SW Margin Research Articles

Urban pocket-beach morphodynamics along the wave-dominated southwest coast of Lake Michigan: An analysis of shoreline and sand volumetric changes

Many of the world’s beaches are embayed, but while a large body of work addresses the geomorphology of pocket beaches in oceanic settings, little is known about urban analogs, especially within the Great Lakes of North America. Groins and jetties shelter these systems from direct interaction with littoral processes, which elsewhere can influence how changes in lake level, winter-ice cover, and wave climate impact beach evolution. We address the direct controls of these forcing parameters on beach morphodynamics over a 33-yr period at North Point Beach, which is confined to an engineered ‘container’ along Lake Michigan’s wave-dominated SW margin. Analysis of near-annual beach change suggests lake-level change is the dominant geomorphic driver over inter-annual to decadal timeframes, with winter ice playing a secondary role. Pocket-beach shoreline positions were found to be unreliable indicators of sand volumetric changes. Lake-level rise facilitated shoreline retreat and overwash-induced beach accretion while high lake levels created the accommodation for additional sands to enter the embayment. This is important for coastal managers to consider when developing mitigation strategies for ongoing lake-level fluctuations and anticipated regional climate impacts. This foundational assessment has implications for embayed beaches of the greater Chicago coastal margin (n > 20), where many other site-specific variables (e.g., groin orientations and shoreline aspect) may factor into nearshore and onshore beach morphodynamics. Continued research into urban pocket beaches of the Great Lakes stands to offer useful information on the impacts of littoral fragmentation on coastal sediment routing during different lake-level phases and degrees of littoral interconnectivity.

Beaufort–Mackenzie Tectono-Sedimentary Element

Abstract The Beaufort–Mackenzie Tectono-Sedimentary Element (TSE) is a post-rift sequence of the Canada Basin that consists of Late Cretaceous–Pleistocene sedimentary strata with a maximum thickness of over 12 km. The tectonics of the Canada Basin formation and the Cenozoic contractional deformation associated with the Cordilleran Orogeny jointly shaped and controlled the architecture and the depositional systems of the TSE. In the west, contractional deformation prevails, whereas in the east extensional deformation dominates, and gravitational deformation associated with growth faults is prominent in the far north. Early successions of Cenomanian–Early Maastrichtian age are composed of thin but commonly organic-rich muds (Boundary Creek, Smoking Hills and Mason River sequences) that were deposited on the continental margin. The main phase of sedimentation started in the Late Maastrichtian with the deposition of a series of large progradational delta complexes, which migrated oceanwards from the SW margin in the Paleogene to the central part of the TSE in the Pliocene in response to the rising Cordilleran orogen in the SW. Coal seams and gas-prone terrestrial-derived organic-rich interbeds in the Cenozoic sequences are the main source rocks for gas generation, whereas organic-rich marine shales in Cretaceous sequences are probably the source rocks for oil generation. The Beaufort–Mackenzie TSE is a proven petroleum province with many significant discoveries and a large undiscovered resource potential in oil, gas and methane hydrate.

Middle-late Miocene normal faulting in the intermontane Tarom basin during the collisional deformation of the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone, NW Iran: A regional process or a local feature?

• Magnetic fabric in the central Tarom Basin records NE-SW layer parallel shortening. • Magnetic fabric in the SW margin of the basin is a primary sedimentary fabric. • NE-SW orogen-perpendicular syndepositional extension occurs in the SW margin. • Normal faults in the SW margin were induced by gravity instabilities. • Middle-late Miocene extension is not regionally pervasive. The upper plate of the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone experienced orogen-perpendicular to orogen-parallel extension from 25–22 to 10–9 Ma. Although such an extension occurred during widespread collisional deformation, it is not clear if it is a local feature or if represents a major phase of upper plate extension. In this study we combine anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) with fault kinematic analysis and sedimentologic data from 16.2- to 7.6-My-old deposits of the Upper Red Formation of the intermontane Tarom Basin (NW Iran). These strata present syndepositional, normal faults and offer the possibility to gain new insights into the spatial extent of such a Miocene extension. AMS data from the central and northern sectors of the basin document a tectonic fabric with a magnetic lineation parallel to the strike of the orogen, suggesting a compressional tectonic overprint. Conversely, the southern margin of the basin presents a purely sedimentary magnetic fabric despite a ~NE–SW orogen-perpendicular extension. This suggests that basin formation was not driven by extensional tectonics. Rather, the normal faults are gravity instabilities induced as also documented by coeval landslide deposits. This allows concluding that the orogen-perpendicular extension observed in few sectors of the collision zone is not regionally pervasive and hence it is not controlled by large-scale processes. Combined, our results indicate that if orogen-parallel extension associated with tectonic denudation and metamorphic core complex development occurred in certain sectors of the collision zone (Takab complex), it must have ended before 19–16 Ma, when widespread upper plate contractional deformation started.

