Tectonic overview of the West Gondwana margin

The oceanic southern margin of Gondwana, from southern South America through South Africa, West Antarctica, New Zealand (in its pre break-up position), and Victoria Land to Eastern Australia is one of the longest and longest-lived active continental margins known. It was the site of the 18,000 km Terra Australis orogen, which was initiated in Neoproterozoic times with the break-up of Rodinia, and evolved into the Mesozoic Australides. The Gondwana margin was completed, in Late Cambrian times, by closure of the Adamastor Ocean (between Brazilian and southwest African components) and the Mozambique Ocean (between East and West Gondwana), forming the Brasiliano-Pan-African mobile belts. During the Early Palaeozoic much of the southern margin was dominated by successive episodes of subduction-accretion. Eastern Australia, Northern Victoria Land and the Transantarctic Mountains were affected by one of the first of these events – the Late Cambrian Ross/Delamerian orogeny, remnants of which may be found in the Antarctic Peninsula – but also contain two accreted terranes of unknown age and origin. Similar events are recognized at the South American end of the margin, where the Cambrian Pampean orogeny occurred with dextral strike-slip along the western edge of the Río de la Plata craton, followed by an Ordovician active margin (Famatinian) associated with the collision of the Precordillera terrane. However, the central part of the margin (the Sierra de la Ventana of eastern Argentina, the Cape Fold Belt of South Africa and the Ellsworth Mountains of West Antarctica) seem to represent a passive margin during the Early Palaeozoic, with the accumulation of predominantly reworked continental sedimentary deposits (Du Toit's ‘Samfrau Geosyncline’). In many of the outer areas, accretion and intense granitic/rhyolitic magmatism continued during the Late Palaeozoic, with collision of several small continental terranes, many of which are nevertheless of Gondwana origin: e.g., southern Patagonia and (possibly) ‘Chilenia’ in the South American–South African sectors, and the Western Province and Median Batholith terranes of New Zealand. The rhyolitic Permo–Triassic LIP of southern South America represents a Permo-Triassic switch to extensional tectonics, which continued into the Early Jurassic, and was followed by the establishment of the Andean subduction margin. Elsewhere at this time the margin largely became passive, with terrane accretion continuing in New Zealand. In the Mesozoic, the Terra Australis Orogen evolved into the accretionary Australides, with episodic orogenesis in the New Zealand, West Antarctic and South American sectors in Late Triassic–Early Jurassic and mid-Cretaceous times, even as Gondwana was breaking up

West Antarctic Rift System in the Antarctic Peninsula

Decades after the recognition of the West Antarctic Rift System, and in spite of its global importance, the location and nature of the plate boundary it formed at are unknown east of the Byrd Subglacial Basin. Alternative constructions of the circuit of South Pacific plate boundaries suggest the presence of either a transcurrent plate boundary or a continuation of the extensional rift system. We identify George VI Sound, a curved depression separating Alexander Island from Palmer Land, as the easternmost basin of a rift system that terminated at a triple junction with the Antarctic Peninsula subduction zone. The history of the triple junction's third, transform, arm suggests extension started around 33.5-30 Ma. A more speculatively identified basin further west may have formed earlier during the same episode of rifting, starting around 43 Ma. Proposals of earlier Cenozoic relative motion between East and West Antarctica cannot be verified from this region. Citation: Eagles, G., R. D. Larter, K. Gohl, and A. P. M. Vaughan (2009), West Antarctic Rift System in the Antarctic Peninsula, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L21305, doi: 10.1029/2009GL040721

Age at first birth in women is genetically associated with increased risk of schizophrenia

Prof. Paunio on PGC:n jäsenPrevious studies have shown an increased risk for mental health problems in children born to both younger and older parents compared to children of average-aged parents. We previously used a novel design to reveal a latent mechanism of genetic association between schizophrenia and age at first birth in women (AFB). Here, we use independent data from the UK Biobank (N = 38,892) to replicate the finding of an association between predicted genetic risk of schizophrenia and AFB in women, and to estimate the genetic correlation between schizophrenia and AFB in women stratified into younger and older groups. We find evidence for an association between predicted genetic risk of schizophrenia and AFB in women (P-value = 1.12E-05), and we show genetic heterogeneity between younger and older AFB groups (P-value = 3.45E-03). The genetic correlation between schizophrenia and AFB in the younger AFB group is -0.16 (SE = 0.04) while that between schizophrenia and AFB in the older AFB group is 0.14 (SE = 0.08). Our results suggest that early, and perhaps also late, age at first birth in women is associated with increased genetic risk for schizophrenia in the UK Biobank sample. These findings contribute new insights into factors contributing to the complex bio-social risk architecture underpinning the association between parental age and offspring mental health.Peer reviewe

