Stratigraphic assessment of the Arcelia–Teloloapan area,southern Mexico: implications for southern Mexico's post-Neocomian tectonic evolution

Stratigraphic assessment of the “Tierra Caliente Metamorphic Complex” (TCMC) between Arcelia and Teloloapan in southern Mexico, based on photo interpretation of Landsat Thematic Mapper images and field mapping at the 1:100,000 scale, tests different tectonic evolution scenarios that bear directly on the evolution of the southern North American plate margin. The regional geology, emphasizing the stratigraphy of a portion of the TCMC within the area between Arcelia and Teloloapan is presented. Stratigraphic relationships with units in adjacent areas are also described. The base of the stratigraphic section is a chlorite grade metamorphic sequence that includes the Taxco Schist, the Roca Verde Taxco Viejo Formation, and the Almoloya Phyllite Formation. These metamorphic units, as thick as 2.7 km, are covered disconformably by a sedimentary sequence, 2.9 km thick, composed of the Cretaceous marine Pochote, Morelos, and Mexcala Formations, as well as undifferentiated Tertiary continental red beds and volcanic rocks. The geology may be explained as the evolution of Mesozoic volcanic and sedimentary environments developed upon attenuated continental crust. Our results do not support accretion of the Guerrero terrane during Laramide (Late Cretaceous–Paleogene) time.     

Jurassic and Cretaceous Geological History of Cuba

The Mesozoic rocks of Cuba are a key element in reconstructing the geological history of the Mesoamerican (Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean) area. Four different Jurassic-Cretaceous sections are recorded in Cuba, including three from tectonostratigraphic terranes. From north to south they include the following: (1) a portion of the Mesozoic passive margin of North America, with outstanding zonality, especially in the Middle Cretaceous of central Cuba; (2) the Northern Ophiolitic Belt, also with Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous rocks, which is a huge melange; all members of the ophiolitic suite are tectonically mingled along the northern part of Cuba; (3) the Volcanic Arc Terrane, mainly composed of Cretaceous volcanics, with older, primarily tholeiitic lavas (Aptian-Albian) and younger (Cenomanian-Campanian) calc-alkaline pyroclastics and lavas, with many sedimentary interbeds; Albian-Cenomanian deposits with a few volcanics separate both sequences, and an Upper Jurassic-Neocomian amphibolitic basement of the volcanic arc is present in some places; and (4) the Southern Metamorphic Terranes that contain rocks of a Mesozoic passive margin that experienced several metamorphic episodes during the Cretaceous.

The welding of these terranes occurred during the Cretaceous, and ended in the late Campanian and Maastrichtian. In the south, the volcanic terrane was emplaced upon the Southern Metamorphic Terranes, while in the north the volcanics and ophiolites were thrust over the Mesozoic margin of North America. In western Cuba, the beds are strongly deformed and thrust to the north or northwest. Nappes also are present in north-central Cuba, but an essentially Bahamian platform stratigraphy is present. Although the passive paleomargin of North America was deformed in the latest Cretaceous, this event is masked by the early Tertiary Cuban orogeny.

It is suggested that the Jurassic stratigraphy of the Southern Metamorphic Terranes shares features with the southern North American passive margin in western Cuba. The position of the Southern Metamorphic Terranes south of the ophiolite and arc terrane therefore does not support the idea of a Pacific origin for the Cretaceous island arcs of the Greater Antilles, but instead suggests that a proto-Caribbean genesis is more plausible.     

The Salado River fault: reactivation of an Early Jurassic fault in a transfer zone during Laramide deformation in southern Mexico

The Salado River fault (SRF) is a prominent structure in southern Mexico that shows evidence of reactivation at two times under different tectonic conditions. It coincides with the geological contact between a structural high characterized by Palaeozoic basement rocks to the north, and an ～2000 m thick sequence of marine and continental rocks that accumulated in a Middle Jurassic–Cretaceous basin to the south. Rocks along the fault within a zone up to 150 m across record crystal-plastic deformation affecting the metamorphic basement of the Palaeozoic Acatlán Complex. Later brittle deformation is recorded by both the basement and the overlying Mesozoic sedimentary rocks. Regional features and structural textures at both outcrop and microscopic scale indicate two episodes of left-lateral displacement. The first took place under low-to medium-grade P-T conditions in the late Early Jurassic (180 Ma) based on the interpretation of ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ratios from muscovite within the fault zone; the second occurred under shallow conditions, when the fault served as a transfer zone between areas with differing magnitudes of shortening north and south of the fault. In the southern block, fold hinges were dragged westward during Laramide tectonic transport to the east, culminating in brittle deformation characterized by strike–slip faulting in the Mesozoic sedimentary rocks. North of the fault, folds are not well defined, and it is clear that the fold hinges observed in the southern block do not continue north of the fault. Although the orientation and kinematics of the SRF are similar to major Cainozoic shear zones in southern Mexico, our new data indicate that the fault had become inactive by the time of Oligocene volcanism.     

