Ocean-floor hydrothermal metamorphism in the Limousin ophiolites (western French Massif Central): evidence of a rare preserved Variscan oceanic marker

The Limousin ophiolite is located at the suture zone between two major thrust sheets in the western French Massif Central. This ophiolitic section comprises mantle‐harzburgite, mantle‐dunite, wehrlites, troctolites and layered gabbros. It has recorded a static metamorphic event transforming the gabbros into undeformed amphibolites and the magmatic ultramafites into serpentinites and/or pargasite‐bearing chloritites. With various thermobarometric methods, it is possible to show that the different varieties of amphibole have registered low‐P (c. 0.2 GPa) conditions with temperature ranging from high‐T, late‐magmatic conditions to greenschist–zeolite metamorphic facies. The abundance of undeformed metamorphic rocks (which is typical of the lower oceanic crust), the occurrence of Ca–Al (–Mg) metasomatism illustrated by the growth of Ca–Al silicates in veins or replacing the primary magmatic minerals, the P–T conditions of the metamorphism and the numerous similarities with oceanic crustal rocks from Ocean Drilling Program and worldwide ophiolites are the main arguments for an ocean‐floor hydrothermal metamorphism in the vicinity of a palaeo‐ridge. Among the West‐European Variscan ophiolites, the Limousin ophiolites constitute an extremely rare occurrence that has not been involved in any HP (subduction‐related) or MP (orogenic) metamorphism as observed in other ophiolite occurrences (i.e. France, Spain and Germany).     

P-T-t-deformation paths recorded by kinzigites during diapirism in the western Variscan belt (Golfe du Morbihan, southern Brittany, France)

Abstract The high-grade metamorphic rocks of southern Brittany underwent a complex tectonic evolution under various P-T conditions (high-P, high-T), related to stacking of nappes during Palaeozoic continentcontinent collision. The east to west thrusting observed in the whole belt is strongly perturbed by vertical movements attributed to the ascent of anatectic granites in the high-T area. The field reconstruction of subvertical, closed elliptical structures in gneisses and migmatites, associated with the subhorizontal, doubly radial pattern of stretching lineation in the mica schists, suggests the existence of an elliptical diapiric body buried at depth beneath the present erosion level. Deformation is associated with a complex P-T evolution partly recorded in aluminous gneisses (kinzigites, e.g. morbihanites). A chronology of successive episodes of mineral growth at different compositions is established by detailed studies of the mineral-microstructure relationships in X-Z sections, using the deformation-partitioning concept (low- and high-strain zones). Several thermometric and barometric calibrations are applied to mineral pairs either in contact or not in contact but in equivalent microstructiiral positions with respect to the deformation history. This methodology provides a continuous microstructural control of P-T variations through time and leads to three P-T-t-d paths constructed from numerous successive P-T estimations. Path 1 is a clockwise retrograde path preserved in low-strain zones, which records general exhumation movements after crustal thickening. Paths 2 and 3 are clockwise prograde/retrograde paths from high-strain zones; they are interpreted and discussed in the light of models of crustal anatexis and upward movement of magma (diapirism). Deformation and P-T effects induced by diapirism can be distinguished from the general deformation-metamorphic history of a belt, and would seem to be produced during a late stage of its history. The present microstructural-petrological approach to defining successive mineral equilibria in relation to progressive deformation steps provides a far more accurate evaluation of the metamorphic evolution than is possible by ‘standard’thermobarometry.     

Variscan basic dykes in the Pelagonian (Northern Greece and south FYROM): Geodynamic significance based on petrological, geochemical and geochronological studies

Dolerite dykes intruding Variscan plutonites were studied in terms of mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry and geochronology. The main mineral constituents were studied and the sequence of crystallization has been derived. The geochemical characteristic indicate mantle origin of the dolerites and magma sources different from the hosting granitoids. From SHRIMP analyses of five spots on four different zircon crystals, resulted a 292.0±4.1 Ma age that is interpreted as the time of crystallization of the dolerite. The hosting granitoids are probably the result of mixing between two possible end-members: enriched mantle and acid metaigneous or lower crustal metasediments.

