Variscan evolution of the Tanneron Massif, SE France, examined through U-Pb monazite ages

2008

The Tanneron massif belongs to the southernmost segment of the Variscan belt in France and is composed of migmatitic orthogneisses and paragneisses cross-cut by a main tonalite–granite complex. Late Carboniferous detrital basins are bounded by north–south-trending ductile to brittle normal faults and delineate three distinct zones. Our new isotope dilution U–Pb monazite dating indicates a pre-Variscan history in the central part of the massif recorded by monazites from an orthogneiss yielding ages from 440 to 410 Ma, whereas monazites from a migmatitic paragneiss record a late Carboniferous high- T event at 317 ± 1 Ma. In the eastern part, a migmatization event is recorded by monazites from…