Modification of fabric in pre-Himalayan granitic rocks by post-emplacement ductile deformation: insights from microstructures,AMS, and U–Pb geochronology of the Paleozoic Kinnaur Kailash Granite and associated Cenozoic leucogranites of the South Tibetan Detachment zone,Himachal High Himalaya

The present day South Tibetan Detachment (STD) of Higher Himalaya is a system of low-angle normal faults. In the Himachal High Himalaya, the STD hanging wall is characterized by the presence of S-type per-aluminous Paleozoic (~475 Ma) granite called the Kinnaur Kailash Granite (KKG). This granite is later intruded by Cenozoic leucogranites (~18 Ma) in vicinity of the STD zone. In this work, microstructures, anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS), and U–Pb geochronology were carried out on the KKG and the leucogranites with an aim to (a) understand the conditions of fabric development and (b) decipher the tectonic relationship between deformation along the STD and the evolution of these granites. Microstructural features and magnetic anisotropy indicate that the granites are intensely deformed in vicinity of the STD and preserve their emplacement-related fabric in the interior parts. It is inferred that close to the STD zone, fabrics of both the KKG and the leucogranite are tectonic and are modified by the Cenozoic (~20 Ma) right-lateral slip and extensional tectonics. Magnetic fabric in the interior parts of the KKG is related to its emplacement indicating that original fabric was preserved. U–Pb geochronology of zircons from two samples of the KKG yields crystallization age of 477.6 ± 3.4 and 472 ± 4 Ma. The leucogranite gives a crystallization age of 18.5 ± 0.6 Ma. Zircons from the KKG also reveal signatures of a deformation event (20.6 ± 2.3 Ma) at its rim. It is inferred that deformation of the external rim of the KKG and crystallization of the leucogranites are synchronous and triggered by ductile deformation along the STD.     

辽南金州拆离断层带中花岗质岩石的变形:显微构造、组构与年代学分析

花岗岩(脉)在中下地壳韧性剪切带中普遍发育,如何正确鉴别剪切带中剪切前、剪切期及剪切后花岗岩(脉)以及正确理解剪切过程中构造变形与岩浆作用之间的关系一直是一个重要课题。本文以辽南金州拆离断层带为研究对象,选取中部地壳伸展作用过程中具有不同变形表现的花岗岩(脉)开展宏观-微观构造观察、石英EBSD组构分析及锆石LA-ICP-MS年代学测试等工作,从而进一步丰富构造-岩浆关系判别准则。剪切前花岗岩(脉)多变形强烈且具有后期固态变形叠加在早期高温岩浆组构之上的特点,而剪切期的花岗岩由于侵位的时间不同,岩石的变形程度也会不同。剪切晚期侵入的岩脉遭受了较弱的晶内塑性变形,而剪切早期的岩脉可以显示岩浆流动或结晶后高温至中温固态变形。从组构特点上看,剪切前和剪切期花岗质岩石石英c轴组构大多表现为中高温组构叠加有低温组构的特点。剪切后的花岗质岩石仅发生微弱的晶内变形或未变形而显示低温或无规律的组构特征。对五个典型的样品进行年代学测试,其结果符合相应的期次划分类型。应用宏观构造、显微构造与组构分析,结合年代学测试综合分析,对于辽南变质核杂岩构造-岩浆活动性进行了精细划分,包括134~130Ma初始伸展阶段,130~115Ma峰期伸展与强烈岩浆活动阶段,以及115Ma前后伸展作用结束。     

U–Pb geochronology of gneisses and granitoids from the Danish island of Bornholm: new evidence for 1.47–1.45 Ga magmatism at the southwestern margin of the East European Craton

The Danish island of Bornholm is located at the southwestern margin of the Fennoscandian Shield, and features exposed Precambrian basement in its northern and central parts. In this paper, we present new U–Pb zircon and titanite ages for granites and orthogneisses from 13 different localities on Bornholm. The crystallization ages of the protolith rocks all fall within the range 1,475–1,445 Ma (weighted average ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb ages of zircon). Minor age differences, however, may imply a multi-phase emplacement history of the granitoid complex. The presence of occasional inherited zircons (with ages of 1,700–1,800 Ma) indicates that the Bornholm granitoids were influenced by older crustal material. The east–west fabric observed in most of the studied granites and gneisses, presumably originated by deformation in close connection with the magmatism at 1,470–1,450 Ma. Most titanite U–Pb ages fall between 1,450 and 1,430 Ma, reflecting post-magmatic or post-metamorphic cooling. Granitoid magmatism at ca. 1.45 Ga along the southwestern margin of the East European Craton has previously been reported from southern Sweden and Lithuania. The ages obtained in this study indicate that the Bornholm magmatism also was part of this Mesoproterozoic event.     

