Terrane

About: Terrane is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 11025 publications have been published within this topic receiving 442596 citations. The topic is also known as: tectonostratigraphic terrane.

The Wyoming Province: a distinctive Archean craton in Laurentian North America

Abstract: The Wyoming Province is a distinctive Archean craton in the northwestern United States that can be subdivided into three subprovinces, namely, from oldest to youngest, the Montana metasedimentary province, the Beartooth–Bighorn magmatic zone, and the Southern accreted terranes. Archean rocks of the Montana metasedimentary province and the Beartooth–Bighorn magmatic zone are characterized by (1) their antiquity (rock ages to 3.5 Ga, detrital zircon ages up to 4.0 Ga, and Nd model ages exceeding 4.0 Ga); (2) a distinctly enriched 207Pb/204Pb isotopic signature, which suggests that this part of the province was not produced by the amalgamation of exotic terranes; and (3) a distinctively thick (15–20 km), mafic lower crust. The Montana metasedimentary province and Beartooth–Bighorn magmatic zone were cratonized by about 3.0–2.8 Ga. Crustal growth occurred via continental-arc magmatism and terrane accretion in the Southern accreted terranes along the southern margin of the province at 2.68–2.50 Ga. By the end of the Archean, the three subprovinces were joined as part of what is now the Wyoming Province. Subsequent to amalgamation of the Wyoming crust to Laurentia at ca. 1.8–1.9 Ga, Paleoproterozoic crust (1.7–2.4 Ga) was juxtaposed along the southern and western boundaries of the province. Subsequent tectonism and magmatism in the Wyoming region are concentrated in the areas underlain by these Proterozoic mobile belts.

Cretaceous-Tertiary structural evolution of the north central Lhasa terrane, Tibet

Abstract: [1] In the north central Lhasa terrane of Tibet, two distinct structural levels of an east–west striking thrust system are exposed along the north trending late Cenozoic Xiagangjiang rift. Upper Paleozoic strata deformed by the south directed Langgadong La thrust, and Cretaceous strata involved in variably north and south directed thrusting characterize these lower and upper structural levels, respectively. These two structural levels are separated by the Tagua Ri passive roof thrust. Balanced cross section restoration suggests that the thrust system accommodated ∼103 km (∼53%) shortening. The 40Ar/39Ar results, together with an interpretation of synthrust deposition of Upper Cretaceous strata, suggest that the majority of shortening occurred during the Late Cretaceous–Paleocene. Cretaceous strata lie unconformable on Permian rocks; volcanic tuffs directly above the unconformity yield U-Pb zircon ages of ∼131 Ma. Upper Cretaceous strata record a change from shallow marine to nonmarine deposition, indicating uplift above sea level during this time. The overall south directed vergence of the thrust belt is consistent with substantial crustal thickening in central Tibet by large-scale northward underthrusting of Lhasa terrane basement beneath the Qiantang terrane prior to the Indo-Asian collision. The documented decoupling of contractional deformation at shallow crustal levels appears to be a regional characteristic of Tibet from at least the Bangong suture in the north to the Tethyan Himalaya to the south. This style of deformation explains the absence of basement exposures and major denudation in this region despite substantial crustal shortening.

Geochronology and tectonic implications of magmatism and metamorphism, southern Kootenay Arc and neighbouring regions, southeastern British Columbia. Part I: Jurassic to mid-Cretaceous

Abstract: K–Ar dates and U–Pb zircon dates define three periods of igneous activity in the southern Kootenay Arc: (1) emplacement of late-synkinematic to post-kinematic granodioritic plutons in mid-Jurassic time (170–165 Ma) accompanying amphibolite-facies regional metamorphism; (2) emplacement of post-kinematic granitic plutons in mid-Cretaceous time (~100 Ma); and (3) emplacement of small bodies of syenite in Eocene time (~50 Ma) in the western part of the area. Micas from mid-Jurassic plutons that yield the oldest K–Ar dates (158–166 Ma) also yield plateau-shaped 40Ar/39Ar age spectra. Age spectra for biotites younger than these but older than 125 Ma reflect thermal overprinting.In southeastern British Columbia, the Kootenay Arc marks the transition from the North American rocks of the Cordilleran miogeocline to the tectonic collage of allochthonous terranes that have been accreted to it.Deformation, metamorphism, and plutonism recorded in rocks of the southern Kootenay Arc commenced in mid-Jurassic time as a co...

Paleoproterozoic crustal evolution of the Hengshan–Wutai–Fuping region, North China Craton

Abstract: An arguable point regarding the Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic crustal evolution of the North China Craton (NCC) is whether the tectonic setting in the central belt during the mid-Paleoproterozoic (2.35–2.0 Ga) was dominated by an extensional regime or an oceanic subduction–arc regime. A review of the mid-Paleoproterozoic magmatism and sedimentation for the Hengshan–Wutai–Fuping region suggests that a back-arc extension regime was dominant in this region. This conclusion is consistent with the observation that the 2.35–2.0 Ga magmatism shows a typical bimodal distribution where the mafic rocks mostly have arc affinities and the acidic rocks mainly comprise highly-fractioned calc-alkaline to alkaline (or A-type) granites, and that this magmatism was coeval with development of extensional basins characteristic of transgressive sequences with volcanic interlayers such as in the Hutuo Group. Although the final amalgamation of the NCC was believed to occur at ∼1.85 Ga, recent zircon U–Pb age dating for mica schist in the Wutai Group suggests a collisional event may have occurred at ∼1.95 Ga. The metamorphic ages of ∼1.85 Ga, obtained mostly from the high-grade rocks using the zircon U–Pb approach, most probably indicate uplifting and cooling of these high-grade terranes. This is because (i) phase modeling suggests that newly-grown zircon grains in high-grade rocks with a melt phase cannot date the age of peak pressure and temperature stages, but the age of melt crystallization in cooling stages; (ii) the metamorphic P–T paths with isobaric cooling under 6–7 kb for the Hengshan and Fuping granulites suggest their prolonged stay in the middle–lower crust; and (iii) the obtained metamorphic age data show a continuous distribution from 1.95 to 1.80 Ga. Thus, an alternative tectonic scenario for the Hengshan–Wutai–Fuping region involves: (i) formation of a proto-NCC at ∼2.5 Ga; (ii) back-arc extension during 2.35–2.0 Ga resulting in bimodal magmatism and sedimentation in rifting basins on an Archean basement; (iii) a crustal thickening event in the extended region resulting in a kyanite-type metamorphism at ∼1.95 Ga, and (iv) uplifting and cooling of the thickened crust from 1.93 to 1.80 Ga.