Puncoviscana folded belt in northwestern Argentina: testimony of Late Proterozoic Rodinia fragmentation and pre-Gondwana collisional episodes

 Stratigraphic correlations and tectonic analysis suggest that the Puncoviscana fold belt of northwestern Argentina was an intracontinental basin with bimodal igneous suites that formed in connection with the breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent (at ∼800 Ma). Several lines of evidences point to an initial lithosphere rupture, possibly induced by a rising mantle plume. The earliest synrift igneous products are represented by ultra-potassic dykes and alkaline lava flows of high LREE/HREE and low Zr/Nb–Y/Nb ratios. The dyke emplacements and the initiation of rifting were probably synchronous. They pass laterally and upwards (middle part of the Puncoviscana succession) into basalts of alkaline transitional character (OIB-like source). The distinctive chemical feature of these lavas are very similar to the source of oceanic island basalts; thus, they are thought to represent a magmatism associated with the rift and rift-drift transition stage. During this stage of rifting probably true oceanic crust was formed. The upper part of the Puncoviscana sequence, Late Precambrian/Lower Cambrian in age, comprises a thick and monotonous sequence of pillow lavas, massive basaltic flows and minor volcanic breccias and hyaloclastites. These lavas exhibit MORB trace element characteristics with high FeO_t and TiO₂, low K₂O and P₂O₅, flat light REE spectra, little or no depletion in Nb and Ta. This volcanism consists of the major and latest effusive episode from the Puncoviscana basin which was slightly modified by subduction processes. The geodynamical model proposed for the generation of these volcanic rocks could have been developed in two stages. In the first stage the volcanic event is compatible with a progressive opening of a continental rift leading to formation of a mature oceanic basin. In contrast, the second stage shows the effects of a completed Wilson cycle including a primitive volcanic arc which continued until the accreted Cuyania-Arequipa-Belen-Antofalla (CABA) terrane against the proto-Gondwana western borderland of the Amazonian shield (∼535 Ma). Received: 23 December 1997 / Accepted: 9 December 1998     

A Late Archean foreland fold and thrust belt in the North China Craton: Implications for early collisional tectonics

The Archean North China craton is divided into the Western and Eastern blocks along the Central Orogenic belt. A 1600 km long Archean foreland basin and thrust belt fringes the eastern side of the Central Orogenic belt. Rocks in the orogen form tectonically-stacked east-vergent fold and thrust sheets including foreland basin sediments, 2.50 Ga ophiolitic mélange, and an island arc complex. Foreland basin sediments overlie a passive margin sequence, and include a 2.50 Ga deep-water turbidite sequence that grades upward and westward into shallow-water molasse, now disposed in structurally imbricated east-verging thrusts and asymmetric folds that gradually migrated craton-ward with deformation, uplift, and erosion of the orogen. There is a strong linked relationship of the formation of the foreland basin to collision of the east and west blocks of the North China craton along the Central Orogenic belt at 2.50 Ga. The Qinglong foreland basin and Central Orogenic belt of the North China craton represents one of the best-preserved Archean orogen-to-craton transitions in the world. Its classic internal to external zonation, and flexural response to loading, demonstrate that convergent tectonics in the Archean were broadly similar to Phanerozoic convergent margin processes.     

Geodynamics of the northwestern sector of the pacific mobile belt in the Late Cretaceous-Early Paleogene

