Transpressional Shear Zone Research Articles

The South Purulia Shear Zone, eastern India: Its anatomy and implication for timing the Rodinia-age collision in the eastern part of the Central Indian Tectonic Zone

The Proterozoic Central Indian Tectonic Zone (CITZ) is an ~1500-km-long collision zone between the North India and the South India blocks. The age of collision is debated, but constraining the age of collision is crucial for reconstructing the paleogeographic position of India in the Precambrian. In this study, mesoscale structures, metamorphic pressure-temperature path, U-Pb zircon dates, and monazite chemical dates are combined to constrain the collision age. In the eastern part of the CITZ, the North Singhbhum Mobile Belt (NSMB) comprising 1.5–1.3 Ga low-grade phyllites and schists and the 1.88 Ga Ranibandh granitoid are juxtaposed with the Chottanagpur Gneiss Complex (CGC; eastern CITZ) dominated by 1.76 Ga anatectic basement gneisses intruded by 1.67 Ga, 1.57 Ga, and pre-collisional 1.02 Ga felsic intrusives. The juxtaposition of the disparately evolved crustal domains along the South Purulia Shear Zone (SPSZ) involved top-to-the-south thrusting consistent with amphibolite facies loading. Continued oblique N-S shortening of the thickened crust led to nucleation of ESE-striking, steeply dipping left-lateral transpressional shear zones tens of kilometers wide that obliterated pre-collisional structures in the rheologically weak NSMB phyllites and schists but are weakly developed in the rheologically strong CGC rocks. The 1.02–0.91 Ga oblique collision between the North India and South India blocks along the SPSZ suggests the paleopole data pre-dating the collision are unlikely to ascertain the paleogeographic position of the Indian landmass because the landmass did not exist in its entirety before 1.02–0.91 Ga. But the paleopole data may help locate the North India and South India blocks independent of each other.

Tectonics of the Mw 6.8 Al Haouz earthquake (Morocco) reveals minor role of asthenospheric upwelling

A reliable identification of the fault responsible for the magnitude 6.8 Al Haouz earthquake that struck Morocco on 8 September 2023 has so far been hampered by a lack of accurate tectonic analyses. Here we provide the first updated tectonic framework of the earthquake epicentral area based on original field data. We cast our results into the context of available geomorphological, thermochronological and geophysical constraints, and discuss the earthquake characteristics within the framework of competing tectonic models either based on asthenospheric upwelling or transpressional tectonics. We found that the Al Haouz earthquake was likely generated by rupture along a north-dipping high-angle fault, linking former fault planes belonging to an orogen-scale WSW-ESE transpressional shear zone. The geological evolution and seismotectonic structure of the region are largely governed by the oblique convergence of tectonic plates. The impact of asthenospheric upwelling, if any, remains limited and may only influence the geomorphological evolution of the Western High Atlas, but cannot explain the seismotectonic and geological features observed today at the surface, which are instead effects of transpressional tectonics.

Kinematic analysis of the Caçapava do Sul Granitic Complex, southern Brazil: Ediacaran syntectonic magmatism and strain partitioning during inclined ductile extrusion along a transpressional shear zone, Dom Feliciano Belt

The Caçapava do Sul Granitic Complex is a ca. 30 km-long syntectonic batholith emplaced at 580-560 Ma along the N–S to NNE-SSW striking Caçapava do Sul Shear Zone, configuring the core of a double-plunging regional asymmetric antiformal fold, with the Passo Feio Metamorphic Complex metavolcanosedimentary wallrocks occurring at the fold limbs. Structural mapping and kinematic analysis along its whole margins allowed to subdivide the granite complex into seven structural domains, each with its own geometric characteristics and kinematics. The observed microstructures included abundant K-feldspar and plagioclase porphyroclasts with asymmetric recrystallization tails, S–C and S–C–C’ fabrics, and more rarely synmagmatic fractures and asymmetrically developed myrmekites. In general, high temperature microstructures are abundant in the southern half of the granitic complex, while these features are overprinted by low temperature brittle-ductile to brittle microstructures in its northern half. The Southern Domain presents foliations with medium angle dip towards the south, high rake lineation towards the SSW and normal shear sense indicators. The Northwestern and Southwestern domains present mainly subvertical N–S striking foliations with sub-horizontal lineations mostly plunging towards SSW and abundant sinistral shear sense indicators. On the other hand, Southeastern and Santos Ferreira domains presents predominantly NE-SW striking foliations with variably dip and sub-horizontal lineations with abundant dextral shear sense indicators. The Northeastern Domain presents low angle foliation dipping towards the NE, which is also locally described in the Southeastern Domain. Dominantly normal movement with top to NE is described in the Northeastern Domain, also locally reported in the Southeastern Domain. The Northern Domain presents low-angle foliation dipping towards the N, with high rake lineation. No shear sense indicator was observed in the Northern Domain due to brittle deformation overprint, but normal kinematics is inferred. The opposite kinematics of the distinct Caçapava do Sul Shear Zone margins are corroborated by punctual data from the Passo Feio Metamorphic Complex rocks. This is compatibilized by the resultant syntectonic granite flow towards N/NE, which is interpreted in a model of oblique transpression with inclined ductile extrusion. The model suggests that transpression of the middle crust had an important pure shear component which was effectively partitioned into structural domains along the Caçapava do Sul Shear Zone in consequence of post-collisional syntectonic magmatism, and coexisted with extensional tectonics in the upper crust (Camaquã Basin) through a detachment along the brittle-ductile transition.

