Post-orogenic (<1500 Ma) thermal history of the Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic, Mt. Isa province, NE Australia

We present hornblende, white mica, biotite and alkali feldspar ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data from Paleo-Mesoproterozoic rocks of the Mt. Isa Inlier, Australia, which reveal a previously unrecognised post-orogenic, non-linear cooling history of part of the Northern Australian Craton. Plateau and total fusion ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages range between 1500 and 767 Ma and record increases in regional cooling rates of up to 4 °C/Ma during 1440–1390 and 1260–1000 Ma. Forward modelling of the alkali feldspar ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar Arrhenius parameters reveals subsequent increases in cooling rates during 600–400 Ma. The cooling episodes were driven by both erosional exhumation at average rates of 0.25 km/Ma and thermal relaxation following crustal heating and magmatic events. Early Mesoproterozoic cooling is synchronous with exhumation and shearing in the Arunta Block and Gawler Craton. Late Mesoproterozoic cooling could have either been driven by increased rates of exhumation, or a result of thermal relaxation following a heat pulse that was synchronous with dyke emplacement in the Arunta, Musgrave and Mt. Isa province, as well as Grenville-aged orogenesis in the Albany–Fraser Belt. Latest Neoproterozoic–Cambrian cooling and exhumation was probably driven by the convergence of part of the East Antarctic Shield with the Musgrave Block and Western Australia (Petermann Ranges Orogeny), as well as collisional tectonics that produced the Delamerian–Ross Orogen. Major changes in the stress field and geothermal gradients of the Australian plate that are synchronous with the assembly and break-up of parts of Rodinia and Gondwana resulted in shearing and repeated brittle reactivation of the Mt. Isa Inlier, probably via the displacement of long-lived basement faults within the Northern Australian Craton.     

The origin and glaciodynamic significance of sandstone ridge networks from the Hirnantian glaciation of the Djado Basin (Niger)

The Djado Basin (Niger) was located beneath the inner part of the Late Ordovician ice sheet. The Felar‐Felar Formation consists mainly of glaciomarine deposits, associated with the major ice sheet recession within the glaciation, and is bounded by two glacial unconformities. Structures corresponding to sandstone ridges are found within the Felar‐Felar Formation. Sandstone ridges are several metres high, about 10 m wide and hundreds of metres long. These structures are organized in extensive anastomosed to sub‐polygonal networks. The association of sandstone ridge networks with the later glacial unconformity and with other glacial evidence suggests sub‐glacial conditions for their origin. Sandstone ridge sedimentological characteristics indicate that sandstone ridges result from the scouring of the Felar‐Felar Formation by sub‐glacial, turbulent and pressurized meltwater; then sub‐glacial cavities were infilled with sand derived from glacial abrasion. Sandstone ridge networks are comparable with tunnel channels and document unusual drainage structures of the inner part of the palaeo‐ice sheet.     

藏东北构造古地理特征及冈瓦纳北界的时空转换

研究区位于南北向三江构造带与东西向羌塘构造带的衔接处,是特提斯构造域的重要组成部分。研究区包含金沙江、澜沧江、双湖-昌宁、班公湖-怒江4条古特提斯洋壳带及昌都-芒康、羌北、索县-左贡、多玛-安多4个微陆块的相关部位。4条缝合带时分时合,其间的微陆块则"藕断丝连"。前奥陶纪金沙江带属于泛冈瓦纳"泛非软基底"的北界,早古生代它还是"泛非"混合生物群与扬子区系的界线。泥盆纪—石炭纪,古特提斯形成南北2支,即金沙江带和双湖-昌宁带,与其间亲扬子的中间岛块群(昌都-芒康、羌北、索县-左贡)形成"多岛海"格局,此间,双湖-昌宁转换为冈瓦纳的北界,多玛-安多微陆块为亲冈瓦纳相。早、中二叠世,中间岛块(群)裂解为亲扬子的昌都-芒康和亲冈瓦纳的羌北、索县-左贡三岛块,形成多岛洋,冈瓦纳北界转换到澜沧江带。晚二叠世,古特提斯消亡,形成Pangaea联合古陆,研究区为陆间多岛海。晚三叠世印支运动阶段,金沙江、澜沧江和双湖-昌宁带相继转换为陆内造山带;与此同时,班公湖-怒江带与雅鲁藏布江带形成中特提斯北、南2支,其间为中间陆块群(基墨里),班公湖-怒江带是晚侏罗世—早白垩世消亡的,"基墨里"岛块群是晚白垩世增生在亚洲大陆之上的。喜马拉雅地块是喜马拉雅运动阶段才最后俯冲到亚洲大陆之下,转换为亚洲大陆。     

