presence of a single domain (SD) effect on the AMS fabric of the units. Several rock-magnetism experiments performed in one specimen from each sampled units show that for all of them, the magnetic susceptibility and magnetic fabrics are carried by magnetite grains, which was also observed in the thin sections. Foliations and lineations in the units were successfully determined by applying magnetic methods. Most of the magnetic foliations are steeply dipping or vertical in all units and are roughly parallel to the foliation measured in the field and in the country rocks. In contrast, the magnetic lineations present mostly low plunges for the whole pluton. However, for eight sites, they are steep up to vertical. Thin-section analyses show that rocks from the Piracaia pluton were affected by the regional strain during and after emplacement since magmatic foliation evolves to solid-state fabric in the north of the pluton, indicating that magnetic fabrics in this area of the pluton are related to this strain. Otherwise, the lack of solid-state deformation at outcrop scale and in thin sections precludes deformation in the SW of the pluton. This evidence allows us to interpret the observed magnetic fabrics as primary in origin (magmatic) acquired when the rocks were solidified as a result of magma flow, in which steeply plunging magnetic lineation suggests that a feeder zone could underlie this area.     

The Chinamora batholith, Zimbabwe: structure and emplacement-related magnetic rock fabric

The origin of dome-and-keel structural geometries in Archean granite–greenstone terrains appears to lack any modern analogues and is still poorly understood. The formation of these geometries is investigated using structural and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) data for the Chinamora batholith in Zimbabwe. The roughly circular-shaped batholith is surrounded by ca. 2.72–2.64 Ga greenstones. The batholith granitoid suites have been divided on the basis of their ages and fabric relationships into four distinct units: (i) banded basement gneisses; (ii) granodioritic gneisses; (iii) equigranular granites; and (iv) central porphyritic granites. In the gneissic granites a partial girdle (N–S) of poles to the magnetic foliation is developed that has been folded around a consistent, flat lying magnetic lineation plunging at shallow angles to the E or W. In the equigranular granites, the magnetic lineation generally plunges to the NW. The magnetic foliation has a variable strike, no clear trends can be distinguished. The AMS measurements of the porphyritic granite revealed a NW–SE striking foliation and showed subhorizontal magnetic lineations. The magnetic foliation is subparallel to the macroscopic foliation. Wall rocks are moderately inclined and show radial or concentric lineations, triaxial strain ellipsoids and kinematics that demonstrate off-the-dome sliding and coeval pluton expansion. The results of the observations do not point to a single emplacement process. Neither the observed structural data nor the magnetic fabric support a model envisaging spherically ‘ballooning’. It is argued that pluton diapirism played a major part in the formation of the fabrics in the gneisses, whereas the fabrics in the porphyritic granites reflect emplacement as laccolith-like sheets.     

花岗岩构造与侵位机制研究进展

近年来对造山带花岗岩构造与侵位机制的研究表明，花岗岩不但可以侵位在区域伸展的构造背景，也可以侵位在区域挤压（缩短）的构造背景。花岗岩侵位受断裂的控制并不是像以前认为的那样明显，而是受多种侵位机制的共同作用，而构造样式和变形组构则是侵位机制研究的基础。提出了一些新的研究思路和方法。此外，对大别山中生代花岗岩构造、侵位机制作了简要讨论。     

Magnetic fabric of a basaltic dyke swarm associated with Mesozoic rifting in northeastern Brazil

The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) has been studied in a 120 km long, Early Cretaceous tholeiitic dyke swarm emplaced during the early stages of rifting and opening of the equatorial Atlantic Ocean. The vertical dykes filled a set of E-trending fractures that cut the structural grain of the Precambrian basement of northeastern Brazil at a high angle. These strongly magnetic rocks contain pseudo-single domain, Ti-poor magnetite and secondary maghemite as revealed by thermomagnetic and hysteresis data. The contribution of the paramagnetic and the high coercivity antiferromagnetic fractions to the bulk susceptibility is less than 1.2%. The dykes generally show well-clustered AMS principal directions. The plunge of the magnetic lineation varies from nearly subvertical in the center of the swarm to horizontal in the west. The strike of the magnetic foliation is generally oblique to the dyke wall and exhibits a curved trend at the regional scale. This fabric pattern suggests that the magma source that fed the dykes was situated in the center of the swarm, which is presently below Tertiary sandstones.     

