Outline of the Pan-African geology of adrar des Iforas (Republic of Mali)

The Iforas (60 000 km²) falls within the Pan-African mobile belt bordering the West-African craton in north-eastern Mali Republic. It is characterized by major N-S shear belts parallel to the edge of the craton which delimit longitudinal blocks some of which have undergone considerable horizontal displacements. The central core of the Iforas which consists largely of reactivated pre-Pan-African basement injected by Pan-African syn- and post-tectonic intermediate and acid plutonic rocks, has behaved as a relatively rigid blocks during the Pan-African dividing the orogenic belt into a western Iforas and an eastern Iforas.Western Iforas displays W to E zonation: an ophiolitic suture (Timetrine); trench volcano-sedimentary deposits cut by gabbros diorites and acid granitoids (Tilemsi); and a late orogenic composite »coastal range batholith intruding the pre-Pan-African basement of Central Iforas and its overlying volcano-sedimentary deposits which here display a littoral facies and a tillite.Central Iforas consists of two major units: a polycyclic pre-Pan-African basement metamorphosed under high amphibolite facies conditions of presumed Eburnean age and the Iforas granulite block bound to the W, N and E by shear zones.Eastern Iforas was totally separated during metamorphism and deformation from the Iforas granulite block. From West to East, three lithological assemblages have been recognised separed by shear belts: a Quartzite Group, a Gneissic Group and a Pelitic Group the latter representing the southern prolongation of the central Hoggar Pharusian province.Shear zones are an essential feature of Pan-African tectonism East of the West-African craton. The superimposed stress fields have been recognised producing: early N20° trending sinistral shear zones, a north-south dextral shear zone (Andjour-Tamaradant shear zone) and late conjugating sinistral NNW and dextral ENE wrench faults.Late Pan-African events reflect the uplift and unroofing of the Pan-African composite batholith, the intrusion of circular granite plutons often located close to shear zones and alternating episodes of distension and compression.Lastly the simple model proposed for the closing stages of the Pan-African in the Iforas is that of an active continental plate margin separated from the West African craton by an oceanic domain. Subsequent continental collision to the South with a promotory of the West African craton led to the formation of the Dahomeyan thrust front and modified the stress field. Closure of the oceanic domain of western Iforas is thought to have taken place by continued eastward subduction of the oceanic plate and sinistral movement along an inferred north westerly trending transform fault coinciding with the future Cretaceous Gao trough and an alignement of strong positive gravity anomalies. It was accompanied by the northerly migration of central and western Iforas along the conjugating dextral N-S Andjour-Tamaradant shear zone. Further shortening led to folding of the arcuate Timetrine-Ydouban-Gourma fold belt overlying the deformed margin of the West African craton.

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Zusammenfassung Das Iforas-Gebiet (60 000 km²) gehört zur pan-afrikanischen Bewegungszone, die in Mali an das westafrikanische Kraton grenzt. Diese Zone wird von N-S Scherbewegungen parallel zum Kraton durchzogen, wobei größere horizontale Versetzungsbeträge langgestreckte Blöcke herausgetrennt haben. Der zentrale Teil von Iforas besteht im wesentlichen aus reaktiviertem prae-panafrikanischem Basement, das in pan-afrikanischer Zeit von syn- und posttektonischen, intermediären und sauren Plutoniten intrudiert wurde. Dieses Gebiet wirkt als relativ starrer Block, der während der pan-afrikanischen Orogenese den Orogengürtel in einen westlichen und einen östlichen Ast teilt. Das westliche Iforas-Gebiet zeigt eine E-W Zonierung: eine Ophiolith-Sutur, einen vulkano-sedimentären Gürtel und einen Rand-Batholithen.Zentral-Iforas wird aus zwei Einheiten aufgebaut: ein mehrfach metamorphisiertes Basement und einen Granitblock.In den überregionalen Scherzonen lassen sich drei Stress-Felder erkennen: eine ältere 20° streichende sinistrale Scherzone, eine N-S dextrale Scherzone und jüngere NNW und dextrale ENE Bruchzonen.Spät-pan-afrikanische Ereignisse sind durch Heraushebung und Abtrag, Granitintrusionen und wechselnden Dehnungs- und Kompressionsbewegungen gekennzeichnet.

