High-temperature Ductile Deformation Research Articles

High temperature ductile deformation, lithological and geochemical differentiation along the Shagou shear zone, Qinling Orogen, China

Lithological and geochemical differentiation in ductile shear zone is essential to understanding element mobility during ductile deformation in the mid-lower crust. The Shagou ductile shear zone characterized with intensive compositional layering is investigated to understand element behaviors during high temperature ductile deformation. Geochemistry and zircon U–Pb chronology suggest the protoliths were magmatic rocks crystallized at ca. 735-723 Ma, overprinted by ductile deformation at ca. 198–184 Ma. Microstructure, quartz fabric, and thermometer coupled with barometer constrain the deformation to occur at 4.50–6.12 kbar and 633–713 °C. Field observations, geochemical and zircon U–Pb geochronological data suggest that the amphibolitic and gneissic mylonites were generated from geochemical differentiation during high-temperature ductile shearing. The geochemical contents of progressively deformed mylonites show systematic increasing or decreasing with enhancing mylonitization. Silica displays remarkably decreasing with enhancing mylonitization, whereas Mg, Fe, Mn, Ti and P tend to migrate to higher strain, more acid environment. REEs, LILEs, HFSEs, Zn and V display negative correlations with increasing mylonitization, suggesting that nearly all the trace elements migrate to lower strain in the amphibolitic mylonites. However, HREEs, HFSEs, Cr, Ni, Zn and V exhibit positive correlations with increasing mylonitization in the gneissic mylonites. It implies that these elements tend to migrate to higher strain, more acid environment during ductile deformation.

Complex 40Ar ∕ 39Ar age spectra from low-grade metamorphic rocks: resolving the input of detrital and metamorphic components in a case study from the Delamerian Orogen

Abstract. In this study, we provide 40Ar / 39Ar geochronology data from a suite of variably deformed rocks from a region of low-grade metamorphism within the Cambro–Ordovician Delamerian Orogen, South Australia. Low-grade metamorphic rocks such as these can contain both detrital minerals and minerals newly grown or partly recrystallised during diagenesis and metamorphism. Hence, they typically yield complex 40Ar / 39Ar age spectra that can be difficult to interpret. Therefore, we have undertaken furnace step heating 40Ar / 39Ar geochronology to obtain age spectra with many steps to allow for application of the method of asymptotes and limits and recognition of the effects of mixing. The samples analysed range from siltstone and shale to phyllite and contain muscovite or phengite with minor microcline as determined by hyperspectral mineralogical characterisation. Whole rock 40Ar / 39Ar analyses were undertaken in most samples due to their very fine-grained nature. All samples are dominated by radiogenic 40Ar, and contain minimal evidence for atmospheric Ca- or Cl-derived argon. Chloritisation may have resulted in limited recoil, causing 39Ar argon loss in some samples, which is especially evident within the first few percent of gas released. Most of the age data, however, appear to have some geological significance. Viewed with respect to the known depositional ages of the stratigraphic units, the age spectra from this study do appear to record both detrital mineral ages and ages related to the varying influence of either cooling or deformation-induced recrystallisation. The shape of the age spectra and the degree of deformation in the phyllites suggest the younger ages may record recrystallisation of detrital minerals and/or new mica growth during deformation. Given that the younger limit of deformation recorded in the high-metamorphic-grade regions of the Delamerian Orogen is ca. 490 Ma, the ca. 470 to ca. 458 Ma ages obtained in this study suggest deformation in low-grade shear zones within the Delamerian Orogen may have persisted until ca. 20–32 million years after high-temperature ductile deformation in the high-grade regions of the orogen. We suggest that these younger ages for deformation could reflect reactivation of older structures formed both during rift basin formation and during the main peak of the Delamerian orogeny itself. The younger ca. 470 to ca. 458 Ma deformation may have been facilitated by far-field tectonic processes occurring along the eastern paleo-Pacific margin of Gondwana.

