Showing papers on "Terrane published in 2012"

Tectonic evolution of the Sibumasu-Indochina terrane collision zone in Thailand and Malaysia: constraints from new U-Pb zircon chronology of SE Asian tin granitoids

Abstract: Three principal granite provinces are defined across SE Asia, as follows. (1) The Western Thailand–Myanmar/Burma province consists of hornblende–biotite I-type granodiorite–granites and felsic biotite–K-feldspar (± garnet ± tourmaline) granites associated with abundant tin mineralization in greisen-type veins. New ion microprobe U–Pb dating results from Phuket Island show zircon core ages of 212 ± 2 and 214 ± 2 Ma and a thermal overprint with rims of 81.2 ± 1.2 and 85–75 Ma. (2) The North Thailand–West Malaya Main Range province has mainly S-type biotite granites and abundant tin mineralization resulting from crustal thickening following collision of the Sibumasu plate with Indochina during the Mid-Triassic. Biotite granites around Kuala Lumpur contain extremely U-rich zircons (up to 38000 ppm) that yield ages of 215 ± 7 and 210 ± 7 Ma. (3) The East Malaya province consists of dominantly Permian–Triassic I-type hornblende–biotite granites but with subordinate S-type plutons and A-type syenite–gabbros. Biotite–K-feldspar granites from Tioman Island off the east coast of Malaysia also yield a zircon age of 80 ± 1 Ma, showing Cretaceous magmatism in common with province 1. Geological and U–Pb geochronological data suggest that two east-dipping (in present-day coordinates) subduction zones are required during the Triassic, one along the Bentong–Raub Palaeo-Tethyan suture, and the other west of the Phuket–Burma province 1 belt. Supplementary material: A full description of U–Pb analytical methods used and data tables are available at www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18523.

Constraining the Jurassic extent of Greater India: Tectonic evolution of the West Australian margin

Abstract: Alternative reconstructions of the Jurassic northern extent of Greater India differ by up to several thousand kilometers. We present a new model that is constrained by revised seafloor spreading anomalies, fracture zones and crustal ages based on drillsites/dredges from all the abyssal plains along the West Australian margin and the Wharton Basin, where an unexpected sliver of Jurassic seafloor (153 Ma) has been found embedded in Cretaceous (95 My old) seafloor. Based on fracture zone trajectories, this NeoTethyan sliver must have originally formed along a western extension of the spreading center that formed the Argo Abyssal Plain, separating a western extension of West Argoland/West Burma from Greater India as a ribbon terrane. The NeoTethyan sliver, Zenith and Wallaby plateaus moved as part of Greater India until westward ridge jumps isolated them. Following another spreading reorganization, the Jurassic crust resumed migrating with Greater India until it was re-attached to the Australian plate ∼95 Ma. The new Wharton Basin data and kinematic model place strong constraints on the disputed northern Jurassic extent of Greater India. Late Jurassic seafloor spreading must have reached south to the Cuvier Abyssal Plain on the West Australian margin, connected to a spreading ridge wrapping around northern Greater India, but this Jurassic crust is no longer preserved there, having been entirely transferred to the conjugate plate by ridge propagations. This discovery constrains the major portion of Greater India to have been located south of the large-offset Wallaby-Zenith Fracture Zone, excluding much larger previously proposed shapes of Greater India.

Eastern Dharwar Craton, India: Continental lithosphere growth by accretion of diverse plume and arc terranes

Abstract: Greenstone belts of the eastern Dharwar Craton, India are reinterpreted as composite tectonostratigraphic terranes of accreted plume-derived and convergent margin-derived magmatic sequences based on new high-precision elemental data. The former are dominated by a komatiite plus Mg-tholeiitic basalt volcanic association, with deep water siliciclastic and banded iron formation (BIF) sedimentary rocks. Plumes melted at Convergent margin magmatic associations are dominated by tholeiitic to calc-alkaline basalts compositionally similar to recent intraoceanic arcs. As well, boninitic flows sourced in extremely depleted mantle are present, and the association of arc basalts with Mg-andesites-Nb enriched basalts-adakites documented from Cenozoic arcs characterized by subduction of young ( Archean lithospheric mantle, distinctive in being thick, refractory, and buoyant, formed complementary to the accreted plume and convergent margin terranes, as migrating arcs captured thick plume-plateaus, and the refractory, low density, residue of plume melting coupled with accreted imbricated plume-arc crust.

