Nappe Pile Research Articles

Ductile nappe stacking and refolding in the Cycladic Blueschist Unit: insights from Sifnos Island (south Aegean Sea)

New geological and structural mapping combined with kinematic and amphibole chemistry analyses is used to investigate the deformation history of the Cycladic Blueschist Unit (CBU) on Sifnos Island (Cyclades, Aegean Sea). We concentrate on north Sifnos, an area characterized by exceptionally well-preserved eclogites and blueschists. Our data show that the early, main phase (D2) of ductile deformation in the CBU occurred synchronous with the transition from prograde to close-to-peak retrograde conditions. This deformation phase took place at middle Eocene and is related to ESE-directed thrusting that emplaced the metavolcano-sedimentary subunit over the Marble subunit. The subsequent exhumation-related (D3) deformation is characterized by gently NE-plunging folds and NE-directed contractional shear zones that formed parallel to the axial planes of folds. NE-directed shearing occurred under blueschist and transitional blueschist-/greenschist-facies conditions during late Eocene–Oligocene and caused the restacking of the early nappe pile. We suggest that a mechanism of ductile extrusion of the CBU in a tectonic setting of net compression could explain better the recorded exhumation-related deformation than a mechanism of syn- and post-orogenic extension. Our new kinematic results in combination with previous works in the Cyclades area reveal a regional scale change in tectonic transport direction from (W)NW–(E)SE at Late Cretaceous–middle Eocene to (E)NE–(W)SW at late Eocene–Oligocene times. The observed change in transport direction may be governed by the relative motion of Africa with respect to Europe during Alpine orogeny.

Structural and metallogenic map of late Variscan Arbus Pluton (SW Sardinia, Italy)

ABSTRACTThis paper presents the geological, structural and metallogenic map of the Arbus Pluton, a late Variscan composite intrusion belonging to the Corsica-Sardinia Batholith. The pluton is surrounded and crosscut by a wide variety of vein ore deposits. The Arbus Pluton was emplaced at shallow crustal levels at the end of the Variscan Orogeny, along an E–W trending shear zone located in the low-grade external nappe pile of the Sardinian basement. The architecture of the pluton is roughly concentric with a core of cordierite-bearing leucogranites and an outer shell composed of pyroxene-bearing and hornblende granodiorites. New U/Pb dating on zircons of granodiorite yields an emplacement age of 303.7 ± 1.1 which improves previous Rb/Sr and Ar/Ar dating. The map has been compiled on the basis of new geological/structural surveys and petrographical studies coupled with in situ gamma ray spectrometry. All the data-sets have been processed using a geographical information system.

Vorticity analysis in calcite tectonites: An example from the Attico-Cycladic massif (Attica, Greece)

Although calcite tectonites are widespread in nature their use to quantify flow vorticity is limited. We use new (micro-)structural, petrofabric and vorticity data to analyse the kinematics of flow in outcrop-scale calcite mylonite zones. These zones are genetically related to a crustal-scale NE-directed ductile thrust (Basal Thrust) that emplaced the Blueschist over the Basal unit during the exhumation of the Attico-Cycladic Massif. Calcite microstructures reveal that the last stage of deformation occurred at temperatures 200–300 °C achieved by mild heating, which is possibly related with the reburial of the Basal Thrust's footwall. Vorticity analyses were based on the degree of asymmetry of calcite c-axis fabrics as well as on the assumption that the orientation of the long axes of calcite neoblasts within an oblique foliation delineates the direction of instantaneous stretching axis. Both methodological approaches provide consistent estimates with a simple shear component between 55% and 82% (Wn = 0.76–0.96). The use of the stress axis (σ1) orientation recorded by twin-c-axis-pairs to quantify vorticity generally gives significantly lower simple shear component. Comparison of our vorticity estimates with previous estimates inferred from quartz fabrics and rigid porphyroclasts reveals that exhumation-related deformation in the nappe pile was steady state.