Middle Jurassic collision of an exotic microcontinental fragment: Implications for magmatism across the Southeast China continental margin

Thrusting, folding, and metamorphism of late Paleozoic to middle Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, together with high precision U–Pb zircon ages from Middle to Late Jurassic volcanic and granitic rocks, reveal evidence for a major deformation event in northwestern Hong Kong between 164 and 161 Ma. This episode can be linked with collision of an exotic microcontinental fragment along the southeast China continental margin determined from contrasting detrital zircon provenance histories of late Paleozoic to middle Mesozoic sedimentary rocks either side of an NE-trending suture zone through central Hong Kong. The suture zone is also reflected by isotopic heterogeneities and geophysical anomalies in the crustal basement. Detrital zircon provenance of Early to Middle Jurassic rocks from the accreted terrane have little in common with the pre-Middle Jurassic rocks from southeast China. Instead, the zircon age spectra of the accreted terrane show close affinities to sources along the northern margin of east Gondwana. These data provide indisputable evidence for Mesozoic terrane accretion along the southeast China continental margin. In addition, collision of the exotic terrane, accompanied by subduction rollback, is considered to have hastened foundering of the postulated flat slab beneath southeast China, leading to a widespread igneous flare-up event at 160 Ma.     

Deformation during exhumation of medium‐ and high‐grade metamorphic rocks in the Variscan chain in northern Sardinia (Italy)

The Anglona and SW Gallura regions represent key places to investigate the tectonic evolution of medium‐ and high‐grade metamorphic rocks cropping out in northern Sardinia (Italy). From south to north we distinguish two different metamorphic complexes recording similar deformation histories but different metamorphic evolution: the Medium Grade Metamorphic Complex (MGMC) and the High Grade Metamorphic Complex (HGMC). After the initial collisional stage (D1 deformation phase), both complexes were affected by three contractional deformational phases (D2, D3 and D4) followed by later extensional tectonics. The D2 deformation phase was the most significant event producing an important deformation partitioning that produced localized shearing and folding domains at the boundary between the two metamorphic complexes. We highlight the presence of two previously undocumented systems of shear belts with different kinematics but analogous orientation in the axial zone of Sardinia. They became active at the boundary between the MGMC and HGMC from the beginning of D2. They formed a transpressive regime responsible for the exhumation of the medium‐ and high‐grade metamorphic rocks, and overall represent a change from orthogonal to orogen‐parallel tectonic transport. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geochemistry and isotopic composition of the Guerrero Terrane (western Mexico): implications for the tectono-magmatic evolution of southwestern North America during the Late Mesozoic

The composite Guerrero Terrane of western Mexico records much of the magmatic evolution of southwestern North America during Late Mesozoic time. The Guerrero includes three distinctive subterranes characterized by unique stratigraphic records, structural evolutions, and geochemical and isotopic features that strongly suggest they evolved independently. The eastern Teloloapan Subterrane represents an evolved intra-oceanic island arc of Hauterivian to Cenomanian age, which includes a high-K calc-alkaline magmatic suite. The central Arcelia–Palmar Chico Subterrane represents a primitive island arc-marginal basin system of Albian to Cenomanian age, consisting of an oceanic suite and a tholeiitic arc suite. The western Zihuatanejo–Huetamo Subterrane comprises three components that represent an evolved island arc-marginal basin-subduction complex system of Late Jurassic (?) –Early Cretaceous age built on a previously deformed basement. The Zihuatanejo Sequence includes a thick high-K calc-alkaline magmatic suite. The Las Ollas Complex consists of tectonic slices containing exotic blocks of arc affinity affected by high-pressure/low-temperature metamorphism included in a sheared matrix. The Huetamo Sequence consists mainly of volcanic-arc derived sedimentary rocks, including large pebbles of tholeiitic, calc-alkaline, and shoshonitic lavas. These sequences are unconformably underlain by the Arteaga Complex, which represents the subvolcanic basement. On the basis of available geology, geochemistry, geochronology, and isotopic data, we suggest that Late Mesozoic volcanism along the western margin of southern North America developed in broadly contemporaneous but different intra-oceanic island arcs that constitute a complex fossil arc-trench system similar to the present-day western Pacific island arc system.     

