Structural evolution of Vendian and early to Middle Paleozoic complexes in Uraltau Zone and Sakmara allochthons,Southern Urals

The structural evolution of the Late Precambrian and Early to Middle Paleozoic complexes is considered for the southern part of the Uraltau Zone and its extension in the Ebeta Antiform, as well as for the northeastern and northwestern frameworks of the ophiolitic Khabarny Allochthon, where the Late Precambrian and Paleozoic complexes of the continental margin in combination with ophiolites are drawn together in packets of tectonic nappes. The formation of the regional structure took place during several stages in various geodynamic settings. Five deformation stages have been recognized in the regional structural evolution from new data on mesostructural parageneses, which consist of folds that developed within outcrops and their relationships in rocks differing in age. The first stage is related to the Late Precambrian Timanian, or Cadomian Orogeny, and four subsequent deformation stages characterize Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the region. The geodynamic nature of the second stage remains unknown; the third stage is related to overthrusting of ophiolites in the Early Devonian; the fourth stage of deformations marks Late Paleozoic continental collision. The fifth stage of postcollisional strike-slip deformations completes the regional structural evolution.     

The change from rifting to thrusting in the Northern Calcareous Alps as recorded in Jurassic sediments

Facies analysis, fossil dating, and the study of the metamorphism in the Late Triassic to Early Cretaceous sedimentary successions in the central part of the Northern Calcareous Alps allow to reconstruct the tectonic evolution in the area between the South Penninic Ocean in the northwest and the Tethys Ocean with the Hallstatt Zone in the southeast. The Triassic as well as the Early and Middle Jurassic sediments were deposited in a rifted, transtensive continental margin setting. Around the Middle/Late Jurassic boundary two trenches in front of advancing nappes formed in sequence in the central part of the Northern Calcareous Alps. The southern trench (Late Callovian to Early Oxfordian) accumulated a thick succession of gravitatively redeposited sediments derived from the sedimentary sequences of the accreted Triassic–Liassic Hallstatt Zone deposited on the outer shelf and the margin of the Late Triassic carbonate platform. During a previous stage these sediments derived from sequences deposited on the more distal shelf (Salzberg facies zone of Hallstatt unit, Meliaticum), and in a later stage from more proximal parts (Zlambach facies zone of Hallstatt unit, Late Triassic reef belt). Low temperature–high pressure metamorphism of some Hallstatt limestones before redeposition is explained by the closure of parts of the Tethys Ocean in Middle to Late Jurassic times and associated subduction. In the northern trench (Late Oxfordian to Kimmeridgian) several hundred meters of sediment accumulated including redeposited material from a nearby topographic rise. This rise is interpreted as an advancing nappe front as a result of the subduction process. The sedimentary sealing by Tithonian sediments, documented by uniform deep-water sedimentation (Oberalm Formation), gives an upper time constraint for the tectonic events. In contrast to current models, which propose an extensional regime for the central and eastern Northern Calcareous Alps in the Late Jurassic, we propose a geodynamic model with a compressional regime related to the Kimmerian orogeny.     

The Baikal-Vitim Fold System: Structure and geodynamic evolution

New data on the stratigraphy, structure, isotopic age, geochemistry, and geodynamic characteristics of the lithotectonic complexes of the Baikal-Vitim Fold System are reported. In particular, it is shown that Middle and Upper Paleozoic rocks are widespread along with Precambrian and Lower Paleozoic sequences. The Baikal-Vitim Fold System is characterized by cyclic evolution and comprises four structural stages: Baikalian (Riphean-Vendian), Caledonian (Cambrian-Early Silurian), Variscan (Late Silurian-Early Carboniferous), and Hercynian (Middle Carboniferous-Permian). A specific set of lithotectonic complexes formed in certain geodynamic settings corresponds to each stage. According to the proposed model, the Variscan and Hercynian complexes developed under conditions of progressively changing geodynamic settings of passive (Late Silurian-Middle Devonian), Andean-type active (Middle Devonian-Early Carboniferous), and Californian-type (Middle Carboniferous-Permian) continental margins. The Middle and Late Paleozoic evolution of the Baikal-Vitim Fold System is correlated with that of the Mongolia-Okhotsk Belt (Aga paleooceanic basin).     

