Rhodope and Vardar: the metamorphic and the olistostromic paired belts related to the Cretaceous subduction under Europe

Abstract

The Rhodope massif of Bulgaria and Greece is a complex of Mesozoic synmetamorphic nappes stacked in an Alpine active margin environment. A new analysis of the Triassic to Eocene history of the Vardar suture zone m Greece discloses its Cretaceous setting as a subduction trench. We present a geological traverse that takes into account these new observatons and runs from the Hellenides to the Balkans, i.e. from he African to the Eurasian sides of the Tethys ocean, respectively. The present review first defines the revisited limits of the Rhodope metamorphic complex. In particular, the lower part of the Serbo- Macedonian massif is an extension of the Rhodope units west of the Struma river. Its upper part is separated as the Frolosh greenschist unit, which underlies tectonic slivers of Carpathc-Balkanic type. Several greenschist units which locally yield Mesozoic fossils, follow the outer limits of the Rhodope. Their former attribution to a stratigraphic cover of the Rhodope has been proven false. They are divided into roof greenschists, which partly represent an extension of the Strandza Jurassic black shales basin, and western greenschists, which mostly derive from the Vardar Cretaceous olistostromic assemblage. The Rhodope complex of synmetamorphic nappes includes Continental Units and Mixed Units. The Continental Units comprise quartzo-feld-spathic gneisses in addition to thick marble layers. The Mixed Units comprise meta-ophiolites as large bodies or small knockers. They are imbricated, forming an open dome whose lower, Continental Unit constitutes the Drama window. The uppermost Mixed Unit is overlain by remnants of the European plate. The present-day structure results from combined large-scale thrust and exhumation tectonics. Regional inversions of synmetamorphic sense-of-shear indicate that intermediate parts of the wedge moved upward and forward with respect to both the lower and upper plates. A kinematic model is based on buoyancy-driven decoupling at depth between subducted continental crust and the subducting lithosphere. Continuing convergence allows coeval underthrusting of continental crust at the footwall, decoupling at depth, and upward-forward expulsion of a low-density metamorphic wedge above. The continental crust input and its upward return may have lasted for at least the whole of the Early Cretaceous, as indicated by isotopic ages and the deformation history of the upper plate. A Late Eocene marine transgression divides the ensuing structural and thermal evolution into a follow-up uplift stage and a renewed uplift stage. Revision of the limits of the Vardar belt in Greece first resulted in separating the Paikon mountain as a tectonic window below the Vardar nappes. It belongs to the western, Hellenic foreland into which a system of thrust developed downward between 60 and 40 Ma. The eastern limit is a dextral strike-slip fault zone that developed greenschist facies foliations locally dated at 50–40 Ma. Revision of the lithological components discloses the preponderance of Cretaceous volcano-detritic and olistostromic sequences that include metamorphite blocks of Rhodope origin. Rock units that belong to the Vardar proper (ophiolites, Triassic and Jurassic radiolarites, remnants of an eastern Triassic passive margin) attest for a purely oceanic basin. The Guevgueli arc documents the Jurassic change of the eastern Triassic passive margin into an active one. This arc magmatic activity ended in the Late Jurassic and plate convergence was transferred farther northeast to the subduction boundary along which the Rhodope metamorphic complex formed. We interpret the Rhodope and the Vardar as paired elements of a Cretaceous accretionary wedge. They document the tectonic process that exhumed metamorphic material from under the upper plate, and the tectonic-sedimentary process that fed the trench on the lower plate. The history of the Rhodope-Vardar pair is placed in the light of the history of the Tethys ocean between Africa and Europe. The Cretaceous subduction then appears as the forerunner of the present Hellenic subduction, accounting for several shifts at the expense of the lower plate. The Late Eocene shift, at the closure of the Pindos basin, is coeval with the initiation of new uplift and magmatism in the Rhodope, which probably document the final release of the low-density, continental root of the Rhodope from subduction drag.     

Subduction,ophiolite genesis and collision history of Tethys adjacent to the Eurasian continental margin: new evidence from the Eastern Pontides,Turkey

This paper presents several types of new information including U–Pb radiometric dating of ophiolitic rocks and an intrusive granite, micropalaeontological dating of siliceous and calcareous sedimentary rocks, together with sedimentological, petrographic and structural data. The new information is synthesised with existing results from the study area and adjacent regions (Central Pontides and Lesser Caucasus) to produce a new tectonic model for the Mesozoic–Cenozoic tectonic development of this key Tethyan suture zone.

The Tethyan suture zone in NE Turkey (Ankara–Erzincan–Kars suture zone) exemplifies stages in the subduction, suturing and post-collisional deformation of a Mesozoic ocean basin that existed between the Eurasian (Pontide) and Gondwanan (Tauride) continents. Ophiolitic rocks, both as intact and as dismembered sequences, together with an intrusive granite (tonalite), formed during the Early Jurassic in a supra-subduction zone (SSZ) setting within the ?zmir–Ankara–Erzincan ocean. Basalts also occur as blocks and dismembered thrust sheets within Cretaceous accretionary melange. During the Early Jurassic, these basalts erupted in both a SSZ-type setting and in an intra-plate (seamount-type) setting. The volcanic-sedimentary melange accreted in an open-ocean setting in response to Cretaceous northward subduction beneath a backstop made up of Early Jurassic forearc ophiolitic crust. The Early Jurassic SSZ basalts in the melange were later detached from the overriding Early Jurassic ophiolitic crust.