Crustal structure and rheology of the Longmenshan and Wenchuan Mw 7.9 earthquake epicentral area from magnetotelluric data

Abstract: The Longmenshan forms the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau adjacent to the Sichuan Basin. This range is anomalous because it formed despite low convergence and slip rates and without the development of a foreland basin. The devastating A.D. 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (Mw = 7.9) has renewed debate about the tectonics of the Longmenshan. A magnetotelluric (MT) study was undertaken subsequent to the earthquake to investigate the crustal structure of the Longmenshan, and inversion of the data reveals a low-resistivity (high-conductivity) layer at a depth of ∼20 km beneath the eastern Tibetan Plateau that terminates ∼25 km west of the Wenchuan-Maoxian fault. Its electrical properties are consistent with it being fluid-rich and mechanically weak. Beneath the Longmenshan and Sichuan Basin, a high-resistivity zone extends through the entire crust, but with a zone of low resistivity in the vicinity of the Wenchuan hypocenter. We show that the MT data, combined with other geological and geophysical observations, support geodynamic models for the uplift of eastern Tibet being caused by southeast-directed crustal flow that is blocked by stable lithosphere beneath the Sichuan Basin and Longmenshan, leading to inflation of the Songpan-Ganzi terrane. This rigid high-resistivity backstop not only provided a block to flow, but also may have accumulated stress prior to the earthquake. The MT observations provide new insights into the generation of the Wenchuan earthquake, which occurred in a region with low convergence rates prior to the earthquake.

Evolutionary aspects of lithosphere discontinuity structure in the western U.S.

Abstract: [1] We have produced common conversion point (CCP) stacked Ps and Sp receiver function image volumes of the Moho and lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) beneath the western United States using Transportable Array data. The large image volumes and the diversity of tectonic environments they encompass allow us to investigate evolution of these structural discontinuities. The Moho is a nearly continuous topographic surface, whereas the LAB is not and the seismic images show a more complex expression. The first order change in LAB depth in the western U.S. occurs along the Cordilleran hingeline, the former Laurasian passive margin along the southwestern Precambrian North American terranes. The LAB is about 50% deeper to the east of the hingeline than to the west, with most of the increase in LAB thickness being in the mantle lithosphere. We infer that the Moho and the LAB are Late Mesozoic or Cenozoic everywhere west of the hingeline, modified during Farallon subduction and its aftermath. Between the hingeline and the Rocky Mountain Front, the LAB, and to a lesser extent the Moho, have been partially reset during the Cenozoic by processes that continue today. Seismicity and recent volcanism in the interior of the western U.S. are concentrated along gradients in crustal and/or lithospheric thickness, for example the hingeline, and the eastern edge of the coastal volcanic-magmatic terranes. To us this suggests that lateral gradients in integrated lithospheric strength focus deformation. Similarly, areas conjectured to be the sites of convective downwellings and associated volcanism are located along gradients in regional lithosphere thickness.

Resolving the Variscan evolution of the Moldanubian sector of the Bohemian Massif: the significance of the Bavarian and the Moravo-Moldanubian tectonometamorphic phases

Abstract: *Corresponding author The Variscan evolution of the Moldanubian sector in the Bohemian Massif consists of at least two distinct tectonometamorphic phases: the Moravo–Moldanubian Phase (345–330 Ma) and the Bavarian Phase (330–315 Ma). The Moravo–Moldanubian Phase involved the overthrusting of the Moldanubian over the Moravian Zone, a process which may have followed the subduction of an intervening oceanic domain (a part of the Rheiic Ocean) beneath a Moldanubian (Armorican) active continental margin. The Moravo–Moldanubian Phase also involved the exhumation of the HP–HT rocks of the Gfohl Unit into the Moldanubian middle crust, represented by the Monotonous and Variegated series. The tectonic emplacement of the HP–HT rocks was accompanied by intrusions of distinct magnesio-potassic granitoid melts (the 335–338 Ma old Durbachite plutons), which contain components from a strongly enriched lithospheric mantle source. Two parallel belts of HP–HT rocks associated with Durbachite intrusions can be distinguished, a western one at the Tepla–Barrandian and an eastern one close to the Moravian boundary. The combined occurrence of Durbachite plutons and HP rocks would be difficult to understand in terms of the previous tectonic models, in which the Gfohl Unit was viewed as a large flat nappe on top of the Moldanubian Zone. In recent studies it has been suggested that Saxothuringian crust was subducted eastwards under the Moldanubian Zone during the Early Carboniferous. We discuss here an alternative tectonic scenario, in which the south-eastern Bohemian Massif is tentatively interpreted as an accretionary wedge successively underplated by material of a Gfohl and a Moravian terrane. It is suggested that parts of the HP–HT rocks of the Gfohl Terrane were exhumed along the Moravian–Moldanubian plate contact, while earlier subducted portions were steeply uplifted close to the Tepla–Barrandian block, which may have functioned as a rigid backstop of the accretionary wedge. Final stages of the Moravo–Moldanubian Phase were characterised by a strong LP–HT regional metamorphism at c. 335–340 Ma, which may be an expression of increased mantle heat flow after slab break-off, and is seen mainly in the Ostrong Unit along the central axis of the Moravo–Moldanubian Fold Belt. As indicated from palaeomagnetic data, the (already established) Moravo–Moldanubian Fold Belt has then (around 330 Ma) rotated by about 90° clockwise, while the palaeogeographic position of Baltica remained widely unchanged. This implies that the Moravian Zone lost its former contact to Baltica and that a major Late Variscan fragmentation of the Old Red continental margin must have occurred in the Moravo–Silesian area at that time. Also within the Bohemian Massif, this rotation event may have caused a significant Late Variscan (fault bounded) disturbance of previous terrane relationships. The Bavarian Phase (330–315 Ma) represents a fully independent stage of the Variscan orogeny in the Bohemian Massif. It is defined by a significant reheating (LP–HT regional metamorphism combined with voluminous granitic plutonism) and a tectonic remobilisation of crust in the south-western sector of the Bohemian Massif. These processes were most likely triggered by a Late Variscan delamination of mantle lithosphere. The Bavarian Phase overprinted western parts of the (widely cooled) Moravo–Moldanubian Fold Belt and transformed these rocks into various anatexites (metablastites, metatexites and diatexites). The HP–HT rocks of the Gfohl Unit, the Durbachite plutons, the LP–HT rocks of the Ostrong Unit and other typical constituents of the Moravo–Moldanubian Fold Belt can be followed from the Czech Republic southwards into eastern Bavaria and western Upper Austria (Muhl and Sauwald Zone), but are difficult to identify there due to the strong anatectic overprint. The LP–HT regions further west (Oberpfalz and western Bavarian Forest, Sumava Mts.?) may include former continuations of Tepla–Barrandian or Saxothuringian crust.

