A possible Caledonide arm through the Barents Sea imaged by OBS data

The assembly of the crystalline basement of the western Barents Sea is related to the Caledonian orogeny during the Silurian. However, the development southeast of Svalbard is not well understood, as conventional seismic reflection data does not provide reliable mapping below the Permian sequence. A wide-angle seismic survey from 1998, conducted with ocean bottom seismometers in the northwestern Barents Sea, provides data that enables the identification and mapping of the depths to crystalline basement and Moho by ray tracing and inversion. The four profiles modeled show pre-Permian basins and highs with a configuration distinct from later Mesozoic structural elements. Several strong reflections from within the crystalline crust indicate an inhomogeneous basement terrain. Refractions from the top of the basement together with reflections from the Moho constrain the basement velocity to increase from 6.3 km s⁻¹ at the top to 6.6 km s⁻¹ at the base of the crust. On two profiles, the Moho deepens locally into root structures, which are associated with high top mantle velocities of 8.5 km s⁻¹. Combined P- and S-wave data indicate a mixed sand/clay/carbonate lithology for the sedimentary section, and a predominantly felsic to intermediate crystalline crust. In general, the top basement and Moho surfaces exhibit poor correlation with the observed gravity field, and the gravity models required high-density bodies in the basement and upper mantle to account for the positive gravity anomalies in the area. Comparisons with the Ural suture zone suggest that the Barents Sea data may be interpreted in terms of a proto-Caledonian subduction zone dipping to the southeast, with a crustal root representing remnant of the continental collision, and high mantle velocities and densities representing eclogitized oceanic crust. High-density bodies within the crystalline crust may be accreted island arc or oceanic terrain. The mapped trend of the suture resembles a previously published model of the Caledonian orogeny. This model postulates a separate branch extending into central parts of the Barents Sea coupled with the northerly trending Svalbard Caledonides, and a microcontinent consisting of Svalbard and northern parts of the Barents Sea independent of Laurentia and Baltica at the time. Later, compressional faulting within the suture zone apparently formed the Sentralbanken High.     

The Cadomian Orogeny in Saxo-Thuringia, Germany: geochemical and Nd–Sr–Pb isotopic characterization of marginal basins with constraints to geotectonic setting and provenance

The Cadomian basement and the Cambro-Ordovician overstep sequence in Saxo-Thuringia is characterized by clastic sedimentation from the Late Neoproterozoic to the Ordovician. Magmatism in the Avalonian–Cadomian Arc preserved in Saxo-Thuringia occurred between ca. 570 and 540 Ma. Peri-Gondwanan basin remnants with Cadomian to Early Palaeozoic rocks are exposed as very low-grade metamorphosed rocks in six areas (Schwarzburg Anticline, Berga Anticline, Doberlug Syncline, North Saxon Anticline, Lausitz Anticline, and Elbe Zone). A hiatus in sedimentation between 540 and 530 Ma (Cadomian unconformity) is related to the Cadomian Orogeny. A second gap in sedimentation occurred during the Upper Cambrian (500 to 490 Ma) and is documented by a disconformity between Lower to Middle Cambrian rocks and overlying Tremadocian sediments. Major and trace-element signatures of the Cadomian sediments reflect an active margin (“continental arc”), those of the Ordovician sediments a passive margin. The Cambrian sediments have inherited the arc signature through the input of relatively unaltered Cadomian detritus. Initial Nd and Pb isotope data from the six Saxo-Thuringian areas demonstrate that there is no change in source area with time for each location, but that there are minor contrasts among the locations. (1) Cadomian sediments from the Lausitz Anticline, the Doberlug Syncline and the Elbe Zone have lower ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb than all other areas. (2) The core of the Schwarzburg Anticline, which is overprinted by greenschist facies conditions and detached, is isotopically heterogeneous. One part of its metasedimentary units has less radiogenic Nd than sediments from other low-grade units of similar age in the same area. (3) Cadomian sediments from the Schwarzburg Anticline show an input of younger felsic crust. (4) The Rothstein Group shows distinct input of young volcanic material. Also, (5) Cadomian sediments from the Lausitz Anticline, the Elbe Zone and parts of the North Saxon Anticline are characterized by input from an old mafic crust. Nd isotope data of the remaining areas yield average crustal residence ages of the sediment source of 1.5–1.9 Ga, which suggests derivation from an old craton as found for other parts of the Iberian–Armorican Terrane Collage. Similarly, the Pb isotope data of all areas indicate sediment provenance from an old craton.The rapid change of lithologies from greywacke to quartzite from the Late Neoproterozoic (Cadomian basement) to the Ordovician does not reflect changes in sediment provenance, but is essentially due to increased reworking of older sediments and old weathering crusts that formed during various hiatus of sedimentation. This change in sediment maturity takes its chemical expression in lower overall trace-element contents in the quartzite (dilution effect by quartz) and relative enrichment of some trace-elements (Zr, MREE, HREE due to detrital zircon and garnet). The Rb–Sr systematics of the quartzites and one Ordovician tuffite was disturbed (most likely during the Variscan Orogeny), which suggests a lithology-controlled mobility of alkali and calc-alkali elements. By comparison with available data, it seems unlikely that only Nd T_DM model ages are useful to distinguish between West African and Amazonian provenance. Nd T_DM model ages of 1.5 to 1.9 Ga in combination with paleobiogeographic aspects, age data from detrital zircon, and palaeogeographic constraints, especially through tillites of the Saharan glaciation in the Hirnantian, strongly indicate a provenance of Saxo-Thuringia from the West African Craton.     

