Precambrian crustal evolution and continental drift

One of the major questions of Precambrian research is whether present-day plate tectonic models can be applied to the evolution of the ancient continental crust or whether the tectonic style suggests a unidirectional and therefore non-uniformitarian development in response to gradual changes in the global thermal regime through time.

Pre-3000 Ma thermal history of the Archean Kaap Valley puton, South Africa

The Kaap Valley pluton is one of several early Archean (3200-3500 Ma) tonalitetrondhjemite plutons that surround the Barberton Greenstone belt, southern Africa. Precise dating using single-grain 207 Pb/ 206 Pb evaporation of zircon and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar laser step-heating of hornblende and biotite indicates that, in its interior, the Kaap Valley pluton preserves a memory of its initial intrusion and cooling, which spanned a time from 3225 to 3142 Ma. The pluton also records the effect of a low-temperature thermal event at its margin as seen by a 40 Ar/ 39 Ar biotite age of 3035 Ma, which is perhaps related to hydrothermal activity and gold mineralization in the adjacent Barberton Greenstone belt…

Structure, Composition and Evolution of the South Indian and Sri Lankan Granulite Terrains from Deep Seismic Profiling and Other Geophysical and Geological Investigations: A LEGENDS Initiative

We here argue the need for a multidisciplinary, integrated geophysical/geological survey across southern India and Sri Lanka, part of the largest exposed Neoproterozoic high-grade metamorphic terrain in the world. The purpose is to stimulate deep seismic profiling and other geophysical and geological investigations in order to better understand the structure, composition and evolution of a keystone of Precambrian continental crust and the role it played in the amalgamation and subsequent break-up of the Gondwana supercontinent. Of particular importance is that this lithospheric fragment records a 2 billion year long history of magmatism, sedimentation, deformation and metamorphism and now e…

Further evidence for an early Carboniferous (∼340 Ma) age of high-grade metamorphism in the Saxonian granulite complex

U–Pb and Pb–Pb zircon ages for metamorphic zircons from granulites in the Saxonian granulite complex are reported, using the SHRIMP ion microprobe, conventional multigrain and single-gain techniques and the evaporation method. This is complemented by a Pb–Pb evaporation age for a post-granulite granite emplaced into the schist mantle around the granulites during uplift of the complex. We also demonstrate that zircon ages are not reset during high-grade metamorphism, as commonly argued, but have a very high closure temperature and usually preserve the isotopic composition reflecting the time of their formation. Multifaceted zircons from four granulite samples that probably grew close to the …

Single zircon U–Pb ages and geochemistry of granitoid gneisses from SW Poland: evidence for an Avalonian affinity of the Brunian microcontinent

AbstractSeven granitoid gneisses from the contact zone between the eastern margin of the Variscan belt and the Brunian microcontinent in SW Poland have been dated by ion-microprobe and207Pb/206Pb single zircon evaporation methods. The zircons define two age groups for the gneiss protoliths: (1) late Neoproterozoicc.576–560 Ma and (2) early Palaeozoicc.488–503 Ma granites. The granitoid gneisses belonging to the basement of the Brunian microcontinent contain abundant Mesoproterozoic to latest Palaeoproterozoic inherited material in the range of 1200–1750 Ma. The gneisses of the Variscan crustal domain lack Mesoproterozoic inherited zircon cores. Trace element geochemistry of Proterozoic gnei…

Geochemical signature of Paleozoic accretionary complexes of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt in South Mongolia: Constraints on arc environments and crustal growth

Abstract We report a reconnaissance geochemical and Nd-isotopic study for 33 metaigneous and metavolcaniclastic rocks from the ca. 470 to 290 Ma old Gurvan Sayhan, Zoolen, Nemegt Uul, Bayanleg-Hatuu, and Tseel mountain ranges in southern Mongolia, in order to infer tectonic environments, test a recently proposed multiple terrane model, and explore the late-stage development of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). Samples from the Gurvan Sayhan and the Zoolen ranges have a predominantly intermediate, calc-alkaline composition; they display LREE enrichment, excess abundances of fluid-soluble elements, and low concentrations of high-field strength elements. These data, in combinati…

Time-scale of deformation and intertectonic phases revealed by P-T-D-t relationships in the orogenic middle crust of the Orlica-Śnieżnik Dome, Polish/Czech Central Sudetes

A section of the orogenic middle crust (Orlica-nienik Dome, Polish/Czech Central Sudetes) was examined to constrain the duration and significance of deformation (D) and intertectonic (I) phases. In the studied metasedimentary synform, three deformation events produced an initial subhorizontal foliation S1 (D-1), a subsequent subvertical foliation S2 (D-2) and a late subhorizontal axial planar cleavage S3 (D-3). The synform was intruded by pre-, syn- and post-D-2 granitoid sheets. Crystallization-deformation relationships in mica schist samples document I1-2 garnet-staurolite growth, syn-D-2 staurolite breakdown to garnet-biotite-sillimanite/andalusite, I2-3 cordierite blastesis and late-D-3…

Source composition, fractional crystallization and magma mixing processes in the 3.48–3.43Ga Tsawela tonalite suite (Ancient Gneiss Complex, Swaziland) – Implications for Palaeoarchaean geodynamics

Abstract The ca. 3480–3430 Ma Tsawela Gneiss (TG) is a well-preserved coarse-grained diorite to tonalite suite within the Ancient Gneiss Complex of Swaziland, eastern Kaapvaal craton. These gneisses are texturally and compositionally distinct from the hosting oldest components of the ca. 3200–3660 Ma TTG-type Ngwane Gneisses (NG). Major and trace elements, in combination with whole-rock hafnium-neodymium isotopic data, were analyzed in the TG and in three samples of ca. 3450 Ma grey NG to constrain sources and magmatic processes. High-field-strength element data (HFSE) were combined with U-Pb SHRIMP II ages and Hf-in-zircon data for key samples to constrain their ages and petrogenesis. In c…

Tectonic significance of the Variscan suture between Brunovistulia and the Bohemian Massif

The Velke Vrbno Dome crops out at the boundary between the Brunovistulian Terrane and the internal parts of the Bohemian Massif. Here, eclogite boudins occur within an Ediacaran volcano-sedimentary sequence. Strong Nb depletion (Nb/Nb* = 0.19–0.82) combined with moderately positive Nd isotopic compositions (eNd(i) = +3.89 – +5.77) is used to argue for emplacement of the eclogite protoliths in a transitional supra-subduction to continental-rift setting. Conversely, heterogeneously enriched large ion lithophile elements and highly radiogenic Sr isotopic ratios (87Sr/86Sr = 0.705–0.720) are interpreted to have been modified following fluid infiltration subsequent to eclogite-facies metamorphis…

Tonalite sill emplacement at an oblique plate boundary: northeastern margin of the Bohemian Massif

Abstract A tonalitic sill has been examined at the Variscan transpressive boundary of the Lugian and Silesian plates at the NE margin of the Bohemian Massif. A structural, petrological and geochronological study reveals that it was emplaced syn-tectonically with major ductile shearing in lower crustal rocks. Magmatic and pre-rheological critical melt percentage (RCMP) fabrics are concordant with the hanging wall structures but discordant with those of the footwall. The AMS study shows the predominance of flattening strain at the margins and plane strain fabrics in the core. Numerical modelling of AMS fabrics is in good agreement with the hypothesis of magma flow and deformation in oblique t…

Evolution of Pan-African island arc assemblages in the southern Red Sea Hills, Sudan, and in southwestern Arabia as exemplified by geochemistry and geochronology

Kr6ner, A., Linnebacher, P., Stern, R.J., Reischmann, T., Manton, W. and Hussein, I.M., 1991. Evolution of Pan-African island arc assemblages in the southern Red Sea Hills, Sudan, and in southwestern Arabia as exemplified by geochemistry and geochronology. In: R.J. Stern and W.R. van Schmus (Editors), Proterozoic Crustal Evolution in the Late Proterozoic. Precambrian Res., 53:99-117. We report Rb-Sr whole-rock and zircon ages for metavolcanic and plutonic associations in the southeastern part of the Red Sea Hills, Sudan, and show that these rocks constitute one of the earliest Pan-African arc assemblages within the Arabian-Nubian shield. The remarkable similarity in geochemistry and age bet…

Comment and Reply on "Age and tectonic setting of Late Archean greenstone-gneiss terrain in Henan Province, China, as revealed by single-grain zircon dating"

Single zircon ages, PT evolution and Nd isotopic systematics of high-grade gneisses in southern Malawi and their bearing on the evolution of the Mozambique belt in southeastern Africa

Abstract The high grade gneiss assemblage of central and southern Malawi belongs to the Neoproterozoic Mozambique belt of East Africa, and reached peak metamorphic conditions at 900±70°C and 9.5±1.5 kbar, followed by an isobaric cooling path. We report single zircon U–Pb and Pb–Pb ages and Nd isotopic data for orthogneisses and metapelites collected around Lilongwe and farther south in the region around Blantyre and Zomba. The ages document three distinct events, (1) a Kibaran-age period of intrusion of calc-alkaline granitoids around 1040–929 Ma; Nd isotope data indicate overall juvenile compositions consistent with a magmatic arc environment, or emplacement into thinned continental crust …

Metamorphic evolution and zircon geochronology of early Proterozoic granulites in the Aravalli Mountains of northwestern India

Granulites including a charnockite suite, mafic granulites, pelitic granulites, metanorite dykes and their retrograde varieties occur as discontinuous shear zone-bounded bodies within the Archaean basement comprising a granite gneiss–amphibolite–metasedimentary rock association in the central part of the Aravalli Mountains, northwest India. The entire suite, named the Sandmata Complex, preserves a complex history of tectonothermal evolution. Except for their strongly foliated margins, the granulite bodies are largely massive. Partial melting in the ‘country rocks’ led to the development of migmatite gneisses close to the contact of the granulite, a feature not as common in the rocks further…

U–Pb zircon geochronology and Hf–Nd isotopic systematics of Wadi Beitan granitoid gneisses, South Eastern Desert, Egypt

Abstract Migmatitic granitoid gneisses are widespread in the southern Eastern Desert of Egypt, but their formation ages are poorly understood. They consist of granitoid gneiss ranging in composition from tonalite to granodiorite, with a distinct calc-alkaline chemical character. Zircons from three migmatitic gneiss samples from Wadi Beitan were dated on SHRIMP II and yielded magmatic emplacement ages of 719 ± 10, 725 ± 9 and 744 ± 10 Ma, respectively, indicating that the gneiss protoliths are Neoproterozoic. The zircons yielded eHf(t) values of − 4.8 to + 12.5 and corresponding Hf crustal model ages ranging from 824 to 1753 Ma. These data indicate the involvement of both juvenile and older …

Reassessment of continental growth during the accretionary history of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt

We argue that the production of mantle-derived or juvenile continental crust during the accretionary history of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) has been grossly overestimated. This is because previous assessments only considered the Palaeozoic evolution of the belt, whereas its accretionary history already began in the latest Mesoproterozoic. Furthermore, much of the juvenile growth in Central Asia occurred in late Permian and Mesozoic times, after completion of CAOB evolution, and perhaps related to major plume activity. We demonstrate from zircon ages and Nd–Hf isotopic systematics from selected terranes within the CAOB that many Neoproterozoic to Palaeozoic granitoids in the accre…

Accretionary orogens through Earth history

Accretionary orogens form at intraoceanic and continental margin convergent plate boundaries. They include the supra-subduction zone forearc, magmatic arc and back-arc components. Accretionary orogens can be grouped into retreating and advancing types, based on their kinematic framework and resulting geological character. Retreating orogens (e.g. modern western Pacific) are undergoing long-term extension in response to the site of subduction of the lower plate retreating with respect to the overriding plate and are characterized by back-arc basins. Advancing orogens (e.g. Andes) develop in an environment in which the overriding plate is advancing towards the downgoing plate, resulting in th…

Age and tectonic setting of Late Archean greenstone-gneiss terrain in Henan Province, China, as revealed by single-grain zircon dating

The authors report precise U-Pb zircon ages for single grains of a metarhyodacite from the Late Archean Dengfeng greenstone belt in Henan Province, China, near the southern margin of the North China craton. Most grains belong to an igneous population whose U-Pb isotopic systematics define a straight line intersecting concordia at 2512 +/- 12 Ma, and this is interpreted as the time of crystallization of the original greenstone volcanics. Several grains are distinctly older, between 2576 +/- 9 and 2945 +/- 44 Ma, and the authors interpret the older grains as xenocrysts of pre-greenstone continental crust that provide evidence for crustal derivation or crustal contamination of the original rhy…

Zircon M257 - a homogeneous natural reference material for the ion microprobe U-Pb analysis of zircon

We introduce and propose zircon M257 as a future reference material for the determination of zircon U-Pb ages by means of secondary ion mass spectrometry. This light brownish, flawless, cut gemstone specimen from Sri Lanka weighed 5.14 g (25.7 carats). Zircon M257 has TIMS-determined, mean isotopic ratios (2s uncertainties) of 0.09100 ± 0.00003 for 206pb/238U and 0.7392 ± 0.0003 for 207pb/235U. Its 206pb/238U age is 561.3 ± 0.3 Ma (unweighted mean, uncertainty quoted at the 95% confidence level); the U-Pb system is concordant within uncertainty of decay constants. Zircon M257 contains ∼ 840 μg g−1 U (Th/U ∼ 0.27). The material exhibits remarkably low heterogeneity, with a virtual absence of…

Zircon dating of North Bohemian granulites, Czech Republic: Further evidence for the Lower Carboniferous high-pressure event in the Bohemian Massif

U-Pb zircon and rutile multigrain ages and 207Pb/206Pb zircon evaporation ages are reported from high-pressure felsic and metapelitic granulites from northern Bohemia, Czech Republic. The granulites, in contrast to those from other occurrences in the Bohemian Massif, do not show evidence of successive HT/MPLP overprints. Multigrain size fractions of nearly spherical, multifaceted, metamorphic zircons from three samples are slightly discordant and yield a U-Pb Concordia intercept age of 348 ± 10 Ma, whereas single zircon evaporation of two samples resulted in 207Pb/206Pb ages of 339 ± 1.5 and 339 ± 1.4 Ma, respectively. A rutile fraction from one sample has a U-Pb Concordia intercept age of …

Early Pan-African evolution of the basement around Elat, Israel,and the Sinai Peninsula revealed by single-zircon evaporation dating, and implications for crustal accretion rates

We report 2<r7Pb/206Pb single-zircon evaporation ages for early Pan-African rocks from southern Israel and the northeastern Sinai Peninsula, the northernmost extension of the Arabian-Nubian shield. The oldest rocks are metamorphic schists of presumed island-arc derivation; detrital zircons date the source terrain at ca. 800-820 Ma. A major phase of tonalite-trondhjemite plutonism occurred at ca. 760-780 Ma; more evolved granitic rocks were emplaced at about 745 Ma. A metagabbro-met adiorite complex reflects the youngest igneous phase at ca. 640 Ma. We Find no evidence for pre-Pan-African crust, and our data document important crust-forming events that correlate with similar episodes elsewhe…

Recycling and transport of continental material through the mantle wedge above subduction zones: A Caribbean example

Abstract Estimates of global growth rates of continental crust critically depend upon knowledge of the rate at which crustal material is delivered back into the mantle at subduction zones and is then returned to the crust as a component of mantle-derived magma. Quantification of crustal recycling by subduction-related magmatism relies on indirect chemical and isotopic tracers and is hindered by the large range of potential melt sources (e.g., subducted oceanic crust and overlying chemical and clastic sediment, sub-arc lithospheric mantle, arc crust), whose composition may not be accurately known. There is also uncertainty about how crustal material is transferred from subducted lithosphere …

New geochemical and combined zircon U–Pb and Lu–Hf isotopic data of orthogneisses in the northern Altyn Tagh, northern margin of the Tibetan plateau: Implication for Archean evolution of the Dunhuang Block and crust formation in NW China

Abstract Dunhuang Block is previously considered to be an eastern part of the Tarim Craton, but now it is proposed to be the western extension of the Alxa Block of the NCC as a result of displacement along the Altyn Tagh fault. The oldest basement rocks of the Dunhuang Block, named Aketashitage Complex, were mainly exposed in the northern Altyn Tagh. Migmatites of the Aketashitage Complex are sodic and subalkaline in composition. Zircon U–Pb dating of the tonalitic and monzogranitic migmatites indicates that these rocks were produced by strong deformation of earlier formed tonalites with innumerous granitic veins. The tonalitic melanosome of the migmatites was generated approximately at 2.7…

Palaeomagnetic results from the late Precambrian Chela Group of southwest Angola

Abstract Palaeomagnetic results from fourteen sites (56 samples) in the late Precambrian Chela Group of southwest Angola are reported. After alternating field demagnetization eight of the sites have mean directions closely grouped around D = 123°, I = −44 1 2 ° ; the dispersion of these directions increases substantially after tectonic corrections suggesting magnetic overprinting. Intensive thermal demagnetization proved more effective than alternating field demagnetization in resolving magnetic components. After removal of viscous components, samples from five sites (Group I) show a single component, similar to that observed after alternating field demagnetization. At four more sites (Grou…

Reworking of Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic crust in the Mozambique belt of central Tanzania as documented by SHRIMP zircon geochronology

Abstract New SHRIMP zircon ages for high-grade rocks from the Pan-African Mozambique belt (MB) of central Tanzania document reworking of Archaean–Palaeoproterozoic crust during the formation of this Neoproterozoic collisional orogen. Several gneisses and granulites from the Great Ruaha river area yielded late Archaean emplacement ages of 2575–2680 Ma for their magmatic precursors. Core-rim relationships in some zircons revealed new zircon growth during relatively short episodes of granitoid magmatism. Metamorphic zircons, dated at 1925 Ma, provide new evidence for high-grade metamorphism during formation of the Palaeoproterozoic Usagaran mobile belt. Metamorphic rims around magmatic cores i…

Late Archaean to early Proterozoic granitoid magmatism and high-grade metamorphism in the central Limpopo belt, South Africa

The Central Zone of the Limpopo belt in southern Africa has previously been interpreted as a segment of Archaean crust which experienced its main deformation and metamorphism around 2.7 Ga ago. We report new single zircon U/Pb and Pb/Pb ages for granitoid gneisses, supracrustal rocks and anatectically derived granitic melt patches in the area around Messina, South Africa. The Sand River Gneiss is a composite suite of tonalitic to trondhjemitic rocks with protolith ages between 2.6 and 3.2 Ga. The Singelele gneiss, a heterogeneous granodioritic to quartz monzonitic rock, has protolith ages between 2.55 and 2.58 Ga. Since both the Sand River and Singelele gneisses experienced polyphase high-s…

U-Pb zircon and Sm-Nd model ages of high-grade Moldanubian metasediments, Bohemian Massif, Czechoslovakia

We report single grain U-Pb ion-microprobe as well as conventional bulk size fraction ages for zircons from 3 metasediment samples of the Moldanubian Complex, Bohemian Massif, one of the largest crystalline complexes of the Hercynian foldbelt in Europe. These are complemented by whole-rock Sm-Nd model ages. The metasediments are of upper amphibolite to granulite grade and come from the Bory Massif in Moravia, NW of Brno (sample AA-1) and from the Varied Group (AA-2) and Monotonous Group (AA-3) in the Ceske Budejovice region of SW Bohemia.

Palaeoproterozoic ancestry of Pan-African high-grade granitoids in southernmost India: Implications for Gondwana reconstructions

Abstract SHRIMP dating of magmatic zircons from granitoid gneisses and charnockites of the Trivandrum and Nagercoil Blocks in the granulite terrane of southernmost India yielded well-defined protolith emplacement ages between 1765 and ca. 2100 Ma and also document variable recrystallization and/or lead-loss during the late Neoproterozoic Pan-African event at around 540 Ma. Hf-in-zircon and whole rock Nd isotopic data suggest that the granitoid host rocks were derived from mixed crustal sources, and Hf–Nd model ages vary between 2.2 and 2.8 Ga. A gabbroic dyke, emplaced into a charnockite protolith and deformed together with it, only contained metamorphic zircon whose mean age of 542.3 ± 4.0…

Neoproterozoic ophiolite and related high-grade rocks of the Baikal–Muya belt, Siberia: Geochronology and geodynamic implications

Abstract We report zircon for from ophiolitic and high-grade rocks of the Neoproterozoic Baikal–Muya belt of Siberia that occupies an arc-shaped area on the southeastern margin of the Siberian craton. It consists of arc-related plutonic, metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks as well as fragmented ophiolites and high-grade metamorphic assemblages. Magmatic zircons from two plagiogranite dyke samples of the Mamakan ophiolite complex in the Sredne–Mamakan massif of the eastern Baikal–Muya belt yielded similar and concordant SHRIMP mean 206 Pb/ 238 U ages of 640.0 ± 4.1 and 650 ± 6 Ma, respectively, that reflect the time of dyke emplacement and from which we suggest an age of ca. 645 Ma as the…

Zircon ages of the Bayankhongor ophiolite mélange and associated rocks: Time constraints on Neoproterozoic to Cambrian accretionary and collisional orogenesis in Central Mongolia

Abstract Central Mongolia is geologically characterized by close juxtaposition of an accreted oceanic terrane with an arc-microcontinent collision zone. We present new U–Pb zircon ages and geochemical data for the Bayankhongor ophiolite melange from the oceanic terrane and for a syenite porphyry pluton from the arc-microcontinent zone, providing critical constraints on the regional evolution in late Neoproterozoic to early Cambrian times. An anorthosite (655 ± 4 Ma) associated with layered gabbro, a rodingite (metasomatized layered gabbro) (647 ± 6 Ma), and a high-level isotropic amphibole gabbro (647 ± 7 Ma) yielded the oldest zircon ages for the plutonic part of the ophiolite. A plagiogra…

Zircon M127 - A Homogeneous Reference Material for SIMS U-Pb Geochronology Combined with Hafnium, Oxygen and, Potentially, Lithium Isotope Analysis

Faculty of Geosciences, Geography and Astronomy, University of Vienna; Beijing SHRIMP Centre, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences; European Commission [MEXC-CT-2005-024878]; FWF Austrian Science Fund [P20028-N10, P24448-N19]; U.S. National Science Foundation [EAR 1524336]

Isotopic constraints on the age and formation of a Palaeoproterozoic volcanic arc complex in the Kedougou Inlier, eastern Senegal, West Africa

Abstract The Palaeoproterozoic Kedougou basement in the Mako area in eastern Senegal consists of four major rock complexes: 1) high-grade amphibolitic and gneissic rocks occuring as large xenoliths (the Sandikounda amphibolite-gneiss complex); 2) voluminous bimodal volcanic rocks (the Mako volcanic-plutonic complex); 3) the Sandikounda layered plutonic complex; and 4) trondhjemitic to calc-alkaline intrusive granitoids (the Laminia-Kaourou plutonic complex). Zircons from xenoliths of the Sandikounda amphibolite-gneiss complex yielded ages of ∼2200 Ma, which are slightly older than those of the Mako Supergroup volcanic rocks. These xenoliths also have ɛNd(t) values ranging from +2.4 to +4.1.…

Geochemistry and SHRIMP U-Pb Zircon Dating of Mafic Rocks North of Zunhua City, Eastern Hebei, North China Craton: Paleoproterozoic Gabbro rather than Neoarchean Ophiolite

Shear-zone patterns and eclogite-facies metamorphism in the Mozambique belt of northern Malawi, east-central Africa: implications for the assembly of Gondwana

Abstract We report on the first occurrence of Pan-African eclogite from the Mozambique belt of northern Malawi, east-central Africa. We describe aspects of (1) the pattern of Pan-African transcurrent and subhorizontal shear zones and how these shear zones relate to eclogite-facies metamorphism and (2) the P – T – t evolution of the eclogite. Finally, we discuss the significance of eclogite-facies metamorphism and shear-zone deformation for the assembly of Gondwana. The first major deformation event involved sinistral and dextral transcurrent and top-ESE shearing and occurred at ∼580–550 Ma. Transcurrent and top-ESE shearing resulted from ESE–WNW horizontal crustal shortening and commenced u…

Age of Palaeozoic granites and metamorphism in the Tuvino-Mongolian Massif of the Central Asian Mobile Belt: loss of a Precambrian microcontinent

Abstract The Tuvino-Mongolian Massif (TMM) was previously interpreted as a Precambrian block within the Central Asian Mobile Belt. According to this idea, it consists of tectonic slices composed of metamorphic rocks of pre-Mesoproterozoic basement that experienced two episodes of regional metamorphism, and Mesoproterozoic ‘cover rocks’ that were reworked together with the basement during high-grade metamorphism. Zircon U–Pb dating of granitoids from all metamorphic complexes demonstrates that the earliest metamorphic event occurred at 536±6 Ma, significantly later than the deposition of the cover rocks. Regional upper amphibolite-facies metamorphism, which affected all metasedimentary units…

Generation of early Archaean grey gneisses through melting of older crust in the eastern Kaapvaal craton, southern Africa

Abstract We report zircon ages, Hf-in-zircon isotopes as well as whole-rock geochemistry and Hf–Nd isotopic systematics for Palaeoarchaean grey gneisses of the Ancient Gneiss Complex of Swaziland, the oldest components of the Kaapvaal craton, southern Africa. The Hf-in-zircon isotopic compositions in these compositionally heterogeneous, multicomponent, migmatitic gneisses are highly variable, even in the oldest zircons dating back to 3.66 Ga, suggesting growth of zircon from melts representing a mix of juvenile and anatectic material derived from differentiated continental crust of Eoarchean to late Hadean age. In contrast, the initial Nd and Hf whole-rock isotopic compositions are frequent…

Pan-African crustal evolution in the Nubian segment of northeast Africa

Archaean tonalitic gneiss of Finnish Lapland revisited: zircon ion-microprobe ages

We report single grain and grain-domain U−Pb zircon ages for the Tojottamanselka tonalitic gneiss previously investigated by the whole-rock Rb−Sr, Pb−Pb and Sm−Nd methods, by conventional U−Pb zircon density/size fraction analysis and by Hf-isotopes (Kroner et al. 1981; Patchett et al. 1981; Jahn et al. 1984) and established as one of the oldest known rocks of the Baltic shield. Our data confirm the intrusive age as 3115±29 Ma (standard error), but we also found slightly older xenocrystic zircon cores with 207Pb/206Pb ages between 3161±19 and 3248±10 Ma that may either be derived from earlier phases of the tonalite melt or from pre-tonalite sialic crust. New magmatic zircon growth, probably…

Metamorphic History of Gneiss Terrains

The local metamorphic history is an essential topic in the study of high-grade gneiss terrains. This chapter only deals with those aspects of the metamorphic history that can be studied in the field. We will briefly outline terminology, the methods which can be applied, and the difficulties involved. For more information we refer to textbooks such as Miyashiro (1975), Winkler (1976), Mason (1981), Best (1982), Vernon (1983), Spry (1986), Yardley (1989) and to the references given in the text.

