The Rand Granite in the southern Schwarzwald and its geodynamic significance in the Variscan belt of SW Germany

The Rand Granite is a heterogeneous metamorphosed granitoid rock complex with numerous wallrock inclusions situated in the Moldanubian Zone at the southern margin of the Central Schwarzwald Gneiss Complex. It is a largely mylonitized elongated body and is thrust over the Badenweiler-Lenzkirch Zone forming a nappe with shear zones along its northern and southern boundaries. It comprises meta-granites, meta-trondhjemites and biotite augen gneisses derived from monzogranites to granodiorites. Mineral behaviour indicates that the magmatic body has been deformed under upper greenschist facies conditions. Nappe thrusting, which also affected the South Schwarzwald Gneiss Complex, occurred in Visean time during high-temperature / low-pressure metamorphism. Kinematic indicators in the mylonites document E- to ESE-directed nappe transport, highly transpressive relative to the trend of the nappe boundaries and the foliation. The trondhjemites formed at 351 +5/-4 Ma, predating the Variscan HT metamorphism. They have initial _Nd-values of +6.6 to +6.7 and relatively low initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7042 to 0.7063), indicating a predominant mantle origin. The granites and protoliths of the biotite augen gneisses probably crystallised between 436 and 377 Ma, suggested by U-Pb zircon model ages. They are different from the trondhjemites with low initial _Nd-values (–4.7 to –3.3) and higher initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7068–0.7077), indicating that large part of the Rand Granite originated from anatexis of continental crust. Internal structure of zircons from the Rand Granite reveals mixing of magmas derived from both mantle and crust sources. These new data support an interpretation that the Rand Granite developed along an active continental margin and therefore represents a possible root of a Variscan magmatic arc.     

P-T Evolution of a Variscan Lower-Crustal Segment: a Study of Granulites from the Schwarzwald, Germany

Pressure–temperature–time (P–T–t) pathsof orogenic granulites provide important information on thethermal and chemical structure of the lower continental crustthrough time, and constraints on tectonic processes. We presentthe first detailed petrological investigation of granulitesfrom the Variscan Schwarzwald. Pelitic granulites from the CentralSchwarzwald Gneiss Complex (CSGC) are characterized by the peakassemblage garnet + rutile + kyanite + antiperthite ±quartz. Felsic to intermediate granulites from the SouthernSchwarzwald Gneiss Complex (SSGC) exhibit different peak assemblageswith clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, ternary feldspar, garnet,quartz and sillimanite, and manifold retrograde reaction textures.Peak P–T conditions were calculated by two-feldspar thermometry,garnet–orthopyroxene thermometry and various geobarometers.Minimum estimates for peak conditions are 950–1010°Cand 1·4–1·8 GPa for the granulites of theCSGC, which followed a clockwiseP–T path. The retrogradepath is characterized by initial isothermal decompression, associatedwith partial melting, followed by isobaric cooling. Peak conditionsfor the SSGC are 1015°C and 1·5 GPa (minimum temperature,maximum pressure). No prograde relics are preserved, and isothermaldecompression was less pronounced than in the CSGC. Other VariscanHP–HT granulites from Central Europe show similar lithologies,equilibration temperatures and ages (340–335 Ma). Theheat for widespread high-temperature metamorphism in the Variscanlower crust could have been supplied by repeated intrusion ofsubduction-related basic magmas. Rapid, near-isothermal decompressionof the granulites may have been facilitated by considerablevolumes of partial melt and by orogenic extension. KEY WORDS: granulites; near-isothermal decompression; two-feldspar thermometry; HT metamorphism; Variscan Schwarzwald     

Contrasting P-T conditions recorded in ultramafic high-pressure rocks from the Variscan Schwarzwald (F.R.G.)

 This paper presents mineralogical and textural data as well as thermobarometric calculations on ultramafic high-pressure rocks from the Variscan basement of the Schwarzwald (F.R.G.). The rocks form small isolated bodies within low-pressure / high-temperature gneisses and migmatites. The results of this study constrain contrasting P-T evolutions for four garnet-bearing ultramafic high-pressure rocks. Two magnesian garnet-spinal peridotites sampled near the southern margin of the Central Schwarzwald Gneiss Complex (CSGC) were equilibrated at 670–740^° C and 1.4–1.8 GPa. These P-T conditions are similar to those recorded by eclogites intercalated in the same basement unit. Two garnet websterites sampled from the northern part of the CSGC have comparatively low Mg/(Mg+Fe) and low Cr and Ni abundances and are interpreted as former cumulates. These rocks most probably experienced an initial high-temperature stage within the spinel peridotite stability field, followed by re-equilibration at 740–850^° C / 3.2–4.3 GPa and subsequent recrystallization at lower pressures. Further petrologic studies have to reveal whether ultramafic high-pressure rocks of the Schwarzwald can generally be assigned to these two groups which are mainly defined by contrasting peak pressures. Received: 22 August 1994 / Accepted: 19 January 1995     