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.     

Reconstruction of the Sakhalin marginal paleobasin by geological and petrochemical data

The structural and compositional volcanosedimentary complexes and igneous rocks of the Sakhalin marginal paleobasin as well as the geodynamic setting were described. The Sakhalin marginal paleobasin was formed in Sakhalin Island and the adjacent water areas at the end of the Early Cretaceous-start of the Late Cretaceous. The paleobasin was a part of the Kula Plate separated from the ocean along with spreading zones and oceanic volcanic islands by the Sea of Okhotsk microcontinent and the Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Sheltinga volcanic island arc. The petrochemical features and geodynamic setting of the igneous rock formation testify to the fact that magma-generating tectonomagmatic structures of the epioceanic Sakhalin marginal paleobasin continued functioning after its isolation under intensive terrigenous sedimentation. The Sakhalin marginal paleobasin had a heterogeneous basement composed of oceanic and continental crust blocks of the Earth. The paleobasin completed its development in the Paleogene.     

华北陆块新元古代-中生代沉积盆地划分及其构造演化

在华北陆块区进行构造-地层区划的基础上,对华北陆块中元古代-新元古代、早古生代、晚古生代、三叠纪-早侏罗世、中侏罗世-白垩纪5个大地构造阶段不同构造-地层区内的沉积盆地类型、充填序列和时空演化过程进行了分析、讨论.中-新元古代是华北周缘裂谷发育期.寒武纪-早、中奥陶世,华北广泛发生沉降并接受海侵,形成几乎广布全华北的碳酸盐岩台地.晚奥陶世-泥盆纪,华北整体抬升,遭受剥蚀,沉积缺失.石炭纪-二叠纪,华北陆块再次发生沉降并接受海侵,形成广阔的陆表海海陆交互相沉积,至晚二叠世华北陆块进入陆相盆地发展阶段.中生代,华北陆块陆内构造运动活跃,普遍形成与火山活动相伴的断陷盆地、坳陷盆地和拉分盆地.      

兴蒙造山带东段火成岩构造组合、构造岩浆阶段及大地构造演化

以火成岩构造组合的概念和方法为指导,以近几年在嘉荫、伊春、鹤岗、鸡西、牡丹江等地区开展的1∶5万、1∶25万区调研究为基础,基于侵入岩锆石U-Pb年龄,建立了研究区古生代构造岩浆阶段划分的初步方案.划分出与洋壳俯冲事件有关的火成岩构造组合5期,分别为加里东期早寒武世、早中奥陶世、中志留世,华力西期晚石炭世和晚二叠世.与...     

西藏聂荣微陆块奥陶纪和侏罗纪岩浆事件的年龄证据

为了加深对班公湖-怒江缝合带构造演化过程的认识,选择聂荣微陆块内的花岗质片麻岩和花岗闪长质片麻岩中的锆石进行LA-ICP-MS U-Pb定年,结果主要显示两组206Pb/238U的加权平均年龄:一组为453.7±2.5 Ma; 另一组为176.6±1.1 Ma和178.04±0.8 Ma.花岗质片麻岩中黑云母和花岗闪长质片麻岩中白云母的40Ar-39Ar定年结果显示,坪年龄分别为161.8±1.1 Ma和178.9±1.2 Ma.上述年龄结果表明,聂荣微陆块主要经历了晚奥陶世和早侏罗世两期岩浆事件,这两期岩浆事件分别与冈瓦纳大陆北缘早古生代的造山作用和班公湖-怒江洋壳的俯冲闭合存在密切的动力学关系.      

