Thermotectonic evolution of the western fold-and-thrust belt, southern Uralides, Russia, as revealed by apatite fission track data

The Uralides, a linear N–S trending Palaeozoic fold belt, reveals an intact, well-preserved orogen with a deep crustal root within a stable continental interior. In the western fold-and-thrust belt of the southern Uralides, Devonian to Carboniferous siliciclastic and carbonate rocks overlay Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks. Deformation in the Devonian, Carboniferous and Permian caused thick-skinned tectonic features in the western and central parts of the western fold-and-thrust belt. A stack of several nappes characterizes the deformation in the eastern part. Along the E–W transect AC-TS'96 that crosses the western fold-and-thrust belt, apatite fission track data record various stages of the geodynamic evolution of the Uralide orogeny such as basin evolution during the Palaeozoic, synorogenic movements along major thrusts, synorogenic to postorogenic exhumation and a change in the regional stress field during the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous. The Palaeozoic sedimentary cover and the Neoproterozoic basement of the Ala-Tau anticlinorium never exceed the upper limit of the PAZ since the Devonian. A temperature gradient similar to the recent one (20 °C/km) would account for the FT data. Reactivation of the Neoproterozoic Zilmerdak thrust was time equivalent to the onset of the Devonian and Carboniferous collision-related deformation in the east. West-directed movement along the Tashli thrust occurred in the Lower Permian. The Devonian and Carboniferous exhumation path of the Neoproterozoic siliciclastic units of the Tirlyan synclinorium mirrors the onset of the Uralian orogeny, the emplacement of the Tirlyan nappe and the continuous west-directed compression. The five main tectonic segments Inzer Synclinorium, Beloretzk Terrane, Ala-Tau anticlinorium, Yamantau anticlinorium and Zilair synclinorium were exhumed one after another to a stable position in the crust between 290 and 230 Ma. Each segment has its own t–T path but the exhumation rate was nearly the same. Final denudation of the western fold-and-thrust belt and exhumation to the present surface probably began in Late Tertiary. In Jurassic and Cretaceous, south-directed movements along W–E trending normal faults indicate a change in the tectonic regime in the southern Uralides.     

Neoproterozoic metamorphism and deformation at the southeastern margin of the East European Craton,Uralides, Russia

The eastern margin of the East European Craton (EEC) has a long lasting geological record of Precambrian age. Archaean and Proterozoic strata are exposed in the western fold-and-thrust belt of the Uralides and are known from drill cores and geophysical data below the Palaeozoic cover in the Uralides and its western foredeep. In the southern Uralides, sedimentary, metamorphic and magmatic rocks of Riphean and Vendian age occur in the Bashkirian Mega-anticlinorium (BMA) and the Beloretzk Terrane. In the eastern part of the BMA (Yamantau anticlinorium) and the Beloretzk Terrane, K-Ar ages of the <2-µm-size fraction of phyllites (potassic white mica) and slates (illite) give evidence for a complex pre-Uralian metamorphic and deformational history of the Precambrian basement at the southeastern margin of the EEC. Interpretation of the K-Ar ages considered the variation of secondary foliation and the diagenetic to metamorphic grade. In the Yamantau anticlinorium, the greenschist-facies metamorphism of the Mesoproterozoic siliciclastic rocks is of Early Neoproterozoic origin (about 970 Ma) and the S1 cleavage formation of Late Neoproterozoic (about 550 Ma). The second wide-spaced cleavage is of Uralian origin. In the central and western part of the BMA, the diagenetic to incipient metamorphic grade developed in Late Neoproterozoic time. In post-Uralian time, Proterozoic siliciclastic rocks with a cleavage of Uralian age have not been exhumed to the surface of the BMA. Late Neoproterozoic thrusts and faults within the eastern margin of the EEC are reactivated during the Uralian deformation.     