In the Late Cretaceous starting from the early Coniacian, three parallel suprasubduction structural units have developed contemporaneously in the northwestern Paleopacific framework: (1) the Okhotsk-Chukchi arc at the Asian continental margin, (2) the West Kamchatka and Essoveem ensialic arcs at the northwestern margins of the Kamchatka and Central Koryak continental blocks, and (3) the Achaivayam-Valagin ensimatic arc that extended to the southwest as the Lesser Kuril ensialic arc at the southern margin of the Sea of Okhotsk continental block. In this setting, the geodynamics of the Paleopacific plates exerted an effect only on the evolution of the outer (relative to the continent) ensimatic island arc, whereas the vast inner region between this arc and the continent evolved independently. As is seen from the character of the gravity field and seismic refractor velocity, the Kamchatka and Sea of Okhotsk continental blocks differ in the structure of the consolidated crust. These blocks collided with each other and the Asian continent in the middle Campanian (77 Ma ago). The extensive pre-Paleogene land that existed on the place of the present-day Sea of Okhotsk probably supplied the terrigenous material deposited since the late Campanian on the oceanic crust of the backarc basin to the south of the rise of inner continental blocks as the Khozgon, Lesnaya, and Ukelayat flysch complexes. The accretion of the Olyutor (Achaivayam) and Valagin segments of the ensimatic arc had different consequences due to the difference in thickness of the Earth’s crust. The Valagin segment was formed on an older basement and had a much greater thickness of the crust than the Olyutor segment. As follows from computations and the results of physical modeling, the island arcs having crust more than 25 km in thickness collide with the continental margin and are thrust over the latter. In the case under consideration, the thrusting of the Valagin segment led to metamorphism of the underlying rocks. The crust of the Olyutor segment was much thinner. The contact of this segment with the continental margin resulted only in surficial accretion, which did not bring about metamorphism, and the underlying lithospheric plate continued to plunge into the subduction zone.     

Late Proterozoic Colisional Orogen and Geosuture in Southeastern China：Petrological Evidence

The Jiangshan-Shaoxing fracture belt(JSFB)is a Late Proterozoic geosuture due to island arc-continent collision in South China,The Cathaysian Block(CT),lying on the southeast side of JSFB,is composed of green schist-amphibolite complexes in the form of a series of tectonic flakes. On the northwest side of JSFB,which is located in the border area of Zheijiang,Jiangxi and Ahhhi provinces(abbreviated as ZJP-JXP-AHP),are distrbuted and ophiolite suite and other rocks,constituting the Jiangnan ancient island arc(JN)on the southeast margin of the Yangtze Block(YZ).The collision between JN and CT at-0.9Ga ago led to the folding of JN.followed by the intrusion(-0.9-0.8Ga ago)of many dioritic and ultramafic stitching plutons along the fracture belt.As a result,the basic Precambrian tectonic framework of southeastern China was shaped.     

阿尔泰晚古生代超高温麻粒岩流体特征及其意义

北疆阿尔泰造山带南缘晚古生代超高温麻粒岩存在高铝斜方辉石+夕线石+石英和尖晶石+石英等超高温特征矿物组合,其退变质作用主要以典型的降压反应矿物堇青石的形成为标志。对其中新发现的石榴子石及石英流体包裹体开展显微测温和激光拉曼探针分析,结果表明:基质中的石英以及被石榴子石包裹的石英中孤立分布的原生流体包裹体成分为近纯CO₂(部分含少量的N₂),均一温度在10.1~29℃之间,其对应的密度在0.631~0.861g/cm³。石榴子石中的原生和假次生CO₂包裹体费米峰差在104.1cm^-1左右,低于石英中CO₂包裹体的费米峰差(~104.7cm^-1),暗示其密度低于石英中的CO₂包裹体。由CO₂流体包裹体密度所得到的等容线从P-T轨迹退变质阶段的下方穿过结合区域地质背景,我们初步认为阿尔泰超高温麻粒岩的形成与幔源岩浆底侵有关。基性岩浆的底侵不但提供了异常高的地温梯度,同时其所释放的大量CO₂降低了水活度,使得变质作用峰期的特征矿物得以保存。低密度的CO₂流体指示了阿尔泰超高温麻粒岩沿顺时针P-T轨迹紧随超高温峰期变质之后快速抬升降压,捕获的同变质流体包裹体因腔体体积增大而密度降低的一种退变质过程。     

The Rayner Complex of East Antarctica: complex isotopic systematics within a Proterozoic mobile belt

