Deformation at an Archean subprovince boundary, northern Minnesota

1991 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 292-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Tabor ◽  
Peter J. Hudleston
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zones ◽  
Wall Rock ◽  
Amphibolite Facies ◽  
Lower Grade ◽  
Seine River ◽  
Northern Margin ◽  
Shear Structures ◽  
The North ◽  
Dextral Shear ◽  
East West

Structural analysis in the northern margin of the Quetico subprovince (part of the Archean Superior Province of the Canadian Shield) in Minnesota reveals that the main deformation involved polyphase folding (F1 recumbent and nappe-like, and F2 upright, east–west trending, and tight to isoclinal) during regional ductile transpression and amphibolite-facies metamorphism. A younger deformation, developed during the latter stages of regional transpression, resulted in the generation of localized ultraphyllonites along the steeply dipping Rainy Lake – Seine River fault (RLSRF), the major fault separating the Quetico subprovince from the Rainy Lake wrench zone (a wedge-shaped block between the Quetico and Wabigoon subprovinces). The transpression involved north–south shortening and east–west dextral shear. The presence of shear zones in amphibolite-facies wall rock south of the fault and in lower grade ultraphyllonites within the RLSRF suggests that localization of shear occurred by work and (or) reaction softening, possibly enhanced by the influx of fluids during regional cooling. The youngest structures in the wall rock are conjugate brittle faults oriented similarly to the youngest ductile shear structures in the RLSRF, indicating that the zone of transpression widened following the stage of strain localization, possibly due to work hardening during continued regional cooling. Widening of the zone of deformation was accompanied by an increase in the relative intensity of the north–south shortening component of transpression, revealed by chloritized necks of boudinaged quartz ribbons, quartz and calcite microfabrics, and flattening strains. Protracted ductile flow and localized greenschist-facies conditions in the RLSRF, which occurred during widening of the zone of deformation and rotation of the kinematic frame (to produce north–south shortening structures), are best explained by an influx of fluid phases.Mesostructures and quartz microfabrics in late tectonic (but synkinematic) peraluminous leucogranitoid intrusions and host schist 10 km south of the RLSRF record north–south shortening, but not east–west dextral shear, and further support late north–south shortening across the RLSRF.Tectonic settings for the RLSRF include (i) a suture between distinct lithotectonic terranes or (ii) a zone of localization of deformation within the northern margin of the Quetico subprovince following collision between the Quetico and Wabigoon terranes.

Deformation across the western Quetico subprovince and adjacent boundarl regions in Minnesota

1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 2087-2103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L. Bauer ◽  
Peter J. Hudleston ◽  
David L. Southwick
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zones ◽  
Lower Grade ◽  
Seine River ◽  
Complex Deformation ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
Regional Deformation ◽  
Oblique Convergence ◽  
Deformation Features ◽  
Ductile Shear ◽  
East West

North- to northwest-directed crustal shortening across the western Quetico subprovince and its boundary regions produced a complex deformation sequence within the Quetico belt and resulted in concentrated zones of dextral ductile shear in the boundary regions within the adjacent greenstone–granite terranes. In this paper, we review and introduce new data on the regional deformation features and their geometries and discuss the history of generation of these features. We attribute the deformation sequence to differential partitioning of shortening and shear strains during dextral transpression associated with oblique convergence and accretion along the southern margin of the Superior Province.The turbiditic wacke in the western Quetico subprovince, now typically amphibolite-facies schist and migmatite, underwent an early deformation stage that included recumbent folding (F1) and the generation of an S1 bedding-parallel foliation. This event is most evident along the northern and southern boundaries of the subprovince, but it is also recognized in the lower grade metasedimentary rocks in the adjacent Wawa and Wabigoon subprovinces. In these subprovinces, F1 folding may have been associated with higher level thrusting and allochthonous emplacement of greenstone units. Despite our F1 designation of this event, it it unlikely that this deformation was synchronous across the subprovinces.Widespread upright folding of the overturned limbs of F1 folds produced moderately to gently plunging F2 folds with east–west-trending axial planes. F, folds, with an associated L, stretching lineation subparallel to fold hinges, are well developed along the southern and northern margins of the Quetico subprovince and in the metasediments of the adjacent Wawa subprovince. During this event, ductile dextral shear was concentrated in steeply dipping east–west-trending shear zones in the Wawa subprovince and in the region of the Rainy Lake – Seine River fault along the Quetico–Wabigoon subprovince boundary. In the northern Wawa subprovince, shear was strongly concentrated in relatively incompetent, steeply dipping metasedimentary and tuffaceous units interlayered with more competent greenstone units. Concentrated zones of ductile shear are not evident within the Quetico subprovince away from its boundary regions. However, emplacement of syntectonic plutons in the central Quetico reoriented F2 folds which were then refolded by large regional F3 folds during continued regional shortening.