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Résumé L'Adrar des Iforas (60 000 km²) fait partie de la zone mobile pan-africaine en marge du craton ouest-africain au Nord-Est de la République du Mali. La région est caractérisée par d'importants accidents mylonitiques parallèles à la bordure du craton qui délimitent des compartiments longitudinaux dont certains ont subi des déplacements horizontaux considérables. La zone dorsale des Iforas qui consiste essentiellement en un socle pré-pan-africain réactivé et injecté au Pan-Africain par des roches plutoniques intermédiaires et acides, syn- et post-tectoniques, s'est comportée en compartiments relativement rigides au cours du Pan-Africain, divisant la chaîne en un rameau occidental et un rameau oriental.Le rameau occidental présente une zonation d'Ouest en Est: une suture ophiolitique (Timetrine); des dépôts volcano-sédimentaires de fosse recoupés par des gabbros et des diorites; et un vaste batholite composite tardi-orogénique qui recoupe le socle pré-pan-africain de la zone dorsale des Iforas et sa couverture de dépôts volcanosédimentaires ici à faciès littoral.La zone dorsale des Iforas comprend deux unités majeures: un socle prépan-africain polycyclique métamorphisé dans le faciès amphibolite, d'âge éburnéen présumé et le môle granulitique des Iforas, délimité à l'W, au N et à l'E par des accidents mylonitiques.Le rameau oriental était séparé du môle granulitique des Iforas lors du métamorphisme et de la déformation. D'W en E, on trouve trois unités séparées par des zones mylonitiques: un Groupe de Quartzites, un Groupe de Gneiss et un Groupe de Pélites. Ce dernier représente le prolongement vers le Sud de la province pharusienne du centre Hoggar.Les grands accidents de cisaillement sont un fait marquant du tectonisme pan-africain à l'Est du craton ouest-africain. Trois champs de contraintes superposées ont produit des accidents précoces sénestres de direction N20, un accident N-S dextre (Andjour-Tamaradant), et des failles cisaillantes tardives conjuguées d'orientation NNW sénestres et ENE dextres.Les événements pan-africains tardifs sont marqués par la surrection et l'érosion des batholites pan-africains, la mise en place de plutons granitiques souvent à proximité des grands accidents et par des alternances de distensions et de compressions.Enfin un modèle simple est proposé pour les stades ultimes du Pan-Africain dans l'Adrar des Iforas: une marge continentale active séparée du craton ouest-africain par un domaine océanique; suite à une collision au Sud avec un promontoire du craton ouestafricain qui aurait produit le front de chevauchement dahomeyen et modifié le champ de contraintes, la fermeture du domaine océanique de l'Ouest Iforas se serait produite par subduction à l'E de la plaque océanique et une translation sénestre le long d'une faille transformante orientée NW et coincidant avec le fossé crétacé de Gao et un alignement d'anomalies gravimétriques positives. Elle aurait été accompagnée par le déplacement vers le N de l'Iforas occidental et central le long de l'accident cisaillant dextre d'Andjour-Tamaradant. Cette fermeture aurait provoqué les plissements de la chaîne du Timetrine-Ydouban-Gourma qui repose sur la bordure déformée du craton ouestafricain.

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Sense of shear and displacement estimates in the Abeibara-Rarhous late Pan-African shear zone,Adrar des Iforas,Mali

The late Pan-African Abeibara-Rarhous shear zone in the Adrar des Iforas (Mali) is described and studied with the aim of defining the direction, sense of movement and amount of displacement along the zone. It is a strike-slip shear zone, the dextral sense of which is demonstrated at the scale of the map by the rotation of the related mylonitic foliation and at the scale of the thin section with characteristic microstructures. Preferred orientation of quartz c-axes is tentatively used; three quartz-rich samples of 35% or more quartz indicate dextral strike-slip movement, but other samples do not show preferred orientation of quartz c-axes. Strain measurements have been performed on one half of the shear zone using established techniques and a new technique using the thickness of mylonitic layering. The results vary along the length of the shear zone when using the same method and for the same cross-section when using the three methods together. A mean value of 4 km is obtained for total displacement which is low when considering the apparent width of the shear zone. This result is discussed in view of the assumptions involved in the strain estimation. The tectonic history of the Abeibara-Rarhous shear zone and its significance in the Trans-Saharan Pan-African collisional belt are discussed.     