Petrogenesis of a late-Variscan rhyodacite at the Ossa Morena-Central Iberian zones boundary,Iberian Massif,Central Portugal: Evidence for the involvement of lithospheric mantle and meta-igneous lower crust

A late-Variscan rhyodacite is exposed at the contact between the Ossa Morena Zone and the Central Iberian Zone of the Iberian Massif, Central Portugal. Dykes of rhyodacite intruded the Série Negra Unit and the Sardoal Complex that are part of the Cadomian basement. The igneous crystallization age of the rhyodacite (308 ± 1 Ma) was obtained on igneous monazite by the ID-TIMS U-Pb method. It is broadly coeval with the emplacement of late-Variscan granitoids during the last deformation phase of the Variscan Orogeny (ca. 304–314 Ma) and with the development of the large late-Variscan strike-slip shear zones (ca. 307 Ma). The rhyodacite samples are calc-alkaline, show identical composition and belong to the same magmatic sequence. The rhyodacite isotopic signatures (Sm-Nd and δ¹⁸O) are consistent with depleted-mantle juvenile sources and the contribution of the meta-igneous lower crust. The input of mantle juvenile sources is related to Variscan reactivation of lithospheric fractures. The inherited Neoproterozoic (ca. 619 Ma) and Mesoproterozoic (ca. 1054 Ma) zircon ages, are similar to those of the Central Iberian Zone. This suggests that lower crust of the Central Iberian Zone was involved in the magma generation of the rhyodacite. Coeval late-Variscan magmatic rocks display a larger contribution from ancient crustal components, which may be attributed to the smaller volume and faster cooling rate of the rhyodacite and consequent lower melting of the crust. Mixing of juvenile mantle-derived melts with melts from the lower continental crust was followed by fractional crystallization of garnet and amphibole that remained in the source. Fractional crystallization of plagioclase, biotite, quartz and zircon occurred in shallower magma chambers. Fractional crystallization of zircon was not significant.     

Metamorphic evolution of garnet-spinel peridotites from the Variscan Schwarzwald (Germany)

Garnet-spinel peridotites form small, isolated, variably retrogressed bodies within the low-pressure high-temperature gneisses and migmatites of the Variscan basement of the Schwarzwald, southwest Germany. Detailed mineralogical and textural studies as well as geothermobarometric calculations on samples from three occurrences are presented. Two of the garnet-spinel peridotites have equilibrated at 680–770°C, 1.4–1.8 GPa within the garnet-spinel peridotite stability field, one of the samples having experienced an earlier stage within the spinel peridotite stability field (790°C, <1.8 GPa). The third sample, with only garnet and spinel preserved, probably equilibrated within the garnet peridotite stability field at higher pressures. These findings are in line with the distinction of two groups of ultramafic garnet-bearing high-pressure rocks with different equilibration conditions within the Schwarzwald (670–740°C, 1.4–1.8 GPa and 740–850°C, 3.2–4.3 GPa) which has previously been established (Kalt et al. 1995). The equilibration conditions of 670–770°C and 1.4–1.8 GPa for garnet-spinel peridotites from the Central Schwarzwald Gneiss Complex (CSGC) are similar to those for eclogites of the Schwarzwald and also correspond quite well to those for garnet-spinel peridotites from the Moldanubian zone of the Vosges mountains and of ecologites from the Moldanubian s.str. of the Bohemian Massif.     

Two-sided Variscan thrust tectonics in the Vosges Mountains,northeastern France

Abstract

Variscan convergence produced two-sided (bivergent) crustal-scale thrusting in the Vosges Mountains. In the northern Vosges the central polymetamorphic crystallines were thrust to the NW over Cambrian to Silurian low-grade and very low-grade metamorphic clastics. Synorogenic upper Devonian - lower Carboniferous turbidites and volcanics were folded into NW-vergent structures which display SE-dipping slaty cleavage. The entire sequence shows increasing metamorphism and deformation from NW to SE. Late right-lateral strike-slip faulting along the Lalaye-Lubine fault zone outlasted thrusting. In the southern Vosges a lower Carboniferous turbiditic basin that was fringed on the south by a volcanic arc was tectonically shortened by south-directed tectonic imbrication of slivers of varied rocks including ultramafics, gneissic basement, and synorogenic elastics. The increasing degree of deformation and metamorphism towards the north suggests a thrust contact with the polymetamorphic gneisses of the central Vosges. The final stages of Variscan convergence were accompanied by voluminous granitic plutonism and by faulting along NNE-SSW and E-W-trending strike-slip faults. The tectonic evolution reflects progressive Variscan closure of a previously extended basinal crust in a high-temperature regime.     