Thermal history of the East European Platform margin in Poland based on apatite and zircon low-temperature thermochronology

Abstract. The Phanerozoic tectonothermal evolution of the SW slope of the East European Platform (EEP) in Poland is reconstructed by means of thermal maturity, low-temperature thermochronometry, and thermal modelling. We provide a set of new thermochronometric data and integrate stratigraphic and thermal maturity information to constrain the burial and thermal history of sediments. Apatite fission track (AFT) analysis and zircon (U-Th)/He (ZHe) thermochronology have been carried out on samples of sandstones, bentonites, diabase, and crystalline basement rocks collected from 17 boreholes located in central and NE Poland. They penetrated sedimentary cover of the EEP subdivided from the north to south into the Baltic, Podlasie, and Lublin basins. The average ZHe ages from Proterozoic basement rocks as well as Ordovician to Silurian bentonites and Cambrian to lower Carboniferous sandstones range from 848 ± 81 to 255 ± 22 Ma with a single early Permian age of 288 Ma, corresponding to cooling after a thermal event. The remaining ZHe ages represent partial reset or source ages. The AFT ages of samples are dispersed in the range of 235.8 ± 17.3 Ma (Middle Triassic) to 42.1 ± 11.1 Ma (Paleogene) providing a record of Mesozoic and Cenozoic cooling. The highest frequency of the AFT ages is in the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous prior to Alpine basin inversion. Thermal maturity results are consistent with the SW-ward increase of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic sediments thickness. An important break in a thermal maturity profile exists across the base Permian–Mesozoic unconformity. Thermal modelling showed that significant heating of Ediacaran to Carboniferous sedimentary successions occurred before the Permian with maximum paleotemperatures in the earliest and latest Carboniferous for Baltic–Podlasie and Lublin basins, respectively. The results obtained suggest an important role of early Carboniferous uplift and exhumation at the SW margin of the EEP. The SW slope of the latter was afterward overridden in the Lublin Basin by the Variscan orogenic wedge. Its tectonic loading interrupted Carboniferous uplift and caused resumption of sedimentation in the late Viséan. Consequently, a thermal history of the Lublin Basin is different from that in the Podlasie and Baltic basins but similar to other sections of the Variscan foreland, characterized by maximum burial at the end of Carboniferous. The Mesozoic thermal history was characterized by gradual cooling from peak temperatures at the transition from Triassic to Jurassic due to decreasing heat flow. Burial caused maximum paleotemperatures in the SW part of the study area, where the EEP was covered by an extensive sedimentary pile. However, further NE, due to low temperatures caused by shallow burial, the impact of fluids can be detected by vitrinite reflectance, illite/smectite, and thermochronological data. Our new results emphasize the importance of using multiple low-temperature thermochronometers and thermal modelling in connection with thermal maturity analysis to elucidate the near-surface evolution of platform margins.

Detrital zircon U-Pb and Hf constraints on provenance and timing of deposition of the Mesoproterozoic to Cambrian sedimentary cover of the East European Craton, part II: Ukraine

We present the U-Pb geochronology and Hf isotope analysis of detrital zircons from the Ediacaran/Cambrian sediments of Podillya and south Volyn in western Ukraine, supplemented by the bulk rock XRD mineralogy of the host rocks. Such a combined analytical approach allows for identifying the source areas supplying detritus to sediments and for constraining an age of deposition. Our provenance analysis is based on fourteen samples collected from six exposures, mostly in the valley of the Dniester river. 84 mudstone samples were also examined by the XRD method. U-Pb dating of detrital zircons yielded two sets of maximum depositional ages: 578–546 Ma and 547–523 Ma, for the Mohyliv-Podilsky and Kanyliv Series, respectively. This suggests that the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary in Podillya coincides with a major erosional gap, with a major change in provenance, and the disappearance of the Ediacaran fauna at the base of the Kanyliv Series, with implications for the stratigraphy and paleogeography of the entire East European Platform. Zircon U-Pb age spectra from the lower part of the Mohyliv-Podilsky Series include a large quantity of 2.2 to 1.9 Ga grains that reveal predominantly negative to nearly chondritic ɛHf values, jointly suggesting detritus supply from the crystalline basement of Sarmatia. Both U-Pb and mineralogical data also indicate a major contribution of volcanic detritus from the Volyn flood basalts. The younger Nagoryany rocks yielded zircon age spectra with peaks at c. 1.80 and 1.49 Ga, implying a shift of the catchment area to Fennoscandia. Above an erosional gap, the zircon age spectra in the Kanyliv and Baltic Series are dominated by peaks at 560–535 Ma. These data and ɛHf values ranging from negative to chondritic and juvenile suggest, in line with the mineralogical data, detritus supply from a continental magmatic arc and collisional orogen. Thus, we interpret the Kanyliv Series as infill of an early Cambrian foreland basin that was established in front of the Scythides and Santacrucides orogens, overriding the SW margin of Baltica.

