Comment on ‘‘Geodynamic evolution of the SW Europe

Ribeiro et al. [2007] have presented a geodynamic view of the SW Iberia Variscides based on data from Portugal. Their treatment of already published data is commendable, and the knowledge gained will surely encourage the discussion of the SWEurope Variscides. However, in our opinion, Ribeiro et al.’s modeling and interpretation of the Ediacaran–Lower Ordovician ( 560–470 Ma) geodynamic evolution are of limited value. In this regard, they based their analysis of the Ossa-Morena Zone (OMZ) on assumptions which are contradicted by recent published data. Ribeiro et al. ignored recent progress in the OMZ Ediacaran-Ordovician stratigraphy and, as a consequence they misunderstood the structure of domains overprinted by strong Variscan (Carboniferous) deformation and metamorphism

Tectonothermal analysis of high-temperature mylonitization in the

Mylonites in pelitic and quartzofeldsphatic gneisses from the Ouguela tectonic unit (Coimbra–Córdoba shear zone, SW Iberian Massif) have been studied as an example of high-temperature ductile deformation associated with transcurrent tectonics. Detailed microstructural and P–T analysis indicates that ductile deformation evolved from a metamorphic peak at approximately 650–750 °C and 7.5–9.5 kbar (quartzofeldsphatic gneisses) and 730–790 °C and 7.5–9.5 kbar (pelitic gneisses) to retrograde conditions at 500–575 °C and 4.5/5.5–6.5/7.5 kbar (quartzofeldsphatic gneisses) and 525–600 °C and 3.5/4.5–5.5/7.5 kbar (pelitic gneisses). Following the metamorphic peak, exhumation was very fast. The P–T trajectory, which does not reach the curve for granite melting, is distinct that of isothermal decompression. Instead, the progressive and contemporaneous decrease in pressure and temperature was a direct response to strong heat dissipation along the contacts between the ascending slice and the adjacent blocks. The horizontal component of exhumation path, calculated for middle and shallower crustal levels, sum to ca. 57 km to 94 km (for the pressure peak). Assuming this offset acted in the Viséan during a time interval of ca. 9 Ma, the estimated exhumation horizontal slip rate is in the order of 6.3 to 10.4 mm/yr, which corresponds to an exhumation oblique-slip exhumation rate of 6.6 to 10.7 mm/yr (for ductile deformation). These values indicate that the transcurrent tectonic displacements accommodated by these mylonitic are similar to those of modern intra-continental shear zones, such as the still active Karakoram Fault (8.3 mm/yr) in the Himalayas. The Coimbra–Córdoba shear zone is therefore a typical intra-continental transcurrent zone with ten-to-one hundred kilometre along-strike mass movement of material that aided the exhumation of deep crustal rocks. Study of this large-scale structure in the SW Iberian Massif is therefore central to models of orogenic deformation during the amalgamation of Pangea

Zircon U–Pb geochronology of paragneisses and biotite

Sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe U–Th–Pb age determinations on detrital and inherited zircon from the E ´ vora Massif (SW Iberian Massif, Portugal) provide direct evidence for the provenance of the Ossa–Morena Ediacaran basins (Se´rie Negra) and a palaeogeographical link with the West African craton. Three samples of the Se´rie Negra paragneisses contain large components of Cryogenian and Ediacaran (c. 700–540 Ma) detrital zircon, but have a marked lack of zircon of Mesoproterozoic (c. 1.8–0.9 Ga) age. Older inherited zircons are of Palaeoproterozoic (c. 2.4–1.8 Ga) and Archaean (c. 3.5–2.5 Ga) age. The same age pattern is also found in the Arraiolos biotite granite, which was formed by partial melting of the Se´rie Negra and overlying Cambrian rocks. These results are consistent with substantial denudation of a continental region that supplied sediments to the Ediacaran Ossa–Morena basins during the final stages of the Cadomian–Avalonian orogeny (peri-Gondwanan margin with principal zircon-forming events at c. 575 Ma and c. 615 Ma). Combined with the detrital zircon ages reported for rocks of the same age from Portugal, Spain, Germany and Algeria, our data suggest that the sediment supply to the Ediacaran–Early Palaeozoic siliciclastic sequences preserved in all these peri- Gondwanan regions was similar. The lack of Grenvillian-aged (c. 1.1–0.9 Ga) zircon in the Ossa–Morena and Saxo-Thuringia Ediacaran sediments suggests that the sediment in these peri-Gondwanan basins was derived from the West African craton

