Jurassic syn-rift and Cretaceous syn-orogenic, coarse-grained deposits related to opening and closure of the Vahic (South Penninic) Ocean in the Western Carpathians – an overview

Although no undoubted oceanic crustal rock complexes of Penninic affinity participate in the present surface structure of the Western Carpathians, indirect lines of evidence suggest prolongation of the South Penninic-Vahic oceanic tract into the ancient Carpathians. The sedimentary record of both the syn-rift and syn-orogenic clastic deposits reveal their origin between the outer Tatric (Austroalpine) and the inner Oravic (Middle Penninic) margins. The rifting regime is exemplified by the normal fault-related scarp breccias of the Jurassic Borinka Unit in the Male Karpaty Mts., which are characterized by local, gradually denuded source areas. Two other regions provide examples of a contractional regime, both related to shortening and closure of the Vahic oceanic domain. The Belice Unit in the Povazsky Inovec Mts. includes Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous eupelagic, mostly siliceous deposits and a thickening-upwards Senonian sequence of turbiditic sandstones, conglomerates and chaotic breccias. It is inferred that this succession represents the sedimentary cover of oceanic crust approaching a trench, its incorporation in the accretionary complex and finally underthrusting below the outer Tatric margin. In the Oravic units of the Pieniny Klippen Belt, deep-marine conglomerate/breccia bodies with olistoliths indicate collision-related thrust stacking that started from the Maastrichtian (Gregorianka Breccia of the Sub-Pieniny Unit) and terminated with the Lower Eocene Milpos Breccia in the Saris Unit. In addition, a tentative recycling scheme of “exotic” clastic material from mid-Cretaceous conglomerates of the Klape Unit to various Klippen Belt units is outlined. This material is considered to be unrelated to the Vahic oceanic realm and its closure, and likely represents erosional products of more distant orogenic zones

Terr. Nova

This study presents the first preliminary U-Pb zircon data on tin-bearing S-type granites from the Gemeric unit of the Western Carpathians (Slovakia). U-Pb single zircon dating controlled by cathodoluminescence suggests crystallization of the Gemeric granites during Permian to Early Triassic (303-241 Ma) time. Post-crystallization, low-temperature metamorphic overprint is reflected by partial Pb loss in zircons. These Gemeric granites are younger than the highly fractionated, S- type, tin- and rare-element-bearing leucogranites in the European Variscides. They may have resulted from partial melting, triggered by increased heat flow from the mantle below the continental crust, and most probably intruded during the post-collisional extension and initial rifting of the Variscan orogenic belt. During Alpine orogeny, the Gemeric granites were affected by a low-temperature deformation and metamorphism

First Permian-Early Triassic zircon ages for tin-bearing granites from the Gemeric unit (Western Carpathians, Slovakia): connection to the post-collisional extension of the Variscan orogen and S-type granite magmatism

This study presents the first preliminary U-Pb zircon data on tin-bearing S-type granites from the Gemeric unit of the Western Carpathians (Slovakia). U-Pb single zircon dating controlled by cathodoluminescence suggests crystallization of the Gemeric granites during Permian to Early Triassic (303-241 Ma) time. Post-crystallization, low-temperature metamorphic overprint is reflected by partial Pb loss in zircons. These Gemeric granites are younger than the highly fractionated, S- type, tin- and rare-element-bearing leucogranites in the European Variscides. They may have resulted from partial melting, triggered by increased heat flow from the mantle below the continental crust, and most probably intruded during the post-collisional extension and initial rifting of the Variscan orogenic belt. During Alpine orogeny, the Gemeric granites were affected by a low-temperature deformation and metamorphism

New morphostructural subdivision of the Western Carpathians : an approach integrating geodynamics into targeted morphometric analysis.

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