Evolution of Neoarchean–Paleoproterozoic basement in the Brunovistulia terrane, S Poland: geological, P-T and geochemical records

Brunovistulia is a composite terrane of Gondwana descent that eventually was accreted to the SW margin of Baltica, central Europe. It is built of metagneous and metasedimentary rocks that originated mainly between 650 and 550 Ma. However in the Upper Silesian part of Brunovistulia, much older fragments have been drilled, which yielded U-Pb zircon ages between 2.75 and 2.0 Ga. They have been interpreted as an “exotic” constituent of the Brunovistulia superterrane, named the Rzeszotary Terrane. Our geological and geochemical studies of the Rzeszotary borehole cores yielded new data on the composition, provenance and evolution of that terrane. Precursors of the Rzeszotary complex were separated from the depleted mantle prior to or around 3.2–3.0 Ga. At 2.75–2.6 Ga, a juvenile magmatic arc edifice formed, beneath which oceanic lithosphere was subducted. Decompression melting of the mantle brought about tholeiite magmas of IAT/MORB composition with LILE additions. Tonalitic and trondhjemitic precursors of gneisses present today were formed at that time, probably due to partial melting of mantle-derived wet basalts at the base of the island arc. Around 2.0 Ga, the arc collided with an unspecified cratonic mass and was subject to orogenic deformation, metamorphism and migmatization. The entire arc edifice was then strongly shortened and forced down to depths equivalent to ~6–12 kbar where the rocks underwent contractional deformation and metamorphism (~500–700°C). Tonalites and trondhjemites were changed to gneisses, and basites to epidote- and garnet amphibolites. These rocks underwent syntectonic migmatization through the mechanism of segregation/differentiation in the presence of fluids and incipient partial melting. Synmetamorphic shortening of the rock pile, which led to folding and heterogeneous development of shear zones with thrust kinematics, terminated with intrusions of K-granites at 2.0 Ga, being followed by some brittle-ductile deformation of unconstrained timing. The 2.0 Ga event may have been connected with the 2.1–1.8 Ga global amalgamation of the Paleoproterozoic supercontinent of Columbia. Later the future Rzeszotary terrane was detached from the Gondwana mainland, reassembled and eventually, in the Neoproterozoic, it became part of the foreland of the Cadomian Orogen in Central Europe.

Genesis of end-Guadalupian bauxite and pyrite deposits in the Youjiang Basin (South China): Insights into the causative link between magmatic events and mass extinction

Mass extinction was commonly considered as the response to interaction between geosystems, and volcanism can be viewed as a vital link between the surface systems and deep geodynamic processes. This causative link between end-Guadalupian mass extinction and volcanism has been clarified, based on the research of bauxite and pyrite deposits in the Youjiang Basin, South China Block (SCB). Geochronological and geochemical evidences show that the source materials of bauxite-pyrite deposits were mainly derived from the Emeishan large igneous province (LIP) to the northwest and the continental arc along the SW margin of SCB associated with the subduction of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean underneath the Indochina block. Volcanic ash fallout by atmospheric dispersal driven by the easterly trade winds could best account for the spatial variation of both bauxite and pyrite deposits given their relative paleogeographic positions with respect to the two flanking sources. Massive volcanic tephra from arc volcanism fell on exposed carbonate platforms, underwent intensive chemical weathering and transformed into bauxites under the warm and humid tropical climate in Tethys, which could be also favored by acid precipitation caused by volcanic degassing. Extensive SO2 released from Emeishan LIP emission could be the major source of pyrite ores, probably with minor contribution from arc volcanism. This indicates that the prolonged and extensive continental arc volcanism induced environmental stress in the poorly-ventilated Paleo-Tethys Ocean, while the coincidental eruption of the large igneous provinces was the final straw, leading to the dramatic biotic crises during the Middle-Late Permian interval.