Sedimentary melange (debris-flow deposits) locally includes ophiolitic extrusive rocks of boninitic composition that were metamorphosed under high-pressure low-temperature conditions. Slices of mainly Cretaceous clastic sedimentary rocks within the suture zone are interpreted as a deformed forearc basin that bordered the Eurasian active margin. The basin received a copious supply of sediments derived from Late Cretaceous arc volcanism together with input of ophiolitic detritus from accreted oceanic crust.

Accretionary melange was emplaced southwards onto the leading edge of the Tauride continent (Munzur Massif) during latest Cretaceous time. Accretionary melange was also emplaced northwards over the collapsed southern edge of the Eurasian continental margin (continental backstop) during the latest Cretaceous. Sedimentation persisted into the Early Eocene in more northerly areas of the Eurasian margin.

Collision of the Tauride and Eurasian continents took place progressively during latest Late Palaeocene–Early Eocene. The Jurassic SSZ ophiolites and the Cretaceous accretionary melange finally docked with the Eurasian margin. Coarse clastic sediments were shed from the uplifted Eurasian margin and infilled a narrow peripheral basin. Gravity flows accumulated in thrust-top piggyback basins above accretionary melange and dismembered ophiolites and also in a post-collisional peripheral basin above Eurasian crust. Thickening of the accretionary wedge triggered large-scale out-of-sequence thrusting and re-thrusting of continental margin and ophiolitic units. Collision culminated in detachment and northward thrusting on a regional scale.

Collisional deformation of the suture zone ended prior to the Mid-Eocene (~45?Ma) when the Eurasian margin was transgressed by non-marine and/or shallow-marine sediments. The foreland became volcanically active and subsided strongly during Mid-Eocene, possibly related to post-collisional slab rollback and/or delamination. The present structure and morphology of the suture zone was strongly influenced by several phases of mostly S-directed suture zone tightening (Late Eocene; pre-Pliocene), possible slab break-off and right-lateral strike-slip along the North Anatolian Transform Fault.

In the wider regional context, a double subduction zone model is preferred, in which northward subduction was active during the Jurassic and Cretaceous, both within the Tethyan ocean and bordering the Eurasian continental margin.     

Geologic evolution of Bulgaria in light of plate tectonics

The Balkanide is a mobile belt within a micro-continent, which included both the Moesian Platform and Rhodope Massif. This micro-continent was rotated counter-clockwise during the Jurassic mainly in response to the sea-floor spreading of the Vardar ophiolite trough. The rotation led to the consumption of Triassic Tethys along the Dobrogea—Crimea—Caucasus Trend, producing the Cimmerian orogenic belt. Cretaceous rotation of the Italo-Dinaridian micro-continent led to the consumption of the Vardar ophiolites. An island arc (Macedonia—Rhodope—North Anatolia) was present at the consuming plate margin. Middle and Late Cretaceous marginal basins behind this arc included the Srednogorie and the Black Sea. Submarine volcanics, radiolarian cherts, and hemipelagic marls were deposited in the Srednogorie “eugeosyncline”. This sequence was folded during the early Tertiary Alpine orogeny, when the front of the Rhodope Massif was overthrust onto the Balkanides. The Black Sea meanwhile remained undeformed and can thus be considered a fossilized Cretaceous marginal basin.     

Late Cretaceous oceanic crust and Early Tertiary foreland basin development, Euboea, Eastern Greece

In northern Euboea (Eastern Greece), Late Cretaceous platform carbonates of the Pelagonian Zone pass depositionally upwards into Maastrichtian hemipelagic limestones, possibly reflecting a rifting event in the adjacent Neotethys. This is followed by a c. 1 km-thick unit of siliciclastic turbidites, debris flows and detached limestone blocks. Thrust intercalations of ophiolitic rocks comprise altered pillow basalts and ultramafic rocks with ophicalcite. Calcite veins in sheared serpentinite contain planktonic foraminifera and the ophicalcite is directly overlain, with a depositional contact, by Globotruncana-bearing pelagic limestones and calciturbidites of Maastrichtian age. The ophiolitic rocks are interpreted as Late Cretaceous oceanic crust and mantle, that formed at a fracture zone, or rifted spreading axis within a Neotethyan, Vardar basin to the east. During the Early Tertiary (Palaeocene–Eocene), the Neotethyan basin began to close, with development of a subduction-accretion complex, mainly comprising sheared, trench-type sandstones, associated with ophiolitic slices. In response to trench/margin collision, the Pelagonian carbonate platform foundered and limestone debris flows and olistoliths were shed into a siliciclastic foreland basin. Suturing of the Neotethyan ocean basin then resulted in westwards thrusting of oceanic units over the foreland basin, thrusting of slices of inferred Late Cretaceous Pelagonian carbonate platform slope and large-scale recumbent folding.     

Geodynamic evolution of ophiolites from Albania and Greece (Dinaric-Hellenic belt): one, two, or more oceanic basins?

