granite ascent and emplacement during contractional deformation in convergent orogens based on a case study in the central maine belt of west central maine u s a it is proposed that crustal scale shear zone systems provide an eaective focussing mechanism for transfer of granite melt through the crust in convergent orogens during contractional deformation flow of melt in crustal materials at depths below the brittle plastic transition is coupled with plastic deformation of these materials the flow is driven by pressure gradients generated by buoyancy forces and tectonic stresses within the oblique reverse central maine belt shear zone system stromatic migmatite and concordant to weakly discordant irregular granite sheets occur in zones of higher strain which suggests percolative flow of melt to form the migmatite leuco somes and viscous flow of melt channelized in sheet like bodies possibly along fractures cyclic fluctuations of melt pressure may cause instantaneous changes in the eaective permeability of the flow network if self propa gating melt filled tensile and or dilatant shear fractures are produced due to melt enhanced embrittlement in homogeneous migmatite and schlieric granite occur in zones of lower strain which suggests migration of partially molten material through these zones en masse by granular flow and channelized flow of melt carrying entrained residue founded on the central maine belt case study we develop a model of melt extraction and ascent using the driving forces stress conditions and crustal rheologies in convergent especially transpressive orogens ascent of melt becomes inhibited with decreasing depth as the solidus is approached for intermedi ate a h2o muscovite dehydration melting the water saturated solidus occurs between 400 and 200 mpa near the brittle plastic transition during high t low p metamorphism where the balance of forces favors sub horizontal fracture propagation emplacement of melt may be accommodated by ductile flow and or stoping of wall rock and inflation may be accommodated by lifting of the roof at shallower crustal levels and or sink ing of the pluton floor the resultant plutons have sub horizontal tabular geometries with floors that slope down to the ascent conduits although these plutons may have locally discordant relations with country rock structures when viewed at the crustal scale granite ascent and emplacement in convergent orogens are syn tec tonic processes 1998 elsevier science ltd all rights reserved

flow and fabric development during the diapiric rise of magma scaled isothermal experiments of the internal circulation induced by viscous drag at a diapir country rock interface are compared with published theoretical studies of flow induced finite deformation inside a rising sphere and new numerical results are presented for the incremental strain pattern developed in spherical diapirs the results predict a time dependent deformation history within rising diapirs that produces finite strains characterized by strong oblate flattening strains at the margin and strong vertical prolate strains in the center with an intervening zone of low plane strain finite strains are discussed in terms of the different sub fabrics expected to form in granitoids after considering the history of rheology and temperature distribution in rising magma strong rheological and temperature gradients are predicted for the margins of internally circulating diapirs that can lead to the formation of strong penetrative foliations at the margin and magmatic or even isotropic fabrics in the i

fracture controlled magma conduits in an obliquely convergent continental magmatic arc magnetic fabric patterns of two mid cretaceous nested plutons 102 1 and 96 3 ma in the central sierra nevada batholith provide evidence that felsic magma emplacement and ascent occurred via north trending steeply dipping planar fracture conduits oriented obliquely to the arc u pb geochronology data indicate that emplacement of the plutons was separated by 2 to 10 m y and that they were emplaced in part via the same conduit magnetic fabrics in the younger pluton are related to its final emplacement which was strongly influenced by a system of host rock joints formation of the north trending conduits at 100 ma can be related to a small arc parallel dextral shear component that produced tension fractures and that was associated with high angle oblique convergence by 90 ma convergence had become sufficiently oblique for the development of nearly arc parallel structures which were then favored as magma conduits

zircon geochronology and hf isotopes of the dwalile supracrustal suite ancient gneiss complex swaziland insights into the diversity of palaeoarchaean source rocks depositional and metamorphic ages abstract we report the results of combined u pb and lu hf isotope analyses of detrital and metamorphic zircon grains from a variety of metavolcano sedimentary rocks of the dwalile supracrustal suite dss from the ca 3 66 to 3 20 ga ancient gneiss complex agc in swaziland the results indicate that the dss is made up by palaeo and mesoarchaean rocks which have been affected by a polymetamorphic overprint and became tectonically assembled during the neoarchaean the oldest dwalile rocks were formed during a phase of felsic to intermediate volcanism at ca 3 46 ga and are derived from the same magma source as the tsawela gneisses based on the combined u pb hf isotope data two groups of metasedimentary rocks can be distinguished an older dwalile group i that is similar in age to the hooggenoeg and kromberg formations 3 46 3 40 ga but with a different source area a younger dwalile group ii is coeval with the fig tree and possibly moodies groups the u pb hf isotope data and petrological observations demonstrate that the dss was affected by three stages of metamorphic overprint an event at 3 23 ga pervasive amphibolite facies metamorphism at 3 15 ga and low p granulite facies metamorphism at 2 99 ga metamorphic zircon in the amphibolite facies rocks resulted from new growth in aqueous fluids at 3 15 ga whereas in the granulite facies rocks new zircon was formed in the presence of melt the 3 23 ga event coincides with the last significant metamorphic overprint documented in the barberton greenstone belt bgb whereas as two younger events are restricted to the agc the data support the model suggesting amalgamation between the agc and bgb terranes at ca 3 23 ga in addition they require crustal thickening in the agc terrane at ca 3 15 ga causing barrovian type metamorphism in the dss and granulite facies metamorphism in the luboya kubuta terrane low p granulite facies metamorphism at ca 2 99 ga is most likely related to crustal extension during the onset of pongola basin rifting causing mantle upwelling mafic magmatism and heat transfer from the mantle into the thinned crust