Crustal Structure of the UAE‐Oman Mountain Range and Arabian Rifted Passive Margin: New Constraints From Active and Passive Seismic Methods

AbstractThe Semail ophiolite, a thick thrust sheet of Late Cretaceous oceanic crust and upper mantle, was obducted onto the previously rifted Arabian continental margin in the Late Cretaceous, and now forms part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)‐Oman mountain belt. A deep foreland basin along the west and SW margin of the mountains developed during the obduction process, as a result of flexure due to loading of the ophiolite and underlying thrust sheets. The nature of the crust beneath the deep sedimentary basins that flank the mountain belt, and the extent to which the Arabian continental crust has thickened due to the obduction process are outstanding questions. We use a combination of active‐ and passive‐source seismic data to constrain the stratigraphy, velocity structure and crustal thickness beneath the UAE‐Oman mountains and its bounding basins. Depth‐migrated multichannel seismic reflection profile data are integrated in the modeling of traveltimes from long offset reflections and refractions, which are used to resolve the crustal thickness and velocity structure along two E‐W onshore/offshore transects in the UAE. Additionally, we apply the virtual deep seismic sounding method to distant earthquake data recorded along the two transects to image crustal thickness variations. Active seismic methods define the Semail ophiolite as a high‐velocity body dipping to the east at 40°–45°. The new crustal thickness model presented in this work provides evidence that a crustal root is present beneath the Semail ophiolite, suggesting that folding and thrusting during the obduction process may have thickened the pre‐existing crust by 16 km.

Eustatic and local tectonic impact on the Late Ordovician – early Silurian facies evolution on the SW margin of peri-Baltica (the southern Holy Cross Mountains, Poland)

AbstractThis paper provides insight into the Late Ordovician to earliest Silurian evolution of sedimentary environments in the southern Holy Cross Mountains (SE Poland), which at that time were a part of the SW periphery of Baltica. The facies layout in this area was influenced by the basement block faulting, which differentiated the basin bathymetry into submarine horst and grabens, controlling facies distribution. However, the local tectonism was insufficient to fully mask the global eustatic events. Therefore, it is possible to correlate some facies changes in the Upper Ordovician and lower Llandovery sedimentary record of the southern Holy Cross Mountains with eustatic and palaeoceanographic changes reported worldwide. The most noticeable influence of eustasy on the sedimentary record in the studied area occurs at the Ordovician/Silurian boundary. It is manifested by Hirnantian regressive coarse-grained clastic sediments overlain by a post-glacial anoxic/dysoxic interval represented by the Rhuddanian transgressive black cherts and shales. It is noteworthy that the pre- and post-Hirnantian sedimentary environments in the southern Holy Cross Mountains were affected by upwelling induced by the SE trade winds.

Structural evolution and related implications for uranium mineralization in the Patterson Lake corridor, southwestern Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada

The Patterson Lake corridor is situated along the SW margin of the Athabasca Basin and contains several basement-hosted uranium deposits and prospects. Drill core investigations during this study have determined that granite, granodiorite, mafic and alkali intrusive basement rocks are entrained in a deep-seated NE-striking subvertical heterogeneous high-strain zone defined by anastomosing ductile to semi-brittle shears and brittle faults. The earliest phases of ductile deformation (D 1 /D 2 ), linked with Taltson (1.94–1.92 Ga) orogenesis, involved interference between early fold sets (F 1 /F 2 ) and development of an associated ductile transposition foliation (S 1 /S 2 ). During subsequent Snowbird ( c. 1.91–1.90 Ga) tectonism, this composite foliation was re-folded (D 3 ) by NE-trending buckle-style folds (F 3 ), including a regional fold centred on the Clearwater aeromagnetic high. In continuum with D 3 , a network of dextral-reverse chloritic-graphitic shears, with C–S geometry, formed initially (D 4a ) and progressed to more discrete, spaced semi-brittle structures (D 4b ; c. 1.900–1.819 Ga). Basin development (D 5a ; < c. 1.819 Ga) was marked by a set of north-striking normal faults and related east- and NE-striking transfer faults that accommodated subsidence. Primary uranium mineralization (D 5b ; c . 1.45 Ga) was facilitated by brittle reactivation of NE-striking basement shears in response to WSW–ENE-directed compressional stress ( σ 1 ). Uraninite was emplaced along σ 1 -parallel extension fractures and dilational zones formed at linkages between NE- and ENE-striking dextral strike-slip faults. Uranium remobilization (D 5c ) occurred after σ 1 shifted to WNW–ESE, giving rise to regional east- and SE-striking conjugate faults, along which mafic dykes (1.27 and 1.16 Ga) intruded. Thematic collection: This article is part of the Uranium Fluid Pathways collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/uranium-fluid-pathways

The Faja Eruptiva of the Eastern Puna and the Sierra de Calalaste, NW Argentina: U–Pb zircon chronology of the early Famatinan orogeny