P–T–t evolution of eclogite/blueschist facies metamorphism in Alanya Massif: time and space relations with HP event in Bitlis Massif, Turkey

The Alanya Massif, which is located to the south of central Taurides in Turkey, presents a typical nappe pile consisting of thrust sheets with contrasting metamorphic histories. In two thrust sheets, Sugozu and Gundogmus nappes, HP metamorphism under eclogite (550–567 °C/14–18 kbar) and blueschist facies (435–480 °C/11–13 kbar) conditions have been recognized, respectively. Whereas the rest of the Massif underwent MP metamorphism under greenschist to amphibolite facies (525–555 °C/6.5–7.5 kbar) conditions. Eclogite facies metamorphism in Sugozu nappe, which consists of homogeneous garnet–glaucophane–phengite schists with eclogite lenses is dated at 84.8 ± 0.8, 84.7 ± 1.5 and 82 ± 3 Ma (Santonian–Campanian) by 40Ar/39Ar phengite, U/Pb zircon and rutile dating methods, respectively. Similarly, phengites in Gundogmus nappe representing an accretionary complex yield 82–80 Ma (Campanian) ages for blueschist facies metamorphism. During the exhumation, the retrograde overprint of the HP units under greenschist–amphibolite facies conditions and tectonic juxtaposition with the Barrovian units occurred during Campanian (75–78 Ma). Petrological and geochronological data clearly indicate a similar Late Cretaceous tectonometamorphic evolution for both Alanya (84–75 Ma) and Bitlis (84–72 Ma) Massifs. They form part of a single continental sliver (Alanya–Bitlis microcontinent), which was rifted from the southern part of the Anatolide–Tauride platform. The P–T–t coherence between two Massifs suggests that both Massifs have been derived from the closure of the same ocean (Alanya–Bitlis Ocean) located to the south of the Anatolide–Tauride block by a northward subduction. The boundary separating the autochthonous Tauride platform to the north from both the Alanya and Bitlis Massifs to the south represents a suture zone, the Pamphylian–Alanya–Bitlis suture.

Syn-collisional lower continental crust anatexis in the Neoproterozoic Socorro-Guaxupé Nappe System, southern Brasília Orogen, Brazil: Constraints from zircon U–Pb dating, Sr–Nd–Hf signatures and whole-rock geochemistry

The southern Brasília Orogen occurs along the southernmost border of the São Francisco Craton. This Orogen is structured as a pile of Ediacaran syn-metamorphic thicked-skinned nappes that diachronically migrate toward the cratonic margin. A magmatic arc environment is represented by the Socorro-Guaxupé Nappe (SGN), which is a thick segment of partially molten lower to middle continental crust. The SGN comprises three main units: a lower granulitic, an intermediate diatexitic and an upper metatexitic. High-temperature metamorphic peak was reached at ∼625Ma, when large volumes of high-K diatexitic rocks were formed. Charnockitic and mangeritic magmatic rocks (São José do Rio Pardo suite) and in situ leucosomes of mafic composition are inferred to have formed under hornblende-dehydration melting conditions (i.e. T≥850°C). Granitic diatexites (Pinhal-type) were also formed, and zircon thermometry indicates T≥850°C. Elemental and isotopic geochemistry indicate that these diatexites and in situ leucosomes derived from melting of lower to middle continental crust. TIMS zircon U–Pb ages are presented for the lower and middle units. U–Pb dating coupled to Lu–Hf analysis (LA-MC-ICP-MS) was performed on charno-enderbitic in situ leucosomes from metatexitic rocks that also resulted from hornblende-dehydration melting. Two different zircon typologies were recognized. The first comprises bipyramidal-prismatic grains with oscillatory zoning and high luminescence, sometimes preserving low-luminescence 670Ma cores. The high-luminescence grains show 19 concordant ages at 621±16Ma. The second typology comprises isometric or soccer-ball-type grains. These grains show sector zoning and a concordia age of 608±4Ma. Th/U ratios from soccer-ball grains vary from 1.253 to 2.107, whereas prismatic grains vary from 0.118 to 1.774. Initial ɛHf signatures between −13 and −21 in both typologies provide evidence of a reworked crustal reservoir. The older prismatic grains may be related to the onset of metamorphic peak (∼625Ma), whereas the isometric ones provide evidence of long-lived high-T conditions until ∼610Ma.

