Showing papers on "Gondwana published in 2001"

The Variscan collage and orogeny (480-290 Ma) and the tectonic definition of the Armorica microplate: a review

Abstract: The Variscan belt of western Europe is part of a large Palaeozoic mountain system, 1000 km broad and 8000 km long, which extended from the Caucasus to the Appalachian and Ouachita mountains of northern America at the end of the Carboniferous. This system, built between 480 and 250 Ma, resulted from the diachronic collision of two continents: Laurentia–Baltica to the NW and Gondwana to the SE. Between these two continents, small, intermediate continental plates separated by oceanic sutures mainly have been defined (based on palaeomagnetism) as Avalonia and Armorica. They are generally assumed to have been detached from Gondwana during the early Ordovician and docked to Laurentia and Baltica before the Carboniferous collision between Gondwana and Laurentia–Baltica. Palaeomagnetic and palaeobiostratigraphic methods allow two main oceanic basins to be distinguished: the Iapetus ocean between Avalonia and Laurentia and between Laurentia and Baltica, with a lateral branch (Tornquist ocean) between Avalonia and Baltica, and the Rheic ocean between Avalonia and the so-called Armorica microplate. Closure of the Iapetus ocean led to the Caledonian orogeny: a belt resulting from collision between Laurentia and Baltica, and from softer collisions between Avalonia and Laurentia and between Avalonia and Baltica. Closure of the Rheic ocean led to the Variscan orogeny by collision of Avalonia plus Armorica with Gondwana. A tectonic approach allows this scenario to be further refined. Another important oceanic suture is defined: the Galicia–Southern Brittany suture, running through France and Iberia and separating the Armorica microplate into North Armorica and South Armorica. Its closure by northward (or/and westward?) oceanic and then continental subduction led to early Variscan (430–370 Ma) tectonism and metamorphism in the internal parts of the Variscan belt. As no Palaeozoic suture can be detected south of South Armorica, this latter microplate should be considered as part of Gondwana since early Palaeozoic times and during its Palaeozoic north-westward drift. Thus, the name Armorica should be restricted to the microplate included between the Rheic and the Galicia–Southern Brittany sutures.

The breakup history of Gondwana and its impact on pre-Cenozoic floristic provincialism

Abstract: The concept of 'Gondwana', an ancient Southern Hemisphere supercontinent, is firmly established in geological and biogeographical models of Earth history. The term Gondwana (Gondwanaland of some authors) derives from the recognition by workers at the Indian Geological Survey in the mid- to late 19th century of a distinctive sedimentary sequence preserved in east central India. This succession, now known to range in age from Permian to Cretaceous, is lithologically and palaeontologically similar to coeval non-marine sedimentary successions developed in most of the Southern Hemisphere continents suggesting former continuity of these landmasses. Palaeomagnetic data and tectonic reconstructions suggest that the main assembly of Gondwana took place around the beginning of the Palaeozoic in near-equatorial latitudes and that the supercontinent as a whole shifted into high southern latitudes, allowing widespread glaciation by the end of the Carboniferous. From Carboniferous to Cretaceous times the southern continents had broadly similar floras but some species-level provincialism is apparent at all times. The break-up of Gondwana initiated during the Jurassic (at about 180 million years ago) and this process is continuing. The earliest rifting (crustal attenuation) within the supercontinent initiated in the west (between South America and Africa) and in general terms the rifting pattern propagated eastward with major phases of continental fragmentation in the Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous to Paleogene. Gondwanan floras show radical turnovers near the end of the Carboniferous, end of the Permian and the end of the Triassic that appear to be unrelated to isolation or fragmentation of the supercontinent. Throughout the late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic the high-latitude southern floras maintained a distinctly different composition to the palaeoequatorial and boreal regions even though they remained in physical connection with Laurasia for much of this time. Gondwanan floras of the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous (times immediately preceding and during break-up) were dominated by araucarian and podocarp conifers and a range of enigmatic seed-fern groups. Angiosperms became established in the region as early as the Aptian (before the final break-up events) and steadily diversified during the Cretaceous, apparently at the expense of many seed-fern groups. Hypotheses invoking vicariance or long distance dispersal to account for the biogeographic patterns evident in the floras of Southern Hemisphere continents all rely on a firm understanding of the timing and sequence of Gondwanan continental breakup. This paper aims to summarise the current understanding of the geochronological framework of Gondwanan breakup against which these biogeographic models may be tested. Most phytogeographic studies deal with the extant, angiosperm-dominated floras of these landmasses. This paper also presents an overview of pre-Cenozoic, gymnosperm-dominated, floristic provincialism in Gondwana. It documents the broad succession of pre-angiosperm floras, highlights the distinctive elements of the Early Cretaceous Gondwanan floras immediately preceding the appearance of angiosperms and suggests that latitudinal controls strongly influenced the composition of Gondwanan floras through time even in the absence of marine barriers between Gondwana and the northern continents. Go na br nd prn ti l S.ou