The Famatinian is a segment of the Ordovician Terra Australis accretionary orogen that stretched along the SW Margin of Gondwana from Australia to Colombia. The present knowledge of this orogenic segment still is incomplete. We present geochemistry and U–Pb SHRIMP zircon geochronology of igneous and metamorphic rocks from the Central Famatinian Domain, one of the several domains recognized by Rapela et al. (Earth Sci Rev 187: 259–285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2018.10.006 ) that includes the northern Sierras Pampeanas and the southern Puna of North West Argentina. Six samples of igneous rocks (peraluminous granitoids, mafic and felsic rocks, volcanic/subvolcanic rocks) and six samples of associated meta-sedimentary rocks, all from the Puna were dated and chemically analysed. The results indicate that the Central Famatinian Domain is in turn a composite domain that includes a Cordilleran-type magmatic arc (ca. 470 Ma) and a yuxtaposed fault-bounded older terrain formed in an extensional setting at the very start of the Famatinian orogeny, between 480 and 485 Ma, i.e., shortly after the SW Gondwana margin switched from passive to active. This short period of extension with related sedimentation, volcanism and mainly granitoid plutonism has not been previously recognised. It occurred before the Cordilleran-type magmatic arc -that resulted from a magmatic flare-up between ca. 473 and 468 Ma-, set up coincident with a contractional phase. The evidence confirms that accretionary orogeny results from tectonic switching (pull–push orogeny) and that the extensional and contractional phases are of relatively short duration.

The Kimmeridgian of the south-western margin of the Holy Cross Mts., central Poland: stratigraphy and facies development. Part I. From deep-neritic sponge megafacies to shallow water carbonates

The stratigraphical interval of the Kimmeridgian between the Bimammatum and the Hypselocylum zones in the SW margin of the Holy Cross Mts. shows a transition from the open shelf deep-neritic sponge megafacies to the shallow-water carbonate platform, including its development and decline. The uniform progradation of the shallow-water carbonate platform occurred at the end of the Planula Chron. Development of the shallow-water carbonate platform was controlled by climatic and tectonic factors. The former induced by orbital cyclicity resulted in changes of sea-level, revealed i.a. by the incoming of open-marine ammonite faunas, the latter were related to the synsedimentary activity of faults which resulted in contrasted facies changes. The episodically occurring strong influx of siliciclastic material was at least partly controlled by the tectonic activity. The newly elaborated formal lithostratigraphic subdivision takes into account the facies development of the succession in relation to climatically and tectonically induced changes. Such is e.g. the Małogoszcz Oolite Formation, corresponding to a single 100-kyr eccentricity cycle from the late Platynota Chron to the earliest Hypselocyclum Chron, bordered from the base and top by two transgressive climatically-controlled levels. The final stage of the shallow-water platform development at the end of the Hypselocyclum Chron was marked by the successive limitation of restricted environments, and the appearance of more open-marine conditions related to tectonic subsidence of the area of study. Comparison between the carbonate platform development of the Holy Cross Mts. in central Poland, and the coeval shallow-water carbonates of the Jura Mts. in northern Switzerland and south-eastern France provides an opportunity to consider similarities in the successions which can be attributed to the climatically-controlled sedimentary cyclicity and/or the wide-ranged tectonic phenomena. The palaeontological part of the study gives comments on the classification and phylogeny of ammonites of the families Ataxioceratidae and Aulacostephanidae.

Multi-isotope tracing of the 1.3–0.9 Ga evolution of Fennoscandia; crustal growth during the Sveconorwegian orogeny

Magmatism between 1.3 and 0.9 Ga at the southwestern margin of Fennoscandia, comprising mainly granitic batholiths and subordinate bimodal volcanic rocks, provides a nearly continuous magmatic record of the Fennoscandian tectonic evolution. Here, we present new and published zircon Hf, K-feldspar Pb and whole-rock Sr isotopic data from the granitic rocks. The εHf isotopic evolution since 1300 Ma starts out as relatively juvenile, with a flat superchondritic trend at 1300–1130 Ma followed by a steeper trend towards lower, but still superchondritic values at 1070–1010 Ma. During the 1000–920 Ma period, the trend flattens out at near-chondritic values. The variations between flat and steep εHf trends correspond to previously documented extensional and compressional periods, respectively. Although the change to a steeper εHf trend at ca. 1100 Ma may indicate the emergence of a new isotopic reservoir (i.e. a colliding continent), there is no corresponding change in the K-feldspar Pb or whole-rock Sr isotopic composition. We argue that the trends are better explained by varying proportions of isotopically evolved crust and juvenile mantle in the magma source regions, similar to Nd and Hf isotopic pull-downs and pull-ups observed in many accretionary orogenic systems. We therefore conclude that continuous accretionary processes without involvement of exotic sources is the best explanation for the isotopic evolution before and during the Sveconorwegian orogeny, and that the orogeny involved generation of significant volumes of new crust to the SW margin of the Fennoscandia.