Variation in Metamorphic Style along the Northern Margin of the Damara Orogen, Namibia

The northern margin of the Inland Branch of the Pan-AfricanDamara Orogen in Namibia shows dramatic along-strike variationin metamorphic character during convergence between the Congoand Kalahari Cratons (M₃ metamorphic cycle). Low-P contact metamorphismwith anticlockwise P–T paths dominates in the westerndomains (Ugab Zone and western Northern Zone), and high-P Barrovianmetamorphism with a clockwise P–T path is documented fromthe easternmost domain (eastern Northern Zone). The sequenceof M₃ mineral growth in contact aureoles shows early growthof cordierite porphyroblasts that were pseudomorphed to biotite–chlorite–muscoviteat the same time as an andalusite–biotite–muscovitetransposed foliation was developed in the matrix. The peak-Tmetamorphic assemblages and fabrics were overprinted by crenulationsand retrograde chlorite–muscovite. The KFMASH P–Tpseudosection for metapelites in the Ugab Zone and western NorthernZone contact aureoles indicates tight anticlockwise P–Tloops through peak metamorphic conditions of 540–570°Cand 2·5–3·2 kbar. These semi-quantitativeP–T loops are consistent with average P–T calculationsusing THERMOCALC, which give a pooled mean of 556 ± 26°Cand 3·2 ± 0·6 kbar, indicating a high averagethermal gradient of 50°C/km. In contrast, the eastern NorthernZone experienced deep burial, high-P/moderate-T Barrovian M₃metamorphism with an average thermal gradient of 21°C/kmand peak metamorphic conditions of c. 635°C and 8·7kbar. The calculated P–T pseudosection and garnet compositionalisopleths in KFMASH, appropriate for the metapelite sample fromthis region, document a clockwise P–T path. Early plagioclase–kyanite–biotiteparageneses evolved by plagioclase consumption and the growthof garnet to increasing X_Fe, X_Mg and X_Ca and decreasing X_Mncompositions, indicating steep burial with heating. The developedkyanite–garnet–biotite peak metamorphic parageneseswere followed by the resorption of garnet and formation of plagioclasemoats, indicating decompression, which was followed by retrogressivecooling and chlorite–muscovite growth. The clockwise P–Tloop is consistent with the foreland vergent fold–thrustbelt geometry in this part of the northern margin. Earlier formed(580–570 Ma) pervasive matrix foliations (M₂) were overprintedby contact metamorphic parageneses (M₃) in the aureoles of 530± 3 Ma granites in the Ugab Zone and 553–514 Magranites in the western Northern Zone. Available geochronologicaldata suggest that convergence between the Congo and KalahariCratons was essentially coeval in all parts of the northernmargin, with similar ages of 535–530 Ma for the main phaseof deformation in the eastern Northern Zone and Northern Platformand 538–505 Ma high-grade metamorphism of the CentralZone immediately to the south. Consequently, NNE–SSW-directedconvergent deformation and associated M₃ metamorphism of contrastingstyles are interpreted to be broadly contemporaneous along thelength of the northern margin of the Inland Branch. In the westheat transfer was dominated by conduction and externally drivenby granites, whereas in the east heat transfer was dominatedby advection and internally driven radiogenic heat production.The ultimate cause was along-orogen variation in crustal architecture,including thickness of the passive margin lithosphere and thicknessof the overlying sedimentary succession. KEY WORDS: Pan-African Orogeny; P–T paths; pseudosections; low-P metamorphism; contact metamorphism; Barrovian metamorphism     