Transtension or transpression? Tectono-metamorphic constraints on the formation of the Monte Grighini dome (Sardinia, Italy) and implications for the Southern European Variscan belt

This work presents an integrated structural, kinematic, and petrochronological study of the Monte Grighini dome within the Variscan hinterland–foreland transition zone of Sardinia (Italy). The area is characterised by dextral transpressive deformation partitioned into low- and high-strain zones (Monte Grighini shear zone, MGSZ). Geothermobarometry of one sample of sillimanite-bearing mylonitic metapelite indicates that the Monte Grighini shear zone developed under high-temperature (~ 625 °C) and low-pressure (~ 0.4–0.6 GPa) conditions. In situ U–(Th)–Pb monazite geochronology reveals that the deformation in the shear zone initiated at ca. 315 Ma. Although previous studies have interpreted the Monte Grighini shear zone to have formed in a transtensional regime, our structural and kinematic results integrated with constraints on the relative timing of deformation indicate that it shows similarities with other dextral ductile transpressive shear zones in the Southern European Variscan belt (i.e., the East Variscan Shear Zone, EVSZ). However, dextral transpression in the Monte Grighini shear zone started later than in other portions of the EVSZ within the framework of the Southern European Variscan Belt due to the progressive migration and rejuvenation of deformation from the core to the external sectors of the belt.Graphical abstract

The importance of being molten: 100 Myr of synmagmatic shearing in the Yilgarn Craton (Western Australia). Implications for mineral systems

Between the Neoarchean and the early Proterozoic, plate tectonics was gradually established on our planet. How this transition took place, and what kind of geodynamic paradigm dominated before, is a matter of debate, and systematic multidisciplinary studies help improving our understanding of such a transitional period of Earth’s evolution.The Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia exposes upper-crustal granite–greenstone terranes that are juxtaposed along large-scale, Neoarchean shear zones, which mainly developed during the 2730 – 2660 Ma Yilgarn Orogeny. By combining structural, microstructural and geochemical data, we present here a systematic study of the main shear zones occurring in the best-exposed, northwestern half of the craton. Our structural data demonstrate that large granitic magma sheets were emplaced during shearing. Although these shear zones exhibit a variety of fabrics that developed over a wide range of temperatures, all preserve memory of at least one stage of shearing at near-solidus temperatures. Our results allow tracing a c. 100 Myr-long tectonomagmatic evolution of this portion of the Archean crust, with implications for lithosphere rheology, crustal evolution, and mineral systems. The major synorogenic structures can be interpreted as inclined transpressional shear zones, along which the bulk of the 3D deformation was efficiently partitioned between greenstones and crystallizing granitic sheets within the shear zones, with the latter accommodating large amounts of orogen‐parallel strain through suprasolidus viscous flow. The positive feedback between protracted magmatism and transpression promoted the extraction and upward transfer of syntectonic magma originated between the uppermost mantle and the mid-crust, as demonstrated by our geochemical dataset. This synkinematic mode of granitic magma transfer contrasts fundamentally to the diapiric mode that was dominant during the lithospheric extension phase that pre-dated the Yilgarn orogeny. Our study suggests that the shear zone system studied here likely played a major role in controlling magma/fluid pathways throughout the late Archean lithosphere, therefore playing a critical role in controlling the development of near-surface mineral systems.