Lower Kimmeridgian facies and sedimentary succession of a shallow-water coated-grain-dominated carbonate ramp of the northern peri-Tethyan shelf: an example from the Radomsko Folds (central Poland)

An Upper Jurassic succession is exposed in the active Rogaszyn Quarry (Kodrąb area) located in the Radomsko Folds structure (central Poland). Six facies types were distinguished, comprising oolitic, oncolitic, biodetrital and pelitic limestones as well as marls and marly clays. Typical lithologies are limestones with coated grains deposited in shallow-water, fore-shoal, shoal and lagoonal parts of a carbonate ramp. Three types of ooid and three types of oncoid were identified, which display several shapes and sizes, and a complex structure of cortices. The ooid types show micritic, radial-fibrous and mixed, micritic/radial-fibrous cortices. Type 1 oncoids comprise micritic or bioclastic nuclei enveloped by non-laminated or laminated micritic cortices. Type 2 oncoids are composed of micritic or bioclastic nuclei and laminated, fossil-bearing cortices covered by microbial envelopes. Type 3 oncoids are the largest of the oncoids observed, attaining cm-scale dimensions. These oncoids are formed of a Bacinella-dominated meshwork incorporating smaller ooids and oncoids, or they have bioclastic or micritic nuclei covered by complex cortices with micritic, laminated, fossil-bearing, Bacinella-dominated fabric and microbial envelopes. Boundaries between the specific types of cortical envelopes are usually sharp and accentuated by organic encrustations, elongated bioclasts or borings. Commonly found are chambers of the ichnogenus Entobia representing the boring traces of carbonate-excavating sponges and the cryptoendolithic foraminifer Troglotella incrustants . The complex cortices indicate different growth stages of oncoids at different conditions of currents and microbial activity. Carbonate deposition was accompanied by mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sedimentation resulting in multiple intercalated layers of marls and pelitic limestones as well as marly clays. The deposits exposed in the Rogaszyn Quarry as well as in the Kodrąb area are compared with the neighbouring Upper Jurassic deposits of the Szczerców area and the SW margin of the Holy Cross Mts. (both central Poland). The successions from the Kodrąb area are generally similar to the Lower Kimmeridgian sequences known from adjacent areas, but with locally observed facies variability.

Alteration of Granitoids and Uranium Mineralization in the Blatná Suite of the Central Bohemian Plutonic Complex, Czech Republic

The Bohemian magmatic complex belongs to granitoid plutons of the Central European Variscides. Hydrothermal uranium mineralization evolved in the small uranium deposits Nahošín and Mečichov is associated with N–S shear zones occurring on the SW margin of the Central Bohemian plutonic complex formed by amphibole-bearing biotite granodiorites of the Blatná suite. The purpose of presented study is description of uranium mineralization bounded on brittle shear zones, which is coupled with intense low-temperature hydrothermal alteration of granitic rocks. Uranium mineralization, formed predominantly of coffinite, rare uraninite, and thorite, is accompanied by intense hematitization, albitization, chloritization, and carbonatization of original granitic rocks that could be described as aceites. These alterations are accompanied by the enrichment in U, Ti, Mg, Ca, Na, K, Y, and Zr and depletion in Si, Ba, and Sr. The analyzed coffinite is enriched in Y (up to 3.1 wt % Y2O3). Uraninite is enriched in Th (up to 9.8 wt % ThO2) and thorite is enriched in Zr (up to 5.7 wt % ZrO2). The REE-elements are concentrated in the REE-fluorcarbonate synchysite-(Ce).

A reappraisal of K-Ar and new U-Pb age data for felsic rocks in the vicinity of the Kraków-Lubliniec Fault Zone (southern Poland)

New U-Pb zircon SHRIMP determinations from magmatic silicic rocks adjacent to the NE part of the Upper Silesia Coal Basin (USB) are provided and compared with earlier data obtained by K-Ar dating. The zircon samples studied came from the same boreholes and depth intervals previously sampled for K-Ar datings. Recalculations of the earlier K-Ar values for biotites yielded isochron ages in the range of 297–309 Ma. The zircon U-Pb SHRIMP values gave more precise ages between 300.1 ±1.2 Ma and 292.6 ±1.3 Ma (1σ) consistent with U-Pb and Re-Os determinations. In two cases, the recalculated results of K-Ar dates were nearly identical with those obtained from the SHRIMP isotopic analyses. In this context, the granitoids and porphyries of the USB area, once assigned to the Carboniferous-Permian based on the older K-Ar studies, actually are of the same age as other felsic igneous rocks from the vicinity of the Krakow-Lubliniec Fault Zone, with a higher dating precision, however. The new data underline the importance of Late Carboniferous- Early Permian felsic magmatism at the SW margin of the Trans-European Suture Zone in southern Poland. In the zircon populations dated, besides the dominant Late Paleozoic ages, there are some inherited zircon cores, likely remnant detrital grains from a sediment component in the source rocks, that reveal much older ages which range from ~2051 to 569 Ma.