Seismic evidence of Caledonian deformed crust and uppermost mantle structures in the northern part of the Trans-European Suture Zone, SW Baltic Sea

Collisional structures from the closure of the Tornquist Ocean and subsequent amalgamation of Avalonia and Baltica during the Caledonian Orogeny in the northern part of the Trans-European Suture Zone (TESZ) in the SW Baltic Sea are investigated. A grid of marine reflection seismic lines was gathered in 1996 during the DEKORP-BASIN '96 campaign, shooting with an airgun array of 52 l total volume and recording with a digital streamer of up to 2.1 km length. The detailed reflection seismic analysis is mainly based on post-stack migrated sections of this survey, but one profile has also been processed by a pre-stack depth migration algorithm. The data provides well-constrained images of upper crustal reflectivity and lower crustal/uppermost mantle reflections. In the area of the Caledonian suture, a reflection pattern is observed with opposing dips in the upper crust and the uppermost mantle. Detailed analysis of dipping reflections in the upper crust provides evidence for two different sets of reflections, which are separated by the O-horizon, the main decollement of the Caledonian deformation complex. S-dipping reflections beneath the sub-Permian discontinuity and above the O-horizon are interpreted as Caledonian thrust structures. Beneath the O-horizon, SW-dipping reflections in the upper crust are interpreted as ductile shear zones and crustal deformation features that evolved during the Sveconorwegian Orogeny. The Caledonian deformation complex is subdivided into (1) S-dipping foreland thrusts in the north, (2) the S-dipping suture itself that shows increased reflectivity, and (3) apparently NE-dipping downfaulted sedimentary horizons south of the Avalonia–Baltica suture, which may have been reactivated during Mesozoic normal faulting. The reflection Moho at 28–35 km depth appears to truncate a N-dipping mantle structure, which may represent remnant structures from Tornquist Ocean closure or late-collisional compressional shear planes in the upper mantle. A contour map of these mantle reflections indicates a consistent northward dip, which is steepest where there is strong bending of the Caledonian deformation front. The thin-skinned character of the Caledonian deformation complex and the fact that N-dipping mantle reflections do not truncate the Moho indicate that the Baltica crust was not mechanically involved in the Caledonian collision and, therefore, escaped deformation in this area.     

燕山早期花岗岩基印支期侵位的岩浆动力学证据及构造 意义:基于南岭8个岩体侵位年龄计算结果

根据各花岗岩体地质构造特征、有关的热物理参数及主体花岗岩的放射性元素含量,采用简化的立方体数学模型计 算得出:南岭地区8个花岗岩基侵位后,其初始温度降低至结晶温度所需的时间(Δtcol)为3.9(金鸡岭)~5.5 Ma(九峰); 由于结晶潜热释放而使结晶过程延长的时间(ΔtL) 为2.6~3.5 Ma ;花岗岩浆侵位后产生的放射成因热使结晶过程延长的 时间(Δt A)为 5.2(陂头)~45.1 Ma(姑婆山) 。南岭地区 8 个燕山早期花岗岩基的侵位-结晶时差(△t ECTD)为 12.1(陂头) ~52.2 Ma(姑婆山), 结合锆石U-Pb年龄通过反演计算得出其侵位年龄 (tE ) 为194.4 (陂头)~219.3 Ma(九峰)。这为 南岭燕山早期花岗岩基属于印支期侵位提供了重要的岩浆动力学佐证, 揭示出近东西向展布的南岭晚中生代造山带具有印 支期构造格架(以侵位年龄为代表)和燕山早期花岗岩(以锆石 U-Pb 年龄为代表) 的双重特征。     