Abstract New isotopic (Rb–Sr, U–Pb zircon and Sm–Nd) and petrological data are presented for part of an extensive Proterozoic mobile belt (locally known as the Rayner Complex) in East Antarctica. Much of the belt is the product of Mid-Proterozoic (∼ 1800–2000 Ma) juvenile crustal formation. Melting of this crust at about 1500 Ma ago produced the felsic magmas from which the dominant orthogneisses of this terrain were subsequently derived. Deformation and transitional granulite-amphibolite facies conditions (which peaked at 750 ± 50°C and 7–8 kbar (0.7–0.8 GPa) produced open to tight folding about E–W axes and syn-tectonic granitoids about 960 Ma ago. Subsequent felsic magmatism occurred at about 770 Ma and not, as has been widely advocated, at 500–550 Ma, which appears to have been a time of widespread upper greenschist facies (400–500°C) metamorphism, localized shearing and faulting. Sm-Nd model ages of 1.65–2.18 Ga disprove a previously favoured hypothesis that the Rayner Complex mostly represents reworked Archaean rocks from the neighbouring craton (Napier Complex). Models that involve rehydration of the Napier Complex are no longer required, since the Rayner Complex was its own source of water. Two episodes of Proterozoic crustal growth are identified, the later of which occurred between about 1200 Ma and 1000 Ma, and was relatively minor. Sedimentation took place only shortly before Late Proterozoic orogenesis. The multiphase history of the Rayner Complex has resulted in complex isotopic behaviour. Three temporally discrete episodes of Pb loss from zircon have been identified, the earliest two of which are responses to the c. 960 Ma and 540 Ma tectonothermal events. Fluid leaching was operative during the later event for there is a good correlation between degree of isotopic discordance and secondary mineral growth. Pb loss during the high-grade event was probably governed by the same process or by lattice annealing. Some zircon suites also document recent Pb loss. Most lower concordia intercepts have no direct geological meaning and are explicable as mixed ages produced by incomplete Pb loss during two or more secondary events. Whereas all zircon separates from the orthogneisses produce U–Pb isotopic alignments, zircons from the only analysed paragneiss produce scattered data, in part reflecting a range of provenance. The 960 Ma event was also associated with the growth of a characteristically low U zircon (∼ 300 μg/g) in rocks of inferred high Zr content. There is ubiquitous evidence for the resetting of Rb–Sr total-rock isochrons. Even samples separated by up to 10 km fail to produce igneous crystallization ages. Minor mineralogical changes produced by the 540 Ma upper greenschist-facies metamorphism were sufficient to almost completely reset some Rb–Sr isochrons and to produce open system conditions on outcrop scale, at least in one location.     

Late Cenozoic transtensional fault belt discovered on the boundary of the Awati Sag in the northwestern Tarim Basin

Late Cenozoic transtensional fault belt was discovered on Shajingzi fault belt, NW boundary of the Awati Sag in the northwestern Tarim Basin. And numerous Quaternary normal faults were discovered on Aqia and Tumuxiuke fault belts, SW boundary of Awati. This discovery reveals Quaternary normal fault activity in the Tarim Basin for the first time. It is also a new discovery in the southern flank of Tianshan Mountains. Shajingzi transtensional fault belt is made up of numerous, small normal faults. Horizontally, the normal faults are arranged in right-step, en echelon patterns along the preexisting Shajingzi basement fault, forming a sinistral transtensional normal fault belt. In profile, they cut through the Paleozoic to the mid-Quaternary and combine to form negative flower structures. The Late Cenozoic normal faults on the SW boundary of Awati Sag were distributed mainly in the uplift side of the preexisting Aqia and Tumuxiuke basement-involved faults, and combined to form small horst and graben structures in profile. Based on the intensive seismic interpretation, careful fault mapping, and growth index analysis, we conclude that the normal fault activity of Shajingzi transtensional fault belt began from Late Pliocene and ceased in Late Pleistocene (mid-Quaternary). And the normal faulting on the SW boundary of Awati Sag began from the very beginning of Quaternary and ceased in Pleistocene. The normal faulting on Awati’s SW boundary began a little later than those on the NW boundary. The origin of Shajingzi transtensional normal fault belt was due to the left-lateral strike-slip occurred in the southern flank of Tianshan, and then, due to the eastward escape of the Awati block, a tensional stress developed the normal faults on its SW boundary.     