tectono thermal evolution magma emplacement and shear zone development in the caruaru area borborema province ne brazil abstract the neoproterozoic borborema province bp in northeastern brazil is characterized by a regional flat lying foliation and by abundant magmatic rocks commonly spatially associated with large transcurrent shear zones combined field micropetrographic thermobarometric and magmatic fabric studies carried out on plutons country rocks and shear zones in the eastern domain of the province the caruaru area reveal that 1 an early episode of regional deformation with a top to the ne displacement was followed by the development of conjugate strike slip shear zones 2 similar low pressure 650 c metamorphic conditions occurred during the two events 3 plutons intruded the flat lying foliation 4 magma emplacement slightly predated strain localization in transcurrent shear zones but 5 plutons underwent strike slip deformation before complete crystallization therefore regional deformation pluton emplacement and shear zone development were successive events occurring over a relatively short time span 40ar 39ar laser dating of amphibole 584 ma and biotite 545 553 ma single grains supports slow cooling 5 c ma of country rocks through the argon closure temperatures of these minerals complex sometimes discordant amphibole ages bracketed between 552 and 575 ma for shear zones may be attributed to episodic activity and or dike swarm intrusions into them which disturbed the ar system biotite ages for the shear zones 533 545 ma also imply a relatively low cooling rate these data show that the massive injection of magmas in the continental crust of the bp during the brasiliano pan african orogeny produced a long lived thermal anomaly of regional extent the 40ar 39ar ages in the caruaru area are older than in other segments of the bp with similar geological characteristics this indicates a tectono thermal history for the bp that is more complex than previously recognized with either diachronous deformation magmatism and associated low p high t metamorphism or contrasting cooling of the different domains possibly due to differential vertical movements

emplacement setting of the granite sheeted pluton of esperanca brasiliano orogen northeastern brazil abstract anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams and isotopic u pb sm nd data were combined to study the emplacement setting of the granite sheets that constitute the esperanca pluton in the borborema province northeastern brazil the sheets dip moderately to the se along the contact zone between the paleoproterozoic basement rocks and early neoproterozoic orthogneisses and metasediments granite fabrics were determined mainly using ams in 136 sites distributed within the central and western part of the pluton the sheets normally have susceptibility lower than 0 35 msi but locally where a ti poor magnetite appears with titanite the susceptibility increases up to 5 msi comparison between the silicate fabric and ams showed inconsistencies between the shape of mineral and magnetic ellipsoids despite of their orientations that fit fairly well to each other ams indicated the deformation was partitioned between the lower tonalite syenogranite and upper leucogranite and coarse porphyritic granite sheets in the lower sheets the curvilinear lineation trajectory is attributed to a dominant heterogeneous pure shear event that flattened laterally the still molten tonalite and syenogranite into the regional foliation the associated microstructures are typically magmatic zircon u pb data of the syenogranite yielded a crystallization age of 592 5 ma in the upper sheets the fabric recorded a component of simple shear deformation that displaced the coarse porphyritic granite and the top gneissic host rocks to the southwest microstructures are mostly of post full crystallization type tdm model ages and nd t 0 values indicate that the magma contaminated by partial melting of the regional host rocks sheet propagation at the emplacement level would have exploited the contact zone between crustal blocks of different rheologies when the melt pressures would be able to tensionally fail the anisotropy of the host rocks

experimental deformation of partially molten westerly granite under fluid absent conditions with implications for the extraction of granitic magmas the mechanical behavior of partially molten westerly granite was investigated in the temperature range 800 1100 c 250 mpa confining pressure by means of constant strain rate creep and stress relaxation tests the only water in the samples came from the breakdown of hydrous phases biotite minor chlorite and muscovite and alteration products of feldspars thus the amount of melt was controlled by the test temperature and ranged from 3 at 800 c to 50 at 1100 c over that temperature range strength decreased from 500 mpa to less than 1 mpa and a preliminary constitutive flow law for the partially molten rock was obtained to allow extrapolation to low strain rates the comparative viscosity of the melt alone was estimated at 950 and 1000 c from the distance it could be made to penetrate into a porous sand under a known pressure gradient under all conditions deformation of the matrix of solid grains was by brittle fracture only samples containing up to 10 vol melt failed with the formation of a shear fault zone at higher melt fractions melt filled pores collapsed by shear enhanced compaction squeezing the melt into axial cracks above 40 vol melt unfractured solid grains were carried about passively in the flowing liquid there was no evidence of a rheologically critical melt percentage in this system by analogy with the uniaxial compaction of water saturated soils a simple model is erected to describe a two stage process for the extraction of granitic melts from their protoliths with the aid of nonhydrostatic stress shear enhanced compaction is inferred to drive melt into a network of melt filled veins whereupon porous flow through the high permeability vein network allows rapid drainage of melt to higher crustal levels

