Structural analysis of basement tectonites from the Aegean metamorphic core complex of Ios, Cyclades, Greece

The island of Ios in the Cyclades, Aegean Sea, Greece, exposes high pressure metamorphic rocks that were subjected to Miocene continental extension subsequent to the Alpine collisional orogeny. The pre-Alpine history of the lower-plate of this Aegean metamorphic core complex involves intrusion of granitoids into metasediments which subsequently underwent Hercynian amphibolite facies metamorphism. During the Alpine orogeny (D₂), these rocks were overthrust by the Cyclades blueschist nappe. Later, the lower plate was tectonically exhumed during Oligo-Miocene continental extension and associated plutonism. Final exhumation occurred as a result of the operation of a south-directed, crustal-scale shear zone and low-angle normal faults. This study shows that the Ios core complex reflects an intrinsic relationship between early thrusting and later extensional tectonism. Basement rocks have been exhumed from beneath the nappes that originally overrode them.     

Mesozoic–Tertiary structural evolution of an extensional gneiss dome—the Kesebir–Kardamos dome, eastern Rhodope (Bulgaria–Greece)

The tectonic evolution of the Rhodope massif involves Mid-Cretaceous contractional deformation and protracted Oligocene and Miocene extension. We present structural, kinematic and strain data on the Kesebir–Kardamos dome in eastern Rhodope, which document early Tertiary extension. The dome consists of three superposed crustal units bounded by a low-angle NNE-dipping detachment on its northern flank in Bulgaria. The detachment separates footwall gneiss and migmatite in a lower unit from intermediate metamorphic and overlying upper sedimentary units in the hanging wall. The high-grade metamorphic rocks of the footwall have recorded isothermal decompression. Direct juxtaposition of the sedimentary unit onto footwall rocks is due to local extensional omission of the intermediate unit. Structural analysis and deformational/metamorphic relationships give evidence for several events. The earliest event corresponds to top-to-the SSE ductile shearing within the intermediate unit, interpreted as reflecting Mid-Late Cretaceous crustal thickening and nappe stacking. Late Cretaceous–Palaeocene/Eocene late-tectonic to post-tectonic granitoids that intruded into the intermediate unit between 70 and 53 Ma constrain at least pre-latest Late Cretaceous age for the crustal-stacking event. Subsequent extension-related deformation caused pervasive mylonitisation of the footwall, with top-to-the NNE ductile, then brittle shear. Ductile flow was dominated by non-coaxial deformation, indicated by quartz c-axis fabrics, but was nearly coaxial in the dome core. Latest events relate to brittle faulting that accommodated extension at shallow crustal levels on high-angle normal faults and additional movement along strike-slip faults. Radiometric and stratigraphic constraints bracket the ductile, then brittle, extensional events at the Kesebir–Kardamos dome between 55 and 35 Ma. Extension began in Paleocene–early Eocene time and displacement on the detachment led to unroofing of the intermediate unit, which supplied material for the syn-detachment deposits in supra-detachment basin. Subsequent cooling and exhumation of the footwall unit from beneath the detachment occurred between 42 and 37 Ma as indicated by mica cooling ages in footwall rocks, and extension proceeded at brittle levels with high-angle faulting constrained at 35 Ma by the age of hydrothermal adularia crystallized in open spaces created along the faults. This was followed by Late Eocene–Oligocene post-detachment overlap successions and volcanic activity. Crustal extension described herein is contemporaneous with the closure of the Vardar Ocean to the southwest. It has accommodated an earlier hinterland-directed unroofing of the Rhodope nappe complex, and may be pre-cursor of, and/or make a transition to the Aegean back-arc extension that further contributed to its exhumation during the Late Miocene. This study underlines the importance of crustal extension at the scale of the Rhodope massif, in particular, in the eastern Rhodope region, as it recognizes an early Tertiary extension that should be considered in future tectonic models of the Rhodope and north Aegean regions.     

The Saxonian Granulites: a metamorphic core complex?