Zircon ages and Hf isotopic systematics reveal vestiges of Mesoproterozoic to Archaean crust within the late Neoproterozoic–Cambrian high-grade terrain of southernmost India

Abstract Late Neoproterozoic to Cambrian ages have been widely recorded from the Southern Granulite Terrain (SGT) of India and were correlated with global tectono-thermal (Pan-African) events associated with amalgamation of the Gondwana supercontinent. We report results of single zircon dating from a charnockite and a granitic augen–gneiss from the SGT using SHRIMP and evaporation techniques, complemented by zircon Hf isotopic systematics. The SHRIMP data for zircons in the charnockite are spread along a well-defined discordia line suggesting variably strong lead–loss during the late Neoproterozoic Pan-African event. A concordant grain yielded a 207 Pb/ 206 Pb age of 1893 ± 13 Ma, and the u…

Single zircon evaporation ages from Obudu Plateau: First evidence of archaean components in the schists of south-eastern Nigeria

Late Cretaceous lithospheric extension in SE China: Constraints from volcanic rocks in Hainan Island

Abstract Petrological, geochemical and in-situ zircon U–Pb dating and Hf-isotope analyses have been carried out on a suite of basalt–andesite–rhyolite volcanic rocks exposed in the Liuluocun area, Hainan Island, SE China. Zircon analyses show that these volcanic rocks crystallized in the Early Cretaceous (ca. 102 Ma). The basalts are characterized by low MgO contents and mg-numbers but high rare earth element, high field strength element and large ion lithophile element contents and Nb–Ta negative anomalies. They have relatively uniform Sr–Nd isotope compositions with e Nd (t) values of − 4.09 to − 3.63. The andesites show enrichment of high field strength element and rare earth element wit…

Early Silurian tholeiitic-boninitic Mailisu ophiolite, South Tianshan, Kyrgyzstan: a geochemical record of subduction initiation

ABSTRACTOphiolite assemblages of the South Tianshan fold-and-thrust-belt (STS) track the sea floor dynamics of the late Cambrian to Carboniferous Turkestan Ocean in the western Central Asian Orogen...

Zircon REE patterns and geochemical characteristics of Paleoproterozoic anatectic granite in the northern Tarim Craton, NW China: Implications for the reconstruction of the Columbia supercontinent

Abstract Because Archean basement rocks are sparsely distributed around the Tarim Basin, little is known of the relationship between the Tarim Craton and the Paleo- to Mesoproterozoic Columbia supercontinent. Zircon U–Pb dating of a Paleoproterozoic gneissic granite in the northern Tarim Craton yielded a crystallization age of 1915 ± 13 Ma, consistent with global Paleoproterozoic collisional events (ca. 2.1–1.8 Ga) recorded in most cratons. Despite the fact that some zircons display discordant U–Pb ages with a distinct loss of radiogenetic Pb, all grains have similar 176Lu/177Hf and 176Hf/177Hf(t) values. Zircons from this granite have high Th/U ratios (0.15–0.95), but contrasting rare eart…

Devonian to Permian plate tectonic cycle of the Paleo-Tethys Orogen in southwest China (I): Geochemistry of ophiolites, arc/back-arc assemblages and within-plate igneous rocks

Abstract The Paleo-Tethys Orogen in southwest China is an amalgamation of continental terranes (Sibumasu, Simao and Yangtze), which are bounded by ophiolite belts (Ailaoshan, Jinshajiang and Changning–Menglian) that represent former ocean basins. This study concentrates on ophiolites, arc/back-arc assemblages, and within-plate igneous rocks that occur in this complex orogen. Mainly based on geochemical fingerprinting of basalts, the Paleo-Tethys ophiolites are here classified as MORB and SSZ types. The Ailaoshan ophiolite (NMORB-type; ca. 387–374 Ma) is associated with a non-volcanic segment of the rifted western Yangtze margin. The Jinshajiang ophiolite (EMORB-type; 346–341 Ma), which has …

Zircon Ages from the Baydrag Block and the Bayankhongor Ophiolite Zone: Time Constraints on Late Neoproterozoic to Cambrian Subduction‐ and Accretion‐Related Magmatism in Central Mongolia

Central Mongolia represents a heterogeneous crustal domain of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and is composed of contrasting lithotectonic units with distinct preorogenic histories. We report single-zircon evaporation and SHRIMP ages for high-grade rocks of the Neoarchean-Paleoproterozoic Baydrag block and for metaigneous rocks of the junction between the late Neoproterozoic Bayankhongor ophiolite zone (BOZ) and the Baydrag block. Zircon ages for metamorphic rocks of the Baydrag block indicate a major tectonothermal event between 1840 and 1826 Ma, coeval with the emplacement of granitic rocks at middle-crustal level dated at 1839 Ma. A granite-gneiss yielded a much younger crystallization a…

Zircon geochronology of anatectic melts and residues from a highgrade pelitic assemblage at Ihosy, southern Madagascar: evidence for Pan-African granulite metamorphism

AbstractWe report U—Pb and207Pb/206Pb zircon ages for a granulite facies gneiss assemblage exposed in a large quarry at Ihosy, southern Madagascar. The granulites are derived from pelitic to arkosic sediments and attained equilibrium conditions at 650–700°C and 4–5 kbar. HigherP—Tconditions of 750–800°C and 6 kbar in the presence of low water activities have led to dehydration melting processes. The formation of granitic melts, which (partly) moved away from their source region, intruded into upper parts of the metapelitic gneisses as small granitic veins and left behind granulitic garnet-cordierite-quartz bearing rocks. Detrital zircons in a sample of metapelite and a sample of quartzofeld…

Archaean to Neoproterozoic magmatic events in the Kaoko belt of NW Namibia and their geodynamic significance

Abstract Age relationships in the N–S trending Neoproterozoic (Pan-African) Kaoko belt of northwestern Namibia are still poorly constrained. U–Pb and Pb–Pb zircon age determinations by single grain evaporation, conventional multigrain fraction analyses and ion microprobe (SHRIMP) from a profile along the E–W Hoanib River reveal various episodes of zircon growth, ranging from late Archaean to late Neoproterozoic. From the eastern part of the profile we report crystallization ages of gneiss protoliths from 2645 to 2585 Ma, the oldest ages so far found in Namibia. Sm–Nd isotope data suggest the involvement of still older crustal material in the generation of these gneisses. A thermal event at …

Petrogenesis of synorogenic diorite–granodiorite–granite complexes in the Damara Belt, Namibia: Constraints from U–Pb zircon ages and Sr–Nd–Pb isotopes

The synorogenic Palmental complex (central Damara Belt, Nambia) consists of ca. 545 Ma old quartz diorites and rare granodiorites and ca. 520 Ma-old leucogranites, representing one of the earliest and most primitive phase of crustal plutonism predating the main high-T regional metamorphism. Most quartz diorites and one granodiorite evolved through multistage, polybaric evolutionary processes involving fractionation from a lithospheric mantle-derived melt, followed by fractional crystallization of mainly hornblende, plagioclase and apatite which is shown by decreasing MgO, FeO, CaO, TiO2 and P2O5 with increasing SiO2. Assimilation of felsic basement gneisses was also important during formati…

Evolution of Cambrian and Early Ordovician arcs in the Kyrgyz North Tianshan: Insights from U-Pb zircon ages and geochemical data

Abstract Geochronological, geochemical, and structural studies of magmatic and metamorphic complexes within the Kyrgyz North Tianshan (NTS) revealed an extensive area of early Palaeozoic magmatism with an age range of 540–475 Ma. During the first episode at 540–510 Ma, magmatism likely occurred in an intraplate setting within the NTS microcontinent and in an oceanic arc setting within the Kyrgyz-Terskey zone in the south. During the second episode at 500–475 Ma, the entire NTS represented an arc system. These two phases of magmatism were separated by an episode of accretionary tectonics of uncertain nature, which led to obduction of ophiolites from the Kyrgyz-Terskey zone onto the microcont…

Devonian arc-related magmatism in the Tseel terrane of SW Mongolia: chronological and geochemical evidence

Abstract: The Tseel terrane in the Gobi Desert of SW Mongolia consists of a composite crustal segment of imbricated sheets of high- and low-grade metamorphic rocks of predominantly middle Palaeozoic age. New sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) zircon ages of 396 ± 3 Ma (2σ) and 397 ± 3 Ma (2σ) for two calc-alkaline metarhyolite samples indicate arc volcanism during the early Devonian. An undeformed feldspar porphyry cross-cutting the early Devonian low-grade sequence yielded an emplacement age of 279 ± 2 Ma (2σ). Geochemical and Nd isotopic data for low-grade mafic metavolcanic rocks are consistent with melting of moderately depleted upper mantle sources in a transitional arc–…

Single zircon ages for granitoid gneisses in the Central Zone of the Limpopo Belt, Southern Africa and geodynamic significance

Abstract Ion microprobe, evaporation and vapour digestion single zircon emplacement ages for granitoid rocks throughout the Central Zone (CZ) of the Limpopo mobile belt, South Africa define three broad age groups, namely at 3188–3314, 2637–2734 and ca 2500 Ma, respectively. All these granitoids, including the youngest group, display polydeformational features suggesting that much of the tectonic history of the CZ occurred in the late Archaean and early Proterozoic. The oldest group of predominantly tonalitic–trondhjemitic–granodioritic gneisses was found in relatively small domains from the extreme W to the E of the CZ and probably represents remnants of a once more widespread early Archaea…

Tectono-Magmatic Evolution, Age and Emplacement of the Agardagh Tes-Chem Ophiolite in Tuva, Central Asia: Crustal Growth by Island arc Accretion

Publisher Summary The Agardagh Tes–Chem ophiolite in Tuva, Central Asia, is part of the Central Asian Mobile Belt which formed during subduction–accretion processes lasting from the early Neoproterozoic to the late Palaeozoic. The Agardagh Tes–Chem ophiolite marks the northwestern border of the Tuva–Mongolian Massif (TMM), which comprises several intrusive and metamorphic complexes. These complexes consist of metatonalites, gneisses, migmatites, amphibolites, marbles, quartzites, low-grade metasedimentary rocks and minor ultramafic lenses, and radiometric ages range between 536 and 464 Ma. Field observations suggest that the southwestern part of the Tes–Chem unit represents the lower to int…

Cambrian ophiolite complexes in the Beishan area, China, southern margin of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt

Abstract We present zircon ages and geochemical data for Cambrian ophiolite complexes exposed in the Beishan area at the southern margin of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). The complexes consist of the Xichangjing-Xiaohuangshan and Hongliuhe-Yushishan ophiolites, which both exhibit complete ophiolite stratigraphy: chert, basalt, sheeted dikes, gabbro, mafic and ultramafic cumulates and serpentinized mantle peridotites. Zircon grains of gabbro samples yielded 206 Pb/ 238 U ages of 516 ± 8, 521 ± 4, 528 ± 3 and 535 ± 6 Ma that reflect the timing of gabbro emplacement. The geochemical data of the basaltic rocks show enrichment in large-ion lithophile elements and depletion in the high f…

Geochemistry of Neoarchean (ca. 2.55-2.50 Ga) volcanic and ophiolitic rocks in the Wutaishan greenstone belt, central orogenic belt, North China craton: Implications for geodynamic setting and continental growth: Discussion

We read with interest the contribution by [Polat et al. (2005)][1] on the origin of Neoarchean volcanic and ophiolitic rocks in the Wutaishan greenstone belt, northern China, and their geo-dynamic setting. We do not dispute the quality of the authors' data and their interpretations, but we disagree

Significance of the Tambien Group (Tigrai, N. Ethiopia) for Snowball Earth events in the Arabian–Nubian Shield

Abstract Juvenile continental crust of the Arabian–Nubian Shield (ANS) formed within a Neoproterozoic supercontinent cycle. Subsequent late Neoproterozoic deposition overlapped a series of dramatic climatic events that are unparalleled in subsequent Phanerozoic time, as proposed by the “Snowball Earth” hypothesis. In particular, extreme negative δ 13 C excursions coincident with glacial diamictite and cap carbonate sequences imply that profound carbon flux changes accompanied widespread glacial transitions (Snowball Events). Such a succession appears to be partially preserved in metasediments of the diamictite-bearing Tambien Group of northern Ethiopia (Negash syncline). Here, a pronounced …

Single zircon ages for two Archean banded migmatitic gneisses from central Zimbabwe

We report new single zircon ages for two Archean banded gneisses from the Shangani Batholith in central Zimbabwe. The ages of ~2.77 and ~2.84 Ga do not support previous views that the area west of the current exposure of the Tokwe Segment was part of an early- to mid-Archean (>2.95 Ga) domain (Sebakwe Proto-craton). The data correspond to ~2.9 to 2.8 Ga dates for TTG granitoids of the Chingezi Suite. Members of this suite occur as intrusions within the south-central part of the Zimbabwe Craton and are associated with contemporaneous felsic volcanic rocks. On the basis of their age distribution, isotopic characteristics and outcrop pattern with respect to the Tokwe Segment, the formation of …

Hydrothermal origin and age of jadeitites from Sierra del Convento Mélange (Eastern Cuba)

Jadeitite (jadeite jade) from Sierra del Convento (eastern Cuba) occurs in a subduction-related serpentinite-matrix melange associated with a variety of high-pressure tectonic blocks including garnet-amphibolites and related anatectic trondhjemites. The eastern Cuban jadeitite is massive and characterized by rare quartz inclusions and omphacite exsolution in jadeite crystals, as well as replacement or infilling by omphacite. Minor minerals include epidote, biotite, albite, phengite, titanite, rutile, zircon, and apatite. Oscillatory zoning in jadeite crystals and zircon ages suggest hydrothermal crystallization in veins formed in serpentinized peridotite, probably of the mantle wedge. Al-Na…

Geochemistry, Isotope Geochemistry and Geochronology: Application to Field Studies

Structural studies make it possible to reconstruct the metamorphic and deformation history of a rock body but do not provide information on the absolute timing of these processes. Likewise, field observations and structural work alone may not unambiguously identify the protoliths of many high-grade gneisses or the compositional changes associated with migmatisation, anatexis and the general action of fluid and/or vapour phases in a rock. Geochemical research can answer many of these problems but, as most of this research is laboratory-oriented, we limit ourselves to some general outlines of the possible lines of research, so that these can be borne in mind during fieldwork.

Mesoproterozoic (Grenville-age) granitoids and supracrustal rocks in Kaokoland, northwestern Namibia

Abstract We identified and describe rocks of a late Mesoproterozoic Grenville-age igneous province and associated supracrustal sequence in northwestern Kaokoland, Namibia. These rocks are ca. 1176–1534 Ma in age and mostly consist of pinkish granitic and trondhjemitic plutons that are unfoliated within the Palaeoproterozoic Epupa Metamorphic Complex but become progressively deformed farther west together with late Neoproterozoic rocks of the Pan-African Kaoko orogen. Furthermore, a supracrustal assemblage of clastic sedimentary rocks and felsic volcanic rocks, known as Okapuka Formation, unconformably overlies the Epupa gneisses and also became deformed in the west during the Kaoko orogeny.…

Contrasting textural record of two distinct metamorphic events of similar P-T conditions and different durations

A structural, metamorphic and geochronological study of the StareMesto belt implies the existence of two distinct metamorphic events of similar peak P-T conditions (700-800 � C, 8-10 kbar) during the Cambro-Ordovician and the Carboniferous tectonometamorphic events. The hypothesis of two distinct periods of metamorphism was suggested on the basis of structural discordance between an undoubtedly Carboniferous granodiorite sill intrusion and earlier Cambro-Ordovician fabrics of a banded amphibolite complex. The analysis of crystal size distribution (CSD) shows high nucleation density (N0) and low average growth rate (Gt) for Carboniferous mylonitic metagabbros and mylonitic granodiorites. The…

The Nhlangano gneiss dome in south-west Swaziland – A record of crustal destabilization of the eastern Kaapvaal craton in the Neoarchaean

Abstract The Nhlangano granite-gneiss in south-west Swaziland, dated at 2.98 Ga, forms an elliptical dome of remobilised, migmatitic crust. Strongly deformed supracrustal rocks wrap around or form synformal keels infolded with subdomes of Nhlangano Gneiss and represent Mesoarchaean Pongola Supergroup strata at amphibolite- to granulite-facies metamorphic grade. Amphibolites represent the metamorphosed equivalents of Nsuze Group basalts and andesites on the basis of similar trace element and Nd isotope data. Garnetiferous Mahamba Gneiss, dated at c. 2.96 Ga, represents the metamorphosed equivalents of felsic to intermediate volcanic rocks and minor pelitic interflow sedimentary units of the …

Plate-tectonic processes at ca. 2.0 Ga: Evidence from &amp;gt;600 km of plate convergence

Abstract We addressed when plate-tectonic processes first started on Earth by examining the ca. 2.0 Ga Limpopo orogenic belt in southern Africa. We show through palinspastic reconstruction that the Limpopo orogen originated from &amp;gt;600 km of west-directed thrusting, and the thrust sheet was subsequently folded by north-south compression. The common 2.7–2.6 Ga felsic plutons in the Limpopo thrust sheet and the absence of an arc immediately predating the 2.0 Ga Limpopo thrusting require the Limpopo belt to be an intracontinental structure. The similar duration (∼40 m.y.), slip magnitude (&amp;gt;600 km), slip rate (&amp;gt;15 mm/yr), tectonic setting (intracontinental), and widespread an…

The building blocks of continental crust: Evidence for a major change in the tectonic setting of continental growth at the end of the Archean

Abstract Oceanic arcs are commonly cited as primary building blocks of continents, yet modern oceanic arcs are mostly subducted. Also, lithosphere buoyancy considerations show that oceanic arcs (even those with a felsic component) should readily subduct. With the exception of the Arabian–Nubian orogen, terranes in post-Archean accretionary orogens comprise  50%) produced in continental arcs. Felsic igneous rocks in oceanic arcs are depleted in incompatible elements compared to average continental crust and to felsic igneous rocks from continental arcs. They have lower Th/Yb, Nb/Yb, Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios, reflecting shallow mantle sources in which garnet did not exist in the restite during m…

The Chirwa dome: granite emplacement during late Archaean thrusting along the northeastern margin of the Zimbabwe craton

The Chirwa dome in northeast Zimbabwe is situated at the boundary between the Zimbabwe craton and Archaean gneisses of the Zambezi mobile belt. This circular granite intrusion has long been regarded as Archaean granite which was remobilized during Pan-African times and emplaced as a mantled gneiss dome into a Proterozoic metasedimentary sequence. Field mapping, structural work and new zircon dates indicate that the Chirwa dome and surrounding rocks underwent a very different history. The supracrustal sequence was deposited and moderately deformed between ~2613 and ~2601 Ma ago, as bracketed by a provenance date and an intrusive date, respectively. Shortly after deposition, the sequence was …

Time scale of an early to mid-Paleozoic orogenic cycle of the long-lived Central Asian Orogenic Belt, Inner Mongolia of China: Implications for continental growth

Abstract We present a detailed, new time scale for an orogenic cycle (oceanic accretion–subduction–collision) that provides significant insights into Paleozoic continental growth processes in the southeastern segment of the long-lived Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). The most prominent tectonic feature in Inner Mongolia is the association of paired orogens. A southern orogen forms a typical arc-trench complex, in which a supra-subduction zone ophiolite records successive phases during its life cycle: birth (ca. 497–477 Ma), when the ocean floor of the ophiolite was formed; (2) youth (ca. 473–470 Ma), characterized by mantle wedge magmatism; (3) shortly after maturity (ca. 461–450 Ma), hi…

Generation of early Archaean felsic greenstone volcanic rocks through crustal melting in the Kaapvaal, craton, southern Africa

Abstract High-potassium felsic volcanic rocks interlayered with basalt and komatiite in early Archaean greenstone sequences in the Barberton Greenstone Belt of South Africa and Swaziland, previously considered to be derived from melting of mafic precursors, are shown to be the result of melting of significantly older felsic crust. This is documented by a combination of SHRIMP zircon dating with Hf-in-zircon and whole-rock Lu–Hf and Sm–Nd isotopic data. Zircons from felsic rocks of the oldest Barberton unit, the 3.53 Ga Theespruit Formation, yielded predominantly negative e Hf ( t ) -values, whereas whole-rock e Hf ( t ) - and e Nd ( t ) -data are slightly negative to slightly positive. Simi…

Neoproterozoic-Early Paleozoic Peri-Pacific Accretionary Evolution of the Mongolian Collage System: Insights From Geochemical and U-Pb Zircon Data From the Ordovician Sedimentary Wedge in the Mongolian Altai

Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic accretionary processes of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt have been evaluated so far mainly using the geology of ophiolites and/or magmatic arcs. Thus, the knowledge of the nature and evolution of associated sedimentary prisms remains fragmentary. We carried out an integrated geological, geochemical and zircon U–Pb geochronological study on a giant Ordovician metasedimentary succession of the Mongolian Altai Mts. This succession is characterized by dominant terrigenous components mixed with volcanogenic material. It is chemically immature, compositionally analogous to graywacke and marked by significant input of felsic to intermediate arc components, pointi…

Geochronology of an archaean tonalitic gneiss dome in Northern Finland and its relation with an unusual overlying volcanic conglomerate and komatiitic greenstone

Archaean gneiss-greenstone relationships are still unresolved in many ancient cratonic terrains although there is growing evidence that most of the late Archaean greenstone assemblages were deposited on older tonalitic crust.

single zircon ages and Sm-Nd systematics for precambrian rocks from Madagascar: Significance for correlations in East Gondwana

Composition, structure and evolution of the early Precambrian lower continental crust: constraints from geological observations and age relationships

A ∼700 Ma Sm–Nd garnet–whole rock age from the granulite facies Central Kaoko Zone (Namibia): Evidence for a cryptic high-grade polymetamorphic history?