The Variscan age of the dolerites, in combination with the geochemical characteristics, indicated that the enriched mantle basaltic material should be the source of the dolerite veins. These mantle-derived basaltic melts may represent the underplated material, which probably provided the necessary thermal input to the dehydration melting in the lower crust. The dolerites should have intruded the newly formed batholiths before or at the first stages of their uplift, recording the last events of the Variscan subduction.     

Geomechanical model for the post-Variscan evolution of the Permocarboniferous–Mesozoic basins in Northeast Germany

The Permocarboniferous basins in Northeast Germany formed on the heterogeneous and eroded parts of the Variscan orogene and its deformed northern foreland. Transtensional tectonic movements and thermal re-equilibration lead to medium-scale crustal fragmentation, fast subsidence rates and regional emplacement of large amounts of mostly acidic volcanics. The later basin formation and differentiation was triggered by reversals of the large-scale stress field and reactivation of prominent zones of weakness like the Elbe Fault System and the Rhenohercynian/Saxothuringian boundary that separate different Variscan basement domains in the area. The geomechanical behaviour of the latter plays an important role for the geodynamic evolution of the medium to large-scale structural units, which we can observe today in three dimensions on structural maps, geophysical recordings and digital models. This study concentrates on an area that comprises the southern Northeast German Basin, the Saale Basin, the Flechtingen High, the Harz Mountains High and the Subhercynian Basin. The presented data include re-evaluations of special geological and structural maps, the most recent interpretation of the DEKORP BASIN 9601 seismic profile and observations of exposed rock sections in Northeast Germany. On the basis of different structural inventories and different basement properties, we distinguish two structural units to the south and one structural unit to the north of the Elbe Fault System. For each unit, we propose a geomechanical model of basin formation and basin inversion, and show that the Rhenohercynian Fold and Thrust Belt domain is deformed in a thin-skinned manner, while the Mid-German Crystalline Rise Domain, which is the western part of the Saxothuringian Zone, rather shows a thick-skinned deformation pattern. The geomechanical model for the unit north to the Elbe Fault System takes account to the fact that the base of the Zechstein beneath the present Northeast German basin shows hardly any evidence for brittle deformation, which indicates a relative stable basement. Our geomechanical model suggests that the Permocarboniferous deposits may have contributed to the structural stiffness by covering small to medium scale structures of the upper parts of the brittle basement. It is further suggested that the pre-Zechstein successions underneath the present Northeast German basin were possibly strengthening during the Cretaceous basin inversion, which resulted in stress transfer to the long-lived master faults, as indicated for example by the shape of the salt domes in the vicinity of the latter faults. Contrary to this, post-Zechstein successions deformed in a different and rather complex way that was strongly biased by intensive salt tectonic movements.     

Metamorphic evolution of garnet-spinel peridotites from the Variscan Schwarzwald (Germany)

Garnet-spinel peridotites form small, isolated, variably retrogressed bodies within the low-pressure high-temperature gneisses and migmatites of the Variscan basement of the Schwarzwald, southwest Germany. Detailed mineralogical and textural studies as well as geothermobarometric calculations on samples from three occurrences are presented. Two of the garnet-spinel peridotites have equilibrated at 680–770°C, 1.4–1.8 GPa within the garnet-spinel peridotite stability field, one of the samples having experienced an earlier stage within the spinel peridotite stability field (790°C, <1.8 GPa). The third sample, with only garnet and spinel preserved, probably equilibrated within the garnet peridotite stability field at higher pressures. These findings are in line with the distinction of two groups of ultramafic garnet-bearing high-pressure rocks with different equilibration conditions within the Schwarzwald (670–740°C, 1.4–1.8 GPa and 740–850°C, 3.2–4.3 GPa) which has previously been established (Kalt et al. 1995). The equilibration conditions of 670–770°C and 1.4–1.8 GPa for garnet-spinel peridotites from the Central Schwarzwald Gneiss Complex (CSGC) are similar to those for eclogites of the Schwarzwald and also correspond quite well to those for garnet-spinel peridotites from the Moldanubian zone of the Vosges mountains and of ecologites from the Moldanubian s.str. of the Bohemian Massif.     