Polyphase late Palaeozoic deformation in the southeastern foreland and northwestern Piedmont of the Alabama Appalachians

Late Palaeozoic deformation in the southern Appalachians is believed to be related to the collisional events that formed Pangaea. The Appalachian foreland fold and thrust belt in Alabama is a region of thin-skinned deformed Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks ranging in age from Early Cambrian to Late Carboniferous, bounded to the northwest by relatively undeformed rocks of the Appalachian Plateau and to the southeast by crystalline thrust sheets containing metasedimentary and metaigneous rocks ranging in age from late Precambrian to Early Devonian. A late Palaeozoic kinematic sequence derived for a part of this region indicates complex spatial and temporal relationships between folding, thrusting, and tectonic level of décollement. Earliest recognized (Carboniferous(?) or younger) compressional deformation in the foreland, observable within the southernmost thrust sheets in the foreland, is a set of large-scale, tight to isoclinal upright folds which preceded thrafing, and may represent the initial wave of compression in the foreland. Stage 2 involved emplacement of low-angle far-traveled thrust sheets which cut Lower Carboniferous rocks and cut progressively to lower tectonic levels to the southwest, terminating with arrival onto the foreland rocks of a low-grade crystalline nappe. Stage 3 involved redeformation of the stage 2 nappe pile by large-scale upright folds oriented approximately parallel to the former thrusts and believed to be related to ramping or imbrication from a deeper décollement in the foreland rocks below. Stage 4 involved renewed low-angle thrusting within the Piedmont rocks, emplacement of a high-grade metamorphic thrust sheet, and decapitation of stage 3 folds. Stage 5 is represented by large-scale cross-folding at a high angle to previous thrust boundaries and fold phases, and may be related to ramping or imbrication on deep décollements within the now mostly buried Ouachita orogen thrust belt to the southwest. Superposed upon these folds are stage 6 high-angle thrust faults with Appalachian trends representing the youngest (Late Carboniferous or younger, structures in the kinematic sequence.     

Relationship between the Ordovician and Carboniferous–Permian collisional events in the southeastern Tunka bald mountains, East Sayan (southwestern framing of the Siberian Platform)

Granites from the Tunka pluton of the Sarkhoi complex, located in the eastern Tunka bald mountains (East Sayan), have been dated at the Middle Ordovician (462.6 ± 7.8 Ma) by LA ICP MS. The granites of the Sarkhoi complex within the studied area cut a foldthrust structure consisting of deformed fragments of the Vendian (Ediacaran)–Early Cambrian cover of the Tuva–Mongolian microcontinent (Upper Shumak metaterrigenous formation, Gorlyk carbonate formation). The red-colored conglomerates and sandstones of the Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous(?) Sagan-Sair Formation overlie the eroded surface of the Tunka pluton granites in the eastern Tunka bald mountains. The Sagan-Sair Formation, in turn, is overlain along a low-angle thrust by a group of tectonic sheets, which comprises the volcanic and carbonate sediments of the Tolta Formation, biotitic schists, and plagiogneisses with garnet amphibolite bodies. Two nappe generations have been revealed on the basis of the described geologic relationships, the Middle Ordovician age of the Tunka pluton granites, and numerous Late Paleozoic Ar–Ar dates of syntectonic minerals from the metamorphic rocks in the area. The first thrusting stage was pre-Middle Ordovician, and the second, Late Carboniferous–Permian. The Lower Paleozoic thrust structure resulted from the accretion of the Tuva–Mongolian microcontinent to the Siberian Platform. The Late Paleozoic nappes resulted from intracontinental orogeny and the reactivation of an Early Paleozoic accretionary belt under the effect of the Late Paleozoic collisional events.     