Continental collision of the Kalahari and the Congo craton in Africa and the Rio de la Plata Craton in South America resulted in a structurally complex Neoproterozoic belt system, the Kaoko–Dom Feliciano–Ribeira belt. It is uncertain whether these three cratons collided more or less simultaneously during one single orogenic event at ∼580–550 Ma or whether the belt owe its structural and metamorphic features to several so far poorly constrained events. The Kaoko Belt (NW Nambia), representing the belt system between the southern Congo Craton and the Rio de la Plata Craton, is an ideal object to study these complexities. Within this belt, high-grade meta-igneous and metasedimentary rocks of t…

Sm–Nd, Rb–Sr and Pb–Pb dating of silicic carbonates from the early Archaean Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa

Abstract Two silicic carbonate sequences occurring in the Onverwacht Group (OG) and the overlying Fig Tree Group (FTG) of the early Archaean Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa, contain silicified dolomites with primary structures and textures. They occur with volcanic rocks dated by single zircons. The associated Onverwacht felsic volcanics have an age of ∼3440–3416 Ma, whereas the Fig Tree volcanics are ∼3225 Ma old. Therefore, the depositional age of both sequences is between 3440 and 3225 Ma. Pb-isotopic data for different parts of a single OG whole rock sample form a linear array corresponding to a Pb–Pb age of 2632±99 Ma. Sm–Nd and Rb–Sr isotopes were analysed in four whole rock s…

Archaean Granitoid–Greenstone Geology of the Southeastern Part of the Kaapvaal Craton

The southeastern Kaapvaal Craton is a Palaeoarchaean granitoid–greenstone terrain. Supracrustal rocks are dominated by metamorphosed mafic–ultramafic volcanic rocks intercalated with minor felsic volcanic and chemical sedimentary rocks, including carbonaceous chert and minor iron formation. Siliciclastic sedimentary rocks are rare. The greenstones occur in the Schapenburg and Dwalile fragments close to the Barberton greenstone belt, the Assegaai, De Kraalen, Witrivier and Commondale fragments in the vicinity of Piet Retief, and the Nondweni and Ilangwe greenstone belts together with several smaller fragments in the southern part of the craton. The greenstones are locally in tectonic contact…

Zircon reconnaissance dating of Proterozoic gneisses along the Kunene River of northwestern Namibia

Abstract The northern margin of the Epupa Metamorphic Complex (EMC) along the Kunene River in NW Namibia is one of the geologically least known terranes in Africa because of its remoteness and difficult accessibility. We report field relationships and reconnaissance zircon ages for granitoid gneisses from a 120 km foot-traverse along the Kunene River between the Ruacana Falls in the east and Marienfluss in the west. Most rocks are late Palaeoproterozoic in age and correlate well with similar rocks of the EMC farther south in Kaokoland (1757–1835 Ma, one sample 1861 Ma) and with granitoid rocks in the Kamanjab Inlier, some 400 km SE of the Kunene River (1801–1836 Ma). All these rocks constit…

Geochemistry, geochronology and isotope geology of Nakfa intrusive rocks, northern Eritrea: products of a tectonically thickened Neoproterozoic arc crust

Abstract The north-south-trending Neoproterozoic volcano-sedimentary plutonic associations in northern Eritrea are part of the Nubian Shield. The Nakfa intrusive rocks range in composition from gabbro to syeno-diorite to granite and alkaline syenite and intrude supracrustal rocks of volcanic and sedimentary origin. All granitoid rocks are metaluminous or slightly peraluminous and have typical I-type chemical signatures. The calc-alkaline intrusive rocks and the alkaline syenites have geochemical characteristics (e.g. low Nb values) typical of arc intrusives and plot as volcanic arc granites on various discriminant diagrams. Single zircon evaporation Pb-Pb ages and conventional multigrain U-…

Characterization, provenance, and tectonic setting of Fig Tree greywackes from the Archaean Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa

Abstract In this study, mineralogical and geochemical data, as well as Sr and Nd isotopic compositions of early Archaean greywackes from the Fig Tree Group are presented to provide further information about the evolution of the Barberton Greenstone Belt (BGB) of the Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa. The chemical data on the collected greywackes from the BGB suggest limited chemical modification of the source rocks. The Eu/Eu * anomaly is negative with an average value of 0.76 which is slightly higher than that of Eu-depleted crustal rocks (0.65). High Cr and Ni concentrations and a Cr/Ni ratio of about 1.6 indicate derivation from ultramafic sources without fractionation. Although rounded zirc…

Penrose Conference Report: When Did Plate Tectonics Begin?

Cambrian–Ordovician magmatism of the Ikh-Mongol Arc System exemplified by the Khantaishir Magmatic Complex (Lake Zone, south–central Mongolia)

Abstract The Khantaishir Magmatic Complex (KMC) (south–central Mongolia) exposes a section of a magmatic system consisting of deep crustal, ultramafic cumulates (coarse-grained Amp gabbros and hornblendites; c. 0.35–0.5 GPa) to shallower crustal levels dominated by Amp–Bt tonalites ( c. 0.1–0.2 GPa). The magmatic rocks were emplaced during most of the Cambrian ( c. 538–495 Ma) and are mostly geochemically primitive (Mg# ~ 50), Na-rich and metaluminous. The (normal-) calc-alkaline signature and characteristic trace-element enrichment in hydrous-fluid mobile large-ion lithophile elements (LILE) relative to high-field strength elements (HFSE) suggest an origin within a magmatic arc. Multiple i…

Pan-African granulite formation in the Kabye Massif of northern Togo (West Africa): Pb−Pb zircon ages

Metamorphic zircons from seven granulite facies orthogneisses of tonalitic composition (ender- bites), collected from four different nappes of the Kabye Massif in the Dahomeyide belt of northern Togo, were dated by the Pb-Pb evaporation method. They yielded consistent Neoproterozoic ages with a mean of 612.5  0.8 Ma, interpreted to reflect the peak of regional granulite facies metamorphism following Pan-African continental collision between the West African and Benin-Nigerian plates. These results sup- port previous ages obtained by various chronometers on high-grade rocks from the same suture zone and from surrounding units in Togo, Benin and Ghana. They are also similar to zircon ages fr…

The Gabal Gerf complex: A precambrian N-MORB ophiolite in the Nubian Shield, NE Africa

We report geochemical and isotopic data for tectonically dismembered units of the Cabal Gerf mafic-ultramafic complex, the largest Neoproterozoic (Pan-African) ophiolite in the Arabian-Nubian Shield and located near the Red Sea in the border region between Egypt and the Sudan. The complex consists of basaltic pillow lavas, sheeted dykes, isotropic and layered gabbros and an ultramafic melange, all in tectonic contact along thrust sheets. Major- and trace-element data, including REE, for the pillow lavas and sheeted dykes are indistinguishable from modem high-Ti N-MORB. Chemical variations in the various rock types can be ascribed to fractionation and accumulation involving olivine, clinopyr…

Geochronological evidence for Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic polymetamorphism in the Central Zone of the Limpopo Belt, South Africa

Abstract The Central Zone of Limpopo Belt is a polymetamorphic and complexly deformed Precambrian terrane whose tectonic evolution is still uncertain because details on the timing of its evolution are not well established. We report zircon ages for newly discovered rocks in the Central Zone which document three distinct high-grade tectono-metamorphic events at 3.22, 2.62 and 2.02 Ga. The youngest of these has been well established, but the older two events were so far largely based only on rare zircon overgrowth rims. Most of our samples were collected from a large enclave in the 2.61 Ga Bulai pluton and constitute a strongly deformed, brecciated high-grade assemblage of supracrustal rocks,…

When did plate tectonics begin? Evidence from the geologic record

Archean and Proterozoic ancestry in late Precambrian to early Paleozoic crustal elements of southern Turkey as revealed by single-zircon dating

Detrital zircon ages and paleontology limit the age of the oldest known metasedimentary rocks in the Menderes-Taurus block of southwestern Turkey to between 657 {plus minus}5 Ma and Middle Cambrian (ca. 533 Ma). A mylonitic granite, also part of the basement, yielded a date of intrusion of 543 {plus minus}7 Ma. The scatter of both detrital and xenocryst zircon ages between 612 {plus minus}6 and 3,140 {plus minus}2 Ma virtually precludes northeastern Africa and Arabia as their provenance, but is compatible with a source in the Angara craton of Siberia. These results suggest that the Pan-African evolution in the Middle East may have ended by Angara's collision with Gondwana in the Early Cambr…

Geochemistry, PbPb single zircon ages and NdSr isotope composition of Precambrian rocks from southern and eastern Ethiopia: implications for crustal evolution in East Africa

Abstract Geochemical and isotope data for granitoid rocks from southern and eastern Ethiopia delineate the presumed margin of the Pan-African juvenile terrain of the Arabian-Nubian Shield against an older crustal segment of unknown origin extending from eastern Ethiopia to northern Somalia. Granitoids from southern Ethiopia have higher Na2O and Na 2 0 K 2 O and lower Cr and Ni than granitoids with comparable SiO2 values from eastern Ethiopia. In southern Ethiopia three periods of magmatism are identified on the basis on single zircon 207 Pb 206 Pb evaporation ages, namely at ∼850, ∼750-700 and ∼650-550 Ma, and these correlate well with events documented from other parts of Ethiopia and the …

NO EXCESSIVE CRUSTAL GROWTH IN THE CENTRAL ASIAN OROGENIC BELT: FURTHER EVIDENCE FROM FIELD RELATIONSHIPS AND ISOTOPIC DATA

Abstract We provide new field observations and isotopic data for key areas of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), reiterating our previous assessment that no excessive crustal growth occurred during its ca. 800 Ma long orogenic evolution. Many Precambrian blocks (microcontinents) identified in the belt are exotic and are most likely derived from the northern margin of Gondwana, including the Tarim craton. Ocean opening in the Palaeo-Asian Ocean, arc formation and accretionary processes began in the latest Mesoproterozoic along the southern margin of the Siberian craton and continued into the Neoproterozoic, giving rise to tectono-metamorphic terranes distinct from the exotic microcontin…

Timing of subduction and exhumation in a subduction channel: Evidence from slab melts from La Corea Mélange (eastern Cuba)

article i nfo High pressure igneous rocks (tonalites), generated by partial melting of subducted basaltic rocks accreted to the mantle wedge, are present in the La Corea serpentinite-matrix melange (eastern Cuba) as centimeter- to meter-sized blocks and as concordant to crosscutting veins within high-pressure parent amphibolite blocks. The slab melts have adakitic signatures, in agreement with formation after partial melting of metabasite. Thermobarometric calculations indicate 620-680 °C and 13-15 kbar during crystallization of tonalites and down to 250-300 °C, 6 kbar during retrogression, indicating counter-clockwise P-T paths (hot subduction- cool exhumation). Free water required for mel…

The Pan-African continental margin in northeastern Africa: evidence from a geochronological study of granulites at Sabaloka, Sudan

Ion microprobe zircon ages, a Nd model age and RbSr whole-rock dates are reported from the high-grade gneiss terrain at Sabaloka on the River Nile north of Khartoum, formally considered to be part of the Archaean/early Proterozoic Nile craton. The granulites, which are of both sedimentary and igneous derivation, occur as remnants in migmatites. Detrital zircon ages range from ≈ 1000 to ≈ 2650 Ma and prove the existence of Archaean to late Proterozoic continental crust in the sedimentary source region. The Nd model age for one sedimentary granulite is between 1.26 (TCHUR) and 1.70 (TDM) Ga and provides a mean crustal residence age for the sedimentary precursor. Igneous zircons in enderbitic …

African linkage of Precambrian Sri Lanka

New age and isotopic data show that the high-grade basement rocks of Sri Lanka were not linked to the Archaean granulite domain of southern India but experienced their main structural and metamorphic development during the Pan-African event some 950 to 550 Ma ago. This occurred when West Gondwana and East Gondwana collided to form one of the longest collisional structures in the Supercontinent — the Mozambique belt that extends from Mozambique to Ethiopia and Sudan. A major tectonic boundary, interpreted as a thrust zone, divides the Highland/Southwestern Complex in the central part of Sri Lanka from the Vijayan Complex in the E and SE. The former is interpreted to represent the remnant of …

U-Pb zircon and Sm-Nd dating of Moldanubian H P /H T granulites from South ohemia, Czech Republic

Conventional multigrain U-Pb systematics of zircon and single-grain evaporation data of zircons in combination with Nd model ages are presented for pyroxene-free, felsic, garnetiferous granulites and orthopyroxene-bearing granulites of felsic, mafic and intermediate composition from the Blansky Les mountains granulite complex, S Bohemia. Zircons from mafic and intermediate granulites yield Concordia intercept ages between 346 ± 5 and 351 ± 6 Ma as well as a single-grain evaporation age of 346 ± 12 Ma. These ages define the time of Variscan high-grade metamorphism in S Bohemia and are supported by an internal Sm-Nd garnet-zircon-plagioclase-whole rock isochron age of 343 ± 21 Ma. Euhedral zi…

The complexities of zircon crystllazition and overprinting during metamorphism and anatexis: An example from the late Archean TTG terrane of western Shandong Province, China

Abstract There are different viewpoints on metamorphic and anatectic zircons recording ages of 2.45–2.48 Ga or even younger in some areas of the North China Craton where both late Neoarchean and late Paleoproterozoic tectono-thermal events are well developed. These are: 1) partial resetting of the U-Pb isotopic system in the late Neoarchean zircons, 2) metamorphism lasting from the late Neoarchean to the earliest Paleoproterozoic, and 3) earliest Paleoproterozoic metamorphism as separate different event. Western Shandong Province is an area where the late Neoarchean tectono-thermal event is widely developed but the late Paleoproterozoic event has not been identified. This provides an opport…

Multi-chronometric ages and origin of Archaean tonalitic gneisses in Finnish Lapland: A case for long crustal residence time

The Tojottamanselka gneisses of the Koitelainen region, northern Finland, have been dated by the Sm-Nd and the common Pb methods. The Sm-Nd data of seven samples from a small area (100 m × 100 m) define an isochron ofT=3.06±0.12 (2σ) Ga, with correspondingINd=0.50848±9 (2σ), oreNd(T)=−3.7±1.8. This age is in good agreement with the zircon U-Pb discordia age (3.1 Ga) reported by Kroner et al. (1981) and is interpreted as the time of magmatic emplacement. The distinctly negativeeNd(T) value is found for the first time for Archean tonalitic gneisses and implies derivation of these magmas by remelting of continental material with a long (200–500 Ma) crustal residence time. A few samples, on the…

Intrusion within a transtensional tectonic domain: the Čistá granodiorite (Bohemian Massif)—structure and rheological modelling

Abstract The Cista granodiorite stock, which intrudes the Tis granite laccolith, and their Neoproterozoic country rocks of the Tepla–Barrandian zone were studied by means of structural analysis and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility. The rocks were dated by the Pb–Pb evaporation on zircons, determining the age of the Cista granodiorite and Tis granite at 373 Ma and 504 Ma, respectively. The structures in the country rocks are characterised by an axial cleavage dipping to the northwest and overprinting the folded bedding. S1 cleavage bears NE–SW-trending mineral lineations, which plunge to the northeast or southwest at shallow angles. The cleavage is deformed by D2 kink-bands, which indic…

Single zircon ages of migmatitic gneisses and granulites in the Obudu Plateau: Timing of granulite-facies metamorphism in southeastern Nigeria

Abstract A single zircon geochronological study of gneisses from the Obudu Plateau of southeastern Nigeria, using the evaporation technique, indicates that zircons recorded several Precambrian high-grade metamorphic events (Eburnean and Pan-African). Igneous and multifaceted metamorphic zircons yielded 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ages of 2062.4 ± 0.4 Ma, 1803.8 ± 0.4 Ma and 574 ± 10 Ma, respectively and confirm for the first time that granulite-facies metamorphism affected the basement of southeastern Nigeria, resulting in the formation of charnockites and granulitic gneisses. The Pan-African high-grade event was coeval with the formation of granulites in Cameroon, Togo and Ghana and resulted from colli…

Evolution of the Mayo Kebbi region as revealed by zircon dating: An early (ca. 740Ma) Pan-African magmatic arc in southwestern Chad

Abstract The Mayo Kebbi region in SW Chad is part of the NNE-SSW trending Neoproterozoic Central African Fold Belt (CAFB) and is made up of three calc-alkaline granitoid suites emplaced into a metavolcanic–metasedimentary sequence. The first suite is represented by mafic to intermediate rocks (gabbro-diorite and metadiorite) emplaced between 737 and 723 Ma during early Pan-African convergence. The second consists of the Mayo Kebbi batholith and includes tonalites, trondhjemites and granodiorites, emplaced during several magmatic pulses between 665 and 640 Ma. The third suite includes porphyritic granodiorite and hypersthene monzodiorite dated at ca. 570 Ma. The Mayo Kebbi domain extends sou…

Late proterozoic island arc volcanics from Gebeit, Red Sea Hills, north-east Sudan

The area of Gebeit Mine in the northern Red Sea Hills, Sudan, is built up of voluminous volcanic rocks and minor volcaniclastic and clastic sequences. According to their chemical and modal compositions the Gebeit volcanics can be devided into four groups: (a) cpx-physic basalts with clinopyroxene and plagioclase as the dominant phenocrysts and minor opaques; (b) hbl-physic basalts with hornblende, clinopyroxene, plagioclase and subordinate magnetite including one rare dacite; (c) pl-phyric andesites with plagioclase phenocrysts in a matrix that is rich in magnetite; and (d) aphyric basalts. The compositional variation within the distinct volcanic groups can only partly be explained by fract…

Zircon ages for high pressure granulites from South Bohemia, Czech Republic, and their connection to Carboniferous high temperature processes

Petrological and isotopic investigations were undertaken on high pressure granulites of granitic to mafic composition from the Prachatice and Blanský les granulite complexes of southern Bohemia, Czech Republic. The predominant felsic granulites are quartz + ternary feldspar (now mesoperthite)-rich rocks containing minor garnet, kyanite and rutile, and most show a characteristic mylonitic fabric formed during retrogression along the exhumation path. Three high temperature reaction stages at distinctly different pressures are recognized. Rare layers of intermediate to mafic composition, containing clinopyroxene, best record a primary high pressure–high temperature stage (>15 kbar, >900 °C), a…

Late Palaeozoic to Mesozoic kinematic history of the Talas-Ferghana strike-slip Fault (Kyrgyz West Tianshan) as revealed by 40Ar/39Ar dating of syn-kinematic white mica

International audience; The NW-trending Talas-Ferghana Fault (TFF) in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, is one of the largest intracontinental strike-slip faults in the world. It extends over a distance of more than 2000 km from southern Tourghai to western Tarim and exhibits a maximum dextral offset of ∼200 km during the late Palaeozoic to present. The history of the fault provides important insights for the understanding of the evolution of southern Central Asia but remains poorly constrained due to lack of reliable geochronological data. We present new Ar-Ar ages and structural data from the Kyrgyz West Tianshan, that elucidate the kinematic history of the TFF in the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic. 40A…

Formation Ages and Environments of Early Precambrian Banded Iron Formation in the North China Craton

The North China Craton (NCC) has had a long geological history back to ca. 3.8 Ga ago, but the most important tectonothermal event occurred at the end of the Neoarchean, the most important period of BIF formation. There are three ancient terranes (>2.6 Ga) in the NCC. Most BIFs are distributed along the western margin of the Eastern Ancient Terrane, accounting for about 89 % of the total identified BIF iron ore resources in the NCC. They are considered to have formed on a continental basement in terms of rock association of the BIF-bearing supracrustal sequences which were intruded by slightly younger crustally derived granites. Most BIFs in the NCC show positive Y anomalies, implying that …

Zircon geochronology and metamorphic evolution of mafic dykes in the Hengshan Complex of northern China: Evidence for late Palaeoproterozoic extension and subsequent high-pressure metamorphism in the North China Craton

Abstract Magmatic and metamorphic zircons have been dated from ductilely deformed gabbroic dykes defining a dyke swarm and signifying crustal extension in the northern part of the Hengshan Complex of the North China Craton. These dykes now occur as boudins and deformed sheets within migmatitic tonalitic, trondhjemitic, granodioritic and granitic gneisses and are conspicuous due to relics of high-pressure granulite or even former eclogite facies garnet + pyroxene-bearing assemblages. SHRIMP ages for magmatic zircons from two dykes reflect the time of dyke emplacement at ∼1915 Ma, whereas metamorphic zircons dated by both SHRIMP and evaporation techniques are consistently in the range 1848–18…

SHRIMP zircon ages for post-Usagaran granitoid and rhyolitic rocks from the Palaeoproterozoic terrain of southwestern Tanzania

We report SHRIMP zircon U-Pb ages for post-Usagaran granitic- to granodioritic intrusives and a rhyolitic agglomerate from the Palaeoproterozoic terrain of southwestern Tanzania. This terrain consists of strongly deformed and metamorphosed rocks ascribed to the ca. 2 Ga Usagaran mobile belt, voluminous post-Usagaran granitoids, and minor supracrustal successions. The southeastern part of this terrain is characterized by the occurrence of little deformed and virtually unmetamorphosed rhyolithic, dacitic and andesitic volcanic rocks which overlie the older Usagaran basement. These rocks extruded between 1820 and 1921 Ma, as documented by SHRIMP zircon ages, which are in good agreement with pr…

Ancient xenocrystic zircon in young volcanic rocks of the southern Lesser Antilles island arc