Re-Os geochronology, O isotopes and mineral geochemistry of the Neoproterozoic Songshugou ultramafic massif in the Qinling Orogenic Belt, China

The Qinling Orogenic Belt was formed by subduction and collision between the North and South China Blocks along the Shangdan suture. The Songshugou ultramafic massif located on the northern side of the Shangdan suture provides essential insights into the mantle origin and evolutionary processes during spreading and subduction of the Shangdan oceanic lithosphere. The ultramafic massif comprises harzburgite, coarse- and fine-grained dunites. The spinels from harzburgite exhibit low Cr# and high Mg# numbers, suggesting a mid-ocean ridge peridotite origin, whereas spinels from both coarse- and fine-grained dunites are indicated as resulted from melt-rock reaction due to their systematic higher Cr# and low Mg# numbers. This melt-rock reaction in the dunites is also indicated by the low TiO2 (mostly <0.4 wt%) in the spinel and high Fo (90–92) in olivines. Due to its relatively homogeneous nature in the mantle, oxygen isotopic composition is a sensitive indicator for the petrogenesis and tectonic setting of the Songshugou ultramafic rocks. Based on in-situ oxygen isotope analyses of olivines from twenty-six rock samples, most harzburgites from the Songshugou ultramafic massif show low δ18O values of 4.54–5.30‰, suggesting the olivines are equilibrium with N-MORB magmas and originally formed in a mid-ocean ridge setting. The coarse- and fine-grained dunites exhibit slightly higher olivine δ18O values of 4.69–6.00‰ and 5.00–6.11‰, respectively, suggesting they may have been modified by subduction-related boninitic melt-rock reaction. The δ18O values of olivines systematically increasing from the harzburgites, to coarse-grained dunites and fine-grained dunites may suggest enhancing of melt-rock reaction. The decreasing of Os concentration, 187Re/188Os and 187Os/188Os ratios from harzburgite to dunite suggest an 187Os-enriched, subduction zone melt was responsible for creating the melt channel for melt-rock reactions. Together with the high-temperature ductile deformation microstructures, these isotopic and mineral geochemical features suggest that the harzburgites represent mantle residues after partial melting at mid-ocean ridge or supra-subduction zone, while the dunites were probably resulted from reactions between boninitic melt and harzburgites in a supra-subduction zone. Re-Os geochronology yields a maximum Re depletion model age (TRD) of 805 Ma, constraining the minimum formation age of the harzburgites derived from oceanic mantle. Eight samples of whole rock and chromite yield a Re-Os isochron age of 500 ± 120 Ma, constraining the timing of melt-rock reactions. Combined with the regional geology and our previous investigations, the Songshugou ultramafic rocks favors a mantle origin at mid-ocean ridge before 805 Ma, and were modified by boninitic melt percolations in a SSZ setting at ca. 500 Ma. This long-term tectonic process from spreading to subduction might imply a huge Pan-Tethyan ocean between the Laurasia (e.g., North China Block) and Gondwana (e.g., South China Block) and/or a one-side subduction.

Anatexis constraints on the post-collisional evolution of the Sulu Orogen, China: evidence from pegmatite veins in migmatite

ABSTRACTThe widespread migmatites in the northwestern part of the Sulu Orogen, China, indicate regional anatexis that is of great significance when discussing the tectonic evolution of this continental orogenic belt. Cathodoluminescence (CL) images, U–Pb ages, and in situ trace element compositions of zircons from four pegmatite veins within these migmatites provide clear evidence for the nature of the post-collisional evolution of the Sulu Orogen. The inherited zircon cores reveal that the protoliths of the migmatites were middle Neoproterozoic magmatic rocks (810–620 Ma) of the South China Block. The protoliths underwent two partial melting events. The mantle domains of the inherited zircons record a Late Triassic (222.0–204.0 Ma) partial melting event that occurred during the exhumation and retrograde metamorphism, after ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism. Subsequent newly grown zircons record a Middle–Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (164.1–125.5 Ma) anatexis event, indicating that the late Mesozoic anatexis started before ca. 164.1 Ma, reached a peak at ca. 152.1 Ma, and ceased at ca. 125.5 Ma. Combined with previous results of studies on the Sulu orogen, the late Mesozoic anatexis suggested that the thickened crust of the Sulu Orogen had started to become unstable before 164.1 Ma. The duration of ~164.1–137 Ma corresponds to a period of transition in the tectonic regime of the Sulu Orogen, enabling the early high-temperature ductile deformation. After ca. 137 Ma, the tectonic regime was fully transformed into extension and the Sulu Orogen underwent rapid thinning and collapse, thus leading to the late medium–low temperature ductile deformation (137–121 Ma) and laying the foundations for the large-scale magmatic emplacement during the late Early Cretaceous (127–115 Ma). These two partial melting events together promoted the rapid exhumation of the Sulu UHP rocks.