The Connemara Antiform and its possible Silurian history

The Connemara Antiform has iconic status in the geology of western Ireland. With its eastto-west trend and eastward plunge and the disposition of Dalradian stratigraphy about its axis, it forms the dominant structure in the present-day landscape and is a focal feature of geological maps of the area. Its genesis has long been ascribed to D4, the last main major deformation phase of the Ordovician Grampian Orogeny that affected the Dalradian rocks of Connemara. But does the structure have such a straightforward and simple origin? This paper investigates the possible role of middle late Silurian deformation in the origin of the Connemara Antiform. Overview of the geology of Connemara Connemara was part of the south-eastern Laurentian margin Dalradian sequence that experienced a major short-lived early Ordovician orogenic episode, the Grampian Orogeny, caused by collision with, and obduction of, an arc that developed above oceanward-directed subduction (Chew 2009). The Connemara Terrane became detached from the Laurentian margin and now lies to the south of the obducted arc and the South Mayo Trough (Fig. 1). The translation of the Connemara Terrane from the Laurentian margin to its current position is indicated by an influx of coarse clastic rocks of Connemara provenance into the c. 464Ma Bunnacunneen Member of the Mweelrea Formation of the South Mayo Trough (McConnell et al. 2009). Dewey (2005) provides a succinct account of the local plate-tectonic, metamorphic and structural history of the Connemara Terrane and the South Mayo Trough during the Grampian Orogeny, and Graham et al. (1989), Leake and Tanner (1994), McConnell et al. (2002) and Long et al. (2005) provide a comprehensive overview of the detailed geology of the area. The Grampian Orogeny began with the subduction of rifted Laurentian margin sediments beneath a continent-facing oceanic arc c. 478Ma (Dewey 2005). The Connemara Dalradian sediments were buried in a thick nappe pile of D2 and D3 folds and experienced high-pressure, lowtemperature Barrovian metamorphism (Leake and Tanner 1994). Palaeomagnetic studies indicate that the D3 folds originally dipped c. 208 south (Robertson 1988). Between 474Ma and 470Ma (Friedrich et al. 1999) a suite of metagabbros and orthogneisses (the Metagabbro Orthogneiss Complex) were injected into the deforming nappe pile during D2 D3 in an east west belt that extends for more than 80km along the southern margin of the terrane (Fig. 1). The high-temperature metagabbros and orthogneisses drove sillimanite-grade, hightemperature, low-pressure Buchan metamorphism. Migmatites resulting from the metagabbro heat pulse formed at c. 6kbar but crystallised at much lower pressures of c. 3.5kbar, indicating rapid exhumation (Barber and Yardley 1985). Rapid exhumation may have been facilitated by extensional collapse. The Renvyle Bofin Slide, a lowangle post-D3 extensional detachment, has, on the Irish Journal of Earth Sciences 32 (2014), 71 78 doi: 10.3318/IJES.2014.32.71 # 2014 Royal Irish Academy

Thermal history of the Maramureş area (Northern Romania) constrained by zircon fission track analysis: Cretaceous metamorphism and Late Cretaceous to Paleocene exhumation

Abstract This study presents zircon fission track data from the Bucovinian nappe stack (northern part of the Inner Eastern Carpathians, Rodna Mountains) and a neighbouring part of the Biharia nappe system (Preluca massif) in order to unravel the thermal history of the area and its structural evolution by integrating the fission track data with published data on the tectonic and sedimentary evolution of the area. The increase of metamorphic temperatures towards the SW detected by the zircon fission track data suggests SW-wards increasing tectonic overburden (up to at least 15 km) and hence top NE thrusting. Sub-greenschist facies conditions during the Alpine metamorphic overprint only caused partial annealing of fission tracks in zircon in the external main chain of the Central Eastern Carpathians. Full annealing of zircon points to at least 300 °C in the more internal elements (Rodna Mountains and Preluca massif). The zircon fission track central and single grain ages largely reflect Late Cretaceous cooling and exhumation. A combination of fission track data and stratigraphic constraints points to predominantly tectonic differential exhumation by some 7-11 km, connected to massive Late Cretaceous extension not yet detected in the area. Later events such as the latest Cretaceous (“Laramian”) juxtaposition of the nappe pile with the internal Moldavides, causing exhumation by erosion, re-burial by sedimentation and tectonic loading during the Cenozoic had no impact on the zircon fission track data; unfortunately it prevented a study of the low temperature part of the Late Cretaceous exhumation history.

Peak‐temperature patterns of polyphase metamorphism resulting from accretion, subduction and collision (eastern Tauern Window,European Alps) – a study withRaman microspectroscopy on carbonaceous material (RSCM)