Geology of the Asinara Island (Sardinia, Italy)

ABSTRACT Understanding how the lithosphere accommodates deformation along oblique convergent plate boundaries is an important issue for unveiling orogenic belt exhumation. The Variscan belt exposed in Sardinia represents an area where it is possible to investigate the inner part of this orogen and a km-scale transpressive shear zone, i.e. the Posada-Asinara shear zone, that drove the exhumation of the metamorphic core of the belt. Even though the Asinara island offers very good exposure of main tectonic units building up the Variscan belt of Sardinia, a detailed geological map of the island is still lacking, due to a former limitation of access that lasted for many years. In this contribution, we compile a new 1:25.000 geological-structural map of the entire Asinara island useful to better understand this key sector of the Variscan belt in Sardinia.

P–T path reconstruction in a multi‐layered garnet‐bearing schist: Evidence for 2.2–2.1 Ga near‐isothermal loading in the northern margin of the Western Dharwar Craton (India), and regional implications

P–T paths were reconstructed using P–T pseudosection modelling from garnets in a finely laminated mylonitic hornblende‐biotite schist with four sub‐cm wide mineralogically distinct layers separated by poly‐crystalline quartz layers from the northern margin of the Western Dharwar Craton (WDC). The almandine‐grossular‐rich garnets, syn/post‐tectonic with respect to the mylonite foliation, exhibit considerable variations in the zoning patterns of divalent cations in the different layers. By contrast, the compositions of the matrix minerals dominated by biotite, chlorite, hornblende and plagioclase are tightly constrained within and across the layers. The varying abundances of major element oxides in the layers reflect variations in the abundances of the minerals, rather than the mineral compositions. P–T conditions estimated using mineral thermo‐barometry in the garnet‐muscovite‐biotite‐plagioclase assemblages are 520–575°C and 6–8 kbar; somewhat higher P–T values (615–665°C, 7–9 kbar) are obtained from hornblende‐garnet‐plagioclase‐quartz assemblages. The P–T paths obtained from the multi‐mineralic layers using P–T pseudosection modelling yield near‐isothermal loading (4–7 kbar) at 500–550°C in all layers. The near‐isothermal loading experienced by the multi‐layered rock suggests rapid crustal thickening involving overthrusting followed by nucleation of steeply dipping transpressional shear zones due to oblique convergence of the WDC with a crustal domain in the north. U‐Th‐total Pb chemical dating of metamorphic monazites indicates the crustal convergence occurred at 2.2–2.1 Ga. The event does not have known equivalents in the neighbouring crustal domains eastwards in India as well as in Madagascar in the west. This suggests the crustal domain may be an exotic block.

The influence of synorogenic extension on the crustal architecture of North Gondwana during the assembly of Pangaea (Ossa–Morena Zone, SW Iberia)

Abstract We present a new structural study of a D 2 –M 2 tectono-thermal structure in SW Iberia (Ponte de Sor–Seda gneiss dome) characterized by a spatial distribution of telescoping isograds providing a record of Buchan-type metamorphic conditions. The gneiss dome comprises an infrastructure made up of a lower gneiss unit (LGU) and an intermediate schist unit (ISU), separated by early D 2 ductile extensional shear zones. The LGU and the ISU are composed of Ediacaran–Cambrian rocks that experienced the highest-grade M 2 metamorphic conditions (amphibolite facies). Late Ediacaran–Early Terreneuvian and Late Miaolingian–Early Furongian protolith ages for LGU (496 ± 3 Ma) and ISU (539 ± 2 Ma) orthogneisses are reported. A superstructure made of Cambrian–Devonian rocks (Upper Slate Unit, USU) deformed under M 2 greenschist facies conditions, tectonically overlies the ISU across a D 2 extensional shear zone. Kinematic criteria associated with D 2 –M 2 fabrics indicate top-to-ESE–SE sense of shear. A late-D 2 brittle-ductile high-angle extensional shear zone (Seda shear zone) crosscuts the gneiss dome. D 3 upright folds, thrusts and transpressive shear zones caused the steepening of D 2 structures and the local crenulation of S 2 foliation. The Mississippian D 2 –M 2 event recorded in the Ossa–Morena Zone may be regarded as a regional-scale phenomenon that markedly influenced the crustal architecture of North Gondwana during the assembly of Pangaea.