Metamorphic, deformation, fluids and geological significance of low-temperature retrograde mylonites of Diancangshan metamorphic massif along Ailaoshan-Red River strike-slip fault zone, Yunnan, China

Diancangshan metamorphic massif is one of the four metamorphic massifs developed along the Ailaoshan-Red River strike-slip fault zone, Yunnan, China. It has experienced multi-stage metamorphism and deformation, especially since the late Oligocene it widely suffered high-temperature ductile shear deformation and exhumation of the metamorphic rocks from the deep crust to the shallow surface. Based on the previous research and geological field work, this paper presents a detailed study on deformation and metamorphism, and exhumation of deep metamorphic rocks within the Diancangshan metamorphic massif, especially focusing on the low-temperature overprinted retrogression metamorphism and deformation of mylonitic rocks. With the combinated experimental techniques of optical microscope, electron backscatter diffraction attachmented on field-emission scanning electron microscopy and cathodoluminescence, our contribution reports the microstructure, lattice preferred orientations of the deformed minerals, and the changes of mineral composition phases of the superposition low-temperature retrograde mylonites. All these results indicate that: (1) Diancangshan deep metamorphic rock has experienced early high-temperature left-lateral shear deformation and late extension with rapid exhumation, the low-temperature retrogression metamorphism and deformation overprinted the high-temperature metamorphism, and the high-temperature microstructure and texture are in part or entirely altered by subsequent low-temperature shearing; (2) the superposition of low-temperature deformation-metamorphism occurs at the ductile-brittle transition; and (3) the fluid is quite active during the syn-tectonic shearing overprinted low-temperature deformation and metamorphism. The dynamic recrystallization and/or fractures to micro-fractures result in the strongly fine-grained of the main minerals, and present strain localization in micro-domians, such as micro-shear zones in the mylonites. It is often accompanied by the decrease of rock strength and finally influences the rheology of the whole rock during further deformation and exhumation of the Diancangshan massif.

Multiphase boudinage: a case study of amphibolites in marble in the Naxos migmatite core

Abstract. In multiply deformed terrains multiphase boudinage is common, but identification and analysis of these is difficult. Here we present an analysis of multiphase boudinage and fold structures in deformed amphibolite layers in marble from the migmatitic centre of the Naxos metamorphic core complex. Overprinting between multiple boudinage generations is shown in exceptional 3-D outcrop. We identify five generations of boudinage, reflecting the transition from high-strain high-temperature ductile deformation to medium- to low-strain brittle boudins formed during cooling and exhumation. All boudin generations indicate E–W horizontal shortening and variable direction of bedding parallel extension, evolving from subvertical extension in the earliest boudins to subhorizontal N–S extension during exhumation. Two phases of E–W shortening can be inferred, the first associated with lower crustal synmigmatic convergent flow and the second associated with exhumation and N–S extension, possibly related to movement of the North Anatolian Fault.

Multiphase Boudinage: a case study of Amphibolites in Marble in the Naxos Migmatite core

In multiply deformed terrains, multiphase boudinage should be common, but identification and analysis of these is difficult. Here we present an analysis of multiphase boudinage and fold structures in deformed amphibolite layers in marble from the migmatitic center of the Naxos metamorphic core complex. Reconstruction of multiple boudinage generations is possible due to the exceptional 3D outcrop conditions. We identify five distinct generations of boudinage, reflecting the transition from high-strain &amp;amp;ndash; high-temperature ductile deformation to medium to low strain brittle boudins on the retrograde path during cooling and exhumation. All boudin generations indicate E-W horizontal shortening and variable directions of bedding parallel extension, evolving from subvertical extension in the earliest boudins to subhorizontal N-S extension during exhumation. Two phases of E-W shortening can be inferred, indicating E-W shortening in the Aegean before activity of the brittle North Anatolian Fault. This study highlights the wealth of information that can be gained from detailed analysis of multiphase boudinage structures.