Quantitative Constraints on Metamorphism in the Variscides of Southern Brittany--a Complementary Pseudosection Approach

Previous studies of metapelitic rocks from the core of the southernBrittany metamorphic belt suggest a complex clockwise P–Tevolution. We use pseudosections calculated for an average subaluminousmetapelite composition in the MnNCKFMASH system and averageP–T calculations to investigate in more detail the metamorphicevolution of these rocks. For migmatites, sequential occurrenceof kyanite, kyanite + staurolite and sillimanite suggests thata prograde evolution to P > 8 kbar at T     

新疆蒙库地区华力西中期花岗岩及其构造环境意义的研究

新疆蒙库地区位于阿尔泰山南麓,南接准噶尔盆地。该地区花岗岩分布广泛,主要为华力西中、晚期花岗岩。对蒙库地区华力西中期（石炭纪）花岗岩进行分析和研究认为,该区花岗岩处于华力西期大陆边缘造山带环境中,具有汇聚、造山期花岗岩的特征。岩浆沿断裂带上侵就位,为板块俯冲作用、陆—陆碰撞构造环境下形成的活动大陆边缘岩浆弧。深入研究蒙库地区花岗岩有助于我们了解这一时期该地区区域构造、岩浆演化的规律。     

Granitoid emplacement by multiple sheeting during Variscan dextral transpression: The Saint-Laurent – La Jonquera pluton (Eastern Pyrenees)

The structural study of the Saint-Laurent – La Jonquera pluton (Eastern Pyrenees), a Variscan composite laccolithic intrusion emplaced in metasedimentary and gneissic rocks of the Roc de Frausa dome, by means of the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) technique has allowed the determination of the nature and orientation of its magmatic fabrics. The magmatic foliation has a predominant NE–SW strike and the mean lineation is also NE–SW trending with a shallow plunge. A strain gradient is measured so that the tonalites to granodiorites that form the basal parts of the pluton, and are intruded into amphibolite-facies metamorphic rocks, recorded the highest anisotropies, whereas the monzogranites and leucogranites, emplaced into upper crustal, low-grade metamorphic rocks, are weakly deformed. These results point to the synkinematic sequential emplacement of multiple granitoid sheets, from less to more differentiated magmatic stages, during the Late Carboniferous D₂ event characterized by an E–W-trending dextral transpression. The magmatic foliation appears locally disturbed by the effects of two tectonic events. The first of them (D₃) produced mylonitization of granitoids along NW–SE retrograding shear zones and open folds in the host Ediacaran metasediments of the Roc de Frausa massif, likely during late Variscan times. Interference between D₂ and D₃ structures was responsible for the dome geometry of the whole Roc de Frausa massif. The second and last perturbation consisted of local southward tilting of the granitoids coupled to the Mesozoic–Cenozoic cover during the Alpine.     

华北晚古生代聚煤盆地造盆构造述略

本文从盆地基底、盆地基盘及盆地发育期构造演化三个层次讨论了华北晚古生代聚煤盆地的造盆构造特征。文中提出了盆地基盘概念，阐述释了华北地台晚古生代积活动肇始的构造机理，对华力西阶段华北板块板缘活动及其板内地层记录进行了对应研究。     

The age of the Kagenfels granite (northern Vosges) and its bearing on the intrusion scheme of late Variscan granitoids

In the Saxothuringian part of the Vosges (France), a first series of Variscan plutonic rocks (diorites to granites) has been intruded by several younger granites. Rocks of both the older generations have been cross-cut by the late orogenic Kagenfels granite. The averages of the hitherto published mineral ages of the earlier rock generations are 331 and 334 Ma, respectively, whereas Rb-Sr and K-Ar dates around 290 Ma have been reported for the Kagenfels granite. Because of the unlikely large age hiatus, a redetermination of the intrusion age of the Kagenfels granite formation appeared to be irrevocable. The newly obtained mineral ages on the Kagenfels granite (K-Ar and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar biotite ages as well as single zircon radiogenic ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb data: 331 ± 5 Ma) are about 40 Ma older than the previous results. They are interpreted as giving the time of emplacement of the Kagenfels granite during the latest Visan. The mineral ages of the earlier plutonic rocks in this part of the Variscan Orogeny in all probability are not significantly different from their ages of intrusion. Therefore the age concordance of all three granitoid generations constrains a rather narrow time interval of orogenic magmatism close to the Lower-Upper Carboniferous boundary.