Zircon geochronology and compositional record of late- to post-kinematic granitoids associated with the Bavarian Pfahl zone (Bavarian Forest)

Summary The northwest-striking Pfahl zone, Bavarian Forest, is a mylonitic shear zone that is associated with brittle-ductile deformation fabrics and a conspicuous hydrothermal quartz mineralization. Two granites from this shear zone yield U–Pb and Pb–Pb evaporation ages between 321–329 Ma and two granodiorites give concordant ²³⁸U–²⁰⁶Pb and ²³⁵U–²⁰⁷Pb ages of 325±3 Ma and 326±3 Ma, respectively. Zircon populations of the granitoids show sub-types clustering around S₂₀, S₁₀ (granite) and S₂₂ to S₂₄ (granodiorite) testifying different magma affinity. Compositional and isotopic characteristics indicate that the granites and granodiorites were coeval melts, but not differentiates of a single parent magma. The granodiorites were derived from a source with higher time-integrated ⁸⁷Rb/⁸⁶Sr and lower ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios than the granites. One granite body is transected by the shear zone but the main mass of the granite is largely undeformed. This finding suggests that granite intrusion predates the final stage of ductile deformation along the Pfahl shear zone.     

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.     

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

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

Construction of the granitoid crust of an island arc part I: geochronological and geochemical constraints from the plutonic Kohistan (NW Pakistan)

We present major and trace element analyses and U–Pb zircon intrusion ages from I-type granitoids sampled along a crustal transect in the vicinity of the Chilas gabbronorite of the Kohistan paleo-arc. The aim is to investigate the roles of fractional crystallization of mantle-derived melts and partial melting of lower crustal amphibolites to produce the magmatic upper crust of an island arc. The analyzed samples span a wide calc-alkaline compositional range (diorite–tonalite–granodiorite–granite) and have typical subduction-related trace element signatures. Their intrusion ages (75.1 ± 4.5–42.1 ± 4.4 Ma) are younger than the Chilas Complex (~85 Ma). The new results indicate, in conjunction with literature data, that granitoid formation in the Kohistan arc was a continuous rather than punctuated process. Field observations and the presence of inherited zircons indicate the importance of assimilation processes. Field relations, petrographic observations and major and trace element compositions of the granitoid indicate the importance of amphibole fractionation for their origin. It is concluded that granitoids in the Kohistan arc are derivative products of mantle derived melts that evolved through amphibole-dominated fractionation and intra crustal assimilation.     

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.     

Pervasive horizontal fabric and rapid vertical extrusion: Lateral overturning and margin sub-parallel flow of deep crustal migmatites, northeastern Bohemian Massif

In the West Sudetes, northeastern Bohemia Massif, geochronometry provides evidence for repeated episodes of rapid cooling that contrasts sharply with an absence of structural evidence for significant tectonic exhumation by crustal extension. Instead, high-grade assemblages of the Orlica–Snieznik Complex have a regional sub-horizontal foliation and sub-horizontal lineations that trend parallel to narrow sub-vertical shear zones containing exhumed high-pressure assemblages. Mesoscopic petrofabrics combined with anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) data from amphibolite facies to migmatitic meta-sedimentary and meta-igneous rocks reveal remarkably consistent average lineations that plunge shallowly to the SSW on both steep and sub-horizontal NNE-trending planar fabrics. The dominant SSW–NNE fabric orientation is parallel to the Bohemia–Brunia suture, which marks a major boundary along the eastern margin of the massif. The shape of the AMS ellipsoid is predominantly oblate, revealing flattened fabrics, with only local prolate ellipsoids. We envisage that the continental Brunian indentor operated as a rigid backstop and allowed the migmatized lower crustal orogenic root to be exhumed along the Bohemian margin shortly following terminal arc collision. Sub-vertical extrusion of the orogenic root was arrested in the mid-crust, where the lower ductile crust was laterally overturned at the base of rigid upper crustal blocks. Upon reaching the crustal high-strength lid the exhumed ductile mass of continental material laterally spread sub-parallel to the margin, underwent subsequent supra-Barrovian metamorphism, and quickly cooled. The application of AMS techniques to high-grade metamorphic rocks in concert with macroscopic structural observations is a powerful approach for resolving the deformation history of a terrane where visible rock fabrics can be tenuous.     

