Thermochronology of the Torlesse accretionary complex, Wellington region, New Zealand

Abstract

The Torlesse Complex comprises several Mesozoic accretionary prism complexes together forming continental basement over large parts of New Zealand. This study focuses on the thermal history of relatively low grade graywacke rocks exposed in a transect in southern North Island that crosses the structural grain of the Torlesse Complex, including its older and younger parts. Zircon fission track (FT) ages for the Late Triassic Rakaia Terrane, which is the most inboard of the accretionary complexes, are partially annealed, some possibly reset, and may indicate early Cretaceous (134±10 Ma) cooling from maximum temperatures (Tmax), probably related to imbrication of younger complexes of the Pahau Terrane. Numerical modeling of the zircon FT ages and published 40ArA/39Ar muscovite and biotite ages for the Rakaia Terrane suggest Tmax values of 265–310°C and exhumation from depths of 10–12 km. The rocks underlying the Aorangi Range and involving the youngest accretionary complex have experienced much lower Tmax values of ≤210° and ≥110°C, bracketed by reset apatite FT ages and detrital zircon FT ages. The occurrence of a circa 100 Ma component of zircon FT ages in both the weakly and highly indurated rocks beneath the Aorangi Range, as well as in remnants of an overlying Albian accretionary slope basin (Whatarangi Formation), imply multistorey accretion and incorporation of sediment into the youngest prism. This circa 100 Ma zircon FT age component also places a maximum age on the termination of Mesozoic subduction beneath the New Zealand region. The occurrence of reset apatite FT ages across the whole of the Wellington transect indicates that at least 4 km of exhumation occurred during the late Miocene.