The Murchison Greenstone Belt, South Africa: Accreted slivers with contrasting metamorphic conditions

International audienceThis paper presents new petrological and geochronological data for the ∼3.09-2.92 Ga Murchison Greenstone Belt (MGB), located in South Africa's Kaapvaal Craton, and discusses their geotectonic implications. The MGB is made of three tectono-metamorphic units: the Silwana Amphibolites, the Murchison Unit and the La France Formation. They underwent contrasting clockwise pressure-temperature-deformation (P-T-D) histories, and are separated from each other by relatively narrow, high-strain shear zones, with a sinistral, transpressive top-to-the-south movement, consistent with the deformation patterns observed throughout the belt. These patterns are explained by a N-S compressional stress field, affecting the Murchison Belt between 2.97 and 2.92 Ga. Results of new petrological investigations indicate that ultramafic to felsic volcano-sedimentary rocks of the Murchison Unit underwent a greenschist- to lower-amphibolite-facies metamorphism at maximum P-T conditions of 5.6 ± 0.6 kbar at 570 °C, along a relatively hot, minimum apparent geotherm of ∼30 °C/km. In contrast, the Silwana Amphibolites and the La France Formation were metamorphosed at much higher peak metamorphic conditions of 8.7-10 kbar, 630-670 °C, and 8-9 kbar, 600-650 °C, respectively, and require a colder apparent geotherm of ∼20 °C/km. A retrograde, nearly isothermal-decompression P-T path followed by isobaric cooling is also inferred for the La France Formation. The timing of the structural-metamorphic overprint is bracketed between 2.97 and 2.90 Ga, which is constrained by U-Pb zircon ages of a syn-deformation granite within the Murchison Unit and the post-deformation Maranda granite, respectively. Monazite and xenotime from La France metapelites yield much younger ages of ca. 2.75 Ga, with few inherited components at 2.92 Ga. They point to a later activation of the MGB, perhaps related with tectono-thermal events in the Rooiwater Complex and the Pietersburg Greenstone Belt. The relatively cold apparent geotherms recorded in the Silwana and La France rocks, the contrasted peak P-T conditions between the different units, and the near isothermal decompression of the La France Formation indicate that the Kaapvaal craton crust must have been cold enough to enable significant crustal thickening and strain localisation along narrow shear zones and, as a consequence, fast tectonic juxtaposition of rocks metamorphosed at different crustal depths. These features are similar to those observed along Palaeozoic or modern day, oblique subduction-collision zones, but different to those of hot Archaean provinces. We therefore interpret the MGB as representing part of an oblique collision-zone between two terrains of the Kaapvaal craton: the Witwatersrand and Pietersburg terrains

Metallogeny of precious and base metal mineralization in the Murchison Greenstone Belt, South Africa: indications from U-Pb and Pb-Pb geochronology

International audienceThe 3.09 to 2.97 Ga Murchison Greenstone Belt is an important metallotect in the northern Kaapvaal Craton (South Africa), hosting several precious and base metal deposits. Central to the metallotect is the Antimony Line, striking ENE for over 35 km, which hosts a series of structurally controlled Sb-Au deposits. To the north of the Antimony Line, hosted within felsic volcanic rocks, is the Copper-Zinc Line where a series of small, ca. 2.97 Ga Cu-Zn volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS)-type deposits occur. New data are provided for the Malati Pump gold mine, located at the eastern end of the Antimony Line. Crystallizations of a granodiorite in the Malati Pump Mine and of the Baderoukwe granodiorite are dated at 2,964 ± 7 and 2,970 ± 7 Ma, respectively (zircon U-Pb), while pyrite associated with gold mineralization yielded a Pb-Pb age of 2,967 ± 48 Ma. Therefore, granodiorite emplacement, sulfide mineral deposition and gold mineralization all happened at ca. 2.97 Ga. It is, thus, suggested that the major styles of orogenic Au-Sb and the Cu-Zn VMS mineralization in the Murchison Greenstone Belt are contemporaneous and that the formation of meso- to epithermal Au-Sb mineralization at fairly shallow levels was accompanied by submarine extrusion of felsic volcanic rocks to form associated Cu-Zn VMS mineralization

How to date a sedimentary serie: Different approaches to better constrain the diversification of early eukaryotes in Central Africa (Mbuji-Mayi Supergroup, Proterozoic, DRCongo)

