The detrital zircon record of Variscan to post‑Variscan tectonosedimentary and magmatic processes in the Tauern Window (Eastern Alps)

Coupled U–Pb and Lu–Hf LA-ICP-MS detrital and igneous zircon data were obtained from metasedimentary sequences (Kaserer Formation, Schmirntal Quartzite, Seidlwinkel Formation, Bündnerschiefer Basin, Riffler Basin) of the western Tauern Window (Eastern Alps). Results show maximum deposition ages between the Late Permian and the Triassic, indicating protracted sedimentation and magmatism between the Late Paleozoic and the Mesozoic. The Lu–Hf fingerprint shows a change from subchondritic to variable subchondritic to suprachondritic compositions at ca. 290 Ma, possibly documenting the transition from Late Paleozoic Variscan post-collisional processes to intracontinental extension. Lithospheric thinning and magmatic underplating may explain the observed Hf isotopic evolution as the result of mixing of crustal and mantellic sources. From a paleogeographical perspective, results confirm that the Tauern Window was situated between Alpine basement units (South Alpine, Austroalpine and External Massifs) and the Bohemian Massif during the Permian–Triassic.Fil: Veselá, P.. Ludwig Maximilians Universitat; AlemaniaFil: Oriolo, Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Geociencias Básicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Geociencias Básicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Basei, M. A. S.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Lammerer, Bernd. Ludwig Maximilians Universitat; AlemaniaFil: Siegesmund, S.. Universität Göttingen; Alemani

Análise dos petrotramas de eixos-C de quartzo: Zona de Cisalhamento Major Gercino (SC)

The analysis of quartz c-axis improved the kinematic characterization of the Major Gercino Shear Zone (MGSZ) in the Canelinha - Garcia area in central-eastern Santa Catarina State. This shear zone is one of the major lineaments that affect ali southern Brazilian and Uruguaian precambrian terrains. In Santa Catarina the MGSZ separates supracrustal rocks of the Brusque Group (northern part) from the Granitoid-Migmatitic Complex to the south. This zone is characterized by a regional NE trend, a dextral sense of movement, and predominantly ductile-brittle structures. The MGSZ is composed of two mylonitic belts to the northwest and southeast, respectively, separated by granitoid rocks probably associated with the development of the shear zone. Both shear zones have cataclastic to ultramylonitc rocks, but mylonites and protomylonites predominate. Most of the mylonitic rocks were produced under greenschist facies metamorphic conditions and a high strain rate. Although sinistral displacement is often observed, most of the mesoscopic structures and kinematic indicators show a predominance of dextral movement with an important oblique component. The results of c-axis analyses in quartz-rich rocks are in good agreement with this interpretation and also indicate a coaxial deformation produced by pure shear strain as can be seen in the symmetric pattern of the prefered orientations of the c-axis in many of the diagrams obtained in the MGSZ, as well as indicated by the presence of local sinistrai shear movements. The mylonitic rocks of the MGSZ have crystallographic orientations developed at relatively low temperatures, as confirmed by the low-grade metamorphic conditions. In spite of the low temperatures, the orientation developed under a high strain rate as shown by the deformed and stretched minerais and the commom parallelism of S and C surfaces.Este trabalho visa apresentar as principais conclusões obtidas da utilização de petrotramas de eixos-c de quartzo, aplicadas ao estudo da Zona de Cisalhamento Major Gercino (ZCMG), no trecho Canelinha - Garcia, região centro-leste do Estado de Santa Catarina. Este lineamento faz parte do importante sistema de cisalhamento de direção NE-SW que afeta a região sul-brasileira e uruguaia. Ao longo de toda sua extensão, a ZCMG separa duas áreas geologicamente diferentes que correspondem, em Santa Catarina, aos domínios interno (granitóides) e intermediário (supracrustais) do Cinturão Dom Feliciano (CDF). Esta zona de cisalhamento possui estruturação geral NE, características dúcteis-rúpteis e movimentação predominantemente dextral. A geração das rochas miloníticas deu-se, principalmente, no grau metamórfico xisto-verde. Na região estudada, a ZCMG caracteriza-se por duas faixas miloníticas onde predominam rochas com texturas protomiloníticas e miloníticas. Entre essas faixas ocorre um conjunto de granitóides associado ao desenvolvimento da ZCMG. A faixa milonítica norte limita os metassedimentos do Grupo Brusque a noroeste dos granitóides centrais e a faixa milonítica sul faz o contato entre esses granitóides e as rochas do Complexo-Granito-Migmatítico (Domínio Interno do CDF). A componente coaxial é sugerida nos petrotramas de eixos-c de quartzo por concentrações simétricas em relação à foliação milonítica, bem como pela existência de porfiroclastos simétricos em seções delgadas. A componente da deformação por cisalhamento puro pode ter acarretado, em inflexões locais, movimentações sinistrais. As rochas milomticas da ZCMG apresentam orientação cristalográfica desenvolvida sob temperaturas relativamente baixas, indicada pelo metamorfismo no fácies xisto-verde e pelos petrotramas. Apesar da baixa temperatura, o processo de cisalhamento ocorreu em condições de alta taxa de deformação, evidenciada pela presença de minerais deformados e estirados e pela geração de rochas milomticas e ultramiloníticas, onde comumente ocorre total paralelização das superfícies S e C

