Ediacaran to Cambrian oceanic rocks of the Gondwana margin and their tectonic interpretation

Abstract

In tectonic maps of Variscan Europe, allochthonous pieces of Cadomian basement clearly stand out with their predominant metabasic to ultrabasic elements, the so-called exotic terranes with ophiolites. Most of these domains are observed in basements of the Central Iberian Allochthone, the South Armorican domain, the nappe structures of the French Massif Central, the Saxothuringian Zone and the Bohemian Massif. Similar relics can be recognized in many Alpine basement areas, and correlations with supposedly more autochthonous basements, such as the Ossa Morena Zone and the Central Iberian basement, can be envisaged. All of these relics are thought to represent the interrupted trace of a former continuous or discontinuous structure, characterized by the presence of ocean-derived proto-Rheic rock suites. These can be interpreted as pieces of former magmatic arcs of Ediacaran to Cambrian age accreted to the Gondwana margin, which later were scattered as allochthonous units during the Variscan plate-tectonic processes. The presence of similar rock suites of Ordovician age in the Alpine realm is explained by the accretion of exotic China-derived basements and their collision with the Gondwana margin during the opening of the Rheic Ocean.