Metallogenesis of the late Pan-African gold-bearing East Ouzzal shear zone (Hoggar, Algeria)

In the W Hoggar (Algeria), the major transcurrent N–S East Ouzzal shear zone (EOSZ) hosts several world-class gold deposits over a 100-km length. The late Pan-African EOSZ separates two contrasting Precambrian domains: the Archaean In Ouzzal block to the west (orthogneisses with subordinate metasediments, reworked and granulitized in the c. 2 Ga Eburnean event) and a Middle Proterozoic block to the east (again orthogneisses and metasediments, involved in the c. 600 Ma Pan-African event). The EOSZ is a mylonite belt, 1–3 km wide, with a 50-m-wide ultramylonite belt hosting numerous quartz veins and lenses (giant hydrothermal quartz system) associated with a quartz-sericite-pyrite-carbonate (beresite) alteration. These hydrothermal events occurred under ductile (evolving towards brittle) conditions, between 500 and 300 MPa, at 500–300°C, with aqueous-carbonic fluids derived both from underlying devolatilized metamorphic rocks and a mantle source, as recorded by stable (C, O) isotope data. No gold mineralization was associated with these typical mesothermal events. Following a pressure drop (to 130 MPa), related to the inception of extensional tectonics, the EOSZ was later percolated by a new set of hydrothermal fluids, evolved from basinal waters that deeply penetrated into the In Ouzzal basement. These fluids were Ca-bearing brines (up to 25% wt. eq. NaCl), characterized by high δD (-9 to + 18‰ range), mobilized by the thermal energy released by the late Pan-African granite magmatism (Taourirt granites). As demonstrated by Pb isotope data, the brines leached Au from the In Ouzzal granulites (which contain 3 ppb Au). Fluid inclusion studies indicate that gold was deposited from these brines in the EOSZ at a depth of c. 5 km, due to mixing and cooling with descending diluted fluids.     

A polycyclic two-stage corona growth in the Iforas Granulitic Unit (Mali)

Abstract Retrograde and prograde mineral assemblages from metapelitic and metabasic rocks of the Iforas Granulitic Unit (Mali) were generated by the superimposition of two granulite facies metamorphic events. They clearly result from a polycyclic evolution and can be related to a late Eburnean unroofing followed by a Pan-African burial.
Thermobarometry on Pan-African garnet-bearing assemblages yields ( P, T ) estimates of 620±50°C and 5± Ikbar. The nearly anhydrous conditions produced in the Eburnean appear to be the direct cause of the unusually lowtemperature granulite-facies metamorphism in the Pan-African. These P, T estimates are compared with those obtained on the underlying unit (Kidal Assemblage) upon which the Iforas Granulitic Unit was thrust. A P-T-t path, during the Pan-African orogeny, is proposed and discussed for both the Iforas Granulites and Kidal Assemblage.     

Geodynamic setting and emplacement of mylonitic granitoids within the North Golpayegan shear zone,Iran

The metamorphic complex of the North Golpayegan is part of the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone. There are at least three distinct stages of deformation in this complex. Throughout the first stage, Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks have experienced regional metamorphism during Late Jurassic tectonic events related to the subduction of the Neo-Tethys oceanic lithosphere under the Iranian microcontinent. During the second deformation stage in the Late Cretaceous-Paleocene, the rocks have been mylonitized. The third stage of deformation in the region has led to folding and faulting superimposed on previous structures, and to exhumation of the metamorphic complex. This stage has determined the current morphology and N70E strike of the complex. The mylonitic zones of the second stage of deformation have been formed along the dextral transpressional faults. During the third stage of deformation and exhumation of the metamorphic complex, the mylonitic zones have been uplifted to the surface. The granitoids in the metamorphic complex have been injected along the extensional shear fractures related to the dextral transpressional displacements. The granitoids have been transformed into mylonites within the synthetic or antithetic shear zones. These granitoids are recognized as syncollision type (CCG) and have been formed at the end of orogenic events synchronous to the collision between the Arabian and the Iranian plates at the Late Cretaceous-Paleocene.     