Cuyania, an Exotic Block to Gondwana: Review of a Historical Success and the Present Problems

A review of the early history of the Cuyania terrane and the numerous pioneering works of the past century provides the present robust framework of evidence supporting a derivation from Laurentia, travel towards Gondwana as an isolated microcontinent, and final amalgamation to the protomargin of western Gondwana in Middle to Late Ordovician times. The major remaining uncertainties and inconsistencies, such as the time of deformation and collision with Gondwana, the lack of evidence of Famatinian-derived zircons, the effects of strike-slip displacements proposed along the suture, as well as the potential sutures defined by ophiolite assemblages, are discussed. The precise boundary along the northern and southern limits is not yet well defined.

The most suitable hypothesis based on present data is that Cuyania originated as a conjugate margin of the Ouachita embayment, south of the Appalachian platform during Early Cambrian times. The subsequent travel toward the Gondwana protomargin is clearly depicted by the changing faunal assemblages in the carbonate platform. New geochemical and age data on K-bentonites presented by several authors reinforce the strong connection between Cuyania ash-fall tuffs and Famatina volcanics by 468–470 Ma, indicating Cuyania and Gondwana were in close proximity at that time.

Extension related to flexural subsidence, preceded by the drowning of the carbonate platform in early Llanvirnian times, is recorded by abrupt facies changes in the sedimentary cover during late Llanvirnian and early Caradocian times. This episode marked the beginning of contact between Cuyania and Gondwana. The subsequent evolution of the foreland basin indicates that deformation lasted until latest Silurian-Early Devonian times.

The time of collision is tracked by the cessation of arc-related magmatic activity in the upper plate (Gondwana protomargin), at about 465 Ma in western Sierras Pampeanas, and ages around 454 Ma corresponding to syncollisional and postcollisional magmatism. The age of the collision is also preserved in the lower plate (Cuyania), where both angular unconformities in the sedimentary cover and the ages of peak of regional metamorphism in the basement rocks point to 460 Ma as the most probable age for the beginning of the collision. Evidence from the upper plate is essentially identical with an age of 463 Ma. Thermal gradients along this suture vary from 13°C/km in the lower plate, to 18°C/km in the fore arc upper plate, reaching more than 30°C/km along the Famatinian arc. Based on these data, a Llandelian-Caradocian age for the collision can be postulated on firm grounds. Deformation continued through most of the early Paleozoic until amalgamation of the Chilenia terrane by the Late Devonian.     

Las Matras Block, Central Argentina (37°S-67°W): the Southernmost Cuyania Terrane and its Relationship with the Famatinian Orogeny

The Las Matras Block in Central Argentina constitutes the southernmost part of the Cuyania terrane, which was accreted to the southwestern margin of Gondwana during the Early to Mid Ordovician Famatinian orogeny. The Grenville-aged rocks of the Las Matras Block are represented by the tonalitic to trondhjemitic Las Matras pluton. A new U-Pb conventional zircon age of 1244±42 Ma confirms previous Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isochron ages of this pluton. Mineral composition data are consistent with the tonalitic-trondhjemitic character of the pluton, and constrain its emplacement level to 1.9 to 2.6 kb. This shallow level of emplacement and the undeformed character of the pluton are distinctive features of this southernmost basement. A regional comparison indicates that the igneous-metamorphic evolution of the Grenville-aged basement rocks of the Cuyania terrane occurred over a period of more than 200 million years, with ages older than 1200 Ma up to those close to 1000 Ma. The shallowest crustal level is found in Las Matras, suggesting a southward shallowing of the exposed level of basement. The deformation and metamorphism associated with the collisional Famatinian orogeny affect both the Cuyania terrane and the adjacent western margin of Gondwana, and the Gondwana margin was also the locus of the related arc magmatism, but the compressive effects of the collision decrease in intensity toward the south. The Famatinian metamorphism and magmatism continue even further south into the Patagonia region, but the southern continuity of the Cuyania terrane into this region remains uncertain.     