A Cordilleran model for the evolution of Avalonia

Striking similarities between the late Mesoproterozoic–Early Paleozoic record of Avalonia and the Late Paleozoic–Cenozoic history of western North America suggest that the North American Cordillera provides a modern analogue for the evolution of Avalonia and other peri-Gondwanan terranes during the late Precambrian. Thus: (1) The evolution of primitive Avalonian arcs (proto-Avalonia) at 1.2–1.0 Ga coincides with the amalgamation of Rodinia, just as the evolution of primitive Cordilleran arcs in Panthalassa coincided with the Late Paleozoic amalgamation of Pangea. (2) The development of mature oceanic arcs at 750–650 Ma (early Avalonian magmatism), their accretion to Gondwana at ca. 650 Ma, and continental margin arc development at 635–570 Ma (main Avalonian magmatism) followed the breakup of Rodinia at ca. 755 Ma in the same way that the accretion of mature Cordilleran arcs to western North America and the development of the main phase of Cordilleran arc magmatism followed the Early Mesozoic breakup of Pangea. (3) In the absence of evidence for continental collision, the diachronous termination of subduction and its transition to an intracontinental wrench regime at 590–540 Ma is interpreted to record ridge–trench collision in the same way that North America's collision with the East Pacific Rise in the Oligocene led to the diachronous initiation of a transform margin. (4) The separation of Avalonia from Gondwana in the Early Ordovician resembles that brought about in Baja California by the Pliocene propagation of the East Pacific Rise into the continental margin. (5) The Late Ordovician–Early Silurian sinistral accretion of Avalonia to eastern Laurentia emulates the Cenozoic dispersal of Cordilleran terranes and may mimic the paths of future terranes transferred to the Pacific plate.This close similarity in tectonothermal histories suggests that a geodynamic coupling like that linking the evolution of the Cordillera with the assembly and breakup of Pangea, may have existed between Avalonia and the late Precambrian supercontinent Rodinia. Hence, the North American Cordillera is considered to provide an actualistic model for the evolution of Avalonia and other peri-Gondwanan terranes, the histories of which afford a proxy record of supercontinent assembly and breakup in the late Precambrian.     

Provenance of Cape Supergroup sediments and timing of Cape Fold Belt orogenesis: Constraints from high-precision 40Ar/39Ar dating of muscovite

The Permian Cape Fold Belt (CFB) of South Africa forms part of a major orogenic belt that originally extended from Argentina, across southern Africa and into Antarctica. The CFB is dominated by complexly folded and faulted rocks of the siliciclastic Cape Supergroup that were deposited in the Cape Basin. The provenance of the Cape Supergroup, timing of deformation and tectonic setting are poorly constrained. U-Pb detrital zircon provenance studies suggest that the Cape Basin received sedimentary detritus from the African Mesoproterozoic Namaqua-Natal Metamorphic Belt, Neoproterozoic-Cambrian Pan-African Belts and the Brasiliano orogenic belts of South America, Africa and Antarctica. However, as zircon is able to survive multiple orogenic and sedimentary transport cycles, complementary provenance tools are required to confirm Cape Supergroup provenance. Previous studies have suggested both uni-modal and multi-modal models for the timing of CFB orogenesis. In the current study, structurally controlled, muscovite-bearing samples were collected along several north-south traverses across the CFB. Detailed textural and mineral chemistry analyses identified multiple muscovite populations, commonly with complex intergrowth features. High precision ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar analyses reveal a dominant 490–465 Ma detrital muscovite population, lending support to a largely South American provenance for the Cape Supergroup. Lesser detrital muscovite populations in the range 650–500 Ma and >730 Ma, corroborate previous zircon provenance studies suggesting Pan-African/Brasiliano terranes and the Namaqua-Natal Metamorphic Belt as significant sediment sources, respectively. Detailed ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar analyses of multiple neo-crystallised muscovite samples are consistent with a single major phase of CFB deformation occurring between 253.4 and 249.6 Ma. This age is interpreted to represent either the peak or final dominant phase of CFB deformation.     

