Diagenesis and very low‐grade metamorphism of volcaniclastic sandstones from contrasting geodynamic environments, North Island, New Zealand: the Murihiku and Waipapa terranes

Abstract

Abstract The Mesozoic Murihiku and Waipapa terranes are two accretionary wedges of linked forearc and trench sediments, respectively, that were juxtaposed in the early Cretaceous.Late Triassic to late Jurassic Murihiku terrane volcaniclastic sediments are folded into a regional syncline and have been diagenetically altered. There is a general relationship between zeolite occurrence, clay mineralogy, vitrinite reflectance and stratigraphic position. Youngest Jurassic sediments contain heulandite, analcime and stilbite, whereas late Triassic to mid‐Jurassic sediments have laumontite and heulandite (in detail the zeolite distribution is complicated). Tuffaceous horizons on the eastern limb of the syncline are calcitized rather than zeolitized. Post‐diagenetic fractures associated with uplift are laumontite‐filled. The inferred geothermal gradient is c. 15° C km−1.The Waipapa terrane is an accretionary complex dominated by imbricated terrigenous sediments of Triassic and Jurassic age with enclosed Permian to Jurassic pelagic sediments and basalts. Late Jurassic sediments are massive volaniclastic sandstones. The sediments are non‐foliated, and metamorphic minerals in the massive sandstones have crystallized in specific domains. The observed metamorphic succession of prehnite‐pumpellyite and pumpellyite‐actinolite facies assemblages was overprinted in the imbricated rocks during a thermal event that was late in the deformation sequence and broadly coincident with hydraulic fracturing and veining.The metamorphic successions in the two terranes and their relationships to structural features are in excellent accord with accretionary complex models.