Quartz microfabric of the Laxfordian Canisp Shear Zone,NW Scotland

The Canisp Shear Zone transects layered Lewisian gneisses near Lochinver, NW Scotland. It is a vertical ductile shear zone with a dextral shear sense, formed during Laxfordian amphibolite facies metamorphism, transposing the layering to new foliation and linear structures. Minerals in the layered gneisses show little or no shape fabric, while a strong shape fabric defines the foliation. For quartz, this shape fabric is accompanied by development of a preferred crystal orientation with fabric patterns reflecting the geometry of the shear deformation. The quartz fabric shows a pole-free area around the lineation with the c-axes concentrated in an asymmetric cross-girdle or a point maximum perpendicular to the shear plane, and a monoclinic symmetry consistent with the shear sense.     

Impact of gneissic layering and localized incipient melting upon melt flow during experimental deformation of migmatites

In this study, we test experimentally the role of compositional layering as a key parameter for controlling melt flow in a natural migmatite during coaxial deformation. We performed in – situ pure-shear experiments on two natural gneisses. The first gneiss is weakly foliated with minerals homogenously distributed. The second gneiss shows a pronounced compositional layering of alternating quartz – feldspar – rich and biotite – muscovite – rich layers. Experimental conditions were selected to obtain homogeneous melt distribution in the homogeneous gneiss and heterogeneous melt distribution in the layered gneiss. Initial melt distribution is not modified by deformation in experiments on the homogeneous gneiss, implying that melting products did not migrate from their initiation sites. In contrast, melt flowed in shear zones or in inter-boudin positions during experimental deformation of the heterogeneous gneiss. These experiments attest to the strong influence of initial gneissic layering on melting pattern, melt segregation and flow during deformation of partially molten rocks.     

The major petrological and geochemical characters of the 3,600 m.y. Uivak gneisses from Labrador

The 3,622±72 m.y. Uivak gneisses of northern Labrador consist of two major rock suites: regionally developed layered granodioritic gneisses (Uivak I suite) interpreted as derived from earlier tonalitic igneous parents by the massive introduction of potassium and rubidium, and a less extensive group of iron-rich porphyritic granodiorites and ferro-diorites (Uivak II suite) emplaced after at least one major period of deformation and migmatisation had affected the Uivak I gneisses. Samples from both suites fall on the 3,622 m.y. Rb/Sr whole-rock isochron.The age is provisionally interpreted as that of Rb metasomatism and homogenisation affecting both suites. It is suggested that the low initial ratio of 0.7014±0.0008 obtained from both suites need not be diagnostic of a short crustal residence if the evidence for massive addition of Rb to this level of the crust at 3,622 m.y. is accepted.     

Development of igneous layering during growth of pluton: The Tarçouate Laccolith (Morocco)

We discuss the significance of igneous layering with respect to pluton growth processes. The case study is the Tarçouate Laccolith (Morocco), whose core consists of modally layered hornblende granodiorites with high amount of monzodioritic enclaves, contrasting with peripheral, non-layered biotite granodiorites with low amount of enclaves. Rhythmic layering, with modal grading, cross-stratification and trough layering is associated with monzodioritic layers and wraps around mafic enclaves. Its steep dips ≥ 45° result from tilting that occurred above solidus conditions, as indicated by sub-vertical and synmagmatic granite, aplite and monzodiorite dykes cutting across the layering.The systematic association of igneous layering with mafic enclaves in calc-alkaline plutons suggests that layering originates from recurrent injection of mafic magma. Viscosity calculations suggest that the physicochemical properties of magma alone cannot account for the presence of layering in the central hornblende granodiorite and its coeval absence in the peripheral biotite granodiorite of the Tarçouate Laccolith. Intermittent pulses of hot mafic magma into crystallizing granodiorite likely produced thermal perturbations able to trigger local convection, formation of mafic enclaves and development of igneous layering through protracted crystallization.     