Alpine reworking of Ordovician protoliths in the Western Carpathians: Geochronological and geochemical data on the Muráñ Gneiss Complex, Slovakia

Magmatic protoliths of Ordovician age have been identified in the metamorphic rocks of the Muráñ Gneiss Complex, Veporic Unit (Central Western Carpathians). Vapor digestion single zircon U–Pb dating yields an intrusion age of 464 ± 35 Ma (upper intercept) for the granite protolith. A lower intercept age of 88 ± 40 Ma records amphibolite-facies metamorphic overprint in the Cretaceous, during the Alpine orogeny. Geochemical and isotopic data suggest crustal origin of the orthogneiss. Nd_initial are between − 2.6 and − 5.0 and T_DM^Nd between 1.3 and 1.5 Ga (two-step approach). ⁸⁷Sr / ⁸⁶Sr_initial ratios vary between 0.7247 and 0.7120, and a steep REE pattern further constrains the crustal affinity of these rocks. Associated amphibolite bodies have Nd_initial values of 6.5, ⁸⁷Sr / ⁸⁶Sr_initial ratio of 0.7017, and a flat REE pattern. They are interpreted as MORB derived metabasites. Whole-rock Pb isotope analyses define a linear array in a ²⁰⁶Pb / ²⁰⁴Pb vs. ²⁰⁷Pb / ²⁰⁴Pb diagram with an age of ca. 134 Ma, consistent with intense Alpine metamorphism and deformation.

These basement rocks of the Central Western Carpathians are interpreted as Ordovician magmatic rocks intruded at an active margin of Gondwana. They represent the eastern prolongation of Cambro–Ordovician units of the European Variscides, which were part of the peri-Gondwana superterrane and accreted to Laurussia during the Variscan orogeny. Variscan metamorphic overprint is not recorded by the isotopic data of the Muráñ Gneiss Complex. Alpine metamorphism is the most dominant overprint.     

Middle Carboniferous crustal melting in the Variscan Belt: New insights from U–Th–Pbtot. monazite and U–Pb zircon ages of the Montagne Noire Axial Zone (southern French Massif Central)

In France, the Devonian–Carboniferous Variscan orogeny developed at the expense of continental crust belonging to the northern margin of Gondwana. A Visean–Serpukhovian crustal melting has been recently documented in several massifs. However, in the Montagne Noire of the Variscan French Massif Central, which is the largest area involved in this partial melting episode, the age of migmatization was not clearly settled. Eleven U–Th–Pb_tot. ages on monazite and three U–Pb ages on associated zircon are reported from migmatites (La Salvetat, Ourtigas), anatectic granitoids (Laouzas, Montalet) and post-migmatitic granites (Anglès, Vialais, Soulié) from the Montagne Noire Axial Zone are presented here for the first time. Migmatization and emplacement of anatectic granitoids took place around 333–326 Ma (Visean) and late granitoids emplaced around 325–318 Ma (Serpukhovian). Inherited zircons and monazite date the orthogneiss source rock of the Late Visean melts between 560 Ma and 480 Ma. In migmatites and anatectic granites, inherited crystals dominate the zircon populations. The migmatitization is the middle crust expression of a pervasive Visean crustal melting event also represented by the “Tufs anthracifères” volcanism in the northern Massif Central. This crustal melting is widespread in the French Variscan belt, though it is restricted to the upper plate of the collision belt. A mantle input appears as a likely mechanism to release the heat necessary to trigger the melting of the Variscan middle crust at a continental scale.     

Nature and evolution of the lower crust under central Spain: Inferences from granulite xenoliths (Calatrava Volcanic Field-Spanish central system)

