The Neogene and Lower Pleistocene crags of Upper Normandy: Biostratigraphic revision and paleogeographic implications

The biostratigraphic revision of the benthic foraminifera present in the coastal Cenozoic quartzose and shelly sands (crags) at Fécamp and Valmont (Seine-Maritime) reveals Early Pliocene (Fécamp) and Early Pleistocene (Valmont) ages. The Tortonian-Messinian thanatocœnosis contained in the Fécamp Crag shows the presence of a former bryozoan-rich platform on the floor of the Channel that was reworked during the Lower Pliocene transgression. Tortonian-Messinian and Lower Pliocene deposits have been found in Belgium, England, Brittany, and at Fécamp, but are absent in Cotentin (North-West Normandy), which was uplifted at this period. The Lower Pleistocene tidal sands and crags described in Cotentin, Upper Normandy and the southern North Sea Basin indicate a marine passage between the Channel and the North Sea.     

保山镇康地块成矿条件及典型矿床成矿模式

镇康地块位于怒江断裂、龙陵-瑞丽断裂与柯街断裂、南汀河断裂之间。成矿地质条件优越,矿床属与岩浆热液有关的多期、多阶段、多矿质热液型多金属矿床。     

Characterization of wrench tectonics from dating of syn- to post-magmatism in the north-western French Massif Central

This work establishes the relative timing of pluton emplacement and regional deformation from new dating and structural data. (1) Monazite and (2) zircon dating show Tournaisian ages for the Guéret granites [Aulon granite 352 ± 5 Ma (1), 351 ± 5 Ma (2) and Villatange tonalite 353 ± 6 Ma (1)] and Viseo-Namurian ages for the north Millevaches granites [Chavanat granite 336 ± 4 Ma (1), Goutelle granite 336 ± 3 Ma (1), Royère granite 323 ± 2 Ma (1) and 328 ± 6 Ma (2), Courcelles granite 318 ± 3 Ma (1)]. The Guéret and Millevaches granites are separated by the N110 Arrènes–la Courtine Shear Zone (ACSZ), composed from West to East by the Arrènes Fault (AF), the North Millevaches Shear Zone (NMSZ) and the la Courtine Shear Zone (CSZ), respectively. Tournaisian Guéret granites experienced a non-coaxial dextral shearing (NMSZ) recorded by the Villatange granite while the Aulon granite (Guéret granite) cuts across this dextral shear zone which thus stopped shearing during Tournaisian time. Visean to Namurian Millevaches granites experienced a coaxial deformation. Therefore, low displacements along the NMSZ and the CSZ occurred at the emplacement time of Chavanat and Pontarion-Royère granites (336–323 Ma). The structural analyses of Goutelle granite emphasizes a deformation related to the dextral Creuse Fault System (CFS) oriented N150–N160. From 360 to 300 Ma, the Z strain axis is always horizontal inferring a wrench setting for these granite emplacements. During this tectonic evolution, the Argentat zone acted as a minor normal fault and is related with a local Middle Visean (340–335 Ma) syn-orogenic extension on the western border of the Millevaches massif.     

P–T–t evolution of the Cycladic Blueschist Unit in Western Anatolia/Turkey: Geodynamic implications for the Aegean region

Eclogite and blueschist facies rocks occurring as a tectonic unit between the underlying Menderes Massif (MM) and the overlying Afyon Zone/Lycian Nappes and the Bornova Flysch Zone in western Anatolia represent the eastward continuation of the Cycladic Blueschist Unit (CBU) in Turkey. This high-P unit is attributed to the closure of the Pindos Ocean and consists of (a) a Triassic to Upper Cretaceous coherent series derived from passive continental margin sediments and (b) the tectonically overlying Upper Cretaceous Selçuk mélange with eclogite blocks embedded in a pelitic epidote-blueschist matrix. The coherent series has experienced epidote-blueschist facies metamorphism (490 ± 25°C/11.5 ± 1.5 kbar; 38 km depth). ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar white mica and ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U monazite dating of quartz metaconglomerate from coherent series yielded middle Eocene ages of 44 ± 0.3 and 40.1 ± 3.1 Ma for epidote-blueschist facies metamorphism, respectively. The epidote-blueschist facies metamorphism of the matrix of the Selçuk mélange culminates at 520 ± 15°C/13 ± 1.5 kbar, 43 km depth, and is dated at 57.5 ± 0.3–54.5 ± 0.1 Ma (⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar phengite). Eclogite facies metamorphism of the blocks (570 ± 30°C/18 ± 2 kbar, 60 km depth) is early Eocene and dated at 56.2 ± 1.5 Ma by ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U zircon. Eclogites experienced a nearly isothermal retrogression (490 ± 40°C/~6 to 7 kbar) during their incorporation into the Selçuk mélange. The retrograde overprints of the coherent series (410 ± 15°C/7 ± 1.5 kbar from Dilek Peninsula and 485 ± 33°C/~6 to 7 kbar from Selçuk–Tire area) and the Selçuk mélange (510 ± 15°C/6 ± 1 kbar) are dated at 35.8 ± 0.5–34.3 ± 0.1 Ma by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar white mica and 31.6 ± 6.6 Ma by ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U allanite dating methods, respectively. Regional geological constrains reveal that the contact between the MM and the CBU originally formed a lithosphere-scale transform fault zone. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar white mica age from the contact indicates that the CBU and the MM were tectonically juxtaposed under greenschist facies conditions during late Eocene, 35.1 ± 0.3 Ma.     