Peer reviewe

Temporal relationships between Mg-K mafic magmatism and catastrophic melting of the Variscan crust in the southern part of Velay Complex (Massif Central, France)

Mg-K mafic intrusive rocks are commonly observed during the late stages of the evolution of orogenic belts. The Variscan French Massif Central has many outcrops of these rocks, locally called vaugnerites. Such magmas have a mantle-derived origin and therefore allow discussion of the role of mantle melting and crust-mantle interactions during late-orogenic processes. In the Southern Velay area of the French Massif Central, LA-ICPMS U-Pb dating on zircons and monazites from three vaugnerites and four coeval granites reveals that the two igneous suites formed simultaneously, at c. 305 Ma. This major igneous event followed after an early, protracted melting stage that lasted for 20-30 My and generated migmatites, but the melt was not extracted efficiently and therefore no granite plutons were formed. This demonstrates that widespread crustal anatexis, melt extraction and granite production were synchronous with the intrusion of vaugneritic mantle-derived melts in the crust. The rapid heating and subsequent melting of the crust led to upward flow of partially molten rocks, doming and collapse of the belt.JHS was financially supported by the Spanish grant CGL2008–02864 and the Andalusian grant RNM1595

Oligo-Miocene thinning of the Beni Bousera peridotites and their Variscan crustal host rocks, Internal Rif, Morocco†

International audienceDeciphering Variscan versus Alpine history in the internal Rif system is a key to constraining the tectonic evolution of the Alboran domain and hence the geodynamics of the western Mediterranean system during the Cenozoic. This study focuses on the evolution of the metamorphic envelope of the Beni Bousera massif and its relation to the underlying peridotites. Combining structural geology, metamorphic petrology, and LA-ICP-MS U-Th-Pb dating of monazite, this study contributes to the understanding of the tectonic history of the western internal Rif. The regional foliation (S2) is characterized by LP/HT mineral assemblages and obliterates a former foliation (S1) developed along a barrovian (MP/MT) metamorphic gradient. The dating of some metamorphic monazite grains from a micaschist and a migmatitic gneiss demonstrates that the crustal envelope of the peridotite recorded two distinct tectonometamorphic episodes. Data from monazite inclusions in S1 garnet suggest that the first event, D1, is older than 250-170 Ma and likely related to the Variscan collision, in agreement with the barrovian type of the metamorphic gradient. The second event, D2, is Alpine in age (at circa 21 Ma) and corresponds to a strong lithosphere thinning allowing subsequent subcontinental mantle exhumation. Such a tectonic context provides an explanation for the LP/HT metamorphic gradient that is recorded in the regional foliation of the western Betic-Rif system. This extension is probably related to a subduction slab roll-back in the western end of the Mediterranean realm during the Oligo-Miocene times. No evidences for a Tertiary HP/LT metamorphism have been identified in the studied are

Two-stage partial melting during the Variscan extensional tectonics (Montagne Noire, France)

International audienceOne of the striking features that characterise the late stages of the Variscan orogeny is the development of gneiss and migmatite domes, as well as extensional Late Carboniferous and Permian sedimentary basins. It remains a matter of debate whether the formation of domes was related to the well documented late orogenic extension or to the contractional tectonics that preceded.Migmatization and magmatism are expected to predate extension if the domes are compression-related regional anticlines, but they must both precede and be contemporaneous with extension if they are extensional core complexes. In the Montagne Noire area (southern French Massif Central), where migmatization, magmatismand the deformation frameworkare well documented, the age of the extensional event was unequivocally constrained to 300-0Ma.Therefore,dating migmatization in this area is a key point for discriminating between the two hypotheses and understanding the Late Palaeozoic evolution of this part of the Variscan belt. For this purpose, a migmatite and an associated anatectic granite from the Montagne Noire dome were dated by LA-ICP-MS (U-Th/Pb onzircon and monazite) andlaser probe40Ar-39Ar (K-Ar on muscovite). Although zircon did not record any Variscan ageunequivocally related to compression (380-330Ma),two age groups were identified from the monazite crystals. A first event, at ca. 319 Ma (U-Th/Pb on monazite),is interpreted as a first stage of migmatization and as the emplacement age of the granite, respectively. A second event at ca. 298-295 Ma, recorded by monazite (U-Th/Pb) and by the muscovite 40Ar-39Ar system in the migmatite and in the granite, could be interpreted as a fluid-induced event, probably related to a second melting event identified through the syn-extensional emplacement of the nearby Montalet leucogranite ca. 295 Ma ago. The agesof these two events post-date the Variscan compression and agreewith an overall extensional context for the development of the Montagne Noire dome-shaped massif.Comparison of these results with published chemical (EPMA) dating of monazite from the samerocks demonstrates that the type of statistical treatment applied to EPMA data is crucial in order to resolve different monazite age populations