The Seismic Structure of Wilkes Land/Terre Adelie, East Antarctica and Comparison with Australia: First Steps in Reconstructing the Deep Lithosphere of Gondwana

A determination of the seismic structure of the crust and uppermost mantle of East Antarctica, in the region of Casey station, Wilkes Land and Dumont DUrville station, Terre Adelie is presented. High-fidelity waveforms from teleseismic earthquakes recorded at stations CASY and DRV (1996-2001) are used to calculate the seismic receiver function, the signal produced as energy passes through layers in the seismic velocity structure under the receiving station. The receiver functions are stacked to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and then modelled using an inverse algorithm to find the structure that best fits the observed waveform at each station. Inferences are made regarding the tectonic structure, in particular, the crustal thickness and character of the seismic Moho.The crustal thickness under Casey Station is found to be 30 km (+/- 2 km) with a fairly sharp Moho, considerably less than Dumont D'Urville Station, where the crustal thickness is 42 km, and there IS a significant low velocity region the deep crust. The structure of the Wilkes Land lithosphere is comparable to that of the Albany-Fraser Orogen, Western Australia, part of its conjugate margin. This places a new constraint on the relative position of East Antarctica and Australia in the reconstruction of Gondwana, and earlier, supercontinents. A recent reinterpretation of Antarctic geology proposes tectonic province boundaries trending perpendicular to the coast with counterparts in southern Australia. Seismic techniques, determining structure beneath regions with no surface exposure, are vital tools in testing such tectonic hypotheses, towards the reconstruction of Gondwana to full lithospheric depth.     

Observations on Indian Permian Gondwana Coals Under Fluorescence Microscopy: An Overview

Macerals like sporinite, cutinite, suberinite and resinite of the liptinite group have been insufficiently recorded in Indian Permian Gondwana coals, until the fluorescence microscopy came into existence. With the introduction of this technique, macerals like bituminite, fluorinite and exsudatinite were convincingly recognized and alginite and liptodetrinite, normally mistaken for mineral matter under normal reflected light in routine coal petrographic analysis, were identified with certainty. Thus, fluorescence microscopy has added certain new macerals to the tally of the liptinite group and has increased their overall proportion in Indian Gondwana coals.In addition to the liptinite group, collodetrinite (=desmocollinite) and a certain fraction of collotelinite (=telocollinite) macerals of the vitrinite group were found to be fluorescing with dull reddish-brown to dark brown colours. Certain semifusinite and inertodetrinite macerals of inertinite group were also found to fluoresce with almost identical intensity and colour as that of the associated perhydrous (fluorescing) vitrinite. Contributions of degraded resinite, algal matter and bitumen in the formation of perhydrous vitrinite have been established. The fluorescence behaviour of inertinite appears to be related with its genesis from partial oxidation of resin/bitumen-impregnated cell walls.     

The First Upper Triassic Vertebrate Locality in Antarctica

In December 1999 we collected bones of two small reptiles from Upper Triassic mudstone on Mount Dearborn in southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. One specimen includes indeterminate limb fragments of a small reptile and the other is a tusk of a small dicynodont. We found both specimens in loose clasts on a slope of fine-grained strata above the second major channel-form sandstone above the base of member C in the Lashly Formation. The fossils occur in medium gray mudstone of the same lithology as the surrounding bedrock. Lashly member C at Mount Dearborn and in southern Victoria Land is composed of fining-upward cycles. At Mount Dearborn the cycles begin with channel-form, medium- to fine-grained sandstone. Quartz pebbles and cobbles occur at the base and in lenses with mudstone clasts. Lenses of coal occur along bedding planes and scours. The cycles fine upward gradually from sandstone to siltstone and carbonaceous mudstone with coal at the top. The Dicroidium flora is better preserved in the upper part of the cycles. A palynomorph assemblage from one of the bone-bearing samples suggests a Late Triassic (Carnian) age for the locality.This is the first report of Upper Triassic vertebrates in Antarctica and also of terrestrial vertebrates in Victoria Land. All previous vertebrate localities have been in non-carbonaceous beds in the central Transantarctic Mountains. The discovery expands the sequence of tetrapod occurrences in Lower, Middle and Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic rocks in the Transantarctic Mountains. It appears that reptilian faunas managed to inhabit high latitudes (>60°), at least intermittently, for a period of 50 million years, suggesting a relatively warm climate for parts of Antarctica during those times.     