Mesoscopic structural fabric of early Paleozoic rocks in the northern Sierra Nevada, California and implications for Late Jurassic plate kinematics

Analysis of the mesoscopic structure of the early Paleozoic Shoo Fly complex, northern Sierra Nevada, California, reveals three phases of deformation and folding. The first phase of folding is pre-Late Devonian and the second two are constrained by regional relations as due to the Late Jurassic Nevadan orogeny. Main phase Nevadan deformation produced penetrative slaty cleavage which is steep, NNW-trending and parallel to tectonostratigraphic terranes of the region. Cleavage is axial-planar to ubiquitous isoclinal similar folds. Fold axes define a NNW-trending girdle with a distinct, near-vertical maximum. Main phase Nevadan folds have nearly ideal class 2 orthogonal thickness geometry although some class 1C forms exist in more competent units. The overall geometry of main phase folds suggests formation by progressive deformation in a flattening regime with cleavage as the flattening plane and a steep extension axis defined by the fold axis maximum. A steep extension axis direction for main phase Nevadan deformation is supported by analysis of interference relations where folds of this generation deform pre-Late Devonian folds. Late Nevadan folds range from kink flexures to ideal class 2 similar folds with incipient axial-planar cleavage. The kinematic significance of late Nevadan folds cannot be evaluated because of their varying style and orientation throughout the northern Sierra Nevada.Penetrative ductile deformation and near-vertical extension during the Nevadan orogeny was synchronous with accretion of oceanic and/or island arc rocks against the western margin of the northern Sierra Nevada. The kinematic framework of deformation defined for Nevadan deformation is consistent with essentially orthogonal convergence of these exotic terranes with the Sierran margin and argues against a transform/transpressive regime.     

Tectonic role of ophiolite-bearing terranes in the development of the Southern Apennines orogenic belt

New data on ophiolite-bearing terranes of the Liguride Complex, together with some information on the terranes of the Sicilide Complex, result in a better understanding of the role and tectonic significance of these units in the construction of the Southern Apennines orogenic belt. The Liguride Complex is composed of two main tectonic units overlain by a thick turbiditic sequence of Late Oligocene-Middle Miocene age. The uppermost one (Frido Unit) is a polydeformed and polymetamorphosed sequence, composed of two tectonic subunits of shales and calc-schists, respectively, containing blocks of ophiolite, garnet gneiss, amphibolites and granitoids. This unit is thrust over the un-metamorphosed terranes (Calabro–Lucano Flysch Unit) consisting of a broken formation with blocks of Late Jurassic ophiolite and their sedimentary cover, Cretaceous-Eocene pelagic sediments and Late Oligocene volcaniclastic deposits. The Frido Unit underwent HP/LT metamorphism (P= 8–10 Kb; T= 400–500 °C) resulting in glaucophane and lawsonite assemblages in the ophiolitic rocks and aragonite in the meta-limestones and calc-schists, followed by greenschist fades metamorphism (P= 4 Kb; T= 300–350 °C). From a structural point of view units of the Liguride Complex comprise structures developed at different structural levels, indicating progressive non-coaxial deformation in response to tectonic transport towards the N-NE. The ophiolite-bearing terranes of the Liguride Complex can be considered as a remnant of an accretionary complex in which the Calabro Lucano Flysch Unit represents the toe of the wedge where frontal accretion processes occur and the Frido Unit is a deeper portion. Emplacement of the Frido Unit is explained as being due to formation of a deep duplex structure during the early stage of continental collision processes. The polarity of tectonic transport provides new evidence that the Liguride Complex represents a suture zone between the Apulian and the Calabrian blocks. The age of collision appears to be not older than late Oligocene. The allochtonous terranes of the Liguride and Sicilide Complexes, therefore, represent a complete accretionary wedge which records, first, subduction of the Neotethys ocean beneath the Calabrian (Europe) continental margin and, later, continental collision with the African block.     