Opening Iapetus: Constraints from the Laurentian margin in Newfoundland

Abstract: Late Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian geologic, geochronologic, and paleomagnetic data from along the Iapetus margin of Laurentia may be reconciled within a multistage rift history that involved an initial separation of Laurentia from the west Gondwana cratons ca. 570 Ma, followed by rifting of a further block or blocks from Laurentia ca. 540– 535 Ma into an already open Iapetus Ocean to establish the main passive-margin sequence in the Appalachians. Paleomagnetic data suggest that Laurentia rifted from Amazonia−Rio de la Plata cratons and began its northward movement ca. 570 Ma to produce a wide Iapetus Ocean by 550 Ma. Geologic data from the Newfoundland segment of the Laurentian margin provide evidence for a rift-drift transition ca. 540–535 Ma, as constrained by the youngest rift-related magmatism at 550.5 +3/–2 Ma (U/Pb zircon) for the Skinner Cove Formation and 555 +3/–5 Ma for the Lady Slipper pluton, and a late Early Cambrian age of ca. 525–520 Ma for the oldest drift-related sedimentation. Rifting between the Laurentia and the west Gondwana cratons was probably distributed among multiple rift systems that fostered the production of a number of terranes (such as the Argentine Precordillera, Oaxacan) as well as the Iapetus Ocean. Development of Laurentian-derived Iapetan terranes during the final breakout of Laurentia from Rodinia may have been facilitated by preexisting 760–700 Ma rift weaknesses and apparently rapidly changing plate vectors during latest Neoproterozoic time.

Avian evolution, Gondwana biogeography and the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction event.

Abstract: The fossil record has been used to support the origin and radiation of modern birds (Neornithes) in Laurasia after the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction event, whereas molecular clocks have suggested a Cretaceous origin for most avian orders. These alternative views of neornithine evolution are examined using an independent set of evidence, namely phylogenetic relationships and historical biogeography. Pylogenetic relationships of basal lineages of neornithines, including ratite birds and their allies (Palaleocognathae), galliforms and anseriforms (Galloanserae), as well as lineages of the more advanced Neoves (Gruiformes, (Capimulgiformes, Passeriformes and others) demonstrate pervasive trans-Antarctic distribution patterns. The temporal history of the neornithines can be inferred from fossil taxa and the ages of vicariance events, and along with their biogeographical patterns, leads to the conclusion that neornithines arose in Gondwana prior to the Cretaceous Tertiary extinction event.

Evolution of the Paleo-Asian Ocean (Altai-Sayan Region, Central Asia) and collision of possible Gondwana-derived terranes with the southern marginal part of the Siberian continent

Abstract: The paper reviews and integrates new results on the evolution of the Paleo-Asian Ocean and its related geodynamics and geology of Altai-Sayan Region (ASR) in Central Asia. A revised terrane classification based on Vendian-Cambrian geodynamic units and evolution of terranes is described. Reactivated suture zones along the terrane boundaries are proposed. The obtained data suggest the important role of strike-slip deformations in the formation of mosaic-block structure of Central Asia. Those complicated and multi-stage deformations resulted from the Late Devonian-Early Carboniferous collision of Gondwana-derived terranes. The deformations reached their peak in the Late Carboniferous-Permian due to the collision of the Kazakhstan and Siberian continents. A system of sinistral strike-slip faults formed ASR along the margin of the Siberian continent as a result of the Late Carboniferous-Permian collision. The intrusion of granites occurred in East Kazakhstan and northwestern Gorny Altai in the Late Carboniferous and Permian. This resulted in the formation of the Northern Eurasia continent. Geodynamic evolution of the Paleo-Asian ocean and paleotectonics of ASR allow to recognize in the region the following five geodynamic stages: Vendian-Early Cambrian, Early Ordovician, Early-Middle Devonian, Late-Devonian-Early Carboniferous and Late Carboniferous-Early Permian times.