大别山商城石门冲一带中生代逆冲推覆构造

笔者运用1∶5万双柳树幅、白雀园幅区域地质调查成果,阐述商城石门冲一带发育的逆冲推覆构造。大别山商城石门冲一带中生代逆冲推覆作用,使本区发育的中—新元古界龟山岩组、下古生界石门冲岩组、上古生界石炭系及中生界朱集组等,不同程度卷入NE向逆冲推覆系统中,形成一系列构造窗、飞来峰和叠瓦状逆冲断层带。逆冲推覆距离最小约为6 km,形成时代约为中侏罗世—晚侏罗世之间,最晚不超过早白垩世。     

Variscan geodynamic evolution of the Carnic Alps (Austria/Italy)

The South-Alpine Carnic Alps are part of the southern flank of the European Variscides and display a continuous sedimentary record from Late Ordovician to Devonian times followed by Carboniferous S-directed nappe stacking and Late Carboniferous to Early Permian post-collisional collapse. The tectonometamorphic and sedimentary evolution of the Carnic Alps resembles a continuous process where pre- and syn-orogenic volcanism, syn-orogenic flysch sedimentation, deformation including nappe stacking, metamorphism and tectonic collapse shift in age from internal zones in the N towards external zones in the S. New structural, petrological and sedimentological data are presented concerning the tectonometamorphic history of the Carnic Alps. We distinguish three thrust sheets or tectonic nappes differing in their stratigraphic, sedimentological, deformational and metamorphic histories which were thrust over each other in Carboniferous times. Our data lead to a new geodynamic model showing an evolution from rifting or back-arc spreading in the Late Ordovician to the establishment of a mature passive continental margin in the Late Devonian/Early Carboniferous, flysch sedimentation in an active continental margin setting during the Visean/Namurian and finally collision during the Late Carboniferous between the northern margin of Gondwana and a microcontinent to the N.     

The nappe structure of the central Northern Calcareous Alps and its disintegration during Miocene tectonic extrusion—a contribution to understanding the orogenic evolution of the Eastern Alps

The classical concept of the nappe structure of the central Northern Calcareous Alps (NCA) is in contradiction with modern stratigraphic, structural, metamorphic and geochronological data. We first perform a palinspastic restoration for the time before Miocene lateral tectonic extrusion, which shows good continuity of structures, facies and diagenetic/metamorphic zones. We present a new nappe concept, in which the Tirolic unit practically takes the whole area of the central NCA and is divided into three subunits (nappes): Lower and Upper Tirolic subunit, separated by the Upper Jurassic Trattberg Thrust, and the metamorphic Ultra-Tirolic unit. The Hallstatt (Iuvavic) nappe(s) formed the highest unit, but were completely destroyed by erosion after nappe stacking. Remnants of the Hallstatt nappes are only represented by components of up to 1 km in size in Middle/Upper Jurassic radiolaritic wildflysch sediments ("Hallstatt Mélange" belonging to the Tirolic unit). Destruction of the continental margin started in Middle to Upper Jurassic time and prograded from the oceanic side towards the shelf. The original substratum of the external nappes (Bavaric units) of the NCA was largely the Austroalpine crystalline basement, of the internal nappes (Tirolic units) the weakly metamorphosed Palaeozoic sequences (Greywacke Zone and equivalents). Eocene movements caused limited internal deformation in the Tirolic unit.     

40Ar/39Ar ages of detrital white mica from Upper Austroalpine units in the Eastern Alps, Austria: Evidence for Cadomian and contrasting Variscan sources

Five detrital white mica concentrates from very low-grade, metaclastic sequences within pre-Variscan basement and post-Variscan cover units of the Upper Austroalpine Nappe Complex (Eastern Alps) have been dated with ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar incremental heating techniques to constrain the age of tectonothermal events in their respective source areas. Two samples from early Palaeozoic sandstone exposed within the same Alpine nappe record slightly discordant age spectra. The maximum age recorded in one is 562.2±0.7?Ma, whereas the other yielded a ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau age of 607.3±0.3?Ma. These results indicate a source area affected by Cadomian tectonothermal activity. Three detrital muscovite concentrates from post-Variscan, Late Carboniferous and Permian cover sequences exposed within three different Alpine nappes yielded ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau ages of 359.6?±?1.1?Ma, 310.5±1.2?Ma, and 303.3±0.2?Ma. The contrasting detrital white mica ages are interpreted to reflect different source areas. Detrital muscovite from a post-Variscan Carboniferous molasse-type sequence and from a Permian Verrucano-type sequence record ages which indicate “late” Variscan (e.g. 330–300?Ma) metamorphic sources. By contrast, detrital white mica from another Permian Verrucano-type sequence suggests a source area affected by “early” Variscan (e.g. 400–360?Ma) metamorphism. These results help clarify palinspastic relationships and tectonic correlations between pre-Late Carboniferous metamorphic basement sequences and Carboniferous to Permian cover sequences.     

