Monazite dating of granitic gneisses and leucogranites from the Kerala Khondalite Belt,southern India: implications for Late Proterozoic crustal evolution in East Gondwana

Two stages of granitic magmatism occurred during the Pan-African evolution of the Kerala Khondalite Belt (KKB) in southern India. Granitic gneisses were derived from porphyritic granites, which intruded prior to the main stage of deformation and peak-metamorphism. Subsequently, leucogranites and leucotonalites formed during fluid-absent melting and intruded the gneiss sequences. Monazites from granitic gneisses, leucogranites and a leucotonalite were investigated by conventional U-Pb and electron microprobe dating in order to distinguish the different stages of magma emplacement. U-Pb monazite dating yielded a wide range of ages between 590–520 Ma which are interpreted to date high-grade metamorphism rather than magma emplacement. The results of this study indicate that the KKB experienced protracted heating (>50 Ma) at temperatures above 750–800 °C during the Pan-African orogeny. The tectonometamorphic evolution of the study area is comparable to southern Madagascar which underwent a similar sequence of events earlier than the KKB. The results of this study further substantiate previous assertions that the timing of high-grade metamorphism in East Gondwana shifted from west to east during the Late Proterozoic.     

Neoproterozoic India within East Gondwana: Constraints from recent geochronologic data from Himalaya

Recent geochronologic data of detrital zircons and neodymium isotopic signatures of the Himalaya, Arabian–Nubian Shield, and Western Australia–East Antarctica (the Pinjarra Orogen/Circum-East Antarctic Orogen) are assessed to estimate the location of Neoproterozoic basement of the Himalaya.

The protolith of the Higher Himalayan Gneisses is considered to have been derived from the Pinjarra Orogen/Circum-East Antarctic Orogen of Western Australia–East Antarctica, and not from the Indian Craton to the south. This conclusion strongly suggests the juxtaposition of the Indian Craton, which forms the basement of the Himalaya, with the Circum-East Antarctic Orogen during the Neoproterozoic when the protolith of the Higher Himalayan Gneisses deposited.     

The Mesozoic ostracod genus Arculicythere Grékoff: further evidence for the southern Gondwana seaway

This paper demonstrates that Arculicythere Grékoff is a widespread taxon in the uppermost Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous of Gondwana. It occurs in Madagascar, India, Israel, South Africa, the Falklands Plateau, Argentina and Australia. The earliest record is from the Upper Tithonian of Madagascar but the most profuse occurrences are in the Albian, when the genus was very widespread around Gondwana. Its distribution seems to be associated with a major southern Gondwana seaway, and the genus provides additional proof of the existence of this corridor. Unlike another endemic gondwanine genus, Majungaella Grékoff, which ranged from earlier in the Jurassic but extended into the Neogene in the Antarctic, or Rostrocytheridea Dingle that survived into the Campanian of the Antarctic, Arculicythere seems to have become extinct in the Albian.     

Permian plate margin volcanism and tuffs in adjacent basins of west Gondwana: Age constraints and common characteristics

Increasing evidence of Permian volcanic activity along the South American portion of the Gondwana proto-Pacific margin has directed attention to its potential presence in the stratigraphic record of adjacent basins. In recent years, tuffaceous horizons have been identified in late Early Permian–through Middle Permian (280–260 Ma) sections of the Paraná Basin (Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay). Farther south and closer to the magmatic tract developed along the continental margin, in the San Rafael and Sauce Grande basins of Argentina, tuffs are present in the Early to Middle Permian section. This tuff-rich interval can be correlated with the appearance of widespread tuffs in the Karoo Basin. Although magmatic activity along the proto-Pacific plate margin was continuous during the Late Paleozoic, Choiyoi silicic volcanism along the Andean Cordillera and its equivalent in Patagonia peaked between the late Early Permian and Middle Permian, when extensive rhyolitic ignimbrites and consanguineous airborne tuffaceous material erupted in the northern Patagonian region. The San Rafael orogenic phase (SROP) interrupted sedimentation along the southwestern segment of the Gondwana margin (i.e., Frontal Cordillera, San Rafael Basin), induced cratonward thrusting (i.e., Ventana and Cape foldbelts), and triggered accelerated subsidence in the adjacent basins (Sauce Grande and Karoo) located inboard of the deformation front. This accelerated subsidence favored the preservation of tuffaceous horizons in the syntectonic successions. The age constraints and similarities in composition between the volcanics along the continental margin and the tuffaceous horizons in the San Rafael, Sauce Grande, Paraná, and Karoo basins strongly suggest a genetic linkage between the two episodes. Radiometric ages from tuffs in the San Rafael, Paraná, and Karoo basins indicate an intensely tuffaceous interval between 280 and 260 Ma.     