Granitoid emplacement by multiple sheeting during Variscan dextral transpression: The Saint-Laurent – La Jonquera pluton (Eastern Pyrenees)

The structural study of the Saint-Laurent – La Jonquera pluton (Eastern Pyrenees), a Variscan composite laccolithic intrusion emplaced in metasedimentary and gneissic rocks of the Roc de Frausa dome, by means of the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) technique has allowed the determination of the nature and orientation of its magmatic fabrics. The magmatic foliation has a predominant NE–SW strike and the mean lineation is also NE–SW trending with a shallow plunge. A strain gradient is measured so that the tonalites to granodiorites that form the basal parts of the pluton, and are intruded into amphibolite-facies metamorphic rocks, recorded the highest anisotropies, whereas the monzogranites and leucogranites, emplaced into upper crustal, low-grade metamorphic rocks, are weakly deformed. These results point to the synkinematic sequential emplacement of multiple granitoid sheets, from less to more differentiated magmatic stages, during the Late Carboniferous D₂ event characterized by an E–W-trending dextral transpression. The magmatic foliation appears locally disturbed by the effects of two tectonic events. The first of them (D₃) produced mylonitization of granitoids along NW–SE retrograding shear zones and open folds in the host Ediacaran metasediments of the Roc de Frausa massif, likely during late Variscan times. Interference between D₂ and D₃ structures was responsible for the dome geometry of the whole Roc de Frausa massif. The second and last perturbation consisted of local southward tilting of the granitoids coupled to the Mesozoic–Cenozoic cover during the Alpine.     

Episodic gravitational collapse and migration of the mountain chain during orogenic roll‐on in the Himalayas

An ～W–E belt of maximum bulk horizontal shortening (the orogen core) moved North relative to the overlying crust to form the Himalayan Syntaxes due to roll‐on of this portion of the Indian plate. This displacement occurred below a lengthy succession of gently dipping decollements that formed episodically at a depth of ～30 km along the orogen core due to numerous periods of gravitational collapse and spreading of the overlying ductile crust. Successively developed basal decollements were deformed when continued bulk horizontal shortening of the orogen core below reasserted dominance over the effects of gravitational collapse above causing refolding about steeply dipping axial planes. This resulted in northwards migration of the orogen core above depths of ～30 km causing rocks metamorphosing at depths of ～22 km on the north side of the orogen core to be moved to its south side with no change in depth as roll‐on progressed. Garnet porphyroblasts record this lengthy history of lateral migration across the orogen within their inclusion trails. The ～6.4 kbar average pressures accompanying it were obtained from the Mn, Fe and Ca contents of successive garnet cores. Garnet grew at depths of ～22 km until movement towards the surface initiated on successively developed decollements that accommodated the volume constraints of gravitational collapse and spreading on both sides of the orogen. The speed of extrusional displacement increased the further the rocks migrated from the orogen core developing mylonitic schists around the porphyroblasts. This truncated inclusion trails against all matrix foliations as the porphyroblasts were carried towards the surface. Indeed, these rocks were multiply deformed during at least four distinct periods of deformation after mylonitization began and prior to exposure above the Main Central Thrust (MCT). Three or more sub‐vertical and sub‐horizontal foliations were formed during each of the five changes in FIA trend (foliation inflection/intersection axes in porphyroblasts) preserved in these rocks. The inclusion trail asymmetries and P‐T of garnet core growth accompanying each FIA reveal that the first four changes in FIA trend, which define periods of tectonism about one direction of horizontal bulk shortening (relative plate motion), occurred on the north side of the orogen core. The fifth occurred on the south side of the orogen core and the switch in shear sense on gently dipping foliation planes that resulted from this shift to the south eventually led to the development of the MCT. When magnetic anomaly 22 that formed in the Southern Indian Ocean Ridge is taken into account, these five changes in FIA trend correlate markedly with changes in the motion of India relative to a constant Eurasia from 50 to c. 25 Ma. They reveal that Eurasia moved NNW during FIAs 1, 3 and 4 and SSE during FIA 5 when the shear sense on gently dipping foliations switched to top to the S. They suggest collision of India with Eurasia took place at 50 Ma, immediately prior to the development of FIA 1.     

Tertiary granitoids of Rhodope, northern Greece: Magmatism related to extensional collapse of the Hellenic Orogen?