AbstractRaman microspectroscopy on carbonaceous material (RSCM) from the eastern Tauern Window indicates contrasting peak‐temperature patterns in three different fabric domains, each of which underwent a poly‐metamorphic orogenic evolution: Domain 1 in the northeastern Tauern Window preserves oceanic units (Glockner Nappe System, Matrei Zone) that attained peak temperatures (Tp) of 350–480 °C following Late Cretaceous to Palaeogene nappe stacking in an accretionary wedge. Domain 2 in the central Tauern Window experiencedTpof 500–535 °C that was attained either within an exhumed Palaeogene subduction channel or during Oligocene Barrovian‐type thermal overprinting within the Alpine collisional orogen. Domain 3 in the Eastern Tauern Subdome has a peak‐temperature pattern that resulted from Eo‐Oligocene nappe stacking of continental units derived from the distal European margin. This pattern acquired its presently concentric pattern in Miocene time due to post‐nappe doming and extensional shearing along the Katschberg Shear Zone System (KSZS).Tpvalues in the largest (Hochalm) dome range from 612 °C in its core to 440 °C at its rim. The maximum peak‐temperature gradient (≤70 °C km−1) occurs along the eastern margin of this dome where mylonitic shearing of the Katschberg Normal Fault (KNF) significantly thinned the Subpenninic‐ and Penninic nappe pile, including the pre‐existing peak‐temperature gradient.

Gravity and magnetic modelling in the Vrancea Zone, south-eastern Carpathians: Redefinition of the edge of the East European Craton beneath the south-eastern Carpathians

A 2D gravity and magnetic data model has been constructed along a 71km densely observed profile, called DACIA PLAN GRAV MAN's. The profile crosses part of the nappe pile of the south-eastern Carpathians and includes the seismically active Vrancea Zone and was acquired with the objective to illuminate the basement structure and affinity in this area. The modelling approach was to create an initial model from well constrained geological information, integrate it with previous seismic ray tracing and tomographic models and then alter it outside the a priori constraints in order to reach the best fit between observed and calculated potential field anomalies. The results support a realignment of the position of the TTZ (Tornquist-Teisseyre Zone), the profound tectonic boundary within Europe that separates Precambrian cratonic lithosphere of the East European Craton (EEC) from younger accreted lithosphere of Phanerozoic mobile belts to its west. The TTZ is shown to lie further to the south-west than was previously inferred within Romania, where it is largely obscured by the Carpathian nappes. The crust of the EEC beneath the south-eastern Carpathians is inferred to terminate along a major crustal structure lying just west of the Vrancea seismogenic zone. The intermediate depth seismicity of the Vrancea Zone therefore lies within the EEC lithosphere, generally supporting previously proposed models invoking delamination of cratonic lithosphere as the responsible mechanism.

Rheological control on the tectonic evolution of a continental suture zone: the Variscan example from NW Iberia (Spain)

The Variscan continental suture zone exposed in NW Iberia is examined to uncover the long-lived rheological control exerted by the strata deposited over the external parts of Gondwana on its geodynamic evolution. The suture occurs within a set of allochthonous terranes whose limits were taken as domain boundaries to interpret the Variscan stacking of Paleozoic continental domains and retrodeform the resulting nappe pile. The suture zone formed due to closure of ocean basins located between Gondwana and Laurussia during the Late Paleozoic and consists of relics of oceanic and transitional crust. The suture zone exhibits a tabular to lens shape due to repeated tectonic events dominated by non-coaxial deformation (thrusts and low-angle normal faults). Thrusting and normal faulting also involved the margins of the continents bounding the suture. The structure of the continental blocks, however, is dominated by folds, particularly large nappe folds with pronounced superimposed flattening. The upper part of the basal allochthonous units comprises a rheologically incompetent domain below the suture zone. This domain is typified by the carbonaceous-rich strata, which are probably Ordovician–Silurian sediments based on U–Pb detrital zircon populations. The rheology of this layer determined the location of the first accretionary thrust that initiated the Late Devonian subduction of the Gondwana margin below the suture zone. By favoring fault development, the upper sequence of the basal allochthonous units as a whole influenced the exhumation of deep-seated continental crust, the transference of the suture zone over Gondwana, and the re-equilibration of the resulting overthickened crust.

Detrital fission-track-compositional signature of an orogenic chain-hinterland basin system: The case of the late Neogene Quaternary Valdelsa basin (Northern Apennines, Italy)