Exhumation of high-pressure rocks in northern Gondwana during the Early

The Coimbra–Córdoba shear zone (CCSZ) represents a major intra-continental shear zone of the European Variscan orogen. The shear criteria found in metamorphic rocks of the CCSZ are consistent with sinistral transcurrent movements. Isoclinal and open folds with axes parallel to the stretching lineation are responsible for dip variations in the mylonitic foliation, but are related to the same kinematics. In selected outcrops of the Campo Maior unit (SW Iberian Massif, Portugal), boudins of high-pressure mafic granulites, high-grade amphibolites and felsic gneisses with long-axes parallel to the stretching lineation in the surrounded metamorphic rocks, were sampled together with the host migmatites for petrographic, geothermobarometric and U–Th–Pb SHRIMP in-situ zircon geochronology analysis. The results show that decompression associated with shearing and partial melting in the CCSZ began under granulite facies conditions during the Variscan orogeny (early Carboniferous: c. 340 Ma.). Peak metamorphic conditions in the mafic granulites (850–880 °C and 14.5–16.5 kbar), were followed by symplectitization at 725–750 °C and 12.5–14.5 kbar. Peak P–T conditions were 615–675 °C and 9.5–11.5 kbar in the high-grade amphibolites, 750–850 °C and 11.5–15.5 kbar in the weakly deformed gneisses, and 675–725 °C and 9–11.5 kbar in the sheared migmatites. Subsequently, temperatures and pressures decreased during amphibolite facies metamorphism coeval with mylonitization. Retrograde P–T conditions were 550–700 °C and 7–9 kbar in the high-grade amphibolite, 620–640 °C and 6–8 kbar in the gneisses, and 560–610 °C and 5–6.5 kbar in the migmatites. Zircon dating of the migmatites and gneisses indicate Ediacaran (c. 590 Ma) and Ordovician (c. 488–479 Ma) ages for the protoliths, and show that these rocks were part of the northern Gondwana margin with a West Africa Craton signature dominated by Paleoproterozoic (c. 2–1.8 Ga) and Neoproterozoic (c. 664–555 Ma) ages, and a characteristic lack of Mesoproterozoic (c. 0.9–1.7 Ga) ages. These rocks were probably subducted, and subsequently exhumed during the complex processes of Pangea formation. The high temperature–high pressure rocks of the Campo Maior unit were likely displaced by large-scale transcurrent movements within the CCSZ in the early Carboniferous. The CCSZ appears to represent a major shear zone in the SW Iberian Massif connected in some way to the Variscan suture zon

Inherited arc signature in Ediacaran and Early Cambrian basins of

Geochemical data from clastic rocks of the Ossa-Morena Zone (Iberian Massif) show that the main source for the Ediacaran and the Early Cambrian sediments was a recycled Cadomian magmatic arc along the northern Gondwana margin. The geodynamic scenario for this segment of the Avalonian-Cadomian active margin is considered in terms of three main stages: (1) The 570–540 Ma evolution of an active continental margin evolving oblique collision with accretion of oceanic crust, a continental magmatic arc and the development of related marginal basins; (2) the Ediacaran–Early Cambrian transition (540–520 Ma) coeval with important orogenic magmatism and the formation of transtensional basins with detritus derived from remnants of the magmatic arc; and (3) Gondwana fragmentation with the formation of Early Cambrian (520–510 Ma) shallow-water platforms in transtensional grabens accompanied by rift-related magmatism. These processes are comparable to similar Cadomian successions in other regions of Gondwanan Europe and Northwest Africa. Ediacaran and Early Cambrian basins preserved in the Ossa-Morena Zone (Portugal and Spain), the North Armorican Cadomian Belt (France), the Saxo-Thuringian Zone (Germany), the Western Meseta and the Western High-Atlas (Morocco) share a similar geotectonic evolution, probably situated in the same paleogeographic West African peri-Gondwanan region of the Avalonian-Cadomian active margin