Abstract The Lesser Antilles arc is one of the best global examples in which to examine the effects of the involvement of subducted sediment and crustal assimilation in the generation of arc crust. Most of the zircon recovered in our study of igneous and volcaniclastic rocks from Grenada and Carriacou (part of the Grenadines chain) is younger than 2 Ma. Within some late Paleogene to Neogene (~ 34–0.2 Ma) lavas and volcaniclastic sediments however, there are Paleozoic to Paleoarchean (~ 250–3469 Ma) xenocrysts, and Late Jurassic to Precambrian zircon (~ 158–2667 Ma) are found in beach and river sands. The trace element characteristics of zircon clearly differentiate between different types o…

Ediacaran, Early Ordovician and early Silurian arcs in the South Tianshan orogen of Kyrgyzstan

Abstract The oldest magmatic rocks from the South Tianshan orogen of Kyrgyzstan (STS) are important for better understanding of the Neoproterozoic and early Palaeozoic evolution of the southwestern Central Asian Orogenic Belt. Bulk rock major and trace element and Sm-Nd isotopic composition and zircon U-Pb ages of granitoids from melange blocks reveal two previously unknown episodes of arc magmatism in the STS orogen of Kyrgyzstan, namely, the Ediacaran (ca. 624 Ma) and Early Ordovician (ca. 472 Ma) episodes. Moderately positive ɛNd(t) value of + 5.8 of the Ediacaran granodiorite indicates a mainly juvenile source for this rock. Negative ɛNd(t) value of −9.1 for the Early Ordovician granodi…

Ca. 750–1100 Ma magmatic events and Grenville-age deformation in Sri Lanka: relevance for Rodinia supercontinent formation and dispersal, and Gondwana amalgamation

Abstract Large volumes of ∼880–1100 Ma calc-alkaline granitoid rocks in the Wanni and Vijayan crustal provinces of Sri Lanka make it likely that these domains were produced in active margin settings, probably Grenville-age magmatic arcs. We report new single zircon evaporation ages and Nd isotopic systematics for dioritic to granodioritic gneisses of the Kadugannawa Complex of central Sri Lanka which record a period of magmatic arc activity between 1006 and 881 Ma and show this complex to be part of the Wanni domain. Both provinces were probably generated in arc-related settings at the outer margin of Rodinia, but this cannot be ultimately proven on the basis of the currently available data…

Archaean Crystalline Rocks of the Eastern Kaapvaal Craton

The eastern part of the Kaapvaal Craton represents a classical granitoid-greenstone terrain and contains the oldest rocks of the African continent, exhibiting about 1000 Ma of crustal evolution from 3.66 to 2.67 Ga. The granitoid rocks predominantly consist of the tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite (TTG) association with true granites becoming abundant at about 3 Ga. Greenstones are represented by the well-preserved and well-studied 3.54–3.2 Ga Barberton Greenstone Belt and smaller ca. 3.45 Ga greenstone belt remnants infolded in TTG gneisses around the BGB as well as in the Ancient Gneiss Complex in Swaziland. The origin of both the TTGs and greenstone units is still debated as strong defo…

Interpretation of Structures and Fabrics Recognition and Interpretation of Fabric Patterns in Outcrop

High-grade gneisses with a long and complex history have a finite ‘memory’ of past events. This memory is formed by fabric elements such as foliations, lineations, folds, mineral assemblages, boudins and sequences of intrusion. One of the aims of a geologist is to tap this memory as effectively as possible. The memory of rocks, however, is rather inadequate in that it is partly destroyed by the same events which produce the fabric elements that are recorded (Williams, 1983). Strong deformation erases older fabric elements; intrusions, recrystallisation and partial melting do the same (Figs. 1.1; 4.1). One of the purposes of this manual is to help geologists working in high-grade gneiss terr…

Middle to Late Ordovician arc system in the Kyrgyz Middle Tianshan: From arc-continent collision to subsequent evolution of a Palaeozoic continental margin

New geological, geochronological and isotopic data reveal a previously unknown arc system that evolved south of the Kyrgyz Middle Tianshan (MTS) microcontinent during the Middle and Late Ordovician, 467-444 Ma ago. The two fragments of this magmatic arc are located within the Bozbutau Mountains and the northern Atbashi Range, and a marginal part of the arc, with mixed volcanic and sedimentary rocks, extends north to the Semizsai metamorphic unit of the southern Chatkal Range. A continental basement of the arc, indicated by predominantly felsic volcanic rocks in Bozbutau and Atbashi, is supported by whole-rock Nd- and Hf-in-zircon isotopic data. epsilon(Nd(t)) of + 0.9 to -2.6 and epsilon(Hf…

Record of 1.82 Ga Andean-type continental arc magmatism in NE Rajasthan, India: Insights from zircon and Sm–Nd ages, combined with Nd–Sr isotope geochemistry

Abstract We document a Palaeoproterozoic Andean-type continental arc granitoid emplacement event in the northwestern segment of the Aravalli mountain range, NW India. Our study is focused on the Jasrapur pluton which is dominated by monzogranites with a subordinate amount of granodiorite and quartz monzodiorite. These rocks carry typical continental arc geochemical signatures, such as high-K calc-alkaline, mildly peraluminous, I-type and magnesian features, as well as high Rb and low Nb, Y and Rb/Zr ratios, decoupling between LILE and HFSE, and negative Nb–Ta and Ti anomalies. Conventional geothermobarometric estimates suggest high temperature (~ 800 °C) and pressure (≥ 600 MPa) conditions …

Has the East African Orogen Played Any Role in the Formation and Breakup of the Supercontinent Rodinia and the Amalgamation of Gondwana? New Evidence from Field Relationship and Isotopic Data

Mapping in Gneiss Terrains

Whatever the purpose of working in gneiss terrains, a prerequisite for success is a thorough understanding of the geometry and relative age relations of rock units and the sequence of deformation and metamorphism. Because of the three-dimensional complexity of deformation and intrusion relations in gneiss terrains, it is in most cases impossible to understand relations by visiting a single outcrop, or even by means of a small number of transects through the area under consideration. If no detailed geological maps are present, or if the subject of study is insufficiently dealt with on available maps, it will be necessary to map an area in some detail.

High-temperature metamorphism and crustal melting at ca. 3.2 Ga in the eastern Kaapvaal craton, southern Africa

Abstract The question of whether high-grade metamorphism and crustal melting in the early Archaean were associated with modern-style plate tectonics is a major issue in unravelling early Earth crustal evolution, and the eastern Kaapvaal craton has featured prominently in this debate. We discuss a major ca. 3.2 Ga tectono-magmatic-metamorphic event in the Ancient Gneiss Complex (AGC) of Swaziland, a multiply deformed medium- to high-grade terrane in the eastern Kaapvaal craton consisting of 3.66–3.20 Ga granitoid gneisses and infolded greenstone remnants, metasedimentary assemblages and mafic dykes. We report on a 3.2 Ga granulite-facies assemblage in a metagabbro of the AGC of central Swazi…

The Fate of Rodinia in the Light of the Discovery of ca. 1000 Ma Old Ophiolites in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt of Siberia

African, southern Indian and South American cratons were not part of the Rodinia supercontinent: evidence from field relationships and geochronology

We discuss the question whether the late Mesoproterozoic and early Neoproterozoic rocks of eastern, central and southern Africa, Madagascar, southern India, Sri Lanka and South America have played any role in the formation and dispersal of the supercontinent Rodinia, believed to have existed between about 1000 and 750 Ma ago. First, there is little evidence for the production of significant volumes of ~1.4–1.0 Ga (Kibaran or Grenvillian age) continental crust in the Mozambique belt (MB) of East Africa, except, perhaps, in parts of northern Mozambique. This is also valid for most terranes related to West Gondwana, which are made up of basement rocks older than Mesoproterozoic, reworked in th…

Geochemistry, zircon ages and whole-rock Nd isotopic systematics for Palaeoproterozoic A-type granitoids in the northern part of the Delhi belt, Rajasthan, NW India: implications for late Palaeoproterozoic crustal evolution of the Aravalli craton

Determination of zircon ages as well as geochemical and Sm–Nd isotope systematics of granitoids in the Khetri Copper Belt of the Aravalli mountains, NW India, constrain the late Palaeoproterozoic crustal evolution of the Aravalli craton. The plutons are typical A-type within-plate granites, derived from melts generated in an extensional tectonic environment. They display REE and multi-element patterns characterized by steep LREE-enriched and almost flat HREE profiles and distinct negative anomalies for Sr, P and Ti. Initial εNd values range from −1.3 to −6.2 and correspond to crustal sources with mean crustal residence ages of 2.5 to 2.1 Ga. A lower mafic crustal anatectic origin is envisag…

SHRIMP zircon U–Pb ages and REE partition for high-grade metamorphic rocks in the North Dabie complex: Insight into crustal evolution with respect to Triassic UHP metamorphism in east-central China

Abstract We present SHRIMP U–Pb ages and REE data for zircon of two granulites, a garnet pyroxenite and a clinopyroxene amphibolite from the North Dabie complex. The North Dabie complex is a major fault-bounded petrotectonic unit in the Dabie continental collisional orogen between the South and North China Blocks. Zircon REE data are applied to link ages to specific petrological processes. In addition to SHRIMP zircon U–Pb dating, measurements were made on monazites from a HP–UHT metapsammitic granulite. Metamorphic zircon grains and coeval overgrowths on detrital cores from one granulite yielded a weighted mean 207Pb/206Pb age of 2042 ± 7 Ma, corresponding to peak HP/UHT metamorphism. The …

Zircon age and occurrence of the Adaatsag ophiolite and Muron shear zone, central Mongolia: constraints on the evolution of the Mongol–Okhotsk ocean, suture and orogen

The Adaatsag ophiolite in eastern Mongolia is situated in the Mongol–Okhotsk suture zone, which extends from central Mongolia through Transbaikalia to the Sea of Okhotsk and separates the Siberian and Amurian (Mongolian) plates. The ophiolite sequence passes upwards from serpentinite melange and serpentinized dunite and harzburgite, through layered gabbro (with leucogabbro pegmatite dykes), wehrlite and clinopyroxenite, to isotropic gabbro and leucogabbro, sheeted mafic dykes, and olivine-rich basaltic lavas, overlain by red chert and meta-clastic sediments. A single-zircon mean 207 Pb/ 206 Pb evaporation age of 325.4 ± 1.1 Ma for a leucogabbro pegmatite dyke records the time of igneous cry…

Characteristics of lower crustal granulite xenoliths from the east Qinling orogenic belt and their tectonic significance

The Tongbai granulites are present mainly as xenoliths in granodioritic gneisses. The xenoliths with a zircon age of 470Ma are older than the host rocks of granodioritic gneisses which yield a zircon age of 435Ma. It is suggested that the granulites were transported from the lower crust to the upper level along with granodioritic magma. Geothermometrical and geobarometrical studies based on the coexisting minerals (Opx-Cpx and Opx-Gar) show that the granulites were crystallized at 818 –840 °C and 9.5−9.8 × 108 Pa corresponding to the lower crust. Tectonically, the Shangdan suture zone constitutes the boundary between the North China and Yangtze plates. The zone is char acterized by the occu…

Geochronology and Nd-Sr systematics of Lusatian granitoids: significance for the evolution of the Variscan orogen in east-central Europe

A variety of pre-Variscan granitoids and two Variscan monzogranites occurring in the central and western parts of the Lusatian Granodiorite Complex (LGC), Saxonia were dated by the single zircon evaporation method, complemented by whole rock Nd isotopic data and Rb —Sr whole rock and mineral ages. The virtually undeformed pre-Variscan granitoids constitute a genetically related, mostly peraluminous magmatic suite, ranging in composition from two-mica granodiorite, muscovite-bearing biotite quartz diorite (tonalite) and granodiorite to biotite granodiorite and monozogranite.

Age of initial oceanic magmatism in the Late Proterozoic Arabian Shield

Lead isotopic data for zircons from a dacite clast in a volcanic breccia of the oldest oceanic assemblage (immature arc or oceanic plateau) of the southwestern Arabian Shield (Baish group), acquired with the single-grain evaporation technique, yielded a mean 207 Pb/ 206 Pb age of 842 ±17 Ma. Earlier published Rb-Sr data for Baish rocks yielded a three-point isochron of 1165 ±110 Ma. This age has been repeatedly cited as evidence for pre-1 Ga arc magmatism in the Arabian Shield. However, more recent Rb-Sr data and zircon ages for clastic metasedimentary rocks are in agreement with our new zircon age, suggesting that initial oceanic magmatism in the Arabian Shield did not begin until after 90…

Detrital footprint of the Mozambique ocean: U–Pb SHRIMP and Pb evaporation zircon geochronology of metasedimentary gneisses in eastern Madagascar

Abstract The southern East African Orogen is a collisional belt where the identification of major suture zones has proved elusive. In this study, we apply U–Pb isotopic techniques to date detrital zircons from a key part of the East African Orogen, analyse their possible source region and discuss how this information can help in unravelling the orogen. U–Pb sensitive high-mass resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) and Pb evaporation analyses of detrital zircons from metasedimentary rocks in eastern Madagascar reveal that: (1) the protoliths of many of these rocks were deposited between ∼800 and 550 Ma; and (2) these rocks are sourced from regions with rocks that date back to over 3400 Ma, with…

Proterozoic mobile belts compatible with the plate tectonic concept

Zircon isotopic ages from magnetite quartzites of the Jianping metamorphic complex, western Liaoning Province

Using the zircon Pb evaporation method and high precise ion microprobe analyses, zircon isotopic ages in supracrustal magnetite quartzites from Jianping metamorphic complex have been obtained. The results show that the deposition of the supracrustal rocks occurred around 2 552–2 520 Ma and the peak of granulite facies metamorphism reached at about 2 487 Ma; about (1 806±16) Ma, i.e. Mid-Proterozoic, the other possible metamorphic event with relatively low intensity happened in the study area. It is speculated that a likely tectonic setting where the Jianping metamorphic complex formed is an active continental margin that is involved in continental collision and crustal thickening shortly af…

Mesoproterozoic (Grenville-age) terranes in the Kyrgyz North Tianshan: Zircon ages and Nd–Hf isotopic constraints on the origin and evolution of basement blocks in the southern Central Asian Orogen

Abstract The North Tianshan orogenic belt in Kyrgyzstan consists predominantly of Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic assemblages and tectonically interlayered older Precambrian crystalline complexes and formed during early Paleozoic accretionary and collisional events. One of the oldest continental fragments of late Mesoproterozoic (Grenvillian) age occurs within the southern part of the Kyrgyz North Tianshan. Using SHRIMP zircon ages, we document two magmatic events at ~ 1.1 and ~ 1.3 Ga. The younger event is characterized by voluminous granitoid magmatism between 1150 and 1050 Ma and is associated with deformation and metamorphism. The older event is documented by ~ 1.3 Ga felsic volcanism…

Single zircon ages from high-grade rocks of the Jianping Complex, Liaoning Province, NE China

Abstract The high-grade rocks of the Jianping Complex in Liaoning Provi nce, NE China, belong to the late Archaean to earliest Proterozoic granulite belt of the North China craton. Single zircon ages obtained by the Pb–Pb evaporation method and SHRIMP analyses document an evolutionary history that began with deposition of a cratonic supracrustal sequence some 2522–2551 Ma ago, followed by intrusion of granitoid rocks beginning at 2522 Ma and reaching a peak at about 2500 Ma. This was followed by high-grade metamorphism, transforming the existing rocks into granulites, charnockites and enderbites some 2485–2490 Ma ago. The intrusion of post-tectonic granites at 2472 Ma is associated with wid…

SHRIMP zircon dating and Nd isotopic systematics of Palaeoproterozoic migmatitic orthogneisses in the Epupa Metamorphic Complex of northwestern Namibia

Abstract The Epupa Metamorphic Complex constitutes the southwestern margin of the Congo Craton and is exposed in a hilly to mountainous terrain of northwestern Namibia, bordering the Kunene River and extending into southern Angola. It consists predominantly of granitoid gneisses which are migmatized over large areas. This migmatization locally led to anatexis and produced crustal-melt granites such as the Otjitanda Granite. We have undertaken reconnaissance geochemical studies and single zircon U–Pb SHRIMP and Pb–Pb evaporation dating of rocks of the Epupa Complex. The granitoid gneisses, migmatites and anatectic melts are similar in composition and constitute a suite of metaluminous to per…

Review of Nd isotopic data and xenocrystic and detrital zircon ages from the pre-Variscan basement in the eastern Bohemian Massif: speculations on palinspastic reconstructions

Accretionary growth and crust formation in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and comparison with the Arabian-Nubian shield

Kroner, A., Windley, B.F., Badarch, G., Tomurtogoo, O., Hegner, E., Jahn, B.M., Gruschka, S., Khain, E.V., Demoux, A., and Wingate, M.T.D., 2007, Accretionary growth and crust formation in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and comparison with the Arabian-Nubian shield, in Hatcher, R.D., Jr., Carlson, M.P., McBride, J.H., and Martinez Catalan, J.R., eds., 4-D Framework of Continental Crust: Geological Society of America Memoir 200, p. 181–209, doi: 10.1130/2007.1200(11). For permission to copy, contact editing@geosociety.org. ©2007 The Geological Society of America. All rights reserved. *Kroner: kroener@mail.uni-mainz.de; Windley: brian.windley@btinternet.com; Tomurtogoo: igmr@magicnet.mn; Heg…

Neoproterozoic eclogite- to high-pressure granulite-facies metamorphism in the Mozambique belt of east-central Tanzania: A petrological, geochemical and geochronological approach

Abstract This study investigated Neoproterozoic (Pan-African) eclogite- and high-pressure-granulite (E-HPG) facies rocks from the Mozambique belt of east-central Tanzania, collected close to the town of Ifakara and the adjacent Furua area from different tectonic settings, the Palaeoproterozoic Usagaran and the Neoproterozoic Mozambique belt. The studied rocks are E-HPG facies granite- and diorite-gneisses and a meta-gabbroic rock, which are retrogressed to amphibolite- and greenschist-facies conditions. Four different clockwise P-T paths were constructed. The first P-T path for a granodioritic gneiss displays peak metamorphic conditions at ~ 830 °C and ~ 13.0 kbar. The second P-T path for a…

Ubendian basement and its late Mesoproterozoic and early Neoproterozoic structural and metamorphic overprint in northeastern Zambia

The Palaeoproterozoic basement in the Muyombe and Luwumbu River areas of northeastern Zambia comprises a WNW‐ESE (to E‐W) trending cordierite‐garnet‐sillimanite granulite unit with numerous enderbite bodies and an amphibolite-facies migmatite unit. Zircons from a biotite metatonalite intruding the granulites were dated at 1960.7±0.4 Ma, and this is time-equivalent with the Nyika granite in adjacent Malawi. Mesoproterozoic intrusions into this basement are represented by a nepheline syenite at Mivula Hill (zircon age: 1360.1±0.8 Ma) and the porphyritic Ntendele biotite metagranite (zircon age: 1329.1±0.6 Ma). The Ntendele granite attains plutonic dimensions north of Muyombe. The Mesoproteroz…

Linking growth episodes of zircon and metamorphic textures to zircon chemistry: an example from the ultrahigh-temperature granulites of Rogaland (SW Norway)

In-situ U-Th-Pb analyses by ion-microprobe on zircon in intact textural relationships are combined with backscatter and cathodoluminescence imaging and trace element analyses to provide evidence for growth episodes of zircon. This approach helps: (a) to unravel the polymetamorphic history of aluminous migmatitic and granitoid gneisses of the regional contact aureole around the Rogaland anorthosite-norite intrusive complex; and (b) to constrain the age of M 2 ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) metamorphism and the subsequent retrograde M 3 event. All samples yield magmatic inherited zircon of c. 1035 Ma, some an additional group at c. 1050 Ma. This suggests that loss of Pb by volume diffusion in no…

Time of formation and peak of Variscan HP-HT metamorphism of quartz-feldspar rocks in the central Erzgebirge, Saxony, Germany

The Variscan Erzgebirge represents an antiform with a core of gneisses and mica schists, surrounded by a phyllitic mantle. The Gneiss-Eclogite Unit (GEU), in the central part, is a composite tectonometamorphic assemblage characterized by a HP-HT imprint and comprises migmatitic para- and orthogneisses, HT mylonites, HP granulites, eclogites and garnet peridotites. It is tectonically sandwiched between two major units with distinctly lower PT histories. The GEU experienced a characteristic “kinked” retrograde PT path after HP-HT equilibration with: (1) strong near-isothermal decompression at high temperatures; (2) extensive re-equilibration at medium pressures, followed (3) by rapid cooling …

Tectonic models for accretion of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt

The Central Asian Orogenic Belt ( c . 1000–250 Ma) formed by accretion of island arcs, ophiolites, oceanic islands, seamounts, accretionary wedges, oceanic plateaux and microcontinents in a manner comparable with that of circum-Pacific Mesozoic–Cenozoic accretionary orogens. Palaeomagnetic and palaeofloral data indicate that early accretion (Vendian–Ordovician) took place when Baltica and Siberia were separated by a wide ocean. Island arcs and Precambrian microcontinents accreted to the active margins of the two continents or amalgamated in an oceanic setting (as in Kazakhstan) by roll-back and collision, forming a huge accretionary collage. The Palaeo-Asian Ocean closed in the Permian with…

Detrital and igneous zircon ages for supracrustal rocks of the Kyrgyz Tianshan and palaeogeographic implications

Abstract We report detrital zircon ages for Precambrian and early Palaeozoic metasediments from the Tianshan orogen in Kyrgyzstan, an important component of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and compare these with published ages from the Chinese Tianshan and the Tarim craton. These data provide information on possible source terrains and suggest that Precambrian basement is widespread in the Tianshan and may, at least in part, represent continental fragments rifted off the Tarim craton during the early history of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. Distinct differences in the Precambrian zircon age distribution between the North and Middle Tianshan of Kyrgyzstan support earlier ideas that these …

The onset of deep recycling of supracrustal materials at the Paleo-Mesoarchean boundary.

Abstract The recycling of supracrustal materials, and in particular hydrated rocks, has a profound impact on mantle composition and thus on the formation of continental crust, because water modifies the physical properties of lithological systems and the mechanisms of partial melting and fractional fractionation. On the modern Earth, plate tectonics offers an efficient mechanism for mass transport from the Earth's surface to its interior, but how far this mechanism dates back in the Earth's history is still uncertain. Here, we use zircon oxygen (O) isotopes to track recycling of supracrustal materials into the magma sources of early Archean igneous suites from the Kaapvaal Craton, southern …

Geochronology of the Hout River Shear Zone and the metamorphism in the Southern Marginal Zone of the Limpopo Belt, Southern Africa

Abstract In this paper monazite U–Pb and zircon evaporation dates, stepleaching Pb/Pb results on garnet, staurolite and kyanite, and hornblende Ar/Ar data are presented which constrain the timing of granulite facies metamorphism in the Southern Marginal Zone of the Limpopo Belt and its thrusting onto the Kaapvaal Craton. The Southern Marginal Zone of the Limpopo Belt is considered to be a lower crustal equivalent of the northern Kaapvaal Craton. Granulite exhumation is associated with southward thrusting along the Hout River Shear Zone which is a set of thrust and strike slip shear zones. Zircon ages for the Matok Intrusive Complex which was emplaced within the zone during this thrusting (c…

Age and isotope geochemistry of the Archaean Pongola and Usushwana suites in Swaziland, southern Africa: a case for crustal contamination of mantle-derived magma

The igneous rocks of the Pongola Supergroup (PS) and Usushwana Intrusive Suite (UIS) represent a case of late Archaean continental magmatism in the southeastern part of the Kaapvaal craton of South Africa and Swaziland. U-Pb dating on zircons from felsic volcanic rocks of the PS yields a concordia intercept age of 2940 ± 22Ma that is consistent with a Sm-Nd whole rock age of 2934 ± 114Ma determined on the PS basalt-rhyolite suite. The initial eNd of−2.6 ± 0.9 is the lowest value so far reported for Archaean mantle-derived rocks. Rb-Sr whole rock dating of the PS yields a younger isochron age of 2883 ± 69Ma, which is not significantly different form the accepted U-Pb zircon age. An internal …

Geochemistry of ultramafic and mafic rocks from the northern Central Asian Orogenic Belt (Tuva, Central Asia) - constraints on lower and middle arc crust formation linked to late Proterozoic intra-oceanic subduction

Abstract The Agardagh Tes-Chem complex (ATCC) in Tuva, Central Asia (50.5°N, 95°E) exposes a rare mafic to ultramafic crust-mantle fragment that developed within a late Neoproterozoic (~570 Ma) intra-oceanic island arc system that was accreted to the Tuva-Mongolian microcontinent during the formation of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. Residual mantle rocks (harzburgites and dunites) are highly refractory with high Cr# (0.59–0.83) and intermediate Mg# (0.46–0.52) in spinel and experienced high degrees of total melt extraction (up to 25%). In ultramafic cumulate rocks (wehrlites and pyroxenites), Cr# and Mg# in spinel are distinctly lower (0.22–0.45 and 0.34–0.37), and rare earth element (RE…

Origin and Evolution of High-Grade Gneiss Terrains

In the previous chapters we have given an impression of the way in which the analysis of high-grade rocks can be approached in the field. Here we conclude with some current larger-scale ideas on the origin and evolution of such rock assemblages.