Detrital thermochronological data collected in syn-tectonic basin deposits are a promising tool for deciphering time and processes of the evolution of orogenic belts. Our study deals with the Valdelsa basin, one of the wider basins of central Tuscany, Italy. The Valdelsa basin is located at the rear of the Northern Apennines, a collisional orogen whose late Neogene Quaternary development is alternatively attributed to extensional and compressional regimes. These contrasting interpretations mostly rely on different reconstructions of the tectono-sedimentary evolution of several basins formed at the rear of the chain since the late Tortonian. Here, we explore the detrital thermochronological–compositional signature of tectonic and surface processes during the Valdelsa basin development. For this aim, detrital apatite fission-track analysis of 21 sand samples from the latest Messinian Gelasian fluvial to shallow marine basin deposits, has been accompanied by a clast composition analysis of 7 representative outcrops of the conglomerate facies. The grain-age distributions of the sediment samples are generally characterized by two distinct components, one younger peak (P1) varying between 5.5±2.8 and 9.5±1.0Ma and one older peak (P2) varying from 15.0±8.0 to 41.0±10Ma. By comparison with some bedrock ages obtained from the E-NE basin shoulder, we attributed the P2 peak to the Ligurian Units and the P1 peak to the Macigno Formation (Tuscan Units). These units are arranged one upon the other in the complex nappe pile forming the Northern Apennines orogen. While the gravel composition indicates a predominant feeding from the Ligurian units all along the sedimentary succession with a subordinate occurrence of Macigno pebbles slightly increasing upsection, the P1 peak is present even in the oldest collected sandy sediments. The early P1 occurrence reveals that the Macigno was exposed in the E-NE basin shoulder since at least the latest Messinian–early Zanclean. This means that deeper part of the structural edifice was exposed earlier than previously reported. This was likely made possible by exposures of Macigno at the cores of anticlines or on the footwall of backthrusts. Thus, the Macigno early supply claims a role for shortening in the Northern Apennines hinterland basin evolution. Our study revealed the suitability of the detrital thermochronological/compositional analysis on syn-tectonic infill of hinterland basins in discriminating between different tectonic processes affecting the late evolution of an orogenic chain.

Hercynian plutonic rocks of Voras Mountain, Macedonia, Northern Greece: their structure, petrogenesis, and tectonic significance

We studied the structural, petrological, and geochemical characteristics, as well as the geotectonic setting, of the Hercynian (300 ± 3 Ma) Voras plutonic rocks intrusive into the lower part of the Pelagonian nappe pile (East Pelagonian Zone, EPZ). These rocks are compared with the neighbouring Hercynian Varnountas and Kastoria plutons intruding the tectonic upper Pelagonian part (Korabi West Pelagonian Zone, KoWPZ). Based on modal and chemical compositions, four rock-types can be distinguished for the Voras ploutonic rocks: (1) hornblende-biotite granodiorite to granite (HbBtGrd), (2) biotite granite (BtGr), (3) leucogranite (LGr), and (4) mafic microgranular enclaves (MMEs) occurring typically in HbBtGrd and BtGr. Aplites intrude HbBtGrd and BtGr whereas xenoliths are rare. The MMEs are metaluminous, while all the other rock-types are slightly peraluminous. Crystallization pressures range from 2.4 to 2.9 kbar for the HbBtGrd and 3.0 kbar for the MME. Field observations, chemical, mineralogical, and petrographical data suggest that theMME and HbBtGrd + BtGr formed as a result of a two-step evolution process. In the first step, a mantle-sourced basic magma with composition similar to the more basic MMEs fractionated (F = 0.40, 60% crystallization) and concurrently mixed with an acid magma, of composition similar to the more acid BtGr. The crystallized mineral assemblage is Qtz38.27Pl27.83Hb14.84Bt10.61Kf6.13Ap2.30Zrn0.02. The process evolved with a low r-value (r = 0.3) giving the more basic HbBtGrd. In the second step, evolved magma (more basic HbBtGrd) fractionated, while simultaneously mixing with the same acid magma, but with higher r-value (r = 0.8), giving the more evolved HbBtGrd and the BtGr after 50% crystallization (F = 0.50) to the phase assemblage Qtz30.07Pl27.75Hb5.59Bt3.33Kf23.26Tit5.86Ap1.91Zrn0.04Mt2.19. We interpret the evolution of the LGr through fractional crystallization; it formed by partial melting of gneisses or felsic charnokites and granoulites. The less evolved MME (basic end-member) had a mantle origin, whereas for the more evolved BtGr (acid end-member) we favour partial melting of gneisses or mafic charnokites. Detailed structural analysis shows a strong, polyphase Alpine deformation which affected the Hercynian Voras ploutonic rocks and is thoroughly imprinted on the host Pelagonian metamorphic basement rocks. No evidence of relict Hercynian structures has been recognized, possibly due to intense reworking by the younger Alpine deformation. We have identified five tectonic events (D1–D5) from the Late Jurassic to recent, that evolved progressively from ductile, synmetamorphic (D1, D2) to semi-ductile (D3), and finally brittle (D4, D5) conditions. Voras plutonic rocks in the EPZ, and Varnountas and Kastoria plutons in the KoWPZ, have similar major and trace element geochemistries, as well as structural evolution; they coevally intruded (Carboniferous) the Pelagonian continent as a single unit. They show similar crystallization pressures and mantle contributions for their genesis; both are related to a volcanic arc geotectonic setting, associated with the subduction of the Palaeotethys Ocean beneath the Pelagonian continental fragment, the latter possibly of Gondwana origin.