Reassessing the polyphase Neoproterozoic evolution of the Punta del Este Terrane, Dom Feliciano Belt, Uruguay

Some recent models challenge the position and extension of the assumed oceanic basins formed through the break-up of Rodinia, and the tectonic processes involved in the Gondwana assembly, making the investigation of the Early Neoproterozoic record of great relevance. Within the South-American Atlantic margin, the Punta del Este Terrane (PET) of the Dom Feliciano Belt (DFB) comprises a unique Tonian to Ediacaran record, and has a strategic position to reconstruct spatio-temporal relationships with the southern African orogenic belts. Novel zircon U–Pb and Lu–Hf data from the PET basement orthogneisses display Tonian magmatic ages (805–760 Ma) and Hf isotopic signatures indicative of mainly crustal/metasedimentary sources, (Nd TDM ages: 2.2–1.9 Ga, and εHf(t): − 12 to − 4). The basement paragneisses yielded late Paleoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic U–Pb ages, but dominantly positive εHf(t) values. The presented results confirm the correlation of the PET with the Coastal Terrane of the Kaoko Belt, and discard the idea of the Nico Pérez Terrane as a source. Detrital zircon U–Pb and Lu–Hf data from the Rocha Formation yielded a main peak at ca. 660 Ma, with the Neoproterozoic grains showing a εHf(t) between + 1 and + 14. The deposition age of the Rocha Formation is constrained by the youngest detrital zircon age peak (660 Ma), and the beginning of the deposition of the Sierra de Aguirre Formation (580 Ma). The data indicate common sources with the Marmora Terrane, and it is thus proposed that the Rocha Formation belongs to the Gariep Belt, and it was juxtaposed during the Ediacaran to the DFB.Fil: Silva Lara, Hernan. Universität Göttingen; AlemaniaFil: Siegesmund, S.. Universität Göttingen; AlemaniaFil: Oriolo, Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Geociencias Básicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Geociencias Básicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Hueck, M.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil. Universität Göttingen; AlemaniaFil: Wemmer, K.. Universität Göttingen; AlemaniaFil: Basei, M. A. S.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Oyhantçabal, P.. Universidad de la República; Urugua

The Sierra de Cachi (Salta, NW Argentina): geological evidence about a Famatinian retro-arc at mid crustal levels

The Cachi mountain ranges, located in Salta (NW Argentina), form an inlier where Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic materials of the An­des crop out in a plutono-metamorphic dome surrounded by Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks. The pre-Mesozoic rocks record a regional metamorphism of low pressure and high temperature conditions, which reached partial melting conditions and was coeval with the intrusion of sheeted granite and trondhjemite plutons. The metamorphic evolution and the emplacement of the plutons took place in an extensional tectonic setting. New U-Pb zircon dating by TIMS and SHRIMP methods yields similar ages for the migmatization (479.7 ± 3.5 Ma) and the emplacement of granites (472.1 ± 11 Ma), constraining the extensional event to Early Ordovician times. We also report the finding of gabbro boulders, which also yield a similar U-Pb SHRIMP zircon age of 477.5 ± 3.9 Ma. So, we propose that the extensional event recognized in Sierra de Cachi took place in a retro-arc setting linked to the Famatinian subduction along the western border of Gond­wana. The shortening produced by younger east-verging folds evidences the superposition of a compressional stress field, probably related with the Ocloyic orogeny (Middle/Late Ordovician-Devonian).En la Sierra de Cachi, situada en Salta (NO de Argentina), afloran rocas neoproterozoicas y paleozoicas de los Andes en un domo plutono-metamórfico flanqueado por rocas sedimentarias mesozoicas y cenozoicas. Estas rocas registran un metamorfismo de alta tempe­ratura y baja presión, que alcanzó condiciones de fusión parcial y fue coetáneo del emplazamiento de plutones de granitos y trondhjemitas. El metamorfismo y el emplazamiento de los plutones se produjo en condiciones extensionales. Nuevos análisis de U-Pb en zircones, por los métodos TIMS y SHRIMP, proporcionan edades similares para la migmatización (479,7 ± 3,5 Ma) y el emplazamiento de los granitos (472,1 ± 11 Ma), acotando el evento extensional al Ordovícico Inferior. También describimos el hallazgo de bloques de gabros que dan una edad U-Pb SHRIMP en circones semejante, de 477,5 ± 3,9 Ma. Por lo tanto, se propone que el evento extensional descrito en la Sierra de Cachi tuvo lugar en una zona de retro-arco asociada a la subducción famatiniana del borde occidental de Gondwana. El acortamiento producido por los pliegues más jóvenes vergentes al E refleja la superposición de un campo de esfuerzos compresivos, probablemente relacionados con la orogenia Oclóyica (Ordovícico Medio/Superior-Devónico)

