The role of radiogenic heat in prolonged intraplate reworking: The Capricorn Orogen explained?

Abstract

Links between intraplate crustal deformation and the thermal regime of the lithosphere have been investigated using numerical models, but these conceptual models must be tested using well-constrained natural systems. The Proterozoic Capricorn Orogen of Western Australia is ideally suited for such a study; after arc accretion, it records a protracted history of intracrustal differentiation and over one billion years of subsequent tectonic reworking. The early addition of juvenile arc material initially reduced the heat production of the crust, whereas subsequent recycling of the deep crust ultimately produced radiogenic granites in the shallow crust. Using whole rock and magmatic zircon compositions, we show that the shallow crust of the Capricorn Orogen has been progressively enriched in heat-producing elements with time. The high heat production is mainly controlled by thorium, concentrated in LREE-enriched phosphates that grew during the late stages of crystallization of crustally-derived granites. Using a numerical model, we investigate the thermal effects of this evolved crustal stratification and compare them with quantitative data on the pressure–temperature–time evolution of a non-magmatic Mesoproterozoic reworking event. The results provide new information concerning the process by which the thermal conditions necessary for the reworking of orogenic crust are generated and sustained for prolonged timescales (>110 Ma). Furthermore, we demonstrate that perturbations to the radiogenic crust lead to warmer geotherms and consequent lithospheric weakening, which has a fundamental control on intraplate reworking of long-lived orogens.