Origins of Large Volume Rhyolitic Volcanism in the Antarctic Peninsula and Patagonia by Crustal Melting

Abstract: Voluminous rhyolitic volcanism along the palaeo-Pacific margin of Gondwana was marked by three principal episodes of magmatism. The first of these ( V1) is essentially coincident with the main episode of Karoo–Ferrar magmatism at ∼184 Ma. A younger ( V2) episode occurred at ∼168 Ma, and a third episode ( V3) occurred in the interval 157–153 Ma. We evaluate the origin of V1 and V2 rhyolites from the Antarctic Peninsula using major and trace element and isotopic (Sr, Nd, O) data. An isotopically uniform (87Sr/86Sri ∼0·707; eNdi ∼ −3) andesite–dacite magma was generated as a result of anatexis of ‘Grenvillian age’ hydrous mafic lower crust, linked to earlier, arc-related underplating. The lower-crustal partial melts would have mixed with fractionated components of the mafic underplate, followed by subsequent storage and homogenization. Early Jurassic ( V1) rocks of the southern Antarctic Peninsula are interpreted as melts of upper-crustal paragneiss, which have mixed with the isotopically uniform magma in upper-crustal magma chambers. The V2 rhyolites are the result of assimilation–fractional crystallization of the isotopically uniform magma. This occurred in upper-crustal magma chambers involving assimilants with similar isotopic composition to that of the magma. A continental margin setting was crucial in developing hydrous, readily fusible lower crust. Lower-crustal anatexis was in response to mafic underplating associated with the Discovery–Shona–Bouvet group of plumes, thought to be responsible for the Karoo magmatic province. The progression (old to young) of volcanism from NE to SW in Patagonia and south to north in the Antarctic Peninsula is consistent with migration away from the mantle plumes towards the proto-Pacific margin of Gondwana during rifting and break-up.

Early Paleozoic tectonism within the East Antarctic craton: The final suture between east and west Gondwana?

Abstract: New U-Pb SHRIMP ages from East Antarctica point to the existence of a laterally continuous orogenic belt that bisects the East Antarctic craton. This orogenic belt juxtaposes Archean crust to the south and east against Neoproterozoic metamorphic rocks to the north and west. It defines the margin of a separate lithospheric block that consists of a large section of East Antarctica and India that did not form part of east Gondwana or Rodinia as they are currently reconstructed. Instead, this Indo-Antarctic continent accreted with west Gondwana along the Mozambique suture shortly before collision and suturing along a second “Pan-African” suture now cropping out in the southern Prince Charles Mountains and Prydz Bay regions of Antarctica. This scenario is consistent with (1) the abrupt termination of ca. 990–900 Ma tectonism recognized in the northern Prince Charles Mountains–Rayner Complex–Eastern Ghats against Paleozoic orogenic belts, (2) the lack of terranes of equivalent age found elsewhere in either Antarctica or other previously adjacent continents, and (3) the distinct detrital-zircon populations obtained from either side of this proposed suture.

Historical biogeography of Melastomataceae: the roles of Tertiary migration and long-distance dispersal.