All the geological constraints for an exhaustive reconstruction of the Triassic to Tertiary tectonic history of the southern Dinaric-Hellenic belt can be found in Albania and Greece. This article aims to schematically reconstruct this long tectonic evolution primarily based on a detailed analysis of the tectonic setting, the stratigraphy, the geochemistry, and the age of the ophiolites. In contrast to what was previously reported in the literature, we propose a new subdivision on a regional scale of the ophiolite complexes cropping out in Albania and Greece. This new subdivision includes six types of ophiolite occurrences, each corresponding to different tectonic units derived from a single obducted sheet. These units are represented by: (1) sub-ophiolite mélange, (2) Triassic ocean-floor ophiolites, (3) metamorphic soles, (4) Jurassic fore-arc ophiolites, (5) Jurassic intra-oceanic-arc ophiolites, and (6) Jurassic back-arc basin ophiolites. The overall features of these ophiolites are coherent with the existence of a single, though composite, oceanic basin located east of the Adria/Pelagonian continental margin. This oceanic basin was originated during the Middle Triassic and was subsequently (Early Jurassic) affected by an east-dipping intra-oceanic subduction. This subduction was responsible for the birth of intra-oceanic-arc and back-arc oceanic basins separated by a continental volcanic arc during the Early to Middle Jurassic. From the uppermost Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous, an obduction developed, during which the ophiolites were thrust westwards firstly onto the neighboring oceanic lithosphere and then onto the Adria margin.     

The Hellenic ophiolites: eastward or westward obduction of the Maliac Ocean, a discussion

Ophiolitic bodies in the Dinaro-Hellenic mountain belt are among the most important ones in the Peri-Mediterranean Alpine chains. The characteristic feature of this ophiolitic belt is its Middle to Late Jurassic age of obduction. The ophiolitic bodies form two major belts on each side of the Pelagonian zone: an east Pelagonian belt in the Vardarian domain and a Supra-Pelagonian ophiolitic belt (SPO) to the west. The different hypotheses relative to the origin of the SPO present geodynamic evolution models accounting for most of the available data: a mid-Triassic episode of rifting; a Ladinian–Jurassic episode of sea-floor spreading forming notably the Maliac Ocean; a Middle to Late Jurassic convergent period with subduction and obduction episodes, and finally, a late episode of Tertiary compressional deformation responsible for the westward thrusting of the Jurassic ophiolitic nappes over the external zones. Despite many studies dating from the early 1970s, the eastern or western Pelagonian origin of these ophiolites, especially the SPO, is still under dispute. Whatever the adopted hypothesis, we consider that the main SPO bodies (N-Pindos, Vourinos, Othris, Evia, Argolis) have the same origin because of their geographic continuity and of the similarities in their geological characteristics. We propose that this ocean corresponds everywhere to the Maliac Ocean, defined in Othris from the well-preserved sedimentary (oceanic margin) and ophiolitic nappes thrust during the Late Jurassic obduction onto the Pelagonian platform. There is strong evidence for the existence of two deep basins on both sides of the Pelagonian continental ridge during Triassic–Jurassic times. They correspond, respectively, to the Vardar area to the east and the Pindos domain to the west, one of these domains being at the origin of the SPO. The hypothesis of an eastward emplacement of the SPO from the Pindos domain is based mainly on sedimentological data from the margin series and on structural analyses of ophiolitic bodies. However, we conclude the westward obduction of the Maliac Ocean, originating from the Vardar area, to be the best fitting model. This westward model is supported by paleogeographic and structural constraints on regional scale. Notably, the absence of obducted ophiolites in the Jurassic series of the Koziakas units (units attributed to the western Pelagonian margin) and of the Parnassus domain (on the eastern side of the Pindos basin) is difficult to reconcile with an eastward obduction from the Pindos domain. Other observations, such as the distribution of ophiolitic detritus in the internal and external zones, also promote the westward Late Jurassic obduction of the Maliac Ocean. Our preferred model offers a consistent explanation for the mechanism and timing of the emplacement of the SPO, as well as providing insight on the origin and emplacement of the Vardarian ophiolites. Following this hypothesis, there is no need for a clear boundary between the SPO and the west Vardarian ophiolitic bodies as they were obducted from the same oceanic basin and during the same Jurassic tectonic event. In this paper, we develop evidence in favor of the eastern Pelagonian origin for the SPO (our adopted model) and provide discussion on the data supporting the main alternative hypothesis (western origin for the SPO).     

The atlantic margin of Iberia and Morocco, a reinterpretation

Morphology, magnetic and seismic properties, and the geology of the sea-floor and adjacent continent indicate that the area west of Iberia and Morocco is a deformed passive continental margin. Formation of this margin is envisaged as having proceeded through a doming and rifting phase, whereby thinned continental fragments became detached from the continent and each other to form a wide zone with geophysical characteristics intermediate between those of the continent and those of the ocean. A wedge-shaped basin opened between Iberia and some of the larger detached continental fragments, the Madeira—Tore Rise and Galicia Bank. The opening of this basin and of the Bay of Biscay in Late Jurassic—Early Cretaceous time is a direct consequence of the counter-clockwise rotation of Iberia between relatively stable Europe and eastward-moving Africa. During the Tertiary the continental margin became compressed in the north—south direction and pieces of the sea-floor were thrust up and over each other to form the predominantly northeast oriented Horseshoe Seamounts. At the same time left-lateral shears developed in the margin between then northward-moving Africa and Iberia and the eastward-spreading Atlantic. Massive outpourings of Late Tertiary to Recent lavas along some of these shears are responsible for the ultimate shape of the Atlantic margins of northwest Africa and Iberia.     