scholarly journals Compressional and extensional tectonics in low-medium pressure granulites from the Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica

1995 ◽  
Vol 132 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Carson ◽  
P. G. H. M. Dirks ◽  
M. Hand ◽  
J. P. Sims ◽  
C. J. L. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
High Strain ◽  
Shear Bands ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
The South ◽  
Medium Pressure ◽  
Larsemann Hills ◽  
The North ◽  
Shear Sense ◽  
Low Pressures ◽  
East West

AbstractMeta-sediments in the Larsemann Hills that preserve a coherent stratigraphy, form a cover sequence deposited upon basement of mafic–felsic granulite. Their outcrop pattern defines a 10 kilometre wide east–west trending synclinal trough structure in which basement–cover contacts differ in the north and the south, suggesting tectonic interleaving during a prograde, D1 thickening event. Subsequent conditions reached low-medium pressure granulite grade, and structures can be divided into two groups, D2 and D3, each defined by a unique lineation direction and shear sense. D2 structures which are associated with the dominant gneissic foliation in much of the Larsemann Hills, contain a moderately east-plunging lineation indicative of west-directed thrusting. D2 comprises a colinear fold sequence that evolved from early intrafolial folds to late upright folds. D3 structures are associated with a high-strain zone, to the south of the Larsemann Hills, where S3 is the dominant gneissic layering and folds sequences resemble D2 folding. Outside the D3 high-strain zone occurs a low-strain D3 window, preserving low-strain D3 structures (minor shear bands and upright folds) that partly re-orient D2 structures. All structures are truncated by a series of planar pegmatites and parallel D4 mylonite zones, recording extensional dextral displacements.D2 assemblages include coexisting garnet–orthopyroxene pairs recording peak conditions of ∼ 7 kbar and ∼ 780°C. Subsequent retrograde decompression textures partly evolved during both D2 and D3 when conditions of ∼ 4–5 kbar and ∼ 750°C were attained. This is followed by D4 shear zones which formed around 3 kbar and ∼ 550°C.It is tempting to combine D2–4 structures in one tectonic cycle involving prograde thrusting and thickening followed by retrograde extension and uplift. The available geochronological data, however, present a number of interpretations. For example, D2 was possibly associated with a clockwise P–T path at medium pressures around ∼ 1000 Ma, by correlation with similar structures developed in the Rauer Group, whilst D3 and D4 events occurred in response to extension and heating at low pressures at ∼ 550 Ma, associated with the emplacement of numerous granitoid bodies. Thus, decompression textures typical for the Larsemann Hills granulites maybe the combined effect of two separate events.

Pre-Grenvillian evolution and Grenvillian overprinting of the Parautochthonous Belt in Key Harbour, Ontario: U–Pb and field constraints

1994 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 583-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Corrigan ◽  
Nicholas G. Culshaw ◽  
Jim K. Mortensen
Keyword(s):  
High Strain ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Amphibolite Facies ◽  
Ductile Deformation ◽  
Grenville Orogeny ◽  
Facies Metamorphism ◽  
Minimum Age ◽  
High Metamorphic Grade ◽  
Harbour Area ◽  
East West

The Parautochthonous Belt in the region of Key Harbour, Ontario, is composed of Early Proterozoic migmatitic para- and orthogneiss and Mid-Proterozoic granitoids, which were reworked during the Grenville orogeny. Grenvillian deformation is localized into anastomosing arrays of high-strain shear zones enclosing elongate bands and lozenges of rock subjected to lower and near-coaxial strain. Crosscutting relationships preserved in the low-strain domains document two pre-Grenvillian plutonic and tectonometamorphic events, which are bracketed in age by U–Pb zircon geochronology. A 1694 Ma leucogranite intrudes, and provides a minimum age for, high metamorphic grade gneisses formed during an earlier tectonometamorphic event (D1–M1). The leucogranite was intruded by mafic dykes, deformed, and metamorphosed at uppermost amphibolite facies during D2–M2, before the emplacement of Mid-Proterozoic granitoids at ca. 1450 Ma. Following the emplacement of gabbro dykes and pods at ca. 1238 Ma, the area was overprinted by granulite to uppermost amphibolite facies metamorphism (Grenvillian), for which monazites provide a minimum age of ca. 1035 Ma. Titanite U–Pb ages of 1003 – 1004 Ma record cooling through 600 °C. A regionally important swarm of east–west-trending posttectonic pegmatite dykes dated by U–Pb zircon at 990 Ma provides a minimum age for Grenvillian ductile deformation. The present data support the contention that the Parautochthonous Belt in the Key Harbour area consists in part of reworked midcontinental crust of Early to Mid-Proterozoic age.