So far, the nature and evolution of the lower crust under central Spain have been constrained mainly on the basis of a heterogeneous suite of granulite xenoliths from the Spanish Central System (SCS). In recent years, ultramafic volcanics from the Calatrava Volcanic Field (CVF) have also provided deep-seated crustal xenoliths which have not been studied in detail. Our data, combining mineral, whole-rock and isotopic geochemistry with U–Pb–Hf isotope ratios in zircons from the CVF and SCS xenoliths, highlight the felsic composition of the lower crust under central Iberia. A number of the Calatrava xenoliths represents Variscan igneous protoliths, which are a minor population in the SCS, and were likely formed by crystallisation of intermediate and felsic melts in the lower crust during the Variscan orogeny (leucodiorite protolith age of 314 ± 3 Ma and leucogranite protolith age of 308 ± 2.5 Ma). U–Pb data of metamorphic zircons show that granulite-facies metamorphism mainly occurred from 299 to 285 Ma in both areas. These ages are slightly younger than those of granitic intrusions that could be genetically related to the granulitic residue, which points to a main role of U–Pb isotope resetting in lower crustal zircons during HT or UHT conditions. The zircon U–Pb–Hf isotopic ratios support the idea that the lower crust in central Iberia consists mainly of Ordovician–Neoproterozoic metaigneous and metasedimentary rocks associated with the Cadomian continental arc of northern Gondwana. These rocks provide evidence of mixing between juvenile magmas and an enriched crustal component, ultimately extracted from an Eburnean crust. Other more evolved components present in detrital zircons are likely related to recycling of Archean crust derived from North Africa cratonic terranes.     

Middle Carboniferous crustal melting in the Variscan Belt: New insights from U–Th–Pbtot. monazite and U–Pb zircon ages of the Montagne Noire Axial Zone (southern French Massif Central)

In France, the Devonian–Carboniferous Variscan orogeny developed at the expense of continental crust belonging to the northern margin of Gondwana. A Visean–Serpukhovian crustal melting has been recently documented in several massifs. However, in the Montagne Noire of the Variscan French Massif Central, which is the largest area involved in this partial melting episode, the age of migmatization was not clearly settled. Eleven U–Th–Pb_tot. ages on monazite and three U–Pb ages on associated zircon are reported from migmatites (La Salvetat, Ourtigas), anatectic granitoids (Laouzas, Montalet) and post-migmatitic granites (Anglès, Vialais, Soulié) from the Montagne Noire Axial Zone are presented here for the first time. Migmatization and emplacement of anatectic granitoids took place around 333–326 Ma (Visean) and late granitoids emplaced around 325–318 Ma (Serpukhovian). Inherited zircons and monazite date the orthogneiss source rock of the Late Visean melts between 560 Ma and 480 Ma. In migmatites and anatectic granites, inherited crystals dominate the zircon populations. The migmatitization is the middle crust expression of a pervasive Visean crustal melting event also represented by the “Tufs anthracifères” volcanism in the northern Massif Central. This crustal melting is widespread in the French Variscan belt, though it is restricted to the upper plate of the collision belt. A mantle input appears as a likely mechanism to release the heat necessary to trigger the melting of the Variscan middle crust at a continental scale.     

∼3,850 Ma tonalites in the Nuuk region,Greenland: geochemistry and their reworking within an Eoarchaean gneiss complex

The Eoarchaean (>3,600 Ma) Itsaq Gneiss Complex of southern West Greenland is dominated by polyphase orthogneisses with a complex Archaean tectonothermal history. Some of the orthogneisses have c. 3,850 Ma zircons, and they vary from rare single phase metatonalites to more common complexly banded migmatites. This is due to heterogeneous strain, in situ anatexis and granitic veining superimposed during younger tectonothermal events. In the single-phase tonalites with c. 3,850 Ma zircon, oscillatory-zoned prismatic zircon is all 3,850 Ma old, but shows patchy ancient loss of radiogenic Pb. SHRIMP spot analyses and laser ablation ICP-MS depth profiling show that thin (usually < 10 μm) younger (3,660–3,590 Ma and Neoarchaean) shells of lower Th/U metamorphic zircon are present on these 3,850 Ma zircons. Several samples with this simple zircon population occur on islands near Akilia. In contrast, migmatites usually contain more complex zircon populations, with often more than one generation of igneous zircon present. Additional zircon dating of banded gneisses across the Complex shows that samples with c. 3,850 Ma igneous zircon are not just a phenomenon restricted to Akilia and adjacent islands. For example, migmatites from Itilleq (c. 65 km from Akilia) contain variable amounts of oscillatory-zoned 3,850 Ma and 3,650 Ma zircon, interpreted, respectively, as the rock age and the time of crustal melting under Eoarchaean metamorphism. With only 110–140 ppm Zr in the tonalites and likely magmatic temperatures of >850°C, zircon solubility–melt composition relationships show that they were only one-third saturated in zircon. Any zircon entrained in the precursor magmas would thus have been highly soluble. Combined with the cathodoluminesence imaging, this demonstrates that the c. 3,850 Ma oscillatory zoned zircon crystallised out of the melt and hence gives a magmatic age. Thus the rare well-preserved tonalites and palaeosome in migmatites testify that c. 3,850 Ma quartzo–feldspathic rocks are a widespread (but probably minor) component in the Itsaq Gneiss Complex. C. 3,850 Ma zircon with negative Eu anomalies (showing growth in felsic systems) also occurs as detrital grains in rare c. 3,800 Ma metaquartzites and as inherited grains in some 3,660 Ma granites (sensu stricto). These demonstrate that still more c. 3,850 Ma rocks were present, but were recycled into Eoarchaean sediments and crustally derived granites. The major and trace element characteristics (e.g. LREE enrichment, HREE depletion, low MgO) of the best-preserved c. 3,850 Ma rocks are typical of Archaean TTG suites, and thus argue for crust formation processes involving important contributions from melting of hydrated mafic crust to the earliest Archaean. Five c. 3,850 Ma tonalites were selected as the best preserved on the basis of field criteria and zircon petrology. Four of these samples have overlapping initial ɛ_Nd (3,850 Ma) values from +2.9 to +3.6± 0.5, with the fourth having a slightly lower value of +0.6. These data provide additional evidence for a markedly LREE-depleted early terrestrial mantle reservoir. The role of c. 3,850 Ma crust should be considered in interpreting isotope signatures of the younger (3,800–3,600 Ma) rocks of the Itsaq Gneiss Complex. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Multistage Variscan magmatism in the central Tauern Window (Austria) unveiled by U/Pb SHRIMP zircon data