Mid-crustal shear zone evolution in a syn-tectonic late Hercynian granitoid (Sila Massif,Calabria, southern Italy)

By means of petrogrological, meso- and microstructural analyses, the fabric of a syn-tectonic late Hercynian K-feldspar megacryst-bearing granodiorite is described in this paper. The granodiorite was emplaced at 293 Ma within migmatitic paragneisses which had reached the regional peak metamorphic conditions at 304–300 Ma. The granodiorite and the migmatitic paragneisses are both affected by the same ductile shear zone. In the core of the shear zone, mylonites show a clear grain-size reduction and microstructures related to deformation at high to medium temperature conditions. Migmatitic paragneisses, foliated granodiorites and mylonites mostly show concordant lineation and foliation orientations. In addition, the preferred orientation of euhedral feldspars in granodiorites indicates that the fabric anisotropy started to develop in the magmatic state. These features strongly suggest that shear deformation was active during crystallisation of granitoids and continued under subsolidus conditions. In wall rocks and mylonites, kinematic indicators such as - and -type porphyroclasts, S/C fabrics, shear bands and quartz (c) axis orientations suggest a top-to-the-W sense of shear. This is similar to the magma flow direction indicated by the tiling of euhedral feldspar megacrysts in granodiorites. Shear deformation developed, preferentially, by partitioning of strain in the granodioritic crystal mush. Geobarometry indicates that deformation took place at middle crustal levels (P=400–500 MPa). Whole rock-white mica Rb/Sr geochronological analysis of an undeformed pegmatite, crosscutting the mylonitic foliation, provided an age of 265 Ma. Timing of deformation is therefore bracketed between 293 Ma and 265 Ma.     

The cooling history of a Pan African belt in the Adrar des Iforas, (Republic of Mali). Comparison with other Pan African belts

A study of biotite cooling ages in the Adrar des Iforas Pan African belt has been made using Rb/Sr techniques. The results indicate that uplift of this segment of the belt probably took place soon after intrusion of the last granites in each particular area. Comparison of the cooling ages in all the Pan African belts suggest there is a bi-partite age division and thus a diachronism in the Pan African.

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Zusammenfassung Abkühlungsalter von Biotiten aus dem Adrar des Iforas im Panafrikanischen Gürtel wurden mit der Rb/Sr-Methode untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, da\ der Aufstieg dieses Abschnittes des Gürtels wahrscheinlich kurze Zeit nach der Intrusion der letzten Granite in jedem einzelnen Gebiet erfolgte. Der Vergleich von Abkühlungsaltern in allen Panafrikanischen Gürteln legt nahe, da\ es eine zweiteilige Altersgruppierung gibt und somit einen Diachronismus im Panafrikanischen Ereignis.

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Résumé On a fait l'étude des âges de refroidissement des biotites dans la chaÎne panafricaine dans l'Adrar des Iforas suivant la technique Rb/Sr. Les résultats indiquent que le soulèvement de cette partie de la chaÎne eut lieu bientÔt après l'intrusion des derniers granites. La comparaison des âges de refroidissement dans toutes les chaÎnes panafricaines suggère qu'il y a une différence d'âge entre deux domaines et donc un diachronisme dans le Panafricain.

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Estimation of flow stresses in mylonitic quartzites of parts of Singhbhum shear zone,Bihar, eastern India

Recrystallized grain size was measured from quartzite mylonite specimens collected from parts of Singhbhum shear zone in eastern India. The specimens were collected along five traverses (Mushabani, Pathargora, Surda, Rakha and Jadugoda) across the elongation of the shear zone. The sheared quartzites range from protomylonite through mylonite to ultramylonite. The microstructural studies of the specimens reflect that dynamic recrystallization was the main deformation process. Estimation of flow stresses were derived from these specimens using empirical equations relating to flow stress and recrystallized grain size. The calculated stresses range from 12–28 MPa (Mercieret al 1977), 23–49 MPa (Twiss 1977), 20–68 MPa (Christie and Ord 1980), considering all the traverses. The results show that these values can only be used semiquantitatively.     