三塘湖盆地构造演化与油气聚集

三塘湖盆地处于西伯利亚板块南缘,早石炭世晚期,盆地褶皱基底形成;晚石炭世早期,总体处于碰撞期后伸展构造环境;晚石炭世晚期,洋壳消亡,断陷收缩与整体抬升,形成剥蚀不整合.早二叠世,进入陆内前陆盆地演化阶段;中二叠世,盆地进入推覆体前缘前陆盆地发育期;晚二叠世,构造褶皱回返,前陆盆地消失;三叠纪晚期至侏罗纪中期,进入统一坳...     

Tectonic control on diagenesis in a foreland basin: combined petrologic and thermochronologic approaches in the Grès d’Annot basin (Late Eocene–Early Oligocene,French–Italian external Alps)

Combined petrographic study and apatite fission track analysis (apatite FTA) across the Grès d’Annot basin document maximum temperatures reached by this turbiditic sandstone formation, from around 60 °C at the SW basin margin up to around 200 °C below the Penninic frontal thrust, in relation to burial below the front of Alpine nappes. Increasing diagenetic grade across the basin is primarily expressed by the development of silica transfer by pressure solution and correlated porosity loss. We infer the nappe thickness profile, from the nappe front in the SW up to around 8–10 km in the NE. Apatite FTA dates exhumation of the Grès d’Annot during the Late Miocene, in relation to thrusting of the underlying Argentera and Barrot Palaeozoic massifs. This study illustrates the influence of thrust front propagation on foreland basin diagenesis and exhumation, and highlights potential implications for the evolution of sediment reservoir properties in this context.     

Structures along the Orobic thrust, Central Orobic Alps, Italy

A series of regional deformation phases is described for the metamorphic basement and the Permian cover in an area in the central Orobic Alps, northern Italy. In the basement deformation under low-grade amphibolite metamorphic conditions is followed by a second phase during retrograde greenschist conditions. These two phases predate the deposition of the Permian cover and are of probable Variscan age. An extensional basin formed on the eroded basement during the Late Carboniferous, filled with fan conglomerates and sandstones, and rhyolitic volcanic rocks. Well-preserved brittle extensional faults bound these basins. Further extension deformed basement and cover before the onset of Alpine compressional tectonics. Cover and basement were deformed together during two phases of compressional deformation of post-Triassic age, the first giving rise to tectonic inversion of the older extensional faults, the second to new thrust faults, both associated with south-directed nappe emplacement and regional folding. Foliations develop in the cover only during the first phase of deformation as part of the activity on “shortening faults”. Main activity on the Orobic thrust actually postdates the first phase of thrusting and foliation development in the cover.     

甘蒙北山中南带新发现燕山早期走滑挤压推覆构造带

近年来在区域调查基础上,于甘蒙北山中南带首次发现了六条由南向北推覆的构造带,在每个推覆陶造带边缘发育大小不一的飞来峰。推覆体走向近东西,推覆在震旦系至中、下侏罗统之上,最大直观推覆距达55km,累积推覆距大于150km,并被上侏罗统不整合覆盖,形成时代为燕山早期。     

The Tepla(?)/Saxothuringian suture in the Karkonosze–Izera massif, western Sudetes, central European Variscides