粤北大宝山矿区加里东期火山岩的厘定及其地质意义

粤北大宝山矿区一带出露一套与层状Fe-Cu-Pb-Zn矿化紧密共生的层状火成岩。层状火成岩产状与上覆页岩及大理岩和下伏碳质页岩基本一致。本文通过层状火成岩显微特征及锆石年龄探讨火成岩形成环境及时代。层状火成岩为斑状结构,块状构造,局部发育条带状构造及流动构造。层状火成岩的斑晶主要由火山喷发形成的棱角明显石英、斜长石、钾长石、少量角闪石、黑云母及黄铁矿等晶屑及少量岩屑组成,基质为火山熔浆凝结形成的全晶质矿物,主要由粒度极细的石英、钾长石、绢云母、白云母及少量黑云母等组成,石英和钾长石构成典型的霏细结构。层状火成岩含大量火山碎屑及具流动构造等现象表明其为火山碎屑熔岩类,主要为英安质凝灰熔岩、流纹质凝灰熔岩及角砾熔岩。大宝山矿区中部流纹质凝灰熔岩和东部丘坝一带英安质凝灰熔岩的锆石LA-ICP-MS U-Pb年龄分别为436.4±4.1Ma,MSWD=0.94和434.1±4.4Ma,MSWD=1.9,是加里东期形成的。据大宝山矿区熔岩锆石U-Pb年龄,结合层状熔岩和灰岩及碳质页岩紧密共生及区域深大断裂构造活动特征,我们认为大宝山与层状矿化关系密切的层状火成岩为加里东期海相火山熔岩,粤北一带加里东期海相火山活动可能和形成于加里东期的吴川-四会深大断裂活动有关。     

Stratigraphic and geochemical evidence for the depositional environment of the early archaean isua supracrustal belt,southern west greenland

The highly deformed c. 3800 Ma Isua supracrustal belt is a fragment of a more extensive Early Archaean sedimentary and volcanic succession intruded by and tectonically intercalated with tonalitic and granitic Amftsoq gneisses in the period 3800-3600 Ma. The supracrustal rocks recrystallised under amphibolite facies conditions between 3800 and 3600 Ma, in the Late Archaean and locally at c. 1800 Ma. Layered sequences of rock of sedimentary and probable volcanic origin form over 50% of the belt. Bodies of high MgAl basic rocks and ultramafic rocks were intruded into the layered sequences prior to isoclinal folding and intrusion of Amitsoq gneisses. The layered rocks which are < 1 km thick are divided into two sequences, that are in faulted contact with each other. The way-up of these sequences has been determined from facing-directions of locally-preserved graded layering in felsic metasediments at several localities. The overall upwards change in sedimentary succession is interpreted as showing change from dominantly basic to dominantly felsic volcanism which provided the major clastic component of the sediments. Clastic sedimentation took place against a background of chemical sedimentation, shown by interlayers of banded iron formation, metachert and calc-silicate rocks throughout the sequences. The felsic rocks locally preserve graded bedding and possible conglomerate structures, indicating deposition from turbidite flows and possibly as debris flows. Nodules in the felsic rocks contain structures interpreted as fiammé. There is an irregular enrichment in K₂O/Na₂O in many of the felsic rocks at constant SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ content, interpreted as owing to alteration of original andesitic to dacitic volcanic rocks. Banded iron formations locally contain conglomeratic structures suggesting sedimentary reworking, possibly under shallow water conditions. Lithological and geochemical characters of the clastic components of the supracrustal sequences are consistent with derivation from felsic and basic volcanic rocks and do not require a continental source.     

