Precambrian history of the Zona Transversal of the Borborema Province, NE Brazil: Insights from Sm–Nd and U–Pb geochronology

Abstract

Abstract The Borborema Province has three major subprovinces. The northern subprovince lies north of the Patos shear zone and is comprised of Paleoproterozoic cratonic basement with Archean nuclei, plus overlying Neoproterozoic supracrustal rocks and Brasiliano plutonic rocks. The central subprovince occurs between the Patos and Pernambuco shear zones and is mainly comprised of the Zona Transversal. The southern subprovince occurs between the Pernamabuco shear zone and the Sao Francisco craton and is comprised of a tectonic collage of various blocks, terranes, or domains ranging in age from Archean to Neoproterozoic. This report focuses on the Zona Transversal, especially on Brasiliano rocks for which we have the most new information. Paleoproterozoic gneisses with ages of 2.0–2.2 Ga occur discontinuously throughout the Zona Transversal. The Cariris Velhos suite consists of metavolcanic, metasedimentary, and metaplutonic rocks yielding U–Pb zircon ages of 995–960 Ma. This suite is mainly confined to a 100 km wide belt that extends for more than 700 km within the Alto Pajeu terrane. Sm–Nd model ages in metaigneous rocks cluster about 1.3–1.6 Ga, indicating that older crust was involved in genesis of their magmas. Brasiliano supracrustal rocks dominate the Pianco-Alto Brigida terrane, and they probably also constitute significant parts of the Alto Pajeu and Rio Capibaribe terranes. They are only slightly older than early stages of Brasiliano plutonism, with detrital zircon ages at least as young as 620 Ma; most T DM ages range from 1.2 to 1.6 Ga. Brasiliano plutons range from ca. 640 to 540 Ma, and their T DM ages range from 1.2 to 2.5 Ga. Previous workers have shown significant correlations among U–Pb ages, Sm–Nd model ages, petrology, and geochemistry, and we are able to reinforce and extend these correlations. Stage I plutons formed 640–610 Ma and have T DM ages less than 1.5 Ga. Stage II (610–590 Ma) contains few plutons, but coincides with the peak of compressional deformation, metamorphism, and formation of migmatites. Stage III plutons (590 to ca. 575 Ma) have older T DM ages (ca. 1.8–2.0 Ga), as do Stage IV plutons (575 to ca. 550 Ma; T DM from 1.9 to 2.4 Ga). Stage III plutons formed during the transition from compressional to transcurrent deformation, while Stage IV plutons are mainly post-tectonic. Stage V plutons (550–530 Ma) are commonly undeformed (except along younger shear zones) and have A-type geochemistry. The five stages have distinct geochemical properties, which suggest that the tectonic settings evolved from early, arc-related magma-genesis (Stage I) to within-plate magma-genesis (Stage V), with perhaps some intermediate phases of extensional environments.