Abstract: Melastomataceae and Memecylaceae are pantropically distributed sister groups for which an ndhF gene phylogeny for 91 species in 59 genera is here linked with Eurasian and North American fossils in a molecular clock approach to biogeographical reconstruction. Nine species from the eight next-closest families are used to root phylogenetic trees obtained under maximum likelihood criteria. Melastomataceae comprise ∼3000 species in the neotropics, ∼1000 in tropical Asia, 240 in Africa, and 225 in Madagascar in 150-166 genera, and the taxa sampled come from throughout this geographic range. Based on fossils, ranges of closest relatives, tree topology, and calibrated molecular divergences, Melastomataceae initially diversified in Paloecene/Eocene times in tropical forest north of the Tethys. Their earliest (Eocene) fossils are from northeastern North America, and during the Oligocene and Miocene melastomes occurred in North America as well as throughout Eurasia. They also entered South America, with earliest (Oligocene) South American fossils representing Merianieae. One clade (Melastomeae) reached Africa from the neotropics 14-12 million years ago and from there spread to Madagascar, India, and Indochina. Basalmost Melastomataceae (Kibessieae, Astronieae) are species-poor lineages restricted to Southeast Asia. However, a more derived Asian clade (Sonerileae/Dissochaeteae) repeatedly reached Madagascar and Africa during the Miocene and Pliocene. Contradicting earlier hypotheses, the current distribution of Melastomataceae is thus best explained by Neogene long-distance dispersal, not Gondwana fragmentation.

The early Palaeozoic magmatic event in the Northwest Himalaya, India: source, tectonic setting and age of emplacement

Abstract: In the High Himalayan Crystalline Series of Northwest India, numerous peraluminous granites intruded the metasediments of the late Proterozoic to early late Cambrian Haimanta Group. Nd and Sr isotope systematics confirm that they were derived from heterogeneous crustal sources. New geochronological data from two plutons range in age from late Precambrian to early Ordovician: single zircon U–Pb dating yielded an age of 553 ± 2 (2σ) Ma for the Kaplas granite, whereas mineral Sm–Nd isotope systematics define a crystallization age of 496 ± 14 (2σ) Ma for the tholeiitic mafic rocks in the Mandi pluton, where evidence of magma mingling documents a close association between mafic and granitic melts. The end of this period of magmatic activity coincides with the depositional gap below the Ordovician transgression, caused by surface uplift and erosion, that is an important feature in the stratigraphy of the Northwest Himalaya. In Spiti, the transgression of the Ordovician basal conglomerates on a normal fault indicates pre-Ordovician extensional faulting. Therefore, the early Palaeozoic magmatic activities in the Northwest Himalaya could be correlated with a late extensional stage of the long-lasting Pan-African orogenic cycle which ended with the formation of the Gondwana supercontinent.

Age and tectonic evolution of Neoproterozoic ductile shear zones in southwestern Madagascar, with implications for Gondwana studies