Diffusion creep and partial melting in high temperature mylonitic gneisses, Hope Valley shear zone, New England Appalachians, USA

Field, petrographic, microstructural and isotopic studies of mylonitic gneisses and associated pegmatites along the Hope Valley shear zone in southern Rhode Island indicate that late Palaeozoic deformation (c. 275 Ma) in this zone occurred at very high temperatures (>650 °C). High‐energy cuspate/lobate phase boundary microstructures, a predominance of equant to sub‐equant grains with low internal lattice strain, and mixed phase distributions indicate that diffusion creep was an important and possibly predominant deformation mechanism. Field and petrographic evidence are consistent with the presence of an intergranular melt phase during deformation, some of which collected into syntectonic pegmatites. Rb/Sr isotopic analyses of tightly sampled pegmatites and wall rocks confirm that the pegmatites were derived as partial melts of the immediately adjacent, isotopically heterogeneous mylonitic gneisses. The presence of syntectonic interstitial melts is inferred to have permitted a switch from dislocation creep to melt‐enhanced diffusion creep as the dominant mechanism in these relatively coarse‐grained mylonitic gneisses (200–500 µm syn‐deformational grain size). A switch to diffusion creep would lead to significant weakening, and may explain why the Hope Valley shear zone evolved into a major regional tectonic boundary. This work identifies conditions under which diffusion creep operates in naturally deformed granitic rocks and illuminates the deformation processes involved in the development of a tectonic boundary between two distinct Late Proterozoic (Avalonian) basement terranes.     

Synkinematic high-K calc-alkaline plutons associated with the Pan-African Central Cameroon shear zone (W-Tibati area): Petrology and geodynamic significance

Four plutons from the W-Tibati area of central Cameroon crop out in close relationships with the Pan-African Adamawa ductile shear zone (Central Cameroon Shear Zone: CCSZ). These plutons include diorites, tonalites, granodiorites and granites, and most of them are porphyritic due to the abundance of pink K-feldspar megacrysts. Syn-kinematic magma emplacement is demonstrated by the elongate shape of the plutons and by magmatic and ductile (gneissic) foliations that strike parallel to or at a low angle with the CCSZ; the foliation obliquity is consistent with dextral transcurrent tectonics. Whole-rock geochemistry points to high-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic magmatism. Mixing-mingling features can be observed in the field. However, fractional crystallization of plagioclase, amphibole, biotite (+ K-feldspar in the more felsic compositions) appears to have played a dominant role in the magmatic differentiation processes, as confirmed by mass balance calculations based on major elements. Isotopic signatures suggest that the magmas may have originated from different sources, i.e. either from a young mafic underplate for most magmas with ε_Ndi(600 Ma) around −1 to −2 and Sri_(600 Ma) around 0.705, or from an enriched lithospheric mantle for some diorites with ε_Ndi(600 Ma) at −6 and Sri_(600 Ma) at 0.7065; mixing with young crustal component is likely. The plutonic rocks of W-Tibati are similar to other Pan-African high-K calk-alkaline syn-kinematic plutons in western Cameroon. They also display striking similarities with high-K calk-alkaline plutons associated with the Patos and Pernambuco shear zones of the Borborema province in NE Brazil.     

Deformation, mass transfer and mineral reactions in an eclogite facies shear zone in a polymetamorphic metapelite (Monte Rosa nappe, western Alps)

This study analyses the mineralogical and chemical transformations associated with an Alpine shear zone in polymetamorphic metapelites from the Monte Rosa nappe in the upper Val Loranco (N‐Italy). In the shear zone, the pre‐Alpine assemblage plagioclase + biotite + kyanite is replaced by the assemblage garnet + phengite + paragonite at eclogite facies conditions of about 650 °C at 12.5 kbar. Outside the shear zone, only minute progress of the same metamorphic reaction was attained during the Alpine metamorphic overprint and the pre‐Alpine mineral assemblage is largely preserved. Textures of incomplete reaction, such as garnet rims at former grain contacts between pre‐existing plagioclase and biotite, are preserved in the country rocks of the shear zone. Reaction textures and phase relations indicate that the Alpine metamorphic overprint occurred under largely anhydrous conditions in low strain domains. In contrast, the mineralogical changes and phase equilibrium diagrams indicate water saturation within the Alpine shear zones. Shear zone formation occurred at approximately constant volume but was associated with substantial gains in silica and losses in aluminium and potassium. Changes in mineral modes associated with chemical alteration and progressive deformation indicate that plagioclase, biotite and kyanite were not only consumed in the course of the garnet‐and phengite‐producing reactions, but were also dissolved ‘congruently’ during shear zone formation. A large fraction of the silica liberated by plagioclase, biotite and kyanite dissolution was immediately re‐precipitated to form quartz, but the dissolved aluminium‐ and potassium‐bearing species appear to have been stable in solution and were removed via the pore fluid. The reaction causes the localization of deformation by producing fine‐grained white mica, which forms a mechanically weak aggregate.     

