Eclogites and polyphase P–T cycling in the Caledonian Uppermost Allochthon in Troms, northern Norway

Eclogites in the Tromsø area, northern Norway, are intimately associated with meta-supracrustals within the Uppermost Allochthon of the Scandinavian Caledonides (the Tromsø Nappe Complex). The whole sequence, which includes pelitic to semipelitic schists and gneisses, marbles and calc-silicate rocks, quartzofeldspathic gneisses, metabasites and ultramafites, has undergone three main deformational/metamorphic events (D₁/M₁, D₂/M₂ and D₃/M₃). Detailed structural, microtextural and mineral chemical studies have made it possible to construct separate P–T paths for these three events. Chemically zoned late syn- to post-D₁ garnets with inclusions of Bt, Pl and Qtz in Ky-bearing metapelites indicate a prograde evolution from 636°C, 12.48 kbar to c. 720°C, 14–15 kbar. This latter result is in agreement with Grt–Cpx geothermometry and Grt–Cpx–Pl–Qtz geobarometry on eclogites and trondhjemitic to dioritic gneisses. Maximum pressures at c. 675°C probably reached 17–18 kbar based on Cpx–Pl–Qtz inclusions in eclogitic garnets, and Grt–Ky–Pl–Qtz and Jd–Ab–Qtz in trondhjemitic gneisses. Post-D₁/pre-D₂ decompressional breakdown of the high-P assemblages indicates a substantial drop in pressure at this stage. Inclusions and chemical zoning in syn- to post-D₂ garnets from metapelites record a second episode of prograde metamorphism, from 552°C, 7.95 kbar, passing through a maximum pressure of 10.64 kbar at 644°C, with final equilibration at c. 665°C, 9–10 kbar. The corresponding apparently co-facial paragenesis Grt + Cpx + Pl + Qtz in metabasites yields c. 635°C, 8–10 kbar. In the metapelites post-D₃, Grt in apparent equilibrium with Bt, Phe and Pl yield c. 630°C, 9 kbar. The D₁/M₁ and D₂/M₂ episodes are exclusively recorded in the Tromsø Nappe Complex and must thus pre-date the emplacement of this allochthonous unit on top of the underlying Lyngen Nappe, while the D₃/M₃ episode is common for the two units. A previously published Sm–Nd mineral isochron (Grt–Cpx–Am) on a partly retrograded and recrystallized ecologite of 598 ± 107 Ma represents either the timing of formation of the eclogites or the post-eclogite/pre-D₂ decompression stage, while a Rb–Sr whole rock isochron of an apparently post-D₁/pre-D₂ granite of 433 ± 11 Ma is consistent with a K–Ar age of post-D₁/pre-D₂ amphiboles from a retrograded eclogite of 437 ± 16 Ma which most likely record cooling below the 475–500°C isotherm after the M₃ metamorphism.     

Southwest Scandinavia, 40–15 kyr BP: palaeogeography and environmental change

Twelve palaeogeographical reconstructions illustrate environmental changes at the southwest rim of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet 40–15 kyr BP. Synchronised land, sea and glacier configurations are based on the lithostratigraphy of tills and intertill sediments. Dating is provided by optically stimulated luminescence and calibrated accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon. An interstadial sequence ca. 40–30 kyr BP with boreo‐arctic proglacial fjords and subarctic flora and occasional glaciation in the Baltic was succeeded by a Last Glacial Maximum sequence ca. 30–20 kyr BP, with the closure of fjords and subsequent ice streams in glacial lake basins in Kattegat and the Baltic. Steadily flowing ice from Sweden bordered the Norwegian Channel Ice Stream. A deglaciation sequence ca. 20–15 kyr BP indicates the transgression of arctic waters, retreat of the Swedish ice and advance of Baltic ice streams succeeded by a return to interstadial conditions. When ameliorated ice‐free conditions prevailed in maritime regions, glaciers advanced through the Baltic and when interstadial regimes dominated the Baltic, glaciers expanded off the Norwegian coast. The largest glacier extent was reached in the North Sea around 29 kyr BP, about 22 kyr BP in Denmark and ca. 18 kyr BP in the Baltic. Our model provides new data for future numerical and qualitative landform‐based models. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pull-apart formation and strike-slip partitioning in an obliquely divergent setting, Leka Ophiolite, Norway