A Duplex Model for the Eastern Cape Fold Belt? Evidence from the Palaeozoic Witteberg and Bokkeveld Groups (Cape Supergroup), Near Steytlerville, South Africa

The eastern part of the Cape Fold Belt, near Steytlerville, South Africa, reveals a typical pattern of numerous, north-verging thrust faults and associated folds, interpreted as part of a large duplex structure that formed along the southern margin of Gondwana during the Late Palaeozoic. Steeply-dipping fore- and backthrusts occur in the Bokkeveld Group (middle Cape Supergroup), where strata are composed of predominantly argillaceous rocks, whereas in the more arenaceous Witteberg Group (upper Cape Supergroup) there are fewer recognizable and less closely-spaced thrusts. Open style folds characterize areas in which the Bokkeveld Group crops out, but in areas of Witteberg outcrop, folds, especially those adjacent to thrusts, are often overturned.In spite of a general absence of marker horizons, a displacement of at least 500 metres can be inferred for one prominent thrust, the Jackalsbos thrust. This fault, the northernmost in the area investigated, is probably the sole thrust in the duplex structure, linked through southward-dipping imbricates to a projected roof thrust (the Baviaanskloof thrust) cropping out immediately south of the study area.Displacements on imbricates within the duplex are difficult if not impossible to measure, but the net effect is certainly accumulative and incremental. Truncation by a roof thrust and subsequent erosional processes may explain why so few of the many thrusts so far identified in the eastern part of the fold belt can be successfully mapped, and their displacements measured. Normal and strike-slip faults, less common than thrust faults, formed during extensional tectonism related to the breakup of Gondwana, during the Mesozoic.     

New Zealand's Geological Foundations

New Zealand is a fragment of Gondwana that, before Late Cretaceous sea floor spreading, was contiguous with Australia and Antarctica. Only about 10% of the area of continental crust in the wider New Zealand region (Zealandia) is emergent above sea level as the North and South Islands. No Precambrian cratonic core is exposed in onland New Zealand. The Cambrian to Early Cretaceous basement can be described in terms of nine major volcano-sedimentary terranes, three composite regional batholiths, and three regional metamorphic-tectonic belts that overprint the terranes and batholiths.The terranes (from west to east) are: Buller, Takaka, Brook Street, Murihiku, Maitai, Caples, Bay of Islands (part of former Waipapa), Rakaia (older Torlesse) and Pahau (younger Torlesse). The western terranes are intruded by three composite batholith (>100 km²) sized belts of plutons: Karamea-Paparoa, Hohonu and Median, as well as by numerous smaller plutons. Median Batholith (including the Median Tectonic Zone) is a recently-recognised Cordilleran batholith that represents the site of subduction-related magmatism from ca. 375–110 Ma. Parts of the terranes and batholiths are variably metamorphosed and deformed: Devonian and Cretaceous amphibolite-granulite facies gneisses are present in Buller, Takaka, Median and Karamea-Paparoa units; Jurassic-Cretaceous subgreenschist-amphibolite facies Haast Schist overprints the Caples, Bay of Islands and Rakaia Terranes; Cretaceous subgreenschist facies Esk Head and Whakatane Mélanges bound the Pahau Terrane. In the South Island, small areas (<5 km² total) of Devonian, Permian, Triassic and Jurassic Gondwana sequences have been identified. In the North Island a widespread Late Jurassic overlap sequence, Waipa Supergroup (part of former Waipapa Terrane), has recently been proposed.