Early Paleozoic oblique convergence from subduction to collision: Insights from timing and structural style of the transpressional dextral shear zone in the Qilian orogen, northern Tibet of China

Transpressional shear zones commonly occur in ancient and modern convergent plate boundaries to accommodate oblique plate convergence. The early Paleozoic Qilian orogen in northeastern Tibet records the subduction of Proto-Tethyan Ocean lithosphere and the accretion-collision of various magmatic arcs and continental terranes. This study focused on the Datong ductile shear zone, which represents the central part of the WNW-ESE−striking ductile shear zone along the northern margin of the Qilian block in the Qilian orogen. This structure bears key information about the evolution of oblique convergence during the early Paleozoic orogeny. The kinematics and timing of the Datong ductile shear zone were investigated via field-based, microstructural, and mica 40Ar/39Ar dating analyses. Mesostructural and microstructural data showed predominantly dextral strike-slip shearing within the Datong ductile shear zone. Microstructural features and quartz c-axis crystallographic preferred orientation patterns indicated that dextral ductile shearing occurred under lower-amphibolite-facies conditions (∼500−550 °C and ∼5.6 kbar) within the shear zone. Microstructures of quartz showed subgrain rotation (SGR) and grain boundary migration (GBM), suggesting dislocation creep−dominated deformation. A strain rate of 10−12 s−1 and a differential stress of 25−39 MPa were estimated by the rheological flow law and quartz paleopiezometry. Finite strain measurements indicated that all deformed rocks of the Datong ductile shear zone exhibit a weakly oblate ellipsoid near the plane strain. Kinematic vorticity (ranging 0.47−0.83) analysis suggested the coexistence of simple shear and pure shear strains within the Datong ductile shear zone, indicating a transpressional setting. Biotite and muscovite 40Ar/39Ar data showed that transpressional shearing deformation started in the Ordovician (before 453 Ma) and lasted to the Silurian (ca. 430 Ma). Our new data combined with regional geological data show that the deformation type, kinematics, and dynamics of the Datong ductile shear zone were controlled by the southward oblique subduction of the Paleo-Qilian Ocean (Proto-Tethyan Ocean) and the following oblique collision between the Qilian block and the Alxa block. The intensive transpressional deformation along the northern Qilian block may reflect strong coupling between the subducting Paleo-Qilian oceanic slab and the overriding Qilian block as well as a high degree of convergence obliquity during the ongoing early Paleozoic convergence.

The Central Indian Tectonic Zone: A Rodinia supercontinent-forming collisional zone and analogy with the Grenville and Sveconorwegian orogens

Abstract In the paleogeographic reconstructions of the Rodinia supercontinent, the circum-global 1.1–0.9 Ga collisional belt is speculated to skirt the SE coast of India, incorporating the Rodinian-age Eastern Ghats Province. But the Eastern Ghats Province may not have welded with the Indian landmass until 550–500 Ma. Instead, the ~1500-km-long, E-striking Central Indian Tectonic Zone provides an alternate option for linking the 1.1–0.9 Ga circum-global collisional belt through India. The highly tectonized Central Indian Tectonic Zone formed due to the early Neoproterozoic collision of the North India and the South India blocks. Based on a summary of the recent findings in the different crustal domains within the Central Indian Tectonic Zone, we demonstrate that the 1.03–0.93 Ga collision involved thrusting that resulted in the emplacement of low-grade metamorphosed allochthonous units above the high-grade basement rocks; the development of crustal-scale, steeply dipping, orogen-parallel transpressional shear zones; syn-collisional felsic magmatism; and the degeneration of orogenesis by extensional exhumation. The features are analogous to those reported in the broadly coeval Grenville and Sveconorwegian orogens. We suggest that the 1.1–0.9 Ga circum-global collisional belt in Rodinia swings westward from the Australo-Antarctic landmass and passes centrally through the Greater India landmass, which for the most part welded at 1.0–0.9 Ga. It follows that the paleogeographic positions of India obtained from paleomagnetic data older than 1.1–0.9 Ga are likely to correspond to the positions of the North and South India blocks, respectively, and not to the Greater India landmass in its entirety.