Many granites that occur in orogenic belts such as the Himalaya, the Hercynides or Caledonides are thought to result from anatexis of the lower parts of over-thickened thrust-stacked crustal units, just preceding termination of the orogenic cycle. Numerous Tertiary granitoids occur in the Rhodope Zone of northern Greece (and adjacent regions of Bulgaria), a belt regarded as an eastern extension of the Alpine System. These granites could also be regarded as syn- or late-tectonic crustal melts in that some have been emplaced as sheet-like bodies along major Alpine thrust planes, and show a strong marginal foliation parallel to the pervasive Alpine compressional fabrics. In detail, however, the geochemistry of the granitoids, their timing and relationships with country rocks, suggest they have been emplaced in an extensional regime that is related to the collapse of the Hellenic Orogen and, more particularly, to the crustal thinning that the Aegean region has suffered since the mid-Tertiary. Rather than being products of crustal thickening, it is suggested that their petrogenesis is related to the elevation of thermal gradients during the extensional phase, which initiated thermal breakdown of hydrous minerals in the lithosphere and lower crust that had existed metastably during compression and the subduction of cool ocean lithosphere beneath the region in the late Mesozoic-early Tertiary.     

Fabric evolution at basement–cover interfaces in a fold-and-thrust belt and implications for décollement tectonics (Autochthon, Lower Allochthon, central Scandinavian Caledonides)

Microstructural and magnetic investigations (anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility, AMS) on sections across basement–cover interfaces (BCI) revealed a complex evolution in the crystalline basement rocks beneath and in the basal units of the Caledonian fold-and-thrust belt: (1) Pre-Caledonian mylonitic fabrics in basement granite relate to steep shear zones. (2) Palaeoweathering formed smectite and illite at the expense of feldspar and mica. Secondary Fe-bearing clay minerals and the intensity of the chemical weathering control the bulk susceptibility. Changing susceptibility and AMS relate to a (time) sequence from primary magnetite to secondary paramagnetic clay to pyrite and ferrimagnetic pyrrhotite. (3) Burial compaction with BCI-parallel fabrics. (4) Caledonian cleavage, overprinted by décollement zones with S–C–C′ fabrics. Décollement cataclasis overprinted pre-existing magnetic fabrics and produced horizontal magnetic lineations and subhorizontal foliations defined by the S–C–C′ fabrics. Clay mineral enrichment, together with subsequent, BCI-parallel compaction fabrics, decreased the shear strength in the basement rocks beneath the BCI. Detachments initiated at such low-strength zones and produced allochthonous units with their footwall within crystalline basement rocks, an observation of general importance for orogenic fold-and-thrust belts.     

Magnetic Fabric Studies of High-Grade Metamorphic Rocks from the Juiz de Fora Complex,Ribeira Belt,Southeastern Brazil

Granulite from 66 sites along the Além-Paraiba dextral shear zone were collected for magnetic analyses. The rocks were affected by the Braziliano orogeny, which was responsible for the present structural pattern. Magnetic fabrics were determined applying anisotropy of low—field magnetic susceptibility (AMS, all sites) and anisotropy of remanence magnetization (ARM, in 21 sites). The ferromagnetic minerals are magnetite, titanohematite, and in some samples, minor pyrrhotite. Hysteresis curves show that both para— and ferromagnetic minerals are the carriers of AMS. Thus AMS is due to the preferred crystallographic orientation of paramagnetic matrix minerals and titanohematite, to the shape anisotropy of magnetite grains, or to a combination of all three. ARM was performed imposing both anhysteretic remanence (AAR) and isothermal remanence (AIRM). The AMS, AAR, and AIRM fabrics are coaxial and are tectonic in origin. Their parallelism indicates that both ferromagnetic and paramagnetic minerals recorded the same metamorphic event. A passive—marker model is suggested for ferromagnetic minerals at the outcrop scale. The magnetic foliation is very close to the strike of the Além Paraíba shear zone, suggesting that this generated the local rock fabrics during the Braziliano orogeny.     