depositional features and stratigraphic sections in granitic plutons implications for the emplacement and crystallization of granitic magma abstract many granitic plutons contain sheet like masses of dioritic to gabbroic rocks or swarms of mafic to intermediate enclaves which represent the input of higher temperature more mafic magma during crystallization of the granitic plutons small scale structures associated with these bodies e g load cast and compaction features silicic pipes extending from granitic layers into adjacent gabbroic sheets indicate that the sheets and enclave swarms were deposited on a floor of the magma chamber on granitic crystal mush and beneath crystal poor magma while the mafic magma was incompletely crystallized these structures indicate way up typically toward the interior of the intrusions and appear to indicate that packages of mafic sheets and enclave concentrations in these plutons are a record of sequential deposition hence these plutons preserve a stratigraphic history of events involved in the construction filling replenishment and crystallization of the magma chamber the distinctive features of these depositional portions of plutons allow them to be distinguished from sheeted intrusions which usually preserve mutual intrusive contacts and dike sill relations of different magma types the considerable thickness of material that can be interpreted as depositional and the evidence for replenishment suggest that magma chamber volumes at any one time were probably much less than the final size of the pluton thus magma chambers may be constructed much more slowly than presently envisaged the present steep attitudes of these structures in many plutons may have developed gradually as the floor of the chamber along with the underlying solidified granite and country rock sank during continuing episodes of magma chamber replenishment these internal magmatic structures support recent suggestions that the room problem for granites could be largely accommodated by downward movement of country rock beneath the magma chamber

strain partitioning during partial melting and crystallizing felsic magmas abstract the rheology of partly molten felsic systems changes dramatically during the onset of melting and through crystallization solid to liquid and liquid to solid transitions are not rheologically identical contradicting the concept of a unique rheological critical melt percentage we use four thresholds separating the successive stages according to the melt fraction for the melting transition 1 the liquid percolation threshold connects the melt pockets at about 8 of melt thus allowing local magma displacement at the metric scale and 2 for greater melt percentages 20 25 a melt escape threshold corresponds to the onset of transport over large distances of the melt and part of the residual solid phase leading ultimately to granitic bodies for the solidification transition 3 the first formation of a rigid framework of crystals which can accumulate stress although the melt can still flow corresponds to the rigid percolation threshold 55 solids and 4 the system becomes totally locked at about 72 75 solid which corresponds to the particle locking threshold the present paper focuses on strain partitioning induced by the coexistence of two contrasting rheological phases between these thresholds on a variety of scales non coaxial deformation is preferentially accommodated by the lower viscosity melt which increases the vorticity in the melt phase and reinforces asymmetries in the flow pattern strain partitioning also increases the scale length of the weakest phase during melting and magma ascent whereas strain partitioning decreases the scale length during crystallizing strain partitioning also affects the migration of melt by raising the particle locking threshold and lowering the melt escape threshold for three dimensional deformations such as transpression the direction of melt segregation e g horizontal may differ from the direction of melt migration e g vertical

thermal mechanical modeling of the role of thermal stresses and stoping in magma contamination mantle derived magmas emplaced in the upper crust depth 10 km are in thermal disequilibrium with the surrounding country rock as a consequence of the large temperature contrasts not only will the magma cool quite rapidly but the surrounding country rock will be heated and affected by large thermal stresses using coupled time dependent thermal mechanical models we find that a a single stage 3 km radius magma body has an eruptive life of on the order of 104 years b near the magma wall rock boundary large thermal stresses develop over short time spans 10 years and c material stoped into the chamber as a result of these thermal stresses will be assimilated either in the upper reaches of the chamber or at its base leaving a relatively uncontaminated central core these results indicate that contamination of a primary magma by stoped crustal blocks is an efficient mechanism for producing hybrid lava sequences

melt segregation and magma interactions during crustal melting breaking out of the matrix abstract differentiation of the continental crust begins with its partial melting the products of crustal melting are silicic hydrous h2o undersaturated granitic liquids that are generated within matrices of residual crystals crustal differentiation requires that felsic magmas form and escape from these solid residua an important question is whether granitic magmas collect into large batches within or near their sources which then give rise to ascent or alternatively bleed out of the sources in smaller streams or pulses we demonstrate that the physical reality is closer to the second alternative and thus question the validity of the concepts of magma segregation and source fertility as they are sometimes visualised granitic plutons contain chemically distinct sub populations formed by source level entrainment of the peritectic assemblages into the melts rapid evacuation at source levels and high ascent rates protect the magmas from wall rock interactions during their tenure at source depths and during their ascent through cool upper crust the existence of different types of granites and hence of clearly defined chemically different magmas within plutons dictates that felsic magmas must separate efficiently from their anatectic sources and must ascend to the sites of their emplacement with minimal chemical interaction with crust through which the magma must move exposed deep crustal sections are typically lithologically diverse with the more fertile rocks commonly forming discrete layers surrounded by rocks with contrasting compositions if the melts were required to segregate and accumulate into large volumes within their hot sources especially by slow gravity driven melt percolation it is very likely that they would be substantially modified by reaction with diverse source rocks thus the processes mooted to occur in melting assimilation storage and homogenisation mash or deep crustal hot dch zones would act to erase original compositional heterogeneities and produce larger batches of more homogeneous magma perhaps carrying evidence of extensive magma mixing from various lines of evidence we conclude that mash and dch zones may not exist and even if they do they cannot form the sources of most granitic magmas the intrinsic heterogeneity in crustal source rocks the likely occurrence of peritectic assemblage entrainment and the inefficiency of magma mixing decree that granitic rocks will retain source inherited chemical and isotopic heterogeneities rapid semi continuous and disequilibrium withdrawal of small magma batches from source rocks means that elements of whole rock trace element chemistry and accessory mineral chemistry will be decoupled from major element variations this also means that a large source with low nominal fertility due to low hydrous mineral content for example could still produce a substantial granitic pluton by additions of individually small increments of magma