Evolution of zircon deformation mechanisms in a shear zone (Lanzo massif,Western-Alps)

Magmatic zircons within two sheared gabbroic dykes from the peridotitic massif of Lanzo (Western-Alps, Italy) revealed evolution of deformation from crystal plasticity to rigid body rotation during shear zone evolution. This is the first time that multiple zircon grains have been analysed in a kinematic context in a shear zone. Zircon grains recorded crystal plastic deformation activating the commonly inferred <100>{001} and <001>{100} glide-systems to the newly identified <001>{110} glide-system. The exact selection of glide-system could be dependant of deformation conditions such as pressure, temperature, and strain rate. Moreover, the activation of one or several glide-systems within a single grain could be favoured by the primary orientation of the grains combined with a high strain rate. In these sheared gabbros, the deformation mechanisms evolve from plastic deformation at low strain rate conditions to increase strain, strain softening and localisation of deformation. The progressive shear zone development and the softening of the matrix relative to the zircon has lead to a switch from crystal-plasticity to rigid body rotation of zircon. The zircon grains rigid body rotation involved that their long axes became parallel to the lineation of the shear zone, causing reorientation and dispersion of the misorientation axes away from kinematic Y.     

辽西兴城—台里韧性剪切带北段变形特征

辽西兴城—台里地区发育系列花岗质岩石,强烈构造变形特征均显示其具有韧性剪切带的特点。对剪切带北段进行详细宏微观构造解析,结合岩石变形强度差异性分析、有限应变测量、石英C轴EBSD测试以及古差异应力值估算等研究,结果表明剪切带内花岗质片麻岩和眼球状花岗质片麻岩具有NEE向左行剪切变形特征,变形岩石为S-L构造岩,应变类型属于平面应变,古差异应力值介于30~40 MPa之间。长石-石英矿物温度计以及石英C轴EBSD组构指示剪切带以中低温变形为主,温度在400℃~500℃,属绿片岩相变质,具中-低温韧性剪切带特征。韧性剪切带内普遍存在变形分解现象,弱变形带内岩石残斑含量较高,眼球状构造和S-C组构较为发育;强变形带岩石残斑含量较低,剪切面理较为发育,糜棱面理发育较弱或者不发育。     

Eye-type folds at the Palmi shear zone (Calabria,Italy)

International Journal of Earth Sciences -     

辽北法库韧性剪切带变形及其区域构造意义

晚古生代—早中生代古亚洲洋板块俯冲华北板块在辽北法库地区形成大型产状近水平的韧性剪切带.剪切带发展伴随着多期幔源及壳源的岩浆侵入,侵入岩在韧性剪切作用下发生韧性变形,记录了韧性剪切带变形历史.详细的野外地质调查结合岩石的宏观变形、显微构造及石英c轴组构特征分析,揭示了法库韧性剪切带内五龙山杂岩、高丽沟杂岩、早期十间房超...     

太行山南段自立庄韧性剪切带变形特征

太行山南段临城自立庄地区古元古界甘陶河群中低级变质岩中发育一条左行逆冲型韧性剪切带。自立庄韧性剪切带出露长约10 km,宽约1 km,走向NNE,往西缓倾,在EW方向上由若干条强变形带与其间的弱变形域或岩块组成,平面上呈现平行式的组合特征。该韧性剪切带内发育糜棱岩、拉伸线理和皱纹线理、不对称褶皱、石香肠构造和构造透镜体、S-C面理和旋转碎斑等宏观和微观构造。S-C面理、旋转碎斑、不对称褶皱等宏微观变形特征一致表明自立庄韧性剪切带上盘由西往东逆冲的运动学性质。在对韧性剪切带宏观、微观构造特征研究基础上,结合区域资料,认为自立庄韧性剪切带的形成与华北克拉通古元古代末期西部陆块与东部陆块的EW向碰撞拼合有关,是18.5 Ga吕梁运动的产物。自立庄韧性剪切带的厘定为太行山南段古元古代构造演化提供了基础资料。     