Localization of Deformation in a Non‐Collisional Subduction Orogen: The Roles of Dip Geometry and Plate Strength on the Evolution of the Broken Andean Foreland, Sierras Pampeanas, Argentina

AbstractThe southern Central Andes (SCA, 27°–40°S) exhibit a complex deformation pattern that is influenced by multiple factors, including the present‐day dip angle of the subducting oceanic Nazca plate and the influence of inherited heterogeneities in the continental South American plate. This study employs a data‐driven geodynamic workflow to assess the role of various forcing factors in determining upper‐plate strain localization, both above the flat slab and the steeper segment to the south. These include the dip angle of the Nazca plate, the mechanically weak sedimentary basins, the thickness and composition of the continental crust, the strength of the subduction interface, and the plate velocities. Our modeling results predict two main deformation modes: (a) pure‐shear shortening in the broken foreland above the flat‐slab segment and eastward propagation of deformation, and (b) simple‐shear shortening restricted to the eastern margin of the Andean fold‐and‐thrust belt above the steep‐slab segment. While the convergence velocity and the frictional strength of the subduction interface primarily control the intensity of the deformation, inherited heterogeneities tend to localize deformation, and weak sediments leads to intensified surface deformation. Thicker crust and surface topography also influences strain localization by transferring stress to the eastern orogenic front. Above the flat‐slab segment deformation migrates eastward, which is facilitated by enhanced interface coupling. The transition between the steep and sub‐horizontal subduction segments is characterized by a diffuse transpressional shear zone, likely controlled by the change in dip geometry of the Nazca plate, and the presence of inherited faults and weak sedimentary basins.

Early Neoproterozoic tectonics in the Marwar Crustal Block, NW India, the relevance of the Phulad Shear Zone, and implications for Rodinia reconstruction

Abstract Palaeomagnetic studies in the Malani Igneous Suite (ca. 770–750 Ma) of the Marwar Crustal Block, NW India, provide essential constraints on palaeogeographic reconstructions of the Rodinia Supercontinent. The Malani Igneous Suite is intrusive into megacrystic granite and granitegneissic enclaves of the Marwar Crustal Block. A crustalscale NE–SW ductile transpressional shear zone with a southeasterly dip known as the Phulad Shear Zone (820–810 Ma) separates this Marwar Crustal Block from the rocks farther east. The preshearing tectonic evolution of the Marwar Crustal Block is poorly understood. Three phases of ductile deformations (D1, D2, and D3, with associated fabrics S1, S2, and S3) were identified in the Marwar Crustal Block. The D1 deformation is restricted to enclave gneisses. The megacrystic granite was emplaced syntectonically during D2 deformation. The S2 magmatic foliation (NNW–SSE) in the megacrystic granite is oblique to the Phulad Shear Zone. The D3 deformation in the megacrystic granite is synchronous with the Phulad Shear Zone mylonites. Another porphyritic granite (Phulad granite, ca. 820 Ma) emplaced syntectonically during D3 deformation along and across the Phulad Shear Zone. U-Pb zircon dates in the Marwar Crustal Block document ca. 890 Ma and ca. 860 Ma magmatic dates. U-Pb-Th monazite dates in the Marwar Crustal Block show a strong peak at ca. 820 Ma. By integrating critical field relations, deformational patterns, and geochronology, we argue that the Marwar Crustal Block shows distinct geological evolution prior to its accretion with the remaining parts of India. We propose that the accretion of the Marwar Crustal Block must be younger than ca. 860 Ma and culminated during ca. 820–810 Ma to form the Greater India landmass along the Phulad Shear Zone.

Spatial variation of pure and simple shear across transpressive shear zones: flow kinematics map of the Posada-Asinara shear zone (NE Sardinia, Italy)

Flow kinematics estimations are necessary to determine how the deformation is partitioned in shear zones at different scales. Combining different scales of structural analysis with quantitative vorticity constraint allows a more rigorous examination of the kinematics of deformation. The Posada-Asinara shear zone (PASZ) in northern Sardinia (Italy) is a crustal-scale km-thick transpressive shear zone, separating the High- from the Medium-Grade Metamorphic Complex. After microstructural analysis, the vorticity of the flow was estimated to investigate the southernmost boundary of the PASZ, highlighting a dominant pure shear component far from the core of the shear zone. These results have been integrated with existing data to derive a regional-scale flow kinematic map of the Baronie region, highlighting the potentiality of automated geostatistical mapping to become a powerful complementary tool in the investigation of flow kinematics in collisional environments.

