Conventional and ion-microprobe U-Pb dating of detrital zircons of the Tentud�a Group (Serie Negra, SW Spain): implications for zircon systematics, stratigraphy, tectonics and the Precambrian/Cambrian boundary

Abstract

Conventional multi-grain and ion-microprobe dating of detrital zircons from a very low grade metagraywacke of the Tentudia Group (upper part of the Serie Negra, Ossa-Morena Zone, SW Spain) reveals an uppermost Vendian age for the deposition of the metagraywacke. The youngest detrital zircon grain provides a maximum depositional age of about 565 Ma. Thus, these data contradict earlier Middle to Upper Riphean (ca. 1350-850 Ma) estimates on the age of the Tentudia Group and favour a Precambrian/Cambrian boundary falling into the range of 540 to 530 Ma. The presence of about 20% of Pan-African detrital zircons ranging from about 700 to 550 Ma indicates the derivation from Gondwana. From the upper intercept ages of the fan-shaped data field defined by conventionally determined zircon fractions, it can be deduced that 2.1 Ga old zircons as well as Archean zircons existed in the provenance(s) of the Serie Negra sediments. This mixing of crustal components of different ages is in line with the Nd crustal residence age of 1.9 Ga. The latter value, as well as other model ages of the Iberian Massif, indicates unusually high amounts of ancient crust to be present in the strata. This is different to other (meta)sediments of the European Hercynides and suggests that the Iberian strata of uppermost Precambrian age may contain the detritus of more internal, older parts of Gondwana than other European strata of comparable ages. Geochemical data on the analysed sample and further metagraywackes of the Tentudia Group argue for a deposition in an arc environment. Such a scenario would conform with the syn- to post-orogenic shallow marine deposition of the studied sediments. Furthermore, an upper time limit for the pre-Lower Cambrian deformational history, including two phases of regional deformation, is given by the maximum age of deposition, implying a very short time interval for deposition and deformation of the Tentudia Group. Concerning the U-Pb systematics of detrital zircon fractions, it is probable that numerous, previously published conventional multi-grain zircon data on (meta)sedimentary rocks of the European Hercynides readily can be explained by the presence of up to 20% of Pan-African detrital zircons and later Phanerozoic lead loss during metamorphic transformation of the sedimentary protoliths. Moreover, this implies that such metasediments originated from post-Pan-African sedimentary precursors.