崆岭杂岩中角闪岩类的年代学和地球化学

通过崆岭杂岩中角闪岩类的年代学和地球化学研究,以揭示黄陵结晶基底的形成及演化。崆岭杂岩主要由太古代的TTG片麻岩和角闪岩类岩石,以及早元古代孔兹岩系组成,角闪岩类以围岩或包体的形式存在于TTG片麻岩的周围和内部。角闪岩类围岩的全岩Sm-Nd等时线年龄为2 998.9 Ma,原生岩浆锆石的U-Pb年龄为3 013 Ma,均代表角闪岩类原岩的形成时间,且与包体状斜长角闪岩原岩的年龄(3.0 Ga)相同。说明以围岩或包体存在的角闪岩类,其原岩的形成年龄均为3.0 Ga。微量元素和Nd同位素地球化学特征指示,角闪岩类原岩形成的构造环境为大陆初始裂谷环境。角闪岩类岩石中变质新生锆石的U-Pb年龄为2 043 Ma,指示黄陵地区存在第Ⅲ期(2.1～1.9 Ga)角闪岩相热变质事件,且该期热变质作用将松散的陆源碎屑岩等变质为孔兹岩系,从而构成早元古代结晶基底,并与晚太古代稳定陆块焊结在一起,最终完成整个黄陵结晶基底的形成。     

Anorthosite-adamellite-troctolite layering in the Barth Island structure of the Nain complex, Labrador

The Barth Island structure is an oval, 9 by 6 km body of layered igneous rocks. The central part contains a rhythmically layered troctolite-adamellite sequence. The sequence is repeated outward, but appears overturned, strongly sheared and reduced in thickness. Outward follows an adamellite-anorthosite sequence in which the effects of shear gradually diminish. In both sequences cryptic layering is evidenced by gradual change in mineral compositions. Isopleth maps based on the compositions of plagioclase, orthopyroxene and olivine show a circular high of An, En and Fo percentages in troctolite, gradually decreasing inward to a low in adamellitic rock. Between the highs in troctolite and the surrounding anorthosite occurs a low-temperature trough where both sequences grade into adamellitic rock. The structure may represent a deformed portion of pre-existing igneous layering. An alternative explanation would involve mixing of successive magma batches of gradually more sodic and ferrous composition.     

A horizontal tectonic regime in the Archaean of Greenland and its implications for early crustal thickening

The Archaean complex of Greenland consists of a layered sequence of gneisses whose history can be traced back from 2,600 m.y. to before 3,750 m.y. ago. Quartzo-feldspathic gneisses that are considered to be derived from intrusive granitic rocks make up more than 80% of the complex. They were emplaced during at least two separate periods of plutonism. The remainder of the complex consists of supracrustal rocks, mainly amphibolites and semipelitic gneisses with smaller amounts of quartzite and calcarous rocks, and metamorphosed basic igneous rocks dominated by leucogabbros and anorthosites. Lithologic units of different ages and provenances were intercalated by nappe-like folding and thrusting and were intruded by syntectonic sheets of calc-alkaline granitic rocks. The resulting sequence was repeatedly folded and deformed under high grade metamorphic conditions and the layering was further emphasised. This combination nappe-like folding, thrusting and granite injection is considered to have resulted in a considerable amount of crustal thickening. Granulite facies metamorphism ensued at depth as the base of the thickened sialic mass dried out. In this way a stable continental mass was formed with a refractory base of high grade rocks depleted in radioactive elements. It is suggested that the driving force responsible for the folding, thrusting and generation and intrusion of calc-alkaline magmas was some form of sub-horizontal movement within the mantle and between the mantle and thin crust. This dominantly horizontal tectonic regime is contrasted with the dominantly vertical tectonic regime described from the greenstone belt—granite terrain of southern Africa.     

The Chimalpahad anorthosite Complex and associated basaltic amphibolites,Nellore Schist Belt,India: Magma chamber and roof of a Proterozoic island arc