Carbon isotope geochemistry and geochronological constraints of the Neoproterozoic Sirohi Group from northwest India

a b s t r a c t The early Neoproterozoic carbonates of the Sirohi Group, northwestern India, were studied for geochronology as well as for oxygen and carbon isotopes across three different sections to understand their relationship with contemporaneous global events. New single zircon Pb-Pb evaporation data con- strain the age of the Sirohi Group between ca. 920 and ca. 820 Ma, though actual span for deposition of the carbonates may be little shorter taking into allowance the time for peneplanation. Narrow range in variation of 18O values is generally observed in the carbonate which is consistent with generally well-preserved original compositions. Two sections (SA and SS) out of the three t…

Dating of late Proterozoic ophiolites in Egypt and the Sudan using the single grain zircon evaporation technique

Abstract Zircons from gabbro and plagiogranite in late Proterozoic ophiolites of the Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS) in Egypt and the Sudan, as well as post-ophiolite granites have been dated using the stepwise evaporation method. Zircons from a plagiogranite in the Wadi Ghadir ophiolite, Eastern Desert of Egypt, yielded a mean 207Pb/206Pb age of 746±19 Ma, while a gabbro and diorite associated with the Abu Swayel ophiolite nappe ∼ 250 km southwest of Wadi Ghadir provided zircon 207Pb/206Pb ages of 729±17 and 736±11 Ma, respectively. Zircons from layered gabbro along the western margin of the Jabal Gerf ophiolite just north of 22°N were dated at 741±21 Ma, indistinguishable from the Wadi Ghadir…

Age and tectonic setting of granitoid gneisses in the Eastern Desert of Egypt and south-west Sinai

Strongly deformed and locally migmatized gneisses occur at several places in the southern Eastern Desert of Egypt and in Sinai and have variously been interpreted as a basement to Pan-african (≈900 to 600 Ma) supracrustal and intrusive assemblages. A suite of grabbroic to granitic gneisses was investigated in the Hafafit area, which constitutes an I-type calc-alkaline intrusive assemblage whose chemistry suggests emplacement along an active continental margin and whose granitoid members can be correlated with the so-called ‘Older Granites’ of Egypt. 207Pb/206Pb single zircon evaporation from three samples of the Hafafit gneisses yielded protolith emplacement ages between 677 ± 9 and 700 ± 1…

Robert Thomas Pidgeon

Petrology of mafic lavas within the Onega plateau, central Karelia: evidence for 2.0 Ga plume-related continental crustal growth in the Baltic Shield

The Onega plateau constitutes part of a vast continental flood basalt province in the SE Baltic Shield. It consists of Jatulian-Ludikovian submarine volcanic, volcaniclastic and sedimentary sequences attaining in places 4.5 km in thickness. The parental magmas of the lavas contained ∼10% MgO and were derived from melts generated in the garnet stability field at depths 80–100 km. The Sm-Nd mineral and Pb-Pb whole-rock isochron ages of 1975 ± 24 and 1980 ± 57 Ma for the upper part of the plateau and a SHRIMP U-Pb zircon age of 1976 ± 9 Ma for its lower part imply the formation of the entire sequence within a short time span. These ages coincide with those of picrites in the Pechenga-Imandra b…

Continental Construction in Central Asia (IGCP-592): Scientific Results and Meetings in 2012

IGCP-Project #592 (2012-2015) "Continental construction in Central Asia", funded by UNESCO-IUGS, was launched in April 2012. The Project focuses on tectonic and magmatic aspects of formation of continental crust in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and their comparison with actualistic examples from the western Pacific. This report summarizes related scientific results and meetings. In total, in 2012 the Project organized, and/or participated in the organization of, six international conferences and workshops, three of which were accompanied by training schools for young scientists and special training courses. At the present time, more than 250 scientists from 27 countries expressed their in…

Age and Origin of Paleogene Granitoids from Western Yunnan Province, China: Geochemistry, SHRIMP Zircon Ages, and Hf-in-Zircon Isotopic Compositions

We report geochemical data, SHRIMP zircon ages and Hf-in-zircon isotopic compositions for Cenozoic granitoids from major fault systems in the Tethyan belt in western Yunnan Province, southwestern China. Four magmatic pulses occurred in the Paleogene, namely at ca. 57 Ma, ca. 50 Ma, 45–40 Ma, and 38–34 Ma. Early magmatism of this episode (57–50 Ma) produced S-type granites whose zircons yielded eHf(t) values of −5.0 to −0.3. In contrast, late magmatism of this episode reflects heterogeneous sources. Zircons from a granite porphyry along the Ailaoshan-Red River fault system have slightly positive eHf(t) values suggesting derivation from relatively young crust and/or a juvenile source. However…

A new concept of continental construction in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt

A new concept of continental construction based on four main terms: (1) crustal growth, (2) crustal formation, (3) continental growth and (4) continental formation is presented here. Each of these terms reflects a certain process responsible for the formation of what we call now "continental crust". This concept is applied to the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), which is a global major accretionary orogen formed after the closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean, and to its actualistic analogues - orogenic belts and accretionary complexes of the Western Pacific. The main focuses of the paper are the state of activities in the study of the CAOB, the theoretical basics of the new concept of contin…

Carboniferous and Cretaceous mafic–ultramafic massifs in Inner Mongolia (China): A SHRIMP zircon and geochemical study of the previously presumed integral “Hegenshan ophiolite”

Abstract We present SHRIMP zircon ages and whole-rock geochemical data to identify mafic–ultramafic massifs of early Carboniferous and early Cretaceous ages from northern Inner Mongolia, China. The early Carboniferous massifs (Chongenshan–Xiaobaliang–Wusnihei) comprise predominantly lherzolite and minor gabbroic rocks. Zircons from a microgabbro (e Nd (t)  = 9.8) and a plagiogranite (e Nd (t)  = 9) yielded weighted mean 206 Pb/ 238 U ages of 354 ± 7 Ma and 333 ± 4 Ma, that we interpret as reflecting the time of zircon (and magma) crystallization. A volcanic breccia resting unconformably on the ultramafic rocks (serpentinites) has an eruption age of 300 ± 2 Ma and provides a younger minimum …

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…

Extensive magmatism and metamorphism at ca. 3.2 Ga in the eastern Kaapvaal Craton

Abstract The timing of the emergence of modern-style plate tectonics on Earth is of fundamental importance in understanding the thermal and compositional history of the planet. Although the magmatism and metamorphism in the eastern Kaapvaal Craton was thought by some as geological records for mid-Archean subduction at 3.2 Ga, their petrogenesis was fiercely debated. To reveal the nature of the 3.2 Ga magmatism and metamorphism in the eastern Kaapvaal Craton, here we provide a comprehensive zircon and monazite U-Pb geochronological investigation, coupled with in situ trace element and Hf-O isotopic analyses, for the magmatic and metamorphic rocks from the Barberton granitoid-greenstone terra…

Partial Melting and Counterclockwise P T Path of Subducted Oceanic Crust (Sierra del Convento Melange, Cuba)

When Did Plate Tectonics Begin on Earth? Theoretical and Empirical Constraints

Tectonic evolution in the Archaean and Proterozoic

Kre high heat flow probably favoured global hotspot activity with crustal growth of Iceland type through vertical magmatic accretion. The tectonic environment for the generation of about 3.9-2.5 Ga granite-gneiss-greenstone terrains with volurnlnous production of tonalite-trondhjemite-granodlorite magmas is still uncertain, and both piate ma@ and intrapiate scenarios arc possible. Deformanon atylea in greenstones and adjacent high-grade orthognersses with intercalated shallow-water supracrustal assemblages suggest extensive horizontal shortening and crustal interstacking. This probably resulted from collisional and/or rotational motion and produced significant intracrustal melting as early …

Episodic mantle melting-crustal reworking in the late Neoarchean of the northwestern North China Craton: Zircon ages of magmatic and metamorphic rocks from the Yinshan Block

Abstract The Yinshan Block in the northwestern North China Craton comprises late Neoarchean greenstones, high-grade metamorphic rocks (granulite, charnockite, enderbite and amphibole gneiss), diorites (sanukitoid and Mg-adakite) and granitoids (predominantly trondhjemite-tonalite). A greenstone terrane comprises a volcanic sequence of predominant basalt and dacite, with minor andesite. Zircons from a high-Mg andesite and an andesite have weighted mean 207Pb/206Pb ages of 2533 ± 5 Ma and 2510 ± 7 Ma, respectively, which reflect the timing of two distinct volcanic episodes. These two either predated or postdated a major volcanic episode that formed a basalt-dacite bimodal suite during 2515 ± …

Archean-Paleoproterozoic crustal evolution of the Ordos Block in the North China Craton: Constraints from zircon U–Pb geochronology and Hf isotopes for gneissic granitoids of the basement

Abstract The Ordos Block has been considered as an Archean micro-block in North China Craton. However, its formation and evolution are poorly understood for a long time due to lack of available basement rocks. Our LA-ICPMS and SIMS zircon U–Pb dating of gneissic granitoids from the Ordos Block basement identified two distinct periods of granitic magmatism at ∼2.5 Ma and 2.2–2.0 Ga, and two phases of metamorphisms at ∼1.95 Ga and ∼1.85 Ga, respectively. Of which most zircons of ∼2.5 Ga granitoids show positive ɛ Hf ( t ) values ranging from +0.1 to +4.1 with a peak T DM of ∼2.7 Ga. Minor zircons have negative ɛ Hf ( t ) values from −3.8 to −0.02 and T Hf C of 2.8–3.1 Ga. Moreover, the 3.40 G…

Fabric Development in Gneiss Terrains

This chapter describes some aspects of the development of fabrics in gneiss terrains. It provides essential background information that should be read before attempting to map a gneiss terrain. Inevitably, the interpretations are ‘state of the art’ and not necessarily the absolute answer. Additional information can be found in the cited literature and various specialised journals such as the Journal of Structural Geology, the Journal of Metamorphic Geology, Tectonophysics, Tectonics and Precambrian Research.

Granulites and Palaeoproterozoic lower crust of the Baidarik Block, Central Asian Orogenic Belt of NW Mongolia

Abstract Mafic granulite xenoliths are hosted by garnetiferous charnockites in the Archaean to Palaeoproterozoic Bumbuger Complex of northwestern Mongolia, one of the exotic basement terranes in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. These rocks crystallized at ca. 1850 Ma under granulite-facies conditions (800 ± 27 °C, 6.8 ± 0.6 kbar) in the lower crust and were partly retrogressed to amphibolite-facies during ascent to higher crustal levels as a result of strong deformation resulting in northwest-trending isoclinal folds. The mafic xenoliths are likely derived from gabbroic protoliths, and geochemical, Hf-in-zircon and Nd whole-rock isotopic data suggest these rocks to have originated from pare…

Single zircon evaporation ages from the Oban Massif, southeastern Nigeria

Abstract A single zircon geochronological study in the Oban Massif of southeastern Nigeria, using the evaporation technique, provides evidence for the existence of Palaeoproterozoic crustal components in the area. The banded gneiss in the Oban village yielded a 207 Pb 206 Pb age of 1931.9±0.8 Ma, whilst charnockites associated with this gneiss provided an emplacement age of 584.5 ± 1.0 Ma. The volumetrically most important intrusive unit in the Oban area is a granodiorite that yielded a zircon age of 616.9 ± 1 Ma. These ages suggest that the banded gneiss is the oldest rock in the Oban Massif and that the emplacement of granodiorite and the formation of charnockites took place during the Pa…

Crust Formation and Plate Motion in the Early Archean

Mounting evidence for voluminous continental crust formation in the early Archean involving intracrustal melting and selective preservation of granitoid rocks suggests that initial crust formation crust formation and growth were predominantly by magmatic underplating in plumegenerated Iceland-type settings. Collision of these early islands to give rise to larger blocks is suggested by extensive horizontal shortening in both supracrustal and granitoid assemblages. Preservation of early Archean high-grade gneisses that were once at depths of 20 to 30 kilometers implies that these blocks developed thick, subcrustal roots despite high mantle heat flow. Rigid continental plates must have existed…

Age, Nd–Hf isotopes, and geochemistry of the Vijayan Complex of eastern and southern Sri Lanka: A Grenville-age magmatic arc of unknown derivation

Abstract The ca. 1.0–1.1 Ga Vijayan Complex (VC) of eastern and southeastern Sri Lanka is one of three high-grade metamorphic terranes making up the basement of the island and is in tectonic contact with the adjacent, older Highland Complex. It consists predominantly of granitoid gneisses ranging in composition from diorite to leucogranite, with a distinct calc-alkaline geochemical signature, and is interpreted as a magmatic arc. Strong ductile deformation has obliterated almost all original intrusive relationships. High-grade metamorphism during the Pan-African event at ca. 610–520 Ma has produced widespread granulite-facies assemblages that are now largely retrogressed and were affected b…

Zircon ages, geochemistry and Nd isotopic systematics for the Palaeoproterozoic 2.3–1.8 Ga Kuilyu Complex, East Kyrgyzstan – The oldest continental basement fragment in the Tianshan orogenic belt

Abstract Precambrian microcontinents represent key tectonic units in the accretionary collages of the western Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), and their geological history is reasonably well established since the Mesoproterozoic but remains weakly constrained for older epochs due to a scarcity of exposed Palaeoproterozoic and Archaean rocks. Early Precambrian rocks were previously reported from several metamorphic complexes in the Kyrgyz Tianshan orogenic belt, mainly based on multigrain conventional zircon dating, but the present study only confirmed such rocks at one site, namely in the Kuilyu Complex of eastern Kyrgyzstan. New single grain SHRIMP II zircon ages, geochemical data, and …

The Wadi Onib Mafic-Ultramafic Complex: A Neoproterozoic Supra-Subduction Zone Ophiolite in the Northern Red Sea Hills of the Sudan

Publisher Summary The Wadi Onib mafic–ultramafic complex represents the best preserved, though tectonically dismembered, Neoproterozoic (Pan-African) ophiolite in the northern Red Sea Hills of the Sudan. Arabian–Nubian shield (ANS) is the northern continuation of the Mozambique belt and, together, they have been referred to as the East African Orogen (EAO). The Wadi Onib mafic—ultramafic complex constitutes one of the best preserved, though tectonically fragmented, ophiolitic sequence within the ANS and makes up the major part of the prominent, southwest to northeast oriented Onib–Sol Hamed suture. An improved understanding of the composition and history of this complex has important region…

Rb-Sr geochronology in favour of polymetamorphism in the Pan African Damara belt of Namibia (South West Africa)

New Rb-Sr whole rock age data are reported from two metasedimentary sequences of the Damara Supergroup in the central Pan African Damara belt of Namibia (South West Africa).

Precambrian basement around Wadi Halfa, Sudan: a new perspective on the evolution of the East Saharan Craton

This paper provides new geochemical and isotopic data on the evolution of the western foreland to the Nubian shield of north-east Africa. There is abundant evidence for early to middle Proterozoic crust west of the River Nile, but this was severely affected by the Pan-African (~ 500-900 Ma) orogenic cycle. The results are reported of Rb-Sr whole rock and zircon evaporation geochronological studies and whole rock Sm-Nd and feldspar Pb isotopic analyses for four rock units around Wadi Halfa in northern- most Sudan. These results indicate the presence of heterogeneous pre-Pan-African crustal components, preserved in mylonitic gneisses and in conglomerates that unconformably overlie the gneisse…

Zircon ages and Hf isotopic compositions of Ordovician and Carboniferous granitoids from central Inner Mongolia and their significance for early and late Paleozoic evolution of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt

Abstract We present zircon ages and Hf-in-zircon isotopic data for plutonic rocks and review the evolution of central Inner Mongolia, China, in the early and late Paleozoic. Zircons of a granodiorite yielded a 206 Pb/ 238 U age of 472 ± 3 Ma that reflects the time of early Paleozoic magmatism. Zircon ages were also obtained for a tonalite (329 ± 3 Ma), quartz-diorite (320 ± 3 Ma), and granite vein (297 ± 2 Ma). Our results, in combination with published zircon ages and geochemical data, document distinct magmatic episodes in central Inner Mongolia. The dated samples are mostly granodiorite, tonalite and quartz-diorite in composition with intermediate to high-silica, high Na 2 O (3.08–4.26 w…

Multiple zircon growth within early Archaean tonalitic gneiss from the Ancient Gneiss Complex, Swaziland

Abstract U Pb age determinations by ion microprobe reveal multiple episodes of zircon growth and recrystallization within a single sample of tonalitic gneiss from the Ancient Gneiss Complex. The oldest episode at3644 ± 4Ma(2σ) produced the dominant type of zircon, characteristically purplish-brown and massive in texture; this probably constitutes unaltered zircon precipitated from the original magma. Recrystallization accompanied (and obscured) by early Pb loss took place within the oldest grains at3504 ± 6Ma and3433 ± 8Ma. Whole new grains grew at these times also. We interpret the post-3644 Ma growth as due to episodic deformational and metamorphic events that transformed the tonalite plu…

Petrological and Isotopic Studies on Palaeozoic High-pressure Granulites, Gory Sowie Mts, Polish Sudetes

2154·7-1·4 Ma, whereas 19 analyses of grain fractions and single grains of multi-faceted zircons interpreted, from their char- acteristic spherical 'football' shape, as newly crystallized meta-

Age and evolution of late Mesozoic metamorphic core complexes in southern Siberia and northern Mongolia

Numerous Cretaceous metamorphic core complexes (MCCs) extend from Transbaikalia in Russia to northern Mongolia within the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. We investigated the Buteel and Zagan MCCs in detail. Shear sense indicators in mylonitized rocks show footwall-to-the-NW tectonic transport. Single zircon dating of footwall rocks in the Buteel MCC establishes the emplacement of granitoid orthogneiss precursors at 240–211 Ma, a felsic metavolcanic rock at 265.0 ± 1.2 Ma, a syenite at 265.5 ± 1.2 Ma and a metarhyolite of the pre-granitoid basement at 553.6 ± 2.9 Ma. A peralkaline granite intruding orthogneisses of the Zagan MCC has a new U–Pb zircon age of 151.6 ± 0.7 Ma. 40Ar/39Ar ages of 133…

The oldest granite clast in the Moodies conglomerate, Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa, and its likely origin

Orthogneisses in the Spessart Crystalline Complex, north-west Bavaria: Silurian granitoid magmatism at an active continental margin

The Spessart Crystalline Complex, north-west Bavaria contains two orthogneiss units of granitic to granodioritic composition, known as the Rotgneiss and Haibach gneiss, respectively, which are structurally conformable with associated metasediments. The igneous origin of the Rotgneiss is apparent from field and textural evidence, whereas strong deformation and recrystallization in the Haibach gneiss has obscured most primary textures. New geochemical data as well as zircon morphology prove the Haibach gneiss to be derived from a granitoid precursor, which was chemically similar to the Rotgneiss protolith, thus suggesting a genetic link between those two rock units. Both gneiss types have che…

Ultra-high temperature granulite-facies metamorphic rocks from the Mozambique belt of SW Tanzania

Abstract The metamorphic rocks in the Neoproterozoic (Pan-African) Mozambique belt of southwestern Tanzania, around the town of Songea, can be subdivided into one- and two pyroxene bearing charnockitic gneisses, migmatitic granitoid gneisses and amphibolite-facies metapelites. Lower-grade amphibolite-facies rocks are rare and can be classified as sillimanite- and/or garnet-bearing metapelites. Most of the studied charnockitic gneisses show excellent corona textures with large orthopyroxene grains rimmed by clinopyroxene, followed by quartz and well developed garnet rims due to the reaction Opx + Pl = Grt + Cpx + Qtz that formed during isobaric cooling. These and other charnockitic gneisses …

Palaeomagnetism of the central Cuban Cretaceous Arc sequences and geodynamic implications

Abstract A detailed palaeomagnetic study of Cretaceous age volcanic and sedimentary arc rocks from central Cuba has been carried out. Samples from 32 sites (12 localities) were subjected to detailed demagnetisation experiments. Nineteen sites from the Los Paso, Matagua, Provincial and Cabaiguan Formations yielded high unblocking temperature, dual polarity directions of magnetisation which pass the fold tests with confidence levels of 95% or more and are considered to be primary in origin. The palaeomagnetic inclinations are equivalent to palaeolatitudes of 9°N for the Aptian, 18°N for the Albian. A synfolding remanence identified in 5 sites from the younger Hilario Formation indicates a lat…

Single zircon ages for felsic to intermediate rocks from the Pietersburg and Giyani greenstone belts and bordering granitoid orthogneisses, northern Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa

Abstract Previous models for the temporal evolution of greenstone belts and surrounding granitoid gneisses in the northern Kaapvaal Craton can be revised on the basis of new single zircon ages, obtained by conventional UPb dating and PbPb evaporation. In the Pietersburg greenstone belt, zircons from a metaquartz porphyry of the Ysterberg Formation yielded an age of 2949.7±0.2 Ma, while a granite intruding the greenstones, and deformed together with them, has an age of 2853 + 19/−18 Ma. These data show felsic volcanism in this belt to have been coeval with felsic volcanism in the Murchison belt farther east, and the date of ∼2853 Ma provides an older age limit for deformation in the region…

Evolution of a Permian intraoceanic arc–trench system in the Solonker suture zone, Central Asian Orogenic Belt, China and Mongolia

Abstract The identification of a fossil arc–trench system from the ophiolite-decorated Solonker suture zone in the southernmost Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) enables us to constrain the timing of pre-subduction extension (ca. 299–290 Ma), subduction initiation (ca. 294–280 Ma), ridge–trench collision (ca. 281–273 Ma) and slab break-off (ca. 255–248 Ma) in the Permian. A fraction of proto-arc crust (ca. 45 km long, up to 8 km wide) is preserved as a volcanic–plutonic sequence and is juxtaposed against a wide (ca. 30–80 km) forearc melange. This proto-arc crust comprises two distinct magma series, island arc tholeiite (IAT) and mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB), both of which have strong sup…