Great Victoria Desert: Development and sand provenance

Sands of the Great Victoria Desert, south‐central Australia, can be divided into three main groups on the basis of their physical and chemical characteristics (colour, grainsize parameters, mineralogy of heavy‐mineral suites, quartz oxygen isotopic composition, zircon U–Pb ages). The groups occupy the western, central and eastern Great Victoria Desert respectively, boundaries between them corresponding approximately to changes in the underlying rocks associated with the Yilgarn Craton to Officer Basin to Arckaringa Basin. Several lines of evidence suggest derivation of the sands mainly from local bedrock with very little subsequent aeolian transport. Ultimate protosources for the sands, each in order of importance, are: western Great Victoria Desert—Yilgarn Craton, Albany‐Fraser Orogen, Musgrave Complex; central Great Victoria Desert—Musgrave Complex; eastern Great Victoria Desert—Gawler and Curnamona Blocks, Adelaide Geosyncline, Musgrave Complex. Sediment from the Adelaide Geosyncline includes in addition an ‘exotic’ component from Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks probably derived mainly from Antarctica. Sediment transport of several hundred kilometres from these protosources to the sedimentary basins was dominantly by fluvial, not aeolian, means. Post‐Tertiary aeolian transport or reworking has been minimal, serving only to shape sand eroded from underlying sedimentary rocks or residual products of local basement weathering into the current dunes.     

Synorogenic basins of central Cuba and collision between the Caribbean and North American plates

The synorogenic basins of central Cuba formed in a collision-related system. A tectono-stratigraphic analysis of these basins allows us to distinguish different structural styles along the Central Cuban Orogenic Belt. We recognize three distinct structural domains: (1) the Escambray Metamorphic Complex, (2) the Axial Zone, and (3) the Northern Deformation Belt. The structural evolution of the Escambray Metamorphic Complex includes a latest Cretaceous compressional phase followed by a Palaeogene extensional phase. Contraction created an antiformal stack in a subduction environment, and extension produced exhumation in an intra-arc setting. The Axial Zone was strongly deformed and shortened from the latest Cretaceous to Eocene. Compression occurred in an initial phase and subsequent transpressive deformation took place in the middle Eocene. The Northern Deformation Belt consists of a thin-skinned thrust fault system formed during the Palaeocene to middle Eocene; folding and faulting occurred in a piggyback sequence with tectonic transport towards the NNE. In the Central Cuban Orogenic Belt, some major SW–NE structures are coeval with the Cuban NW–SE striking folds and thrusts, and form tectonic corridors and/or transfer faults that facilitated strain-partitioning regime attending the collision. The shortening direction rotated clockwise during deformation from SSW–NNE to WSW–ENE. The synchronicity of compression in the north with extension in the south is consistent with the opening of the Yucatan Basin; the evolution from compression–extension to transpression is in keeping with the increase in obliquity in the collision between the Caribbean and North American plates.     