The Cotoncello Shear Zone (Elba Island, Italy): The deep root of a fossil oceanic detachment fault in the Ligurian ophiolites

The ophiolite sequences in the western Elba Island are classically interpreted as a well-exposed ocean-floor section emplaced during the Apennines orogeny at the top of the tectonic nappe-stack. Stratigraphic, petrological and geochemical features indicate that these ophiolite sequences are remnants of slow-ultraslow spreading oceanic lithosphere analogous to the present-day Mid-Atlantic Ridge and Southwest Indian Ridge.Within the oceanward section of Tethyan lithosphere exposed in the Elba Island, we investigated for the first time a ​10s of meters-thick structure, the Cotoncello Shear Zone (CSZ), that records high-temperature ductile deformation. We used a multidisciplinary approach to document the tectono-metamorphic evolution of the shear zone and its role during spreading of the western Tethys. In addition, we used zircon U–Pb ages to date formation of the gabbroic lower crust in this sector of the Apennines. Our results indicate that the CSZ rooted below the brittle–ductile transition at temperature above 800°C. A high-temperature ductile fabric was overprinted by fabrics recorded during progressive exhumation up to shallower levers under temperature <500°C. We suggest that the CSZ may represent the deep root of a detachment fault that accomplished exhumation of an ancient oceanic core complex (OCC) in between two stages of magmatic accretion. We suggest that the CSZ represents an excellent on-land example enabling to assess relationships between magmatism and deformation when extensional oceanic detachments are at work.

The tauride ophiolites of Anatolia (Turkey): A review

The Tauride ophiolites lie on the northern and southern flanks of an E-W-trending Tauride carbonate platform. They mainly consist of three tectonic units namely in ascending order, ophiolitic melange, sub-ophiolitic metamorphic sole and oceanic lithospheric remnants. They were generated above intra-oceanic subduction zones and emplaced over the Tauride carbonate platform from different Neotethyan oceanic basins in the Late Cretaceous. Tauride ophiolites from west to east are described and reviewed. All are underlain by well-preserved dynamothermal metamorphic soles of varied structural thicknesses up to 500 m that have a constant structural position between ophiolitic melange below and harzburgitic mantle tectonites above and display typical inverted metamorphic sequences from amphibolite facies above to greenschist facies below. The metamorphic soles are shown to have evolved during the initiation of subduction and emplacement processes. In the Pozanti- Karsanti area the contact between the metamorphic sole and the overlying serpentinized harzburgites is characterized by a 1.5–2-m-thick zone of sheared serpentinized harzburgitic mantle intercalated with amphibolites and cut by thick mafic dykes (7–8 m) which postdate intraoceanic metamorphism and high-temperature ductile deformation. This contact is interpreted as an intra-oceanic decoupling surface along which volcanics from the upper levels of the down-going plate were metamorphosed to amphibolite facies and accreted to the base of the hanging wall plate. The metamorphic soles and overlying ophiolitic rocks were intruded by numerous isolated post-metamorphic diabase dykes filled by island arc tholeiitic magma. Subduction initiation and roll-back processes best explain the structural and petrological relationships of Late Cretaceous ophiolite genesis, metamorphic sole formation and subsequent dyke emplacement of the Tauride ophiolites.

Rheological weakening of high-grade mylonites during low-temperature retrogression: The exhumed continental Ailao Shan-Red River fault zone, SE Asia

We present a detailed case study of an exhumed continental strike-slip fault zone, the Ailao Shan-Red River (ASRR) strike-slip fault zone, to investigate how deformation promotes strain localization, and how the weak second phases and fluids trigger rheological weakening during retrogression near the ductile to brittle transition during exhumation. Along the ASRR strike-slip fault zone, in the Diancang Shan (DCS) metamorphic massif, high-temperature ductile deformation (D1) pervasively occurred during shearing and exhumation since late Oligocene. The high-temperature microstructures and textures are in part or entirely altered by subsequent low-temperature shearing (D2) since late Miocene, which is under the conditions of frictional-viscous transition of K-feldspar (ca. 450°C) during further exhumation to the upper crustal levels. The formation of D2 microstructures and shear bands overprinted high-temperature intracrystalline plasticity phases (D1) in mylonitic rocks. Depending on the main rock-forming minerals, the results also demonstrate that the brittle–ductile transition involves a combination of different deformation mechanisms and possible rheological paths. In quartz-rich rocks, quartz was deformed in the dislocation creep regime and records transition of microfabrics and slip systems during decreasing temperature, which lasted until retrogression related to exhumation. As a result, grain-size reduction associated with fluids circulating within the ASRR strike-slip fault zone at brittle–ductile transition leads to reaction and texture weakening. Rheological weakening is the consequence of the syntectonic deformation, fluid flow, reaction softening, reaction creep and textural softening. The hydrous fluids resulted in hydration of silicates. Decompression occurred during shearing and as a result of tectonic exhumation. All these results demonstrate that the exhumation through the ductile to ductile-brittle transition involves a combination of different deformation mechanisms, rheological transition features and feedbacks between deformation, decreasing temperature and fluids in the ASRR fault zone.