Exploring the link between spatiotemporal patterns of plutonism and geodynamic regimes at the end of Archean: an example from the northeastern Superior Province, Canada

This paper presents new U–Pb zircon ages obtained using laser ablation ICP-MS from various plutonic units that intruded along the southern margin of the Bienville domain, a presumed Neoarchean magmatic arc in the northeastern Superior Province, Québec, Canada. The U–Pb ages indicate that the arc plutons were emplaced episodically between ca. 2745 Ma and ca. 2697 Ma, synchronous with regional transpressional deformation. Furthermore, the observed intra-pluton age variations show that the largest examined intrusion, the Radisson pluton, grew incrementally over a period of at least 15 My, perhaps in a series of elongated, sheet-like magma batches straddling the presumed arc margin and emplaced successively, younging inwards. This emplacement style is comparable (though not unique) to modern arc plutons emplaced along or within regional transpressional shear zones. The new ages are then complemented with a statistical analysis of previously published U–Pb pluton zircon ages from the adjacent units (La Grande, Opinaca, Opatica), which revealed a subtle southward-younging trend (i.e., towards the presumed trench) in otherwise broadly coeval and areally extensive plutonism characterized by diverse compositions. The observed spatiotemporal pattern of plutonism is transitional between unfocused, plume-related magmatic centers and focused, unidirectionally migrating magmatism of modern arcs, perhaps as a result of hotter environment and complex interplay between the waning plume-related regime and increasingly dominating modern-style plate tectonics at the end of Archean.

Burial and thermal history of the eastern transform boundary of the central western carpathians based on 1D basin modeling

This paper represents the first data on the thermal and burial history of Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks in the Maruszyna IG-1 deep borehole from the transpressional shear zone of the Western Carpathians. Representative, organic-rich mudstone and claystone samples were selected to determine thermal maturity using mean random vitrinite reflectance (Ro) and thermal alteration index (TAI) data. The reconstruction of the thermal history of fold-and-thrust units was carried out using 1D modeling. This study uniquely distinguishes various thermal maturity levels in the deep profile determined by strata repetition, different absorption of clay and carbonate mineral settings and structural thermal changes in humic particles and palynomorphs. Reflectance of autochthonous vitrinite varies from 0.77 to 1.95% indicating thermally mature to overmature organic matter. Different subsidence-uplift models were tested during modeling in order to find a plausible scenario of tectonic development and heat flow history. The thermal maturity of the individual thrust sheets was modeled separately allowing their individual thermal histories to be investigated before and after the main and final thrusting phase. The best-calibrated scenario assumes a low paleo heat flow ranging from 45 to 54 mW.m-2, affecting the eastern part of the Western Carpathians. The maximum temperature which lead to maturation of the organic matter seems to be related to its successive burial during Cretaceous due to compressional deformation. Individual thrust sheets reached thermal maturity prior to the final thrusting phase. The overthrust was accompanied by 3000–4000 m burial/erosion resulting in different thermal pathways during wedge growth.

Oblique collision and accretionary processes in the South Borborema Province: Insights from structural geology and geophysical data

During orogenesis, the forming structures vary according to several factors such as the nature of rocks, geological environment, P-T conditions, and type of collision. Deformational styles play a significant role in orogenic processes. While thin-skinned tectonics comprise only supracrustal deformation, in thick-skinned tectonics both supracrustal rocks and the basement are deformed reaching Moho depths. Both styles may coexist in a single orogenic system and the recognition of different sectors may help to unravel the nature of the orogen. In this paper, we apply the definition of tectonic styles to the São Miguel do Aleixo Shear Zone, a major transpressive shear zone in the Sergipano Belt, NE Brazil. It separates domains with different structural and metamorphic grades and provides evidence for understanding the tectonic implications of this structure and its role in the evolution of the orogen. We suggest that the São Miguel do Aleixo Shear Zone is a major crustal boundary formed during the oblique collision with and a possible transitional region between areas with dominant thin-skinned and thick-skinned tectonics. The presence of both tectonic styles together with metamorphic grade and geological environment lead to suggest that accretionary processes had a key role in the evolution of the Sergipano Belt.