Abstract: Southern Madagascar comprises a complex Precambrian terrain of high-grade metamorphic rocks with a history of polyphase deformation and metamorphism. Two prominent N-S trending late Neoproterozoic ductile shear zones, the Ampanihy and Vorokafotra shears, each with projected strike length of > 450 km and between 10 and 20 km in width, crosscut the region. A third set of en echelon shears forms part of the early Paleozoic Ranotsara Shear Zone that cuts the basement in a NW-SE direction over a combined strike length of > 400 km. The host rocks of these shears comprise paragneisses (metasediments) with detrital zircons ranging in age between 720 and 1900 Ma. A felsic layer, interpreted as a metavolcanic rock, gives a date of 722±1 Ma. Remnants of late Archean orthogneisses in the central part of the study area may represent basement to the paragneisses. Four episodes of deformation and metamorphism have been recognized on the combined basis of field observations, petrogenesis, and U/Pb analyzes of zircons, monazites, sphenes, and rutiles. Two episodes of early simple shear deformation (D1 and D2) at midcrustal levels occurred between 627 and 647 Ma, during which northeast verging recumbent sheath folds and ductile thrusts were formed and peak prograde metamorphism reached 7–12 kbar at 750°–900°C. Early prolate mineral fabrics (L1/L2) are preserved in massif-type anorthosite bodies and their marginal country rocks. D1 occurred between 630 and 647 Ma, while D2 occurred at 627-628 Ma. This was followed by a 10–15 Myr period of static, annealing metamorphism until 609–614 Ma when bulk shortening (D3) took place. D2 and D3 are coaxial but are separated in time by leucocratic dykes that intruded between 610 and 620 Ma. D3 was focused zonally, forming the prominent N-S shear zones between 607 and 609 Ma; its oblate strain resulted in a strong composite D2/D3 fabric defined by subvertical S-tectonites and subhorizontal intersection lineations. A variety of post-D3 pegmatites accompanied ∼85 Myr of relatively static annealing and metasomatic/metamorphic mineral growth, during which numerous occurrences of phlogopite, uranium, and rare earth elements formed. A continuum of concordant monazite dates suggests that this thermal event is part of an extended period of low-pressure (3–5 kbar) charnockite-producing processes between 520 and 605 Ma. The continuum, however, appears to be punctuated at ∼580, 550, and 520 Ma. Deformation (D4) recorded within the Ranotsara Shear Zone overlaps with the youngest parts of the regional metamorphic conditions between 520 and 550 Ma. Prevailing low-pressure, high-temperature amphibolite-granulite facies rapidly gave way to greenschist facies conditions between 490 and 530 Ma, as is evident from overlapping ages of zircon, monazite, sphene, and rutile. We conclude that D1 to D3 represents a period of 40 Myr of compressional deformation that we interpret to be related to collisional events during the amalgamation of Gondwana. The first part of the thermal continuum between 550 and 605 Ma reflects ∼55 Myr of slow cooling and annealing at midcrustal levels, while the onset of the last episode, between 520 and 530 Ma, heralds accelerated exhumation accompanied by extensional tectonics between 490 and 520 Ma. We believe that this postcollisional time span represents a prolonged period of evolution of a Tibetan-style plateau into an Aegean-style extensional terrain. This ∼100 Myr event in southern Madagascar is similar to that recorded throughout large sectors of the East African Orogen between ca. 500 and 600 Ma. We believe that this type of postconvergent thermotectonism best represents the original definition of “Pan-African” [Kennedy, 1964], which in today's terminology equates with “postorogenic extensional collapse” [Dewey, 1988], or “destabilization of an orogen” [Lipps, 1998]. Kennedy's Pan-African was widespread throughout the interior a supercontinent, when Gondwana's periferal margins were subjected to far-field tensional forces. This suggests that neither gravitational collapse of the Pan-African-Braziliano Orogens nor delamination were the sole or even the dominant driving forces for the postconvergent extension.

Drainage evolution in south-central Africa since the breakup of Gondwana

Abstract: The drainage system in south-central Africa has undergone major reorganisations since the disruption of Gondwana. Isopachs of the Kalahari sequence and a variety of geomorphological features can be used to pinpoint abandoned drainage lines. Continental fluvial sediments of Mesozoic-Cenozoic age reflect river systems which existed prior to and immediately following continental break-up. The east coast sedimentary sequence documents changes in the location of major supplies of terrigenous sediments, and provides a framework for establishing the timing of changes in drainage configuration. This evidence indicates that during the upper Jurassic to Cretaceous, the Okavango, Cuando and Zambezi-Luangwa rivers formed the headwaters of the proto-Limpopo. The lower-Zambezi-Shire formed a separate graben-bound river system with a discharge point into the Indian Ocean in the vicinity of mouth of the present-day Zambezi. A third major drainage entered the Indian in the vicinity of the modern Save mouth. End Cretaceous uplift along the Okavango-Kalahari-Zimbabwe Axis severed the links between the Limpopo and the Okavango, Cuando and Zambezi-Luangwa. This resulted in a senile endoreic drainage system which supplied sediment to the Kalahari basin. However, the uplift rejuvenated the lower Zambezi, initiating headward erosion and progressive capture of the Luangwa, upper Zambezi and Kafue. Predatory headward extension of the Zambezi is still active, and this river will eventually capture the Okavango. The model developed for drainage reorganisation provides a framework for interpreting kimberlitic heavy mineral dispersion patterns. It also forms the basis for explaining fish and plant dispersion patterns, and understanding recent water level fluctuations in the Makgadigadi pans system in Botswana.