Transects of the ancient and modern continental margins of eastern Canada

Rocks of the west flank of the northern Appalachian Orogen (miogeocline) record the history of the late Precambrian-early Paleozoic passive continental margin of Eastern North America. The ancient margin was destroyed by ophiolite obduction and arc collision during the Ordovician Taconic Orogeny. The present sinuous form of the miogeocline is interpreted to reflect ancient promontories and re-entrants of a previous orthogonal margin bounded by rifts and transforms.Four major terranes are recognized east of the miogeocline in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. From west to east, these are the Dunnage, Gander, Avalon and Meguma. The Dunnage and Gander terranes were linked to the miogeocline during the Middle Ordovician Taconian Orogeny. The Avalon terrane arrived later, possibly during the mid-Paleozoic Acadian Orogeny. The Meguma terrane of southern Nova Scotia had docked with the Avalon terrane by Carboniferous time. The Dunnage terrane contains arc volcanics which lie above an ophiolitic substrate. The Gander terrane comprises a thick sequence of clastic sedimentary rocks, underlain by basement rocks with continental affinities. It has been interpreted as a continental margin, perhaps once on the eastern side of the Paleozoic Iapetus ocean. The Avalon terrane consists of belts of sedimentary and volcanic rocks which are probably underlain by Grenvillian basement. Its tectonic affinities are unclear. The Meguma terrane comprises a thick sequence of sediments, derived from the south-east. It is found only in southeastern Atlantic Canada. The boundaries between terranes are compressional in the west and steep, transcurrent faults in the east.The surface extent of the geological terranes is grossly correlative with deep structural zones, although no direct evidence exists for linking the two because most surface structures can be traced geophysically to only a few kilometres depth. A striking feature of the deep crustal structure is a lower, high velocity crustal layer beneath the Dunnage and Gander terranes.The modern margin of Atlantic Canada developed by rifting and by transform motion between adjacent continents. Stretching and thinning of the lithosphere, and the consequent production of basaltic magma that in places intrudes or underplates the thinned continental crust, are the most likely processes responsible for the evolution of the modern margin. These processes predict the observed deep sedimentary basins along the margin, the thinning of continental crust, and the high seismic velocities found within the ocean-continent transition zones.Rifting adjacent to Nova Scotia began in Late Triassic-Early Jurassic time between the present African and North American plates. These plate motions are also responsible for the major transform margin south of the Grand Banks. Separation between Iberia and the eastern Grand Banks occurred in mid-Cretaceous time, before the Late Cretaceous opening of the Labrador Sea. While the rifted segments of the margin exhibit deep sedimentary basins and thinned continental crust, the Grand Banks transform segment is characterized by a sharp transition zone and a relatively thin sediment cover. Numerous volcanic seamounts are built on the ocean crust adjacent to this transform segment.Mimicry of Paleozoic promontories and re-entrants by modern rift and transform margin segments, the location of Mesozoic sedimentary basins on ancestral Appalachian structures, and the reactivation and propagation of major Precambrian and Paleozoic structural boundaries during the latest phase of ocean opening attest to ancestral controls of the modern margins.The rift phase of both the ancient and modern passive margins is characterized by volcanism, mafic dike intrusion and by the development of basins filled with clastic sediments. The drift phase of both the ancient margin and the present Nova Scotia margin is marked by a change in sedimentary environment, such that carbonates replaced the rift phase clastic sediments. Two of the markers used to delineate the ancient ocean-continent transition zone; carbonate banks and steep gravity anomaly gradients, should be used with caution as the modern analogs of these markers may lie 100 km or more of this transition zone. Furthermore, it is naive to view the ancient transition as simple and narrow, for the modern margins exhibits complex transition zones between 30 and 300 km wide.In general, the evolution of the ancient and modern passive margins appear to be remarkably similar. Predictably, closing the present Atlantic will mimic the evolution of the Appalachian Orogen.     

High-grade calcareous metasediments from the Sawtooth Metamorphic Complex,Idaho, USA: evidence for passive margin strata and polymetamorphism within the Idaho batholith

ABSTRACT

The Sawtooth Metamorphic Complex (SMC) of central Idaho contains exposures of metasupracrustal rocks, in a crucial location between the Archaean Wyoming craton to the east and the adjacent Mesozoic terranes to the west, that provide constraints on Precambrian crustal evolution in the northwestern United States. Mineral textures, whole-rock geochemistry, and thermobarometry of calc-silicate gneisses record multiple stages of crustal evolution, including protolith deposition, burial and multiple metamorphic and deformational overprints. Whole-rock signatures are consistent with derivation from post-Archaean, continental sources that have undergone sedimentary maturation and recycling typical of clastic sedimentation in passive-margin environments and with a metamorphosed sequence of calcareous sandstones and marls, containing varying proportions of clay and quartzo-feldspathic detritus. The sandstone-to-marl continuum may reflect a shallow-to-deep water transition in the depositional environment of the calc-silicate protoliths. Two metamorphic events and three deformational events are preserved. The assemblage clinopyroxene + quartz + plagioclase + K-feldspar + rutile represents peak metamorphic conditions (M1), estimated at 750–775°C with relatively oxidized metamorphic fluids, during development of D1a foliation. Deformation twinning in clinopyroxene records a widespread, high strain D1b event at high temperature. A second static thermal event (M2), associated with randomly oriented amphiboles overprinting M1 and D1b features, records conditions of ~550–725°C and H₂O-rich fluids. Late-stage, brittle–ductile D2 deformation is characterized by mylonitic lenses of quartz, fractures within M1 clinopyroxenes that crosscut D1b deformation twins, and localized fracturing of M2 amphiboles. Geochemical and mineral chemical signatures of SMC calc-silicates preserve fingerprints of the original protolith through burial to mid-crustal conditions and high-grade metamorphism and suggest crustal thickening to about 20 km. The SMC may reflect rocks at depth beneath the Idaho batholith. These data, indicative of newly recognized post-Archaean terrain with passive-margin, continental sediments suggest that a continuous Cordilleran passive margin sequence may have extended along the western edge of Laurentia.     