The birth of the Alps: Ediacaran to Paleozoic accretionary processes and crustal growth along the northern Gondwana margin

New whole-rock geochemical and coupled U–Pb and Lu–Hf LA-ICP-MS zircon data of metasedimentary rocks of the Austroalpine, South Alpine and Penninic basement domains are presented, to disentangle the pre-Variscan tectonic evolution of the proto-Alps. The studied units seem to record distinct stages of protracted Late Ediacaran to Carboniferous tectonosedimentary processes prior to the Variscan collision. In the case of Austroalpine and South Alpine units, nevertheless, no major differences in terms of provenance are observed, since most detrital zircon samples are characterized by a major Pan-African peak. Their detrital zircon spectra record a provenance from the northeastern Saharan Metacraton and the Sinai basement at the northern Arabian-Nubian Shield, being thus located along the eastern Early Paleozoic northern Gondwana margin, whereas sources located further west are inferred for the Penninic Unit, which might have been placed close to the Moldanubian Unit of the Bohemian Massif. In any case, it is thus clear that the Alpine basement remained in a close position to the Gondwana mainland at least during the Early Paleozoic. The Late Ediacaran to Silurian tectonic evolution, which includes Cadomian and Cenerian tectonometamorphic and magmatic processes, seem thus to record a continuum related to a retreating-mode accretionary orogen, with diachronous back-arc basin opening and possibly discrete compressional/transpressional pulses linked to changes in subduction zone dynamics. On the other hand, it is inferred that the Alpine basement essentially comprises Pan-African metasedimentary and subordinate metaigneous rocks, possibly with very few Early Neoproterozoic relics. This basement was significantly reworked during the protracted Paleozoic orogenic evolution, due to anatexis and/or assimilation by mantle-derived juvenile magmatism.Fil: Siegesmund, Siegfried. Universität Göttingen; AlemaniaFil: Oriolo, Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Geociencias Básicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Geociencias Básicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Schulz, Bernhard. Technische Universitat Bergakademie Freiberg; AlemaniaFil: Heinrichs, T.. Universität Göttingen; AlemaniaFil: Basei, M. A. S.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Lammerer, Bernd. Ludwig Maximilians Universitat; Alemani

The Sierra de Cachi (Salta, NW Argentina): geological evidence about a Famatinian retro-arc at mid crustal levels