New major and trace element data on the Proterozoic Chimalpahad layered anorthositic Complex and associated basaltic amphibolites of the Nellore Schist Belt of South India provide new constraints on their petrogenesis and geodynamic setting. The Complex consists of layered anorthosites, leucogabbros, gabbros, ultramafic rocks and is spatially associated with basaltic amphibolites. Despite deformation and metamorphism, primary cumulate textures and igneous layering are locally well preserved throughout the Complex. Whereas the amphibolites display diverse REE systematics, the Chimalpahad anorthositic–gabbroic rocks are characterized by moderately depleted to strongly enriched LREE patterns and by flat to depleted HREE patterns. The field relations, major and trace element compositions of the basaltic amphibolites suggest that they are petrogenetically related to the anorthositic–gabbroic rocks by fractional crystallization. The anorthositic rocks and the basaltic amphibolites share the depletion of Nb relative to Th and La on primitive mantle-normalized diagrams. They exhibit signatures of arc magmatic rocks, such as high LILE and LREE relative to the HFSE and HREE, as well as high Ba/Nb, Ba/Zr, Sr/Y, La/Yb ratios that mimic chondrite-normalized REE and primitive mantle-normalized trace element patterns of arc magmas. Similarly, on log-transformed tectonic discrimination diagrams, the Chimalpahad rocks plot within the field of Phanerozoic magmatic arcs, consistent with a subduction zone origin. On the basis of field relations and geochemical characteristics, the Chimalpahad Complex is interpreted as a fragment of a magma chamber of an island arc, which is tectonically juxtaposed against its original volcanic cover. A new preliminary Sm–Nd date of anorthosite from the Chimalpahad Complex indicates a model age of 1170 Ma.     

冀北太古代花岗质片麻岩的成因

冀北是华北克拉通早前寒武纪变质基底的主要出露地区之一。分布于承德-滦平和赤城-张家口地区的新太古代花岗质片麻岩主要由英云闪长岩、奥长花岗岩、花岗闪长岩和二长花岗岩(TTGM)组成,构成了低钾、中钾和高钾钙碱性三个岩石化学系列。二长花岗质片麻岩的LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb和Lu-Hf同位素特征揭示其岩浆结晶年龄为2509±10Ma。全岩岩石化学、Sm-Nd同位素和锆石Lu-Hf同位素研究表明:(1)低钾钙碱性系列的岩石形成于拉班玄武质岩石的低度部分熔融;(2)中钾钙碱性系列岩石主要形成于玄武质岩石和杂砂岩的部分熔融,局部存在英云闪长质片麻岩的部分熔融;(3)高钾钙碱性系列的岩石形成于以高钾中酸性火山岩为主要成分的杂砂岩的部分熔融。结合近年来冀北早前寒武纪地质研究成果,这些太古代花岗质片麻岩全岩Sm-Nd同位素和锆石Lu-Hf同位素特征揭示~2.7Ga是本区太古代地壳的主要生长期。在新太古代发生了大规模的火山喷发,火山物质形成后不久发生部分熔融形成花岗质岩浆,接着发生变质、变形作用。这些花岗质片麻岩的形成与南美洲西海岸的构造-岩浆活动特征有类似之处,可能反映了太古代末期冀北地区从活动大陆边缘地壳增生、加厚到弧后伸展转化的动力学背景。     

Geochemical evolution of high-pressure mafic granulites from the Bacariza formation (Cabo Ortegal complex, NW Spain): an example of a heterogeneous lower crust

 The Cabo Ortegal complex (northwestern Iberian massif) is a klippen formed of several structural units stacked during the Hercynian collision. All these units include ultramafic rocks, metabasites and quartz-feldspathic gneisses affected by different metamorphic conditions. The Bacariza formation is heterogeneous showing a conspicuous layering mainly defined by alternate high-pressure ultrabasic-to-basic granulites, retrogressed garnet amphibolites of intermediate composition and rare acid rocks forming garnet trondhjemitic gneisses. This layering is inherited from a gabbroic protolith showing a composition rich in Fe and Ti. Major and trace elements of these rocks can be correlated to continental tholeiitic series of extensional settings. These high-pressure granulites are situated in normal contact between±serpentinised ultramafic rocks and other high-grade metabasites with lessevolved and more-depleted composition comparable to T-type and N-type MORB. It is suggested that the layered gabbro-type protolith was part of a continuous mafic crust. This crust was initially formed during Early Ordovician in a continental extensional setting and progressively evolved to oceanic spreading. Received: 9 February 1996/Accepted: 10 February 1997     

Geometric consequences of ductile fabric development from brittle shear faults in mafic melt sheets: Evidence from the Sudbury Igneous Complex,Canada