40ar 39ar thermochronology and thermobarometry of metamorphism plutonism and tectonic denudation in the old woman mountains area california discrimination of individual tectonometamorphic events in polymetamorphosed terranes requires a comprehensive understanding of the relative timing and conditions of metamorphism and plutonism we have applied a combination of 40 ar 39 ar thermochronology petrology and thermobarometry to reconstruct the complex early proterozoic through early cenozoic tectonic and metamorphic evolution of continental crust in the old woman mountains area south eastern california strong mesozoic thermal events obscure the earlier history in much of the old woman mountains area in those areas where early proterozoic rocks underwent only lower greenschist facies metamorphism during the mesozoic thermobarometry of pelitic schists indicates that proterozoic metamorphism occurred at 9 to 11 kbar and 700 c 40 ar 39 ar ages of hornblende from samples of interbedded proterozoic amphibolite indicate that this high grade metamorphism took place before 1600 ma the relatively high pressure conditions of early proterozoic metamorphism in the old woman mountains area contrast with the low pressure granulite facies metamorphism that occurred elsewhere in the mojave desert at this time 40 ar 39 ar analyses of hornblende from proterozoic rocks within mesozoic shear zones and hornblende barometry from jurassic intrusive rocks suggest that tectonism and burial of paleozoic strata to 10 km began between 170 and 150 ma this tectonism resulted in regional greenschist facies metamorphism late stage mineral assemblages in proterozoic and paleozoic pelitic rocks in the old woman mountains area indicate an increase in metamorphic grade from greenschist to upper amphibolite facies toward late cretaceous plutons of the 73 ma old woman piute batholith metamorphic temperatures from garnet biotite thermometry increase from 650 c and 40 ar 39 ar ages of hornblende from proterozoic rocks decrease from 1600 to 73 ma toward these plutons barometric calculations from garnet bearing metamorphic rocks suggest that this cretaceous metamorphism took place at 3 5 to 5 0 kbar in the old woman mountains similar pressures are obtained from hornblende barometry of late cretaceous granodiorite 40 ar 39 ar and apatite fission track data from the 73 ma batholith indicate that the rocks exposed in the old woman mountains cooled rapidly to below 350 to 300 c by 70 1 ma and that moderately rapid cooling at rates of 10 to 30 c m y continued until after 60 ma the presence of maximum mesozoic temperatures on the borders of plutons hornblende ages of ca 73 ma and similar pressure estimates for plutons and country rocks indicate that the high temperatures needed to cause ductile deformation and amphibolite facies metamorphism were related to heating from the intrusion of the 73 ma old woman piute batholith amphibolite facies metamorphism along pluton contacts was superimposed on the regional greenschist facies metamorphism related to thrusting and crustal thickening the extremely rapid cooling in the old woman mountains between 73 and 71 ma was due largely to conduction of heat into the country rocks whereas protracted rapid cooling to temperatures below ambient temperatures estimated for the depth of emplacement was due to tectonic denudation at 1 to 2 km m y until about 68 to 65 ma

syn tectonic magmatism and the development of compositional layering ungava orogen northern quebec canada abstract layer and foliation parallel emplacement of granitic veins was an important process in the regional development of compositional layering in now exhumed middle crustal sections of both archean and paleoproterozoic age in the northern ungava peninsula quebec canada in the archean superior province diorite and tonalite plutons were penetratively deformed and metamorphosed at granulite facies conditions coeval with voluminous granitic magmatism the paleoproterozoic narsajuaq arc contains evidence for contemporaneous magmatism transpressional deformation and granulite facies metamorphism prior to its collision with the superior province basement in both plutonic domains regional compositional layering is defined by 1 metre to kilometre scale alternation of generally well foliated tonalite and quartz diorite bodies and 2 centimetre to kilometre scale variably deformed granitic veins and sheets that lie parallel to layering tectonic foliation in the host rocks syn tectonic intrusion of a substantial portion of the veins along extension fractures sub parallel to layering foliation i e at high angle to the regional shortening direction is interpreted to have occurred due to the combination of a strong anisotropy and high magma pressures compositional layering generated and or enhanced by this process may contribute to the overall seismic reflectivity of the middle and lower crust

interpreting magmatic fabric patterns in plutons abstract most plutons have widespread magmatic fabrics the interpretation of which remains controversial we propose a method to constrain likely causes of fabric patterns the application of which indicates the following 1 preserved fabric patterns often form after chamber construction and only rarely provide information about ascent or emplacement 2 fabrics are poor recorders of total strain and are easily reset preserving only the last increment of strain during crystallization 3 in magmatic systems mechanically decoupled from host rocks patterns may result from strain during internally driven flow filter pressing or porous flow in relatively static chambers or by final increments of strain during emplacement 4 with greater emplacement depths fabric patterns increasingly reflect strain caused by regional deformation and 5 given that magmatic fabrics are easily reset and reflect only the last increment of strain of comparatively weak materials they may provide a relatively direct record of paleostress in orogenic belts