Pb–Pb age, stable isotope and chemical composition of Archaean magnesite, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa

International audience; Trace-element, carbon, oxygen and lead-isotope analyses were carried out to determine the formation mode and crystallization age of magnesite from the Budd ultramafic complex of the Archaean Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. Its significantly high Ti contents probably relate to a soluble Ti-rich accessory mineral, probably dissolved during magnesite precipitation. Primitive mantle-normalized REE patterns of the magnesite show negative Ce and Eu anomalies induced by two events: (1) the Eu anomaly indicates reducing conditions probably induced by the emplacement of the ultramafic source rock; (2) the Ce anomaly implies oxidizing conditions, probably during a hyd…

A late Precambrian (∼ 710 Ma) high volcanicity rift in the southern Eastern Desert of Egypt

The late Precambrian Shadli Metavolcanics of SE Egypt constitute a slightly metamorphosed bimodal sequence that has been previously interpreted as manifesting volcanic activity at an island arc. We report the first Rb-Sr geochronologic, trace element (including REE), and Nd isotopic data for these rocks. Two types of basalt are recognized, the stratigraphically lower suite having compositions like N-MORB ferrobasalt while the overlying basalt is similar to slightly fractionated E-MORB. The two basalt types were derived from melting of a strongly depleted source, most likely within the upper 60–75 km of the upper mantle. The origin of the felsic melts is problematic, and these could either h…

Age, lithology and structural evolution of the c. 3.53 Ga Theespruit Formation in the Tjakastad area, southwestern Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa, with implications for Archaean tectonics

Abstract A field and petrographic re-assessment of rocks from the Theespruit Formation near Tjakastad, southwestern Barberton Greenstone Belt, is combined with new zircon U–Pb ages and whole-rock Sm–Nd isotopic results to reveal several important inconsistencies with a previous thrust-accretion model for this area. It was found that faults previously interpreted as ‘thrusts’ are extensional, ‘thrust slices of basement orthogneiss’ are little deformed quartz-feldspar porphyries or sheared felsic volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks, and ‘sedimentary diamictites’ are felsic agglomerates. These observations, combined with consistent facing directions of bedding, the recognition of distinct stratig…

Devonian to Permian plate tectonic cycle of the Paleo-Tethys Orogen in southwest China (II): Insights from zircon ages of ophiolites, arc/back-arc assemblages and within-plate igneous rocks and generation of the Emeishan CFB province

Abstract New SHRIMP zircon ages for ophiolites, arc/back-arc assemblages and within-plate igneous rocks constrain the evolution of the Paleo-Tethys Orogen of southwest China. Ophiolites represent remnants of the Paleo-Tethys ocean, which was divided by the Simao terrane into two tracts, the main ocean in the west (current position) and a branch in the east. The main ocean has been inferred to originate from Gondwana break-up in the Early Devonian, and the heritage is preserved as the Changning-Menglian ophiolite (SSZ-type). The oceanic branch is represented by the Ailaoshan (NMORB-type)–Jinshajinag (EMORB-type) ophiolites. Zircons from a diabase and a plagiogranite of the Ailaoshan ophiolit…

Pressure-temperature evolution during two granulite-facies metamorphic events (2.62 and 2.02 Ga) in rocks from the Central Zone of the Limpopo Belt, South Africa

Abstract The Central Zone of the Limpopo Belt in southern Africa is a classical example of a polymetamorphic terrane that experienced three metamorphic events at 3.22 Ga (M1), 2.66–2.61 Ga (M2) and 2.02 (M3). However, the geodynamic significance of these events is controversial as their P-T evolution was poorly constrained. We present new petrological and geochronological data for the M2 and M3 events. The Neoarchean M2 event is well-preserved in samples from a newly discovered enclave of supracrustal and magmatic rocks in the 2.612 Ga Bulai pluton that shielded the enclave against a Paleoproterozoic M3 overprint, which is dominant in rocks exposed outside the pluton. P-T pseudosection mode…

Late Palaeoproterozoic depositional age for khondalite protoliths in southern India and tectonic implications

Abstract SHRIMP dating of detrital zircons from garnet–sillimanite–cordierite paragneisses (khondalites) of the Trivandrum Block, southern India, revealed nanometer-scale Pb isotopic inhomogeneity in most grains that we ascribe to annealing processes during ultra-high-temperature metamorphism at ca. 570 Ma. Our age data for zircons from six representative khondalite samples do not document any Neo- or Mesoproterozoic detrital grains, and we conclude from the concordant ages and discordant minimum 207Pb/206Pb ages that the khondalite precursor sediments were deposited more than 2.1 Ga ago and were subsequently intruded by granitoid rocks at ca. 1765–2100 Ma. Some detrital zircons in the khon…

Early Neoproterozoic crustal growth and microcontinent formation of the north–central Central Asian Orogenic Belt: New geological, geochronological, and Nd–Hf isotopic data on the Mélange Zone within the Zavkhan terrane, western Mongolia

Abstract In this study, new geological, geochronological, geochemical, and Nd–Hf isotopic data are presented for the Melange Zone within the Zavkhan terrane, Mongolia, and the terrane structure, early Neoproterozoic continental crust growth, and microcontinent formation in the north–central part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) are discussed. The Melange Zone separates high-grade complexes of the northwestern part of the Zavkhan terrane and unmetamorphosed Neoproterozoic Zavkhan Formation covered by Cryogenian–Cambrian shelf deposits of the southwestern part. Zone consist of a lower-grade association of basalts, basaltic andesites, rarely felsic volcanic rocks, trondhjemites of the…

Single-zircon geochronology and Nd isotopic systematics of Proterozoic high-grade rocks from the Mozambique belt of southern Tanzania (Masasi area): implications for Gondwana assembly

The Mozambique belt of southern Tanzania is underlain by locally restricted 1100–950 Ma (late Kibaran) granitoid gneisses that were derived from remelting of Archaean continental crust, as suggested by Nd isotopic systematics. These rocks were deformed and metamorphosed during an intense Neoproterozoic (Pan-African) event at around 630 Ma together with tectonically interlayered and widespread 800–650 Ma granitoid gneisses and minor clastic metasediments. The 800–650 Ma granitoids were derived predominantly from Neoproterozoic juvenile melts. There is no evidence for pre-800 Ma deformation. The 630 Ma event led to extensive migmatization in all gneisses and caused local melting. Similarities…

Isothermal decompression history in the “Western Granulite” terrain, central Tanzania: Evidence from reaction textures and trapped fluids in metapelites

Abstract The Mozambique Belt (MB) of the East Africa Orogen contains large areas of granulite-facies migmatitic gneisses with Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic protolith ages and that were recycled during the Neoproterozoic Pan-African orogeny. The study area is situated along the Great Ruaha River and within the Mikumi National Park in central Tanzania where migmatitic gneisses and mafic to intermediate granulites are interlayered with Neoproterozoic granulite-facies migmatitic metapelites. Mineral textures suggest isothermal decompression, with the peak mineral assemblage comprising Grt–Bt–Ky–Kfs–Pl–Qtz ± Phn ± Ti-Oxide ± melt and amphibolite-facies retrograde assemblage Grt–Bt–Sil–Ms–Kfs–Pl…

Palaeozoic pre- and post-collision calc-alkaline magmatism in the Qinling orogenic belt, central China, as documented by zircon ages on granitoid rocks

Based on large-scale reconnaissance mapping, we identified two calc-alkaline plutonic assemblages from the northern Qinling orogenic belt. central China. The older assemblage of intrusions. closely associated and deformed coevally with their host volcanic arc sequences, seems to represent the fractionation product of basaltic arc magma. It therefore predates the collision of the North China Block with the Central Qinling island-arc system that developed in a SW Pacific-type oceanic domain south of the North China Block. Single-zircon 207Pb/206Pb evaporation dating yielded early to middle Ordovician ages for this assemblage. with a relatively small range from 487.2 ± 1.1 to 470.2 ± 1.3 Ma. I…

Age and isotopic evidence for the origin of the Archæan granitoid intrusives of the Johannesburg Dome, South Africa

Abstract Results of RbSr, PbPb and SmNd whole rock, Rbr biotite and PbPb zircon evaporation analyses are presented for certain granitoid rocks from the Johannesburg Dome. These data indicate that the granodiorite, granite and leucosome from migmatite were emplaced ∼ 3090 Ma ago, were genetically related and were derived primarily from a source between ∼ 3300 and ∼ 3500 Ma old. A portion of the granodiorite and granite might have been derived from a source between ∼ 4000 and ∼ 4300 Ma old. The tonalite was emplaced ∼ 3170 Ma ago and was derived from a source between 3.3 and 3.5 Ga old. RbSr biotite-whole rock ages, ranging between about ∼ 2614 and ∼ 2080 Ma, probably reflect complete r…

Reworking of the Tarim Craton by underplating of mantle plume-derived magmas: Evidence from Neoproterozoic granitoids in the Kuluketage area, NW China

Abstract Most Neoproterozoic granitoids in the Kuluketage area, northern Tarim Craton are characterized by strongly depleted HREE abundances and high Sr/Y and (La/Yb) N ratios, showing typical geochemical features of adakitic rocks. Zircon U–Pb dating of three adakitic plutons yielded Neoproterozoic ages (754 ± 4, 790 ± 3 and 798 ± 3 Ma). The adakitic granitoids exhibit low MgO and TiO 2 contents. Their low Cr, Co and Ni abundances, low ɛ Hf ( t ) values (−21 to −11) and high FeO T /MgO ratios (mostly 2.2–2.9) preclude the possibility of being derived from partial melts of delaminated lower crust. The relatively low ɛ Hf ( t ) values and old Hf two-stage model ages ( T DM 2 = 2 . 42 – 3 .0 …

Deformation history of the Hengshan Complex: Implications for the tectonic evolution of the Trans-North China Orogen

Abstract Structural analysis indicates that the Hengshan Complex underwent five distinct episodes of deformation (D1–D5). The D1 episode formed small isoclinal folds (F1), penetrative axial planar foliations (S1) and mineral stretching lineations (L1). D1 fabrics were reworked by following D2 deformation. Associated with D2 was the development of NW-verging asymmetric folds and accompanying thrust faults. Both D1 and D2 resulted from crustal thickening and coherent with prograde and peak metamorphism. D2 deformation was followed by transpressional dextral shearing (D3), including top-to-NW oblique-slip shearing and NNE–SSW dextral strike-slip shearing. Ongoing collision led to development o…

Magmatic and metamorphic development of an early to mid-Paleozoic continental margin arc in the southernmost Central Asian Orogenic Belt, Inner Mongolia, China

The Bainaimiao arc in Inner Mongolia, China, comprises a weakly metamorphosed volcani-sedimentary sequence and alow-P/Tmetamorphic complex.In this study wepresent SHRIMP zircon ages and geochemical data to document the temporal and genetic relationships between these two tectonic units. Zircons from a rhyolite and two dacites (high-K calc-alkaline) of the volcani-sedimentary sequence yielded 206 Pb/ 238

Short note of field workshop on Neoproterozoic ophiolites, ophiolitic mélanges and other rock units in the Eastern Desert of Egypt and comparison with the Central Asian Orogenic Belt of Central Asia (18–24 February 2016)

The Neoproterozoic Arabian–Nubian Shield (ANS) and the latest Mesoproterozoic to late Palaeozoic Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) are two large and long-lived accretionary orogens. Both are mostl...

Strontium and argon isotopic homogenization of pelitic sediments during low-grade regional metamorphism: The pan-African upper Damara sequence of Northern Namibia (South West Africa)

Abstract The fine mineral fractions extracted from pelitic sediments of the Eocambrian upper Damaran Mulden Group were subjected to a detailed isotopic study by the Rb-Sr and K-Ar methods in combination with a mineralogical analysis by X-ray diffractometry. The sediments contain two major parageneses of metamorphic origin which can be related to two separate low-grade regional metamorphic events of anchizonal intensity with temperatures between 250 and 300°C and pressures up to 2 kbar. These events are dated at about 535 m.y. and 455 m.y. respectively (with λ( 87 Rb) = 1.42 × 10 −11 yr −1 ). Anomalously high K-Ar ages on samples from specific stratigraphic horizons can be related to open sy…

U-Pb and Pb-Pb zircon ages for metamorphic rocks in the Kaoko Belt of Northwestern Namibia: A Palaeo- to Mesoproterozoic basement reworked during the Pan-African orogeny

The Kaoko Belt belongs to the Neoproterozoic mobile belt system of western Gondwana, whose geodynamic evolution is assumed to have resulted from collision between the Congo Craton (present Africa) and the Rio de la Plata Craton (present South America). Several magmatic intrusion periods can be distinguished in the coastal area of this belt, based on conventional U-Pb, SHRIMP and Pb-Pb evaporation analyses on zircons. The prevailing igneous rock types are of granitic to tonalitic composition. A Palaeoproterozoic terrain with U-Pb magmatic emplacement ages between ~2.03 and 1.96 Ga may be correlated with the Eburnian event (~1.8 to 2.0 Ga), which is widespread in Africa. Additionally, two dis…

Petrology, geochronology, and tectonic implications of c . 500 Ma metamorphic and igneous rocks along the northern margin of the Central Asian Orogen (Olkhon terrane, Lake Baikal, Siberia)

A significant portion of the continental crust of northern Eurasia is thought to have formed during the evolution of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt at the time of accretion of continental terranes and island arcs. Records of this event are well preserved within the Siberian craton–Central Asian Orogenic Belt transition zone in Lake Baikal region, particularly in the Olkhon terrane. Our results establish granulite-facies conditions for peak metamorphism in the Olkhon terrane, and indicate that the granulites were derived from island arc mafic volcanic rocks and back-arc basin sediments. Sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe dating of metamorphic zircons from two mafic granulites yielded …

Ca. 1318 Ma A-type granite on the northern margin of the North China Craton: Implications for intraplate extension of the Columbia supercontinent

Abstract Identification of the Mesoproterozoic A-type Jining granite and granite porphyry, which with abundant coeval mafic dike sills and volcanic rocks on the northern margin of the Precambrian North China Craton (NCC), may suggest intraplate extension of Columbia supercontinent. Major and trace elements of the Jining granite show an affinity to A-type granites, and may reflect an intraplate rift setting (A 1 ‐type granite). High Rb, Y, Yb, and Ta contents also show features of within-plate granites. SHRIMP zircon dating yielded concordant weighted mean 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ages of 1318 ± 7 Ma and 1321 ± 15 Ma, which define a Mesoproterozoic magmatic event. The zircons have negative e Hf(t) of …

Late Carboniferous (Kasimovian) closure of the South Tianshan Ocean: No Triassic subduction

Abstract The proposed Triassic age of oceanic subduction and high-pressure/low-temperature (HP-LT) metamorphism in the South Tianshan orogen (STS) of the southwestern Central Asian Orogenic Belt needs to be re-examined on the basis of field relationship and precise age dating. Our biostratigraphic study in the Atbashi Range of southern Kyrgyzstan indicates that sedimentary strata unconformably overlie the HP-LT metamorphic rocks within the Turkestan suture zone and have a late Kasimovian (ca. 305 Ma) age. This constrains the minimum age of eclogite metamorphism in the HP-LT metamorphic complex. A Late Pennsylvanian to early Permian (Asselian) hinterland basin overlaps the margins of the Mid…

Zircon and muscovite ages, geochemistry, and Nd-Hf isotopes for the Aktyuz metamorphic terrane: Evidence for an Early Ordovician collisional belt in the northern Tianshan of Kyrgyzstan

International audience; The Aktyuz metamorphic terrane in the Kyrgyz northern Tianshan consists of granitoid gneisses and migmatites with subordinate paragneisses, greenschists, presumed meta-ophiolites, and garnet amphibolite dykes that contain HP eclogite relicts. The gneisses and migmatites were previously considered to be Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic in age on the basis of α-Pb and U-Pb multigrain zircon dating. Zircons from a post-tectonic granite were previously dated at 692 ± 15 Ma, constraining the time of main deformation and metamorphism in the Aktyuz terrane to the Precambrian. The chemical characteristics of most granitoid samples are consistent with melting of chemically evol…

Geochemistry, zircon U–Pb ages and Lu–Hf isotopes of early Paleozoic plutons in the northwestern Chinese Tianshan: Petrogenesis and geological implications

Abstract The northwestern Chinese Tianshan is a key part of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt. Voluminous arc-related igneous rocks in this region have recorded the opening and closure of several oceanic basins that may represent southern branches of the Paleo-Asian Ocean. We have conducted geochemical, geochronological and Hf-in-zircon isotopic studies on mafic and felsic intrusive rocks in the northwestern Chinese Tianshan to provide important clues for the evolution of the Junggar Ocean and to understand the early Paleozoic crustal growth in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. The mafic plutons are composed of metagabbro (453.8 ± 2.0 Ma) and fine-grained diorite (461.1 ± 2.0 Ma). The…

Dating of prograde metamorphic events deciphered from episodic zircon growth in rocks of the Dabie–Sulu UHP complex, China

The timing of ultra-high pressure (UHP) metamorphism has been difficult to determine because of a lack of age constraints on crucial events, especially those occurring on the prograde path. New Sensitive High-Resolution Ion Microprobe (SHRIMP) U–Pb age and rare-earth element (REE) data of zircon are presented for UHP metamorphic rocks (eclogite, garnet peridotite, garnet pyroxenite, jadeite quartzite and garnet gneiss) along the Dabie–Sulu UHP complex of China. With multiphase metamorphic textures and index mineral inclusions within zircon, the Dabie data define three episodes of eclogite-facies metamorphism, best estimated at 242.1 ± 0.4 Ma, 227.2 ± 0.8 Ma and 219.8 ± 0.8 Ma. Eclogite-faci…

Palaeozoic arc magmatism in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt of Kazakhstan: SHRIMP zircon ages and whole-rock Nd isotopic systematics

Abstract Early Palaeozoic tonalite to granodiorite intrusions in northern Kazakhstan are associated with lode gold mineralization and have SHRIMP zircon ages of 457.3 ± 6.6 Ma (Aksu), 452.9 ± 5.6 Ma and 447.4 ± 5.4 Ma (both Zholymbet). The Stepnyak intrusion contains large xenoliths with an age of 480.6 ± 5.0 Ma. One early Palaeozoic zircon from a porphyritic diorite at Stepnyak has a core with a near-concordant 207Pb/206Pb age of 3888 ± 1.5 Ma, whereas other xenocrystic grains are between 983 and 2698 Ma old. The early Archaean age is probably inherited from unexposed basement of the Kokchetav Massif and represents the oldest crustal material so far known from the Asian continent. It appea…

A Mineralogical, Chemical and Isotopic Investigation of Shales from the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa, To Constrain Source Materials and Post-Deposition Evolution

Major, trace and rare-earth elements were determined, together with their Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd and Pb-Pb isotopic systems, on shales from the ~3.5 to 3.1 Ga old Barberton Greenstone Belt in South Africa, to constrain their source materials and post-depositional evolution, on the basis of successive potential alteration impacts. A progressive change in the chemical composition has been identified from a dominant ultramafic-mafic (such as a komatiite end-member) source for the Fig Tree Group to a progressively felsic-plutonic (such as a granite end-member) provenance for the Moodies Group. The SiO 2 , K 2 O, U, Rb, Ba, and Sr contents, and the Zr/Y ratio increase upwards the stratigraphy, while the M…

Geochemical data and zircon ages for rocks in a high-pressure belt of Chu-Yili Mountains, southern Kazakhstan: Implications for the earliest stages of accretion in Kazakhstan and the Tianshan

Abstract The mechanism and age of Palaeozoic accretion in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt remain poorly constrained. One of the most complex belts extends from the Kokchetav area in northern Kazakhstan to the Kyrgyz northern Tianshan. It represents an assemblage of small blocks with Palaeoproterozoic continental crust, intervening slivers containing early Palaeozoic ophiolites and/or deep-marine sediments, and a number of HP and UHP metamorphic complexes. The HP–LT metamorphic rocks provide important clues for reconstructions of the overall structure and evolution of the accretionary collage. This study is aimed to constrain the metamorphic age and tectonic implications of HP garnet pyroxen…

Evidence from zircon dating for existence of approximately 2.1 Ga old crystalline basement in southern Bohemia, Czech Republic

Zircon ages are reported for three Moldanubian amphibolite grade orthogneisses from the southern Bohemian Massif obtained by conventional U/Pb analyses. For two of these orthogneisses, conventional U/Pb data are supported by ion microprobe single zircon ages or single grain evaporation data. The amphibolite grade orthogneisses, occurring in three small tectonic lenses within the Varied Group close to the South Bohemian Main Thrust, are of tonalitic, granodioritic or quartz dioritic composition.

Zircon ages and Hf isotopic compositions of plutonic rocks from the Central Tianshan (Xinjiang, northwest China) and their significance for early to mid-Palaeozoic crustal evolution

We present new zircon ages and Hf-in-zircon isotopic data for plutonic rocks and review the crustal evolution of the Chinese Central Tianshan (Xinjiang, northwest China) in the early to mid-Palaeozoic. The Early Ordovician (ca. 475–473 Ma) granitoid rocks have zircon eHf(t) values either positive (+0.3 to +9.5) or negative (−6.0 to −12.9). This suggests significant addition of juvenile material to, and coeval crustal reworking of, the pre-existing continental crust that is fingerprinted by numerous Precambrian zircon xenocrysts. The Late Ordovician–Silurian (ca. 458–425 Ma) rocks can be assigned to two sub-episodes of magmatism: zircon from rocks of an earlier event (ca. 458–442 Ma) has neg…

Metamorphic petrology and zircon geochronology of high-grade rocks from the central Mozambique Belt of Tanzania: crustal recycling of Archean and Palaeoproterozoic material during the Pan-African orogeny

New data on the metamorphic petrology and zircon geochronology of high-grade rocks in the central Mozambique Belt (MB) of Tanzania show that this part of the orogen consists of Archean and Palaeoproterozoic material that was structurally reworked during the Pan-African event. The metamorphic rocks are characterized by a clockwise P–T path, followed by strong decompression, and the time of peak granulite facies metamorphism is similar to other granulite terranes in Tanzania. The predominant rock types are mafic to intermediate granulites, migmatites, granitoid orthogneisses and kyanite/sillimanite-bearing metapelites. The meta-granitoid rocks are of calc-alkaline composition, range in age fr…

Timing and Evolution of Cretaceous Island Arc Magmatism in Central Cuba: Implications for the History of Arc Systems in the Northwestern Caribbean

AbstractSHRIMP and conventional zircon dating place temporal constraints on the evolution of the Cretaceous Volcanic Arc system in central Cuba. The arc has a consistent stratigraphy across strike, with the oldest and deepest rocks in the south (in tectonic contact with the ∼5–10-km-wide Mabujina Amphibolite Complex [MAC]) and younger rocks in the north. The MAC is thought to represent the deepest exposed section of the Cretaceous Volcanic Arc and its oceanic basement in Cuba. We undertook a single zircon geochronological study of five gneisses and two amphibolites from the MAC and seven rocks from the Manicaragua Batholith, which intrudes both the MAC and the Cretaceous Volcanic Arc. A SHR…

Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic gneisses reworked during a Neoproterozoic (Pan-African) high-grade event in the Mozambique belt of East Africa: Structural relationships and zircon ages from the Kidatu area, central Tanzania

Abstract This study presents new zircon ages and Sm–Nd whole-rock isotopic compositions for high-grade gneisses from the Udzungwa Mountain area in the central part of the Mozambique belt, Tanzania. The study area comprises a succession of layered granulite-facies para- and orthogneisses, mostly retrograded to amphibolite-facies. The original intrusive contacts became obscured or severely modified during non-coaxial ductile deformation, and extensive shearing occurred during retrogression. Structures reflecting the early deformational history were mostly obscured when the rocks were transported into the lower crust as documented by severe flattening. Only the fragmented gneisses in the easte…

Archaean granulite-facies paragneisses from central Swaziland: inferences on Palaeoarchaean crustal reworking and a complex metamorphic history

We present a petrographic, petrological, geochemical, and geochronological study (U–Pb/Lu–Hf) on granulite-facies paragneisses of the Mahamba Gneiss Complex in central Swaziland, eastern Kaapvaal Craton. Our data suggest that prograde metamorphism occurred at c . 3.07 Ga. Dating of detrital zircons of a metapelite in combination with geochronological and ambiguous structural relationships with granitoid gneisses suggests two possible scenarios: (1) the time of deposition of the sedimentary protoliths is prior to c . 3.58 Ga; (2) c . 3.58 Ga granitoid crust was the basement for the sedimentary protoliths. Furthermore, enrichment in Ni and Cr in the Mahamba metasediments may originate from er…

Zircon ages of late Palaeoproterozoic (ca. 1.72–1.70Ga) extension-related granitoids in NE Rajasthan, India: Regional and tectonic significance

Abstract The Khetri region forms a late Palaeoproterozoic igneous–metamorphic complex in NE Rajasthan, India. Seven granitoid plutons of the Khetri complex have been studied for zircon U–Pb and Pb–Pb dating along with whole-rock and Nd–Sr isotope geochemistry to provide new constraints on the Palaeoproterozoic magmatic activity in the Aravalli orogen of northwestern India. Most intrusives show evidence of moderate to extreme albitisation forming microcline–albite granite and albite granite, respectively. The rocks are metaluminous to weakly peraluminous, largely ferroan and intraplate A-type granites. The U–Pb zircon ages for four plutons cover a time span of 1732–1682 Ma, whereas Pb–Pb zir…

EARLY NEOPROTEROZOIC CRUST FORMATON IN THE DZABKHAN MICROCONTINENT, CENTRAL ASIAN OROGENIC BELT

The Dzabkhan microcontinent was defined by [Mossakovsky et al., 1994] as a cratonic terrane with an early Precambrian basement that combines highgrade metamorphic complexes of the Songino, Dzabkhan, Otgon, Baidarik, Ider and Jargalant Blocks. However, early Precambrian ages have so far only been recognized in the Baidarik and Ider blocks [Kozakov et al., 2007, 2011; Kroner et al., 2015].