Tracing the Cadomian magmatism with detrital/inherited zircon ages by in-situ U–Pb SHRIMP geochronology (Ossa-Morena Zone, SW Iberian Massif),

U–Pb SHRIMP geochronology on zircon extracted from a granite, a sandstone and a quartzite of the SW Iberian Massif (Ossa-Morena Zone), was used in order to investigate the contribution of Late Neoproterozoic (Cadomian) tectonothermal history to the crustal growth of northern Gondwana. The analysed Cambrian rocks were sampled along the southern margin of the Coimbra–Cordoba shear zone (Barquete granite and Crato sandstone), and within this shear zone (Ouguela quartzite). The Barquete granite yielded a crystallization age of 526±4 Ma and evidence for Neoproterozoic and Paleoproterozoic inherited ages. The geochemical signature of the Barquete granite matches the igneous activity of the initial magmatic flooding of the Ossa-Morena Zone during the Early Cambrian. The petrography and geochemical signature of the Crato and Ouguela sandstones indicate that these clastic rocks were mainly derived from felsic igneous rocks. The youngest detrital zircon grain extracted from the Crato sandstone, dated at 552.7±5.5 Ma, has a zircon overgrowth that yielded 532±5.6 Ma. In the Ouguela quartzite, the youngest concordant age yielded 556.4±5.7 Ma, but we also found a zircon overgrowth dated at 536.2±5.6 Ma. The ages of the youngest detrital zircon in each sedimentary rock place an upper limit on the deposition age of Early Cambrian (c. 536– 532 Ma). Four main Late Neoproterozoic age clusters at c. 640–638 Ma, c. 612–613 Ma, c. 590–585 Ma and c. 560 Ma were recognized in the populations of detrital zircons from both sandstones. These ages of zirconforming events seem to represent four successive thermal/magmatic pulses that overlap the Cadomian and Pan-African orogenies. These findings match other results published for the OMZ. Our U–Pb results show that detrital zircons in siliciclastic sediments and inherited zircon in granites are dominated by Neoproterozoic ages and few Paleoproterozoic and Archean ages. Those ages reported in the Ossa-Morena Zone rocks, together with a remarkable lack of Mesoproterozoic ages suggest that the clastic rocks in this peri-Gondwana basin were derived from the West African craton. The large population of Late Cryogenian and Ediacaran ages indicates denudation of the Cadomian basement during the Early Cambrian. A potential source for the detrital and inherited zircons found in this study is a long-lived magmatic arc that is only partly exposed in the SW Iberian Massif but is well represented in other peri-Gondwana regions. The large amount of Cadomian ages obtained in this study (c. 640–560 Ma) reinforces the idea that Cadomian magmatism played a significant role in the continental crustal growth history of Late Neoproterozoic uplift and erosion in Western and Central Europe (Cadomia)