The synorogenic pegmatitic quartz veins of the Guacha Corral Shear zone (Sierra de Comechingones, Argentina): A textural, chemical, isotopic, cathodoluminescence and fluid inclusion study

The quartz veins and pegmatites of the Sierra de Comechingones (Sierras de Córdoba, NE Argentina) belong to the Comechingones Pegmatite field (CPF). For the quartz veins and the zoned pegmatites related parental granites are missing. The country rock of the quartz veins are mylonitic augengneisses in granulite to upper amphibolite facies. Field relations, microscopy, cathodoluminescence, radiometric age data, fluid inclusion, chemical and isotopic composition and literature define the quartz veins as synorogenic formed during the high-temperature phase of the Famatinian (480–460Ma) event. During the Famatinian up to the Achalian (382–366Ma) event the synorogenic quartz veins were subjected to high temperature ductile deformation documented by folding, boudinage and finally brittle shearing. K-Ar ages of illite from the shear zones of about 166Ma document the final cooling of the Sierras Pampeanas below 100°C. The long lasting thermal and deformational history of the study area is reflected by very different populations of fluid inclusions in vein quartz with remarkably high contents of thermogenic hydrocarbons in the early-formed fluid inclusions. LA–ICP–MS analysis reveals very low lattice-bound trace element contents, i.e. high purity quartz.

Interrelations between extensional shear zones and synkinematic intrusions: The example of Ikaria Island (NE Cyclades, Greece)

The Aegean extensional backarc domain is an ideal place to investigate the interrelations between syntectonic intrusions and large-scale detachments, understanding whether the intrusions have a triggering effect on the inception of metamorphic core complex formation or not. A new field study of Ikaria Island (NE Cyclades, Greece) in two Miocene granitoid plutons intruding a high-temperature metamorphic dome, namely the Raches and Karkinagrion granites, leads to the identification of a major structure that has been omitted in previous studies: the Gialiskari Detachment. This regional-scale detachment is correlated with the North Cycladic Detachment System. Structural fieldwork at the scale of the entire Raches and Karkinagrion intrusions allows us to propose a map of strain intensity in these granites. This map, based on macrostructural criteria, highlights a strong strain gradient in both intrusions from base to top, when approaching the Gialiskari Detachment. Along the strain gradient, a continuum of top-to-the north shearing deformation is recognized, including i) syn-magmatic deformation, ii) high-temperature ductile deformation at submagmatic state, iii) mylonitic to ultramylonitic deformation, and iv) low-temperature brittle deformation. A scenario of the interactions between the detachment and the Raches and Karkinagrion intrusions during their emplacement is proposed. We show that these granites were emplaced while the exhumation of the Ikaria metamorphic dome was already underway. We conclude that these plutons do not initially localize detachments, and instead that detachments localize and control the ascent of plutons. Intrusions then interact with detachments, accommodating their upward migration in the crust. This scenario is described on other Cycladic islands such as on Tinos or Mykonos. At a larger scale, the final emplacement of plutons may result from the flow of molten crust toward metamorphic core complex during extension.

Microstructural and geochemical studies of Higher Himalayan Leucogranite: implications for geodynamic evolution of Tertiary Leucogranite in the Eastern Himalaya

The Higher Himalayan Leucogranites (HHLG) intruded into the high grade rocks of the Higher Himalayan Crystallines (HHC) in Arunachal Himalaya of the Eastern Himalaya, yield distinctive field data, petrography, microstructures, geochemical and mineral chemistry data. The Arunachal HHLG are characterized by the presence of two micas; normative corundum; high contents of SiO2 (67–78 wt.%), Al2O3 (13–18 wt.%), A/CNK (0.98–1.44) and Rb (154–412 ppm); low contents of CaO (0.33–1.91 wt.%) and Sr (19–171 ppm), and a high ratio of FeO(tot)/MgO in biotite (2.54–4.82). These distinctive features, along with their strong depletion in high field strength elements (HFSE), suggest their affinity to peraluminous S-type granite generated by the partial melting of crustal material. Geothermobarometric estimations and mineral assemblages of the HHC metapelites confirm that the HHLG were probably generated in the middle crust (~20 km) and the produced melts intruded the HHC in the form of sills/dykes. Microstructurally, the HHLG shows high temperature deformation features including chessboard extinction in quartz and cuspate/lobate grain boundaries between quartz and feldspars (plagioclase and K-feldspar). The deformation microstructures suggest that the HHLG was deformed under early high temperature ductile deformation conditions. These fabrics were subsequently superimposed by later brittle deformation features associated with decreasing temperatures during the exhumation of the HHLG towards shallow structural levels at the time of Himalayan orogeny. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

