Microstructural finite strain analysis of the Hafafit granitoids domes South Central Eastern desert of Egypt

The Wadi Hafafit Culmination (WHC) can be subdivided into two main units which are separated by Nugrus thrust shear zone. The WHC domes are occupies the southern part of the Central Eastern Desert of Egypt and is cored by five separated gneissic granitoids ranging in composition from tonalite to granodiorite having compositions consistent with hydrous partial melting of a mafic source suggesting subduction-related magmatism. The leucogranites along thrust zones is related to the late phase of metamorphism of Hafafit rocks. The five main domes of the WHC have been labeled A dome occupies the northern part of WHC, B and C domes occupies the central eastern part of WHC, D dome occupies the central western part of WHC and E dome occupies the southern part of WHC. The fourth domes A, B, C and E are affected by more than one deformation event but D dome is affected by one deformation event. The domes not uniform throughout the WHC according radial pattern of stretching lineation but these domes of WHC were subjected and affected by late-orogenic extension that was controlled by the Najd transform faults and that resulted in exhumation of the WHC domes are oriented NW-SE parallel to the trend of the left-lateral shear zones of Najd fault system

Sedimentary mechanisms of a modern banded iron formation on Milos Island, Greece

An Early Quaternary shallow submarine hydrothermal iron formation (IF) in the Cape Vani sedimentary basin (CVSB) on Milos Island, Greece, displays banded rhythmicity similar to Precambrian banded iron formation (BIF). Sedimentary, stratigraphic reconstruction, biogeochemical analysis and micro-nanoscale mineralogical characterization confirms the Milos rocks as modern Precambrian BIF analogues. Spatial coverage of the BIF-type rocks in relation to the economic grade Mn ore that brought prominence to the CVSB implicates tectonic activity and changing redox in the deposition of the BIF-type rocks. Field-wide stratigraphic and biogeochemical reconstruction demonstrates two temporal and spatially isolated iron deposits in the CVSB with distinct sedimentological character. Petrographic screening suggest the previously described photoferrotrophic-like microfossil-rich IF (MFIF), accumulated on basement andesite in a ~ 150 m wide basin, in the SW margin of the basin. A strongly banded non-fossiliferous IF (NFIF) caps the Mn-rich sandstones at the transition to the renowned Mn-rich formation. Geochemical evidence relates the origin of the NFIF to periodic submarine volcanism and water column oxidation of released Fe(II) in conditions apparently predominated by anoxia, similar to the MFIF. This is manifested in the lack of shale-normalized Ce anomalies. Raman spectroscopy pairs hematite-rich grains in the NFIF with relics of a carbonaceous material carrying an average δ13Corg signature of ~ −25 ‰. However, a similar δ13Corg signature in the MFIF is not directly coupled to hematite by mineralogy. The NFIF, which post dates large-scale Mn deposition in the CVSB, is composed primarily of amorphous Si (opal-SiO2 · nH2O) while crystalline quartz (SiO2) predominates the MFIF. An intricate interaction between tectonic processes, changing redox, biological activity and abiotic Si precipitation, formed the unmetamorphosed BIF-type deposits

Kinematics of the Southern Rhodope Core Complex (North Greece)

The Southern Rhodope Core Complex is a wide metamorphic dome exhumed in the northern Aegean as a result of large-scale extension from mid-Eocene to mid-Miocene times. Its roughly triangular shape is bordered on the SW by the Jurassic and Cretaceous metamorphic units of the Serbo-Macedonian in the Chalkidiki peninsula and on the N by the eclogite bearing gneisses of the Sideroneron massif. The main foliation of metamorphic rocks is flat lying up to 100 km core complex width. Most rocks display a stretching lineation trending NEâ SW. The Kerdylion detachment zone located at the SW controlled the exhumation of the core complex from middle Eocene to mid-Oligocene. From late Oligocene to mid-Miocene exhumation is located inside the dome and is accompanied by the emplacement of the synkinematic plutons of Vrondou and Symvolon. Since late Miocene times, extensional basin sediments are deposited on top of the exhumed metamorphic and plutonic rocks and controlled by steep normal faults and flat-ramp-type structures. Evidence from Thassos Island is used to illustrate the sequence of deformation from stacking by thrusting of the metamorphic pile to ductile extension and finally to development of extensional Plio-Pleistocene sedimentary basin. Paleomagnetic data indicate that the core complex exhumation is controlled by a 30� dextral rotation of the Chalkidiki block. Extensional displacements are restored using a pole of rotation deduced from the curvature of stretching lineation trends at core complex scale. It is argued that the Rhodope Core Complex has recorded at least 120 km of extension in the North Aegean, since the last 40 My