field geochemical and u pb isotopic constraints from hypabyssal felsic intrusions within the barberton greenstone belt south africa implications for tectonics and the timing of gold mineralization abstract field mapping geochemical and u pb zircon isotopic data are reported for two undeformed feldspar quartz porphyries from within the central region of the barberton greenstone belt 3450 ma and from a porphyry at the deepest level of one of the largest gold mines in the barberton area fairview mine one porphyry the mudpools porphyry has an age of circa 3230 ma and provides a minimum age on unusual bif ferruginous shale hosted mudpool structures field mapping constraints and similar geochemical signatures between the mudpools porphyry and a second porphyry the ironstone pod porphyry suggest that 3230 ma can also be considered the minimum age of the equally unusual ironstone pods the two porphyries cross cut fig tree sediments which are regionally deformed d 2 and intrude up a thrust fault s suggesting pre 3230 ma ages for d 2 deformation and thrusting geochemical data trace elements ree indicate that these two porphyries are high level co magmatic equivalents of the nearby 3227 ma kaap valley tonalite which in part intrudes the lower sequences of the greenstone bell since the edge of the kaap valley pluton is also deformed by the d 2 deformational event either d 2 is diachronous or d 2 in the center of the belt is not equal to d 2 at the edge of the greenstone belt zircon from the fairview mine porphyry indicates a maximum age of 3126 21 ma 2 a gold mineralized shear which cross cuts the fairview porphyryl is responsible for hydrothermal alteration of the porphyry u pb analysis of hydrothermal rutile associated with gold from the porphyry gives an age of 3084 18 ma 2 and may represent the age of gold mineralization associated with this late shearing it appears that 3230 ma is a important age in early barberton greenstone belt history signifying intrusion of the kaap valley tonalite adjacent to the greenstone belt together with the emplacement of high level co magmatic equivalents porphyries of the kaap valley tonalite along regional thrust faults shear zones within the greenstone belt gold bearing hydrothermal fluids have utilized similar shear zones 150 ma after emplacement of both the porphyries in the central region of the greenstone belt and the kaap valley tonalite

transcurrent shearing granite sheeting and the incremental construction of the tabular 3 1 ga mpuluzi batholith barberton granite greenstone terrane south africa structural petrographic and geochronological studies show that the tabular 3 1 ga mpuluzi batholith in the barberton granite gneiss terrane in south africa was emplaced via a combination of external and internal processes external structural controls are indicated by systematic variations in intrusive relationships and strain along the margins of the mpuluzi batholith and are consistent with an emplacement of the granite in a dilational jog within a ne ene trending system of dextral transcurrent synmagmatic shear zones internally the mpuluzi batholith is essentially made up of granite sheets the structurally higher parts of the granite are made up of shallowly dipping sheets that are underlain by an anastomosing network of steeply dipping variably deformed dykes and sheets these granite sheets at lower structural levels intruded either into the actively deforming shear zones or into extensional sectors between and along the bounding shear zones multiple intrusive relationships and geochronological evidence suggests that granite sheeting and the assembly of the pluton occurred over a period of 3 13 ma the spatial and temporal relationship between deformation and magma emplacement reflects episodes of incremental dilation related to deformation along the bounding shear zones and granite sheeting the transition to the mainly subhorizontal granite sheets at higher structural levels of the tabular mpuluzi batholith indicates the intrusion of the granites during subhorizontal regional shortening where the reorientation of the minimum normal stress to vertical attitudes at the shallow levels of emplacement allowed for vertical dilation and subhorizontal emplacement of the granite sheets

sheeted intrusion of the synkinematic mcdoogle pluton sierra nevada california field microstructural and geochronologic evidence indicates that the late cretaceous mcdoogle pluton located near the eastern margin of the sierra nevada batholith was emplaced as a subvertically sheeted complex into a steep reverse sense shear zone evidence of internal subvertical sheeting includes abundant concordant wall rock inclusions and screens that separate the pluton from adjacent jurassic plutons preservation of a ghost tectonostratigraphy in the distribution of the inclusions and rare interphase contacts the solid state tectonic fabric in the wall rocks and the magmatic submagmatic and weak solid state fabrics in the mcdoogle pluton all are concordant and record northeast southwest horizontal shortening subvertical extension and a significant component of northeast side up simple shear intrusive contacts generally are concordant with the fabrics but where discordances occur the wall rock fabric invariably is truncated by the contact however late synkinematic emplacement of the mcdoogle pluton is indicated by synintrusive boudinage of apophyses of the pluton and by the overall concordance of pluton fabrics including magmatic lineation zircon u pb isotope dates were obtained from the quartz monzodiorite central phase of the mcdoogle pluton 94 4 ma the mafic granodiorite border phase 94 8 0 6 ma and an older hornblende granodiorite included in the central phase 97 6 0 4 ma granodiorite orthogneiss in the wall rock yielded a u pb zircon date of 164 2 1 6 8 ma which we interpret to be the crystallization age and which is indistinguishable from a new age of 164 5 2 3 ma for the twin lakes pluton a u pb titanite date of 94 4 0 9 ma from the 164 ma orthogneiss sample may reflect thermal effects of the intruding mcdoogle pluton synkinematic growth of titanite in the shear zone or perhaps both the age of the sawmill lake shear zone that hosts the mcdoogle pluton is bracketed between 148 ma the age of the independence dike swarm and 92 ma the age of the lamarck pluton that crosscuts both the mcdoogle pluton and the shear zone fabrics regional evidence suggests a shear zone age younger than 110 ma but older deformation is possible the predominance of horizontal shortening over transcurrent motion and an age older than 90 ma exclude a direct relationship to the dextral sierra crest shear system which has been proposed to pass near the study area the location age constraints and kinematics of the shear zone are consistent with both the later stages of movement in the east sierran thrust system and isostatic sinking of the arc magmatic complex into its substrate