Geology and timing of dextral strike-slip shear zones in Danmarkshavn, North-East Greenland Caledonides

2006 ◽  
Vol 143 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. SARTINI-RIDEOUT ◽  
J. A. GILOTTI ◽  
W. C. McCLELLAND
Keyword(s):  
Deformation Zone ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Amphibolite Facies ◽  
Ultrahigh Pressure ◽  
High Mass ◽  
Weighted Mean ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Land Deformation

The North-East Greenland eclogite province is divided into a western, central and eastern block by the sinistral Storstrømmen shear zone in the west and the dextral Germania Land deformation zone in the east. A family of steep, NNW-striking dextral mylonite zones in the Danmarkshavn area are geometrically and kinematically similar to the ductile Germania Land deformation zone, located 25 km to the east. Amphibolite facies deformation at Danmarkshavn is characterized by boudinage of eclogite bodies within quartzofeldspathic host gneisses, pegmatite emplacement into the boudin necks and subsequent deformation of pegmatites parallel to gneissosity, a widespread component of dextral shear within the gneisses, and localization of strain into 10–50 m thick dextral mylonite zones. The gneisses and concordant mylonite zones are cut by a swarm of weakly to undeformed, steeply dipping, E–W-striking pegmatitic dykes. Oscillatory-zoned zircon cores from two boudin neck pegmatites give weighted mean 206Pb/238U sensitive, high mass resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) ages of 376 ± 5 Ma and 343 ± 7 Ma. Cathodoluminescence images of these zircons reveal complex additional rims, with ages from ranging from c. 360 to 320 Ma. Oscillatory-zoned, prismatic zircons from two late, cross-cutting pegmatites yield weighted mean 206Pb/238U SHRIMP ages of 343 ± 5 Ma and 332 ± 3 Ma. Zircons from the boudin neck pegmatites record a prolonged growth history, marked by fluid influx, during amphibolite facies metamorphism beginning at c. 375 Ma. The cross-cutting pegmatites show that dextral deformation in the gneisses and ductile mylonite zones had stopped by c. 340 Ma. Ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism in the eastern block at 360 Ma requires that the Greenland Caledonides were in an overall contractional plate tectonic regime. This, combined with 20% steep amphibolite facies lineations in the eclogites, gneisses and mylonites suggests that dextral transpression may have been responsible for a first stage of eclogite exhumation between 370 and 340 Ma.

Petrogenesis of amphibole – biotite – calcite – plagioclase alteration and laminated gold – silver quartz veins in four Archean shear zones of the Norseman district, Western Australia

1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 388-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas G. Mueller
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Wall Rock ◽  
Alteration Zone ◽  
Mining District ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Fluid Temperature ◽  
Quartz Veins ◽  
The North ◽  
Gold Silver

The Norseman mining district in the Archean Yilgarn Block, Western Australia, has produced 140 t of gold and about 90 t of silver from 11.24 × 106 t of ore. The district is located within a metamorphic terrane of mafic and minor ultramafic greenstones, intruded by granite cupolas and swarms of porphyry dykes. The orebodies consist of laminated quartz veins, controlled by narrow (0.5–5 m) reverse shear zones that, in general, follow the contacts of metapyroxenite or porphyry dykes. Petrological studies of four shear zones, exposed on the Regent shaft 14 level, Ajax shaft 10 level, and in the stope above the North Royal shaft 5 level, show that the host rocks were metamorphosed to hornblende–plagioclase amphibolites and actinolite–chlorite rocks at temperatures of 500–550 °C prior to mineralization.At the localities studied, intense wall-rock replacement and low-grade (0.5 g/t) gold mineralization are confined to ductile or brittle–ductile shear structures. Alteration is similar in both ultramafic and mafic greenstones, and consists of an inner zone of biotite–quartz–calcite–plagioclase rock with minor actinolitic hornblende and quartz–calcite–actinolite veinlets, and an outer zone, locally developed, of chlorite–calcite–quartz rock. At an estimated pressure of 3 kbar (300 MPa), fluid temperatures during wall-rock alteration are constrained by the hydrothermal mineral assemblages to 480 ± 30 °C in two shear zones on the Regent shaft 14 level, and to 450 ± 20 °C in one shear zone in the North Royal shaft 5 level stope. The mole fraction of CO2 of the fluids is estimated at [Formula: see text], and the sulphur fugacity at 10−6 bar (10−1 kPa) (at 450 °C), based on the assemblage pyrrhotite + pyrite ± arsenopyrite. The development of an outer chloritic alteration zone at North Royal is related to the lower fluid temperature at this locality.High-grade (up to 75 g/t Au, 283 g/t Ag) veins formed within three of the shear zones studied at fluid temperatures of 400 °C and less, by the successive accretion of quartz laminae, separated by films of retrograde chlorite and sericite. The assemblage of ore minerals in the veins differs from that in the altered wall rocks, and includes disseminated galena, Pb–Bi–Ag tellurides, and native gold, which coprecipitated with the quartz. The orebodies at Norseman show affinities to Phanerozoic and Archean gold skarn deposits.