New geochronological results and structural evolution of the Pataz gold mining district: Implications for the timing and origin of the batholith-hosted veins

The Paleozoic Pataz–Parcoy gold mining area is located in a right-stepping jog on the regional Cordillera Blanca fault, in northern Peru. Most of the 8million ounces of gold production from this area has come from quartz–carbonate–sulfide veins hosted by the Pataz batholith. Despite a subduction zone setting since at least the Cambrian, the area records several periods of extension and its present structure is that of a rift and graben terrain. The Pataz district (the northern part of the Pataz–Parcoy area) is dominated structurally by northwest to north northwest-striking (NW–NNW) faults and northeast to east northeast-striking (NE–ENE) lineaments, both of which have been active periodically since at least the Mississippian (Early Carboniferous). NW–NNW faults control the margins of a central horst that exposes basement schist and the Pataz batholith, and step across NE–ENE lineaments. The Lavasen graben, to the east of the central horst, contains the Lavasen Volcanics, and the Chagual graben, to the west, contains an allochthonous sedimentary sequence derived from the Western Andean Cordillera.New SHRIMP zircon geochronological data indicate emplacement of the Pataz batholith during the Middle Mississippian, at around 338–336Ma, approximately 10Ma earlier than previous estimates based on 40Ar/39Ar geochronology. The calc-alkaline, I-type batholith comprises diorite and granodiorite, the latter being the major component of the batholith, and was emplaced as a sill complex within the moderately NE-dipping sequence of the Eastern Andean Cordillera. Moderate- to high-temperature ductile deformation took place on the batholith contacts during or shortly after emplacement. Following emplacement of the batholith, differential uplift occurred along NW–NNW faults forming the Lavasen graben, into which the Lavasen Volcanics were deposited. SHRIMP U–Pb in zircon ages for the Lavasen Volcanics and the Esperanza subvolcanic complex, which was intruded into the western margin of the graben, are within error of one another at ca 334Ma. The ductile batholith contacts were cut by renewed movement on NW–NNW faults such that the margins of the batholith are now controlled by these steep brittle-ductile faults. The NW–NNW faults were oriented normal to the principal axis of regional shortening (ENE–WSW) during formation of the batholith-hosted, gold-bearing quartz–carbonate–sulfide veins. The misoriented faults were unable to accommodate significant displacement, leading to high fluid pressures, vertical extension in the competent batholith and formation of gold-bearing veins. Brittle failure of the batholith was most extensive in the northern Pataz district where the fault-controlled western contact of the batholith is offset by a swarm of NE–ENE lineaments.The timing of vein formation is not established, despite published 40Ar/39Ar ages of 312 to 314Ma for metasomatic white mica, which are interpreted as minimum ages of formation. Gold-bearing veins formed during or shortly after uplift of the Pataz batholith and formation of the Lavasen graben; they were therefore broadly coeval with deposition of the Lavasen Volcanics and emplacement of the Esperanza subvolcanic complex. These K-rich, weakly alkalic, ferroan (A-type) magmas may provide a viable source for the ore fluid that deposited gold in the Pataz batholith.