The brachyanticlinal structure of the Saxonian Granulite Complex was formed, or at least overprinted, by large-scale crustal extension, which is documented in an extreme reduction of the metamorphic profile and a pressure-temperature path with nearly isothermal decompression. the granulite is situated within a south-west-northeast trending belt characterized by basaltic volcanism and an intrabasinal, sediment-producing rise, both active in Frasnian times. These features are taken to reflect at least part of the extension which has exhumed the high grade rocks; however, Cambro-Ordovician rifting possibly initiated the process. The Frasnian palaeogeography and geophysical data suggest that the axis of the granulite dome extends at least 150 km towards the south-west. The overall setting strongly resembles the metamorphic core complexes of the western USA, but the exhumation of rocks preserving evidence of metamorphic pressures of 10–12 kbar requires much higher extensional strain, possibly due to the longer period of stretching. Early Carboniferous compression and minor post-collisional extension (Late Carboniferous to Permian) have not significantly modified the earlier geometry. U-Pb and Sm-Nd data ranging between 380 and 340 Ma are interpreted to record retrogression during uplift rather than peak metamorphism.     

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.     

40Ar/39Ar geochronology constraints on the Middle Tertiary basement extensional exhumation,and its relation to ore-forming and magmatic processes in the Eastern Rhodope (Bulgaria)

The interaction of distinct geologic processes involved during late orogenic extensional exhumation history of the metamorphic units in the Eastern Rhodope is refined by new and reviewing ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronological and structural data. Minerals with different closure temperatures from metamorphic rocks investigated in this study are combined with those from magmatic and ore-forming hydrothermal rocks in two late stage metamorphic domes – the Kesebir-Kardamos and the Biala reka-Kehros domes. The 38-37 Ma muscovite and biotite cooling ages below 350°-300°C characterize basement metamorphic rocks that typified core of the Kesebir-Kardamos dome, constraining their exhumation at shallow crustal levels in the footwall of detachment. These ages are interpreted as reflecting last stage of ductile activity on shear zone below detachment, which continued to operate under low-temperature conditions within the semi-ductile to brittle field. They are close to and overlap with existing cooling ages in southern Bulgaria and northern Greece, indicating supportively that the basement rocks regionally cooled between 42-36 Ma below temperatures 350°-300°C. The spatial distribution of ages shows a southward gradual increase up structural section, suggesting an asymmetrical mode of extension, cooling and exhumation from south to the north at latitude of the Kesebir-Kardamos dome. The slightly younger 36.5-35 Ma crystallization ages of adularia in altered rocks from the ore deposits in the immediate hanging-wall of detachments are attributed to brittle deformation on high-angle normal faults, which further contributed to upper crustal extension, and thus constraining the time when alteration took place and deformation continued at brittle crustal levels. Silicic dykes yielded ages between 32-33 Ma, typically coinciding with the main phase of Palaeogene magmatic activity, which started in Eastern Rhodope region in Late Eocene (Priabonian) times. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau ages from the above distinct rock types span time interval lasting approximately ca. 6 Ma. Consequently, our geochronologic results consistently indicate that extensional tectonics and related exhumation and doming, epithermal mineralizations and volcanic activity are closely spaced in time. These new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age results further contribute to temporal constraints on the timing of tectonic, relative to ore-forming and magmatic events, suggesting in addition that all above mentioned processes interfered during the late orogenic extensional collapse in the Eastern Rhodope region.     

Cenozoic geodynamic evolution of the Aegean

The Aegean region is a concentrate of the main geodynamic processes that shaped the Mediterranean region: oceanic and continental subduction, mountain building, high-pressure and low-temperature metamorphism, backarc extension, post-orogenic collapse, metamorphic core complexes, gneiss domes are the ingredients of a complex evolution that started at the end of the Cretaceous with the closure of the Tethyan ocean along the Vardar suture zone. Using available plate kinematic, geophysical, petrological and structural data, we present a synthetic tectonic map of the whole region encompassing the Balkans, Western Turkey, the Aegean Sea, the Hellenic Arc, the Mediterranean Ridge and continental Greece and we build a lithospheric-scale N-S cross-section from Crete to the Rhodope massif. We then describe the tectonic evolution of this cross-section with a series of reconstructions from ~70 Ma to the Present. We follow on the hypothesis that a single subduction has been active throughout most of the Mesozoic and the entire Cenozoic, and we show that the geological record is compatible with this hypothesis. The reconstructions show that continental subduction (Apulian and Pelagonian continental blocks) did not induce slab break-off in this case. Using this evolution, we discuss the mechanisms leading to the exhumation of metamorphic rocks and the subsequent formation of extensional metamorphic domes in the backarc region during slab retreat. The tectonic histories of the two regions showing large-scale extension, the Rhodope and the Cyclades are then compared. The respective contributions to slab retreat, post-orogenic extension and lower crust partial melting of changes in kinematic boundary conditions and in nature of subducting material, from continental to oceanic, are discussed.     