西藏冈底斯岩带曲水杂岩体锆石LA-ICP-MS U-Pb年龄及其地质意义

曲水杂岩体位于冈底斯构造-岩浆岩带东段南缘,其岩浆活动与雅鲁藏布江新特提斯洋壳向北俯冲、消减以及印度与欧亚板块碰撞息息相关。本文以曲水县-昌果乡广泛分布的中酸性花岗岩体为研究对象,进行了系统的LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb年代学和岩石地球化学研究。结果表明,曲水杂岩体由3期时代和规模不同的花岗质岩体构成,其LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb年龄分别为95.2±1.0～88.5±1.0Ma、65.2±0.6Ma和48.5±0.5～43.3±0.7Ma;岩石地球化学研究表明,晚白垩世和古新世花岗岩以中性-中酸性为主,属钙碱性系列,具中铝特征,A/CNK比值小于1.1,属于I型花岗岩,是玄武质下地壳部分熔融产物,指示其形成于特提斯洋壳俯冲过程的岛弧构造环境。始新世花岗岩以高钾钙碱性系列为主,并出现钾玄岩系列,具偏铝-过铝质特征,指示岩浆上侵过程中遭受了不同程度的地壳物质混染,其形成于印度-欧亚板块强烈碰撞的构造环境。     

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

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

Relationships between magmatism and extension along the Autun–La Serre fault system in the Variscan Belt of the eastern French Massif Central

The ENE–WSW Autun Shear Zone in the northeastern part of the French Massif Central has been interpreted previously as a dextral wrench fault. New field observations and microstructural analyses document a NE–SW stretching lineation that indicates normal dextral motions along this shear zone. Further east, similar structures are observed along the La Serre Shear Zone. In both areas, a strain gradient from leucogranites with a weak preferred orientation to highly sheared mylonites supports a continuous Autun–La Serre fault system. Microstructural observations, and shape and lattice-preferred orientation document high-temperature deformation and magmatic fabrics in the Autun and La Serre granites, whereas low- to intermediate-temperature fabrics characterize the mylonitic granite. Electron microprobe monazite geochronology of the Autun and La Serre granites yields a ca. 320 Ma age for pluton emplacement, while mica ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar datings of the Autun granite yield plateau ages from 305 to 300 Ma. The ca. 300 Ma ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar ages, obtained on micas from Autun and La Serre mylonites, indicate the time of the mylonitization. The ca. 15-Ma time gap between pluton emplacement and deformation along the Autun–La Serre fault system argue against a synkinematic pluton emplacement during late orogenic to postorogenic extension of the Variscan Belt. A ductile to brittle continuum of deformation is observed along the shear zone, with Lower Permian brittle faults controlling the development of sedimentary basins. These results suggest a two-stage Late Carboniferous extension in the northeastern French Massif Central, with regional crustal melting and emplacement of the Autun and La Serre leucogranites around 320 Ma, followed, at 305–295 Ma, by ductile shearing, normal brittle faulting, and subsequent exhumation along the Autun–La Serre transtensional fault system.     