A restored section of the “southern Variscan realm” across the Corsica–Sardinia microcontinent

A complete section of the southern realm of the Variscan orogenic belt can be restored in the Corsica–Sardinia segment. Northern Corsica exposes a nonmetamorphosed Palaeozoic succession lying on Panafrican mica schist related to a microcontinent (most likely Armorica or from a microcontinent from the Hun superterrane) that had drifted away directly from Gondwana. These formations are thrust over the Variscan Internal Zone composed mainly of anatectic high-grade Palaeozoic formations that crop out from central Corsica to northern Sardinia; the metamorphic peak of the eclogite remnants has been dated at c. 420 Ma. The Variscan Internal Zone interpreted here as a collision zone, and also the Eovariscan suture, was intruded in Corsica by Mg–K granite from 345 to 335 Ma. The thrust of this Internal Zone onto the stack of parautochthonous nappes in central Sardinia is cross-cut by the Posada Asinara dextral shear zone. To the south, parautochthonous nappes overthrust the North-Gondwana margin which displays a possible Panafrican basement topped by an Iglesiente–Sulcis nonmetamorphic/anchimetamorphic Palaeozoic succession.     

Position of the Blyb Complex in the pre-Mesozoic crustal structure of the Front Range Zone in the Northern Caucasus

A number of Variscan nappe complexes were recognized in the Late Mesozoic structure of the Front Range Zone of the Greater Caucasus in the 1970s. They consist predominantly of greenstone units and override one another in a consecutive order. The only exception is the upper, Atsgara Nappe, which is composed of crystalline schists, amphibolites, and microgneisses. Crystalline schists, gneisses, amphibolites, and other rocks of the so-called Blyb Complex occur at the base of the nappe packet. The affinity of crystalline rocks of the Blyb Complex to one of the upper Variscan nappes is substantiated in this paper. The Middle Paleozoic rocks, which originally were located below the Blyb Complex in the Front Range structure, overrode its rocks along the surface of the Blyb Thrust Fault in the Early Triassic. Since that time, the crystalline rocks of the Blyb Complex have occupied the lowermost position in the structure of the Front Range. The absence of Upper Paleozoic rocks in the footwall of the thrust fault is due to the fact that, in the Late Paleozoic, the area underlain by the Blyb Complex was an inlier and a source of clastic material. The hanging wall of the Blyb Thrust Fault may be traced farther southward into the Main Range Zone, where it most likely consists of the Laba Group and other rocks. As has been established previously, the lower portion of the Laba Group consists of analogues of the Middle Paleozoic successions of the Front Range Zone, while its upper portion consists of crystalline schists of the Lashtrak Nappe, which occupy a position similar to that of the Atsgara Nappe metamorphic rocks. These relationships suggest that the rock complexes of the Front Range Zone could have undergone repeated displacements due to post-Variscan (Indosinian) tectonic events and overrode crystalline rocks in the Main Range Zone and more easterly areas. Owing to the uplift of the Central Caucasus, they are now eroding. The difference in the metamorphic grade of the Blyb Complex and the rocks of the Atsgara and Marukha nappes is due to the fact the Blyb Complex lies close to the root zones of nappes or belongs to different nappe sheets. The Blyb Thrust Fault pertains to the Indosinian faults that played the main role in the formation of the Front Range structure.     