The provenance of Late Ediacaran and Early Ordovician siliciclastic rocks in the

U–Pb geochronology of detrital zircon from Late Ediacaran (Beiras Group greywackes) and Early Ordovician (Sarnelhas arkosic quartzites and Armorican quartzites of Penacova) sedimentary rocks of the southwest Central Iberian Zone (SW CIZ) constrain the evolution of northern Gondwana active-passive margin transition. The LA-ICP-MS U–Pb data set (375 detrital zircons with 90–110% concordant ages) is dominated by Neoproterozoic ages (75% for the greywakes and 60% for the quartzites), among which the main age cluster (more significant for Beiras Group greywackes) is Cryogenian (c.840–750 Ma), while a few Mesoproterozoic and Tonian ages are also present (percentages <8%). These two features, and the predominance of Cryogenian ages over Ediacaran ages, distinguish the Beiras Group greywackes (SW CIZ) from the time-equivalent Serie Negra (Ossa-Morena Zone – OMZ), with which they are in inferred contact. The age spectra of the Beiras Group greywackes also reveal three major episodes of zircon crystallisation in the source area during the Neoproterozoic that are probably associated with a long-lived system of magmatism that developed either along or in the vicinity of the northern Gondwana margin at: (1) c. 850–700 Ma – Pan-African suture (not well represented in OMZ); (2) c. 700–635 Ma – early Cadomian arc; and (3) c. 635–545 Ma – late Cadomian arc. Comparison of Neoproterozoic ages and those of the Paleoproterozoic (c. 2–1.8 Ga) and Archean (mainly Neoarchean – 2.8–2.6 Ga, but also older) in the Beiras Group greywackes with U–Pb ages of Cadomian correlatives shows that: (1) SW CIZ, OMZ, Saxo- Thuringian Zone, North Armorican Cadomian Belt and Anti-Atlas) evolved together during the formation of back-arc basins on the northern Gondwana active margin and (2) all recorded synorogenic basins that were filled during the Ediacaran by detritus resulting from erosion of the West African craton, the Pan- African suture and a long-lived Cadomian magmatic arc. Differences in detrital zircon age populations in the greywackes of the Beiras Group (SW CIZ Cadomian basement) and the Serie Negra (OMZ Cadomian basement) are also observed in their respective overlying Early Ordovician quartzites. Since both these SW Iberia Cadomian basements evolved together along the active margin of Gondwana (but sufficiently separated to account for the differences in their detrital zircon content), this continuation of differing zircon populations into the Early Ordovician suggests that the inferred contact presently juxtaposing the Beiras Group and the Serie Negra is not pre-Early Ordovician and so is unlikely to demonstrate a Cadomian suture

Rift-related volcanism predating the birth of the Rheic Ocean

Two very different periods of magma emplacement in the crust of the Ossa-Morena zone (early and main events) in SW Iberia have been previously interpreted to record a Cambrian/Early Ordovician rifting event that is thought to have culminated in the opening of the Rheic Ocean during the Early Ordovician. New stratigraphic, petrographic, geochemical and Sm–Nd isotope data from Cambrian volcanic rocks included in six key low-grade sections in both Portugal and Spain considerably improve our understanding of these events. These data: (1) confirm the existence of two rift-related magmatic events in the Cambrian of the Ossa-Morena zone, (2) demonstrate that the early rift-related event was associated with migmatite and core-complex formation in the mid-upper crust and is represented by felsic peraluminous rocks, the parent magmas of which were derived mainly from crustal sources, and (3) show the main rift-related event to be represented by a bimodal association of felsic and mafic rocks with minor amounts of intermediate rocks. Some of the mafic rocks show N-MORB affinity, whereas others have OIB or E-MORB affinities, suggesting different heterogeneous mantle sources (depleted and enriched, asthenospheric and lithospheric, plume-like and non-plume-like). The acid and intermediate rocks appear to represent hybrid mixtures of crust and mantle-derived magmas. This new data supports the hypothesis that the onset of rifting was associated with a process of oblique ridgetrench collision. We interpret the significant differences between the early and main events as reflecting the evolution froma wide rift stagewith passive extensionmainly accommodated by lower-crust flowin a high heatflow setting, to a narrow rift stage with active extension characterized by extension rates that outpaced thermal diffusion rates

Crustal growth and deformational processes in the northern

The aim of this article is to present a compilation of available information on the Évora Massif based on structural mapping, whole-rock geochemistry, recognition of metamorphic mineral assemblages, and geothermobarometry. In our view, transcurrent movements responsible for strong orogen-parallel stretching were dominant and had a major role in the geodynamic evolution of this part of Ossa-Morena zone (southwest Iberian Massif). Cadomian and Variscan orogenic events separated by a period of intense rifting were the cause for the composite distribution of zones with contrasting metamorphic paths, the structural complexity, the variety of lithological associations, and the sequence of deformation events and magmatism. The proposed geodynamic reconstruction for this segment of the northern Gondwana continental margin includes three main stages in chronological order: (1) Neoproterozoic accretion and continental magmatic arc developing, dismantling, and reworking, followed by late-“orogenic” magmatism; (2) Lower Paleozoic crustal thinning, block tilting, and mantle upwelling, induced by generalized rifting, leading to the formation of marine basins with carbonate platform sediments and thick accumulations of volcaniclastic and terrigenous sediments, contemporaneous with normal and enriched mid-oceanic ridge basalt–type magmatism; and (3) Upper Paleozoic transpressional orogenesis resulting from obliquity of convergence and the geometry of the involved blocks. The third stage includes the tectonic inversion of Lower Paleozoic basins, crustal thickening, the exhumation of high- to medium-pressure rocks and partial exhumation of high-grade metamorphic lithologies (controlled by local transtension and major detachments), the formation of synorogenic basins fi lled with volcanicsedimentary sequences, and fi nally, the emplacement of late Variscan granodiorites and granites