Cambrian palaeomagnetic data from Baltica: implications for true polar wander and Cambrian palaeogeography

Abstract: A reliable Early Cambrian ( c. 535 Ma) and a preliminary Late Cambrian ( c. 500 Ma) palaeomagnetic pole from Baltica (Sweden) overlap within uncertainty, and they are also broadly compatible with Vendian ( c. 583 Ma) palaeomagnetic data. Apparent polar wander for Baltica amounts to less than 25° between 583 and 500 Ma and, therefore, negates recent speculations that the Earth tipped 90° during the Early Cambrian (true polar wander). Throughout Vendian and Cambrian times, Baltica lay at southerly latitudes ( c. 30–60°S). Baltica was geographically inverted, and present-day northern Baltica faced the NW margin of Gondwana which covered the south pole. Laurentia-Eastern Baltica and Laurentia–West Gondwana were separated by the Iapetus Ocean, while the AEgir Sea separated Western Baltica from the Taimyr region of Siberia. During the Cambrian Baltica probably moved eastward along the Gondwana margin, and by c. 515–520 Ma subduction in the AEgir Sea was initiated. A major event is recognized in Late Cambrian or Early Ordovician times ( c. 500–478 Ma) when Baltica must have undergone a 55° counter-clockwise rotation in c. 22 million years (3°/Ma). We relate this to the early Caledonian Finnmarkian Orogeny which involved arc–continent collision following subduction.

Radiolarite ages in Alpine-Mediterranean ophiolites: Constraints on the oceanic spreading and the Tethys-Atlantic connection

Abstract: The history of continental breakup and oceanic spreading of the Alpine Tethys is defined by a revision of isotopic and biochronologic ages of 65 stratigraphic sections located in the Alps, Apennines, Betic Cordillera, Rif, and central Atlantic and a reinterpretation of the stratigraphic sequences of surpraophiolitic radiolarites. The biochronology of radiolarites is revised by using the deterministic approach known as the unitary association method. During the early Bajocian (unitary association zone, UAZ 3) radiolarite sedimentation began at the continental margin. Biochronologic ages determined in the lowermost radiolarites in basinal sequences of Tethyan margins are synchronous and mark a regional change in sedimentation regime in the Alpine Tethys. The onset of oceanic spreading of the Alpine Tethys is dated by isotopic methods as Bajocian, and is consistent with the timing of the structural evolution of the continental margins. The earliest fragments of Tethyan oceanic crust are characterized by the associations of ophiolites with deep-sea sediments, and coarse reworked sediments including platform and continental basement fragments. The earliest ophiolites also show geochemical affinities with synrift and transitional mid-oceanic-ridge basalts. The oldest radiolarites on oceanic crust are so far dated as Bathonian (UAZ 6) and are located in the Gets nappe (western Alps), in the Balagne nappe (Corsica), and in the central Atlantic (Deep Sea Drilling Project [DSDP] Site 534A). The oldest remnants of Alpine Tethyan crust have been identified in weakly metamorphosed cover nappes that occupy an external tectonic position in the Alpine orogenic belts, as compared to the main ophiolitic sutures. Thus, the older relics of oceanic lithosphere were the first to be accreted and transported onto the foreland during the collision. Siliceous sedimentation during the early Bajocian is correlated with westward deep-water circulation in the Alpine Tethys related to the opening of deep seaways between Laurasia and Gondwana. In the central Atlantic no radiolarites, but thin radiolarian-rich layers, were deposited during the earliest Bathonian (UAZ 6). The similarity between radiolarian faunal assemblages and ages in the Northern Alps, Gets nappe, Betic Cordillera, and Site 534 (DSDP Leg 76) suggest a Middle Jurassic connection between the Alpine Tethys and central Atlantic. Biochronologic and isotopic ages currently indicate that oceanic spreading of the Alpine Tethys began during the Bajocian and continued until the Kimmeridgian.