Heterogeneous deformation recorded by magnetic fabrics in the Pyrenean Axial Zone

Magnetic fabrics studies (AMS) are a useful tool in order to describe the distribution of deformation in orogenic areas where conventional techniques are difficult to apply, especially due to the lack of proper strain markers. In the present study, AMS and structural analysis are used to define the distribution of deformation in the Central Axial and Nogueres Zones, an area of strong structural changes (i) in the geometry of the antiformal stack defining the Pyrenean Axial Zone and (ii) the distribution of Alpine cleavage. The studied rocks are Lower-Middle Triassic red beds that crop out in three different stacked thrust units (Bielsa, Nogueres and Orri). Primary sedimentary fabrics are preserved in the uppermost thrust units (Nogueres Zone), but a high percentage of the sampling sites shows an overprint of Alpine compression on magnetic fabrics, with the magnetic lineation mostly parallel to the tectonic grain defined by compressional structures and the magnetic foliation showing different orientations between the poles to cleavage and bedding. The development of compressional fabrics strongly depends on the structural position of the sites, and two deformation gradients can be inferred: the southern margin of the Axial Zone (Orri and Bielsa units) shows strong internal deformation, increasing towards the North; farther north (in the restored cross-section), deformation is in general terms lower, but increases towards the basal thrust of the Nogueres Zone. The heterogeneous distribution of Alpine internal deformation indicates a preferred development of cleavage in the Variscan basement and overlying units of the southern margin of the Axial Zone (mainly in the Orri unit), that could be partly controlled by the tectonic load resulting from the stacking of thrust sheets.     

Using AMS combined with mineral shape preferred orientation analysis to understand the emplacement fabrics of the Apiaí gabbro-norite (Ribeira Belt,SE Brazil)

The Apiaí gabbro-norite is a massive fine-grained Neoproterozoic intrusion emplaced in a core of synformal structure that deforms low-grade marine metasedimentary rocks of the Ribeira Belt of south-eastern Brazil. The lack of visible magmatic layering or any internal fabric has been a major limitation in deciding whether the emplacement occurred before or after the regional folding. To assist in the tectonic interpretations, we combine low-field anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and silicate shape preferred orientation (SPO) to reveal the internal structure of the mafic intrusion. Magnetic data indicate a mean susceptibility of about 10⁻² SI and a mean anisotropy degree (P) of about 1.08, essentially yielded by titanomagnetite. The magnetic and silicate foliations for P ≥ 1.10 are parallel to each other, while the lineations tend to scatter on the foliation plane, in agreement with the dominant oblate symmetry of the AMS and SPO ellipsoids. For lower P values, the magnetic and silicate fabrics vary from coaxial to oblique, and for P ≤ 1.05, their shapes and orientations can be quite distinct. The crystal size distribution (CSD) of plagioclase for P > 1.05 is log linear, in agreement with a bulk simple crystallisation history. These results combined show that for a strong SPO, corresponding to a magnetic anisotropy above 1.10, AMS is a reliable indicator of the magmatic fabric. They indicate that the Apiaí gabbro-norite consists of sill-like body that was inclined gently to the north by the regional folding.     

Porphyroblast inclusion trails: the key to orogenesis

Detailed microstructural analysis of inclusion trails in hundreds of garnet porphyroblasts from rocks where spiral-shaped inclusion trails are common indicates that spiral-shaped trails did not form by rotation of the growing porphyroblasts relative to geographic coordinates. They formed instead by progressive growth by porphyroblasts over several sets of near-orthogonal foliations that successively overprint one another. The orientations of these near-orthogonal foliations are alternately near-vertical and near-horizontal in all porphyroblasts examined. This provides very strong evidence for lack of porphyroblast rotation.
The deformation path recorded by these porphyroblasts indicates that the process of orogenesis involves a multiply repeated two-stage cycle of: (1) crustal shortening and thickening, with the development of a near-vertical foliation with a steep stretching lineation; followed by (2) gravitational instability and collapse of this uplifted pile with the development of a near-horizontal foliation, gravitational spreading, near-coaxial vertical shortening and consequent thrusting on the orogen margins. Correlation of inclusion trail overprinting relationships and asymmetry in porphyroblasts with foliation overprinting relationships observed in the field allows determination of where the rocks studied lie and have moved within an orogen. This information, combined with information about chemical zoning in porphyroblasts, provides details about the structural/metamorphic ( P-T-t ) paths the rocks have followed.
The ductile deformation environment in which a porphyroblast can rotate relative to geographic coordinates during orogenesis is spatially restricted in continental crust to vertical, ductile tear/transcurrent faults across which there is no component of bulk shortening or transpression.     