Tectonic, sea-level, and climatic controls on Late Paleozoic sedimentation in the western basins of Argentina

Tectonic activity, sea-level changes, and the climate controlled sedimentation in Late Paleozoic basins of western Argentina. The role of each factor is investigated from the geologic record of the Río Blanco and Paganzo basins using three hierarchical orders of stratigraphic bounding surfaces. First-order surfaces correspond to regional unconformities, second-order ones to local unconformities with a lesser regional extent, and third-order surfaces represent locally extended sedimentary truncation. Using this methodology, the Carboniferous–Permian record of the Paganzo and Río Blanco basins may be divided into two megasequences, four sequences, and 12 stratigraphic sections. Megasequences are bounded by regional unconformities that result from tectonic events important enough to cause regional paleogeographic changes. Sequences are limited by minor regional extension surfaces related to local tectonic movements or significant sea-level falls. Finally, stratigraphic sections correspond to extended sedimentary truncations produced by transgressive events or major climatic changes. Sequence I is mainly composed of marine deposits divided into basal infill of the basin (Section 1) and Tournaisian–Visean transgressive deposits (Section 2). Sequence II is bounded by a sharp erosional surface and begins with coarse conglomerates (Section 3), followed by fluvial and shallow marine sedimentary rocks (Section 4) that pass upward into shales and diamictites (Section 5). The base of Sequence III is marked by an extended unconformity covered by Early Pennsylvanian glacial sedimentary rocks (Section 6) that represent the most important glacial event along the western margin of Gondwana. Postglacial deposits (Section 7) occur in the two basins and comprise both glaciolacustrine (eastern region) and transgressive marine (central and western regions) deposits. By the Moscovian–Kasimovian, fluvial sandstones and conglomerates were deposited in most of the Paganzo Basin (Section 8), while localized volcanic activity took place in the Río Blanco Basin. Near the end of the Carboniferous, an important transgression is recorded in the major part of the Río Blanco Basin (Section 9), reaching the westernmost portion area of the Paganzo Basin. Finally, Sequence IV shows important differences between the Paganzo and Río Blanco basins; fluvial red beds (Section 10), eolian sandstones (Section 11), and low-energy fluvial deposits (Section 12) prevailed in the Paganzo Basin whereas volcaniclastic sedimentation and volcanism dominated in the Río Blanco Basin. Thus, tectonic events, sea-level changes and climate exerted a strong and complex control on the evolution of the Río Blanco and Paganzo basins. The interaction of these allocyclic controls produced not only characteristic facies association patterns but also different kinds of stratigraphic bounding surfaces.     

Tight Reassembly of Gondwana Exposes Phanerozoic Shears in Africa as Global Tectonic Players

Aeromagnetic surveys help reveal the geometry of Precambrian terranes through extending the mapping of structures and lithologies from well-exposed areas into areas of younger cover. Continent-wide aeromagnetic compilations therefore help extend geological mapping beyond the scale of a single country and, in turn, help link regional geology with processes of global tectonics. In Africa, India and related smaller fragments of Gondwana, the margins of Precambrian crustal blocks that have escaped (or successfully resisted) fracture or extension in Phanerozoic time can often be identified from their aeromagnetic expression. We differentiate between these rigid pieces of Precambrian crust and the intervening lithosphere that has been subjected to deformation (usually a combination of extension and strike-slip) in one or more of three rifting episodes affecting Africa during the Phanerozoic: Karoo, Early Cretaceous and (post-) Miocene. Modest relative movements between adjacent fragments in the African mosaic, commensurate with the observed rifting and transcurrent faulting, lead to small adjustments in the position of sub-Saharan Africa with respect to North Africa and Arabia. The tight reassembly of Precambrian sub-Saharan Africa with Madagascar, India, Sri Lanka and Antarctica (see animation in http://kartoweb.itc.nl/gondwana) can then be extended north between NW India and Somalia once the Early Cretaceous movements in North Africa have been undone. The Seychelles and smaller continental fragments that stayed with India may be accommodated north of Madagascar. The reassembly includes an attempt to undo strike-slip on the Southern Trans-Africa Shear System. This cryptic tectonic transcontinental corridor, which first formed as a Pan-African shear belt 700–500 Ma, also displays demonstrable dextral and sinistral movement between 300 and 200 Ma, not only evident in the alignment of the unsuccessful Karoo rifts now mapped from Tanzania to Namibia but also having an effect on many of the eventually successful rifts between Africa-Arabia and East Gondwana. We postulate its continuation into the Tethys Ocean as a major transform or megashear, allowing minor independence of movements between West Gondwana (partnered across the Tethys Ocean with Europe) and East Gondwana (partnered with Asia), Europe and Asia being independent before the 250 Ma consolidation of the Urals suture. The relative importance of primary driving forces, such as subduction ‘pull’, and ‘jostling’ forces experienced between adjacent rigid fragments could be related to plate size, the larger plates being relatively closely-coupled to the convecting mantle in the global scheme while the smaller ones may experience a preponderance of ‘jostling’ forces from their rigid neighbours.     