Helium distribution in a mantle shear zone from the Josephine Peridotite

A previous study of oceanic mylonites suggested that peridotite helium concentrations are correlated with the degree of high-temperature ductile deformation in the mantle. In order to test this result, this study combines helium measurements with characterization of the deformation state of harzburgite samples in a small (6m width) ductile mantle shear zone from the Josephine Peridotite, Oregon, USA. All measurements were made by coupled in vacuo crushing and melting, demonstrating that most of the helium (>80%) resides within the solid phases rather than fluid or melt inclusions. The present study confirms the influence of deformation on helium contents, but only at the highest shear strain (γ>20) are helium contents significantly higher. The highest helium concentration, by roughly a factor of two, is found in the center-most sample, which also has grain size reduction by a factor of ∼4. Dislocations and sub-grain boundaries are present in all samples and do not correlate with helium concentrations. Mineralogy also appears to have a negligible influence in this shear zone, as modal mineralogy is relatively homogeneous, with all samples being harzburgites. These observations suggest that the increase in helium concentration is related to grain size reduction, with grain boundaries proposed as an additional storage site for helium in the mantle.The present data also characterize the isotopic composition of the Josephine Peridotite: 3He/4He=6.7±0.2Ra (n=33, between 6.3 and 7.1Ra). The presence of cosmogenic 3He in the matrix is indicated by the helium isotopic composition released by melting: 3He/4He=8.5±0.3Ra (n=10; from 7.9 to 10.9). This corresponds to an exposure age of 10Kyr, which is approximately concordant with the end of the last glacial maximum. Very little radiogenic helium is present in the samples, suggesting extremely low uranium and thorium contents ([U]<0.3ppb). Helium isotope measurements in four samples outside the shear zone suggest that mineralogy and melt infiltration are also important factors for understanding helium storage in the mantle.

Deformational episodes recorded in the Skagit Gneiss Complex, North Cascades, Washington, USA

The crystalline core of the North Cascades is part of a thick (>55 km) 96–45 Ma continental magmatic arc. The highest-grade part of the arc is the Skagit Gneiss Complex that includes partially migmatitic amphibolite-facies orthogneiss, layered biotite gneiss, and paragneiss. The typically NW-striking foliation and gently SE-plunging lineation formed mostly between 69 and 51 Ma. In the study area to the north, four fold generations are recorded some of which formed from 51 to 46 Ma. The upright kilometer-scale folds in the study area are similar to Eocene folds in the southern part of the Skagit Gneiss Complex and implies at least an abbreviated interval of regional shortening during an extended period of overall transtension. Latest ductile deformation is marked by strong subhorizontal constrictional fabrics in granodiorite, which intrudes all other major units and structures at 46–45 Ma. Microstructures record relatively low-temperature (300–400 °C) and medium- to high-temperature (≥450 °C) ductile deformation, which are focused in kilometer-scale domains. Orientation, sequence, and timing of deformation are similar in the northern and southern portions of the Skagit Gneiss Complex, but structures differ in the central portion that apparently do not record the brief interval of shortening.

High temperature fracturing and ductile deformation during cooling of a pluton: The Lake Edison granodiorite (Sierra Nevada batholith, California)

In the Bear Creek area of the Sierra Nevada batholith, California, the high temperature postmagmatic deformation structures of the Lake Edison granodiorite include steeply-dipping orthogneiss foliations, joints, and ductile shear zones that nucleated on joints and leucocratic dykes. Exploitation of segmented joints resulted in sharply bounded, thin shear zones and in large slip gradients near the shear zone tips causing the deformation of the host rock at contractional domains. The orthogneiss foliation intensifies towards the contact with the younger Mono Creek granite and locally defines the dextral Rosy Finch Shear Zone (RFSZ), a major kilometre-wide zone crosscutting the pluton contacts. Joints predominantly strike at N70–90°E over most of the Lake Edison pluton and are exploited as sinistral shear zones, both within and outside the RFSZ. In a narrow (∼250 m thick) zone at the contact with the younger Mono Creek granite, within the RFSZ, the Lake Edison granodiorite includes different sets of dextral and sinistral shear zones/joints (the latter corresponding to the set that dominates over the rest of the Lake Edison pluton). These shear zones/joints potentially fit with a composite Y–R–R′ shear fracture pattern associated with the RFSZ, or with a pattern consisting of Y–R-shear fractures and rotated T′ mode I extensional fractures. The mineral assemblage of shear zones, and the microstructure and texture of quartz mylonites indicate that ductile deformation occurred above 500 °C. Joints and ductile shearing alternated and developed coevally. The existing kinematic models do not fully capture the structural complexity of the area or the spatial distribution of the deformation and magmatic structures. Future models should account more completely for the character of ductile and brittle deformation as these plutons were emplaced and cooled.