U/Pb SHRIMP ages of nine Variscan leucocratic orthogneisses from the central Tauern Window (Austria) reveal three distinct pulses of magmatism in Early Carboniferous (Visean), Late Carboniferous (Stephanian) and Early Permian, each involving granitoid intrusions and a contemporaneous opening of volcano-sedimentary basins. A similar relationship has been reported for the Carboniferous parts of the basement of the Alps further to the west, e.g. the “External massifs” in Switzerland. After the intrusion of subduction-related, volcanic-arc granitoids (374?±?10?Ma; Zwölferkogel gneiss), collisional intrusive-granitic, anatectic and extrusive-rhyolitic/dacitic rocks were produced over a short interval at ca. 340?Ma (Augengneiss of Felbertauern: 340?±?4?Ma, Hochweißenfeld gneiss: 342?± 5?Ma, Falkenbachlappen gneiss: 343?±?6?Ma). This Early Carboniferous magmatism, which produced relatively small volumes of melt, can be attributed to the amalgamation of the Gondwana-derived “Tauern Window” terrane with Laurussia–Avalonia. Probably due to the oblique nature of the collision, transtensional phenomena (i.e. volcano-sedimentary troughs and high-level intrusives) and transpressional regimes (i.e. regional metamorphism and stacked nappes with anatexis next to thrust planes) evolved contemporaneously. The magmas are mainly of the high-K I-type and may have been generated during a short phase of decompressional melting of lithospheric mantle and lower crustal sources. In the Late Carboniferous, a second pulse of magmatism occurred, producing batholiths of calc-alkaline I-type granitoids (e.g. Venediger tonalite: 296?±?4?Ma) and minor coeval bodies of felsic and intermediate volcanics (Heuschartenkopf gneiss: 299?±?4?Ma, Peitingalm gneiss: 300?±?5?Ma). Prior to this magmatism, several kilometres of upper crust must have been eroded, because volcano-sedimentary sequences hosting the Heu- schartenkopf and Peitingalm gneisses rest unconformably on 340-Ma-old granitoids. The youngest (Permian) period of magma generation contains the intrusion of the S-type Granatspitz Central Gneiss at 271?±?4?Ma and the extrusion of the rhyolitic Schönbachwald gneiss protolith at 279?±?9?Ma. These magmatic rocks may have been associated with local extension along continental wrench zones through the Variscan orogenic crust or with a Permian rifting event. The Permian and the above-mentioned Late Carboniferous volcano-sedimentary sequences were probably deposited in intra-continental graben structures, which survived post-Variscan uplift and Alpine compressional tectonics.     