Chapter 4 Paleoproterozoic (2.0–1.8 Ga) syn-orogenic sedimentation, magmatism and mineralization in the Bothnia–Skellefteå lithotectonic unit, Svecokarelian orogen

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pietari Skyttä ◽  
Pär Weihed ◽  
Karin Högdahl ◽  
Stefan Bergman ◽  
Michael B. Stephens
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Lower Grade ◽  
Magmatic Arc ◽  
The North ◽  
Magmatic Rocks ◽  
Structural Style ◽  
Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide ◽  
Felsic Volcanic

AbstractThe Bothnia–Skellefteå lithotectonic unit is dominated by turbiditic wacke and argillite (Bothnian basin), deposited at 1.96 (or older)–1.86 Ga, metamorphosed generally under high-grade conditions and intruded by successive plutonic suites at 1.95–1.93, 1.90–1.88, 1.87–1.85 and 1.81–1.76 Ga. In the northern part, low-grade and low-strain, 1.90–1.86 Ga predominantly magmatic rocks (the Skellefte–Arvidsjaur magmatic province) are enclosed by the basinal components. Subduction-related processes in intra-arc basin and magmatic arc settings, respectively, are inferred. Changes in the metamorphic grade and the relative timing of deformation and structural style across the magmatic province are linked to major shear zones trending roughly north–south and, close to the southern margin, WNW–ESE. Zones trending WNW–ESE and ENE–WSW dominate southwards. Slip along the north–south zones in an extensional setting initiated synchronously with magmatic activity at 1.90–1.88 Ga. Tectonic inversion steered by accretion to a craton to the east, involving crustal shortening, ductile strain and crustal melting, occurred at 1.88–1.85 Ga. Deformation along shear zones under lower-grade conditions continued at c. 1.8 Ga. Felsic volcanic rocks (1.90–1.88 Ga) host exhalative and replacement-type volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits (the metallogenic Skellefte district). Other deposits include orogenic Au, particularly along the ‘gold line’ SW of this district, porphyry Cu–Au–Mo, and magmatic Ni–Cu along the ‘nickel line’ SE of the ‘gold line’.

Metallogeny of the North Atlantic Craton in Greenland

2015 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 815-855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jochen Kolb ◽  
Leon Bagas ◽  
Marco L. Fiorentini
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Gold Mineralization ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Orogenic Gold ◽  
Iron Formation ◽  
Iron Deposit ◽  
Lower Grade ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Craton

AbstractThe North Atlantic Craton (NAC) extends along the coasts of southern Greenland. At its northern and southern margins, Archaean rocks are overprinted by Palaeoproterozoic orogeny or overlain by younger rocks. Typical granite-greenstone and granite-gneiss complexes represent the entire Archaean, with a hiatus from ∼3.55–3.20 Ga. In the granulite- and amphibolite-facies terranes, the metallogeny comprises hypozonal orogenic gold and Ni-PGE-Cr-Ti-V in mafic-ultramafic magmatic systems. Gold occurrences are widespread around and south of the capital, Nuuk. Nickel mineralization in the Maniitsoq Ni project is hosted in the Norite belt; Cr and PGE in Qeqertarssuatsiaq, and Ti-V in Sinarsuk in the Fiskenæsset complex. The lower-grade metamorphic Isua greenstone belt hosts the >1000 Mt Isua iron deposit in an Eoarchaean banded iron formation. Major Neoarchaean shear zones host mesozonal orogenic gold mineralization over considerable strike length in South-West Greenland. The current metallogenic model of the NAC is based on low-resolution data and variable geological understanding, and prospecting has been the main exploration method. In order to generate a robust understanding of the metal endowment, it is necessary to apply an integrated and collective approach. The NAC is similar to other well-endowed Archaean terranes but is underexplored, and is therefore likely to host numerous targets for greenfields exploration.