A strike‐slip core complex from the Najd fault system,Arabian shield

Metamorphic core complexes are usually thought to be associated with regional crustal extension and crustal thinning, where deep crustal material is exhumed along gently dipping normal shear zones oblique to the regional extension direction. We present a new mechanism whereby metamorphic core complexes can be exhumed along crustal‐scale strike‐slip fault systems that accommodated crustal shortening. The Qazaz metamorphic dome in Saudi Arabia was exhumed along a gently dipping jog in a crustal‐scale vertical strike‐slip fault zone that caused more than 25 km of exhumation of lower crustal rocks by 30 km of lateral motion. Subsequently, the complex was transected by a branch of the strike‐slip fault zone, and the segments were separated by another 30 km of lateral motion. Strike‐slip core complexes like the Qazaz Dome may be common and may have an important local effect on crustal strength.     

A ‘core-complex-like structure’ formed by superimposed extension,folding and high-angle normal faulting. The Santi Petri dome (western Betics,Spain)

The Santi Petri dome (western Betics, southern Spain) shows a core-complex-like structure, where migmatitic gneisses and schists outcrop below low-grade slates and phyllites, all of which form the basement of the Neogene Málaga basin. The migmatites and schists suffered a coaxial-flattening event during isothermal decompression and were later exhumed by ductile ESE non-coaxial stretching. Further exhumation was achieved by W- to SW-transport brittle low-angle normal faulting. Subsequently these extensional structures were gently folded in the core of a NE/SW-oriented antiform during the Tortonian. Finally the Santi Petri domal geometry was accentuated by the interference of orthogonal high-angle faults with ENE–WSW and NNW–SSE orientation. This core-complex-like structure, formed by superposition of extensional and compressive tectonic events, does not represent a classical, purely extensional core complex, which shows that metamorphic structure and geometry are not decisive criteria to define a core-complex.     

北喜马拉雅双穹隆构造的建立：来自藏南错那洞穹隆的厘定

错那洞穹隆属于北喜马拉雅片麻岩穹隆带(NHGD)的东南部重要组成部分,是本次研究首次发现并确立的穹隆构造。穹隆位于藏南扎西康矿集区南部,由外向内被两条环形断裂划分为三个岩石-构造单元:特提斯喜马拉雅沉积岩系上部单元、中部单元以及核部,其中内侧断裂为下拆离断层,外侧为上拆离断层。上部单元主要由侏罗系日当组的泥质粉砂质板岩和片岩组成,由外向穹隆中心靠近,根据变质矿物组合特征,其岩性呈较明显的渐变过程,即含或者不含变质矿物的泥质粉砂质板岩、含堇青石粉砂质板岩、含石榴石堇青石粉砂质板岩和含石榴石黑云母粉砂质板岩;中部单元从上至下岩石变质程度逐渐加深,构造变形依次增强,岩性依次为日当组低-高变质的片岩(包括含石榴石黑云母石英片岩、含蓝晶石-十字石二云母石英片岩、含矽线石二云母二长片麻岩)、含电气石(化)花岗质黑云母片麻岩、石榴石云母片麻岩和糜棱状石英二云母片麻岩,其典型变质矿物有石榴石、十字石、矽线石和蓝晶石;核部主要由糜棱状花岗质片麻岩夹少量的副片麻岩和错那洞淡色花岗岩组成。错那洞穹隆主要发育四期线理构造:近N-S向逆冲、N-S向伸展线理、近E-W向线理和围绕核部向四周外侧倾伏线理,分别对应了穹隆构造经历的四期主要变形:初期向南逆冲、早期近N-S向伸展、主期近E-W向伸展和晚期滑塌构造运动,其中主期近E-W向伸展对应于错那洞穹隆的形成,其动力学背景可能是印度板块斜向俯冲及由俯冲引起的中地壳向东流动双重作用。错那洞穹隆的发现和确立丰富了NHGD近E-W向伸展构造,进一步将NHGD划分为由近N-S向伸展所形成的穹隆带(简称NS-NHGD)和近E-W向伸展所形成的穹隆带(EW-NHGD)。     

Cretaceous–Tertiary structures and kinematics of the Serbomacedonian metamorphic rocks and their relation to the exhumation of the Hellenic hinterland (Macedonia, Greece)