The tectonic history of Adelaide’s scarp-forming faults

A series of linear to arcuate fault scarps separate the Mount Lofty Ranges from the Cenozoic St Vincent and Murray basins of South Australia. Their tectonic, sedimentary and geomorphic evolution is traced from the oldest rock record through to present-day seismicity. The scarps are the latest manifestation of repeated compressive reactivation of ancient, deep-seated crustal faults and fractures whenever the stress field was of appropriate orientation. Formation of the basins and uplift of the ranges resulted from the same processes of repeated compressive reactivation. Continental crust was intensely fractured during three episodes of Neoproterozoic–Cambrian rifting that led to the formation of the Adelaide Geosyncline and break-up of Rodinia. Neoproterozoic eastward-dipping, listric extensional faults provided accommodation space for deposition of the Burra Group. Sediments of the Umberatana and Wilpena groups were deposited under mainly sag-phase conditions. In the early Cambrian, new extensional faults formed the deeply subsident Kanmantoo Trough. Cambrian rift faults swung from east–west on Kangaroo Island through northeasterly on Fleurieu Peninsula to north–south in the easten Mount Lofty Ranges, cutting across the older meridional rifts. These two sets of extensional faults were reactivated as basement-rooted thrusts in the ensuing Delamerian Orogeny. The Willunga Fault originated as a Cambrian rift fault and was reactivated in the Delamerian Orogeny as a thrust dipping southeast under a regional basement-cored antiform on southern Fleurieu Peninsula. Much of southern Australia, including the eroded remnants of the Delamerian highlands, was covered by a continental ice sheet in the Carboniferous–Permian. The preferential preservation of glacial sediments on Fleurieu Peninsula may have resulted from extensional reactivation of the Willunga Fault, possibly in the early Mesozoic. Fleurieu Peninsula was then warped into an open, southwest-plunging antiform, spatially coincident with the much higher amplitude Delamerian antiform. Glacial sediments were eroded from uplifted (up-plunge) areas before formation of a ‘summit surface’ across deeply weathered bedrock and preserved glacial sediments in the later Mesozoic. This surface was covered with fluvial to lacustrine sediments in the middle Eocene. Neotectonic movements under a renewed compressive regime commenced with reactivation of the Willunga Fault, restricting subsequent Eocene to Miocene sedimentation to the St Vincent Basin. The Willunga scarp was onlapped in the Oligocene–Miocene concomitant with continuing uplift and formation of a hanging-wall antiform. In the late Cenozoic, repeated faulting and mild folding, angular unconformities, ferruginisation and proximal coarse sedimentation took place on various faults at different times until the late Pleistocene.     

Deformation correlations,stress field switches and evolution of an orogenic intersection: The Pan-African Kaoko-Damara orogenic junction,Namibia

Age calibrated deformation histories established by detailed mapping and dating of key magmatic time markers are correlated across all tectono-metamorphic provinces in the Damara Orogenic System.Correlations across structural belts result in an internally consistent deformation framework with evidence of stress field rotations with similar timing,and switches between different deformation events.Horizontal principle compressive stress rotated clockwise ~180°in total during Kaoko Belt evolution,and~135° during Damara Belt evolution.At most stages,stress field variation is progressive and can be attributed to events within the Damara Orogenic System,caused by changes in relative trajectories of the interacting Rio De La Plata,Congo,and Kalahari Cratons.Kaokoan orogenesis occurred earliest and evolved from collision and obduction at ~590 Ma,involving E-W directed shortening,progressing through different transpressional states with ~45° rotation of the stress field to strike-slip shear under NW-SE shortening at ~550-530 Ma.Damaran orogenesis evolved from collision at ~555-550 Ma with NW-SE directed shortening in common with the Kaoko Belt,and subsequently evolved through ~90°rotation of the stress field to NE-SW shortening at ~512-508 Ma.Both Kaoko and Damara orogenic fronts were operating at the same time,with all three cratons being coaxially convergent during the 550-530 Ma period;Rio De La Plata directed SE against the Congo Craton margin,and both together over-riding the Kalahari Craton margin also towards the SE.Progressive stress field rotation was punctuated by rapid and significant switches at ~530-525 Ma,~508 Ma and ~505 Ma.These three events included:(1)Culmination of main phase orogenesis in the Damara Belt,coinciding with maximum burial and peak metamorphism at 530-525 Ma.This occurred at the same time as termination of transpression and initiation of transtensional reactivation of shear zones in the Kaoko Belt.Principle compressive stress switched from NW-SE to NNW-SSE shortening in both Kaoko and Damara Belts at this time.This marks the start of Congo-Kalahari stress field overwhelming the waning Rio De La Plata-Congo stress field,and from this time forward contraction across the Damara Belt generated the stress field governing subsequent low-strain events in the Kaoko Belt.(2)A sudden switch to E-W directed shortening at ~508 Ma is interpreted as a far-field effect imposed on the Damara Orogenic System,most plausibly from arc obduction along the orogenic margin of Gondwana(Ross-Delamerian Orogen).(3)This imposed stress field established a N-S extension direction exploited by decompression melts,switch to vertical shortening,and triggered gravitational collapse and extension of the thermally weakened hot orogen core at ~505 Ma,producing an extensional metamorphic core complex across the Central Zone.     