Pétrologie et gîtologie d'un filon-couche différencié et minéralisé archéen : le gisement aurifère Sigma-2, canton de Louvicourt, Québec

1991 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 1731-1743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Réjean Hébert ◽  
Michel Rocheleau ◽  
Christine Giguère ◽  
Benoît Perrier ◽  
Roch Gaudreau
Keyword(s):  
Structural Feature ◽  
Gold Mineralization ◽  
Wall Rock ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Tectonic Event ◽  
The North ◽  
Geochemical Study ◽  
Main Fault ◽  
East West

The Archean Sigma-2 orebody is hosted in the felsic granophyric zone of the differentiated Vicour sill. The sill contains anomalous gold valves and is intrusive into the uppermost part of the Val-d'Or Formation. A geochemical study shows that the Vicour sill has evolved from a ferriferous tholeiitic melt and is comagmatic with the Héva Formation to the south. The competent granophyric zone has been affected by several ductile–brittle deformation events. Three systems of faults and fractures are recognized. Each of these systems is composed of two to three subsystems. The main fault system is oriented east–west with subvertical dip and has a dextral component of movement. Two east–west oriented fault subsystems, moderately dipping (45°) towards north and south, are associated with this feature. The second major structural feature consists of northeast and north-northwest conjugate fractures superimposed on structures of the first tectonic event. The shear movement is sinistral for the northeast fractures and dextral for the north-northwest fractures. The third structural feature is the most interesting with respect to gold mineralization. It consists of east–west-trending, moderately dipping fractures that could be genetically linked with the first structural feature and resulted from a northwest–southeast compression. These fractures increased the tectonic permeability of the granophyre, which allowed Cl- and Na-rich and Ca- and CO2-poor hydrothermal fluids to circulate through the rock and produced subhorizontal mineralized quartz lenses. The lenses are composed of quartz–tourmaline ± carbonate and of pyrite–pyrrhotite ± chalcopyrite. Arsenopyrite is observed in the bleached wall rock surrounding the lenses as well as in east–west faults and northeast and north-northwest conjugate fractures. Bleaching is the result of metasomatic sericitization, albitization, silicification, and low carbonatization of the wall rock and decreases away from the mineralized lenses. Gold is associated with pyrite and arsenopyrite and occurs as inclusions and veinlets crosscutting sulfide grains. It was deposited at a late stage along with quartz and, locally, chalcopyrite. Metasomatism was responsible for the formation of arsenopyrite, coarse-grained pyrite, pyrrhotite, and chalcopyrite while ilmenite recrystallized in the veins. Fractures within arsenopyrite and pyrite are filled with late deposits of pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite. The tholeiitic composition and anomalous gold values of the mafic section of the sill could be additional valuable guidelines in the exploration for similar orebodies.

scholarly journals Control of pre-existing crustal architecture on Cenozoic formation of the Pamir

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Sobel ◽  
Johannes Rembe ◽  
Jonas Kley ◽  
Renjie Zhou ◽  
Baiansuluu Terbishalieva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oceanic Crust ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Lower Permian ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Northern Margin ◽  
The North ◽  
Tarim Block ◽  
Western Kunlun ◽  
Lateral Extent ◽  
East West