Brunovistulian terrane (Bohemian Massif, Central Europe) from late Proterozoic to late Paleozoic: a review

The Brunovistulian terrane represents a microcontinent of enigmatic Proterozoic provenance that was located at the southern margin of Baltica in the early Paleozoic. During the Variscan orogeny, it represented the lower plate at the southern margin of Laurussia, involved in the collision with the Armorican terrane assemblage. In this respect, it resembles the Avalonian terrane in the west and the Istanbul Zone in the east. There is a growing evidence about the presence of a Devonian back-arc at the margin of the Brunovistulian terrane. The early Variscan phase was characterized by the formation of Devonian extensional basins with the within-plate volcanic activity and formation of narrow segments of oceanic crust. The oldest Viséan flysch of the Rheic/Rhenohercynian remnant basin (Protivanov, Andelska Hora and Horní Benesov formations) forms the highest allochthonous units and contains, together with slices of Silurian Bohemian facies, clastic micas from early Paleozoic crystalline rocks that are presumably derived from terranes of Armorican affinity although provenance from an active Brunovistulian margin cannot be fully excluded either. The development of the Moravo–Silesian late Paleozoic basin was terminated by coal-bearing paralic and limnic sediments. The progressive Carboniferous stacking of nappes and their impingement on the Laurussian foreland led to crustal thickening and shortening and a number of distinct deformational and folding events. The postorogenic extension led to the formation of the terminal Carboniferous-early Permian Boskovice Graben located in the eastern part of the Brunovistulian terrane, in front of the crystalline nappes. The highest, allochthonous westernmost flysch units, locally with the basal slices of the Devonian and Silurian rocks thrusted over the Silesicum in the NW part of the Brunovistulian terrane, may share a similar tectonic position with the Giessen–Harz nappes. The Silesicum represents the outermost margin of the Brunovistulian terrane with many features in common with the Northern Phyllite Zone at the Avalonia–Armorica interface in Germany.     

Multistage tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the Canavese Intracontinental Suture Zone: New constraints on the tectonics of the Inner Western Alps

The Canavese Intracontinental Suture Zone (CISZ) within the Inner Western Alps represents the remnant of a long-lived minor subduction zone involving a narrow, thinned continental crust/oceanic lithosphere seaway between two continental domains of the Adria microplate (i.e., the Sesia Zone and the Ivrea-Verbano Zone). As opposed to many suture zones, the CISZ mostly escaped pervasive tectonic deformation and metamorphism, thus preserving the original stratigraphy and allowing the relationships between tectonics and sedimentation to be defined. Through detailed geological mapping (1:5000 scale), structural analysis, stratigraphic and petrographic observations, we document evidences for the late Paleozoic to late Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the CISZ, showing that it played a significant role in the context of the tectonic evolution of the Inner Western Alps region from the early to late Permian Pangea segmentation, to the Jurassic Tethyan rifting, and up to the subduction and collisional stages, forming the Western Alps. The site of localization/formation of the CISZ was not accidental but associated with the re-use of structures inherited from regional-scale wrench tectonics related to the segmentation of Pangea, and from the subsequent extensional tectonics related to the Mesozoic rifting, as documented by crosscutting relationships between stratigraphic unconformities and tectonic features. Our findings document that evidences derived from stratigraphy, facies indicators, and relationships between tectonics and sedimentation in the shallow crustal portions of suture zones, such in the CISZ, are important to better constrain the tectonic history of those metamorphic orogenic belts around the world in which evolutionary details are commonly complicated by high-strain deformation and metamorphic transformations.     

中亚褶皱区构造演化问题———俄罗斯学者近年研究成果评价

摘　 要　 俄罗斯地质学者把中亚褶皱区划分为两类构造区：镶嵌构造区和线状构造区。近年 来的研究认为前者是由于陆缘增生作用而形成的,增生作用发生于晚里菲,中—晚寒武世, 中—晚奥陶世和中—晚志留世;后者包括华力西和印支褶皱带,是大陆碰撞的产物。镶嵌构 造区和线状构造区的演化分别与古亚洲洋和古特提斯洋有关。由于对我国地质文献缺乏较全 面的了解,他们的某些结论例如内蒙古洋在晚古生代到早中生代的存在和古亚洲洋的性质及 演化等问题都是不妥的,作者将对此进行讨论。     