Crustal structure of the Yakutat terrane and the evolution of subduction and collision in southern Alaska

Abstract: [1] We present a two-dimensional velocity model to constrain crustal thickness and composition of the Yakutat terrane in the northern Gulf of Alaska. The model was constructed using seismic reflection and refraction data along a ∼455 km onshore-offshore profile. Our model shows that the crystalline crust composing the Yakutat terrane is wedge-shaped, with crustal thickness increasing west to east from ∼15 km to ∼30 km. Crustal velocity and structure are continuous across the terrane, with lower crustal velocities >7 km/s, suggesting that the Yakutat terrane is an oceanic plateau across its entire offshore extent rather than a composite oceanic-continental terrane as previously proposed. The thickest Yakutat crust is entering the adjacent St. Elias orogen where elevated exhumation rates and concentrated seismicity in this vicinity are likely influenced by incipient Yakutat-North America collision. Our model includes a ∼8 km thick low-velocity crustal cap extending across the eastern portion of the profile where shallow basement is imaged on marine seismic reflection data. We interpret this cap as a lithified, metamorphosed remnant accretionary prism, providing evidence of a previous attempt at Yakutat subduction along its eastern margin prior to current emplacement at the southern Alaska margin.

Detrital zircon and isotopic constraints on the crustal architecture and tectonic evolution of the northeastern Pamir

Abstract: [1] New detrital zircon and isotopic (Nd and Sr) analyses from the eastern Pamir provide information on the depositional age and tectonic terrane affiliation of regional metamorphic terranes. Our results show the following. First, detrital zircon analyses from metasedimentary units along the Kongur Shan extensional system dominantly yield Triassic maximum depositional ages, with a similar age distribution to the Tibetan Songpan-Ganzi terrane. Further, zircon analyses from quartzofeldspathic gneisses in the core of the Muztaghata massif show the protoliths are Triassic granites. These units are interpreted to be part of the Permian-Triassic Karakul-Mazar arc-accretionary complex terrane. Second, eNd(0) compositions of Triassic granites overlap with other metasedimentary units not analyzed for detrital zircons and are also interpreted to be part of the Karakul-Mazar terrane. Third, schists in the Sares-Muztaghata gneiss dome structurally above Triassic orthogneisses yield an Ordovician maximum depositional age with a distinct detrital age distribution similar to the Tibetan Qiangtang terrane and are interpreted to be part of the Central Pamir terrane. Finally, Triassic and Ordovician schists along the Muztaghata massif record an Early Jurassic metamorphic event interpreted to date south-directed subduction of the Karakul-Mazar terrane beneath the Central Pamir during final closure of the Paleo-Tethys. These results, integrated with previously published results and field relations, reveal a complex Mesozoic to Cenozoic interleaving of tectonic terranes in the eastern Pamir with emplacement of the Karakul Mazar terrane both above and below the Kunlun and Central Pamir terranes to the north and south, respectively.