Early Paleoproterozoic magmatism in the Quanji Massif, northeastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its tectonic significance: LA-ICPMS U-Pb zircon geochronology and geochemistry

The Quanji Massif is located on the north side of the Qaidam Block and is interpreted as an ancient cratonic remnant that was detached from the Tarim Craton. There are regionally exposed granitic gneisses in the basement of the Quanji Massif whose protoliths were granitic intrusive rocks. Previous studies obtained intrusion ages for some of these granitic gneiss protoliths. The intrusion ages span a wide range from ~ 2.2 Ga to ~ 2.47 Ga. This study has determined the U-Pb zircon age of four granitic gneiss samples from the eastern, central and western parts of the Quanji Massif. CL images and trace elements show that the zircons from these four granitic gneisses have typical magmatic origins, and experienced different degrees of Pb loss due to strong metamorphism and deformation. LA-ICPMS zircon dating yields an upper intercept age of 2381 ± 41 (2σ) Ma from monzo-granitic gneiss in the Hudesheng area and 2392 ± 25 (2σ) Ma from granodioritic gneiss in the Mohe area, eastern Quanji Massif, and 2367 ± 12 (2σ) Ma from monzo-granitic gneiss in the Delingha area, central Quanji Massif, and 2372 ± 22 (2σ) Ma from monzo-granitic gneiss in the Quanjishan area, western Quanji Massif. These results reveal that the intrusive age of the protoliths of the widespread granitic gneisses in the Quanji Massif basement was restricted between 2.37 and 2.39 Ga, indicating regional granitic magmatism in the early Paleoproterozoic, perhaps related to the fragmentation stage of the Kenorland supercontinent. Geochemical results from the granodioritic gneiss from the Mohe area indicate that the protolith of this gneiss is characterized by adakitic rocks derived from partial melting of garnet-amphibolite beneath a thickened lower crust in a rifting regime after continent-continent collision and crustal thickening, genetically similar to the TTG gneisses in the North China Craton. This suggests that the Quanji Massif had a tectonic history similar to the Archean Central Orogenic Belt of North China Craton during the early Paleoproterozoic. We tentatively suggest that the Quanji Massif and the parental Tarim Craton and the North China Craton experienced rifting in the early Paleoproterozoic, after amalgamation at the end of the Archean. The Tarim Craton and North China Craton might have had close interaction from the late Neoarchean to the early Paleoproterozoic.     

Structure and tectonic evolution of the Pirin-Pangaion Structural Zone (Rhodope Massif,southern Bulgaria and northern Greece)

The Pirin-Pangaion Structural Zone occupies the south-western part of the Rhodope Massif. It consists of Proterozoic amphibolite facies metamorphic rocks of the Rhodopian Supergroup, and granitoids of Hercynian, Late Cretaceous and Palaeogene age. The pre-Hercynian structure of the zone is dominated by an interference pattern of three superimposed fold generations of NE-SW and NW-SE trends. These structures are cut by Hercynian granitoids, and the entire complex is affected by late Hercynian or early Alpine conical folds. The zone was overthrusted by the Ogražden and Kroussia Units (Serbo-Macedonian ‘Massif’) along the north-east vergent Mid-Cretaceous Strimon overthrust, and by the Central Rhodope Zone of the Rhodope Massif, along the south-west vergent Meso-Rhodopean Overthrust. With this thrusting event, the Pirin-Pangaion Structural Zone was brought together with the Serbo-Macedonian ‘Massif’ and the Central Rhodope Zone to form the Late Cretaceous Morava-Rhodope Zone, which acted as a ‘plateau’ along the southern edge of the Eurasian plate. Late Cretaceous granitoid magma of crustal origin intruded this zone, whereas north of it the Srednogorie volcanic island arc was the site of igneous activity with magmas originating in the upper mantle. The West Thrace Zone developed as a Palaeocene to Oligocene depression superimposed over the older basement obliquely to the southern periphery of the Rhodope Massif. In the Late Eocene and Early Oligocene, this depression represented a volcanic island arc with mantle-derived basic to intermediate magmas; contemporaneous granitoid magmas formed through crustal melting in the thickened crust of the Rhodope Massif (Pirin and Pangaion Units included). Early Miocene thrusting was most intense in the Pangaion Unit, and was followed by Late Miocene to Quaternary extension.     