 The kinematic pattern and associated metamorphism of the predominant ductile deformation and the subsequent deformational stages of the Serbomacedonian metamorphic rocks and granitoids are presented in terms of peri-Tethyan tectonics. A systematic record of structural and metamorphic data gives evidence of a main top-to-ENE to ESE ductile flow of Cretaceous age (120–90 Ma) associated with a crustal stretching and unroofing. A subordinate WSW to WNW antithetic sense of movement of the tectonic top is observed in places. The associated metamorphic conditions are estimated at 4.5–7.5 kbar and 510–580  °C. During Eocene to Miocene times these fabrics were successively deformed by low-angle extensional D_e ductile shear zones with top-to-NE and SW sense of movement and brittle shear zones of similar kinematic pattern, suggesting a transition from ductile to brittle deformation. D_e deformation was accompanied during its later stages by NW/SE-directed shortening. We also discuss the relation of this Cretaceous–Tertiary deformation of the Serbomacedonian metamorphic rocks with the Eocene to Miocene ductile, top-to-southwestward crustal shear of the adjacent Rhodope crystalline rocks. We regard the Serbomacedonian and the Rhodope metamorphic rocks to represent related metamorphic provinces, the most recent exhumation and cooling history of which is bracketed between the Eocene and Neogene. Received: 8 December 1998 / Accepted: 19 April 1999     

Complete Tertiary exhumation history of the Menderes massif, western Turkey: an alternative working hypothesis

The main exhumation of the Menderes massif, western Turkey, occurred along an originally N‐dipping Datça–Kale main breakaway fault that controlled depositions in the Kale and the Gökova basins during the Oligocene – Early Miocene interval. The isostatically controlled upward bending of the main breakaway fault brings the lower plate rocks to the surface. In the Early Miocene, E–W‐trending N‐ and S‐dipping graben‐bounding faults fragmented the exhumed, dome‐shaped massif. The development of half grabens by rolling master fault hinges has allowed further exhumation of the central Menderes massif. After the Pliocene, high‐angle normal faults cut all of the previous structures. This model suggests that the Menderes massif is a single large metamorphic core complex that has experienced a two‐stage exhumation process.     

松辽盆地变质核杂岩和伸展断陷的构造特征及成因

文中讨论了松辽盆地北部中央基底隆起变质核杂岩和徐家围子伸展断陷的构造特征、成因和演化 ,重点讨论了下列问题 :( 1)中央基底隆起变质核杂岩具有科迪勒拉变质核杂岩的许多特征 ;( 2 )识别出组成中央基底隆起变质核杂岩的多层次、低角度韧性拆离体系 ,它们是使中地壳的中深变质岩层抽拉至上地壳的主要原因 ;( 3)穹窿状火山岩台地于晚侏罗世 ( 145.7±6.2 )Ma形成 ,受顶部拆离断层控制的伸展断陷于早白垩世 ( 133～ 12 0Ma)形成 ,而邻近顶部拆离断层的糜棱岩年龄为 ( 12 6.7± 1.54)Ma。这表明变质核杂岩的形成始于晚侏罗世。早白垩世递进的伸展构造与变质核杂岩较深部的部分上拱至地表相伴生 ,推测该变质核杂岩的上拱和剥露、火山岩台地和伸展断陷盆地的形成可能是由伊泽奈奇和亚洲板块陆陆碰撞后的地幔拆沉作用、地幔的岩浆底侵作用以及伸展垮塌作用联合造成的。     

大别山高压-超高压变质期后伸展构造格局

大别山高压、超高压变质期后构造格架的最显著特征是以罗田片麻岩穹隆为核部的多层伸展拆离滑脱带的发育,并由它们将超高压变质单元、高压变质单元和蓝闪－绿片岩单元分隔成垂向叠置的席状岩片,类似于变质核杂岩的基本结构样式。这种伸展构造格架制约了高压、超高压岩石的展布,而在较大榴辉岩体中保存的缩短或挤压组构则是以高压、超高压变质作用为标志的陆－陆碰撞事件的记录。正确地区分挤压组构与伸展组构是识别大别山带内高压     

内蒙古大青山高级变质岩中熔体线理特征

熔体线理由浅色部分熔融物质形成长的集合体或杆状体沿着应变椭球体X轴方向定向排列构成,是高级变质岩特有的一种线状构造.熔体线理发育在深部构造层次韧性变形带中,与矿物拉伸线理一样具有运动方向指向意义.熔体线理形成于伸展构造环境中,是变形作用、变质作用和部分熔融作用共同作用的结果.伸展构造变形导致岩石部分熔融,是熔体线理形成...     