Deformation, crustal melting and magmatism in the crustal-scale East-Variscan Shear Zone (Aiguilles-Rouges and Mont-Blanc massifs, Western Alps)

The Aiguilles-Rouges and Mont-Blanc massifs represent a segment of a crustal-scale transpressional shear zone named the East Variscan Shear Zone (EVSZ) along which two plutonic pulses occurred during Early and Late Carboniferous times. The aim of this study is to constrain the relationships between the dynamics of the crustal-scale shear zone, the mechanisms of pluton emplacement at different structural levels within the crust and the magma sources. A detailed structural analysis of the whole massif highlights the crustal-scale anastomosed network of the EVSZ. Microstructural observations and LA-ICPMS U–Th–Pb zircon ages from large plutons constrain the beginning of the transpression at ca. 340 Ma. From 340 to 305 Ma, the EVSZ broadened and formed a 25 km-wide dextral S–C–C’ anastomosed shear zone network with dilation zones acting as preferential pathways for melt migration and pluton growths. Moreover, LA-ICPMS U–Th–Pb zircon ages from small magmatic bodies (i.e. pegmatite, aplite and microgranite) indicate an Ordovician-age inheritance component. Field evidences and zircon inheritance indicate that Late Carboniferous granitic melts are mainly derived from water-fluxed melting of Ordovician orthogneiss with the input of mantle-source derived magmas. Over time, the growth of the dextral anastomosed network enhanced water transfer through the shear zones and water-fluxed melting to produce more anatectic melts.

The Initiation and Growth of Transpressional Shear Zones Through Continental Arc Lithosphere, Southwest New Zealand

AbstractStructural analyses combined with new U‐Pb zircon and titanite geochronology show how two Early Cretaceous transpressional shear zones initiated and grew through a nearly complete section of continental arc crust during oblique convergence. Both shear zones reactivated Carboniferous faults that penetrated the upper mantle below Zealandia's Median Batholith but show opposite growth patterns and dissimilar relationships with respect to arc magmatism. The Grebe‐Indecision Creek shear zone was magma‐starved and first reactivated at ∼136 Ma as an oblique‐reverse fault, along which an outboard batholith partially subducted beneath Gondwana. This system nucleated at or above ∼20 km depth and propagated downward at 2–3 mm yr−1, accumulating at least 35–45 km of horizontal (arc‐normal) shortening by ∼124 Ma. In contrast, the magma‐rich George Sound shear zone first reactivated in the lower crust (∼55 km depth) at ∼124 Ma and grew upward at ∼3 mm yr−1, reaching the upper crust by ∼110 Ma. In this latter system, magmatism influenced shear zone architecture and drove its growth while subduction and oblique convergence ended. As magma entered the roots of the system and began to solidify, deformation was driven out of the lower crust and into the middle crust where the system widened by a factor of three when fold‐thrust belts formed on either side of a steep, central transpressional shear zone. This study illustrates how the reactivation of structural weaknesses localizes deformation at all depths in the lithosphere and shows how magma‐deformation feedbacks influence shear zone connectivity and built a batholith from the bottom up.

Dynamics of Early Neoproterozoic accretion, west-central India: I. Geochronology and Geochemistry

The Godhra-Chhota Udepur (GC) sector (west-central India) is the zone of convergence between two crustal-scale accretion zones, i.e. the N/NNE-striking Aravalli Delhi Fold Belt (ADFB) against the E-striking Central Indian Tectonic Zone (CITZ). In this study, we demonstrate the two orogens welded during the Early Neoproterozoic. In the GC sector, recumbently folded basement gneisses, shallow-dipping granitoid mylonites and a suite of allochthonous supracrustal rocks experienced top-to-the south thrusting and nappe formation (D2 deformation). The shallow-dipping crustal domain was modified by the superposition of a network of WNW/W-striking transpressional shear zones and related folds (D3 deformation). The D2-D3 deformations occurred due to oblique crustal convergence marked by the emplacement of pre-D2, post-D2 and syn-D3 granitoids. The post-D2, syn-D3 granite-granodiorites are weakly peraluminous, calc-alkalic, having ferroan to magnesian affinity, and characterised by LREE-enriched moderately fractionated REE patterns with variable negative Eu anomalies. Trace element geochemistry and whole rock Sr-Nd systematics suggest the granitoids were derived from dominantly meta-greywacke precursors. In South-GC, U-Pb zircons in the basement gneisses yield upper intercept/Concordia dates at 1.65–1.60 Ga for high-grade metamorphism. The lower intercept/Concordia dates in the gneisses coincide with the 0.95–0.93 Ga emplacement age of post-D2/syn-D3 granitoids throughout GC. However, the pre-D2 granitoids in South-GC are older, ~1.03 Ga. By contrast, pre-D2 granitoids in North-GC yield Late Neoarchean (2.5 Ga) Concordia/upper intercept emplacement ages, identical to the emplacement age of the Archean granites in the ADFB; the lower intercept/Concordia age is 0.95–0.93 Ga. The 2.5 Ga granites did not experience the 1.65–1.60 Ga high-grade metamorphism, but both the lithodemic units shared the 0.95–0.93 Ga D2-D3 deformation-metamorphism and the emplacement of post-D2 and syn-D3 0.95–0.93 Ga granitoids. The juxtaposition of the ~2.5 Ga granitoids and the 1.65–1.60 Ga gneisses is attributed to the 1.03–0.93 Ga ADFB-CITZ oblique accretion that involved contemporaneous emplacement of syn-collisional S-type granitoids.. • Godhra-Chhota Udepur (GC) is the western end of the Central Indian Tectonic Zone . • At GC, NNE-SSW shortening is contemporaneous with 0.95–0.93 Ga felsic emplacements . • In north GC, 2.5 Ga granite reworked at 0.95 Ga with no Paleoproterozoic overprint . • In south GC, no Archean inheritance noted in 1.6 Ga gneisses reworked at 0.95 Ga . • ~0.95 Ga accretion welded mutually exclusive Archean and Paleoproterozoic terrains .