Oroclinal bending and evidence against the Pangea megashear: The Cantabria-Asturias arc (northern Spain)

Abstract: The Cantabria-Asturias arc of southwestern Europe is a highly curved Variscan belt that formed along the ancient plate boundary between Gondwana and Laurussia during the assembly of Pangea. New paleomagnetic data from 59 sites in the southern limb of the arc were combined with previously published data from 109 sites to determine the evolution of the arc. A previously unrecognized postrotation magnetization is found in the southern limb, refuting earlier models of arc formation that concluded secondary rotation of only 50% of present-day arc curvature. The new data show that the arc underwent true (100%) oroclinal bending of an originally linear belt in a two-stage tectonic history. This history represents two regional compression phases: (1) east-west in the late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) and (2) north-south in the Permian (both in present-day coordinates). The north-south compression phase coincides with the northward movement of Gondwana and its final collision with Laurussia. This tectonic scenario argues against an indentor scenario, and does not support a 3500 km dextral megashear proposed in earlier reconstructions.

Assembling West Gondwana in the Neoproterozoic: Clues from the São Francisco craton region, Brazil

Abstract: The Sao Francisco craton, which consists of Archean and Paleoproterozoic basement, now forms eastern Brazil; it once was at the center of West Gondwana. Distinct Neoproterozoic Brasiliano (Pan-African) orogenic belts border the craton's margins. Crosscutting relationships among these belts, along with stratigraphic features of the cover in the craton's interior, provide constraints on the sequence of collisions leading to the assembly of West Gondwana. The earliest collision involved the Sao Francisco–Congo and Rio de la Plata cratons and resulted in the formation of the Southern Brasilia belt. Next came the closure of the Brazilide ocean by collision between the Sao Francisco–Congo and Amazonia cratons. This event produced the Northern Brasilia belt, which now defines the northwest side of the Sao Francisco craton. An intracontinental rift, which merged southward with a narrow sea, once was between the Sao Francisco and Congo cratons; closure of this rift and sea led to the formation of the Aracuai and West Congo orogen, and to the southwestward extrusion of the Ribeira belt. Continued convergence of Amazonia against the Sao Francisco–Congo craton caused the eastward extrusion of the Borborema province. The final stage of West Gondwana assembly closed a basin between the Rio de la Plata and Amazonia cratons and created the Paraguai belt.

Involvement of the Argentine Precordillera terrane in the Famatinian mobile belt: U-Pb SHRIMP and metamorphic evidence from the Sierra de Pie de Palo

Abstract: New data suggest that the eastern margin of the Argentine Precordillera terrane comprises Grenvillian basement and a sedimentary cover derived from it that were together affected by Middle Ordovician deformation and metamorphism during accretion to the Gondwana margin. The basement first underwent low pressure/temperature (P/T) type metamorphism, reaching high-grade migmatitic conditions in places (686 6 40 MPa, 790 6 17 8C), comparable to the Grenvillian M2 metamorphism of the supposed Laurentian counterpart of the terrane. The second metamorphism, recognized in the cover sequence, is of Famatinian age and took place under higher P/T conditions, following a clockwise P-T path (baric peak: 1300 6 100 Mpa, 600 6 50 8C). Low-U zircon overgrew detrital Grenvillian cores as pressure fell from its peak, and yields U-Pb SHRIMP ages of ca. 460 Ma. This is interpreted as the age of ductile thrusting coincident with early uplift; initial accretion to Gondwana must have occurred before this. The absence of late Neoproterozoic detrital zircons is consistent with a Laurentian origin of the Argentine Precordillera terrane.

Reconciling fossils and molecules: Cenozoic divergence of cichlid fishes and the biogeography of Madagascar

Abstract: Aim The biogeographical origins of the extant vertebrates endemic to Madagascar are largely unsolved, but have often been related to vicariance in the context of fragmentation of the supercontinent Gondwana in the Mesozoic. Such hypotheses are especially appealing in the case of cichlid fishes, which show phylogenetic relationships reflecting the temporal successions of the breakup of Gondwana. We used molecular clock data to test this assumption. Location Fragments of the 16S rRNA gene and of the nuclear Tmo-4C4 locus, partly obtained from Genbank from South American, African, Malagasy and Indian cichlids were analysed. Methods Based on monophyletic cichlid radiations in African lakes, we calibrated a molecular clock. The obtained rates were used to estimate the age of divergence of the major cichlid clades. Results The results agreed better with a Cenozoic than with a Mesozoic divergence, and were in accordance with the fossil record. Sequence divergences of the 16S and 12S rRNA genes of most lineages of Malagasy terrestrial and freshwater vertebrates from their non-Malagasy sister groups were below saturation and many were relatively similar to those of cichlids. Main conclusions A Cenozoic dispersal from continental landmasses may explain the origin of most extant Malagasy vertebrate groups better than a Jurassic/Cretaceous vicariance.