Andalusite–sillimanite–quartz veins as indicators of low-pressure–high-temperature deformation during late-stage unroofing of a metamorphic core complex, Turkey

Ductilely deformed veins consisting of quartz+andalusite, in which the andalusite is partially replaced by fibrous sillimanite, locally occur in garnet–sillimanite schist near a margin of the Niğde metamorphic core complex in south-central Turkey. Mineral assemblages, reaction textures and structural features of the veins record low-pressure–high-temperature deformation during exhumation of mid-crustal rocks. The partial replacement of andalusite by sillimanite may indicate a late-stage increase in temperature and/or fluid pressure, possibly related to Miocene magmatism, during extensional unroofing of the core complex. Aluminosilicate-bearing veins are observed at the eastern margin of the massif where metapelitic rocks were deformed during unroofing of the core complex. Veins formed in aluminous rocks where deformation-enhanced permeability allowed fluid flow during extensional shear. The cm-scale veins are typically boudinaged and form asymmetric lenses concordant with the host rock foliation and are parallel to the down-dip lineation defined by sillimanite and stretched biotite. Aluminosilicate-bearing boudins record top-to-the-east shear sense, which is compatible with the extensional shear sense displayed by structures in the host rock.     

Late orogenic crustal extension in the northern Menderes massif (western Turkey): evidence for metamorphic core complex formation

The Simav metamorphic core complex of the northern Menderes massif, western Turkey, consists of a plutonic (Tertiary) and metamorphic (Precambrian) core (footwall) separated from an allochthonous cover sequence (hanging wall) by a low-angle, ductile-to-brittle, extensional fault zone (i.e. detachment fault). The core rocks below the detachment fault are converted into mylonites with a thickness of a few hundred metres. Two main deformation events have affected the core rocks. The first deformational event (D₁) was developed within the Precambrian metamorphic rocks. The second event (D₂), associated with the Tertiary crustal extension, includes two distinct stages. Stage one is the formation of a variably developed ductile (mylonitic) deformation (D_2d) in metamorphic and granitic core rocks under greenschist facies conditions. The majority of the mylonites in the study area have foliations that strike NNW to NNE and dip SW to SE. Stretched quartz and feldspar grains define the mineral lineation trending SW-NE direction and plunging gently to SW. The kinematic indicators indicate a top-to-NE sense of shear. Stage two formation of brittle deformation (D_2b) that affected all core and cover rocks. D_2b involves the development of cataclasites and high-angle normal faults. An overall top towards the north sense of shear for the ductile (mylonitic) fabrics in the core rocks is consistent with the N-S regional extension in western Turkey.     

The Rila-Pastra Normal Fault and multi-stage extensional unroofing in the Rila Mountains (SW Bulgaria)

The Rhodope Metamorphic Province represents the core of an Alpine orogen affected by strong syn- and postorogenic extension. We report evidence for multiple phases of extensional unroofing from the western border of the Rila Mountains in the lower Rila valley, SW Bulgaria. The most prominent structure is the Rila-Pastra Normal Fault (RPNF), a major extensional fault and shear zone of Eocene to Early Oligocene age. The fault zone includes, from base to top, mylonites, ultramylonites and cataclasites, indicating deformation under progressively decreasing temperature, from amphibolite-facies to low-temperature brittle deformation. It strikes E–W with a top-to-the-N-to NW-directed sense of shear. Basement rocks in the hanging wall and footwall both display amphibolite-facies conditions. The foliation of the hanging-wall gneisses, however, is discordantly cut by the fault, while the foliation of the footwall gneisses is seen to curve into parallelism with the fault when approaching it. Two ductile splays of the RPNF occur in the footwall, which are subparallel to the foliation of the surrounding gneisses and merge laterally into the mylonites of the main fault zone. The concordance between the foliation in the footwall and the RPNF suggests that deformation and cooling in the footwall occurred simultaneously with extensional shearing, while the hanging-wall gneisses had already been exhumed previously. The RPNF is associated with thick deposits of an Early Oligocene, syntectonic breccia on top of its hanging wall. Integrating our results with previous studies, we distinguish the following stages of extensional faulting: (1) Late Cretaceous NW–SE extension (Gabrov Dol Detachment), exhumation of the present day hanging wall of the RPNF; (2) Eocene to Early Oligocene NW–SE to N–S extension (RPNF); (3) Miocene to Pliocene E–W extension (Western Border Fault), formation of the Djerman Graben; (4) Holocene to recent N–S to NW–SE extension (Stob Fault), reactivating the SW part of the Western Border Fault.     