role of melt in the formation of a deep crustal compressive shear zone the maclaren glacier metamorphic belt south central alaska the maclaren glacier metamorphic belt is an exhumed portion of a deep crustal shear zone where hot upper amphibolite facies rocks were emplaced over cooler lower grade rocks it is located in south central alaska within the collision zone between terranes previously accreted to north america and the wrangellia superterrane crosscutting relationships and orientations of thin granitoid sills within the hanging wall show that melt was repeatedly intruded into the shear zone during overall compression in addition a 1 km thick tonalite sill the valdez creek tonalite was emplaced into the shear zone while it was active this conclusion is based on the presence of a well developed foliation within the sill which is concordant to the fabric of the shear zone the alignment and tiling of plagioclase laths the presence of highly strained mafic enclaves within a matrix which shows no evidence of any subsolidus deformation and the preservation of a delicate magmatic texture which indicates that a magmatic fluid was still present after deformation in the sill had ceased a one dimensional thermal model for sill shaped plutons of varying thicknesses which are emplaced into country rocks at different initial temperatures indicates that melt can be present for long periods of time in the deep crust 1 m y an important factor controlling the length of time that a sill remains molten is the temperature of the surrounding rocks which in the lower crust can be as high as the solidus temperature of granitoid melts if the amount of time for melt to crystallize is sufficiently long potentially large amounts of strain will be accommodated by zones containing melt due to the low strength of melt compared to rock in the maclaren glacier metamorphic belt the amount of time needed for the valdez creek tonalite to fully crystallize is calculated to be about 90 000 years this is a minimum value since the original thickness of the sill is not known nevertheless using the 90 000 year value and assuming that the bulk of convergence between north america and wrangellia was concentrated within the valdez creek tonalite a displacement of at least 10 km could have been accommodated across the sill while melt was present

a review of lunar chronology revealing a preponderance of 4 34 4 37 ga ages in this study data obtained from sm nd and rb sr isotopic measurements of lunar highlands samples are renormalized to common standard values and then used to define ages with a common isochron regression algorithm the reliability of these ages is evaluated using five criteria that include whether 1 the ages are defined by multiple isotopic systems 2 the data demonstrate limited scatter outside uncertainty 3 initial isotopic compositions are consistent with the petrogenesis of the samples 4 the ages are defined by an isotopic system that is resistant to disturbance by impact metamorphism and 5 the rare earth element abundances determined by isotope dilution of bulk of mineral fractions match those measured by in situ analyses from this analysis it is apparent that the oldest highlands rock ages are some of the least reliable and that there is little support for crustal ages older than 4 40 ga a model age for ur kreep formation calculated using the most reliable mg suite sm nd isotopic systematics in conjunction with sm nd analyses of kreep basalts is 4389 45 ma this age is a good match to the lu hf model age of 4353 37 ma determined using a subset of this sample suite the average modelmore age of 4353 25 ma determined on mare basalts with the 146sm 142nd isotopic system with a peak in pb pb ages observed in lunar zircons of 4340 20 ma and the oldest terrestrial zircon age of 4374 6 ma the preponderance of ages between 4 34 and 4 37 ga reflect either primordial solidification of a lunar magma ocean or a widespread secondary magmatic event on the lunar nearside the first scenario is not consistent with the oldest ages reported for lunar zircons whereas the second scenario does not account for concordance between ages of crustal rocks and mantle reservoirs less

the a type mount scott granite sheet importance of crystal magma traps the presence of rapakivi feldspar and of distinctive porphyritic texture of mount scott granite indicates a period of crystallization prior to final emplacement beneath an extensive penecontemporaneous rhyolite volcanic pile final crystallization conditions are interpreted to have been 50 mpa at depths 1 4 km based on stratigraphic constraints however geobarometry based on the al content of amphibole phenocrysts and comparison of granite compositions with phase relations in the sio2 naalsi3o8 kalsi3o8 ternary system both yield pressure estimates of 200 mpa these pressure estimates are interpreted as plumbing the depth of a temporary storage chamber at 7 8 km this depth coincides in this case both with the probable proterozoic basement cover contact and with the calculated brittle ductile transition at time of ascent of mount scott magma although rising magma that fed the preceeding voluminous carlton rhyolite apparently rose unimpeded past these horizontal anisotropies rising magma that formed mount scott granite temporarily paused at this depth based on magmastatic calculations we suggest that horizontal anisotropies e g brittle ductile transition become crustal magma traps where the magma driving pressure exceeds the lithostatic load when the anisotropy is encountered during rifting initial large influxes of magma may proceed passed crustal anisotropies but have the effect of increasing the relative magma driving pressure through reducing horizontal stress thus magma driving pressure may eventually exceed the lithostatic load at the depth of the brittle ductile transition thereby activating this crustal magma trap ponding of magma at the brittle ductile transition chokes the eruption such a pause in magma supply rate may permit a return to initial stress conditions and deactivate the crustal magma trap once again magma will rise to the surface initiating a new magmatic cycle