华北中部造山带南缘华山地区太华变质杂岩中锆石U-Pb定年

华山太华变质杂岩出露于华北克拉通中部造山带最南缘,区内斜长角闪片麻岩呈"透镜状"或"似层状"产出于黑云斜长片麻岩或TTG片麻岩中。大多数含有石榴子石变斑晶的变质岩中,保留了至少3期变形形迹和3个阶段的变质矿物组合。本文对斜长角闪片麻岩和黑云斜长片麻岩中的锆石,进行了SIMS和LA-ICP-MSU-Pb定年。斜长角闪片麻岩的岩浆锆石年龄为2.29Ga,表明其原岩形成于古元古代。斜长角闪片麻岩、黑云斜长片麻岩中的变质锆石及锆石变质增生边年龄为1.94～1.82Ga,表明华山地区比华北克拉通中部造山带中段及北段其他地区普遍记录的约1.85Ga的变质事件,不仅早了约0.1Ga,且变质事件持续达0.1Ga之久。这说明华北中部造山带前寒武纪期间的构造-变质事件是一个比较漫长的复杂过程。     

Restoration of Exotic Terranes Along the Median Tectonic Line, Japanese Islands: Overview

This paper reviews recent progress on the geotectonic evolution of exotic Paleozoic terranes in Southwest Japan, namely the Paleo-Ryoke and Kurosegawa terranes. The Paleo-Ryoke Terrane is composed mainly of Permian granitic rocks with hornfels, mid-Cretaceous high-grade metamorphic rocks associated with granitic rocks, and Upper Cretaceous sedimentary cover. They form nappe structures on the Sambagawa metamorphic rocks. The Permian granitic rocks are correlative with granitic clasts in Permian conglomerates in the South Kitakami Terrane, whereas the mid-Cretaceous rocks are correlative with those in the Abukuma Terrane. This correlation suggests that the elements of Northeast Japan to the northeast of the Tanakura Tectonic Line were connected in between the paired metamorphic belt along the Median Tectonic Line, Southwest Japan. The Kurosegawa Terrane is composed of various Paleozoic rocks with serpentinite and occurs as disrupted bodies bounded by faults in the middle part of the Jurassic Chichibu Terrane accretionary complex. It is correlated with the South Kitakami Terrane in Northeast Japan. The constituents of both terranes are considered to have been originally distributed more closely and overlay the Jurassic accretionary terrane as nappes. The current sporadic occurrence of these terranes can possibly be attributed to the difference in erosion level and later stage depression or transtension along strike-slip faults. The constituents of both exotic terranes, especially the Ordovician granite in the Kurosegawa-South Kitakami Terrane and the Permian granite in the Paleo-Ryoke Terrane provide a significant key to reconstructing these exotic terranes by correlating them with Paleozoic granitoids in the eastern Asia continent.     

记载了早中生代壳幔演化的赤峰-凌源地质走廊

本文从内蒙赤峰至辽西凌源南北近200km的地质走廊中,选择早中生代(237～206 Ma)形成不同深度、不同产状的8种火成岩作为研究对象,探讨早中生代华北克拉通北缘的地质演化.这8种岩石包括:火山岩、岩墙群和闪长岩、碱性花岗岩、碱性杂岩、镁铁质麻粒岩、堆晶岩及其捕获的地幔岩包体.研究表明,在底侵作用的背景下,华北早中生代发生了强烈的壳幔相互作用和岩石圈地幔富集过程,伴随早中生代大陆地壳的增生和深部结构的调整,地表相应出现快速的差异抬升和剥蚀.     