武功山北缘剥离断层、近水平韧性剪切带与伸展构造

武功山北缘的伸展构造结构完整,系由以脆性变形的上拆离盘及近水平的韧性剪切带为代表的变质核杂岩体所组成。上拆离盘组成于一系列的北倾犁式正断层系及拉张断陷盆地;变质核杂岩体的岩石以舌状—饼状褶皱、片理化、拉伸线理及条带状糜棱岩等近水平的韧性剪切变形为其特征。根据由伸展构造所控制的拉伸断陷盆地的沉积物时代来推测,武功山北缘的伸展构造可能发生于印支运动晚期。     

Compressional origin of the Aegean Orogeny,Greece

The Aegean Sea area is thought to be an actively extending back-arc region, north of the present day Hellenic volcanic arc and north-dipping subduction zone in the Eastern Mediterranean. The area shows extensive normal faulting, ductile ‘extensional’ shear zones and extensional S-C fabrics throughout the islands that have previously been related to regional Aegean extension associated with slab rollback on the Hellenic Subduction Zone. In this paper, we question this interpretation, and suggest the Cenozoic geodynamic evolution of the Aegean region is associated with a Late Cretaceous–Eocene NE-dipping subduction zone that was responsible for continent-continent collision between Eurasia and Adria-Apulia/Cyclades. Exhumation of eclogite and blueschist facies rocks in the Cyclades and kyanite-sillimanite grade gneisses in the Naxos core complex have pressures that are far greater than could be accounted for purely by lithospheric extension and isostatic uplift. We identify four stages of crustal shortening that affected the region prior to regional lithospheric extension, herein called the Aegean Orogeny. This orogeny followed a classic Wilson cycle from early ophiolite obduction (ca. 74 Ma) onto a previously passive continental margin, to attempted crustal subduction with HP eclogite and blueschist facies metamorphism (ca. 54–45 ?Ma), through crustal thickening and regional kyanite – sillimanite grade Barrovian-type metamorphism (ca. 22–14 ?Ma), to orogenic collapse (<14 ?Ma). At least three periods of ‘extensional’ fabrics relate to: (1) Exhumation of blueschists and eclogite facies rocks showing tight-isoclinal folds and top-NE, base-SW fabrics, recording return flow along a subduction channel in a compressional tectonic setting (ca. 50–35 ?Ma). (2) Extensional fabrics within the core complexes formed by exhumation of kyanite- and sillimanite gneisses showing thrust-related fabrics at the base and ‘extensional’ fabrics along the top (ca. 18.5–14 ?Ma). (3) Regional ductile-brittle ‘extensional’ fabrics and low-angle normal faulting related to the North Cycladic Detachment (NCD) and the South(West) Cycladic Detachment (WCD) during regional extension along the flanks of a major NW–SE anticlinal fold along the middle of the Cyclades. Major low-angle normal faults and ductile shear zones show symmetry about the area, with the NE chain of islands (Andros, Tinos, Mykonos, Ikaria) exposing the NE-dipping NCD with consistent top-NE ductile fabrics along 200 ?km of strike. In contrast, from the Greek mainland (Attica) along the SE chain of islands (Kea, Kythnos, Serifos) a SW-dipping low-angle normal fault and ductile shear zone, the WCD is inferred for at least 100 ?km along strike. Islands in the middle of the Cyclades show deeper structural levels including kyanite- and sillimanite-grade metamorphic core complexes (Naxos, Paros) as well as Variscan basement rocks (Naxos, Ios). The overall structure is an ~100 ?km wavelength NW–SE trending dome with low-angle extensional faults along each flank, dipping away from the anticline axis to the NE and SW. Many individual islands show post-extensional large-scale folding of the low-angle normal faults around the domes (Naxos, Paros, Ios, Sifnos) indicating a post-Miocene late phase of E–W shortening.     

Extensional Tectonic Framework of Post High and Ultrahigh Pressure Metamorphism in Dabieshan, China

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