辽西建平地区区域构造演化与地球动力学探讨

根据辽西建平地区沉积建造、变质作用、岩浆活动和构造变形等方面的特征,将区内的构造演化大体划分为4个阶段：克拉通基底形成阶段（新太古代-古元古代末）、克拉通盖层发育阶段（中元古代开始直至古生代末期）、板内造山阶段（晚古生代末-中生代）和新构造运动发展阶段（古近纪以来）.吕梁运动、印支运动和喜马拉雅运动是4个演化阶段的转折点,燕山运动则奠定了该区现今的构造轮廓.板内造山阶段分为始板内造山阶段（晚二叠世末-中侏罗世）和主板内造山阶段（晚侏罗世-晚白垩世）.地球动力学特征显示始板内造山期的造山机制为受兴蒙造山带超碰撞期远程影响的陆内俯冲作用,而主板内造山期的造山机制则属于受太平洋板块俯冲远程影响的大陆边缘型造山作用.     

Mirdita Zone ophiolites and associated sediments in Albania reveal Neotethys Ocean origin

The Mirdita Ophiolite Zone in Albania is associated with widespread mélanges containing components of up to nappe-size. We dated matrix and components of the mélange by radiolarians, conodonts, and other taxa. The components consist of radiolarites, pelagic limestones and shallow-water limestones, all of Triassic age, as well as ophiolites. Triassic radiolarite as a primary cover of ophiolite material proves Middle Triassic onset of Mirdita ocean-floor formation. The mélange contains a turbiditic radiolarite-rich matrix (“radiolaritic flysch”), dated as Late Bajocian to Early Oxfordian. It formed as a synorogenic sediment during west-directed thrusting of ophiolite and sediment-cover nappes representing ocean floor and underplated fragments of the western continental margin. The tectonic structures formed during these orogenic events (“Younger Kimmeridian or Eohellenic Orogeny”) are sealed by Late Jurassic platform carbonates. The geological history conforms with that of the Inner Dinarides and adjoining areas; we therefore correlate the Mirdita-Pindos Ophiolite Zone with the Vardar Zone and explain its present position by far-distance west-directed thrusting.     

A Paleozoic subduction complex in Korea: SHRIMP zircon U–Pb ages and tectonic implications

The Wolhyeonri complex in the southwestern margin of the Korean Peninsula is divided into three lithotectonic units: Late Paleozoic Zone I to the west, Middle Paleozoic Zone II in the middle and Early Paleozoic Zone III to the east. Zones II and III display characteristics of continental arc magmatic sequence. Zone II is dominated by mafic metavolcanics, whereas zone III is characterized by the presence of dismembered serpentinite bodies including chaotic mélange. These zones are proposed to have been formed in a convergent margin setting associated with subduction. Here we present zircon SHRIMP U–Pb ages from the various units within the Wolhyeonri complex which reveal the Paleozoic tectonic history of the region. The Late Carboniferous ages obtained from the main shear zone between the Wolhyeonri complex and the Paleoproterozoic Gyeonggi massif are thought to mark the timing of continental arc magmatism associated with the subduction process. In contrast, Zone I with Neoproterozoic arc magmatic remnants might indicate deposition in a forearc basin. The Wolhyeonri complex also preserves strong imprints of the Triassic collisional event, including the presence of Middle Triassic high-pressure metabasites and eclogites near the eastern boundary of the Zone III. These range of radiogenic ages derived from the Wolhyeonri complex correlate well with subduction and accretion history between the North and South China cratons. Similar geochronological features have also been indentified from the Qinling, Tongbai–Xinxian, and northern Dabie areas in east-central China. The existence of Paleozoic coeval subduction in East Asia prior to the Triassic collision is broadly consistent with a regional tectonic linkage to Gondwana.     