Rehabilitation Idea Begins at Sumers

The Demirci migmatitic quartzofeldspathic gneisses of the Sunnice Massif, exposed in the ‹stanbul Zone north of Bolu, have compositions that show them to be paragneisses, associated with subordinate para- amphibolites. They consist principally of metamorphosed, rather calcareous greywackes, with sediment derived from a continental arc source. They occur in the para-autochthon below a nappe pile (Cele meta-ophiolite), deformed and subjected to amphibolite facies metamorphism before the emplacement of late Neoproterozoic metavolcanic rocks later subjected to greenschist-facies metamorphism (Yellice volcanics). As they are overlain in sequence by nappes comprising sections of the Cele meta-ophiolite with ocean floor basalt and island arc tholeiite compositions respectively, the Demirci paragneisses may represent a section of the ancient continental basement on to which the meta-ophiolite was obducted during the Proterozoic.

Structural Organization and Tectono-Metamorphic Evolution of the Pan-African Suture Zone: Case of the Kabye and Kpaza Massifs in the Dahomeyide Orogen in Northern Togo (West Africa)

The Kabye and Kpaza Massifs correspond to two main granulitic suites in the suture zone of the Pan-African Dahomeyide orogenic belt, in northern Togo. The Kabye Massif is composed of an important west verging nappe pile subdivided into two petrographic units. The nappes in its western petrographic unit are made up of leucocratic garnetbearing granulites defined as the “Lassa-Soumdina Granulites” (GLS). The eastern petrographic unit consists of mela-nocratic granulites, with metagabbroic structures, called the “Ketao-Sirka Granulites” (GKS). These two petrographic units are separated by the Panalo Mylonitic Zone (ZMP). This major west verging zone includes a syn-Dn + 2 dextral shear contact. The Kpaza Massif comprises nappes of melanocratic granulites (GKM), comparable to the GKS of the Kabye Massif. All these granulitic nappes include boudins of pyroxenites or meta-anorthosites, and ultramafic rocks represented by serpentinites, talcschists, actinolite- and chlorite-schists which generally mark thrust soles. The GLS nappes are thrust over the Kara-Niamtougou orthogneissic unit (UKN) which is considered as the easternmost structural unit of the Dahomeyide external zone. On the other hand, the GKS nappes underlie those of the Binah meta-volcano sedimentary Complex (CB) which belongs to the Dahomeyide internal zone. As regards the Kpaza Massif, it occurs as a geologic window tectonically enclosed in the Mono Complex nappes (CM) corresponding to the southern part of the CB. The organization of the Kabye and Kpaza Massifs, as west verging nappe piles, and their relationships with the surrounding structural units express the tangential and folding tectonics that structured the Pan-African belt in northern Togo. The microstructures and mineral parageneses of the granulites and associated rocks in these two massifs indicate a polyphase tectono-metamorphic evolution: a syn-Dn granulitization (collision phase); a syn-Dn + 1 amphibolitization (obduction or tangential phase); and a syn- to post-Dn + 2 greenschist facies retrogressive metamorphism (post-nappe folding phase).

Seismicity and Seismotectonics Study in Southwestern Albania Using a Local Dense Seismic Network

Abstract The Albanides represent a complex orogen made up of a heterogeneous tectonic nappe pile of Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic domains. Albania is tectonically active, and moderate to strong earthquakes have occurred in the past. However, abundant microseismicity has not been monitored and studied by a dense seismic network. During this study, a seismic network of 40 stations was deployed in southern Albania for one year. A total of 2113 microearthquakes were well located. The most accurately located events and 810 focal mechanisms were used in order to define the seismotectonics and the stress pattern in the area. Results indicate that thrust and strike‐slip faulting both exist in southwestern Albania, suggesting a continuation of the complex tectonic setting of the neighboring northwestern Greece to the north.