Cambrian ensialic rift-related magmatism in the Ossa-Morena Zone

The Late Ediacaran (c. 560–550 Ma) Série Negra sediments of the Évora–Aracena metamorphic belt, Ossa-Morena Zone, SW Iberian Massif, preserve a record of the erosion of an Avalonian–Cadomian magmatic arc and subsequent related turbiditic sedimentation. Detrital zircon from the Série Negra is characterized by predominantly Ediacaran and Cryogenian ages, with few Paleoproterozoic and Archean cores, and a marked lack of Grenvillian ages. These features, when combined with the metasediments' enrichment in LREE (La/Yb=14), negative Eu-anomalies, low 147Sm/144Nd values (0.121) and negative εNd550=−5.5, indicate that the protolith Série Negra sediments were derived from a continental magmatic arc. A period of Late Cadomian (ca. 560–540 Ma) tectonism was followed by an extended episode of widespread bimodal magmatism related to Cambrian (ca. 540–500 Ma) rifting. This tectonic inversion is expressed in the geological record by a regional Early Cambrian unconformity. SHRIMP zircon U–Th–Pb ages from four felsic orthogneisses from the Évora Massif record Cambrian (527±10 Ma, 522±5 Ma, 517±6 Ma and 505±5 Ma) crystallization ages for their igneous protoliths. This confirms the existence of widespread Lower Paleozoic igneous activity in the Ossa-Morena Zone: (i) a Lower Cambrian (ca. 535–515 Ma) igneous–felsic dominated–sedimentary complex (with calc-alkaline signature and associated carbonate and siliciclastic deposition), and (ii) a Middle Cambrian–?Ordovician (ca. 515–490 Ma) igneous–bimodal–sedimentary complex (with calc-alkaline and tholeiitic signatures and associated dominant siliciclastic deposition, but also carbonate sediments). The Cambrian felsic magmatism was characterized by negative Eu-anomalies, (La/Lu)N=0.8–11, 147Sm/144Nd=0.1289–0.1447 and εNd500 ranging from −1.5 to −0.8. A tendency towards peraluminous compositions suggests late fractionation, low degrees of partial melting, or the mixing of crustal and mantle-derived material in the magma source region. Some felsic rocks possibly represent the last residual melts of hightemperature, zircon-undersaturated mafic magmas later affected by crustal contamination, while others indicate partial melting of crustal metasediments variably contaminated by basaltic liquids. The transition from early felsic dominated to later more mafic magmatism suggests the gradual opening of the system to tholeiitic N–E-MORB products (ThN/TaNb1.0). The as yet undated (Cambrian–?Ordovician) E-MORB amphibolites have 147Sm/144Nd=0.1478–0.1797 and εNd500 values ranging from +6.4 to +7.3, while the N-MORB amphibolites have 147Sm/144Nd=0.1818–0.1979 and εNd500 values of +5.8 and +7.0, reaching a maximum of +9.1. In contrast, other amphibolites have a negative Ta-anomaly (1.35bThN/TaNb2.41) reminiscent of lavas from “orogenic” settings or alternatively, typical of crustally-contaminated within-plate magmas. These “VAB-like” amphibolites have 147Sm/144Nd values ranging from 0.1639 to 0.1946 and εNd500 values of +3.5 to +5.2, suggesting derivation by crustal assimilation processes. The subalkaline igneous precursors of the amphibolites were most likely generated in a rift setting by asthenospheric upwelling. These results strengthen the proposed geodynamic scenarios for the SW Iberian Massif by which Cadomian accretion gave rise to an ensialic rift that developed into a proto-oceanic basin and incipient spreading (opening of the Rheic Ocean?). A similar transition from a convergent to a divergent plate boundary during the Ediacaran to Cambrian–?Ordovician has also been reported in other segments of the northern Gondwana margin