Palaeomagnetism of the Tudor gabbro, Ontario: evidence for divergence between Grenvillia and interior Laurentia

Summary. After thermal and alternating field (AF) cleaning, the characteristic high blocking temperature A component of natural remanent magnetization (NRM) of the Tudor gabbro of southern Ontario has a mean direction D = 326°, I =–46° ( k = 132, α₉₅= 4.8°, N = 8 sites). The corresponding palaeopole, 133°E, 12°N ( dp = 4°, dm = 6°), confirms the palaeopole 137°E, 17°N (α₉₅= 8.4°) reported earlier by Palmer & Carmichael, based on AF cleaning only. The A NRM has unblocking temperatures > 515–525°C which exceed the estimated 500°C peak temperature reached locally during ∼ 1050 Ma Grenvillian regional metamorphism. The A NRM therefore predates metamorphism and is probably a primary thermoremanence (TRM). The age of the Tudor NRM has previously been taken to be about 675 Ma, but recent ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating by Baksi has shown that this is the time of post-metamorphic cooling to 200–250°C. Hornblendes record initial cooling of the intrusion to 590±20°C at 1110 Ma and this is the best estimate of the age of the A remanence. Successful Thellier-type palaeointensity determinations on 11 Tudor samples confirm that the A NRM is a TRM and indicate a palaeofield at this time of 18–27 μT, about 50–70 per cent of the present field intensity at 27° magnetic latitude. The anomalous Tudor A palaeopole, which lies well to the west of both 1000–800 Ma Grenvillian palaeopoles and 1100–1050 Ma poles from Interior Laurentia, is interpreted as recording divergence between Grenvillia and Interior Laurentia just before the Grenvillian orogeny, rather than a post-metamorphic extension of the apparent polar wander path as previously assumed.     

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.     

Pan-African eclogite facies metamorphism of ultramafic rocks in the Shackleton Range, Antarctica

In the Shackleton Range of East Antarctica, garnet-bearing ultramafic rocks occur as lenses in supracrustal high-grade gneisses. In the presence of olivine, garnet is an unmistakable indicator of eclogite facies metamorphic conditions. The eclogite facies assemblages are only present in ultramafic rocks, particularly in pyroxenites, whereas other lithologies – including metabasites – lack such assemblages. We conclude that under high-temperature conditions, pyroxenites preserve high-pressure assemblages better than isofacial metabasites, provided the pressure is high enough to stabilize garnet–olivine assemblages (i.e. ≥18–20 kbar). The Shackleton Range ultramafic rocks experienced a clockwise P–T path and peak conditions of 800–850 °C and 23–25 kbar. These conditions correspond to ∼70 km depth of burial and a metamorphic gradient of 11–12 °C km⁻¹ that is typical of a convergent plate-margin setting. The age of metamorphism is defined by two garnet–whole-rock Sm–Nd isochrons that give ages of 525 ± 5 and 520 ± 14 Ma corresponding to the time of the Pan-African orogeny. These results are evidence of a Pan-African suture zone within the northern Shackleton Range. This suture marks the site of a palaeo-subduction zone that likely continues to the Herbert Mountains, where ophiolitic rocks of Neoproterozoic age testify to an ocean basin that was closed during Pan-African collision. The garnet-bearing ultramafic rocks in the Shackleton Range are the first known example of eclogite facies metamorphism in Antarctica that is related to the collision of East and West Gondwana and the first example of Pan-African eclogite facies ultramafic rocks worldwide. Eclogites in the Lanterman Range of the Transantarctic Mountains formed during subduction of the palaeo-Pacific beneath the East Antarctic craton.     

Timing and tectonic setting of Grenvillian metamorphism—constraints from a transect along Georgian Bay,Ontario*