Two orogenic events separated by 2.6Ga mafic dykes in the Central Zone, Limpopo Belt, southern Africa

Abstract The Limpopo Belt of southern Africa is a typical early Precambrian orogen that experienced two high-grade metamorphic events which are a key for understanding its tectonic evolution. There has been a long-standing debate on whether the Neoarchean (c. 2.65 Ga) or the Palaeoproterozoic (c. 2.0 Ga) tectono-thermal event records continental collision. The clear field relationship between deformed mafic dykes and the surrounding rocks is a powerful tool to help reconstructing the deformation history. Mafic dykes intruded the 3.3–3.1 Ga Sand River Gneiss Suite in the Central Zone of the Limpopo Belt near Musina, South Africa, and were classified in the past into older Causeway dykes and …

Geochemical characteristics of Archaean and Late Proterozoic to Palaeozoic fine-grained sediments from Southern Africa and significance for the evolution of the continental crust

Chemical data for pelitic rocks (shallow-marine platform sediments) of the ∼ 2.9 Ga old Pongola Supergroup, South Africa, and the 550–700 Ma old Nama Group, Namibia, revealed clearly different compositions in both groups. A comparison of the Pongola and Nama data with literature values for sedimentary rocks shows a trend for Cr/TiO2 and Cr/Zn ratios as well as the absolute Cr and Ni concentrations to lower values with decreasing age, whereas the Cr/Ni ratios seem to remain broadly constant through time. REE patterns of Pongola and Nama sediments show no significant difference, thus giving the impression of a post-Archaean origin for the demonstrably Archaean Pongola sediments. However, a pl…

Zircon dating of Neoproterozoic and Cambrian ophiolites in West Mongolia and implications for the timing of orogenic processes in the central part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt

Abstract We present new isotopic and trace element data to review the geochronological/geochemical/geological evolution of the central part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), and find a fundamental geological problem in West Mongolia, which has traditionally been subdivided into northwestern early Paleozoic (formerly Caledonian) and southerly late Paleozoic (formerly Hercynian) belts by the Main Mongolian Lineament (MML). We resolve this problem with SHRIMP zircon dating of ophiolites and re-evaluation of much published literature. In Northwest Mongolia the Dariv–Khantaishir ophiolite marks the boundary between the Lake arc in the west and the Dzabkhan–Baydrag microcontinent in the …

Chapter 5.2 The Ancient Gneiss Complex of Swaziland and Environs: Record of Early Archean Crustal Evolution in Southern Africa

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the record of early Archean crustal evolution in Southern Africa. Southern Africa preserves one of the most complete and detailed records of early Precambrian crustal evolution, and the Ancient Gneiss Complex (AGC) of Swaziland and the related rocks along the southern margin of the 3.5–3.2 Ga Barberton Greenstone Belt (BGB) have played a prominent role in models for the early evolution of continental crust. The AGC is separated from the BGB by a large granitoid sheet-like pluton some 3 Ga in age and known as the Mpuluzi Batholith. In northwest Swaziland, however, small inliers of AGC gneisses occur in faulted and sheared contact with BGB rocks, and t…

Composition and provenance analysis of beach sands in an almost isolated sedimentary system – A field study of the Galápagos Archipelago

The Galapagos Archipelago is the surface expression of an active hotspot or long-lived mantle plume. The Archipelago consists of a group of 13 main islands which are located in the eastern central Pacific Ocean about 1,000 km west of the northern edge of the South American continent, east of the East Pacific Rise and south of the Galapagos spreading center. Because of the large distance to the nearest continental land mass, Galapagos can be seen as an almost isolated sedimentary system. A provenance study conducted on samples collected from seventeen beaches on eleven islands, demonstrates that mineral grains and particles were derived from weathering of predominantly basaltic rocks and wer…

Intrusion mechanisms in a turbidite sequence; the Voetspoor and Doros plutons in NW Namibia

Abstract Two syntectonic plutons of Cambrian age intruded Neoproterozoic metaturbidites in Namibia at the junction of the NS trending Kaoko and EW trending Damara belts. Sinistral transpression in the Kaoko Belt produced km-scale upright D1 folds overprinted by minor D2 folds. D3 is associated with N–S shortening in the Damara Belt. The plutons show two main pulses of intrusion: hornblende syenite intruded late during D1 or during D2 and biotite granite during D3. Each tectonic event produced a strain shadow defined by the shape of folds and the foliation trend around the plutons. The internal igneous fabric and the arrangement of wall rock xenoliths that locally make up 50% of the intrusio…

Zircon U–Pb and Hf isotopic study of gneissic rocks from the Chinese Altai: Progressive accretionary history in the early to middle Palaeozoic

Abstract Gneissic rocks in the Chinese Altai Mountains have been interpreted as either Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks or Precambrian basement. This study reports geochemical and geochronological data for banded paragneisses and associated gneissic granitoids collected along a NE–SW traverse in the northwestern Chinese Altai. Petrological and geochemical data suggest that the protoliths of the banded gneisses were possibly immature sediments with significant volcanic input and that the gneissic granitoids were derived from I-type granites formed in a subduction environment. Three types of morphological features can be recognized in zircons from the banded gneisses and are interpreted to cor…

Neoproterozoic Ophiolites of the Arabian-Nubian Shield

Publisher Summary Ophiolites of mid-Neoproterozoic age are abundant in the Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS) of NE Africa and Arabia. The ANS ophiolitic mantle was mostly harzburgitic, containing magnesian olivines and spinels that have compositions consistent with extensive melting. Cumulate ultramafics transition upwards into layered gabbro. Several crystallization sequences are inferred from ANS transition zones and cumulate gabbro sections. In all samples studied, olivine and spinel crystallized first, followed by cpx-plag, cpxopx-plag, and opx-cpx-plag. The ANS in NE Africa and W. Arabia is the largest tract of juvenile continental crust of Neoproterozoic age on Earth. The best preserved oph…

Elements of the Archean thermal history and apparent polar wander of the eastern Kaapvaal Craton, Swaziland, from single grain dating and paleomagnetism

Abstract Single grains of zircon, hornblende, biotite and feldspar have been dated to define the thermal history of the Archean Mbabane Pluton, Swaziland. Coincident207Pb/206Pb zircon and40Ar/39Ar hornblende ages suggest that the pluton underwent rapid cooling to about 450°C at the time of emplacement at ∼ 2690 Ma. Because the Mbabane Pluton is one of a suite of granites which represent the last major Archean intrusive event in the eastern Kaapvaal Craton, this time of emplacement marks the end of cratonization. Much younger biotite and feldspar ages indicate argon loss, perhaps due to several low-temperature events related to dike intrusion at 2000–2300 Ma. From such a thermal history, the…

Zircon ages and Nd–Hf isotopes in UHT granulites of the Ider Complex: A cratonic terrane within the Central Asian Orogenic Belt in NW Mongolia

Abstract The Ider Complex of the Tarbagatai Block in northwestern Mongolia is part of a Precambrian microcontinental terrane in the Central Asian Orogen Belt and has experienced a polymetamorphic tectono-metamorphic evolution. We have investigated an enderbitic gneiss, derived from a quartz diorite and a charnockite, derived from a leucogranite, and zircon SHRIMP data reveal late Archaean protolith ages of 2520–2546 Ma for these rocks. Metamorphic overgrowth on these zircons as well as newly-formed metamorphic zircons document a high-temperature metamorphic event (T = 930–950 °C) at about 1855–1860 Ma. Nd whole-rock isotopic systematics show these and other gneisses of the Ider Complex stra…

The East African Orogen: New Zircon and Nd Ages and Implications for Rodinia and Gondwana Supercontinent Formation and Dispersal

Oblique collision and evolution of large-scale transcurrent shear zones in the Kaoko belt, NW Namibia

Abstract Early structures in the central part of the Kaoko orogenic belt of NW Namibia suggest that the initial stage of collision was governed by underthrusting of the medium-grade Central Kaoko zone below the high-grade Western Kaoko zone, resulting in the development of an inverted metamorphic gradient. In the Western zone, early structures were overprinted by a second phase of deformation, which is associated with localization of the transcurrent Puros shear zone along the contact between the Western and Central zones. During this second phase, extensive partial melting and intrusion of ∼550 Ma granitic bodies occurred in the high-grade Western zone. In the Central zone, the second phas…

Eastern Ancient Terrane of the North China Craton

Based on the spatial distribution of ancient rocks and zircons, three ancient terranee older than ca. 2.6 Ga have recently been identified in the North China Craton, namely the Eastern, Southern, and Central Ancient Terranee. The Eastern Ancient Terrane is the best studied and understood of the three ancient terranes. It has a long geological history back to ca. 3.8 Ga ago and includes the areas of Anshan-Benxi, eastern Hebei, eastern Shandong and western Shandong. In Anshan-Benxi, several different types of 3.8 Ga rocks were discovered together with 3.1–3.7 Ga rocks, whereas 2.9–3.0 Ga K-rich granites and 2.5 Ga syenogranite occur on larger scales. In eastern Hebei, 3.0–3.4 Ga rocks and ol…

Zircon ages for a felsic volcanic rock and arc-related early Palaeozoic sediments on the margin of the Baydrag microcontinent, central Asian orogenic belt, Mongolia

Abstract Magmatic zircons from the basal part of an arc terrane in the accretionary complex NE of the Baydrag microcontinental block in central Mongolia were dated at 544 ± 7 Ma and reflect arc magmatism at the Ediacaran/Cambrian boundary. Detrital zircon ages for clastic metasediments of the adjacent Dzag zone suggest a depositional age

Age and evolution of a late Archean to Paleoproterozoic upper to lower crustal section in the Wutaishan/Hengshan/Fuping terrain of northern China

Abstract The Taihangshan–Wutaishan area forms part of the central North China Craton and consists of three main components: the Hengshan and Fuping complexes, containing predominantly ductilely deformed late Archean to Paleoproterozoic high-grade granitoid orthogneisses, intruded by mafic dykes of gabbroic composition, and the low-grade late Archean Wutai greenstone belt, developed between the high-grade terrains and consisting of bimodal volcanic rocks and metasediments, associated with coeval granitoids. Zircon dating shows that both the Hengshan and Fuping complexes were intruded by major granitoid bodies between 2.52 and 2.48 Ga, with rare occurrences of 2.7 Ga gneisses. Wutai granitoid…

Petrogenetic evolution of metabasalts and metakomatiites of the lower Onverwacht Group, Barberton Greenstone Belt (South Africa)

A well-preserved sequence, by Archean standards, of mantle-derived metabasalts and metakomatiites forms large parts of the lower Onverwacht Group of the Barberton Greenstone Belt (South Africa). To elucidate the origin of mafic and ultramafic rocks from this 3.55 to 3.45 Ga sequence, we present a comprehensive geochemical dataset including major and trace elements as well as Lu-Hf and Sm-Nd isotope compositions for a variety of metavolcanic rocks. These include metabasalts of the amphibolite-facies Sandspruit and Theespruit Formations as well as metabasalts and metakomatiites of the lower greenschist-facies Komati Formation. Based on their incompatible trace element patterns, the basalts of…

Areal extent and first U-Pb age of the Pre-Damaran Abbabis complex in the central Damara belt of South West Africa (Namibia)

The Proterozoic Abbabis Complex emerges from beneath the metasediments of the Late Precambrian Damara Supergroup within mantled gneiss domes and anticlinoria over a wide area in the central granite zone of the Pan African Damara belt. U-Pb dating of composite-, size-, and non-magnetic fractions of metamict zircons from two samples of Abbabis granite-gneiss from the farm Abbabis yielded a concordia intercept age of 1925 −280 +330 Ma. It is speculated that the Abbabis basement rocks are continuous under the Damaran metasedimentary cover and may link up with the Franzfontein basement inlier of similar age. This conclusion supports the ensialic character of the northeastern branch of the Damara…

Just another drip: Re-analysis of a proposed Mesoarchean suture from the Barberton Mountain Land, South Africa

Abstract Structural analysis of a proposed Mesoarchean suture located immediately to the southwest of the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa – known as the Inyoni Shear Zone (ISZ) – reveals that the main, steeply dipping, NNE-striking fabric is distributed across only 1 km width, is late (D3), and clearly overprints two earlier sets of fabric elements (D1, D2) that were originally oriented at right angles to the direction of proposed collision. Dating of a S2 foliated meta-trondhjemite is interpreted to indicate that D2 deformation was at, or younger than, 3238.2 ± 0.9 Ma. The D3 high strain fabric of the ISZ is localised around tightly folded, kilometre-scale supracrustal rafts, but d…

Metamorphic P–T paths for the Archean Caozhuang supracrustal sequence, eastern Hebei Province, North China Craton: Implications for a sagduction regime

Abstract Archean supracrustal rocks of amphibolite-facies occur as enclaves within granitoids gneiss domes and belts between domes, representing collision or sagduction regimes. In order to distinguish between tectonic regimes using metamorphic patterns, systematic data on metamorphic evolution and zircon age dating are presented for the Caozhuang supracrustal sequence of eastern Hebei Province, China, which occurs as enclaves in gneisses. A garnet biotite gneiss records a P–T path involving pre-peak isobaric heating to peak conditions at 780–800 °C and 10–11 kbar (medium-P/T type), followed by decompression to 5–6 kbar. Two Mg/Al-rich schists from the same locality show low P/T conditions …

New zircon ages and regional significance for the evolution of the Pan-African orogen in Madagascar

New 207 Pb/ 206 Pb single zircon evaporation ages for granulites, gneisses and granites in southern and central Madagascar record a widespread Pan-African metamorphic and magmatic event in the period c. 650–556 Ma, but also earlier ages in the range 1890–1710 Ma, inherited from protolith material and reflecting heterogeneous crustal sources. South of the Ranotsara shear zone, metasedimentary gneisses and granulites contain an early population of detrital zircons with ages in the range 1890–1740 Ma; a detrital grain with an age of 899 ± 2 Ma suggests that some sedimentary protoliths were deposited later than c. 900 Ma. Metamorphic zircons have a mean age of 564.2 ± 0.9 Ma. North of the Ranot…

The most ancient ophiolite of the Central Asian fold belt: U–Pb and Pb–Pb zircon ages for the Dunzhugur Complex, Eastern Sayan, Siberia, and geodynamic implications

Abstract Ophiolitic rocks with a zircon age of ∼1020 Ma occur in the Dunzhugur complex of East Sayan, Siberia, and are part of a Neoproterozoic to early Palaeozoic segment of the Central Asian fold belt. The most spectacular suite is exposed along the Oka and Bokson rivers, where a complete ophiolite sequence with mantle tectonites, a layered sequence composed of dunite, wehrlite, and pyroxenite, a gabbro section, a sheeted diabase dyke complex and basaltic pillow lavas are exposed. Petrologic and geochemical data suggest that all members of the ophiolite originally belonged to the same cogenetic mafic–ultramafic crustal section and support a supra-subduction zone setting in a fore-arc rift…

Kibaran magmatism and Pan-African granulite metamorphism in northern Mozambique: single zircon ages and regional implications

Abstract Single zircons from granitoid orthogneisses in the foreland of the Lurio Belt of northern' Mozambique were dated by the evaporation method and yielded 207 Pb/ 206 Pb magmatic emplacement ages between 1040.1 ±0.4 and 1148.2±0.4 Ma. These data confirm previous RbSr whole rock and SHRIMP zircon analyses and record a period of magmatic activity corresponding to the Kibaran event of east central Africa. A1300 Ma old zircon xenocryst in one sample suggests the presence of still older crust in the region. Metamorphic zircons from a granulite-facies psammopelitic gneiss of the Mugeba klippe, which is derived tectonically from the Lurio Belt, were dated by evaporation, conventional techniq…

Non‐subduction origin for 3.2 Ga high‐pressure metamorphic rocks in the Barberton granitoid‐greenstone terrane, South Africa

The occurrence of high-pressure (HP) garnet-bearing metamorphic rocks in the southern Barberton granitoid-greenstone terrane (BGGT), South Africa, has been proposed as a key indicator of the onset of modern plate tectonics at ca. 3.2 Ga. Here, we report new zircon/titanite U-Pb ages of garnet-bearing HP metamorphic rocks and associated granitoids in the BGGT that argue against such an interpretation. The results show that HP metamorphism occurred synchronously with granitoid magmatism in the Stolzburg domain, the supposed subducted plate, during two episodes at 3.4 and 3.2 Ga, and that these two episodes of magmatism occurred on both sides of the assumed suture zone, a feature that cannot e…

The role of geochronology in understanding continental evolution

Geochronology has become one of the most essential tools in reconstructing processes of continental growth and evolution, and in situ dating of minerals has become common practice through the development of high-resolution ion microprobes and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry techniques. Zircon has established itself as the most robust and reliable mineral to record magmatic and metamorphic processes. The combination of mineral ages with Sm–Nd, Lu–Hf and O isotopic systematics constrains magma sources and their evolution, and a picture is emerging that supports the beginning of modern-style plate tectonics in the early Archaean. Major fields for future research in …

Hafnium-Neodymium isotope, trace element and U-Pb zircon age constraints on the petrogenesis of the 3.44–3.46 Ga Dwalile greenstone remnant, Ancient gneiss Complex, Swaziland

Abstract The geodynamic setting of the 3.44–3.46 Ga Dwalile greenstone remnant (DGR) of the Ancient Gneiss Complex (Swaziland) and its relationship to other Greenstone belts of similar age is investigated in this contribution. We present Hf-Nd isotope, major and trace element data for komatiites, komatiitic basalts, basalts, basaltic andesites as well as felsic volcanic and sedimentary rocks, all metamorphosed at amphibolite-facies grade. Major and trace element compositions of metabasalts and metakomatiites indicate crustal contamination. The best-preserved samples yield 176Lu-176Hf and 147Sm-143Nd isochron ages of ca. 3500 and 3460 Ma, respectively, in line with U-Pb zircon ages of interl…

The high-grade Tseel Terrane in SW Mongolia: An Early Paleozoic arc system or a Precambrian sliver?

Abstract The high-grade metamorphic Tseel Terrane in southwestern Mongolia is dominated by a strongly deformed sequence of migmatitic gneisses which has previously been interpreted as an early Precambrian continental sliver. However, the protolith age and timing of high-grade metamorphism remain poorly constrained. To resolve this problem, high-grade gneisses selected from the western Tseel Terrane were dated in the present study. Zircons with oscillatory zoning from three paragneisses predominantly yielded early Paleozoic ages between 450 and 550 Ma, with prominent peaks at 471 and 506 Ma. U–Pb dating of zircons from a granitic gneiss revealed that the protolith was emplaced at 420 Ma. Zir…

Igneous petrology, zircon geochronology and geochemistry of multiply emplaced granitoid bodies from the Palaeoproterozoic Usagaran domain in central Tanzania

Abstract This study reports igneous petrology, zircon ages and geochemistry for Palaeoproterozoic I-type granitic, granodioritic, Qtz-monzonitic, Qtz-monzodioritic and monzodioritic rocks from the Usagaran domain of southwestern Tanzania. These rocks can be subdivided into three groups according to their age, T-t evolution and geochemistry. The oldest group is made up of amphibolite-facies calcic-alkalic gneisses, ranging in age between ∼1984 and ∼1910 Ma, which have been divided into two subgroups regarding their T-t evolution. The first subgroup shows a constant increase in T, and the second subgroup first shows a decrease in T, followed by an increase in T. The second group consists of a…

Sequential leaching of silicified Archaean carbonates: A Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd and Pb-Pb isotopic contribution to their tectonic-thermal history (Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa)

Abstract Sequential leaching was completed by successive interactions of ultra-pure H2O, HAc, HCl and HNO3 with silicified/carbonated Archaean whole rocks from Barberton Greenstone belt of South Africa. The purpose of this experiment was an identification of the minerals interacting with each reagent and, therefore, a detailed succession of isotopically dated tectonic-thermal episodes recorded in these minerals. The contents of the major, trace and rare-earth elemental, together with the Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic compositions of untreated, leachate and residue triplets allowed identification and analysis of various types of carbonates and sulfates mixed with insoluble silicates. The samples yi…

Detrital and xenocrystic zircon ages from Neoproterozoic to Palaeozoic arc terranes of Mongolia: Significance for the origin of crustal fragments in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt

Abstract The Central Asian Orogenic Belt contains many Precambrian crustal fragments whose origin is unknown, and previous speculations suggested these to be derived from either Siberia, Tarim or northern Gondwana. We present an age pattern for detrital and xenocrystic zircons from Neoproterozoic to Palaeozoic arc and microcontinental terranes in Mongolia and compare this with patterns for Precambrian rocks in southern Siberia, the North China craton, the Tarim craton and northeastern Gondwana in order to define the most likely source region for the Mongolian zircons. Our data were obtained by SHRIMP II, LA-ICP-MS and single zircon evaporation and predominantly represent arc-related low-gra…

Sm-Nd dating of Fig Tree clay minerals of the Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa.