Spatial–temporal relationships of Mesozoic volcanic rocks in NE China: Constraints on tectonic overprinting and transformations between multiple tectonic regimes

LA-ICP-MS zircon U–Pb ages and geochemical data are presented for the Mesozoic volcanic rocks in northeast China, with the aim of determining the tectonic settings of the volcanism and constraining the timing of the overprinting and transformations between the Paleo-Asian Ocean, Mongol–Okhotsk, and circum-Pacific tectonic regimes. The new ages, together with other available age data from the literature, indicate that Mesozoic volcanism in NE China can be subdivided into six episodes: Late Triassic (228–201 Ma), Early–Middle Jurassic (190–173 Ma), Middle–Late Jurassic (166–155 Ma), early Early Cretaceous (145–138 Ma), late Early Cretaceous (133–106 Ma), and Late Cretaceous (97–88 Ma). The Late Triassic volcanic rocks occur in the Lesser Xing’an–Zhangguangcai Ranges, where the volcanic rocks are bimodal, and in the eastern Heilongjiang–Jilin provinces where the volcanics are A-type rhyolites, implying that they formed in an extensional environment after the final closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean. The Early–Middle Jurassic (190–173 Ma) volcanic rocks, both in the Erguna Massif and the eastern Heilongjiang–Jilin provinces, belong chemically to the calc-alkaline series, implying an active continental margin setting. The volcanics in the Erguna Massif are related to the subduction of the Mongol–Okhotsk oceanic plate beneath the Massif, and those in the eastern Jilin–Heilongjiang provinces are related to the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate beneath the Eurasian continent. The coeval bimodal volcanic rocks in the Lesser Xing’an–Zhangguangcai Ranges were probably formed under an extensional environment similar to a backarc setting of double-direction subduction. Volcanic rocks of Middle–Late Jurassic (155–166 Ma) and early Early Cretaceous (145–138 Ma) age only occur in the Great Xing’an Range and the northern Hebei and western Liaoning provinces (limited to the west of the Songliao Basin), and they belong chemically to high-K calc-alkaline series and A-type rhyolites, respectively. Combined with the regional unconformity and thrust structures in the northern Hebei and western Liaoning provinces, we conclude that these volcanics formed during a collapse or delamination of a thickened continental crust related to the evolution of the Mongol–Okhotsk suture belt. The late Early Cretaceous volcanic rocks, widely distributed in NE China, belong chemically to a low- to medium-K calc-alkaline series in the eastern Heilongjiang–Jilin provinces (i.e., the Eurasian continental margin), and to a bimodal volcanic rock association within both the Songliao Basin and the Great Xing’an Range. The volcanics in the eastern Heilongjiang–Jilin provinces formed in an active continental margin setting related to the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate beneath the Eurasian continent, and the bimodal volcanics formed under an extensional environment related either to a backarc setting or to delamination of a thickened crust, or both. Late Cretaceous volcanics, limited to the eastern Heilongjiang–Jilin provinces and the eastern North China Craton (NCC), consist of calc-alkaline rocks in the eastern Heilongjiang–Jilin provinces and alkaline basalts in the eastern NCC, suggesting that the former originated during subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate beneath the Eurasian continent, whereas the latter formed in an extensional environment similar to a backarc setting. Taking all this into account, we conclude that (1) the transformation from the Paleo-Asian Ocean regime to the circum-Pacific tectonic regime happened during the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic; (2) the effect of the Mongol–Okhotsk suture belt on NE China was mainly in the Early Jurassic, Middle–Late Jurassic, and early Early Cretaceous; and (3) the late Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous volcanics can be attributed to the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate beneath the Eurasian continent.     

Overview of the Late Tertiary–Recent tectonic and palaeo-environmental development of the Mediterranean region