Tectonic evolution of a continental magmatic arc from transpression in the upper crust to exhumation of mid-crustal orogenic root recorded by episodically emplaced plutons: the Central Bohemian Plutonic Complex (Bohemian Massif)

The Central Bohemian Plutonic Complex (CBPC) consists of episodically emplaced plutons, the internal fabrics of which recorded tectonic evolution of a continental magmatic arc. The ~354–350 Ma calc-alkaline plutons were emplaced by multiple processes into the upper-crustal Teplá-Barrandian Unit, and their magmatic fabrics recorded increments of regional transpression. Multiple fabrics of the younger, ~346 Ma Blatná pluton recorded both regional transpression and the onset of exhumation of mid-crustal orogenic root (Moldanubian Unit). Continuous exhumation-related deformation during pluton cooling resulted in the development of a wide zone of sub-solidus deformation along the SE margin of the CBPC. Finally, syn-exhumation tabular durbachitic pluton of ultrapotassic composition was emplaced atop the intrusive sequence at ~343–340 Ma, and the ultrapotassic Tábor pluton intruded after exhumation of the orogenic root (~337 Ma). We suggest that the emplacement of plutons during regional transpression in the upper crust produced thermally softened domain which then accommodated the exhumation of the mid-crustal orogenic root, and that the complex nature of the Teplá-Barrandian/Moldanubian boundary is a result of regional transpression in the upper crust, the enhancement of regional deformation in overlapping structural aureoles, the subsequent exhumation of the orogenic root domain, and post-emplacement brittle faulting.     

Les concentrations à sillimanite du Sud Velay et l'évolution P–T–t fini-hercynienne dans le Massif central (France)

The Late Hercynian evolution in the French Massif Central corresponds to the transition from a LP–HT (M₃ event at 314 ± 5 Ma) to a higher temperature metamorphism corresponding to the emplacement of the Velay granite dome (M₄ event at 301 ± 5 Ma). This transition is outlined by the development of sillimanite folia, which represent planes of base-cation leaching, associated with ductile deformation. This evolution implies a counterclockwise retrograde $P\text{–}T\text{–}t$ path under subsolidus conditions between M₃ and M₄. To cite this article: P. Barbey et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

Age and emplacement of late-Variscan granites of the western Bohemian Massif with main focus on the Hauzenberg granitoids (European Variscides, Germany)

The Variscan Hauzenberg pluton consists of granite and granodiorite that intruded late- to postkinematically into HT-metamorphic rocks of the Moldanubian unit at the southwestern margin of the Bohemian Massif (Passauer Wald). U–Pb dating of zircon single-grains and monazite fractions, separated from medium- to coarse-grained biotite-muscovite granite (Hauzenberg granite II), yielded concordant ages of 320 ± 3 and 329 ± 7 Ma, interpreted as emplacement age. Zircons extracted from the younger Hauzenberg granodiorite yielded a ²⁰⁷Pb–²⁰⁶Pb mean age of 318.6 ± 4.1 Ma. The Hauzenberg granite I has not been dated. The pressure during solidification of the Hauzenberg granite II was estimated at 4.6 ± 0.6 kbar using phengite barometry on magmatic muscovite, corresponding to an emplacement depth of 16-18 km. The new data are compatible with pre-existing cooling ages of biotite and muscovite which indicate the Hauzenberg pluton to have cooled below T = 250–400 °C in Upper Carboniferous times. A compilation of age data from magmatic and metamorphic rocks of the western margin of the Bohemian Massif suggests a west- to northwestward shift of magmatism and HT/LP metamorphism with time. Both processes started at > 325 Ma within the South Bohemian Pluton and magmatism ceased at ca. 310 Ma in the Bavarian Oberpfalz. The slight different timing of HT metamorphism in northern Austria and the Bavarian Forest is interpreted as being the result of partial delamination of mantle lithosphere or removal of the thermal boundary layer.     

Cordierite from a high-temperature low-pressure shear zone of the south-western Bohemian Massif (Moldanubian terrain,Austria)

A medium-scale shear zone exposed in the gneiss rocks of the South-western Bohemian Massif (Moldanubian Zone) contains cordierite, whose Na p.f.u. is subject to a significant increase from the centre to the edge of the deformation area, whilst other elements only show negligible variations. Coexisting mineral phases of cordierite include garnet, biotite, and sillimanite. According to the results obtained from the garnet-cordierite Fe²⁺/Mg²⁺-exchange thermometer a decrease of peak temperature from 639 °C in the central mylonite to 593 °C in the marginal mylonite can be observed, which indicates significant shear heating. Lithological pressures were estimated by considering the position of cordierite-forming reactions in the P-T field and the stability of coexisting sillimanite. They are subject to a reduction from 0.35 GPa in the highest deformed mylonite to 0.31 GPa at the margin of the shear zone. According to the results of comprehensive petrographic and mineralogical studies the investigated shear zone underwent a Variscan HT-LP metamorphic event implying the formation of cordierite and an Alpine MT-LP event entailing the rotation and decomposition of the cordierite phase.