Whole-rock geochemical,U-Pb and Sm-Nd isotope characteristics of the Dongueni Mont nepheline syenite intrusion,Mozambique

The Dongueni Mont nepheline syenite intrudes migmatitic paragneisses and siliciclastic metasediments of the Barue Complex, Mozambique. This study reports the whole-rock geochemical, U-Pb and Nd isotopic data of the nepheline syenite. The ferroan and alkalic geochemical characteristics are typical of alkaline rocks formed in a within-plate setting. The strong depletion in high field strength elements(HFSEs)(e.g. Ba, Nb, P,and Ti) and enrichment in large ion lithophile elements(LILEs)(e.g. Rb, Th, K, and Pb) are consistent with magmatism in a continental alkaline magmatic province associated with intracontinental rifting. Zircon U-Pb data yielded crystallization ages from 498 ± 19 to 562± 14 Ma,consistent with the Pan-African Orogeny and the inherited zircons yield an age of 1040 Ma, which supports the presence of a Mesoproterozoic crust. Theε_(Nd)(t) values from the nepheline syenite samples range from-15.1 to-16.1 and the T_(DM)values from 1.77 to 1.67 Ga, which indicate that the initial nepheline syenite magma formed from a tholeiitic or mantle source in a within-plate setting with crustal assimilation.     

塔中地区上奥陶统恰尔巴克组存在依据

以塔里木盆地奥陶纪构造研究为基础,结合岩性、电性特征和古生物（包括微量元素）分析,认为塔中地区恰尔巴克组沉积在加里东中期运动Ⅰ幕之后,沉积较连续,无较长时间沉积间断;古生物及微量元素均指示恰尔巴克组为较深水沉积环境。通过与塔北地区恰尔巴克组岩性、电性特征对比分析,认为塔中地区存在能够与塔北相对比的恰尔巴克组。     

Relationships between magmatism and deformation in northern Yorke Peninsula and southeastern Proterozoic Australia

The ca 1600–1580 Ma time interval is recognised as a significant period of magmatism, deformation and mineralisation throughout eastern Proterozoic Australia. Within the northern Yorke Peninsula in South Australia, this period was associated with the emplacement of multiple phases of the Tickera Granite, an intensely foliated quartz alkali-feldspar syenite, a leucotonalite and an alkali-feldspar granite. These granites belong to the broader Hiltaba Suite that was emplaced at shallow crustal levels throughout the Gawler Craton. Geochemical and isotopic analysis suggests these granite phases were derived from a heterogeneous source region. The syenite and alkali-feldspar granite were derived from similar source regions, likely the underlying ca 1850 Ma Donington Suite and/or the ca 1750 Ma Wallaroo Group metasediments with some contamination from an Archean basement. The leucotonalite is sourced from a similar but more mafic/lower crustal source. Phases of the Tickera Granite were emplaced synchronously with deformation that resulted in development of a prominent northeast-trending structural grain throughout the Yorke Peninsula region. This fabric is associated with composite events resulting from folding, shearing and faulting within the region. The intense deformation and intrusion of granites within this period resulted in mineralisation throughout the region, as seen in Wheal Hughes and Poona mines. The Yorke Peninsula shares a common geological history with the Curnamona Province, which was deformed during the ca 1600–1585 Ma Olarian Orogeny, and resulted in development of early isoclinal and recumbent folds overprinted by an upright fold generation, a dominant northeast-trending structural grain, mineralisation, and spatially and temporally related intrusions. This suggests correlation of parts of the Gawler Craton with the Curnamona Province, and that the Olarian Orogeny also affected the southeastern Gawler Craton.