Deformation along a salient-transverse zone junction: An example from the Leamington transverse zone,Utah, Sevier fold-thrust belt (USA)

Within fold-thrust belts, the junctions between salients and recesses may hold critical clues to the overall kinematic history of fold-thrust belts. The deformation history within these junctions is best preserved in areas where thrust sheets extend from a salient through an adjacent recess. We examine one such junction within the Sevier fold-thrust belt (western United States) along the Leamington transverse zone, northern Utah. The Canyon Range thrust sheet can be traced continuously from the Leamington transverse zone to its adjacent salient to the south, the Central Utah segment. Deformation within the Canyon Range thrust sheet took place by faulting and cataclastic flow. Analyses of these fault networks preserved throughout the Canyon Range thrust sheet are used to develop a kinematic history of the Leamington transverse zone. Field data is supplemented by analog sandbox experiments. This study suggests that, in detail, deformation within the overlying thrust sheet may not directly reflect the underlying basement structure. Moreover, these junctions may contain several types of accommodating structures that helped to maintain critical-taper and that serve as potential targets for natural resource exploration.     

内蒙古狼山左行走滑韧性剪切带变形特征、时间及意义

华北克拉通北缘渣尔泰-白云鄂博-化德元古宙裂谷带,是一条重要的成矿带,发育一系列大型、超大型矿床。裂谷带自西向东分别沉积了中元古代渣尔泰群、白云鄂博群和化德群。最近的研究表明,分布在狼山地区的渣尔泰群中火山岩夹层锆石U-Pb年龄及碎屑锆石年龄将其时代限定为新元古代,而渣尔泰山一带的渣尔泰群碎屑锆石年龄最小峰值大于1 700 Ma,二者很可能不是同一套地层。前者被从原渣尔泰群中解体出来,称为狼山群。但由于狼山群与渣尔泰群岩石组合的相似性,以及地层展布在区域走向上相连,特别是它们都是华北北缘重要的含矿层,矿化特征也具相似性,导致目前为止这两套地层的叠置关系还不清楚,这对于认识华北北缘中新元古代裂谷发育特征和演化,以及对认识相关矿化规律造成了一定的混乱和难度。本文对发育于狼山地区平行山体走向的韧性剪切变形带进行了研究。结果表明狼山韧性剪切带内变形岩石糜棱面理走向NE-SW,向NW或SE陡倾,矿物拉伸线理向SW或NE缓倾,野外及显微运动学标志显示为左行走滑韧性剪切带。剪切带内两个糜棱岩化云母石英片岩样品中变形白云母的40Ar/39Ar坪年龄分别为(356.7±2.5)Ma和(379±4.7)Ma,表明剪切带形成于晚泥盆世。狼山韧性剪切带很可能是古亚洲洋闭合过程中导致阿拉善地块与鄂尔多斯地块发生相对滑动所形成的。该剪切带晚泥盆世的左行走滑导致新元古代狼山群和中元古代渣尔泰群叠置到一起。因此,在渣尔泰山北侧和狼山南部及阿拉善块体北缘的覆盖层之下,很可能分别存在隐伏的新元古代成矿带和中元古代成矿带。     

En echelon fractures in a dextral shear zone - tectonic heritage for a hydrothermal cave (Budapest, Hungary)

Microtectonic study of brittle structures in the József Hill Cave, Budapest, highlights the connection between different phases of fracturing and cave formation. E-W trending dextral faults (second order Riedels) and NW-SE oriented tension fractures developed in a ENE-WSW trending dextral shear zone as a result of WNW-ESE directed compression. Ascending thermal water dissolved cave galleries and created barite veins along these fractures. The first stage of cave formation as inferred from timing of fracturation from the regional stress field was Oligocene-Early Miocene. Between the Middle Miocene and Quaternary new N-S to NE-SW trending normal faults were formed by ESE-WNW extension. Pleistocene differential uplift resulted in the reactivation and enlarging of fault zones, dominantly the E-W trending older Riedels. These recent tectonic events enhanced the original en echelon geometry of the older cave corridors.