Palaeomagnetic investigations in the Hercynian mountain belt of central Europe

Abstract The palaeomagnetism of sediments and volcanics of Middle Devonian to Early Carboniferous age has been studied in the Hercynian realm of the Vosges, Harz and Franconian Forest (France and Germany). After appropriate cleaning, characteristic directions of natural remanent magnetization (NRM) have been determined, which are considered to be of pretectonic origin according to rock magnetic and structural geological evidence. A mean palaeopole for the Devonian rocks in the areas investigated was determined at — 29.7°N and 9.0°E. The site latitude derived from the Devonian rocks agrees very well with that observed in Great Britain and Britanny. The significant difference in longitude bet…

Geochronology and palaeomagnetism of a late Proterozoic island arc terrane from the Red Sea Hills, northeast Sudan

Abstract Size fractions and single grains of zircon, hornblende and biotite have been dated to define the formation age and thermal history of the northern Haya Terrane (NHT), a late Proterozoic island arc terrane of the Red Sea Hills (RSH), northeast Sudan. U Pb and 207 Pb/ 206 Pb zircon data for acidic volcanics and granitoid rocks bracket the time of formation of the NHT between 887 ± 20 and 854 ± 9 Ma. 40 Ar/ 39 Ar hornblende and biotite ages of a gabbro near Suakin suggest passage through the argon closing temperature for hornblende at about 841 ± 4 Ma and 782 ± 6 Ma for biotite. The hornblende age is considered to be representative of the age of magnetic blocking and, hence, the age o…

The Early Palaeozoic break-up of northern Gondwana, new palaeomagnetic and geochronological data from the Saxothuringian Basin, Germany

Early Palaeozoic volcanic and sedimentary rocks from the Saxothuringian Basin (Franconian Forest, northern Bavaria) have been subjected to detailed radiometric and palaeomagnetic studies in order to determine the tectonic environment and geographic setting in which they were deposited. Two hand samples were collected from the as yet undated pyroclastic flow deposits for 207Pb/206Pb age dating. Radiometric results for these samples, obtained by the single-zircon evaporation technique, are identical within error, and the mean age of all measured grains is 478.2±1.8 Ma (n=11). This age is considered to be primary and firmly constrains the eruption of the ignimbrites and formation of the subaqu…

Palaeozoic evolution of the North Tianshan based on palaeomagnetic data – transition from Gondwana towards Pangaea

We present new palaeomagnetic data for Cambrian and Ordovician volcanic and sedimentary rocks from the Kyrgyz North Tianshan (NTS) and review available data from the southwestern Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) to elucidate the tectonic history and evolution of this region during the early Palaeozoic. We observed a coherent evolution of the NTS and the Kazakhstan continent (or Kazakhstania) with a constant northwards movement between the Cambrian and Devonian at ∼5 cm/a. After the northwards movement ceased in the Devonian, the accreted terrane assemblage of Kazakhstania occupied a stable latitudinal position at ∼30°N until the final amalgamation of Eurasia occurred in the late Carbonife…

Palaeomagnetic investigations in the Hercynian mountain belt of central Europe (Dataset)