Sm-Nd isotopic data from carbonate-derived clay minerals of the 3.22-3.25 Ga Fig Tree Group, Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa, form a linear array corresponding to an age of 3102 +/- 64 Ma, making these minerals the oldest dated clays on Earth. The obtained age is 120-160 m.y. younger than the depositional age determined by zircon geochronology. Nd model ages for the clays range from approximately 3.39 to 3.44 Ga and almost cover the age variation of the Barberton greenstone belt rocks, consistent with independent evidence that the clay minerals are derived from material of the belt. The combined isotopic and mineralogical data provide evidence for a cryptic thermal overprint in the …

Fifty-five-million-year history of oceanic subduction and exhumation at the northern edge of the Caribbean plate (Sierra del Convento mélange, Cuba)

Petrological and geochronological data of six representative samples of exotic blocks of amphibolite and associated tonalite-trondhjemite from the serpentinitic melange of the Sierra del Convento (eastern Cuba) indicate counterclockwise P-T paths typical of material subducted in hot and young subduction zones. Peak conditions attained were 750 � C and 15 kbar, consistent with the generation of tonalitic partial melts observed in amphibolite. A tonalite boulder provides a U-Pb zircon crystallization age of 112.8 ± 1.1 Ma, and Ar ⁄ Ar amphibole dating yielded two groups of cooling ages of 106-97 Ma (interpreted as cooling of metamorphic ⁄ magmatic pargasite) and 87-83 Ma (interpreted as growt…

Geochemistry and early Palaeogene SHRIMP zircon ages for island arc granitoids of the Sierra Maestra, southeastern Cuba

The Palaeogene volcanic arc successions of the Sierra Maestra, southeastern Cuba, were intruded by calc-alkaline, low- to medium-K tonalites and trondhjemites during the final stages of subduction and subsequent collision of the Caribbean oceanic plate with the North American continental plate. U‐Pb SHRIMP zircon dating of five granitoids yielded 206 Pb/ 238 U emplacement ages between 60.5F2.2 and 48.3F0.5 Ma. The granitoids are the result of subduction-related magmatism and have geochemical characteristics similar to those of magmas from intra-oceanic island-arcs such as the Izu Bonin‐Mariana arc and the New Britain island arc, Lesser Antilles. Major and trace element patterns suggest evol…

Pan African plate tectonics and its repercussions on the crust of northeast Africa

Pan African belts of the African mainland and the Arabian-Nubian Shield exhibit evolutionary features which are either compatible with intracontinental ensialic development or with plate margin and Wilson cycle tectonics during the time period ∼ 1100–500 Ma ago.

Coupled evolution of back-arc and island arc-like mafic crust in the late-Neoproterozoic Agardagh Tes-Chem ophiolite, Central Asia: evidence from trace element and Sr-Nd-Pb isotope data

We report major-element, trace-element and isotopic data of volcanic rocks from the late-Neoproterozoic (570 Ma) Agardagh Tes-Chem ophiolite in Central Asia, south-west of Lake Baikal (50.5°N, 95°E). The majority of samples are high-alumina basalts and basaltic andesites having island-arc affinities. They were derived from an evolved parental magma (Mg#≥0.60, Cr~180 ppm, Ni~95 ppm) by predominantly clinopyroxene fractionation. The parental magma developed from a primary mantle melt by fractionation of about 12% of an olivine+spinel assemblage. The island-arc rocks have high abundances of incompatible trace elements (light rare-earth element abundances up to 100 times chondritic, chondrite-n…

Time Markers for the Evolution and Exhumation History of a Late Palaeozoic Paired Metamorphic Belt in North-Central Chile (34°-35°30'S)

A multi-method geochronological approach is applied to unravel the dynamics of a paired metamorphic belt in the Coastal Cordillera of central Chile. This is represented by high-pressure - low-temperature rocks of an accretionary prism (Western Series), and a low-pressure- high-temperature overprint in the retro-wedge with less deformed metagreywackes (Eastern Series) intruded by magmas of the coeval arc. A pervasive transposition foliation formed in metagreywackes and interlayered oceanic crust of the Western Series during basal accretion near metamorphic peak conditions (∼350-400°C, 7-11 kbar) at 292-319 Ma (

Mechanism and time of deformation and metamorphism of mylonitic orthogneisses from the Shagou Shear Zone, Qinling Belt, China

Abstract The Shagou Shear Zone south of Xian (Shaanxi Province) is a branch of the Shangdan Fault Zone in the Qinling Belt and documents ductile deformation that affected granitoid rocks. Mylonitization took place under conditions of the lower amphibolite facies at temperatures of ca. 530°C, followed by a phase of stagnation, still under the same metamorphic conditions. The last deformation was a weak event during retrogressive greenschist metamorphism. The emplacement of the granitoid precursors of the mylonite is dated at 211 ± 8 Ma by the U/Pb zircon method, much younger than Nd model ages of 1.2–1.3 Ga, which indicates the involvement of older continental crust, probably in an active co…

DISCUSSION ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEEP SEISMIC REFLECTION PATTERNS AND TECTONIC UNITS OF THE EASTERN PART OF THE CENTRAL ASIAN OROGENIC BELT IN NORTHEASTERN CHINA

Division of tectonic units in the eastern part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt in northeast China has been a major concern and resulted in much fieldwork, but the division of these tectonic units in NE China is still controversial. Although detection of tectonic units in seismic sections is not straightforward, for this meeting, we shall try to relate tectonic units with the crustal and upper mantle structure and deformation derived from a ~2500 km long reflection seismic profile (Figure, red lines) in this area, recently acquired or reprocessed with support of China Geological Survey and the Chinese SinoProbe Project.

Age and provenance constraints on seismically-determined crustal layers beneath the Paleozoic southern Central Asian Orogen, Inner Mongolia, China

Abstract We present 110 ages and 51 in-situ δ18O values for zircon xenocrysts from a post-99 Ma intraplate basaltic rock suite hosted in a subduction–accretion complex of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt in order to constrain a seismic profile across the Paleozoic Southern Orogen of Inner Mongolia and the northern margin of the North China Craton. Two zircon populations are recognized, namely a Phanerozoic group of 70 zircons comprising granitoid-derived (ca. 431–99 Ma; n = 31; peak at 256 Ma), meta-granitoid-derived (ca. 449–113 Ma; n = 24; peak at 251 Ma) and gabbro-derived (436–242 Ma; n = 15; peaks at 264 and 244 Ma) grains. Each textural type is characterized by a distinct zirc…

Du Toit Memorial Lecture 1999: The Mozambique belt of East Africa and Madagascar: significance of zircon and Nd model ages for Rodinia and Gondwana supercontinent formation and dispersal

This paper discusses the question as to whether or not the high-grade metamorphic rocks exposed in the Mozambique belt (MB) of East Africa and Madagascar have played any role in the formation and dispersal of the supercontinent Rodinia, believed to have existed between ~1000 and ~750 Ma. First, there is little evidence for the production of significant volumes of ~1300 to ~1000 Ma (Kibaran- or Grenvillian-age) continental crust in the MB, except, perhaps, in parts of northern Mozambique. This crust cannot be related conclusively to either magmatic accretion processes along the active margin(s) of Rodinia, or to a collision event during continental collision and accretion leading to amalgama…

Tectonic significance of deformation patterns in granitoid rocks of the Menderes nappes, Anatolide belt, southwest Turkey

Deformation fabrics in Proterozoic/Cambrian granitic rocks of the Cine nappe, and mid-Triassic granites of the Bozdag nappe constrain aspects of the tectonometamorphic evolution of the Menderes nappes of southwest Turkey. Based on intrusive contacts and structural criteria, the Proterozoic/Cambrian granitic rocks of the Cine nappe are subdivided into older orthogneisses and younger metagranites. The deformation history of the granitic rocks documents two major deformation events. An early, pre-Alpine deformation event (DPA) during amphibolite-facies metamorphism affected only the orthogneisses and produced predominantly top-to-NE shear-sense indicators associated with a NE-trending stretchi…

Young ages from old garnet in the polyphase metamorphic terrane of the Limpopo Belt, South Africa

Abstract The P–T–t path of high-grade metamorphic rocks is significant for understanding vertical motions and heating of the crust. In general, garnet is used to constrain P–T paths and metamorphic zircon is used to obtain t for different metamorphic stages. However, this approach may be complicated by polyphase tectonothermal events. The Central Zone of the Limpopo Belt in South Africa is a complex Precambrian metamorphic terrane that has experienced three distinct high-grade metamorphic events at 3.22 Ga (M1), 2.62 Ga (M2), and 2.02 Ga (M3), based on zircon dating. A previous investigation of a metapelite enclave in the Bulai pluton in the Central Zone showed that metamorphic zircon in th…

SHRIMP ZIRCON AGES AND PETROLOGY OF LOWER CRUSTAL GRANULITE XENOLITHS FROM THE LETSENG-LA-TERAE KIMBERLITE, LESOTHO: FURTHER EVIDENCE FOR A NAMAQUA-NATAL CONNECTION

Recrystallized zircons extracted from intermediate granulites of the Letseng-la-Terae Diamond Mine in northeastern Lesotho provide evidence that the Tugela Terrane of the Mesoproterozoic high-grade Namaqua-Natal mobile belt may extend ~200 km farther west than previously thought. The rock-forming minerals in the investigated lower crustal granulites contain garnet, clinopyroxene, plagioclase and quartz or garnet, wollastonite, plagioclase and quartz. Calculated values for peak granulite-facies metamorphism are ~13 kbar and ~850°C. Thermal overprint and therein granulite-facies metamorphism occurred during the late Mesoproterozoic and is documented by SHRIMP metamorphic zircon ages of 1018 ±…

Palaeoproterozoic granulite-facies metamorphism and granitoid intrusions in the Ubendian-Usagaran Orogen of northern Malawi, east-central Africa

Abstract The Paleoproterozoic basement of northern Malawi shows evidence for granulite-facies metamorphism older than the 1930±30 Ma-old Nyika Granite. Low-pressure granulite-facies metamorphism in regionally coherent and extensively exposed cordierite-garnet granulite reached 750–850°C and 5-5.5 kbar. The Chelinda Granite intruded during this event and has been dated by single zircons at 1995±0.4 Ma ( 207 Pb 206 Pb age; 2σ-mean errors). Anatectic melt which formed concurrently with cordierite growth in the cordierite-garnet granulite yielded a 207 Pb 206 Pb zircon age of 1988±0.6 Ma. These ages are interpreted to date the peak of regional low-pressure granulite-facies metamorphism. The Nyi…

Relict Paleo‐Asian Ocean subduction zones within the continental lithosphere: Insights from deep seismic reflection profiles

Proterozoic Tectonostratigraphy and Paleogeography of Central Madagascar Derived from Detrital Zircon U‐Pb Age Populations

Abstract Detrital zircon U‐Pb ages determined by SHRIMP distinguish two clastic sequences among Proterozoic metasedimentary rocks from central Madagascar. The Itremo Group is older: zircon data, stromatolite characteristics, and carbon isotope data all point to a depositional age around 1500–1700 Ma. The Molo Group is younger, deposited between ∼620 Ma (the age of the youngest zircon) and ∼560 Ma (the age of metamorphic overgrowths on detrital cores). Geochronologic provenance analysis of the Itremo Group points to sources in East Africa as well as local sources in central and southern Madagascar but provides no evidence for a detrital contribution from northern and eastern Madagascar nor f…

Structural relations and PbPb zircon ages for the Makuti gneisses: evidence for a crustal-scale Pan-African shear zone in the Zambezi Belt, northwest Zimbabwe

Abstract The Makuti Group of northwest Zimbabwe is composed of mafic and intermediate biotite-rich gneisses interlayered with quartzofeldspathic gneisses of granitic composition, and minor sedimentary units. The gneisses have experienced a multi-staged metamorphic history, including an early high temperature-high pressure event and subsequent reworking at upper- to mid-amphibolite-facies conditions. They are positioned along the strongly deformed, southern margin of the east-west trending Zambezi Belt, and have been correlated with supracrustal gneiss units along the northern margin of the Zimbabwe Craton. The Makuti Group is characterised by an intensely developed gneissic layering and com…

Zircon ages of metamorphic and magmatic rocks within peridotite-bearing mélanges: Crucial time constraints on early Carboniferous extensional tectonics in the Chinese Tianshan

Abstract We dated and geochemically characterized peridotite-bearing melanges in the Chinese South Tianshan and within the Main Tianshan Shear Zone. The Yushugou-Tonghuashan melange in the Chinese South Tianshan exposes a tectonic juxtaposition of a diapirically emplaced metaperidotite (predominantly lherzolite) massif with a high-grade metamorphic terrane (ca. 10 km long; protolith age ≥ ca. 445–466 Ma). Metamorphic zircons of a mafic granulite (eNd(t) = 5.0) yielded a weighted mean 206Pb/238U age of 341 ± 8 Ma that we interpret as the time of granulite-facies metamorphism. The youngest zircon rims of an intermediate granulite (eNd(t) = − 4.3) have a mean age of 332 ± 13 Ma that records a …

Zircon ages defining deposition of the Palaeoproterozoic Soutpansberg Group and further evidence for Eoarchaean crust in South Africa

Abstract The precise age of the volcano-sedimentary Soutpansberg Group, which was deposited upon the Palala shear belt separating the Kaapvaal Craton from the Central Zone of the Limpopo Belt, has long been debated. The Soutpansberg Group is subdivided into a lower and upper succession, which are separated from each other by a prominent regional unconformity. Zircon grains from silicic pyroclastic rocks of both successions were investigated in order to constrain the timing of deposition of the Soutpansberg Group rocks. The zircon grains of the investigated samples from both successions yield a wide range of ages, spanning from 1831 to 3937 Ma. Most of the zircon grains have rounded shapes, …

Thermo-mechanical role of a Cambro-Ordovician paleorift during the Variscan collision: the NE margin of the Bohemian Massif

Abstract The Stare Město (SM) belt (NE margin of the Bohemian Massif) represents a preserved example of an intracontinental Cambro-Ordovician rift that has been shortened during the Variscan orogeny. The rifted sequence consists of gabbroic intrusions and a leptyno-amphibolite complex of Cambro-Ordovician protolith age. The latter suffered medium pressure, granulite facies, Cambro-Ordovician metamorphism associated with extension in a continental protorift. The Variscan tectonometamorphic event is manifested by convergent orogenesis with syn-convergent intrusion of a Carboniferous tonalitic sill, high temperature–medium pressure compressional deformation of gabbros and high temperature meta…

Chronology of the oldest supracrustal sequences in the Palaeoarchaean Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa and Swaziland

Abstract Zircon age data for felsic metavolcanic rocks of the Sandspruit and Theespruit formations, the two oldest supracrustal components in the Palaeoarchaean Barberton Greenstone Belt, show that these two successions are time-equivalent and constitute one single volcanic event at ca. 3530 Ma. The Sandspruit felsic rocks are ubiquitously metasomatized, intensely deformed and intruded by, and tectonically interlayered with, ca. 3450 Ma granitoid sills that are probably part of the Theespruit Pluton. One metasomatized Sandspruit sample contains abundant metamorphic zircons with a weighted mean 207Pb/206Pb age of 3220.1 ± 1.6 Ma, reflecting a widespread metamorphic event in parts of the east…

Precambrian plate tectonics: Criteria and evidence

Whole-rock Nd–Hf isotopic study of I-type and peraluminous granitic rocks from the Chinese Altai: Constraints on the nature of the lower crust and tectonic setting

Abstract The nature of the lower crust and tectonic setting of the Chinese Altai in the early to middle Paleozoic are still hotly debated. Decoupling between zircon Hf and whole-rock Nd isotopic systems for granites results in different interpretations for the above issues. In order to solve the problem, whole-rock Nd–Hf isotopic analyses were conducted on representative early to middle Paleozoic I-type granite and strongly peraluminous granites and rhyolites from the Chinese Altai. The I-type granites show metaluminous to weakly peraluminous feature and have eNd(t) values ranging from − 2.2 to + 0.8 and eHf(t) from + 3.9 to + 12.9, respectively. The strongly peraluminous granites and rhyol…

The Shishkhid ophiolite, northern Mongolia: A key to the reconstruction of a Neoproterozoic island-arc system in central Asia

Abstract The Shishkhid ophiolite is a well-preserved 13 km-thick mafic-ultramafic assemblage which comprises (from bottom to top): mantle tectonites (∼6 km), layered and isotropic gabbro (∼4.5 km), sheeted dykes (up to 0.5 km), a bimodal assemblage of basalt and rhyolite (up to 0.7 km), as well as andesitic pyroclastic rocks (∼2 km). The volcanic rocks are overlain by a 3 km-thick sedimentary sequence showing progressive subsidence of the volcanic edifice after cessation of volcanism. The sedimentary unit is unconformably overlain by Ediacaran-Cambrian platform sediments. SHRIMP U-Pb dating of magmatic zircons from a rhyolite of the lower volcanic unit has yielded a concordant 206 Pb/ 238 U…

Lithotectonic elements and geological events in the Hengshan–Wutai–Fuping belt: a synthesis and implications for the evolution of the Trans-North China Orogen

The Hengshan–Wutai–Fuping belt is located in the middle segment of the Trans-North China Orogen, a Palaeoproterozoic continental collisional belt along which the Eastern and Western blocks amalgamated to form the North China Craton. The belt consists of the medium- to high-grade Hengshan and Fuping gneiss complexes and the intervening low- to medium-grade Wutai granite–greenstone terrane, and most igneous rocks in the belt are calc-alkaline and have affinities to magmatic arcs. Previous tectonic models assumed that the Hengshan and Fuping gneiss assemblages were an older basement to the Wutai supracrustal rocks, but recent studies indicate that the three complexes constitute a single, long-…

Geochemistry, single zircon ages and Sm–Nd systematics of granitoid rocks from theGóry Sowie (Owl Mts), Polish West Sudetes: evidence for earlyarc-related plutonism

Granitoid gneisses as well as their migmatitic and anatectic derivates were investigated from theGory Sowie (Owl Mts) Massif of SW Poland in the central West Sudetes. The gneisses and migmatites aretectonically interlayered with paragneisses, and experienced several consecutive tectono-metamorphicevents. Geochemically, the granitoid gneisses are calc-alkaline and similar to orogenic granite suites, whichtherefore lends support to a subduction-related origin. Single zircon Pb–Pb evaporation ages suggest that the gneiss precursors were emplaced between 473 and488 Ma, and most samples analysed contain zircon xenocrysts with minimum ages between 1124 and2620 Ma. An early phase of high-grade met…

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…

SHRIMP U–Pb zircon and Sm–Nd garnet ages from the granulite-facies basement of SE Kenya: evidence for Neoproterozoic polycyclic assembly of the Mozambique Belt

The Taita Hills–Galana River region is a key area to demonstrate the polycyclic nature of the Mozambique Belt in SE Kenya. On the basis of petrological and tectonic data, this area is composed of two different granulite-facies terranes, which are separated by the 20–30 km wide Galana Shear Zone. The Taita Hills and adjoining Sagala Hills exhibit a metamorphic overprint at 630–645 Ma, similar to areas in Tanzania. An emplacement age for the magmatic precursor rocks of 850–960 Ma was derived from zircon cores. Sm–Nd garnet–whole-rock analyses give an age of 585 Ma, interpreted as the cooling age after 630–645 Ma metamorphism. Nd crustal residence ages are between 1000 and 1500 Ma. The Galana …

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

Devonian arc-related magmatism in the Tseel terrane of SW Mongolia: chronological and geochemical evidence

The Tseel terrane in the Gobi Desert of SW Mongolia consists of a composite crustal segment of imbricated sheets of high- and low-grade metamorphic rocks of predominantly middle Palaeozoic age. New sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) zircon ages of 396 ± 3 Ma (2σ) and 397 ± 3 Ma (2σ) for two calc-alkaline metarhyolite samples indicate arc volcanism during the early Devonian. An undeformed feldspar porphyry cross-cutting the early Devonian low-grade sequence yielded an emplacement age of 279 ± 2 Ma (2σ). Geochemical and Nd isotopic data for low-grade mafic metavolcanic rocks are consistent with melting of moderately depleted upper mantle sources in a transitional arc–back-arc s…

Archaean granulite-facies paragneisses from central Swaziland: inferences on Palaeoarchaean crustal reworking and a complex metamorphic history

We present a petrographic, petrological, geochemical, and geochronological study (U–Pb/Lu–Hf) on granulite-facies paragneisses of the Mahamba Gneiss Complex in central Swaziland, eastern Kaapvaal Craton. Our data suggest that prograde metamorphism occurred at c. 3.07 Ga. Dating of detrital zircons of a metapelite in combination with geochronological and ambiguous structural relationships with granitoid gneisses suggests two possible scenarios: (1) the time of deposition of the sedimentary protoliths is prior to c. 3.58 Ga; (2) c. 3.58 Ga granitoid crust was the basement for the sedimentary protoliths. Furthermore, enrichment in Ni and Cr in the Mahamba metasediments may originate from erosi…

Linking growth episodes of zircon and metamorphic textures to zircon chemistry: an example from the ultrahigh-temperature granulites of Rogaland (SW Norway)

In-situ U-Th-Pb analyses by ion-microprobe on zircon in intact textural relationships are combined with backscatter and cathodoluminescence imaging and trace element analyses to provide evidence for growth episodes of zircon. This approach helps: (a) to unravel the polymetamorphic history of aluminous migmatitic and granitoid gneisses of the regional contact aureole around the Rogaland anorthosite-norite intrusive complex; and (b) to constrain the age of M2 ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) metamorphism and the subsequent retrograde M3 event. All samples yield magmatic inherited zircon of c. 1035 Ma, some an additional group at c. 1050 Ma. This suggests that loss of Pb by volume diffusion in non-…

Zircon ages and Hf isotopic compositions of plutonic rocks from the Central Tianshan (Xinjiang, northwest China) and their significance for early to mid-Palaeozoic crustal evolution

We present new zircon ages and Hf-in-zircon isotopic data for plutonic rocks and review the crustal evolution of the Chinese Central Tianshan (Xinjiang, northwest China) in the early to mid-Palaeozoic. The Early Ordovician (ca. 475–473 Ma) granitoid rocks have zircon εHf(t) values either positive (+0.3 to +9.5) or negative (−6.0 to −12.9). This suggests significant addition of juvenile material to, and coeval crustal reworking of, the pre-existing continental crust that is fingerprinted by numerous Precambrian zircon xenocrysts. The Late Ordovician–Silurian (ca. 458–425 Ma) rocks can be assigned to two sub-episodes of magmatism: zircon from rocks of an earlier event (ca. 458–442 Ma) has neg…

Elements of the Archean thermal history and apparent polar wander of the eastern Kaapvaal Craton, Swaziland, from single grain dating and paleomagnetism (Dataset)

Petrology, geochronology, and tectonic implications of c. 500 Ma metamorphic and igneous rocks along the northern margin of the Central Asian Orogen (Olkhon terrane, Lake Baikal, Siberia)

A significant portion of the continental crust of northern Eurasia is thought to have formed during the evolution of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt at the time of accretion of continental terranes and island arcs. Records of this event are well preserved within the Siberian craton–Central Asian Orogenic Belt transition zone in Lake Baikal region, particularly in the Olkhon terrane. Our results establish granulite-facies conditions for peak metamorphism in the Olkhon terrane, and indicate that the granulites were derived from island arc mafic volcanic rocks and back-arc basin sediments. Sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe dating of metamorphic zircons from two mafic granulites yielded …