The southern and eastern Karkonosze-Izera massif (northern Bohemian Massif) exposes blueschist facies rocks and MORB-type magmatic complexes. During Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous times, these were overthrust within a nappe pile toward the NW onto the pre-Variscan Saxothuringian basement composed of the Izera-Kowary metagranitoids and their envelope. The lowermost nappe (or parautochthonous?) unit of the pile is the low-grade metamorphosed Jewt3d complex, comprising a Devonian to Early Carboniferous sedimentary succession of the Saxothuringian passive margin. This is tectonically overlain by the South Karkonosze complex, which represents Ordovician-Silurian volcano-sedimentary infill of the Saxothuringian basin, affected by Late Devonian HP metamorphism. The uppermost nappe is the Early Palaeozoic epidote-amphibolite grade Leszczyniec MORB-like complex, cropping out on the eastern margin of the Karkonosze-Izera massif. It probably represents a fragment of obducted Saxothuringian basin floor. The nappe pile was stacked beneath the overriding upper plate margin, now concealed below the Intra-Sudetic basin and hypothesized to represent a fragment of the Tepla-Barrandian terrane. The nappe stacking, triggered by buoyancy-controlled upward extrusion of the subducted continental slab, was the main mechanism for the exhumation of HP rocks. The final stages of the NW-ward nappe stacking were accompanied and followed by SE-directed Early Carboniferous extensional collapse. The lower plate of the suture zone was uplifted at that time and intruded by the ~330-Ma-old, nearly undeformed Karkonosze granite pluton. As a result of the collapse, the Tepla-Barrandian(?) upper plate was downthrown on shear zones and brittle faults and buried under several km-thick synorogenic Late Tournaisian(?) through Namurian and post-orogenic Late Carboniferous-Early Permian succession of the Intra-Sudetic basin. The south and east Karkonosze suture most probably is a fragment of the Tepla/Saxothuringian (Münchberg-Tepla) suture belt known from the western Bohemian Massif.     

Tectonic zoning of Wrangel Island,Arctic region

The Northern, Central, and Southern zones are distinguished by stratigraphic, lithologic, and structural features. The Northern Zone is characterized by Upper Silurian–Lower Devonian sedimentary rocks, which are not known in other zones. They have been deformed into near-meridional folds, which formed under settings of near-latitudinal shortening during the Ellesmere phase of deformation. In the Central Zone, mafic and felsic volcanic rocks that had been earlier referred to Carboniferous are actually Neoproterozoic and probably Early Cambrian in age. Together with folded Devonian–Lower Carboniferous rocks, they make up basement of the Central Zone, which is overlain with a angular unconformity by slightly deformed Lower (?) and Middle Carboniferous–Permian rocks. The Southern Zone comprises the Neoproterozoic metamorphic basement and the Devonian–Triassic sedimentary cover. North-vergent fold–thrust structures were formed at the end of the Early Cretaceous during the Chukchi (Late Kimmerian) deformation phase.     

藏北改则新生代早期逆冲推覆构造系统

藏北改则及邻区新生代早期发育大型逆冲推覆构造系统,由不同方向的逆冲断层、不同时代的构造岩片、不同规模的飞来峰和构造窗、不同类型的褶皱构造组成。羌塘中部发育羌中薄皮推覆构造,石炭系板岩和二叠系白云质灰岩自北向南逆冲推覆于上白垩统与古近系红层之上,形成大型逆冲岩席和弧形逆冲断层,原地系统古近纪红层下伏三叠系—侏罗系海相烃源岩。羌塘南部发育南羌塘薄皮推覆构造,导致班公—怒江蛇绿岩、三叠系—侏罗系海相地层及侏罗纪混杂岩自北向南逆冲推覆于古近纪红层与下白垩统海相沉积岩层之上,形成三条蛇绿岩片带、大量飞来峰和厚度较大的构造片岩。中新世早期火山岩层和湖相沉积呈角度不整合覆盖逆冲断层、褶皱构造和逆冲岩席,不整合面上覆火山岩年龄为23.7～19.1Ma,指示中新世早期改则及邻区基本结束了强烈逆冲推覆构造运动。估算羌中逆冲推覆构造的推覆距离约100～115km,南羌塘逆冲推覆构造的推覆距离约82～110km;新生代早期改则逆冲推覆构造系统近南北方向逆冲推覆总距离为182～225km,对应地壳缩短率为(50.3±2.7)%。     