Neoproterozoic magmatic complexes of the Songino block (Mongolia): A problem of formation and correlation of Precambrian terranes in the Central-Asian Orogenic Belt

An important role of the early Neoproterozoic juvenile crustal growth in the formation of the Khangai group of Precambrian terranes in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt was demonstrated by the example of the Holbo Nur Zone of the Songin Block. Magmatic complexes of this zone correspond to different settings of the Early Neoproterozoic ocean: oceanic islands, mid-ocean ridges, intraoceanic island arcs, and turbidite basins. Obtained data on volcanic rocks and associated granitoids constrain a timing of the island-arc magmatic complexes, at least within the interval of 888–859 Ma. The comparison of structures of the Songino and Tarbagatai blocks of the Khangai group of terranes showed that they share many common features in their geology and evolution and may be united into the single Songino–Tarbagatai terrane. This terrane was formed owing to the Early Neoproterozoic (~800 Ma) accretion of the ocean island, spreading, island-arc, and turbidite complexes of the oceanic plate to a stable continental massif represented by the Early Neoproterozoic Ider Complex of the Tarbagatai Block. The involvement of the Dzabkhan terrane into a Khangai collage of terranes is constrained between the formation of the volcanic rocks of the Dzabkhan Formation (~770–755 Ma), which are unknown in the Songino–Tarbagatai terrane, and the Tsagaan-Olom carbonate cover (~630 Ma), overlying both the Dzabkhan and Songino–Tarbagatai terranes. It was proposed that the formation of the Precambrian terranes of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt began from the Early Neoproterozoic accretion to the Rodinia supercontinent. The fragmentation of the latter above a mantle superplume at the end of the Early Neoproterozoic spanned also the newly formed fold area. This led to the formation of terranes, which included both fragments of the Paleoproterozoic craton and Early Neoproterozoic structures. Subsequent amalgamation of these Precambrian crustal fragments into composite terranes possibly occurred at the end of the early Baikalian tectonic phase.     

Alpine and pre-Alpine magmatism in the root-zone of the western Central Alps

 The highest grade of metamorphism and associated structural elements in orogenic belts may be inherited from earlier orogenic events. We illustrate this point using magmatic and metamorphic rocks from the southern steep belt of the Lepontine Gneiss Dome (Central Alps). The U-Pb zircon ages from an anatectic granite at Verampio and migmatites at Corcapolo and Lavertezzo yield 280–290 Ma, i.e., Hercynian ages. These ages indicate that the highest grade of metamorphism in several crystalline nappes of the Lepontine Gneiss Dome is pre-Alpine. Alpine metamorphism reached sufficiently high grade to reset the Rb-Sr and K-Ar systematics of mica and amphibole, but generally did not result in crustal melting, except in the steep belt to the north of the Insubric Line, where numerous 29 to 26 Ma old pegmatites and aplites had intruded syn- and post-kinematically into gneisses of the ductile Simplon Shear Zone. The emplacement age of these pegmatites gives a minimum estimate for the age of the Alpine metamorphic peak in the Monte Rosa nappe. The U-Pb titanite ages of 33 to 31 Ma from felsic porphyritic veins represent a minimum-age estimate for Alpine metamorphism in the Sesia Zone. A porphyric vein emplaced at 448±5 Ma (U-Pb monazite) demonstrates that there existed a consolidated Caledonian basement in the Sesia Zone. Received: 23 May 1995/Accepted: 12 October 1995     

Crustal Contamination of Early Cretaceous Magmatic Rocks of the Western Transbaikal Rifting Zone

Results of isotope Sr, Ns, and O analyses of volcanic rocks from the Uda sector of the West Transbaikal Rift Zone have allowed estimation of the character of interaction of their parental mantle melts with crustal rocks. The smallest magnitude of this interaction has been found in the compositions of Late Cretaceous (83–70 Ma) volcanics, the geochemical and isotope markers of which suggest their derivation from a moderately enriched mantle compositionally resembling OIB sources. The Early Cretaceous volcanics were derived from mantle sources that included a mantle enriched by subduction. While ascending through the crust, the parental melts of the Uda Complex (130–111 Ma) were contaminated by the lower crust matter. The Zazin Complex magmas (143–135 Ma) have features suggesting their interaction with upper crustal granitoids of the Angara–Vitim Batholith.

     

Reworking of Earth's first crust: Constraints from Hf isotopes in Archean zircons from Mt. Narryer,Australia