斯里兰卡地质演化研究的进展与评述:岩石组合、变质演化及其与冈瓦纳大陆的关系

地球表生环境的演变及生命演化过程,与地球构造过程密切相关,新元古代-寒武纪时期的冈瓦纳大陆汇聚过程见证了一系列剧变。东非造山带(ca. 650～620Ma)和Kuunga造山带(ca. 600～500Ma)是冈瓦纳大陆块体汇聚过程中形成的两条主要造山带,二者在斯里兰卡所在的区域十字交叉。因此斯里兰卡地质演化历史的准确梳理,对理解新元古代时期全球构造过程的重要意义不言而喻。斯里兰卡的四个前寒武纪地质体(Wanni、Kadugannawa、Highland和Vijayan杂岩地体)中,中部的Highland杂岩地体最古老(ca. 2000～1800Ma)、变质程度最高(普遍麻粒岩相,局部为超高温麻粒岩相),其余三个地质体主要岩石的形成时代为中元古代晚期-新元古代(ca. 1100～700Ma),岩石记录的变质级别略低于Highland地体,为角闪岩相-麻粒岩相。现有研究表明斯里兰卡几个地质体在新元古代-寒武纪时期(ca. 610～500Ma)的变质作用记录最为显著,并伴随有广泛的陆壳重熔再造。该构造热事件晚于东非造山带的变质时代(ca. 650～620Ma),与Kuunga造山带活动时间(ca. 600～500Ma)吻合度较高,这与前人提出的莫桑比克缝合带(东非造山带)穿过斯里兰卡的认识相矛盾。斯里兰卡的高级变质作用究竟是单次造山作用的结果,还是代表了两期造山事件的叠加效应,目前尚无定论。高温-超高温变质作用是斯里兰卡前寒武纪基底岩系的显著特征,其中超高温麻粒岩具有假蓝宝石+石英、紫苏辉石(Al_2O_3含量可达～13%)+夕线石、尖晶石+石英等的矿物组合,不同研究者给出超高温峰期变质温度在950～1150℃的范围内,峰期变质压力在10～16kbar的范围内,多显示顺时针演化P-T轨迹。斯里兰卡中东部地区的基性麻粒岩,发育由斜方辉石+斜长石、角闪石+斜长石或单斜辉石+斜长石组成的环绕石榴石的蠕虫状后成合晶结构,指示近等温降压的P-T演化样式,以及峰期变质作用之后地体相对快速抬升的演化过程。紫苏花岗岩在斯里兰卡不同地体中都很常见,与所有的高级变质岩(如泥质、基性麻粒岩和钙硅酸盐岩等)密切伴生,是研究斯里兰卡地质演化不可忽视的岩石类型。紫苏花岗岩的原岩成因较为复杂,其最古老部分的形成时代可能为太古宙或古元古代(～1850Ma),但是没有很好的年代学限定。部分紫苏花岗岩原岩时代为ca. 1100～750Ma,具有钙碱性弧岩浆的地球化学特征,并记录ca. 580～500Ma的变质作用,还有一部分紫苏花岗岩时代与区域麻粒岩相变质作用的峰期时代相当,为ca. 580～550Ma。在一些地区的角闪片麻岩中,还可以观察到补丁状分布的初始紫苏花岗岩,其形成时代多被认为晚于峰期麻粒岩相变质时代。斯里兰卡四个前寒武纪地质体在岩石组合、变质级别、地质年代学格架等方面的差异被普遍认同,暗示这些地质体具有不同的演化历史。但是斯里兰卡不同地质体的汇聚过程是否对应于莫桑比克洋的闭合,以及Kuunga造山带如何改造斯里兰卡的基底岩石,目前并不清楚。本文综述了前人发表的研究结果,主要从斯里兰卡不同地质体岩石组合、高温-超高温变质作用(Highland地体)、变质地质年代学及其对冈瓦纳大陆重建的启示等几个方面,对斯里兰卡地质演化研究进行归纳和小结。在此基础上提出,在斯里兰卡基底构造框架、新元古代晚期-寒武纪高温-超高温变质作用、紫苏花岗岩成因、地质演化的年代学格架、斯里兰卡在冈瓦纳大陆重建中的位置和作用、下地壳热状态和热源机制等诸多方面,还存在问题和争议,是值得未来开展深入研究的方向。     