Metamorphism in the Olary Block, South Australia: compression with cooling in a Proterozoic fold belt

Abstract The sedimentary and igneous rocks comprising the lower Proterozoic Olary Block, South Australia, were deformed and metamorphosed during the mid-Proterozoic 'Olarian'Orogeny. The area is divided into three zones on the basis of assemblages in metapelitic rocks, higher grade conditions occurring in the south-east. Mineral assemblages developed during peak metamorphism, which accompanied recumbent folding, include andalusite in Zones I and II and sillimanite in Zone III. Upright folding and overprinting of mineral assemblages occurred during further compression, the new mineral assemblages including kyanite in Zone II and kyanite and sillimanite in Zone III. The timing relationships of the aluminosilicate polymorphs, together with the peak metamorphic and overprinting parageneses, imply an anticlockwise P–T path for the 'Olarian'Orogeny, pressure increasing with cooling from the metamorphic peak.     

红安造山带南缘古元古代杂岩体的发现对扬子板块古元古代造山事件的约束

识别并研究扬子板块古元古代的岩浆-变质-沉积事件,是探讨扬子板块古元古代构造演化的基础,也是重建该陆块在Columbia超大陆中位置的前提.新发现的金盆杂岩体为进一步揭示扬子板块古元古代岩浆事件和造山过程提供了新的制约信息.锆石U-Pb定年结果表明,金盆片麻状二长花岗岩、奥长花岗岩和基性岩脉的形成年龄分别为～ 2478...     

Chemical variation in a Proterozoic suite of granitoids extending across a mobile belt — craton boundary

Contrary to earlier opinions, the southwestern margin of the Baltic Shield was formed after the Svecokarelian orogenic event (2.2-1.8 Ga). During the initial stages of its formation (1.7-1.6 Ga), granitoid rocks intruded the southwestern margin and simultaneously also the already cratonized part of the shield. Among these granitoids, the most important chemical difference is between calc-alkalic differentiated granitoids to the west and alkalicalcic more evolved granites to the east of an intraorogenic “suture” (the Mylonite Zone). The chemical differences between alkali-calcic granites found on both sides of the interorogen boundary proper (the Protogine Zone) are less significant. As yet, a final choice cannot be made between wholly actualistic and non-actualistic, possibly intracratonic(?) variants of precursory plate-tectonic processes.     

The northwestern Argentina Tarija Basin: Stratigraphy, depositional systems, and controlling factors in a glaciated basin

The Tarija Basin, shared by Bolivia and Argentina, was subjected to glacial conditions during the Late Carboniferous and Early Permian. The Macharetí and Mandiyutí groups deposited during these times record in their facies advances and retreats of the Gondwanan ice cap. The lithostratigraphic subdivision of these groups presents stages with minor glacial influence in the basal formations of each group (Tupambi and Escarpment formations), whereas in the upper units, glacially related deposition prevails (Tarija and San Telmo formations). Typical facies deposited in relation to glacial settings are diamictites and mudstones mainly related to proglacial, lacustrine environments. During the stages of main ice retreat, deposition was dominated by fluvial and deltaic sandstones. Significant erosion and deep valley incision characterize the basal surfaces of both groups. Conversely, the stratigraphic surface that separates the sandy formations from the overlying diamictites tends to be rather flat. The dynamics of the glacial cap are not only reflected in the facies distribution but also were a key factor in creating accommodation space; the changes in the glacial-driven subsidence linked to the advance and retreat of the ice were its main control.     