Miocene core complex development and coeval supradetachment basin evolution of Paros, Greece, insights from (U–Th)/He thermochronometry

The Aegean region of Greece hosts a series of crustal-scale extensional detachment systems that have accommodated the southward retreating Hellenic subduction zone. Extension has overprinted and dissected the Alpine nappe pile and locally exhumed Cordilleran-type metamorphic core complexes. On the island of Paros, a low-angle extensional detachment fault separates metamorphic footwall rocks from an unmetamorphosed sedimentary succession of the hanging wall. Basement orthogneisses were extensionally sheared in the footwall of the detachment until after 16Ma (zircon U–Pb age of a slightly deformed granite), but pervasive ductile deformation had ceased by 7Ma (zircon U–Pb age of an undeformed rhyolite dike that intrudes gneisses). Apatite and zircon (U–Th)/He ages from the gneisses confirm a period of cooling at rates >100°C/Ma from 16 to 7Ma. In the upper-plate, the basal sedimentary unit yields reset detrital apatite (U–Th)/He (DAHe) ages from 17 to 7Ma and detrital zircon (U–Th)/He (DZHe) ages ranging from 270 to 18Ma. DAHe ages from the stratigraphically higher fanglomerate units are reset to 10–7Ma. The DZHe data have a primary thermal signature of 12–7Ma, but preserve ages up to 113Ma. The uppermost conglomerates exhibit completely reset DAHe ages of 15–9Ma and reset DZHe ages from 10 to 8Ma, with DZHe ages up to 104Ma. Reset DAHe ages indicate late exposure of the footwall and constrain the depositional age of most sedimentary rocks on Paros to be from 14 to 7Ma. Unreset DZHe ages preserve thermal signatures from the major Mesozoic–Tertiary tectonic events in the Aegean Region: [1] Cretaceous Pelagonian-type metamorphism; [2] Eocene peak HP metamorphism; and [3] Miocene Barrovian overprinting. Preservation of these signatures indicates long-term upper-plate recycling prior to syn-extensional deposition. The Paros supradetachment basin represents a classic inverted unroofing sequence deposited during progressive core complex exhumation in the Middle to Late Miocene.

Obducted nappe sequence in the San Juan Islands – northwest Cascades thrust system, Washington and British Columbia

The San Juan Islands – northwest Cascades thrust system in Washington and British Columbia is composed of previously accreted terranes now assembled as four broadly defined composite nappes stacked on a continental footwall of Wrangellia and the Coast Plutonic Complex. Emplacement ages of the nappe sequence are interpreted from zircon ages, field relations, and lithlogies, to young upward. The basal nappe was emplaced prior to early Turonian time (∼93 Ma), indicated by the occurrence of age-distinctive zircons from this nappe in the Sidney Island Formation of the Nanaimo Group. The emplacement age of the highest nappe in the thrust system postdates 87 Ma detrital zircons within the nappe. The nappes bear high-pressure – low-temperature (HP–LT) mineral assemblages indicative of deep burial in a thrust wedge; however, several features indicate that metamorphism occurred prior to nappe assembly: metamorphic discontinuities at nappe boundaries, absence of HP–LT assemblages in the footwall to the nappe pile, and absence of significant unroofing detritus in the Nanaimo Group. A synorogenic relationship of the thrust system to the Nanaimo Group is evident from mutually overlapping ages and by conglomerates of Nanaimo affinity that lie within the nappe pile. From the foregoing relations, and broader Cordilleran geology, the tectonic history of the nappe terranes is interpreted to involve initial accretion and subduction-zone metamorphism south of the present locality, uplift and exhumation, orogen-parallel northward transport of the nappes as part of a forearc sliver, and finally obduction at the present site over the truncated south end of Wrangellia and the Coast Plutonic Complex.

Radiolarian biostratigraphy and geochemistry of the Koziakas massif ophiolites (Greece)