The Late Tertiary history of the Mediterranean region exemplifies processes of ocean basin closure and continental collision, as determined from integrated land and marine evidence. During the Mesozoic–Early Tertiary, tectonic settings were dominated by evolution of Neotethys. This ocean generally widened eastwards, with a number of oceanic strands in the Eastern Mediterranean area. Great diversity of tectonic settings and palaeo-environments developed during the Tertiary closure history of these oceanic basins. In the Eastern Mediterranean region, more northerly Neotethyan strands were closed by the Mid Tertiary, while oceanic crust remained in the south in the present Eastern Mediterranean Sea area. Northwards subduction of the remaining southerly Neotethyan strand was probably active by the Early Miocene. Different areas exhibit different stages of convergence and ocean basin closure. In the east, the amalgamated Eurasian plate had collided with the Arabian margin (Africa) by the Late Miocene, while oceanic crust still persisted further west. Steady-state subduction during the Late Tertiary gave rise to the Mediterranean ridge, as a substantial mud-dominated accretionary wedge. In the Aegean area, sufficient northward subduction took place to activate arc volcanism and pervasive back arc extension, short of marginal basin opening. In the easternmost Mediterranean, only limited subduction took place, associated with supra-subduction zone extension (e.g. in Cyprus). Today, steady state-subduction continues only locally, where vestiges of Neotethys remain (e.g. Herodotus abyssal plain). In the Western Mediterranean area, suturing of the African and Eurasian plates initially took place in the Betic region (Early–Mid Tertiary), where the Neotethys had existed only as a narrow connection with the Central North Atlantic. In the Central Mediterranean region, where the Western Neotethys was wider, northward subduction was active, apparently as early as the Late Cretaceous. In a widely accepted interpretation, an Andean-type magmatic arc developed along the southern margin of Europe and was then rifted off in the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene, to form the Corsica-Sardinia Block, opening the North Balearic marginal basin in its wake. The migrating subduction zone and microcontinent then collided diachronously with North Africa-related continental units (North Africa and Apulia) from Late Oligocene-Early Miocene, giving rise to collisional thrust belts in the Northern and Southern Apennines and along the North African continental margin (i.e. the Maghrebian chain) to the Betic-Rif area. From the Early Miocene onwards, a separate subduction system became active, related to removal of Neotethyan oceanic crust to the southeast (Ionian Sea), fueling suprasubduction zone extension and opening of the Tyrrhenian Sea. ‘Orogenic collapse’ is an alternative mechanism of such extension, and is widely believed to have caused divergent thrusting in the Betic and Rif regions of the westernmost Mediterranean, at the same time as crustal extension and subsidence of the Alboran Sea.     

The Intra-Pontide ophiolites in Northern Turkey revisited:From birth to death of a Neotethyan oceanic domain

The Anatolian peninsula is a key location to study the central portion of the Neotethys Ocean(s)and to understand how its western and eastern branches were connected.One of the lesser known branches of the Mesozoic ocean(s)is preserved in the northern ophiolite suture zone exposed in Turkey,namely,the Intra-Pontide suture zone.It is located between the Sakarya terrane and the Eurasian margin(i.e.,Istanbul-Zonguldak terrane)and consists of several metamorphic and non-metamorphic units containing ophiolites produced in supra-subduction settings from the Late Triassic to the Early Cretaceous.Ophiolites preserved in the metamorphic units recorded pervasive deformations and peak metamorphic conditions ranging from blueschist to eclogite facies.In the nonmetamorphic units,the complete oceanic crust sequence is preserved in tectonic units or as olistoliths in sedimentary melanges.Geochemical,structural,metamorphic and geochronological investigations performed on ophiolite-bearing units allowed the formulation of a new geodynamic model of the entire"life"of the IntraPontide oceanic basin(s).The reconstruction starts with the opening of the Intra-Pontide oceanic basins during the Late Triassic between the Sakarya and Istanbul-Zonguldak continental microplates and ends with its closure caused by two different subductions events that occurred during the upper Early Jurassic and Middle Jurassic.The continental collision between the Sakarya continental microplate and the Eurasian margin developed from the upper Early Cretaceous to the Palaeocene.The presented reconstruction is an alternative model to explain the complex and articulate geodynamic evolution that characterizes the southern margin of Eurasia during the Mesozoic era.     

Structure and tectonic evolution of the Pirin-Pangaion Structural Zone (Rhodope Massif,southern Bulgaria and northern Greece)

The Pirin-Pangaion Structural Zone occupies the south-western part of the Rhodope Massif. It consists of Proterozoic amphibolite facies metamorphic rocks of the Rhodopian Supergroup, and granitoids of Hercynian, Late Cretaceous and Palaeogene age. The pre-Hercynian structure of the zone is dominated by an interference pattern of three superimposed fold generations of NE-SW and NW-SE trends. These structures are cut by Hercynian granitoids, and the entire complex is affected by late Hercynian or early Alpine conical folds. The zone was overthrusted by the Ogražden and Kroussia Units (Serbo-Macedonian ‘Massif’) along the north-east vergent Mid-Cretaceous Strimon overthrust, and by the Central Rhodope Zone of the Rhodope Massif, along the south-west vergent Meso-Rhodopean Overthrust. With this thrusting event, the Pirin-Pangaion Structural Zone was brought together with the Serbo-Macedonian ‘Massif’ and the Central Rhodope Zone to form the Late Cretaceous Morava-Rhodope Zone, which acted as a ‘plateau’ along the southern edge of the Eurasian plate. Late Cretaceous granitoid magma of crustal origin intruded this zone, whereas north of it the Srednogorie volcanic island arc was the site of igneous activity with magmas originating in the upper mantle. The West Thrace Zone developed as a Palaeocene to Oligocene depression superimposed over the older basement obliquely to the southern periphery of the Rhodope Massif. In the Late Eocene and Early Oligocene, this depression represented a volcanic island arc with mantle-derived basic to intermediate magmas; contemporaneous granitoid magmas formed through crustal melting in the thickened crust of the Rhodope Massif (Pirin and Pangaion Units included). Early Miocene thrusting was most intense in the Pangaion Unit, and was followed by Late Miocene to Quaternary extension.     