Compared to felsic igneous rocks the genetic relationship between brittle and ductile fabric development and its influence on the geometry of deformed mafic melt sheets has received little attention in structural analyses. We explore these relationships using the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC) as an example. The SIC is the relic of a layered impact melt sheet that was transformed into a fold basin, the Sudbury Basin, during Paleoproterozoic deformation at the southern margin of the Archean Superior Province. We studied brittle and ductile strain fabrics on the outcrop and map scales in the southern Sudbury Basin, notably in the Norite and Quartz Gabbro layers of the SIC. Here, deformation is heterogeneous and occurred under variable rheological conditions, evident by the development of brittle shear fractures, brittle-ductile shear zones and pervasive ductile strain. The mineral fabrics formed under low- to middle greenschist-facies metamorphism, whereby brittle deformation caused hydrolytic weakening and ductile fabric development. Principal strain axes inferred from all structural elements are collinear and point to a single deformation regime that led to thinning of SIC layers during progressive deformation. Ductile fabric development profoundly influenced the orientation of SIC material planes, such as lithological contacts and magmatic mineral fabrics. More specifically, these planar structural elements are steep where the SIC underwent large magnitudes of thinning, i.e., in the south limb of the Sudbury Basin. Here, the actual tilt component of material planes is likely smaller than its maximum total rotation (60°) inferred from inclined igneous layering in the Norite. Our field-based study shows that ductile fabric development from brittle faults can have a profound influence on the rotational components of primary material planes in deformed igneous melt sheets.     

Igneous origin of K-feldspar megacrysts in deformed granite of the Papoose Flat Pluton, California, USA

Many points of evidence, especially igneous microstructures and structures resulting from solid-state deformation, indicate that K-feldspar megacrysts in deformed granites of the Papoose Flat pluton are residual phenocrysts, not porphyroblasts. Evidence of an igneous origin includes features such as crystal shapes, simple twinning, zonally arranged euhedral plagioclase inclusions, oscillatory compositional zoning, and local occurrence in microgranitoid enclaves. Evidence of solid-state deformation of the megacrysts (which is consistent with their existence prior to the mylonitic deformation) includes marginal recrystallization and neocrystallization, microcline twinning, marginal replacement by myrmekite, and recrystallized/neocrystallized “tails”. Evidence of porphyroblastic growth, such as overgrown inclusion trails, is absent. This appears to be the situation in most felsic augen gneisses and mylonites.     

Early Archaean Amîtsoq tonalites and granites of the Isukasia area,southern West Greenland: development of the oldest-known sial

Amphibolite facies early Archaean Amîtsoq gneisses envelop and intrude the c. 3,800 Ma Isua supracrustal belt, Isukasia area, southern West Greenland. Most of these gneisses are strongly deformed, but in a c. 75 km² augen of lower deformation, the Amîtsoq gneisses are seen to comprise predominantly 3,750–3,700 Ma tonalitic grey gneisses that were intruded first by thin bodies of mafic to dioritic composition, known collectively as the Inaluk dykes, and then by c. 3,600 Ma white gneisses and finally by sporadic c. 3,400 Ma pegmatitic gneiss sheets. The grey gneisses could have formed by partial melting of crust consisting predominantly of basic rocks. The Inaluk dykes are interpreted as strongly fractionated basic melts of mantle origin, contaminated by crustal material. The white gneisses consist mostly of medium grained granite and occur as lenses and anastomosing sheets throughout their host of grey gneisses with subordinate inclusions of supracrustal rocks. The white gneisses have chemistry compatible with formation by partial melting at depth of a source dominated by grey gneisses. The igneous chemistry, including REE abundances, of the grey gneisses and white gneisses has been modified to varying degrees by metasomatism and assimilation reactions during the crystallisation of the white gneisses and also during subsequent tectonometamorphic events. The white gneisses are evidence for considerable reworking by anatexis of sialic crust in the early Archaean, 150 to 100 Ma after its formation. The white gneisses and the pegmatitic gneisses show that granitic rocks s.s. were important in the earliest Archaean, and are further evidence of the diversity of the oldest-known sial.Previously at and the Geological Survey of Greenland, Øster Voldgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark     