progressive adjustments of ascent and emplacement controls during incremental construction of the 3 1 ga heerenveen batholith south africa abstract the heerenveen batholith is part of a suite of areally extensive shallow crustal granitoid plutons intruded during the last regional phase of tectonism and nw se subhorizontal shortening recorded in the mesoarchean barberton granitoid greenstone terrain of south africa at 3 1 ga intrusive relationships allow at least four main successively emplaced intrusive stages to be distinguished each of these shows distinct geometries and intrusive styles that provide evidence for the progressive change of emplacement controls during the incremental construction of the heerenveen batholith the earliest sheet like granitoids intruded as foliation parallel sills along the shallowly dipping basement gneissosity emphasizing the role of favourably inclined pre existing wall rock anisotropies for granite emplacement during the early stages of pluton assembly continued sheeting and coalescence of sheets provided the thermal ground preparation that led to the formation of larger coherent magma bodies and the main phase of homogeneous commonly megacrystic granites these megacrystic granites form the central parts of the heerenveen batholith and are interpreted to represent steady state magma chambers the introduction of the rheologically weaker melt bodies into the shallow crust resulted in the nucleation of conjugate synmagmatic transpressive shear zones around the central granites the shear zones correspond to several km wide zones of shear zone parallel granite sheeting this stage marks a dramatic switch in emplacement styles while the initial stages of magma emplacement were largely determined by factors external to the magma most importantly the pre existing wall rock anisotropies subsequent stages are dominated by factors intrinsic to the magma namely strain localization and partitioning along melt bearing zones during syntectonic plutonism the associated melt transfer along these zones is independent of pre existing structures and mainly related to buoyancy and strain induced melt ascent the last granites of the heerenveen batholith are post tectonic they intrude as either plugs or stocks of seemingly random orientation but display a clear control by wall rock anisotropies where they are in contact with the country rocks on a regional scale the different phases of the heerenveen batholith describe an overall zonation of central homogeneous granites enveloped by composite sheeted and sheared margins this pattern is typical for most of the large 3 1 ga granite batholiths in the barberton granitoid greenstone terrain we suggest that the sequence of progressively changing emplacement controls and the formation of steady state magma chambers described here for the heerenveen batholith may be of wider application to other zoned and or incrementally assembled batholiths

granite magma generation ascent and emplacement within a transpressional orogen crustal thickening during transpressive orogenesis may produce anatectic granites which may then localize deformation leading to transcurrent movement granites may be transported from sites of generation through the mid crust in dyke like channelways within relatively narrow strike slip shear zones which link to major fault zones in the upper crust extensional jogs within fault systems provide developing sites for the assembly of plutons from magma arriving from below the model is based upon observations from the cadomian belt of nw france which exposes sections through middle and upper levels of the late precambrian crust within different elements of the orogen the mechanism provides a favourable alternative to diapirism and explains the common collocation of granites and shear zone fault systems within orogenic belts

a tectonic model for the emplacement of the main donegal granite nw ireland the main donegal granite is shown to lie in a major late stage ne sw trending transcurrent sinistral shear zone in the caledonides of nw ireland the zone which is bent both laterally and upwards around the pluton has displacements which diminish sw along its length from a maximum of approximately 20 km at the ne end of the pluton the granite has also been deformed by this sinistral shear but it has a strain component of its own the nature and development of which indicate that the pluton was accommodated rather than forcefully emplaced in the shear zone strain variations between granite and wall rock and an early plagioclase fabric associated with the petrographic banding of the granite suggest that intrusion and deformation were more or less synchronous at around 400 ma it is suggested that unconsolidated granite in the shear zone locally created high strain rates and instability which caused the zone to bend split lengthwise and progressively create an internal low pressure zone into which the main granite was emplaced the wide variety of emplacement styles of the other radiometrically synchronous plutons of the batholith can be attributed to the progressive development of the shear zone thorr and fanad in tension between the zone and a complimentary structure to the n ardara and toories in local compression at the shear zone termination rosses in tension on the outer arc of the bending zone and trawenagh bay as displaced main granite magma in a similar tensional setting during the final stages of deformation

volatile assisted intrusion and autometasomatism of leucogranites in the khumbu himalaya nepal abstract leucogranite crops out in the upper imja khola khumbu himalaya nepal where it makes up approximately 50 of the exposed bedrock leucogranites and their associated aplite pegmatites typically intruded as concordant sills millimeters to kilometers wide the exceptional nuptse granite is an ellipsoidal pluton of nearly 1 km radius which probably resulted from the ballooning of a sill and is wrapped in concordant country rock foliation small scale structures and mineral paragenesis indicate syntectonic intrusion into high temperature low pressure sillimanite muscovite cordierite bearing country rocks penetrative deformation of the country rock and sills is characterized by foliation striking n 60 e 40 nw and by north northwest plunging mineral lineation subparallel to fold axes of decimeter to meter scale isoclinal folds and centimeter to decimeter scale kink folds and crenulation a volatile rich phase played a fundamental role in the development of the imja khola leucogranites it

