International Journal of Earth Sciences

Johansson, Åke;Stephens, Michael B.

doi: 10.1007/s00531-016-1359-3pmid: N/A

Abstract The Palaeoproterozoic (2.0–1.8 Ga) Svecokarelian orogen in central Sweden consists of a low-pressure, predominantly medium-grade metamorphic domain (central part of Bergslagen lithotectonic unit), enclosed to the north and south by low-pressure migmatite belts. Two periods of metamorphism (1.87–1.85 and 1.83–1.79 Ga) are known in the migmatite belts. In this study, new U–Th–Pb ion microprobe data on zircon and monazite from twelve samples of locally migmatized gneisses and felsic intrusive bodies determine both protolith and metamorphic ages in four sample areas north of Stockholm, inside or immediately adjacent to the medium-grade metamorphic domain. Two orthogneiss samples from the Rimbo area yield unusually old protolith ages of 1909 ± 4 and 1908 ± 4 Ma, while three orthogneisses from the Skutskär and Forsmark areas yield more typical protolith ages between 1901 ± 3 and 1888 ± 3 Ma. Migmatized paragneiss samples from this and two earlier studies contain a significant detrital component sourced from this 1.9 Ga magmatic suite. They are interpreted to be deposited contemporaneously with or shortly after this magmatism. Migmatization of the paragneiss at Rimbo was followed by intrusion of leucogranite at 1846 ± 3 Ma. Even in the other sample areas to the north (Hedesunda-Tierp, Skutskär and Forsmark), metamorphism including migmatization is constrained to the 1.87–1.85 Ga interval and penetrative ductile deformation is limited by earlier studies in the Forsmark area to 1.87–1.86 Ga. However, apart from a metamorphic monazite age of 1863 ± 1 Ma, precise ages were not possible to obtain due to the presence of only partially reset recrystallized domains in zircon, or highly discordant U-rich metamict and altered metamorphic rims. Migmatization was contemporaneous with magmatic activity at 1.87–1.84 Ga in the Bergslagen lithotectonic unit involving a mantle-derived component, and there is a spatial connection between migmatization and this magmatic phase in the Hedesunda-Tierp sample area. The close spatial and temporal interplay between ductile deformation, magmatism and migmatization, the P–T metamorphic conditions, and the continuation of similar magmatic activity around and after 1.8 Ga support solely accretionary rather than combined accretionary and collisional orogenic processes as an explanation for the metamorphism. The generally lower metamorphic grade and restricted influence of the younger metamorphic episode, at least at the ground surface level, distinguishes the central part of the Bergslagen lithotectonic unit from the migmatite belts further north and south.

Şengün, Fırat;Koralay, O. Ersin

doi: 10.1007/s00531-016-1334-zpmid: N/A

Abstract Massive, fine-grained metavolcanic rocks of the Çamlıca metamorphic unit exposed in the Biga Peninsula, northwestern Anatolia, have provided new Carboniferous ages and arc-related calc-alkaline petrogenesis constraints, suggesting that the Biga Peninsula was possibly involved in the Variscan orogeny. The metavolcanic rocks are mainly composed of metalava and metatuff and have the composition of andesite. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns from these rocks are fractionated (LaN/YbN ~ 2.2 to 8.9). Europium anomalies are slightly variable (Eu/Eu* = 0.6 to 0.7) and generally negative (average Eu/Eu* = 0.68). The metavolcanic rocks have a distinct negative Nb anomaly and negative Sr, Hf, Ba, and Zr anomalies. These large negative anomalies indicate crustal involvement in their derivation. Tectonic discrimination diagrams show that all metavolcanic rocks formed within a volcanic arc setting. Zircon ages (LA-ICP-MS) of two samples yield 333.5 ± 2.7 and 334.0 ± 4.8 Ma. These ages are interpreted to be the time of protolith crystallization. This volcanic episode in the Biga Peninsula correlates with other Variscan age and style of magmatism and, by association with a collisional event leading to the amalgamation of tectonic units during the Variscan contractional orogenic event. Carboniferous calc-alkaline magmatism in the Sakarya Zone is ascribed to arc-magmatism as a result of northward subduction of Paleo-Tethys under the Laurasian margin. Geochemical and U–Pb zircon data indicate that the Sakarya Zone is strikingly similar to that of the Armorican terranes in central Europe. The Biga Peninsula shows a connection between the Sakarya Zone and the Armorican terranes.