En la Sierra de Cachi, situada en Salta (NO de Argentina), afloran rocas neoproterozoicas y paleozoicas de los Andes en un domo plutono-metamórfico flanqueado por rocas sedimentarias mesozoicas y cenozoicas. Estas rocas registran un metamorfismo de alta temperatura y baja presión, que alcanzó condiciones de fusión parcial y fue coetáneo del emplazamiento de plutones de granitos y trondhjemitas. El metamorfismo y el emplazamiento de los plutones se produjo en condiciones extensionales. Nuevos análisis de U-Pb en zircones, por los métodos TIMS y SHRIMP, proporcionan edades similares para la migmatización (479,7 ± 3,5 Ma) y el emplazamiento de los granitos (472,1 ± 11 Ma), acotando el evento extensional al Ordovícico Inferior. También describimos el hallazgo de bloques de gabros que dan una edad U-Pb SHRIMP en circones semejante, de 477,5 ± 3,9 Ma. Por lo tanto, se propone que el evento extensional descrito en la Sierra de Cachi tuvo lugar en una zona de retro-arco asociada a la subducción famatiniana del borde occidental de Gondwana. El acortamiento producido por los pliegues más jóvenes vergentes al E refleja la superposición de un campo de esfuerzos compresivos, probablemente relacionados con la orogenia Oclóyica (Ordovícico Medio/Superior-Devónico).The Cachi mountain ranges, located in Salta (NW Argentina), form an inlier where Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic materials of the Andes crop out in a plutono-metamorphic dome surrounded by Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks. The pre-Mesozoic rocks record a regional metamorphism of low pressure and high temperature conditions, which reached partial melting conditions and was coeval with the intrusion of sheeted granite and trondhjemite plutons. The metamorphic evolution and the emplacement of the plutons took place in an extensional tectonic setting. New U-Pb zircon dating by TIMS and SHRIMP methods yields similar ages for the migmatization (479.7 ± 3.5 Ma) and the emplacement of granites (472.1 ± 11 Ma), constraining the extensional event to Early Ordovician times. We also report the finding of gabbro boulders, which also yield a similar U-Pb SHRIMP zircon age of 477.5 ± 3.9 Ma. So, we propose that the extensional event recognized in Sierra de Cachi took place in a retro-arc setting linked to the Famatinian subduction along the western border of Gondwana. The shortening produced by younger east-verging folds evidences the superposition of a compressional stress field, probably related with the Ocloyic orogeny (Middle/Late Ordovician-Devonian)Fil: Hongn, Fernando Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del Noroeste Argentino; ArgentinaFil: Tubía, J. M.. Universidad del Pais Vasco; EspañaFil: Esteban, J. J.. Universidad del Pais Vasco; EspañaFil: Aranguren, A.. Universidad del Pais Vasco; EspañaFil: Vegas, N.. Universidad del Pais Vasco; EspañaFil: Sergeev, S.. Centre of Isotopic Research; RusiaFil: Larionov, A.. Centre of Isotopic Research; RusiaFil: Basei, M.. Universidade de São Paulo. Instituto de Geociências; Brasi

Timing of deformation in the Sarandí del Yí Shear Zone, Uruguay: implications for the amalgamation of western Gondwana during the Neoproterozoic Brasiliano-Pan-African Orogeny

U-Pb and Hf zircon (sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe -SHRIMP- and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry -LA-ICP-MS-), Ar/Ar hornblende and muscovite, and Rb-Sr whole rock-muscovite isochron data from the mylonites of the Sarandí del Yí Shear Zone, Uruguay, were obtained in order to assess the tectonothermal evolution of this crustal-scale structure. Integration of these results with available kinematic, structural, and microstructural data of the shear zone as well as with geochronological data from the adjacent blocks allowed to constrain the onset of deformation along the shear zone at 630-625 Ma during the collision of the Nico Pérez Terrane and the Río de la Plata Craton. The shear zone underwent dextral shearing up to 596 Ma under upper to middle amphibolite facies conditions, which was succeeded by sinistral shearing under lower amphibolite to upper greenschist facies conditions until at least 584 Ma. After emplacement of the Cerro Caperuza granite at 570 Ma, the shear zone underwent only cataclastic deformation between the late Ediacaran and the Cambrian. The Sarandí del Yí Shear Zone is thus related to the syncollisional to postcollisional evolution of the amalgamation of the Río de la Plata Craton and the Nico Pérez Terrane. Furthermore, the obtained data reveal that strain partitioning and localization with time, magmatism emplacement, and fluid circulation are key processes affecting the isotopic systems in mylonitic belts, revealing the complexity in assessing the age of deformation of long-lived shear zone

O complexo Atuba: um cinturão paleoproterozóico intensamente retrabalhado no Neoproterozóico