An integrated zircon geochronological and geochemical investigation into the Miocene plutonic evolution of the Cyclades, Aegean Sea, Greece: Part 1: Geochronology

We use 369 individual U–Pb zircon ages from 14 granitoid samples collected on five islands in the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea, Greece, for constraining the crystallisation history of I- and S-type plutons above the retreating Hellenic subduction zone. Miocene magmatism in the Cyclades extended over a time span from 17 to 11 Ma. The ages for S-type granites are systematically ~2 million years older than those for I-type granites. Considering plutons individually, the zircon data define age spectra ranging from simple and unimodal to complex and multimodal. Seven of the 14 investigated samples yield more than one distinct zircon crystallisation age, with one I-type granodiorite sample from Mykonos Island representing the most complex case with three resolvable age peaks. Two samples from S-type granites on Ikaria appear to have crystallised zircon over 2–3 million years, whereas for the majority of individual samples with multiple zircon age populations the calculated ages deviate by 1–1.5 million years. We interpret our age data to reflect a protracted history involving initial partial melting at deeper lithospheric levels, followed by crystallisation and cooling at shallower crustal levels. Our study corroborates published research arguing that pluton construction is due to incremental emplacement of multiple magma pulses over a few million years. Assuming that multiple age peaks of our 14 samples can indeed serve to quantify time spans for magmatic emplacement, our data suggest that Aegean plutons were constructed over a few million years. Our tectonic interpretation of the U–Pb ages is that the S-type granites resulted from partial melting and migmatisation of the lower crust, possibly starting at ~23 Ma. The I-type granites and associated mafic melts are interpreted to reflect the magmatic arc stage in the Cyclades starting at ~15 Ma.     

The Variscan Millares granite (central Pyrenees): Pluton emplacement in a T fracture of a dextral shear zone

This work deals with the magnetic susceptibility and its anisotropy (AMS) in the Variscan Millares pluton in the Central Pyrenees. The zonation of low-field magnetic susceptibility is consistent with the concentric arrangement of rock-types, with more basic compositions at the external areas. Magnetic foliations defined from AMS strike NE-SW and dip gently towards the NW. Magnetic foliations are mainly perpendicular and oblique to the elongation of the pluton in map view (NW-SE) and show a concentric pattern at the central part, where the more acid rocks crop out. Magnetic lineations are scattered between NW-SE and NE-SW and plunge shallowly to the N. In map view magnetic lineations are distributed in domains normal to the elongation of the pluton. The contours of P' (degree of magnetic anisotropy) are oriented NE-SW and bands of oblate and prolate ellipsoids alternate perpendicular to the elongation of the pluton in map view. P' is between 1.009 and 1.055 in 93% of the specimens. Such low values are currently recorded in granites having magmatic fabrics and for which the anisotropy is mainly carried by biotite. The attitude of the magnetic foliation and the magnetic lineation, the geometry of the pluton, and their relationship with the host-rock structure suggest an intrusion contemporary with a transpressional regime, syntectonic with the late stages of the Variscan orogeny.     

A record of ductile syn-intrusional fabrics to post solidification cataclasis: Magnetic fabric analysis of neoproterozoic Mirpur and Mt. Abu Granitoids,NW India

The Mirpur granite body represents a relatively small (10 km²) pluton intruded along the northern margin of the adjacent Mt. Abu batholith (∼125 km²) in NW India. It is a visibly undeformed alkali feldspar rich pink granite; in contrast, the Mt. Abu is a composite granitoid body and variably deformed. Both are intruded by rhyolitic dykes and the terminal magmatic events in both the cases are mafic dykes. The AMS (Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility) data identify the Mt. Abu with SE-dipping foliations and subvertical lineations as a single structural domain while the Mirpur granite body shows two domains characterized by predominantly E — W trend of magnetic foliation in the eastern part (domain I) and N — S orientations in the western part (domain II). The domain I shows magmatic fabrics, typical for the peraluminous granites of Malani Igneous Suite (MIS). Change in fabric orientation in the domain II has resulted from cataclasis wherein the samples show destruction of the original E — W fabric and complete transposition by N — S trends. The foliations in the Mt. Abu granites have been related to SE orientation of maximum horizontal stress. The same maximum stress direction can be inferred from dyke orientation in the Mirpur granite, which is interpreted as continuation of the tectonic imprint in this region during emplacement of both the granites. Age of the cataclastic overprint with a predominant N — S orientation is not yet constrained but corresponds with the trend of the nearby Sindreth basin within the Malani Igneous Suite. The Neoproterozoic tectonic scenario for the region has been interpreted in terms of an ongoing crustal convergence and granitic magma emplacement against the back stop offered by the rigid Delhi Fold Belt.     