Geochronology of the Volyn volcanic complex at the western slope of the East European Craton – Relevance to the Neoproterozoic rifting and the break-up of Rodinia/Pannotia

Thick Neoproterozoic rift sequences along the western margin of the East European Craton (EEC) are classically attributed to rifting leading to break-up of super-continent Rodinia/Pannotia. Rifting was associated with intense, mainly mafic, volcanism, known as the Volyn Series, in the Lublin-Podlasie Basin (LPB) and in the Orsha-Volyn Aulacogen. Legacy deep boreholes in Poland provide continuous section through the volcanic series. Zircon from nine samples of tuff layers interbedded with basalt, from four boreholes, were dated with the U–Pb method with SHRIMP. The samples contain syn-eruptive zircons, together with zircon recycled from previous ash falls and zircon from the surrounding Proterozoic basement. The youngest volcanic zircon cluster from each sample of the studied tuff samples yielded concordia ages stratigraphically consistent, which document eruption events that took place between 567.1 ± 4.7 Ma and 551.0 ± 4 Ma. The most intense development of lavas and pyroclastics took place at ca. 557–555 Ma and ca. 567–560 Ma. Older volcanogenic zircon grains, inherited from previous phases of volcanic activity, preceding actual eruptions, were are dated at 588.0 ± 8 Ma to 580 ± 8.1 Ma. Age spectrum of xenocrysts zircon grains, inherited from the crystalline basement rocks of the LPB, ranges from ca. 1830 Ma to ca. 1480 Ma, coherent with the known late Paleoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic age of crust-forming events in the western part of the EEC. The late Ediacaran syn-rift igneous activity in the LPB continued over a time span of approx. 37 My. It developed along both the SW margin of emerging Baltica and in the western the Orsha-Volyn Aulacogen. The study area was located at the intersection of these regional structures, being thus a site of development of an incipient triple junction, related to Rodinia/Pannotia break-up. Further extension along the SW margin of Baltica led to its separation from the plate adjacent to the west, and to the subsequent development of continental passive margin. Final emergence of Baltica, as an individual palaeocontinent, took place at ca. 550 Ma.

Symmetry of the South China Sea conjugate margins in a rifting, drifting and collision context

The symmetry of conjugate rifted margins is a first-order observable feature reflecting the geodynamic processes acting during and after continental rifting. The symmetry of the South China Sea (SCS) rifted margins can be deduced from comprehensive geophysical datasets on a continental-margin scale. Here, we combine three key approaches: (1) lateral fault distributions are delineated according to free-air gravity anomalies, (2) crustal stretching styles are mapped based on gravity inversion constrained by deep seismic profiles, and (3) total extension of conjugate margins is estimated according to margin restorations and tectonic settings. We infer a predominantly symmetric rifting style caused by pure shear extension, with only narrow domains of asymmetric deformation in continent-ocean transition (COT) regions that have undergone simple shear and where the lower crust of the highly thinned distal margin is embrittled before continental breakup. However, our analysis also suggests that this symmetry has been modified by post-rift geodynamic processes. Southward lower crustal flow, which occurred only on the southern margin due to the low viscosity of the lower crust and the slab pull induced by the subducting Proto-SCS plate during seafloor spreading, shifted the crustal stretching styles from symmetric to asymmetric. The collision between the southern margin and Borneo thickened the lower crust more than the upper crust at the southern end of the southern margin and shortened the southern margin. This event had a large impact on the SE margin but a small impact on the SW margin. We conclude that (1) for the SE and NE margins, the crustal stretching styles shifted from asymmetric to approximately symmetric, and the total extension shifted from symmetric to asymmetric; (2) for the SW and NW margins, the crustal stretching and total extension remained asymmetric and symmetric, respectively. • The total extensions are asymmetric in the eastern margins, but symmetric in the western margins. • The crustal stretching styles of the eastern margins are approximately symmetric, but asymmetric in the western margins. • Post-rifting lower crust flow and collision modified margin symmetry.