Studies of terranes between the northern Ribeira and southern Dom Feliciano Belts allow the characterization of three geotectonic domains with different evolutions: the Luís Alves, Curitiba and Paranaguá terranes. The Atuba Complex occurs in the Curitiba Domain, which has a northwestern limit with metassediments of the Açungui and Setuva Groups and a southwestern limit with the granulitic gneisses of the Luis Alves domains. The contacts are expressive shear zones. The predominant rocks of the Curitiba Domain are banded, migmatitic gneisses in amphibolite grade with biotite-amphibole gneissic mesosomes and tonalitic/granodioritic to granitic leucosomes, here called the Atuba Complex. The migmatites are Paleoproterozoic (2.000 ± 200 Ma) and remigmatized in Neoproterozoic (600 ± 20 Ma). During the latter period temperatures reached more than 500º C. The structural pattem indicated shear-controlled tectonics with an important lateral component, and low-angle, south-southeastwards transport direction. The terranes of the Atuba Complex appear to represent deep-level rocks which were migmatized, granitized and then added to the border of the Luis Alves Microplate during the Neoproterozoic. This late Neoproterozoic tectonic scheme which continued to the Cambro-Ordoviciano seems to be the result of larger-scale processes of continental agglutination which ended with the formation of western Gondwanaland.Os estudos realizados nos terrenos localizados entre os Cinturões Ribeira (N) e Dom Feliciano (S) permitiram caracterizar a existência de três domínios geotectônicos com evoluções próprias e distintas: Domínios Luis Alves, Curitiba e Paranaguá. O Complexo Atuba se insere no âmbito do Domínio Curitiba, que se limita a noroeste com as seqüências metassedimentares dos Grupos Açungui e Setuva, e a sudeste com os gnaisses granulíticos do Domínio Luis Alves, contatos esses que se fazem por importantes zonas de cisalhamento. Predominam no Domínio Curitiba rochas gnáissicas bandadas, migmatíticas, do fácies anfibolito, representadas principalmente por biotita-anfibólio-gnaisses contendo leucossomas de composições tonalitogranodioríticas além de graníticas, que compõem o aqui denominado Complexo Atuba. Caracteriza-se por migmatitos formados no Paleoproterozóico (2.000 ± 200 Ma), remigmatizados no Neoproterozóico (600± 20 Ma), período esse em que as isotermas atingiram temperaturas superiores a 500 ºC. O padrão estrutural observado é indicativo de uma tectônica controlada em grande parte por cisalhamento, com importante componente lateral, e transporte relativo em direção a sul-sudeste. As rochas pertencentes ao Complexo Atuba representam terrenos relativamente profundos, do fácies anfibolito, migmatizados, granitizados acrescidos à borda do Domínio Luis Alves (Microplaca Luis Alves) durante o Neoproterozóico. Este quadro tectônico definido no final do Neoproterozóico com continuidade até o Cambro-Ordoviciano, parece ser o resultado de processos maiores, envolvendo aglutinações de massas continentais, que culminaram com a formação do Gondwana Ocidental

Geology and petrogenetic considerations of the Loma Marcelo skarn, Neoproterozoic basement of the Ventania System, Argentina

The Late Precambrian–Early Palaeozoic crystalline basement of the Ventania System is mainly composed of Neoproterozoic S-type granites, Early Cambrian alkaline granites, and Middle Cambrian peralkaline rhyolites. The Neoproterozoic granites (ca. 607–581 Ma) crop out in the Cerro Pan de Azúcar-Cerro del Corral area and host the Loma Marcelo Ca/Mg skarn, composed of calc-silicate- and chondrodite-bearing assemblages. Petrographical, geochemical, and geochronological data indicate that the skarn was formed from carbonate xenoliths of sedimentary nature incorporated during the intrusion of the Neoproterozoic granites and that it is the result of three successive metamorphic events. The first one is related to the incorporation of carbonate xenoliths by the intrusion and the associated contact metamorphism. The second event is linked to the crystallization of the Early Cambrian granites and related post-magmatic processes. They are responsible for fluorine influx into the Neoproterozoic basement, which resulted in the formation of high-F minerals in the Loma Marcelo skarn (e.g. vesuvianite, chondrodite). The Sm-Nd garnet-whole rock isochron age of 526.8 ± 12.0 Ma in the skarn confirms its relationship with the Early Cambrian magmatism. The last event corresponds to a regional metamorphism assigned to the Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous on the basis of a LA-ICP-MS U-Pb age of 353.4 ± 6.7 Ma determined on zircons of the skarn as well as a Rb-Sr quartz-sericite isochron age of 364.4 ± 3.6 Ma obtained from a quartz vein that post-tectonically cuts the already mylonitized granites. The different chemical compositions of the carbonate protoliths determined the formation of two types of skarns of calcic and magnesian compositions. A single date of the calcic skarn defined a LA-ICP-MS U-Pb upper intercept age of 648 ± 21 Ma, providing the maximum sedimentation age for the calcic protolith of the Loma Marcelo skarn. The minimum sedimentation age is provided by the crystallization age of the S-type granite surrounding the skarn (ca. 607 Ma). The Loma Marcelo skarn reveals the occurrence of underground Neoproterozoic carbonate (meta-?) sedimentary rocks as part of the basement of the Ventania System. These rocks could correlate with the carbonate sequences of the neighbouring Claromecó Basin and Tandilia System.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y MuseoInstituto de Recursos MineralesCentro de Investigaciones Geológica