Scattering of magnetic fabrics in the Cambrian alkaline granite of Meruoca (Ceará state,northeastern Brazil)

Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) applied to an alkaline granite from Meruoca (NE Brazil) recorded weak anisotropies, typically below 4%, and a considerable dispersion of the AMS axes. Red-clouded feldspars and clots of metasomatic minerals enclosed in magmatic crystals indicate that hydrothermal fluids altered the granite. U–Pb isotopic data show high-common Pb on zircons but allowed the calculation of a mean SHRIMP age of 523 ± 9 Ma attributed to the magmatic crystallization. Growth of fine oxides by late fluid–rock interactions was responsible for the scattering of AMS. Rock magnetic data indicate they consist mainly of an oxidized magnetite and (titano)hematite. Shape preferred orientation of mafic aggregates measured in granite quarries shows that the pluton preserves a gently dipping magmatic foliation. AMS in some quarries with a well-defined magmatic fabric, however, remains highly dispersed. When AMS mimics the mafic shape fabric, only magnetic foliations share a common orientation. Locally, AMS grounded in coarse Ti-poor magnetite associated with titanite develops a consistent subhorizontal oblate fabric that agrees with tectonic models suggesting that the cupola of the pluton has been exposed by erosion.     

Emplacement and deformation of the ca. 1.45 Ga Karlshamn granitoid pluton,southeastern Sweden,during ENE-WSW Danopolonian shortening

Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and structural geology of the ca. 1.45 Ga Karlshamn pluton (southern Sweden) are used to study its emplacement and structural evolution. The Karlshamn pluton is one of the largest metaluminous A-type granitoid intrusions in southern Sweden. It is a multiphase body made up of two suites that differ in composition but which have similar crystallization ages. The magmatic foliation, ductile shear zones and granite–pegmatite filled fractures were mapped as well as the metamorphic foliation and extension lineation in the metamorphic host rocks. The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility was used to map the magnetite petrofabric of the pluton, providing a larger data set for both the magmatic foliations and lineations, which could not be mapped in the field. The fabrics within the pluton are continuous with the metamorphic fabrics in the country rocks. Both the pluton and the country rock fabrics were folded during ENE–WSW compression, while the pluton was still a magma mush. The stress field orientation during cooling of the pluton is determined on the basis of magmatic, ductile and brittle structures in the Karlshamn pluton that formed successively as the pluton cooled. The compressional event is referred to as the Danopolonian orogeny and therefore the Karlshamn granitoids, and other plutons of similar composition and age in central and southern Sweden, on the Danish Island of Bornholm, and in Lithuania, may be considered as syntectonic intrusions and not as anorogenic, as was previously thought.     

Pan-African strike–slip tectonics in eastern Cameroon—Magnetic fabrics (AMS) and structure in the Lom basin and its gneissic basement

Field, microstructural, and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) or magnetic fabric studies were applied to identify the sequence and character of the Pan-African structures in the basement of Eastern Cameroon at both sides of the regional scale Bétaré-Oya Shear Zone (BOSZ). The NE-SW trending BOSZ separates older gneisses and migmatites towards SE (domain I) from the younger rocks of the Lom meta-volcano-sedimentary basin towards NW (domain II). In domain I, early, ductile compressional deformation occurred in two events, D1 and D2, under relatively high T conditions. During subsequent cooling, strain partitioned between the competent basement gneisses with only mild compression and the bordering shear zone (BOSZ) with intense simple shear-wrenching (D3). Strain in the less competent rocks of domain II is dominated by simple shear, strike-slip wrenching (D3), with an earlier stage of compressional deformation preserved only in some low strain pods.Magnetic fabrics (AMS) document a progressive change from oblate ellipsoids towards prolate ellipsoids in domain I, when proceeding from the south towards the BOSZ. Foliations are mostly steep but define a girdle with a pole plunging gently towards WSW. The magnetic lineations also plunge mostly towards WSW at shallow angles. These fabrics indicate a compression approximately normal to the BOSZ, which is also the SE margin of the Lom Basin. In the Lom metasediments (domain II), AMS ellipsoids are typically oblate. Foliations trend NE-SW with mostly steep dips. Magnetic lineations plunge gently NE or SW. This fabric with foliations mostly steep and subparallel with the major BOSZ, combined with generally subhorizontal lineations implies the BOSZ as a Pan-African strike–slip shear zone with a subordinate component of compression.At a larger scale, the area is part of a continent-scale shear zone, separating external Pan-African domains of compression along the northern margin of the Congo craton from internal domains dominated by high-angle strike–slip and transpressional deformation. Together with published data, the present study thus demonstrates that transpression is a regional phenomenon in the Pan-African orogen of central and eastern Cameroon.     