Grimmer, J. C.;Ritter, J. R. R.;Eisbacher, G. H.;Fielitz, W.

doi: 10.1007/s00531-016-1336-xpmid: N/A

Abstract The NNE-trending Upper Rhine Graben (URG) of the European Cenozoic Rift System developed from c. 47 Ma onwards in response to changing lithospheric stresses in the northwestern foreland of the Alps. The composite graben structure consists of three segments, each c. 100 km long and 30–40 km wide, but flares to c. 60 km near its southern and to c. 80 km near its northern termination. Normal faulting induced a total extension of 5–8 km of the 1–2 km thick Mesozoic sedimentary Franconian platform and underlying Variscan basement rocks. However, distribution of an up to 3.5 km thick sedimentary graben fill and cumulative displacements near Eastern and Western Main Border fault systems suggest that subsidence of the graben floor and shoulder uplift created strong cross-sectional asymmetries. Cumulative W-down displacements >3 km along strongly segmented transfer faults in the east contrast with E-down displacements <3 km and major monoclinal “block fields” in the west. Both location and asymmetry of the URG appear to be related to lithospheric shear zones that originated within the central parts of the Variscan orogen between c. 330 and 315 Ma. Following pervasive deformation, HT/LP regional metamorphism and emplacement of granodioritic-granitic plutons a c. 50-km-thick orogenic crust were thinned to an about 30-km-thick two-layered crust above a reconsolidated and relatively planar crust-mantle boundary (Moho). In the URG area extensional thinning of the crust appears to have occurred mainly along a composite NNE-striking and mainly W-down “East Rhine Detachment”, which is partly exposed along the Wehratal, Omerskopf, Otzberg and other mylonitic-cataclastic shear zones in the basement of the eastern graben shoulder. These shear zones probably extend into lower crustal levels, where they are revealed as gently W-dipping seismic reflectors beneath and west of the URG. Major W-down displacements probably account for the mapped abundance of high-grade metamorphic basement rocks on the eastern graben shoulder in contrast to the predominantly low-grade metamorphic to unmetamorphosed sedimentary-volcanic rocks exposed on the western shoulder. Although between c. 310 and 270 Ma NE-trending Permocarboniferous volcanic-sedimentary basins of the URG area subsided along upper crustal faults that mimic the trend of Variscan faults, initial broad lithospheric cooling from c. 270–200 Ma led to subsidence of a distinctly NNE- to SSW-oriented embayment that was probably underlain by thinner Palaeozoic crust in the area of the NNE-trending East Rhine Detachment. After re-emergence of the platform above sea level in late Mesozoic times, the deep-reaching W-dipping “extensional defects” of the East Rhine Detachment exerted a primary lithospheric scale control on both location and cross-sectional asymmetry of the Cenozoic graben structure. NE- and NW-striking, strongly altered and more shallow rooted Permocarboniferous or Mesozoic faults exerted secondary upper crustal controls on transfer faults and the accommodation zones near the terminations and segment boundaries of the URG. Deep crustal to upper lithospheric asymmetries continue to influence the neotectonic setting of the URG, such as westward rising earthquake hypocentres. Seismic activity along the URG appears to be part of a >600 km long zone that delimits the trailing edge of a SW-moving lithospheric block. In the URG area, NE–SW-oriented seismic anisotropy at sublithospheric depths of c. 60–80 km suggest active mantle flow in this direction as a possible driving force for the reactivation of pre-graben lithospheric shear zones.

Hieu, Pham Trung;Li, Shuang-Qing;Yu, Yang;Thanh, Ngo Xuan;Dung, Le Tien;Tu, Vu Le;Siebel, Wolfgang;Chen, Fukun

doi: 10.1007/s00531-016-1337-9pmid: N/A

Abstract The Song Ma zone in NW Vietnam bears important tectonic implications as a potential subduction corridor between the Indochina and South China blocks. On the basis of U–Pb ages, the Hf isotopic characteristics of zircons and the geochemical composition of granitoids, a two-stage magmatic evolution process of the Song Ma zone at ~290–260 and ~245–230 Ma can be proposed. Isotopic analyses indicate magmatic contributions from Neoproterozoic oceanic island basalt, Proterozoic continental crust, and depleted mantle or juvenile lithosphere. By combining geochronological and geochemical data from the granitoid rocks, we suggest that the staged magmatic processes of Song Ma zone may be related to a long-lasting period of ocean subduction (ca. 290–260 Ma) and subsequent syn-/post-collisional evolution (ca. 245–230 Ma).