AbstractThe Koziakas massif, located at the western boundary of the Thessaly plain, consists of a nappe pile, which includes from bottom to top: 1– the Paleocene-Eocene Pindos Flysch; 2– the Western Thessaly Units (WTU); 3– the Ophiolitic Nappe, which consists of four minor tectonic units: a) the ophiolite-bearing Koziakas Mélange; b) the Fourka Unit; c) a thin discontinuous level of amphibolites (Metamorphic sole); d) a “Peridotite Unit”.This work focuses on the study of both the radiolarian assemblages of cherts situated at the top of basalts and the geochemistry of the latter. Our data show that in the Fourka Unit the cherts overlying the various basalts have diverse ages: a) latest Anisian (associated to WPB-OIB), almost coeval to the trachyandesites effused onto the continental rifts to the west; b) Early Carnian-Middle Norian and Late Carnian-Early Norian (associated to WPB-OIB); c) Early Norian (associated to E-MORB). In the Koziakas Mélange the age is Early-Middle Bathonian (associated to WPB-OIB).These data confirm the geodynamic evolution hypothesized for all the other ophiolitic massifs of the southern portions of the Dinaric-Hellenic belt, which can be synthesized as follows: a) birth of the Vardar-“Maliac” ocean in the Middle Triassic, coeval to continental basins to the west (Pindos basin, etc.); b) ocean spreading until Late Jurassic with intraoceanic subduction at the beginning of Middle Jurassic, followed by intraoceanic obduction; c) closure of the ocean (latest Jurassic-earliest Cretaceous) and thrusting of the Ophiolitic Nappe onto the eastern continental margin of Adria (the Pelagonian); d) westward displacement of the Ophiolitic Nappe testified by the presence of ophiolitic detritus first in the WTU (latest Jurassic to Late Cretaceous) and then, to the west, in the Pindos Flysch (Paleocene-Eocene).

Constraints on the geodynamical evolution of Crete: insights from illite crystallinity, Raman spectroscopy and calcite twinning above and below the ‘Cretan detachment’

The Alpine nappes of Crete are commonly subdivided into a Lower and an Upper Nappe pile, both of which are considered to be separated by a low-angle extensional shear zone referred to as ‘Cretan detachment’. The presence of a detachment at the originally suggested position, however, is not supported by our data: (1) Neogene rocks are sandwiched between Tripolitza Unit and the Lower Nappes. (2) Calcite twinning analyses indicate that the major nappes on Crete were largely affected by subhorizontal, layer-parallel shortening rather than subvertical shortening. (3) Metamorphic Tripolitza carbonates resting on top of non-metamorphic Neogene strata on the one hand and illite crystallinity data on the other indicate inverse metamorphism along the ‘Cretan detachment’. (4) Raman spectra of carbonaceous material from rocks below the detachment are locally indicative for very low-grade or an absence of metamorphism within the Lower Nappes, indicating weaknesses of their present tectono-stratigraphical assignment to the Phyllite-Quartzite Unit. (5) Illite crystallinity in the Pindos Unit is substantially lower than in the Tripolitza Unit, although both Units are considered as the Upper Nappes. (6) Oxygene Isotope data indicate precipitation of twinned calcite veins at supercrustal conditions. These findings point to Miocene thrusting at supercrustal conditions, which postdates the exhumation of the Lower Nappes.

The Heggmovatn supracrustals, North Norway—A late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic (1050–930 Ma) terrane of Laurentian origin in the Scandinavian Caledonides

Rocks of the “Heggmovatn dome”, North Central Scandinavian Caledonides have traditionally been interpreted as a fold nappe involving Baltican basement rocks. They are also considered to be comparable in age to the orthogneisses in the Glomfjord dome to the south, the Rishaugfjell dome to the east and the Tysfjord culmination to the north, dated to ca. 1.7–1.8Ga. However, while these basement culminations are generally dominated by orthogneisses, the Heggmo area is composed of alternating metapsammites and metapelites intruded by both pre-and post-tectonic granitoids. U–Pb ID-TIMS ages on magmatic zircons from the syn/post-tectonic granitoids indicate a mid-Silurian emplacement age (ca. 430Ma) whereas zircons from a migmatitic biotite-rich pre-tectonic intrusive indicate a Grenvillian/Sveconorwegian crystallization age (ca. 925Ma). U–Pb LA-ICPMS ages on clastic zircons from the Heggmo metapsammites, coupled with ages from cross-cutting granitoid intrusives constrain the period of deposition of the sedimentary sequence to be between ca. 1050Ma and ca. 930Ma.There are strong similarities in lithologies, depositional age, age of clastic zircon populations and magmatic activity, to Laurentian derived supracrustal sequences, particularly, the Krummedal Sequence in Northeast Greenland. Based on these similarities and on its high tectonic position in the Caledonian nappe pile, the Heggmo rocks are reinterpreted to represent an exotic terrane of Laurentian affinity, probably derived from present day NE Greenland, and thrust onto Baltica as part of the Uppermost Allochthon during the Scandian phase (E. Devonian) of the Caledonian orogeny.