Temporal evolution of long-lived magmatic systems: the Chachani volcano complex, south of Perù

The Chachani Volcanic Complex (CVC) is an extensive (~289±10 km3) assemblage of spatially, temporally and genetically related major and minor eruptive centers. The c. 1.2 Myr-long activity suggests that the CVC is a long-lived volcanic system characterized by semi-persistent activity and short periods of quiescence. The stratigraphy, Ar/Ar and U/Pb chronology, spatial distribution along lineaments, and the degree of landform preservation help distinguish two groups of edifices in the CVC. The ‘old’ edifice group is characterized by large stratovolcanoes and small dome coulees. This group has been built between

New geochronological history of the Mbuji-Mayi Supergroup (Proterozoic, DRC) through U-Pb and Sm-Nd dating

peer reviewe

Cronoestratigrafía del volcanismo con énfasis en ignimbritas desde hace 25 Ma en el SO del Perú – Implicaciones para la evolución de los Andes centrales

El sur del Perú representa el segundo campo ignimbrítico de los Andes con un área que sobrepasa los 25 000 km2 y volúmenes de casi 5000 km3. Se prresenta la extensión, la estratigrafía y la cronología de 12 ignimbritas que afloran en el área de los cañones profundos de los Ríos Ocoña–Cotahuasi–Marán y Colca (OCMC). La cronología de las ignimbritas a lo largo de los últimos 25 Myr está basada en 74 dataciones 40Ar/39Ar and U/Pb. Antes de 9 Ma, ocho ignimbritas con gran volumen fueron producidas cada 2.4 Myr. Después de 9 Ma, el periodo de reposo entre cada ignimbrita de volumen pequeño a moderado ha disminuido hasta 0.85 Myr. Esta cronología de las ignimbritas y de las lavas del Neógeno y Cuaternario ayuda a revisar la nomenclatura de las formaciones volcánicas utilizadas para la Carta Geológica Nacional. Además las unidades volcánicas identificadas son herramientas para reconstruir la evolución geológica del flanco occidental de los Andes Centrales durante su levantamiento desde hace 25 Ma. Junto con la cronoestratigrafía de estas unidades, datos geomorfológicos obtenidos en las cuencas y sobre otros depósitos de los cañones OCMC ayudan a precisar la historia de la incisión del flanco occidental de los Andes Centrales desde hace 25 Ma. Finalmente la cronología de depósitos de avalancha de escombros y de terrazas rocosas basada en cosmogénicos (Be10) permite precisar la evolución de los cañones durante el Pleistoceno y el Holoceno

Histoire Géologique du massif Armoricain : Actualité de la recherche

National audienceUne part essentielle de l'histoire géologique de la France (et même d'Europe occidentale, avec des roches ayant environ 2000 Ma) est déchiffrable dans le Massif armoricain. Si celui-ci est réputé pour ses excellentes qualités d'affleurement sur le littoral (Armor, ou pays de la mer), certains objets ou structures ne peuvent être observés que dans le bocage (Argoat, ou pays des arbres), où leur lisibilité est souvent problématique. En Armor comme en Argoat, de nombreux sites constituent un réel patrimoine géologique (l'intérêt de certaines localités sera mis en exergue dans le texte), dont la valeur ne peut être jaugée qu'au regard de son intérêt scientifique. Ainsi ce travail - une mise en perspective de nos connaissances scientifiques sur l'évolution géologique du Massif armoricain - est-il basé sur plusieurs synthèses antérieures (par ex. Le Corre et al., 1991 ; Ballèvre et al., 2009), qu'il complète en intégrant les nouvelles données disponibles. Plus qu'un exposé complet des faits, nous visons à clarifier certains débats, et montrer en quoi les recherches en cours changent notre image globale du Massif armoricain. Nous restreindrons notre analyse à la période qui couvre la fin du Protérozoïque (Ediacarien : 635-540 Ma), le Paléozoïque (540-250 Ma) et le début du Mésozoïque (Trias : 250-200 Ma)