Wu, Wenbin;Liu, Junlai;Chen, Xiaoyu;Zhang, Lisheng

doi: 10.1007/s00531-016-1339-7pmid: N/A

Abstract The Ailaoshan tectonic belt, where the effects of the Paleo-Tethyan ocean evolution and Indian–Eurasian plate collision are superimposed, is one of the most significant geological discontinuities in western Yunnan province of southeast Tibet. An Ailaoshan micro-block within the belt is bounded by the Ailaoshan suture zone to the west and the Red River Fault to the east, and consists of low- and high-grade metamorphic belts. Late Permian–Middle Triassic granitoids that are widely distributed to the west of the Ailaoshan suture zone and within the Ailaoshan micro-block may yield significant information on the Tethyan tectonic evolution of the Ailaoshan tectonic belt. This study reports new LA–ICP–MS zircon U–Pb geochronology and Hf isotope data of four granitoids from the Ailaoshan high-grade metamorphic belt. Zircon grains from the Yinjie granitoid do not have inherited cores and yield a weighted mean U–Pb age of 247.1 ± 2.0 Ma. The zircon ε Hf(t) values range from 7.8 to 12.1, and Hf model ages from 775 to 546 Ma, indicating that the granitoid was derived from juvenile crust. The rims of zircons from the Majie and Yuanjiang granitoids yield weighted mean U–Pb ages of 239.5 ± 1.8 and 237.9 ± 2.6 Ma, respectively, whereas the cores yield ages of 1608–352 Ma. The ε Hf(t) values of zircon rims range from −20.4 to −5.3, yielding Hf model ages from 2557 to 1606 Ma and suggesting that the source magma of the Majie and Yuanjiang granitoids was derived from ancient crust. An additional granitoid located near the Majie Village yields a zircon U–Pb age of 241.2 ± 1.0 Ma. Based on our geochronological and geochemical data, combined with geological observations, we propose that the Ailaoshan micro-block was derived from the western margin of the Yangtze block, and is comparable to the Zhongzan and Nam Co micro-blocks. The presence of late Permian mafic rocks with rift-related geochemical characteristics within the Ailaoshan micro-block, together with granitoids derived from partial melting of ancient/juvenile crust, indicates the presence of an Ailaoshan rift. This possible rift may correspond to the Ganzi–Litang Ocean to the northwest and the Jinping–Song Da rift to the southeast. It is suggested that westward subduction of the Jinshajiang–Ailaoshan–Song Ma oceanic lithosphere triggered the separation of the Zhongzan, Ailaoshan, and Nam Co micro-blocks from the western passive continental margin of the Yangtze block through the opening of the Ganzi–Litang–Ailaoshan–Jinping–Song Da ocean/rift. This ocean/rift may represent a subsidiary branch of the Paleo-Tethyan Ocean along the western margin of the Yangtze block.

Carvalho, João;Inverno, Carlos;Matos, João Xavier;Rosa, Carlos;Granado, Isabel;Branch, Tim;Represas, Patrícia;Carabaneanu, Livia;Matias, Luís;Sousa, Pedro

doi: 10.1007/s00531-016-1340-1pmid: N/A

Gouiza, Mohamed;Hall, Jeremy;Welford, J. Kim

doi: 10.1007/s00531-016-1341-0pmid: N/A

Abstract The Orphan Basin is located in the deep offshore of the Newfoundland margin, and it is bounded by the continental shelf to the west, the Grand Banks to the south, and the continental blocks of Orphan Knoll and Flemish Cap to the east. The Orphan Basin formed in Mesozoic time during the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean between eastern Canada and western Iberia–Europe. This work, based on well data and regional seismic reflection profiles across the basin, indicates that the continental crust was affected by several extensional episodes between the Jurassic and the Early Cretaceous, separated by events of uplift and erosion. The preserved tectono-stratigraphic sequences in the basin reveal that deformation initiated in the eastern part of the Orphan Basin in the Jurassic and spread towards the west in the Early Cretaceous, resulting in numerous rift structures filled with a Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous syn-rift succession and overlain by thick Upper Cretaceous to Cenozoic post-rift sediments. The seismic data show an extremely thinned crust (4–16 km thick) underneath the eastern and western parts of the Orphan Basin, forming two sub-basins separated by a wide structural high with a relatively thick crust (17 km thick). Quantifying the crustal architecture in the basin highlights the large discrepancy between brittle extension localized in the upper crust and the overall crustal thinning. This suggests that continental deformation in the Orphan Basin involved, in addition to the documented Jurassic and Early Cretaceous rifting, an earlier brittle rift phase which is unidentifiable in seismic data and a depth-dependent thinning of the crust driven by localized lower crust ductile flow.