The Leka Ophiolite Complex (LOC) is located on the island of Leka, Norway, and belongs to the Uppermost Allochthon of the Scandinavian Caledonides. The rocks of the adjacent mainland and most of the surrounding islands are basement gneisses and supracrustal rocks not related to the ophiolite complex. Paleostress analysis, gravity inversion, and regional geology support a fault-bounded rhombochasm geometry for the LOC. The paleostress inversions revealed two types of tensors, interpreted as small strains: (1) horizontal extension, generally E–W to NE–SW, and (2) horizontal extension in the same direction with an added component of perpendicular horizontal contraction. A strong positive gravity anomaly (25 mGal) is centered on Leka, and gravity inversion indicates that the LOC lies directly below its surface exposures with steep-sided walls and a flat bottom located at 7 km depth. The faults bounding the LOC probably initiated during postorogenic extension in the Scandinavian Caledonides. The faults are regional in scale and are parallel to other NE–SW trending en echelon faults along the Norwegian coastline and on the adjacent mainland.A pull-apart structure explains the down-dropping and subsequent preservation of the LOC, as it is surrounded by rocks from lower structural positions within the nappe stack. The paleostress directions from Leka support a sinistral component of shear along these faults. The gravity inversion is consistent with a fault-bounded geometry. This pull-apart structure, as uniquely recorded by the dense ophiolitic rocks, suggests that strike-slip partitioning was active in an obliquely divergent setting.     

Propagating rift tectonics of a Caledonian marginal basin: Multi-stage seafloor spreading history of the Solund-Stavfjord ophiolite in western Norway

The Late Ordovician Solund-Stavfjord ophiolite in western Norway represents a remnant of the Iapetus oceanic lithosphere that developed in a Caledonian marginal basin. The ophiolite contains three structural domains that display distinctively different crustal architecture that reflects the mode and nature of magmatic and tectonic processes operated during the multi-stage seafloor spreading evolution of this marginal basin. Domain I includes, from top to bottom, an extensive extrusive sequence, a transition zone consisting of dike swarms with screens of pillow breccias, a sheeted dike complex, and plutonic rocks composed mainly of isotropic gabbro and microgabbro. Extrusive rocks include pillow lavas, pillow breccias, and massive sheet flows and are locally sheared and mineralized, containing epidosites, sulfide-sulfate deposits, Fe-oxides, and anhydrite veins, reminiscent of hydrothermal alteration zones on the seafloor along modern mid-ocean ridges. A fossil lava lake in the northern part of the ophiolite consists of a >65-m-thick volcanic sequence composed of a number of separate massive lava units interlayered with pillow lavas and pillow breccia horizons. The NE-trending sheeted dike complex contains multiple intrusions of metabasaltic dikes with one- and two-sided chilled margins and displays a network of both dike-parallel normal and dike-perpendicular oblique-slip faults of oceanic origin. The dike-gabbro boundary is mutually intrusive and represents the root zone of the sheeted dike complex. The internal architecture and rock types of Domain I are analogous to those of intermediate-spreading oceanic crust at modern mid-ocean ridge environments. The ophiolitic units in Domain II include mainly sheeted dikes and plutonic rocks with a general NW structural grain and are commonly faulted against each other, although primary intrusive relations between the sheeted dikes and the gabbros are locally well preserved. The exposures of this domain occur only in the northern and southern parts of the ophiolite complex and are separated by the ENE-trending Domain III, in which isotropic to pegmatitic gabbros and dike swarms are plastically deformed along ENE-striking sinistral shear zones. These shear zones, which locally include fault slivers of serpentinite intrusions, are crosscut by N20°E-striking undeformed basaltic dike swarms that contain xenoliths of gabbroic material. The NW-trending sheeted dike complex in the northern part of Domain II curves into an ENE orientation approaching Domain III in the south. The anomalous nature of deformed crust in Domain III is interpreted to have developed within an oceanic fracture zone or transform fault boundary.REE chemistry of representative extrusive and dike rocks from all three domains indicates N- to E-MORB affinities of their magmas with high Th/Ta ratios that are characteristic of subduction zone environments. The magmatic evolution of Domain I encompasses closed-system fractional crystallization of high-Mg basaltic magmas in small ephemeral chambers, which gradually interconnected to form large chambers in which mixing of primary magmas with more evolved and fractionated magma caused resetting of magma compositions through time. The compositional range from high-Mg basalts to ferrobasalts within Domain I is reminiscent of modern propagating rift basalts. We interpret the NE-trending Domain I as a remnant of an intermediate-spread rift system that propagated northeastwards (in present coordinate system) into a pre-existing oceanic crust, which was developed along the NW-trending doomed rift (Domain II) in the marginal basin. The N20°E dikes laterally intruding into the anomalous oceanic crust in Domain III represent the tip of the rift propagator. The inferred propagating rift tectonics of the Solund-Stavfjord ophiolite is similar to the evolutionary history of the modern Lau back-arc basin in the SW Pacific and suggests a complex magmatic evolution of the Caledonian marginal basin via multi-stage seafloor spreading tectonics.     

The seismic signature of the Iapetus Suture beneath the North Sea

Summary Deep seismic reflection profiles across the Mid-North Sea High and the Anglo-Dutch basin record a number of intra-crustal and mantle events. When combined with interpretations of potential field data and surface geology, these can be attributed to the Iapetus Suture, beneath the Mid-North Sea High, and the remains of an Ordovician subduction zone, beneath the concealed Caledonide basement of eastern England.     