Ordovician and Silurian global geography

Abstract: The main palaeocontinents during the early Ordovician were Gondwana, Laurentia, Baltica, and Siberia, and a brief survey is made of their limits in the Ordovician and Silurian. In particular Gondwana, by far the largest continent, is analysed as including a core of South America, Antarctica, Africa, Australia and peninsular India, and also the marginal terranes, all of which show faunal links with, but which may not have been attached, to the core, of Avalonia, Ibero-Armorica and other European fragments, Turkey, Arabia, and terranes from the Far East including South China, Sibumasu and parts of Australasia. Changes within the benthic faunas reveal that Baltica, whilst isolated in the early Ordovician, became united with Avalonia by the end Ordovician and the two with Laurentia by the mid-Silurian to form the new supercontinent of Laurussia. Island arcs had distinctive faunas during the Ordovician, in particular those in the Iapetus between Laurentia, Baltica and Gondwana and the huge Kipchak Arc which ran from Baltica to Siberia. As the period progressed, the Iapetus arcs became subducted beneath or accreted to their neighbouring cratons, and the Kipchak Arc gradually collapsed to form the core of the new Kazakhstania terrane. Gondwana drifted over the South Pole and this movement is reflected in the cratonic benthic faunas, particularly brachiopods and trilobites, which in the early Ordovician had formed a cline between the high-latitude faunas of North Africa and the equatorial faunas of the Far East and Australia, but by the Devonian lived in much warmer seas in southern Europe and cooler waters in Antarctica. The faunas also reflect the global palaeoclimates, which were warm in the early to mid Ordovician and mid to late Silurian but which were much colder in the half million year period of the late Ordovician and early Silurian, particularly in the latest Ordovician Hirnantian ice age with its attendant widespread Hirnantia brachiopod Fauna. The relative closeness of the chief palaeocontinents by the early Silurian enabled brachiopod and trilobite larvae to cross the narrower oceans, enabling a relatively cosmopolitan benthic fauna to be established over much of the globe, apart from the cooler-water higher latitude Clarkeia Fauna to the south and the Tuvaella Fauna to the north.

Age of Pre-Break-Up Gondwana Magmatism

Abstract: Extensive outpourings of basalt, and to a lesser extent rhyolite, are closely associated with continental break-up and plume-lithosphere interactions. The Gondwana supercontinent began to fiagment during Early-Middle Jurassic times and was associated with the eruption of over three millionkm’ of dominantly basaltic magma. This intense magmatic episode is recorded in volcanic rocks of the Karoo (Africa), Ferrar (Antarctica) and Chon Aike (South America). K-Ar and Rb-Sr whole rock geochronology has consistently failed to produce reliable ages for these volcanic rocks, but in the last four years, the wider application of single grain 40Ar/39Aarn dor U-Pb geochronology has produced more robust and precise dating of the magmatism. This paper reviews the recent advances in high precision geochronology and provides a full recalibrated 40ArPgAr dataset. Application of these methods across the majority of the volcanic provinces indicates that approximately 80% of the volcanic rocks were erupted within a short, 3-4 Myr period at c. 182 Ma. This burst of magmatism occurred in the Karoo province at c. 183 Ma and in the Ferrar provinces at c. 180 Ma, and was dominated by mafk volcanism. Ths peak in volcanism is coincident with a second order mass extinction event at the end of the Pliensbachian when c. 5% of marine families were wiped out coinciding with widespread oceanic anoxia in the early Toarcian. A prolonged period of silicic volcanism occurred along the protoPacific margin, prior to, and during the main phase of break-up. Silicic volcanism was initially coincident with the plume related Karoo-Ferrar provinces, but continued over c. 40 Myr, associated with lithospheric extension and subduction along the proto-Pacific continental margin.