Scales of deformation partitioning during exhumation in a continental subduction channel: A petrofabric study of eclogites and gneisses from NW Spain (Malpica‐Tui Allochthonous Complex)

Deformation partitioning is identified as the fingerprint of late Palaeozoic continental subduction that affected various lithologies whose field relationship, thermobarometric and petrofabric features are closely related. Different modes of deformation partitioning can be identified within medium temperature, high‐P eclogite lenses, between them and the host gneisses, and within the latter. Development of foliations and lineations with a coherent attitude in all these rocks and their related structural petrology demonstrate that eclogite enclosures and their country rocks underwent a common, pervasive deformational event. The published P–T stability fields of the eclogite phases that define the microscopic fabric are used to define the metamorphic conditions prevailing during the deformation event and relate it to the subduction process. The mineral equilibria of the gneisses (ortho‐ and paragneisses) fail to record the full range of those P–T conditions, but the field relationships show that eclogites were originally basic dykes emplaced in acid igneous rocks and demonstrate that the eclogites and gneisses shared a common tectonometamorphic evolution. Deformation partitioning within the latter occurred at variable scales and involved (1) meso macroscale preservation of virtually undeformed metagranite bodies, surrounded by (2) pervasively foliated and lineated gneisses, and (3) the simultaneous microscale operation in the latter of ductile and brittle–ductile mechanisms at conditions above 500°C and below 1.5 GPa. A subduction channel tectonic setting is proposed to explain the subduction of upper to mid‐crustal igneous rocks and exhumation subsequent to high‐P metamorphism. Its currently accessible dimensions, and its organization into several lithotectonic units mapped as nappes support tectonic amalgamation of units several km³ in volume. Maximum burial in the subduction channel likely reached depths shallower than the lithostatic pressure implied by geobarometric calculations, possibly conditioned by a sudden pressure drop during the initial retrogression stages accompanying exhumation.     

Structural relations and PbPb zircon ages for the Makuti gneisses: evidence for a crustal-scale Pan-African shear zone in the Zambezi Belt,northwest Zimbabwe

The Makuti Group of northwest Zimbabwe is composed of mafic and intermediate biotite-rich gneisses interlayered with quartzofeldspathic gneisses of granitic composition, and minor sedimentary units. The gneisses have experienced a multi-staged metamorphic history, including an early high temperature-high pressure event and subsequent reworking at upper- to mid-amphibolite-facies conditions. They are positioned along the strongly deformed, southern margin of the east-west trending Zambezi Belt, and have been correlated with supracrustal gneiss units along the northern margin of the Zimbabwe Craton.The Makuti Group is characterised by an intensely developed gneissic layering and complex disharmonic folds that resulted from non-coaxial deformation involving repeated stages of transposition. The basal contact of the g roup coincides with a decrease in strain intensity, but not with a directional change of characteristic structural elements (e.g. lineations, fold axes), nor with a clear change in rock types. Pink quartzofeldspathic gneisses of granitic composition are typical for the Makuti Group, but locally intrude basement gneiss as well. The quartzofeldspathic gneisses occur as porphyritic and non-porphyritic varieties that are, invariably, intensely sheared.The age and nature of the basal contact of the Makuti Group and its relationship to the quartzofeldspathic gneisses has been investigated. Samples for single zircon PbPb dating were collected from a felsic biotite gneiss just below (2704 ± 0.3 Ma) and above (2510 ± 0.4 Ma) the lower contact of the Makuti Group at an ‘unconformity’ 2 km northwest of Vuti. Further samples were collected from pink quartzofeldspathic units at the base (737 ± 0.9 Ma), central part (764 ± 0.9 Ma; 797 ± 0.9 Ma) and top (794 ± 0.5 Ma; 854 ± 0.8 Ma) of the Makuti Group. Two samples of Kariba orthogneiss (1920 ± 0.4 and 1963 ± 0.4 Ma) underlying the Makuti Group in the northwest were also collected. In all samples, long-prismatic, colourless to brown, igneous zircon grains were selected. Dates were obtained using a stepwise single-grain evaporation technique. Although this technique only allows minimum age estimates, the dates are highly reproducible, indicating that they approximate emplacement ages. The ages conform with the field observations that the basement has been reworked in the Makuti Group and that the quartzofeldspathic units may have been emplaced as granites.It is proposed that the Makuti Group represents a crustal scale shear zone that partly reworked basement gneisses and acted as a conduit for granite emplacement. Shearing took place in an extensional setting around 800 Ma ago, and may have resulted in the exhumation of lower crustal rocks.     