Dynamics of Early Neoproterozoic accretion, west-central India: II ~1.65 Ga HT-LP and ~0.95 Ga LT-HP metamorphism in Godhra-Chhota Udepur, and a tectonic model for Early Neoproterozoic accretion

The N/NNE-striking Aravalli Delhi Fold Belt (ADFB) and the E-striking Central Indian Tectonic Zone (CITZ) converge at the Godhra-Chhota Udepur (GC) sector, west-central India. Analyses of mesoscale deformation structures and metamorphic phase equilibria in the basement and supracrustal rocks are integrated with geochronological-geochemical data (accompanying article) to address the dynamics of the Early Neoproterozoic CITZ-ADFB accretion. In the GC sector, ~1.65 Ga granulite facies anatectic gneisses, ~2.5 Ga and 1.03–1.02 Ga granitoids, and greenschist to amphibolite facies allochthonous supracrustal rocks constitute a tectonic mélange (D2 deformation). The lithodemic units are traversed by networks of W/WNW-striking steep-dipping transpressional shear zones with sinistral kinematics (D3). The shallow-dipping mélange with top-to-the south kinematics is intruded by post-D2 to syn-D3 0.95–0.93 Ga granitoids. Mn-NCKFMASH P-T pseudosection analyses of the anatectic gneisses with pre-D2 garnet + cordierite-bearing leucosomes suggest the rocks evolved along a clockwise P-T path in the range of 5–6 kbar and 680–720 °C. By contrast, the Early Neoproterozoic (0.95–0.93 Ga) chlorite + phengite (Si up to 3.32 apfu) + clinozoisite + quartz ± biotite ± garnet schists in the mélange attained pre/syn-D2 peak metamorphic conditions (10–12 kbar, 450–500 °C). NCKFMASH pseudosection analyses of the ~0.95 Ga phengite-bearing schists indicate the supracrustal rocks evolved along a high-P, low-T clockwise path; phengite-poor micas defining the D3 fabric (Si up to 3.04 apfu) attest to post-peak decompression in the schists. The ~2.5 Ga ADFB granites accreted with the ~1.65 Ga HT-LP anatectic gneisses, ~1.03 Ga granites, and the ~0.95 Ga LT-HP supracrustal rocks of the CITZ during D2 thrusting. The crustal convergence continued with the emplacement of post-D2 0.95–0.93 Ga granitoids that culminated with the nucleation of W/WNW-striking D3 transpressional shear zones. This broad contemporaneity among felsic plutonism , LT-HP metamorphism in the supracrustal rocks, and the D2-D3 shortening are interpreted to be the result of a switch in subduction polarity between 1.03 and 0.93 Ga during oblique ADFB-CITZ convergence. • ~1.65 Ga HT-LP clockwise granulite metamorphism in CITZ basement anatectic gneiss. • ~0.95 Ga LT-HP clockwise metamorphism in the CITZ allochthonous supracrustal rocks. • E-striking CITZ & N-striking Aravalli Delhi Fold Belt (ADFB) accreted at ~0.95 Ga. • ~0.95 Ga metamorphism coeval with crustal shortening and granitoid emplacement. • Early Neoproterozoic oblique accretion related to subduction polarity reversal.