The northwestern Argentina Tarija Basin: Stratigraphy,depositional systems,and controlling factors in a glaciated basin

The Tarija Basin, shared by Bolivia and Argentina, was subjected to glacial conditions during the Late Carboniferous and Early Permian. The Macharetí and Mandiyutí groups deposited during these times record in their facies advances and retreats of the Gondwanan ice cap. The lithostratigraphic subdivision of these groups presents stages with minor glacial influence in the basal formations of each group (Tupambi and Escarpment formations), whereas in the upper units, glacially related deposition prevails (Tarija and San Telmo formations). Typical facies deposited in relation to glacial settings are diamictites and mudstones mainly related to proglacial, lacustrine environments. During the stages of main ice retreat, deposition was dominated by fluvial and deltaic sandstones. Significant erosion and deep valley incision characterize the basal surfaces of both groups. Conversely, the stratigraphic surface that separates the sandy formations from the overlying diamictites tends to be rather flat. The dynamics of the glacial cap are not only reflected in the facies distribution but also were a key factor in creating accommodation space; the changes in the glacial-driven subsidence linked to the advance and retreat of the ice were its main control.     

冈底斯-喜马拉雅碰撞造山带前陆盆地系统及构造演化

碰撞带前陆盆地的建立是大陆碰撞的直接标志和随后造山带构造变形的忠实记录。本文对欧亚板块与印度板块碰撞前后发育在拉萨地块上的冈底斯弧背前陆盆地,同碰撞产生的雅鲁藏布江周缘前陆盆地,以及碰撞后陆内变形产生的喜马拉雅前陆盆地的沉积地层演化以及碎屑锆石物源特征等进行了系统分析,结合前人及我们近些年的研究成果,认为冈底斯岛弧北侧发育一个典型的弧背前陆盆地系统而不是以前普遍接受的伸展盆地。除传统认为的喜马拉雅前陆盆地系统外,在碰撞造山带中还发育一个雅鲁藏布江前陆盆地系统,它是欧亚板块与印度板块碰撞以后,欧亚板块加载到印度被动大陆边缘产生的典型周缘前陆盆地。上述2个造山带前陆盆地系统的识别,大大提高了对新特提斯洋俯冲、碰撞过程的认识。造山带前陆盆地证据指示,新特提斯洋至少于140 Ma以前就已开始俯冲, 110 Ma俯冲速度开始提高,在65 Ma前后印度大陆与欧亚大陆发生碰撞,喜马拉雅山于40 Ma开始隆升,其剥蚀物质大量堆积在喜马拉雅前陆盆地中。     

Sedimentary dynamics and evolutionary history of a Late Carboniferous Gondwanic lake in north-western Argentina

Lacustrine deposits are well represented in the lower part of the Late Carboniferous Agua Colorada Formation in the north-west Sierra de Narváez, Catamarca Province, Argentina. Lake Narváez was one of the several water bodies formed in the region immediately after the Gondwana glaciation. The lacustrine transport system has been divided into three distinct zones: delta, shallow lake and deep lake. Delta progradation proceeded from the ESE. Coarse-grained delta plain and turbidite delta front deposits suggest that the delta was formed close to the headwaters (‘short-headed stream delta’type). During periods of high discharge, river mouths acted as bypass zones and fine and very fine sands were transported further into the lake by underflow currents. The clastic material supplied by the deltaic system was partially reworked by wave action. Sands accumulated in unstable conditions at the upper delta front as a consequence of delta progradation. As a result of the addition of clastics in the steep delta front, turbidity currents were formed, spreading their load along the lower delta slope. Deep lacustrine deposits are typically stacked, forming two different kinds of progradational turbidite lobe sequences. Type I lobes were formed in a basinal setting and were probably detached from their feeder systems as a result of sediment-bypassing in a shallow lake during periods of low lake level. These turbidite lobes are replaced upwards by type II lobes, which were formed on the delta slope during periods of lake level rise that allowed the onset of delta progradation. The presence of highly deformed sandstone bodies suggests rapid depositional rates in a high slope setting, whereas the occurrence of hummocky cross-stratified sandstones indicates wave reworking of the sands initially emplaced by turbidity currents. Therefore, the inner part of type II lobes was formed above storm wave base. The depositional history of Lake Narváez can be traced through four evolutionary stages: lake transgression, formation of type I lobes, formation of type II lobes and delta progradation. Tectonic activity was probably important at the early stage of lake evolution, but the subsequent depositional history was mainly controlled by fluctuations of lake level.     