Multiphase magmatic overprinting in the Late Jurassic Laoniushan pluton at the SW margin of the North China Craton: Geochronological and petrogenetic constraints

Late Mesozoic granitoids are widely emplaced in the Qinling Orogen on the southern margin of North China Craton (NCC), and can provide important clues on the Late Mesozoic regional geodynamic setting. The Late Jurassic Laoniushan granitic pluton is located in the western end of the southern NCC margin. Zircon U–Pb dating for the granodiorite, quartz diorite, and biotite monzogranite of the pluton yielded 152.5 ± 1.6 Ma, 148.7 ± 1.2 Ma, and 149–146 Ma, respectively. Compilation of the single zircon ages revealed magmatic peaks at ca. 146, 152, and 163 Ma, suggesting multiphase Late Jurassic magmatism. These granitoids are high‐K calc‐alkaline, I‐type, and metaluminous to weakly peraluminous. The rocks show chondrite‐normalised LREE enrichments, HREE depletions and flat HREE patterns, together with (slightly) negative Eu, Nb, Ta, P, and Ti anomalies. The Laoniushan granodiorite and biotite monzogranite have similar REE patterns to the quartz diorite, but the former two have much smaller Eu anomalies than the latter. The negative zircon εHf(t) (−32.6 to −13.7), εNd(t) (−20.7 to −14.3) and crustal‐like whole‐rock trace‐elemental ratios (e.g., Nb/Ta, Th/U, Nb/U, and Ce/Pb), together with the low Mg (MgO = 0.18–2.02 wt%, Mg# = 20–34), Cr (7.00–39.0 ppm), and Ni (0.80–4.00 ppm) contents, suggests that the Late Jurassic granitoids were probably derived from the partial melting of ancient crustal rocks with minor mantle‐derived input. The granodiorite and quartz diorite have similar average εHf(t) (−26.5 and −26.7, respectively), εNd(t) (−20.5 and −20.2, respectively), TDM2(Hf) (2880 and 2885 Ma, respectively) and TDM2(Nd; 2607 and 2578 Ma, respectively), whereas the biotite monzogranite has higher average εHf(t) (−17.1) and εNd(t) (−15.3), and younger TDM2(Hf) (2281 Ma) and TDM2(Nd) (2176 Ma). This suggests that the biotite monzogranite has different magma sources and shallower magma formation depths compared to the granodiorite and quartz diorite. The latter two were likely formed by the partial melting of continental crustal rocks (notably the Taihua Group basement rocks), which was triggered by mantle underplating led by asthenospheric upwelling. The Late Jurassic Laoniushan granitoids may have formed in an extensional setting caused by the Palaeo‐Pacific Plate subduction beneath Eastern China. Commencement of Late Jurassic Laoniushan granitic magmatism likely marked the incipient of lithospheric thinning along the southern NCC margin. Considering also the regional geological evolution, we conclude that although the Laoniushan pluton exhibits spatial–temporal relationships with the nearby Mo (–U) and REE deposits, there is still no unambiguous metallogenic link with these deposits.

Low-temperature thermochronology of the South Atlantic margin along Uruguay and its relation to tectonic events in West Gondwana

The geodynamic forces acting during Jurassic-Cretaceous South Atlantic rifting provoked intense transformations in West Gondwana, such as the reactivation of ancient basement structures, voluminous magmatism and general uplift of the new continental margins. Low-temperature thermochronology records cooling associated with uplift syn- and post-breakup along the Brazilian margin, while further south, in Uruguay, mostly pre-breakup uplift is identified. Thermochronometry data are scarce in Uruguay, but previous studies suggest that basement cooling and exhumation preceded West Gondwana breakup by hundreds of millions of years. To improve our knowledge of Uruguay's thermotectonic evolution, in this study we present 19 apatite fission-track ages, 42 apatite and 40 zircon (UTh)/He single crystal ages for the Uruguayan shield (UYS), from which we modeled 19 inverse thermal histories. Our results suggest that the UYS temperatures were below 200 °C since the early Paleozoic, and that cooling below 110 °C started during the Carboniferous, with continuous exhumation of the basement until Early Cretaceous. The onset of this long-term uplift is correlated with orogenesis and terrane accretions in the SW margin of West Gondwana during the Paleozoic. Lithosphere thinning and uplift preceding breakup contributed to the continuous Late Paleozoic to middle Mesozoic exhumation, until the voluminous volcanism of the Paraná-Etendeka Large Igneous Province (c. 133 Ma). This magmatic event, combined with the thermal influence of the Tristão da Cunha mantle plume and rift spreading, likely raised the basement geotherm during the Late Cretaceous. Models suggest a slight increase in temperatures of the UYS from Late Cretaceous until the Oligocene, when a final cooling to surface temperatures took place. Our findings corroborate a long and complex thermal history for Uruguay, with crustal uplift occurring essentially before West Gondwana breakup.