Fabric transpositions in granite plutons — An insight from non-scaled analogue modelling

Investigations on a set of experimental models of highly viscous intrusions were carried out in order to study the internal strain pattern during vertical ascent and emplacement of granite intrusions. The strain pattern was determined by means of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) resulting from the orientation of magnetite particles in a liquid plaster medium. The modelled intrusions show distinct fabrics reflecting the flow of a rheologically complex, non-Newtonian material. During the vertical growth of the intrusion, constrictional vertical fabrics are transposed into flattening fabrics, and along with the development of low-intensity fabric domains are passively transported upwards. Vertical growth takes place along subvertical thrust shear zones that satisfactorily explain the discordant magmatic fabrics in granites along intrusion sides. The resulting complex fabric patterns suggest that the vertical movement of material in ascending intrusions is accommodated by various flow mechanisms operating simultaneously.     

Fabrics of migmatites and the relationships between partial melting and deformation in high-grade transpressional shear zones: The Espinho Branco anatexite (Borborema Province,NE Brazil)

The Espinho Branco anatexite, located within a transcurrent, high-temperature shear zone in NE Brazil, was the subject of a comprehensive petrostructural study (Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility – AMS, Anisotropy of Anhysteretic Remanence – AAR, Electron Backscatter Diffraction – EBSD) to evaluate the compatibility of different fabrics with the kinematics of melt deformation. Magnetite dominates susceptibilities larger than 1 mSI and biotite displays [001] lattice directions consistent with AMS k₃ axes. In contrast, migmatites with a susceptibility lower than 0.5 mSI and no visible mesoscopic foliation provide crystallographic fabrics distinct from AMS and AAR. However, AAR remains consistent with the regional strain field. These results suggest that the correlation of field, AMS and crystallographic fabrics is not always straightforward despite the relatively simple organisation of the magnetic fabric in the anatexite. We conclude that AMS recorded the final stages of the strain field in the migmatite irrespective of its complex mesoscale structures and contrasting crystallographic fabrics.     

大别-苏鲁超高压和高压变质带构造演化

大别—苏鲁是世界上超高压 (UHP) ( >2 .7GPa)和高压 (HP)变质岩石出露最为广泛的地区。通过区域研究 ,尤其是在选择的 30多个关键位置上不同尺度构造记录的深入观察 ,结合已有的可利用的变质、热事件及同位素年代学资料分析 ,揭示出它们曾遭受过一个复杂的从深俯冲到折返构造演化历程 ,识别出 5个主要的构造变质事件 :( 1)由块状榴辉岩中发育的微弱面理和线理所代表的第 1期变形变质事件 (D1) ;( 2 )面状榴辉岩中发育的含拉伸线理的透入性主面理、中小型鞘状褶皱及网络状韧性剪切带 ,代表第 2期构造变质事件 (D2 ) ;( 3)第 3期变形事件主体发生于麻粒岩 /角闪岩相后成合晶形成之后 ,主要构造记录是区域性陡倾斜面理及不均一置换的成分层、榴辉岩透镜体及布丁群、面理内褶皱、网状韧性剪切带系统以及减压部分熔融作用形成的混合岩和含榴花岗质岩石组构 ;( 4)区域性的碰撞期后地壳韧性薄化及剪张作用 (D4)形成缓倾斜角闪岩相主面理及线理、穹状及弧形构造和多层韧性拆离带 ,它们主导了现今观察到的大别—苏鲁超高压和高压变质带的区域构造几何图像 ;( 5 )第 5期构造热事件 (D5)表现为不均一断块抬升、红色沉积盆地发育及大规模的岩体和岩脉就位 ,代表造山晚期的构造揭顶及坍陷作用 ,该期构造控制着造山带     

Molybdenite Re–Os dating constrains gravitational collapse of the Sveconorwegian orogen, SW Scandinavia