Alemayehu, Melesse;Zhang, Hong-Fu;Sakyi, Patrick Asamoah

doi: 10.1007/s00531-016-1342-zpmid: N/A

Abstract Mantle xenoliths hosted in Quaternary basaltic lavas from the Dillo and Megado areas of the southern Ethiopian rift are investigated to understand the geochemical composition and associated processes occurring in the lithospheric mantle beneath the region. The xenoliths are comprised of predominantly spinel lherzolite with subordinate harzburgite and clinopyroxenite. Fo content of olivine and Cr# of spinel for peridotites from both localities positively correlate and suggest the occurrence of variable degrees of partial melting and melt extraction. The clinopyroxene from lherzolites is both LREE depleted (La/Sm(N) = 0.11–0.37 × Cl) and LREE enriched (La/Sm(N) = 1.88–15.72 × Cl) with flat HREEs (Dy/Lu(N) = 0.96–1.31 × Cl). All clinopyroxene from the harzburgites and clinopyroxenites exhibits LREE-enriched (La/Sm(N) = 2.92–27.63.1 × Cl and, 0.45 and 1.38 × Cl, respectively) patterns with slight fractionation of HREE. The 143Nd/144Nd and 176Hf/177Hf ratios of clinopyroxene from lherzolite range from 0.51291 to 0.51370 and 0.28289 to 0.28385, respectively. Most of the samples define ages of 900 and 500 Ma on Sm–Nd and Lu–Hf reference isochrons, within the age range of Pan-African crustal formation. The initial Nd and Hf isotopic ratios were calculated at 1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 Ga plot away from the trends defined by MORB, DMM and E-DMM which were determined from southern Ethiopian peridotites, thus indicating that the Dillo and Megado xenoliths could have been produced by melt extraction from the asthenosphere during the Pan-African orogenic event. There is no significant difference in 87Sr/86Sr ratios between the depleted and enriched clinopyroxene. This suggests that the melts that caused the enrichment of the clinopyroxene are mainly derived from the depleted asthenospheric mantle from which the xenoliths are extracted. Largely, the mineralogical and isotopic compositions of the xenoliths show heterogeneity of the CLM that could have been produced from various degrees of melt extraction, followed by metasomatism.

Špičák, Aleš;Vaněk, Jiří

doi: 10.1007/s00531-016-1344-xpmid: N/A

Abstract Earthquake swarm occurrence beneath volcanic domains is one of the indicators of current magmatic activity in the Earth’s crust. Repeated occurrence of teleseismically recorded earthquake swarms has been observed in the lithospheric wedge of the southern Ryukyu area above the subducting slab of the Philippine Sea Plate. The swarms were analyzed using the EHB, ISC and JMA catalogs of hypocenter parameters. The swarm earthquakes are shallow (1–60 km), in the body-wave magnitude range up to 5.8. The swarms are distributed beneath the seafloor, parallel to the Ryukyu Trench along a belt connecting active subaerial volcanoes Io-Torishima north-east and Kueishantao west of the investigated area. Epicentral zones of the swarms often coincide with distinct elevations at the seafloor—seamounts and seamount ranges. The top of the subducting slab reaches a depth of about 100 km beneath the zones of earthquake swarm occurrence, which is an average depth of a slab beneath volcanoes in general. The repeated occurrence of relatively strong, teleseismically recorded earthquake swarms thus probably reflects fluid and/or magma migration in the plumbing system of the volcanic arc and points to brittle character of the lithospheric wedge at respective depths. In addition to the factual results, this study documents the high accuracy of hypocenter parameter determinations published by the International Seismological Centre and the usefulness of the EHB relocation procedure.

Pérouse, E.;Sébrier, M.;Braucher, R.;Chamot-Rooke, N.;Bourlès, D.;Briole, P.;Sorel, D.;Dimitrov, D.;Arsenikos, S.

doi: 10.1007/s00531-016-1345-9pmid: N/A

Abstract Transition from subduction to collision occurs in Western Greece and is accommodated along the downgoing plate by the Kefalonia right-lateral fault that transfers the Hellenic subduction front to the Apulian collision front. Here we present an active tectonic study of Aitolo-Akarnania (Western Greece) that highlights how such a transition is accommodated in the overriding plate. Based on new multi-scale geomorphic and tectonic observations, we performed an accurate active fault trace mapping in the region, and provide evidence for active normal and left-lateral faulting along the Katouna–Stamna Fault (KSF), a 65-km-long NNW-striking fault system connecting the Amvrakikos Gulf to the Patras Gulf. We further show that the Cenozoic Hellenide thrusts located west of the KSF are no longer active, either in field observation or in GPS data, leading us to propose that the KSF forms the northeastern boundary of a rigid Ionian Islands-Akarnania Block (IAB). Cosmic ray exposure measurements of 10Be and 36Cl were performed on a Quaternary alluvial fan offset along the KSF (~50 m left-lateral offset). A maximum abandonment age of ~12–14 ka for the alluvial fan surface can be determined, giving an estimated KSF minimum geological left-lateral slip rate of ~4 mm year−1, in agreement with high GPS slip rates (~10 mm year−1). Despite this high slip rate, the KSF is characterized by subdued morphological evidence of tectonic activity, a gypsum-breccia bedrock and a low level of seismicity, suggesting a dominantly creeping behavior for this fault. Finally, we discuss how the IAB appears to have been progressively individualized during the Pleistocene (younger than ~1.5 Ma).