Geological evolution and structural style of the Palaeozoic Tafilalt sub‐basin,eastern Anti‐Atlas (Morocco,North Africa)

The Tafilalt is one of a number of generally unexplored sub‐basins in the eastern Anti‐Atlas of Morocco, all of which probably underwent a similar tectono‐stratigraphic evolution during the Palaeozoic Era. Analysis of over 1000 km of 2‐D seismic reflection profiles, with the interpretation of ten regional seismic sections and five isopach and isobath maps, suggests a multi‐phase deformation history for the Palaeozoic‐aged Tafilalt sub‐basins. Extensional phases were probably initiated in the Cambrian, followed by uniform thermal subsidence up to at least the end of the Silurian. Major extension and subsidence did not begin prior to Middle/Upper Devonian times. Extensional movements on the major faults bounding the basin to the north and to the south took place in synchronisation with Upper Devonian sedimentation, which provides the thickest part of the sedimentary sequence in the basin. The onset of the compressional phase in Carboniferous times is indicated by reflectors in the Carboniferous sequence progressively onlapping onto the Upper Devonian sequence. This period of compression developed folds and faults in the Upper Palaeozoic‐aged strata, producing a structural style characteristic of thin‐skinned fold and thrust belts. The Late Palaeozoic units are detached over a regional décollement with a northward tectonic vergence. The folds have been formed by the process of fault‐propagation folding related to the thrust imbricates that ramp up‐section from the décollement. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermomechanical evolution of the high‐grade core in the nappe zone of Variscan Sardinia,Italy: the role of shear deformation and granite emplacement

In the nappe zone of the Sardinian Variscan chain, the deformation and metamorphic grade increase throughout the tectonic nappe stack from lower greenschist to upper amphibolite facies conditions in the deepest nappe, the Monte Grighini Unit. A synthesis of petrological, structural and radiometric data is presented that allows us to constrain the thermal and mechanical evolution of this unit. Carboniferous subduction under a low geothermal gradient (~490–570 °C GPa^?1) was followed by exhumation accompanied by heating and Late Carboniferous magma emplacement at a high apparent geothermal gradient (~1200–1450 °C GPa^?1). Exhumation coeval with nappe stacking was closely followed by activity on a ductile strike‐slip shear zone that accommodated magma intrusion and enabled the final exhumation of the Monte Grighini Unit to upper crustal levels. The reconstructed thermo‐mechanical evolution allows a more complete understanding of the Variscan orogenic wedge in central Sardinia. As a result we are able to confirm a diachronous evolution of metamorphic and tectonic events from the inner axial zone to the outer nappe zone, with the Late Variscan low‐P/high‐T metamorphism and crustal anatexis as a common feature across the Sardinian portion of the Variscan orogen.     

哈萨克斯坦楚-萨雷苏盆地热兹卡兹甘地区构造运动与沉积演化

本文基于对楚-萨雷苏盆地热兹卡兹甘地区的构造运动、相应动力学机制、沉积地层的研究,对楚-萨雷苏盆地盆地上古生界沉积演化做了阐述,提出了热兹卡兹甘地区晚古生代经历了早中泥盆世火山盆地—晚泥盆世(成盆初期)滨海冲积平原、局限台地—早石炭世(海侵期)台地、台缘斜坡、陆棚—中晚石炭世(海退期)海陆交互相三角洲—早二叠世(干旱气候期)干盐湖—晚二叠世盐湖的沉积演化。     

Foreland- and hinterland-verging structures in fold-and-thrust belt: an example from the Variscan foreland of Sardinia