The Cryogenian arc formation and successive high-K calc–alkaline plutons of Socotra Island (Yemen)

The Socotra Island belongs to the southern rifted margin of the Gulf of Aden and occupied in Neoproterozoic times a key position to constrain the age and the nature of the largely hidden Neoproterozoic rocks of the Arabian plate. Our integrated field, petrographic, geochemical and geochronological study in the Neoproterozoic rocks recognises three main successive events: (a) high-temperature ductile deformation and metamorphism forming probably in a compressive or transpressive regime; (b) mafic to intermediate intrusions as vertical sheets, kilometre-scale gabbro laccoliths, mafic dike swarm and lavas which present mainly a depleted arc signature with some evidences of evolution from an enriched-arc signature; (c) felsic intrusions mainly composed of highly potassic calc–alkaline and pinkish granites dated between 840 and 780 Ma. Relationships between the various petrographic types and U–Pb data suggest that these events occurred during a relatively short time span (80 Ma at max). Earlier high-temperature–low-pressure metamorphism stage as well as geochemical signature of mafic rocks show that development of Cryogenian formations of Socotra were controlled successively by an Andean-arc and a back-arc setting. These features cannot be easily reconciled with those of the Arabian–Nubian shield to the west of Socotra and of the Mozambique Belt to the south. We propose that the Socotra basement was developed at an active margin close to the India block in Cryogenian times.

Initiation of left-lateral deformation along the Ailao Shan–Red River shear zone: new microstructural, textural, and geochronological constraints from the Diancang Shan metamorphic massif, SW Yunnan, China

The Diancang Shan metamorphic massif, the northwestern extension of the Ailao Shan Massif, is a typical metamorphic complex situated along the NW–SE-trending Ailao Shan–Red River shear zone. Diancang Shan granitic and amphibolitic mylonites collected from sheared high-grade metamorphic rocks were studied using petrographic and electron-backscatter diffraction techniques. Sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe U–Pb dating of zircon grains from the granitic mylonites constrains the timing of shearing. Macro- and microstructural and textural analysis reveals intense plastic deformation of feldspar, quartz, and amphibole under amphibolite-facies conditions, all consistently document left-lateral shearing. Porphyritic monzogranitic mylonite within the shear zone possesses evidence supporting a sequential, progressive process from crystallization during magma emplacement, through submagmatic flow to solid-state plastic deformation. We suggest that the early-kinematic pluton subsequently underwent strong left-lateral strike–slip shearing. The development of complex textures of quartz, feldspar, and amphibole from the granitic and amphibolitic mylonites apparently records successive variation of conditions attending coherent, solid-state high-temperature ductile deformation during regional left-lateral shearing. All magmatic zircons from the mylonitized porphyritic monzogranite give U–Pb ages of 30.95 ± 0.61 million years for the crystallization of the granite. This age provides the timing of onset of left-lateral shearing along the Ailao Shan–Red River shear zone in the Diancang Shan high-grade metamorphic massif.

STRUCTURE, PETROLOGY, GEOCHEMISTRY AND ZIRCON U/Pb AND Pb/Pb GEOCHRONOLOGY OF THE SYNKINEMATIC ARCHEAN (2.7 Ga) A-TYPE GRANITES FROM THE CARAJAS METALLOGENIC PROVINCE, NORTHERN BRAZIL

The Archean geological evolution of the Carajas metallogenic province is marked by A-type granite emplacement coevally with a regional shortening episode at 2.7 Ga. These A-type granites intruded metavolcano-sedimentary series of the Itacaiunas Supergroup. We studied three massifs: Igarape Gelado, Estrela and Serra do Rabo. The granites present low Al2O3 values, high FeOt/(FeOt + MgO) and (K2O + Na2O)/CaO values, along with high contents of Zr, Y, Nb and rare-earth elements. The Sm–Nd model ages (2.97 Ga to 3.2 Ga) and the slightly negative {varepsilon}Nd(t) values (–0.38 to –2.06), obtained in the Estrela granite complex suggest that the magmas were most probably produced by partial melting of ca. 3.0 Ga rocks. Coexistence of ilmenite, ferropargasite, hastingsite and hedenbergite suggest crystallization of high-temperature melts under low fugacity of oxygen. The granites induced high-temperature ductile deformation in the contact aureole. The structural patterns of the granites suggest that their emplacement and deformation result from a continuous evolution under decreasing temperature due to the interference between inflation and horizontal shortening. The A-type granites, when first discriminated, were considered to be restricted to anorogenic or rift-related environments. Our data corroborate the fact that A-type granites can abridge a wide family of rocks formed in several tectonic regimes. The characteristics of the Carajas A-type granites point to an orogenic history considered to be related to an environment of magmatic arc.