Re–Os dating of molybdenite from small deposits is used to define crustal domains exhibiting ductile versus brittle behaviour during gravitational collapse of the Sveconorwegian orogen in SW Scandinavia. A 1019 ± 3 Ma planar quartz vein defines a minimum age for brittle behaviour in central Telemark. In Rogaland–Vest Agder, molybdenite associated with deformed quartz and pegmatite veins formed between 982 ± 3 and 947 ± 3 Ma in the amphibolite-facies domain (three deposits) and between 953 ± 3 and 931 ± 3 Ma west of the clinopyroxene-in isograd (two deposits) in the vicinity of the 0.93–0.92 Ga Rogaland anorthosite complex. The data constrain the last increment of ductile deformation to be younger than 0.95 and 0.93 Ga in these two metamorphic zones, respectively. Molybdenite is the product of an equilibrium between biotite, oxide and sulfide minerals and a fluid or hydrated melt phase, after the peak of 1.03–0.97 Ga regional metamorphism. Molybdenite precipitation is locally episodic. A model for gravitational collapse of the Sveconorwegian orogen controlled by lithospheric extension after 0.97 Ga is proposed. In the west of the orogen, the Rogaland–Vest Agder sector is interpreted as a large shallow gneiss dome, formed slowly in two stages in a warm and structurally weak crust. The first stage at 0.96–0.93 Ga was associated with intrusion of the post-collisional hornblende–biotite granite suite. The second stage at 0.93–0.92 Ga, restricted to the southwesternmost area, was associated with intrusion of the anorthosite–mangerite–charnockite suite. Most of the central part of the orogen was already situated in the brittle upper crust well before 0.97 Ga, and did not undergo significant exhumation during collapse. In the east of the orogen, situated against the colder cratonic foreland, exhumation of high-grade rocks of the Eastern Segment occurred between 0.97 and 0.95 Ga, and included preservation of high-pressure rocks but no plutonism.     

Granitoid emplacement during syn-convergent transtension:An example from the Huamenlou pluton in North Qinling,central China

The Huamenlou pluton,is an elongated granite intrusion with high aspect ratio,emplaced within the southern margin of the North Qinling(central China).Here we investigate this pluton through multiple techniques including the fabric study,microstructural observation and zircon geochronology.Our zircon U-Pb data confirm that the granite crystallized at ca.462 Ma which is consistent with the ages of other linear plutons in North Qinling.Microstructural observations of the Huamenlou granites illustrate that the pluton has undergone superimposed deformation during its emplacement,from magmatic to hightemperature solid state conditions.The internal fabric obtained by anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility(AMS)and shape preferred orientation(SPO)show similar results.The fabrics are relatively concordant and generally vary from NE-SW to NEE-SWW which are roughly oblique to the trend of the pluton elongation and the regional structures.Meanwhile,scalar parameters reflect two completely different strain regimes for the pluton and its host rocks,i.e.,the fabrics within host rocks are mainly oblate while the central part of the intrusion displays mainly prolate fabrics.It is inferred that the structural pattern recorded in this pluton was caused by local dextral transtension in consequence of oblique convergence between the South and North China Blocks.We propose that the local transtension in convergence setting probably evolved from vertical extrusion tectonics that provided room for the magma emplacement and imparted prolate fabrics in the Huamenlou pluton.     

Late Alpine evolution of the central Menderes Massif, western Turkey

The central Menderes Massif (western Turkey) is characterized by an overall dome-shaped Alpine foliation pattern and a N-NNE-trending stretching lineation. A section through the southern flank of the central submassif along the northern margin of Büyük Menderes graben has been studied. There, asymmetric non-coaxial fabrics indicate that the submassif has experienced two distinct phases of Alpine deformation: a top-to-the N-NNE contractional phase and a top-to-the S-SSW extensional event. The former fabrics are coeval with a regional prograde Barrovian-type metamorphism at greenschist to upper-amphibolite facies conditions. This event, known as the main Menderes metamorphism, is thought to be the result of internal imbrication of the Menderes Massif rocks along south-verging thrust sheets during the collision of the Sakarya continent in the north and the Anatolide-Tauride platform in the south across the Gzmir-Ankara suture during the (?)Palaeocene-Eocene. Top-to-the S-SSW fabrics, represented by a well-developed ductile shear band foliation associated with inclined and/or curved foliation, asymmetric boudins, and cataclasites, were clearly superimposed on earlier contractional fabrics. These fabrics are interpreted to be related to a low-grade (greenschist?) retrogressive metamorphism and a continuum of deformation from ductile to brittle in the footwall rocks of a south-dipping, presently low-angle normal fault that accompanied Early Miocene orogenic collapse and continental extension in western Turkey. A similar tectono-metamorphic history has been documented for the northern flank of the dome along the southern margin of the Gediz graben with top-to-the N-NNE extensional fabrics. The exhumation of the central Menderes Massif can therefore be attributed to a model of symmetric gravity collapse of the previously thickened crust in the submassif area. The central submassif is thus interpreted as a piece of ductile lower-middle crust that was exhumed along two normal-sense shear zones with opposing vergence and may be regarded as a typical symmetrical metamorphic core complex. These relationships are consistent with previous models that the Miocene exhumation of the Menderes Massif and Cycladic Massif in the Aegean Sea was a result of bivergent extension.