<p>The Cenozoic Pamir comprises the western equivalent of the Tibetan plateau, offset to the north by ca. 300 km. A significant geodynamic question is what controls the lateral extent of the Pamir. Here we suggest that the width of the Pamir is controlled by east-west variations in the rheology of blocks farther to the north. In particular, the rigid, Precambrian-cored Tarim block, directly north of Tibet, apparently does not extend farther west. Indirect evidence for this crustal structure is derived from the late Paleozoic - early Mesozoic evolution of the northern and external Pamir. The northern part of the Western Kunlun comprises Proterozoic Tarim basement; such rocks are unknown on the northern margin of the Pamir. In the late Ordovician or Silurian, the Kudi suture formed, representing the consumption of the Proto-Tethys and the collision of Tarim with the southern part of the Western Kunlun terrain. Although the Western Kunlun has been considered to be the lateral equivalent of the North Pamir, the Kudi suture does not appear to be preserved in the Pamir. In contrast, the North Pamir preserves remnants of a broad Carboniferous ocean which are not recognized in the Western Kunlun. The northern margin of this ocean is unclear; it may have merged with the Turkestan ocean, on the southern margin of the Tian Shan. There are no documented basement units directly north of the Pamir; the basement Garm block lies at the northwest corner of the Pamir and may represent a fragment of Tarim which we suggest must have been rifted away by the Ordovician. The North Pamir Carboniferous deep marine units are unconformably overlain by upper Carboniferous and lower Permian shallow marine units at the eastern and western ends of the North Pamir, suggesting a contractile episode; the contact appears to be conformable in the central part. The lower Permian is overlain by an uppermost Permian - Triassic back-arc basin or rift, which stretches ca. 500 km east-west. There is no evidence that this basin extended into the Western Kunlun. Therefore, the location of the Cenozoic Pamir corresponds to the extent of both Carboniferous oceanic crust and Permo-Triassic extended or oceanic crust. We suggest that the differences between the Western Kunlun Shan and the North Pamir reflect the presence and absence, respectively, of the rigid Tarim block to the north. Although it has been suggested that the geometry of the Pamir reflects the geometry of a promontory at the northwest corner of the Indian indentor; this seems highly improbable given the pre-Cenozoic history. Rather, we suggest that differences in the evolution of the Pamir and Tibet are first-order consequences of the different rheologies of the northern crustal backstops of these two regions.</p>

scholarly journals Mesozoic evolution of the eastern Pamir

Lithosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 560-580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel B. Imrecke ◽  
Alexander C. Robinson ◽  
Lewis A. Owen ◽  
Jie Chen ◽  
Lindsay M. Schoenbohm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tectonic Evolution ◽  
Isotopic Analysis ◽  
Amphibolite Facies ◽  
Metamorphic Petrology ◽  
The South ◽  
Gneiss Dome ◽  
The North ◽  
Karakoram Fault ◽  
Dextral Shear ◽  
North And South

Abstract We present field and analytical results from the Tashkurgan and Waqia valleys in the southeastern Pamir that shed new light on the tectonic evolution and terrane architecture of the region. Field mapping of metasedimentary and igneous units along the Tashkurgan and Waqia valleys in the Southeast Pamir, integrated with metamorphic petrology, garnet-biotite thermometry, and zircon U/Pb isotopic analysis, help identify major structures and terrane boundaries in the region, as well as compare structural units across the Miocene Muztaghata gneiss dome. South of the Muztaghata dome, the gently northwest-plunging synformal Torbashi thrust klippe juxtaposes amphibolite facies Triassic Karakul-Mazar terrane schist and gneiss structurally above (1) greenschist facies Triassic Karakul-Mazar terrane metasedimentary rock in the north, and (2) lower-amphibolite facies schist in the south that are interpreted to be Gondwanan-derived crust (Central or South Pamir terrane). Farther south, the Rouluke thrust fault imbricates the Gondwanan crust, placing early Paleozoic schists over Permian marble and slate. Exposure of the Torbashi thrust sheet terminates in the southeast, and with it the surface exposure of the Triassic Karakul-Mazar terrane, leaving the Paleozoic Kunlun terrane juxtaposed directly against Gondwanan terrane crust. Based on lithologic and isotopic similarities of units north and south of the Muztaghata gneiss dome, we document the existence of a regionally extensive thrust nappe that stretched across the northern and eastern Pamir, prior to being cut by Miocene exhumation of the Muztaghata dome. The thrust nappe links the Torbashi thrust in the southeast Pamir with the Tanymas thrust in the northern Pamir, and documents regionally extensive exposure of lithologically continuous units across the northeast Pamir. While timing of emplacement of the Torbashi thrust klippe and displacement on the Rouluke fault to the south is not well constrained, we interpret shortening to be Cretaceous in age based on previously published cooling ages. However, a component of Cenozoic shortening cannot be ruled out. A key observation from our mapping results is that the surface exposures of the Karakul–Mazar–Songpan Ganzi terrane are not continuous between western Tibet and the Pamir, which indicates tectonic and/or erosional removal, likely sometime in the Mesozoic. Furthermore, our documentation of the Jinsha suture in the southeast Pamir on the eastern side of the Karakoram fault shows deflections of terranes across the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen were not primarily accommodated along discrete, large displacement faults (>400 km) faults. Instead, oroclinal bending of the northern Pamir, and dextral shear along the Pamir margins, may be largely responsible for the northward deflection of terranes.

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