The Bentong–Raub Suture Zone

It is proposed that the Bentong–Raub Suture Zone represents a segment of the main Devonian to Middle Triassic Palaeo-Tethys ocean, and forms the boundary between the Gondwana-derived Sibumasu and Indochina terranes. Palaeo-Tethyan oceanic ribbon-bedded cherts preserved in the suture zone range in age from Middle Devonian to Middle Permian, and mélange includes chert and limestone clasts that range in age from Lower Carboniferous to Lower Permian. This indicates that the Palaeo-Tethys opened in the Devonian, when Indochina and other Chinese blocks separated from Gondwana, and closed in the Late Triassic (Peninsular Malaysia segment). The suture zone is the result of northwards subduction of the Palaeo-Tethys ocean beneath Indochina in the Late Palaeozoic and the Triassic collision of the Sibumasu terrane with, and the underthrusting of, Indochina. Tectonostratigraphic, palaeobiogeographic and palaeomagnetic data indicate that the Sibumasu Terrane separated from Gondwana in the late Sakmarian, and then drifted rapidly northwards during the Permian–Triassic. During the Permian subduction phase, the East Malaya volcano-plutonic arc, with I-Type granitoids and intermediate to acidic volcanism, was developed on the margin of Indochina. The main structural discontinuity in Peninsular Malaysia occurs between Palaeozoic and Triassic rocks, and orogenic deformation appears to have been initiated in the Upper Permian to Lower Triassic, when Sibumasu began to collide with Indochina. During the Early to Middle Triassic, A-Type subduction and crustal thickening generated the Main Range syn- to post-orogenic granites, which were emplaced in the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic. A foredeep basin developed on the depressed margin of Sibumasu in front of the uplifted accretionary complex in which the Semanggol “Formation” rocks accumulated. The suture zone is covered by a latest Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous, mainly continental, red bed overlap sequence.     

The geologic history of the passive margin off new england and the canadian maritime provinces

The geologic history of the passive continental margin off the east coast of North America from New England to Newfoundland is described using all available geological and geophysical information. “Rift” and “drift” phases of the margin's evolution are recognized, with rifting initiated in Late Triassic and completed by Early Jurassic. The plate decoupling process created a complex block-faulted terrain as a result of uplift and tensional fracturing. The approximate plane of continental separation is marked by a “hinge zone” characterized by a pronounced steepening of basement gradients. Since the Early Jurassic, the margin has undergone continual subsidence in response to cooling and sediment loading. This “drift” sequence attains its maximum thickness in the vicinity of the continental slope and thins both landward and seaward. On the shelf, this unit consists of Mesozoic evaporites, carbonates, and deltaic deposits. Overlying these sediments is a prograding wedge of Cenozoic elastics. On the rise, the Mesozoic sediments are evaporites, hemipelagic limestones and shales and carbonaceous clays. The Cenozoic is dominantly terrigenous material. Separating these two sedimentary provinces is the continental slope, a site of major facies changes and a Mesozoic reef complex.     

Plate tectonic evolution of the southern margin of Eurasia in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic

Thirteen time interval maps were constructed, which depict the Triassic to Neogene plate tectonic configuration, paleogeography and general lithofacies of the southern margin of Eurasia. The aim of this paper is to provide an outline of the geodynamic evolution and position of the major tectonic elements of the area within a global framework. The Hercynian Orogeny was completed by the collision of Gondwana and Laurussia, whereas the Tethys Ocean formed the embayment between the Eurasian and Gondwanian branches of Pangea. During Late Triassic–Early Jurassic times, several microplates were sutured to the Eurasian margin, closing the Paleotethys Ocean. A Jurassic–Cretaceous north-dipping subduction boundary was developed along this new continental margin south of the Pontides, Transcaucasus and Iranian plates. The subduction zone trench-pulling effect caused rifting, creating the back-arc basin of the Greater Caucasus–proto South Caspian Sea, which achieved its maximum width during the Late Cretaceous. In the western Tethys, separation of Eurasia from Gondwana resulted in the formation of the Ligurian–Penninic–Pieniny–Magura Ocean (Alpine Tethys) as an extension of Middle Atlantic system and a part of the Pangean breakup tectonic system. During Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous times, the Outer Carpathian rift developed. The opening of the western Black Sea occurred by rifting and drifting of the western–central Pontides away from the Moesian and Scythian platforms of Eurasia during the Early Cretaceous–Cenomanian. The latest Cretaceous–Paleogene was the time of the closure of the Ligurian–Pieniny Ocean. Adria–Alcapa terranes continued their northward movement during Eocene–Early Miocene times. Their oblique collision with the North European plate led to the development of the accretionary wedge of the Outer Carpathians and its foreland basin. The formation of the West Carpathian thrusts was completed by the Miocene. The thrust front was still propagating eastwards in the eastern Carpathians.During the Late Cretaceous, the Lesser Caucasus, Sanandaj–Sirjan and Makran plates were sutured to the Iranian–Afghanistan plates in the Caucasus–Caspian Sea area. A north-dipping subduction zone jumped during Paleogene to the Scythian–Turan Platform. The Shatski terrane moved northward, closing the Greater Caucasus Basin and opening the eastern Black Sea. The South Caspian underwent reorganization during Oligocene–Neogene times. The southwestern part of the South Caspian Basin was reopened, while the northwestern part was gradually reduced in size. The collision of India and the Lut plate with Eurasia caused the deformation of Central Asia and created a system of NW–SE wrench faults. The remnants of Jurassic–Cretaceous back-arc systems, oceanic and attenuated crust, as well as Tertiary oceanic and attenuated crust were locked between adjacent continental plates and orogenic systems.     