In the Variscan foreland of SW-Sardinia (Western Mediterranean sea), close to the leading edge of the nappe zone, nappe emplacement caused folding and repetition of stratigraphic successions, km-scale offset of stratigraphic boundaries and an extensive brittle-ductile shear zone. Thrusts assumed a significant role, accommodating a progressive change of shortening direction and forming complicated thrust triangle zones. During thrust emplacement of the nappes, strong penetrative deformation affected rocks beneath the basal thrust of the nappe stack and produced coeval structures with both foreland-directed and hinterland-directed (backthrusting) shear sense. Cross-cutting and overprinting relationships clearly show that the shortening direction changed progressively from N–S to E–W, producing in sequence: (1) E–W trending open folds contemporaneous with early nappe emplacement in the nearby nappe zone; (2) recumbent, quasi-isoclinal folds with axial plane foliation and widespread, “top-towards-the-SW”, penetrative shearing; (3) N–S trending folds with axial plane foliation, contemporaneous with late nappe emplacement; (4) backthrusts and related asymmetrical folds developed during the final stages of shortening, postdating foreland-verging structures. Structures at (3) and (4) occurred during the same tectonic transport “top-towards-the-E” of the nappe zone over the foreland. The several generations of folds, thrusts, and foliations with different orientations developed, result in a complex finite structural architecture, not completely explicable by the theoretical model proposed up to date.     

Metamorphism within the Çokkul synform: evidence for detachment faulting within the metamorphic infrastructure of the Norwegian Caledonides (67°30'N)

Within the Çokkul synform, Caledonian metamorphic rocks of the Middle Köli Nappe Complex (MKNC) are in low-angle fault contact with the basement mylonites derived from the Precambrian Tysfjord granite-gneiss. In the synform, the MKNC is composed of four fault-bounded nappes each of which has a distinct tectonic stratigraphy composed of amphibolite-facies metamorphosed pelitic and psammitic schists with minor lensoidal bodies of mafic and ultramafic rocks. Pelitic rocks from the three structurally lowest nappes contain the low-variance AFM mineral assemblages gar + bio + staur and staur + ky + bio with mu + qtz + ilm, whereas staur and ky are absent from the highest nappe, the Kallakvare nappe. AFM mineral assemblages in the three lowest nappes indicate peak metamorphic temperatures of 610–660°C and peak pressures in excess of 600 MPa. Mineral assemblages from the Kallakvare nappe are not as diagnostic of metamorphic grade. However, rocks from that nappe contain coexisting plagioclases from both sides of the peristerite gap, suggesting lower-grade peak P–T conditions than those of the structurally lower nappes. In addition, biotite from the lower nappes is more Ti-rich than biotite from the Kallakvare nappe. However, gar–bio–mu–plag and gar–bio–ky–plag–qtz thermobarometry suggests that all four nappes equilibrated at approximately 525 ± 25°C and 700 ± 100 MPa. Gibbs method thermodynamic modelling of garnet zoning profiles suggests that the lower three nappes followed clockwise P–T paths that involved heating and compression to a metamorphic peak of approximately 575–625°C, 800 MPa followed by cooling and decompression to 525°C, 700 MPa. P–T paths calculated for the Kallakvare nappe show decompression and minor heating to a peak T of 500–525°C. In the lower nappes, staur and ky grew during the heating phase not seen by the highest nappe. The outer parts of the paths from all four nappes are approximately parallel, possibly recording the emplacement of the Kallakvare nappe onto the already stacked lower three nappes at some time following the metamorphic peak. These P–T paths suggest that the sole fault of the Kallakvare nappe is a normal fault. Garnet zonation thus appears to record a previously unrecognized phase of uplift and tectonic thinning of the MKNC. This event appears to be restricted to the MKNC and to have occurred prior to the emplacement of the MKNC onto the Tysfjord granite-gneiss basement of Baltoscandia under greenschist-facies conditions. It may have been responsible for the uplift and cooling of the MKNC from 25–30 km amphibolite-facies conditions prior to its emplacement onto Baltoscandia under 15–20 km greenschist-facies conditions. The deformation zone associated with this normal fault is relatively narrow, generally less than 1 m thick. If this is typical of other detachment faults in the metamorphic infrastructure of the Scandinavian Caledonides, they may be relatively common, but not often recognized due to the detailed study needed to document them.