Sedimentary aspects and paleoenvironmental evolution of a rift basin: Salta Group (Cretaceous–Paleogene), northwestern Argentina

The rift history of the Salta basin is related to the evolution of the Central Andes and to the activity of the Pacific margin, owing to its geographic location. Sedimentation occurred from the Neocomian to the Paleogene, with deposits reaching up to 5,000 m in thickness. Paleoenvironmental analysis reveals an evolutionary history controlled by tectonic and climatic changes. Isolated grabens characterized the early synrift stage; differential subsidence provoked distinct environments in the southern and northern subbasins. In the southern subbasins, alluvial-fan, fluvial-fan and lacustrine deposits prevail, whilst in the northern subbasins eolian and fluvial environments dominate. During the Maastrichtian, two major factors controlled the basin fill: the decrease in tectonic subsidence and a relative sea-level rise as recorded in South America. An extensive and shallow Atlantic marine ingression installed a carbonate system coincident with mainly humid conditions until the Danian. Until the Middle Eocene, the fluvial and lacustrine environmental evolution of the sag basin was controlled especially by the alternation of temperate with dry and humid periods. Paleontological records reflect these climatic changes and show their relationship to the sedimentation regime.     

The eastern boundary of the Baikal collisional belt: Geological,geochronological, and Nd isotopic evidence

New geological. geochronological, and Nd isotopic data are reported for the rocks occurring at the interfluve of the Barguzin, Nomama, and Katera rivers, where the main structural elements of the Early Paleozoic collisional system have been established. The strike-slip and thrust Tompuda-Nomama and Barguzin boundary sutures separate the Svetlaya and the Katera zones of the Baikal-Muya Belt from the Barguzin terrigenous-carbonate terrane. The age estimates of syntectonic (prebatholithic) gneissic granite and gabbrodiorite intrusive bodies (469 ± 4 and 468 ± 8 Ma, respectively) coincide with the age of collisional events in the Ol’khon, Southwest Baikal, and Sayan regions (480–470 Ma). A linear zone with zonal metamorphism and granite-gneiss domes dated at 470 Ma is revealed in the allochthonous fold-nappe packet of the Upper Riphean Barguzin Formation. This zone of Caledonian remobilization marks the collisional front between the Riphean structural units of the Barguzin Terrane consolidated 0.60–0.55 Ga ago and the Baikal-Muya Belt. New data allow us to recognize this zone as the northeastern flank of the Baikal Collisional Belt. The Nd isotopic data for the reference igneous complexes of the collisional zone indicate that the Late Riphean juvenile crust was involved in the Ordovician remobilization in the zone of conjugation of the consolidated Baikalian structural elements at the northeastern flank of the Baikal Belt and likely was a basement of the entire Barguzin Terrane or, at least, its frontal portion. The lateral displacements of the terranes to the northeast during the Early Ordovician collision were constrained by the rigid structural framework of the Baikalides in the Muya segment of the Baikal-Muya Belt, where the Riphean blocks were involved in strike-slip faulting and the Vendian-Cambrian superimposed basin underwent deformation. Finally, it may be concluded that the Early Ordovician was an epoch of collision, complex in kinematics, between heterogeneous blocks of the continental crust: the Baikalides of the Baikal-Muya Belt and polycyclic Barguzin-Vitim Superterrane.