Granite provinces and basement terranes in the Lachlan Fold Belt,southeastern Australia

Many granites have compositional features that directly reflect the composition of their source rocks. Since most granites come from the deeper parts of the Earth's crust, their study provides information about the nature of parts of that deep crust. Granites and related volcanic rocks are abundant and widely distributed in the Palaeozoic Lachlan Fold Belt of southeastern Australia. These granites show patterns of regional variation in which sharp discontinuities occur between provinces which internally are of a rather constant character. Such a discontinuity has long been recognized at the I‐S line and the extent of that line can now be defined more fully. Breaks of this type are thought to correspond to sharp changes in the composition of the deep crust that correspond to unexposed or basement terranes. Nine such basement terranes can be recognized in the Lachlan Fold Belt. The character of these basement terranes appears to be different from that of the terranes recognized in the Mesozoic‐Cainozoic Cordilleran fold belt, in which the plates accreted during the period of tectonism reflected in the exposed surface rocks. In the Lachlan Fold Belt, it is postulated that fragments of continental crust, or microplates, were assembled in the Late Proterozoic or Early Palaeozoic to form the substrate of the presently exposed Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks; the compositional features of these fragments were later redistributed vertically by magmatic processes. The identification of basement terranes of this type shows that models which involve the lateral growth of the Lachlan Fold Belt during the Palaeozoic, in a manner analogous to the accretion of younger belts, are untenable. These basement terranes have implications for mineral exploration because the content of heavy metals can vary from one to another and this would ultimately affect the probability of concentrating these metals to form a mineral deposit.     

Internal geometry and origin of the Hubat structural culmination,oman mountains

The Hubat structure is a doubly plunging antiform affecting an allochthonous succession of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks (the Hawasina Complex) overlain by the Haybi Complex and the Semail Ophiolite. It is cored by a well exposed imbricated nappe of the Hamrat Duru Group. Detailed investigations of the Hamrat Duru Group led to the recognition of a main phase of imbrication, followed by a phase of meso- and macroscopic folding with axes at a high angle to the strike of the imbricates, parallel to their assumed transport direction. Thrust relationships displayed in this area indicate that the floor thrust of the Semail Ophiolite is younger than the emplacement of the lower units and therefore ‘out-of-sequence’. This culmination may have originated either as a result of a post-emplacement regional compressive event of Tertiary age or during the emplacement of allochthons above an oblique ramp during the late Cretaceous orogeny.     

Synthesis of Palaeozoic deformational events and terrane accretion in the Canadian Appalachians

Plate tectonic theory predicts that most deformation is associated with subduction and terrane accretion, with some deformation associated with transform/transcurrent movements. Deformation associated with subduction varies between two end members: (1) where the tectonic regime is dominated by subduction of oceanic lithosphere containing small terranes, a narrow surface zone of accretionary deformation along the subduction zone starts diachronously on the subducting plate at the trench as material is transferred from the subducting plate to the over-riding plate; and (2) where continent-continent collision is occurring, a wide surface zone of accretionary deformation starts synchronously or with limited diachronism. Palaeozoic deformational events in the Canadian Appalachians correspond to narrow diachronous events in the Ordovician and Silurian, whereas Devonian, Carboniferous and Permian deformational events are widespread and broadly synchronous. Along the western side of the Canadian Appalachians, the Taconian deformational event starts diachronously throughout the Ordovician and corresponds to the north-north-west accretion of the Notre Dame, Ascot-Weedon, St Victor and various ophiolitic massifs (volcanic arc and peri-arc terranes) over cratonic North America. Within the eastern half of the Central Mobile Belt, the Late Cambrian-Early Ordovician Penobscotian deformational event corresponds to the ?south-easterly accretion of the Exploits subzone (various volcanic are and peri-arc terranes) over the Gander Zone (?continental rise). In the centre of the orogen, the Late Ordovician-Silurian Beothukan deformational event corresponds to the south-easterly accretion of the Notre Dame over the Exploits-Gander subzones. Along the south-eastern side of the Central Mobile Belt, the Silurian Ganderian deformational event corresponds to the north-north-east, sinistral transcurrent accretion of the Avalon Composite Terrane (microcontinent) over the Gander-Exploits zones. Along the south-eastern half of the orogen, the Late Silurian-Middle Devonian Acadian deformation event corresponds to the westerly accretion of the Meguma terrane (intradeep or continental rise) over the Avalon Composite Terrane. Affecting the entire orogen, the Late Devonian, Carboniferous and Permian, Acadian-Alleghanian deformational events correspond to the east-west convergence between Laurentia and Gondwana (continent-continent collision).