Transparent gemstones and the most recent supercontinent cycle

Certain hard and normally opaque minerals, both rare and common, occasionally crystallize as transparent or partly transparent ‘gem’ crystals. Such stones, designated ‘crystalline coloured gemstones’ (CCGs), form under highly constrained just-so ‘Goldilocks’ conditions that did not exist prior to the last supercontinent cycle. One set of gem-forming conditions arises during continent-to-continent collisions. Another comes into existence during the breakup of continents and produces distinctively different gems. Over 50 different CCG-forming metamorphic and pegmatitic minerals of the first type crystallize in certain orogenic areas near the edges of continents. In East Africa, the Himalayas, Pamirs and Hindu Kush, groups of CCG deposits formed near the leading edge of the upper plate during the collisions, and are associated with large scale circular arcs. Gems of the second type, which are for the most part blue–green–yellow magmatic sapphires, occur in conjunction with continental volcanism in eastern Australia, far eastern Russia, eastern China, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Rwanda, Cameroon, Nigeria and elsewhere. Orogeny causes deep fractures to be regenerated upward into younger rocks. CCG deposits of the first type are systematically associated with ancient fractures originating from below, vestiges of the Earth’s early history. Fractures may be older than the rocks in which they are observed.     

Metamorphic phase equilibria modelling and zircon U–Pb geochronology of ultrahigh-temperature cordierite granulites from the Madurai Block,India: implications for hot Gondwana crust

The Madurai Block (MB) is the largest Precambrian crustal block in the Southern Granulite Terrane (SGT) of India and hosts rare cordierite- and orthopyroxene-bearing granulites. Investigations based on field study, petrology, metamorphic P–T estimation, and detrital zircon geochronology of these granulites are crucial for understanding the ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) metamorphism and crustal evolution in this block. Here we investigate the petrology and zircon U–Pb geochronology of two new localities of cordierite granulites at Kottayam (southern MB; SMB) and Munnar (central MB; CMB). Petrographic observations and phase equilibria modelling results indicate that these rocks experienced UHT metamorphism with the peak temperature exceeding 950℃ and involving clockwise P–T paths. The prograde mineral assemblages define the P–T conditions of 6.8–8.7 kbar and 750–875℃. The peak conditions are estimated using pseudosection modelling and geothermometry, which yield P–T estimates of 7.1–9.1 kbar and 955–985℃. The retrograde cooling and decompression are inferred at 860–790℃ and <6.5 kbar, respectively. Partial melting played an important role during metamorphism and contributed to the overgrowth around detrital zircons. The melt production process was probably related to biotite dehydration melting, and was mainly triggered by heating, with or without the effect of decompression. Detrital zircons in cordierite granulite samples from the two localities show similar age distributions and have dominantly Neoproterozoic ages (1024–760 Ma). The zircon cores show oscillatory zoning with a wide range of Th/U ratios (0.01–0.96), implying complex protoliths from multiple Neoproterozoic provenances from both southern and central domains of the MBs. Zircon rims and homogeneous bright zircons yield mean ages of 549 ± 5 Ma, 536 ± 6 Ma, and 544 ± 6 Ma, which are interpreted to represent zircon overgrowths during the post-peak cooling and decompression process. The timing of peak UHT metamorphism is constrained as 549–599 Ma, which coincides with the assembly of the Gondwana supercontinent.     

Unraveling a distal segment of the West African Craton Paleozoic margin: Stratigraphy of the Mougueur inlier of the eastern High Atlas,Morocco

Because of its location in the boundary zone between the Anti-Atlas and the Atlas–Meseta crustal domains of Morocco, the Mougueur Paleozoic Massif is a key area to decipher the evolution of the Gondwana NW margin during the Paleozoic. In this work, we report for the first time the occurrence of Hirnantian sandstones, Silurian (Gorstian) graptolitic shales and probable Lower Devonian turbidites in the Massif. Comparison of our observations with regional stratigraphic data from literature allows us to suggest that the area was included in the distal part of the West African Craton passive margin during Cambrian-Devonian times.