U–Pb LA-SF-ICP-MS zircon geochronology of the Serbo-Macedonian Massif, Greece: palaeotectonic constraints for Gondwana-derived terranes in the Eastern Mediterranean

The Pirgadikia Terrane in northern Greece forms tectonic inliers within the Vardar suture zone bordering the Serbo-Macedonian Massif to the southwest. It comprises Cadomian basement rocks of volcanic-arc origin and very mature quartz-rich metasedimentary rocks. U–Pb laser ablation sector-field inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry analyses of detrital zircons from the latter reveal a marked input from a Cadomian–Pan-African source with minor contribution from Mesoproterozoic, Palaeoproterozoic and Archaean sources. The metasedimentary rocks are correlated with Ordovician overlap sequences at the northern margin of Gondwana on the basis of their maturity and zircon age spectra. The Pirgadikia Terrane can be best interpreted as a peri-Gondwana terrane of Avalonian origin, which was situated close to the Cadomian terranes in the Late Neoproterozoic–Early Palaeozoic, very much like the Istanbul Terrane. The second unit investigated is the Vertiskos Terrane, which constitutes the major part of the Serbo-Macedonian Massif in Greece. It comprises predominantly igneous rocks of Silurian age and minor metasedimentary rocks of unknown age and provenance. U–Pb analyses of detrital zircons from a garnetiferous mica schist of the Vertiskos Terrane indicate derivation from 550 to 1,150 Ma-old source rocks with a major Cadomian peak. This, combined with minor input of >1,950 Ma-old zircons and the absence of ages between ca. 1.2 and 1.7 Ga suggests a NW Africa source. The protolith age of the garnetiferous mica schist is presumably Early Ordovician. One sample of garnet-bearing biotite gneiss, interpreted as meta-igneous rock, comprises predominantly subhedral zircons of igneous origin with late Middle Ordovician to Silurian ages. We suggest that the rock association of the Vertiskos Terrane is part of an ancient active-margin succession of the Hun superterrane, comparable to successions of the Austro- and Intra-Alpine Terranes. The new data of this study provide evidence of occurrences of Avalonia- and Armorica-derived terranes in the Eastern Mediterranean and moreover help to clarify palaeogeographic reconstructions for the peri-Gondwana realm in the Early Palaeozoic.     

中、上扬子北部盆-山系统演化与动力学机制

中国南方中生代经历了中国大陆最终主体拼合的陆缘及其之后的陆内构造演化。晚古生代末期,在秦岭—大别山微板块与扬子板块之间存在向西张口的洋盆,即勉略古洋盆。中三叠世末期开始,扬子板块相对于华北板块发生自南东向北西的斜向俯冲碰撞作用,扬子北缘晚三叠世至中侏罗世发育陆缘前陆褶皱逆冲带与前陆盆地系统。晚侏罗世至早白垩世,中国东部的大地构造背景发生了重要的构造转变,中、上扬子地区处于三面围限会聚的大地构造背景。在这种大地构造格局下,中、上扬子地区晚侏罗世至早白垩世发育陆内联合、复合构造与具前渊沉降的克拉通内盆地系统。自中侏罗世末期开始,扬子北缘前陆带与雪峰山—幕阜山褶皱逆冲带经历了自东向西的会聚变形过程及盆地的自东向西的迁移过程和收缩过程。扬子北缘相对华北板块的斜向俯冲导致在中扬子北缘的深俯冲及超高压变质岩的形成。俯冲之后以郯庐断裂—襄广断裂围限的大别山超高压变质地块在晚侏罗世向南强逆冲,致使扬子北缘晚三叠世至中侏罗世前陆盆地被掩覆和改造。     

SHRIMP U–Pb zircon ages of pyroclastic rocks in the Bansong Group, Taebaeksan Basin, South Korea and their implication for the Mesozoic tectonics

The Bansong Group (Daedong Supergroup) in the Korean peninsula has long been considered to be an important time marker for two well-known orogenies, in that it was deposited after the Songnim orogeny (Permian–Triassic collision of the North and South China blocks) but was deformed during the Early to Middle Jurassic Daebo tectonic event. Here we present a new interpretation on the origin of the Bansong Group and associated faults on the basis of structural and geochronological data. SHRIMP (Sensitive High-Resolution Ion MicroProbe) U–Pb zircon age determination of two felsic pyroclastic rocks from the Bansong Group formed in the foreland basin of the Gongsuweon thrust in the Taebaeksan Basin yielded ages of 186.3 ± 1.5 and 187.2 ± 1.5 Ma, respectively, indicating the deposition of the Bansong Group during the late Early Jurassic. Inherited zircon component indicates ca. 1.9 Ga source material for the volcanic rocks, agreeing with known basement ages.The Bansong Group represents syntectonic sedimentation during the late Early Jurassic in a compressional regime. During the Daebo tectonic event, the northeast-trending regional folds and thrusts including the Deokpori (Gakdong) and Gongsuweon thrusts with a southeast vergence developed in the Taebaeksan Basin. This is ascribed to deformation in a continental-arc setting due to the northwesterly orthogonal convergence of the Izanagi plate on the Asiatic margin, which occurred immediately after the juxtaposition of the Taebaeksan Basin against the Okcheon Basin in the late stage of the Songnim orogeny. Thus, the Deokpori thrust is not a continental transform fault between the North and South China blocks, but an “intracontinental” thrust that developed after their juxtaposition.     

