0000000001320960
AUTHOR
Paul W. Layer
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…
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…
Miocene high-pressure metamorphism in the Cyclades and Crete, Aegean Sea, Greece: Evidence for large-magnitude displacement on the Cretan detachment
The Cyclades in the backarc region of the present Hellenic subduction zone are known for widespread Late Cretaceous to Eocene high-pressure metamorphism in the Cycladic blueschist unit. We report 40 Ar/ 39 Ar and Rb/Sr phengite ages of 24–21 Ma for high- pressure metamorphism (8–10 kbar, 350–400 °C) in the lowest tectonic unit in the Cyclades, the Basal unit, which structurally underlies the Cycladic blueschist unit. The Basal unit is correlated with the Tripolitza unit of the External Hellenides in the forearc region of the Hellenic subduction zone. The Tripolitza unit is unmetamorphosed on Crete, where it is separated from the underlying high-pressure (8–10 kbar, 300–400 °C) Plattenkalk a…
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…
High-pressure metamorphism in the Aegean, eastern Mediterranean: Underplating and exhumation from the Late Cretaceous until the Miocene to Recent above the retreating Hellenic subduction zone
[1] We report 40Ar/39Ar ages from various tectonic units in the Aegean and westernmost Turkey. On the basis of published geochronologic data and our 40Ar/39Ar ages we propose that the Aegean is made up of several high-pressure units, which were successively underplated from the Late Cretaceous until the Miocene. Ages for high-pressure metamorphism range from 80–83 Ma in parts of the Vardar-Izmir-Ankara suture zone in the north to 21–24 Ma for the Basal unit in the Cyclades and the external high-pressure belt on Crete in the south. Published seismic data suggest that high-pressure metamorphism is currently occurring underneath Crete. Younging of high-pressure metamorphism in a southerly dire…
Geochronology and palaeomagnetism of a late Proterozoic island arc terrane from the Red Sea Hills, northeast Sudan
Abstract Size fractions and single grains of zircon, hornblende and biotite have been dated to define the formation age and thermal history of the northern Haya Terrane (NHT), a late Proterozoic island arc terrane of the Red Sea Hills (RSH), northeast Sudan. U Pb and 207 Pb/ 206 Pb zircon data for acidic volcanics and granitoid rocks bracket the time of formation of the NHT between 887 ± 20 and 854 ± 9 Ma. 40 Ar/ 39 Ar hornblende and biotite ages of a gabbro near Suakin suggest passage through the argon closing temperature for hornblende at about 841 ± 4 Ma and 782 ± 6 Ma for biotite. The hornblende age is considered to be representative of the age of magnetic blocking and, hence, the age o…
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…