Discoveries of >4 Ga old zircon grains in the northwest Yilgarn of Western Australia led to the conclusion that evolved crust formed on the Earth within the first few 100 Ma after accretion. Little is known, however, about the fate of the first crust that shaped early Earth's surface. Here we report combined solution and laser-ablation Lu–Hf–U–Pb isotope analyses of early Archean and Hadean detrital zircon grains from different rocks of the Narryer Gneiss Complex (NGC), Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia. The zircons show two distinct groups with separate evolutionary trends in their Hf isotopes. The majority of the zircon grains point to separation from a depleted mantle reservoir at ∼3.8–3.9 Ga. The second Hf isotope trend implies reworking of older Hadean zircon grains. The major trend starting at 3.8–3.9 Ga defined by the Hf isotopes corresponds to a Lu/Hf that is characteristic for felsic crust and consequently, the primary sources for these zircons presumably had a chemical composition characteristic of continental crust. Reworked Hadean crust appears to have evolved with a similar low Lu/Hf, such that the early crust was probably evolved with respect to Lu–Hf distributions. The co-variation of Hf isotopes vs. age in zircon grains from Mt. Narryer and Jack Hills zircon grains implies a similar crustal source for both sediments in a single, major crustal domain. Age spectra and associated Hf isotopes in the zircon grains strongly argue for ongoing magmatic reworking over hundreds of millions of years of the felsic crustal domain in which the zircon grains formed. Late-stage metamorphic zircon grains from the Meeberrie Gneiss unit yield a mean U–Pb age of 3294.5 ± 3.2 Ma with initial Hf isotopes that correspond to the evolutionary trend defined by older NGC zircon grains and overlap with other detrital zircon grains, proving their genetic relationship. This ‘Meeberrie event’ is interpret here as the last reworking event in the precursor domain before final deposition. The continuous magmatic activity in one crustal domain during the Archean is recorded by the U–Pb ages and Hf isotope systematics of zircon grains and implies reworking of existing crust. We suspect that the most likely driving force for such reworking of crustal material is ongoing crustal collision and subduction. A comparison of Hf isotope signatures of zircon grains from other Archean terranes shows that similar trends are recognised within all sampled Archean domains. This implies either a global trend in crustal growth and reworking, or a genetic connection of Archean terranes in close paleo-proximity to each other. Notably, the Archean Acasta gneiss (Canada) shows a similar reworking patterns to the Yilgarn Craton of Hadean samples implying either a common Hadean source or amalgamation at the Hadean–Archean transition.     

The early Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the Russian Altai: Implications from geochemical and detrital zircon U–Pb and Hf isotopic studies of meta-sedimentary complexes in the Charysh–Terekta–Ulagan–Sayan suture zone

The Charysh–Terekta–Ulagan–Sayan suture zone was regarded as a tectonic boundary separating two distinct subduction–accretion systems in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). In the north, magmatic arcs, such as the Gorny Altai terrane, formed in the southwestern periphery of the Siberian continent, whereas in the south, arc-prism systems, such as the Altai–Mongolian terrane, formed around the so-called Kazakhstan–Baikal composite continent with Gondwana affinity. When did these two systems amalgamate and whether the metamorphic complexes in the suture zone represent Precambrian micro-continental slivers are critical for our understanding of the accretionary orogenesis and crustal growth rate in the CAOB. A combined geochemical and detrital zircon U–Pb–Hf isotopic study was conducted on the meta-sedimentary rocks from the Ulagan (also referred to Bashkaus) and Teletsk Complexes in the suture zone. The results indicate that the protoliths of these rocks were dominated by immature sediments deposited in a time period between 500 and 420 Ma. Thus, Precambrian micro-continental slivers may not exist in the suture zone and even in the whole Altai Orogen.The meta-sedimentary rocks from the Ulagan Complex yield geochemical compositions between those of common intermediate and felsic igneous rocks, implying that these kinds of rocks possibly served as dominant sources. Detrital zircons from this complex consist of a major population of ca. 620–500 Ma, a subordinate one of ca. 931–671 Ma and rare grains of ca. 2899–1428 Ma. This age spectrum is compatible with the magmatic records of the western Mongolia. We propose that the Ulagan Complex possibly represents part of a subduction–accretion complex built upon an active continental margin of the western Mongolia in the early Paleozoic. The remarkable similarities in source nature, provenance, and depositional setting to the early Paleozoic meta-sedimentary rocks from the northern Altai–Mongolian terrane imply that the Ulagan Complex was possibly fragmented from this terrane.The meta-sedimentary rocks from the Teletsk Complex show similar detrital zircon populations but contain higher proportions of mafic sediments and have more depleted whole-rock Nd isotopic compositions. Our data suggest that the detritus mostly came from the same source as that for the Ulagan Complex but those from the Gorny Altai terrane also contributed. This implies that the Gorny Altai and Altai-Mongolian terranes possibly amalgamated prior to the early Devonian rather than in the middle Devonian to early Carboniferous as previously thought. Thus, the widespread Devonian to early Carboniferous magmatism within these two terranes was possibly generated in a similar tectonic setting. Moreover, the dominant Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic detrital zircons from the Teletsk Complex yield largely varied ɛ_Hf(t) values of − 23.8 to 12.4, indicating that crustal growth and reworking are both important in the accretionary orogenesis.     