Tectonic Models of the Tan-Lu Fault Zone,Eastern China

The Tan-Lu fault zone, with hundreds of km of sinistral displacenent, is one of the largest continental strike-slip faults in the world. Four tectonic models recently proposed for the fault zone are reviewed in this paper: (1) intracontinental transcurrent fault, (2) suture line, (3) intracontinental transform fault, (4) and collision-related indentation. We propose that the Tan-Lu fault zone is a major transcurrent fault developed on the inner, continental side of the northwestern circum-Pacific margin. This conclusion is based on the shape and extension of the fault zone, correlation of blocks on either side of the zone, Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous displacement time, and the sinistral fault origin of the northward-projecting Northern Jiangsu Massif.     

南羌塘盆地构造演化及其油气形成与构造保存条件研究

羌塘盆地是我国陆域上面积最大的海相盆地,前人对该盆地构造演化过程及其油气远景存在截然不同的观点。以最近完成的1︰ 5万地质调查为基础,本文再次讨论了南羌塘盆地构造演化过程及其油气远景。羌塘盆地中央近东西向的羌中隆起山脉将羌塘盆地分为南、北两部分。最近的研究表明,在寒武-奥陶纪之交,南、北羌塘块体被古大洋分隔开。北羌塘盆地南缘形成的晚三叠-早侏罗世的那底岗日组火山岩,其上部为流纹岩,表明晚三叠世南羌塘块体北向俯冲于北羌塘块体之下,在南羌塘块体北部形成了富含有机质的前陆盆地。南羌塘盆地南缘发育一套代表成熟海盆的侏罗纪复理石建造,表明南羌塘南部地区在早侏罗世具有被动大陆边缘的特点,随着南部班公-怒江洋的扩张,在南、北羌塘块体内分别沉积了侏罗纪-早白垩世的浅海相地层,以富含有机质礁灰岩为特征。盆地内部孕育了巨厚的晚白垩-古新世陆源碎屑岩,不整合覆盖于早期海相沉积岩之上,表明在该时期南羌塘块体逐渐从被动大陆边缘海相盆地转变为陆相盆地。新生代时期,印度与亚洲大陆持续汇聚,南羌塘盆地南向逆冲于拉萨块体之上,盆地内发育了多条大型逆冲断裂带,再次将盆地内部的上三叠统、侏罗系、白垩系富含有机质的海相礁灰岩深埋,这有利于油气资源的生成与保存。横跨南羌塘盆地的构造剖面显示盆地内部主要大型逆冲断裂带之间,构造变形较弱,发育宽缓的向斜构造,向斜核部发育新生代陆相地层,推测该新生代陆相地层之下保存有深埋的富含有机质的海相地层,因此,南羌塘盆地逆冲断裂带下盘和宽缓向斜核部区域可能具有良好的油气资源前景。     

Consolidation of the American Cordilleras

The continental margin orogenic systems of the western Americas are enormous features that formed along the Pacific margins of the North and South American plates during late Mesozoic through Cenozoic time. There has been considerable debate concerning their origin, and they are often compared with intra-oceanic fringing arc-trench systems more typical of the Australasian margins of the Pacific Ocean, in that both involve the subduction of oceanic lithosphere, often with similar convergent relative motion vectors. The onset of orogenesis in the two Cordilleras, as shown in reversal of sedimentary polarity from sources generally on the continent to sources along the Pacific margin, seems to date from shortly after emplacement of the oldest oceanic crust in that part of the Atlantic Ocaen east of each continent — i.e., about 170 Ma, or Middle Jurassic, in the case of the Central Atlantic, and about 135 to 100 Ma, or Early to mid-Cretaceous, in the case of the South Atlantic. These ages also seem to mark the onset of westward motion of the two continents over the Pacific Ocean basin and subsequent crustal thickening and uplift, with development of thrust belts, foreland basins, and foredeeps. Prior to this prolonged westward drift, both margins had been convergent for at least several hundred million years, but no massive mountain building had taken place. Instead, the margins were tectonically “neutral”, with typically submarine fringing arc-trench systems or shallow marine to continental margin arcs which stood “outboard” of shallow marine platformal shelves or basins whose main sedimentary polarity was from the continent. Although accretion of “suspect” terranes, high rates of convergence, and age of subducting lithosphere all may have influenced particularly local tectonic response and/or phases of orogenic activity in the two chains, the absolute motion of the two continental margins over the Pacific Ocean basin is considered to have been the dominant factor in Cordilleran tectonic evolution.