K-rich mantle metasomatism control of localization and initiation of lithospheric strike-slip faulting

A conceptual model is proposed where bulk transtension, or local transtension during bulk simple shear (resulting from mantle anisotropy- or lithosphere rheology contrasts), of heterogeneously enriched lithospheric mantle, trigger localised K-rich magmatism, which focusses strain and causes nucleation of lithosphere-scale transtensional or strike-slip shear zones. Transtension-triggered magmatism is most likely to be located at sites of maximum metasomatism of the lithospheric mantle. Magma-generated fractures propagate upwards, nucleating zones of lithospheric weakness, which focus shear in narrow transcurrent faults or at basin margins. In this way, magmatism controls fault timing and location. Although volcanism will be coeval with fault development and volcanoes will appear fault-controlled, counterintuitively, our model suggests that faults are, in a sense, volcano-controlled. We suggest that this new transtension–K-rich magmatism–transcurrent faulting association represents a hitherto unrecognised genetic relationship as significant as, for example, the ocean island magma series

The tectonic context of the Early Palaeozoic southern margin of Gondwana

The oceanic southern margin of Gondwana, from southern South America through South Africa, West Antarctica, New Zealand (in its pre break-up position), and Victoria Land to Eastern Australia is one of the longest and longest-lived active continental margins known. Its construction was initiated in late Neoproterozoic times following the break-up of the pre-existing supercontinent of Rodinia. Gondwana was established by the amalgamation of Australian, Indian, Antarctic, African and South American continental fragments mostly derived from Rodinia. Its ‘Pacific’ margin continued to develop as the site of the 18,000 km Terra Australis orogen, predominantly facing subducting ocean floor and involving some terrane accretion events, through Palaeozoic and Mesozoic times until, and during, the eventual break-up of Gondwana itself

Granitoid pluton formation by spreading of continental crust: the Wiley Glacier complex, northwest Palmer Land, Antarctica.

The emplacement mechanism, geometry, and isotope geochemistry of plutons of the Wiley Glacier complex suggest that new continental crust grew by multiple injection of tonalitic dykes during dextral transtension in the Antarctic Peninsula magmatic are in Early Cretaceous times. The suggested mechanism is analogous to basalt dyke injection during sea-floor spreading. During normal-dextral shear, the Bums Bluff pluton, a sheeted, moderately east-dipping, syn-magmatically sheared tonalite- granodiorite intruded syn-magmatically sheared quartz diorite of the Creswick Gap pluton and 140 +/- 5 Ma homblende gabbro. U-Pb dating of zircon and Ar-Ar dating of hornblende and biotite suggest that both granite s.l. plutons were emplaced between 145 and 140 Ma, but that extensional shearing was active from the time of emplacement until ca. lu Ma. The Bums Bluff pluton is chilled at its margin, and grades through mylonitised, porphyritic tonalite-granodiorite sheets and tonalite-granodiorite sheets with minor chilling, to a kilometre-scale body of coarse-grained, hypidiomorphic tonalite-granodiorite Co-magmatic microdiorite forms dykes and abundant synplutonic mafic enclaves. These dykes opened as echelon veins during episodic dextral shear and were deformed to trains of enclaves during continued normal-dextral shear. Pluton-marginal porphyritic and hypidiomorphic tonalite- granodiorite forms large, fault-hosted sheets emplaced progressively under extension with minor dextral shear. Kinematic indicators from pluton-marginal granite s.l. dykes suggest that early in pluton accretion, intrusive sheets cooled rapidly, with simple shear prior to full crystallisation changing to ductile simple shear during cooling. Kinematic indicators towards the pluton core suggest that as the pluton grew, and cooled more slowly, emplacement switched from sheeting to in situ inflation with simple shear distributed across a broad zone prior to full crystallisation of magma. Cross-cutting relationships with the coeval, syn-extensional, Creswick Gap pluton suggest that the Bums Bluff pluton was emplaced in a steeper, second generation shear structure, like those in normal fault systems. This suggests that the Wiley Glacier complex was emplaced above the base of the brittle- ductile transition zone (15-18 km depth). The Bums Bluff pluton has Nd and Sr isotope values that range from mantle dominated (is an element of Nd-141 = +3.8, Sr-87/Sr-86(141) = 0.70468) to more crustally influenced (is an element of Nd-141 = -1.7, Sr- 87/Sr-86(141) = 0.70652) This range probably represents different degrees of mixing between mantle-derived magma and lower crustal partial melts generated in the garnet-stability zone (40+ km depth). Addition of new crustal material by mafic underplating at the base of the crust and by redistribution of granitic s.l. and mafic, modified, underplated magma to mid- crustal levels along extensional shear zones as the are 'spread' were the primary mechanisms of crustal growth