Proto-Tethyan remnants in northwest Iran: Geochemistry of the gneisses and metapelitic rocks

The Iran continental crust was metamorphosed, intruded by granitoid magmas, folded and faulted during the Late Precambrian by the Pan-African Orogeny. The basement complex in the Takab Complex (northwest Iran) consists of gneisses, amphibolites, pelitic schists, meta-ultramafic and calc-silicate rocks. Geochemically, the protoliths of the Takab gneisses are slightly peraluminous and medium to high-potassic with calc-alkaline affinity. These gneisses may have been emplaced in volcanic arc tectonic setting. Furthermore, the metapelitic protolith is shale deposited in an active continental margin setting. All these characteristics, and presence of paleo-suture zone and ophiolitic rocks (i.e. serpentines, meta-mafic and meta-ultramafic rocks) around the high grade metamorphic rocks suggest that a continental-margin magmatic arc (Andean-type) formed the Takab Precambrian basement. The basement complexes are extensively overprinted by the Pan-African Orogeny and younger igneous events; this supports the inference that Early Cambrian orogenesis in the Takab Complex region of northwest Iran marks one of the fundamental lithospheric boundaries within Gondwana which belonged to a greater Late Neoproterozoic–Early Paleozoic orogenic system that was active along the Proto-Tethyan margin of the Gondwana supercontinent, extending at least from its Arabian margin to the Himalayan margin of the Indian subcontinent.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987113000327

The Panzhihua intrusion in southwest China is part of the Emeishan large igneous province and host of a large Fe-Ti-V ore deposit.In previous interpretations it was considered to be a layered,differentiated sill with the ore deposits at its base.New structural and petrological data suggest instead that the intrusion has an open S-shape,with two near-concordant segments joined by a discordant dyke-like segment. During emplacement of the main intrusion,multiple generations of mafic dykes invaded carbonate wall rocks,producing a large contact aureole.In the central segment,magmatic layering is oriented oblique to the walls of the intrusion.This layering cannot have formed by crystal settling or in-situ growth on the floor of the intrusion;instead we propose that it resulted from inward solidification of multiple,individually operating,convection cells.Ore formation was triggered by interaction of magma with carbonate wall rocks.     

Sources of continental magmatism adjacent to the late Archean Kolar Suture Zone,south India: distinct isotopic and elemental signatures of two late Archean magmatic series

 Conspicuous Nd, Sr and Pb isotopic differences exist between the Archean gneiss terranes adjoining the suture at the Kolar Schist Belt, south India. These gneisses, which are the deformed equivalents of plutonic and volcanic rocks, have known or inferred igneous ages of 2630 to 2530 Ma. Initial isotopic ratios of Nd, Sr and Pb suggest that metaplutonic gneisses west of the Kolar Schist Belt were emplaced into, and variably contaminated by, an evolved continental crust that formed prior to 3200 Ma. Felsic metaigneous gneisses that occur as slivers on the western margin of the schist belt have an isotopic character similar to that of the metaplutonic rocks on the same side of the Kolar Schist Belt. On the east side of the Kolar Schist Belt the isotopic evidence suggests that the 2530 Ma granitic gneisses were not derived from or contaminated by an older continental crust. Their source probably evolved with a Nd isotopic composition similar to that of typical Archean mantle, but became light rare earth element enriched after 2900 to 2700 Ma. The inferred tectonic setting for the west side of the Kolar Schist Belt is an Andean continental magmatic arc. For the east side of the Kolar Schist Belt, a possible Phanerozoic analog is an evolved island arc, such as Japan. Received: 24 June 1994/Accepted: 9 January 1995