Abstract
The Bunger Hills area of the East Antarctic Shield consists of granulite-facies felsic orthogneiss, with subordinate paragneiss and mafic granulite. The igneous precursors of granodioritic orthogneiss were emplaced 1500-1700 Ma ago, and late Archaean (2640 Ma) tonalitic orthogneiss occurs in the nearby Obruchev Hills. Peak metamorphism (M1) (at about 750-800°C and 5-6kb) occurred 1190 ±15 Ma ago (U-Pb zircon age), and was accompanied by the first of three ductile deformations (D1). Emplacement of voluminous, mainly mantle-derived plutonic rocks, ranging from gabbro, through quartz monzogabbro and quartz monzodiorite, to granite, followed between 1170 (during D3) and 1150 Ma. Intrusion of abundant dolerite dykes of four chemically distinct suites at about 1140 Ma was associated with shear zone formation, indicating at least limited uplift; all subsequent deformation was of brittle-ductile type. Alkaline mafic dykes were emplaced 500 Ma ago. Marked geochronological similarities with the Albany Mobile Belt of Western Australia suggest that high-grade metamorphism occurred during collision between the Archaean Yilgarn Craton of Australia and the East Antarctic Shield about 1200 Ma ago.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