Late Mesozoic basin and range tectonics and related magmatism in Southeast China

Abstract: During the Late Mesozoic Middle Jurassic–Late Cretaceous, basin and range tectonics and associated magmatism representative of an extensional tectonic setting was widespread in southeastern China as a result of Pacific Plate subduction. Basin tectonics consists of post-orogenic (Type I) and intra-continental extensional basins (Type II). Type I basins developed in the piedmont and intraland during the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic, in which coarse-grained terrestrial clastic sediments were deposited. Type II basins formed during intra-continental crustal thinning and were characterized by the development of grabens and half-grabens. Graben basins were mainly generated during the Middle Jurassic and were associated with bimodal volcanism. Sediments in half-grabens are intercalated with rhyolitic tuffs and lavas and are Early Cretaceous in age with a dominance of Late Cretaceous–Paleogene red beds. Ranges are composed of granitoids and bimodal volcanic rocks, A-type granites and dome-type metamorphic core complexes. The authors analyzed lithological, geochemical and geochronological features of the Late Mesozoic igneous rock assemblages and proposed some geodynamical constraints on forming the basin and range tectonics of South China. A comparison of the similarities and differences of basin and range tectonics between the eastern and western shores of the Pacific is made, and the geodynamical evolution model of the Southeast China Block during Late Mesozoic is discussed. Studied results suggest that the basin and range terrane within South China developed on a pre-Mesozoic folded belt was derived from a polyphase tectonic evolution mainly constrained by subduction of the western Pacific Plate since the Late Mesozoic, leading to formation of various magmatism in a back-arc extensional setting. Its geodynamic mechanism can compare with that of basin and range tectonics in the eastern shore of the Pacific. Differences of basin and range tectonics between both shores of the Pacific, such as mantle plume formation, scales of extensional and igneous rock assemblages and the age of basin and range tectonics, were caused mainly by the Yellowstone mantle plume in the eastern shore of the Pacific.

The Geology of New Guinea - The Cordilleran Margin of the Australian Continent

Abstract: The island of New Guinea is the mountainous margin of the Australian continent. Paleozoic and Proterozoic Australian craton extends northward beneath the shallow waters of the Arafura Sea to underlie the southern plains of New Guinea and, with overlying sediments, to form the dramatically sculpted southern slopes of the central range in a great fold and thrust belt. The fold and thrust belt marks the outer limit of the autochthon. Beyond, to the N, E and W, is an aggregation of terranes that have accreted since the Late Cretaceous, driven by oblique convergence between the Pacific and Indo-Australian plates. The terranes comprise continental fragments and blocks of oceanic volcanic arc and of oceanic crust and mantle origin, and include two great ophiolites. The plate boundary itself is a complex system of microplates, each with separate motion, and marked by every kind of plate boundary. In the E the opening of the Manus Basin is associated with rapid clockwise rotation of New Britain, and the opening of the Woodlark Basin causes extension of continental crust in the Papuan peninsula and islands. This has resulted in the development of low-angle extensional faults and domal structures in metamorphic rocks and the exhumation of Pliocene eclogite. Remarkably similar extensional structures and the exhumation of Pliocene eclogite are seen in the Bird's Head area of western New Guinea (Wandamen Peninsula). Flat and shallow oblique subduction at the New Guinea Trench has caused the deformation of Plio-Quaternary sediments in the Mamberamo Basin, deformation and Pliocene igneous activity in the central range, and the southwestward motion of the Bird's Head. The island has significant resources of economic minerals and hydrocarbons.

The metamorphic sole of New Caledonia ophiolite: 40Ar/39Ar, U-Pb, and geochemical evidence for subduction inception at a spreading ridge

Abstract: Amphibolite lenses that locally crop out below the serpentinite sole at the base of the ophiolite of New Caledonia (termed Peridotite Nappe) recrystallized in the high-temperature amphibolite facies and thus sharply contrast with blueschists and eclogites of the Eocene metamorphic complex. Amphibolites mostly display the geochemical features of MORB with a slight Nb depletion and thus are similar to the youngest (Late Paleocene-Eocene) BABB components of the allochthonous Poya Terrane. Thermochronological data from hornblende ( 40Ar/ 39Ar), zircon, and sphene (U-Pb) suggest that these mafic rocks recrystallized at ∼56Ma. Using various geothermobarometers provides a rough estimate of peak recrystallization conditions of ∼0.5GPa at ∼800-950C. The thermal gradient inferred from the metamorphic assemblage (∼60°Ckm -1), geometrical relationships, and geochemical similarity suggest that these mafic rocks belong to the oceanic crust of the lower plate of the subduction/obduction system and recrystallized when they subducted below young and hot oceanic lithosphere. They were detached from the down-going plate and finally thrust onto unmetamorphosed Poya Terrane basalts. This and the occurrence of slab melts at ∼53Ma suggest that subduction inception occurred at or near to the spreading ridge of the South Loyalty Basin at ∼56Ma. © 2012. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.