A rootless suture and the loss of the roots of a mountain chain: The Variscan belt of NW Iberia

Ophiolites of different Paleozoic ages occur in North-West (NW) Iberia in a rootless suture representing the remnants of the Rheic Ocean. Associated allochthonous terranes in the hanging- and foot-walls of the suture derive from the former margins, whereas the relative autochthon corresponds to the Paleozoic passive margin of northern Gondwana. The Paleozoic tectonic evolution of this part of the circum-Atlantic region is deduced from the stratigraphical, petrological, structural and metamorphic evolution of the different units and their ages. The tectonic reconstruction covers from Cambro-Ordovician continental rifting and the opening of the Rheic Ocean to its Middle to Upper Devonian closure. Then, the Variscan Laurussia–Gondwana convergence and collision is briefly described, from its onset to the late stages of collapse associated with the demise of the orogenic roots.     

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.     

Präorogene Versenkungstiefe und Orogenese als Diagenesefaktoren für altpaläozoische Kontinentalrandbildungen der Nördlichen Appalachen in Quebec,Kanada

This paper presents data and preliminary interpretations on the diagenesis of Early Paleozoic continental margin deposits along a traverse of the Quebec Appalachians near Quebec City, Canada. Regional variations in diagenesis were studied using the thermal maturation of organic matter in shales (reflectance measured on asphaltic bitumen, 105 samples) and illite crystallinity (330 samples). These revealed a regional southeastward increase in grade from the late middle and late stage of diagenesis to epimetamorphism, which is reflected in the distinction of four zones: Zone I representing the late middle diagenetic stage has a mean reflectance in oil (R₀) between 1.0 and 1.5% and illite crystallinity between 5.5 and 8.0 mm. Zone II (late diagenetic stage) is characterized by R₀=1.5–2.6% and illite crystallinity between 3.5 and 5.5 mm. Anomalously poor illite crystallinities in Zone II (i. e. 5.5 to 8.0 mm) were obtained for black shales, in which improvement of crystallinity lags behind red and green shales. Zone II is subdivided into subzones IIA and IIB. In the former, reflectance and illite crystallinity increase, within individual nappes, as a function of age or depth of burial. In the latter no such dependence is observed, instead diagenetic grade increases regionally in a southeastward direction as it does in zones III and IV. Zone III represents the anchizone in which observed reflectance values R₀ range from 2.6 to 4.0% and illite crystallinities from 2.0 to 3.1 mm. In Zone IV (epizone) illite crystallinity is less than 2.0 mm (In terms of reflectance the anchi-zone/epizone boundary was not defined). Zones I and IIA are anomalous in that lower tectonic units are diagenetically less altered than higher tectonic units: R₀ varies from 1.71 to 2.30% for the highest tectonic unit (Cambrian Chaudière Nappe), 1.53 to 1.90% (Cambro-Ordovician Bacchus Nappe) and 1.08 to 1.46% (Lower Ordovician Pointe-de-Lévy Nappe) for the middle tectonic units, and 1.01 to 1.15% for the lowest tectonic unit (Middle Ordovician Quebec Promotory Nappe). Thermal maturation and mineral diagenesis in zone IIA are probably due solely to sedimentary burial at the original site of deposition (by an estimated 6 to 7 km of younger sediments) because in this zone the highest diagenetic grade occurs in the highest tectonic unit. Diagenesis in the nappes of zone I probably required additional tectonic burial by the higher nappes because original sedimentary thicknesses that once overlay these Lower and Middle Ordovician rocks appear insufficient to have caused the observed degree of diagenesis. Diagenesis in zone IIA, therefore, was most likely formed entirely before orogenesis; in zone I it is probably partly pre-orogenic in origin and has been transported during nappe-movement. In contrast, diagenesis and metamorphism in zones IIB to IV are interpreted as related to regional synorogenic heating in conjunction with the Taconic orogeny. Thermal maturation levels in zone I indicate that the rocks have not yet passed the “oil window” which is of interest for petroleum exploration in Quebec. An extended English version of this paper is in preparation for the Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology (Ogunyomi et al., ms.).     

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.