Ductile normal faulting along the West Bohemian Shear Zone (Moldanubian/Tepla-Barrandian boundary): Evidence for late Variscan extensional collapse in the Variscan Internides

Structural and kinematic investigations of the West Bohemian Shear Zone (WBS) clearly indicate late Variscan orogen-parallel (WSW-ENE) extension within the Variscan internides. Along the WBS the western part of the Tepla-Barrandian (TB) was downthrown to the east against the adjacent Moldanubian. According to seismic data, the steeply east-dipping WBS flattens with depth, forming a prominent detachment zone. The western part of the TB was tilted along this zone, producing the patterns of metamorphic isograds, the age of which is probably Cadomian. Cross-cutting relationships of WBS mylonites and Carboniferous granites, as well as the overall cooling ages of hornblende and mica, suggest that ductile normal faulting along the WBS was active from about 330 to 310 Ma.Geothermobarometric data, derived from WBS mylonites, prove that during the extensional movements relatively cold crust of the TB (medium pressure greenschist facies) was juxtaposed to relatively hot Moldanubian crust (low pressure amphibolite facies). Thus mylonites which originate from TB rocks show a first-stage prograde development reaching the lower amphibolite facies under medium pressure conditions. This stage was followed by further (uplift-related) retrograde shearing under low pressure greenschist facies conditions.Extensional movements and the emplacement of granitoids along the WBS, as well as the strong low pressure/high temperature metamorphism of the Moldanubian rocks are remarkably similar in age (Middle Carboniferous). Therefore, a close relationship and mutual dependence of all these features is suggested. Rapid advective thinning of the deeper part of the previously thickened lithosphere and associated rapid crustal uplift are the most probable processes to explain the high Middle Carboniferous heat flow as well as magmatism and extension.     

Tertiary deep crustal ultrametamorphism in the Hidaka metamorphic belt, northern Japan

The Main Zone of the Hidaka metamorphic belt is an imbricate stack of crustal material derived from an island arc in which a sequence of units with increasing metamorphic grade from low to high structural levels is exposed. The basal part of the metamorphic sequence underwent granulite facies metamorphism with peak P–T conditions of 7kbar, 870°C. In this zone pelitic granulite includes leucosomes which consist mainly of orthopyroxene-plagioclase-quartz.
To test whether the leucosome was derived by partial melting of the surrounding pelite, melting experiments of the pelitic granulite were carried out for water-saturated and dry systems at 7 kbar and 850°C. The chemical composition of the leucosome produced during these runs shows a peraluminous S-type tonalitic affinity and is located very close to the tie-line between the average melts produced in water-saturated systems and the average composition of the residual orthopyroxene + plagioclase. This therefore suggests that the lecosome in pelitic granulite was formed by incipient anatexis at close to the highest P–T condition of the Main Zone.
The age of the crustal anatexis is determined by the Rb-Sr whole rock isochron method for garnet-cordierite-biotite gneiss (host rock), garnet-orthopyroxene-cordierite gneiss (restite) and S-type tonalite (melt). This gives an age of 56.0 Ma with an initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.705711. The S-type tonalite magmas that form large intrusive masses in the Main Zone were probably generated by crustal anatexis in deeper parts of the crust at the same time (late Palaeocene).     

Episodic and long-lasting Paleozoic felsic magmatism in the pre-Alpine basement of the Suretta nappe (eastern Swiss Alps)

The Suretta nappe of eastern Switzerland contains a series of meta-igneous rocks, with the Rofna Porphyry Complex (RPC) being the most prominent member. We present LA-ICP-MS U–Pb zircon data from 12 samples representing a broad spectrum of meta-igneous rocks within the Suretta nappe, in order to unravel the pre-Alpine magmatic history of this basement unit. Fine-grained porphyries and coarse-grained augengneisses from the RPC give crystallization ages between 284 and 271 Ma, which either represent distinct magma pulses or long-lasting magmatic activity in a complex magma chamber. There is also evidence for an earlier Variscan magmatic event at ~320–310 Ma. Mylonites at the base of the Suretta nappe are probably derived from either the RPC augengneisses or another unknown Carboniferous–Permian magmatic protolith with a crystallization age between 320 and 290 Ma. Two polymetamorphic orthogneisses from the southern Suretta nappe yield crystallization ages of ~490 Ma. Inherited zircon cores are mainly of late Neoproterozoic age, with minor Neo- to Paleoproterozoic sources. We interpret the Suretta nappe as mainly representing a Gondwana-derived crustal unit, which was subsequently intruded by minor Cambrian–Ordovician and major Carboniferous–Permian magmatic rocks. Finally, the Suretta nappe was thrust into its present position during the Alpine orogeny, which hardly affected the U–Pb system in zircon.