Systematic mapping of a transect along the well-exposed shores of Georgian Bay, Ontario, combined with the preliminary results of structural analysis, geochronology and metamorphic petrology, places some constraints on the geological setting of high-grade metamorphism in this part of the Central Gneiss Belt. Correlations within and between map units (gneiss associations) have allowed us to recognize five tectonic units that differ in various aspects of their lithology, metamorphic and plutonic history, and structural style. The lowest unit, which forms the footwall to a regional decollement, locally preserves relic pre-Grenvillian granulite facies assemblages reworked under amphibolite facies conditions during the Grenvillian orogeny. Tectonic units above the decollement apparently lack the early granulite facies metamorphism; out-of-sequence thrusting in the south produced a duplex-like structure. Two distinct stages of Grenvillian metamorphism are apparent. The earlier stage (c. 1160–1120 Ma) produced granulite facies assemblages in the Parry Sound domain and upper amphibolite facies assemblages in the Parry Island thrust sheet. The later stage (c. 1040–1020 Ma) involved widespread, dominantly upper amphibolite facies metamorphism within and beneath the duplex. Deformation and metamorphism recently reported from south and east of the Parry Sound domain at c. 1100–1040 Ma have not yet been documented along the Georgian Bay transect. The data suggest that early convergence was followed by a period of crustal thickening in the orogenic core south-east of the transect area, with further advance to the north-west during and after the waning stages of this deformation.     

鄂尔多斯地块构造演化的古地磁学研究

鄂尔多斯地块与中朝地台其它地区相同时代地层的古地磁结果基本一致表明:晚二叠世以来,中朝地台经历了从低纬度(19°左右)向中纬度的北移过程,并伴有50°左右的逆时针旋转;晚二叠世—中三叠世地台北移10°(1000km)左右,而方位基本未变;中三叠世—中侏罗世主要发生50°左右的逆时针旋转,而北向位移不明显,这一旋转可能与杨子地台和中朝地台碰撞拼合有关,或者说是印支运动在该地区的反应,中侏罗世—早白垩世地块已基本和现代位置一致     

Li-Sr-Nd isotope signatures of the plume and cratonic lithospheric mantle beneath the margin of the rifted Tanzanian craton (Labait)

Lithium concentrations and isotopic compositions of olivine and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd of coexisting clinopyroxene from peridotite xenoliths from the Quaternary Labait volcano, Tanzania, document the influence of rift-related metasomatism on the ancient cratonic mantle. Olivines show negative correlations between Fo content and both δ⁷Li and Li concentrations. Olivines in iron-rich peridotites (Fo_85–87) have high Li concentrations (3.2–4.8 ppm) and heavy δ⁷Li (+5.2 to +6.6). In contrast, olivines in ancient, refractory peridotites have lower Li concentrations (∼2 ppm) and relatively light δ⁷Li (+2.6 to +3.5). This reflects mixing between ancient, refractory cratonic lithosphere and asthenosphere-derived rift magmas. A uniquely fertile, deformed, high-temperature garnet lherzolite, interpreted to be from the base of the lithosphere, has a ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr of 0.7029 and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd of 0.51286, similar to HIMU oceanic basalts. It provides the best estimate of the Sr–Nd isotope composition of the upwelling mantle (i.e., plume, sensu lato) underlying this portion of the East African Rift, and is slightly less radiogenic compared to previous estimates of the plume that were based on rift basalts. Although elevated δ⁷Li are not exclusive to HIMU source regions, the data collectively indicate that the plume beneath Labait has HIMU characteristics in Sr, Nd and Li isotope composition. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Mesozoic-Cenozoic tectonics and geodynamics of Altai, Tien Shan, and Northern Kazakhstan, from apatite fission-track data

Apatite fission-track (AFT) thermochronological modeling as a diagnostic tool for periods of stability (peneplanation) and tectonic activity (orogeny) has been broadly used in tectonic studies of Central Asia in recent years. We discuss more than 100 AFT ages of samples from the Kyrgyz Tien Shan and Altai and compare them with AFT data from northern Kazakhstan. Geological, geomorphological, and AFT data indicate intense activity in the Late Cenozoic Eurasian continental interior. The impact from the India-Eurasia collision on the northern Tien Shan, Altai, and northern Kazakhstan regions showed up at 11, 5, and 3 Ma, respectively, as a result of stress propagation into the continent, with the ensuing reactivation and mountain growth. We hypothesize that a distant effect of the Late Cenozoic India-Eurasia collision was to rejuvenate Paleozoic fault zones and to deform the Mesozoic sedimentary cover north of the collision front as far as the West Siberian Plate. The reactivation facilitated formation of tectonic oil and gas traps. The activity in northern Central Asia under the effect of the Indian indentation into Eurasia appears to continue and may evolve to include uplift of southern West Siberian plate with uplift.     

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.