我国西南地区秋季降水年际变化的空间差异及其成因

使用1980～2010年全国站点降水资料、ERA-Interim再分析环流资料、哈德莱海表温度资料,运用聚类分析和旋转经验正交函数分解,对西南地区的秋季降水按照其年际变化规律进行分区,进而分析影响各区域降水变化的物理过程和机理。结果表明:西南地区被分为东、西两个区域。西南东、西区域秋季降水的年际变化、显著周期、旱涝异常年份、相关的环流系统都有明显差异。西南东部秋季降水主要与热带海温异常有关,受低纬度环流影响。当赤道东太平洋为暖海温异常,热带印度洋为西正东负的偶极子型海温异常时,分别激发出西北太平洋反气旋和孟加拉反气旋,共同向西南东部输送水汽,造成西南东部降水偏多。西南西部降水在秋季三个月份与不同的环流形势对应:9月降水由中南半岛反气旋输送的暖湿气流决定;10月降水受高原以东反气旋环流和孟加拉湾低槽共同影响;11月降水主要受中高纬环流异常的影响,与斯堪的纳维亚遥相关存在显著负相关。     

Crustal thickening and ductile extension in the NE Greenland Caledonides: a metamorphic record from anatectic pelites

Caledonian orogenesis in NE Greenland resulted from the collision of Laurentia and Baltica during the Ordovician–Silurian. Anatectic pelites within the metasedimentary Smallefjord Sequence record a clockwise P – T  path, the result of early crustal thickening at c . 445–440 Ma and subsequent exhumation of the high-grade metamorphic core by a combination of ductile extension and tectonic denudation. The early prograde segment of the path followed a shallow, near-isothermal trajectory and attained a metamorphic peak of c . 9.0–10.0 kbar at >790 and <850 °C. Prograde metamorphism initiated anatexis of pelites in the kyanite stability field and continued with sillimanite stable. Inclusion trails in the garnet cores are textural remnants of early deformation, which occurred either before or during prograde metamorphism. The peak metamorphic conditions are anomalously high in the context of thermal models and P – T  paths for continental collision zones. The additional heat input required to promote migmatization may have been provided by advection as lower crustal high-pressure rocks and the uppermost mantle were uplifted following lithospheric thinning at an early stage in the orogeny. The prograde path was interrupted by the development of retrograde extensional shear fabrics defined by biotite+sillimanite and associated with garnet breakdown. Field observations indicate that ductile extension was accompanied by melt extraction, transport and emplacement of intracrustal granites dated at c . 430 Ma. Regional ductile extension and exhumation probably resulted from the development of gravitational instabilities within the overthickened crust during continental collision.     

Evidence for dextral oblique-slip faulting in the shelve ordovician inlier,welsh borderland: Implications for the South British Caledonies

Recent work in the Shelve Ordovician Inlier has produced a variety of evidence for a period of deformation dominated by a braided system of dextral oblique-slip faults of pre-upper Llandovery age. Displacement amounts along individual fault strands are generally less than 2 km, but the aggregate displacement across the whole Inlier up to and including the Pontesford-Linley Fault, must have been much greater. The fault structures found in other parts of Wales are compared to those of the Shelve Inlier, and it is concluded that this style of faulting was of importance in Wales, though it was mostly of pre-Silurian age. The significance of the fault systems in terms of the late Precambrian to early Caledonian structural framework of Southern Britain is discussed with reference to examples from other parts of the world.     

Geochemistry of an ordovician basalt-trachybasalt-subalkaline/peralkaline rhyolite association from the Lleyn Peninsula,North Wales,U.K

The Caradoc volcanic rocks of the Lleyn Peninsula represent a major episode of rhyolite-dominated eruption (total volume up to 560 km³) within the Southern British Caledonides. New geochemical data reveal the original chemical characteristics of the basic, intermediate, and acid lavas. The basalts are interpreted as having predominantly within-plate character and are associated with intermediate lavas (trachybasalts) and high-Zr, originally peralkaline, trachytes, and rhyolites. A low-Zr, originally high-K, subalkalic group of rhyolites, and a basalt with transitional island arc tholeiite-MORB characteristics are unrelated to these lavas. The volcanic rocks are interpreted to have been erupted onto a complex, rapidly evolving, active continental margin dominated by crustal tension.     

Low-grade metamorphism within the Welsh sector of the paratectonic Caledonides

Mineral assemblages within metabasites from the paratectonic Caledonides of Wales show that the grade of metamorphism was predominantly within the prehnite-pumpellyite facies, although green-schist fades assemblages occur in the more central parts of the region. General agreement with this pattern of metamorphism is seen in recent studies of illite crystallinity and conodont colour. Comparison with other regions suggests that all of the paratectonic Caledonides of the British Isles has suffered a low-grade of regional metamorphism during late Caledonian times.