Late-Variscan magmatism revisited: new implications from Pb-evaporation zircon ages on the emplacement of redwitzites and granites in NE Bavaria

Pb-evaporation zircon analyses coupled with a detailed cathodoluminescence (CL) study on the complete series of granitoids from the northern Oberpfalz, NE Bavaria, provide new evidence for the commencement and timing of late-Variscan magmatism. All granitoids analysed in this study were dated before by Rb-Sr and/or K-Ar methods. Investigated samples comprise medium-grained, I-type dioritic rocks (redwitzites), I/S-type granites (Leuchtenberg, Marktredwitz (G1), Zainhammer) and S-type granites (Falkenberg, Liebenstein, Mitterteich, Friedenfels, Steinwald, Flossenbürg, Bärnau). The zircon evaporation technique reveals three groups of ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb ages which are interpreted to represent magmatic crystallisation: (1) ages of 324-321 Ma are found in all analysed redwitzites and in almost all I/S-type granites; (2) the granites of Falkenberg and Liebenstein yield ages of ~315 Ma; (3) ages between 312 and 310 Ma are recorded in the Mitterteich, Friedenfels, Steinwald and Flossenbürg granites. Titanite crystals from different redwitzite bodies yield conventional U-Pb ages of 325-322 Ma, identical to the Pb-evaporation zircon data of these rocks. The S-type granites of groups 2 and 3 contain zircons with relict cores but only a small number of them yield older ages, indicating that some of the cores must have lost their radiogenic Pb. From the geochronological data, we infer that metamorphic conditions of the Variscan crust produced different granite types at different times. The data support a model involving an early period of mantle-related magmatism which postdates the final convergence stage of the Variscan orogen. This magmatic activity was at the same time as the thermal peak of regional metamorphism and is followed by a late period of crustal anatexis, which is probably related to post-collisional extension of the thickened Variscan crust.     

North-west propagation of the Grenville orogen: Grenvillian structure and metamorphism near Key Harbour,Georgian Bay,Ontario, Canada*

Abstract We report structural and metamorphic data from a c. 25-km transect across the eastern Grenville Front Tectonic Zone (GFTZ) to the Britt domain at the northern end of Georgian Bay near Key Harbour, Ontario. Constrasting Grenvillian structural and fabric elements characterize the eastern GFTZ, northern Britt domain and a narrow Transition Zone between them. Moderately to steeply dipping foliations with strong down-dip lineations in all three divisions appear to be associated with NW-directed thrusting. In the Transition Zone and northern Britt domain, early S = L fabrics with steep lineations are overprinted by younger structures (S > L) with shallow, SE-SSE-plunging lineations in which sparse, dominantly (but not exclusively) normal-sense kinematic indicators are recognized. Pressure and temperature estimates from Grenvillian metamorphic assemblages in metadi-abase indicate that conditions of P ± 12 kbar and T c 800° C were achieved before or during the thrust-related deformation, with P-T-t paths that indicate near-isothermal decompression to P c. 4 kbar and T c. 700° C. Correlation of fabric elements with points on the P-T-t paths suggests that exhumation occurred during two stages, the first associated with thrusting (≥1035 Ma) and the second with extension and thrusting (pre-1003 Ma). The GFTZ contains steeply to moderately dipping, thrust-related fabrics and lacks shallow, extensional structures; the latest episode of thrusting in the GFTZ is inferred to have taken place at 990-980 Ma. The data are interpreted in terms of a tectonic model involving two stages of propagation of the Grenville orogen towards its foreland (≥1035 Ma and ≥980 Ma), with an intervening period of extension, although the tectonic regime probably remained compressional on the scale of the orogen.