modeling the thermal evolution of fault controlled magma emplacement models implications for the solidification of granitoid plutons a two dimensional finite diaerence model is used to simulate the conductive thermal regime attend ing construction and maintenance of a continental magma chamber by intrusion of granite dikes into grano diorite host rocks displaced at various spreading rates final intrusion shapes include tabular square and vertical rectangular bodies emplaced in the shallow crust 5 15 km and tabular bodies emplaced in the middle crust 15 20 km fed by dikes with widths of between 20 and 100 m the formation of a steady state chamber is defined as the point at which the ambient temperatures surpass the intrusion solidus forestalling the solidifi cation of subsequently intruded material for spreading rates 10 mm year 1 construction of a steady state magma chamber in the shallow crust took 260 ka rectangular 360 ka square and 1 ma tabular whereas in the mid crust a steady state was reached in less than 30 ka tabular at faster spreading rates 25 and 50 mm year 1 ambient temperatures pass the solidus isotherm forming a steady state reservoir within 55 ka depending on intrusion depth and size for 10 25 mm year 1 spreading rates sheeted dikes make up from 10 to 100 of the intrusion the thermal modeling supports the following conclusions a episodic magma emplacement into a fault con trolled setting is a thermally viable means of constructing a steady state chamber at moderate to fast spreading rates only if the duration of faulting and intrusion are long enough to elevate ambient temperatures above the intrusion solidus b isotherms will migrate outward during successive intrusion before converging back on the center of the intrusion after chamber construction c the margins of most intrusions formed by this scen ario should contain sheeted dikes d the solidus isotherm and thus the solidification front that it tracks will become progressively curviplanar during the construction of the magma chamber and will not represent the in itial shape of the intrusions i e sheets e the steady state chamber will be smaller than the total intrusion dimensions and f magmatic fabrics will form diachronously and not always parallel to sheet margins as they track the migrating solidification front because it is unlikely that most large intrusions formed instan taneously the eaects of continued addition of heat on the migration of solidification fronts may have signifi cant implications for magmatic processes in many emplacement scenarios 1998 elsevier science ltd all rights reserved

structure emplacement and lateral expansion of the san jose tonalite pluton peninsular ranges batholith baja california mexico abstract the 108 km2 san jose pluton forms part of the jurassic to cretaceous peninsular ranges batholith of northern baja california mexico the pluton was formed by three nested southward migrating intrusive pulses and the internal contacts between them indicate juxtaposition while the adjoining pulses were magmas shrimp u pb zircon data indicate that the entire pluton was emplaced in less than 4 4 m y ages of the individual pulses cannot be separated at the 95 confidence interval owing primarily to low uranium content of zircon detailed structural data and geologic mapping are consistent with a component of asymmetrical lateral expansion at the site of emplacement the direction of maximum lateral expansion may have been controlled by thermal compositional and resulting rheological gradients in the surrounding wall rocks a carapace of predominantly solid state deformation marks the northern two thirds of the pluton and the early stages of this fabric may have formed in the presence of a small amount of melt lack of evidence for syn to post emplacement regional ductile deformation around the pluton suggests that this carapace was deformed during the lateral expansion of the pluton

reassessment of archean crustal development in the barberton mountain land south africa based on u pb dating this paper presents u pb ages for 23 samples from the barberton mountain land an archean granite greenstone terrain in the kaapvaal craton of south africa a reexamination of the geology of this area in the light of previous u pb dating and the new ages indicates that much of its deformation can probably be accounted for by a single short lived compressional event within the time span 3230 3215 ma which was synchronous with deposition of the moodies group and the upper part of the fig tree group sediments this event may have been responsible for thrusting of much older sequences in the onverwacht group including slivers of 3 54 ga old gneiss circa 3 47 ga old komatiitic and tholeiitic sequences and circa 3 45 ga old felsic sequences key constraints on the timing of deformation are previously determined 3227 3225 ma ages for detrital zircons in thrusted units of the fig tree group a 3229 4 3 ma age for a deformed porphyry which is pre or synthrusting a previously determined 3227 3 ma age for an undeformed porphyry in an inferred thrust fault 3227 1 ma ages for both the kaap valley pluton and an ignimbrite in the stolzburg syncline both of which predate regional upright folding and a 3216 2 ma age for the dalmein pluton which appears to cut regional upright ne sw trending folds in the kromberg syncline part of the final phase of deformation associated with regional compression areally extensive granitoid sheets and syenogranitic plutons were subsequently emplaced into the barberton region at about 3105 ma the linear configuration of the syenogranitic plutons which are also aligned with the gabbroic usushwana complex as well as the geometry of the granitoid sheets suggests that the circa 3105 ma magmatism was caused by incipient rifting around a nw se trending crustal fracture this episode was probably coeval with a late regional transtensional phase of deformation recorded in the greenstone belt some of the above interpretations are in conflict with previous models for early development of the barberton greenstone belt a 3352 6 ma age from a metagabbro which is comagmatic with a proposed ultramafic sheeted dike complex is over 100 m y younger than the probable age of volcanic rocks which host the dikes this conflicts with the suggestion that much of the onverwacht group comprises an ophiolitic section obducted in an intraoceanic setting at circa 3 45 ga that partially melted to form trondhjemitic magmas which intruded along active thrust faults present data suggest that despite its antiquity and the diversity of ages and lithologies found within it the barberton greenstone belt can generally be understood in terms of actualistic tectonic processes at convergent margins

on the emplacement of tabular granites granites in both crystalline terranes and continental magmatic arcs tend to be circular to elliptical in map view and vary in width from about 3 to 100 km available gravity and structural data suggests that many of these plutons are tabular in shape with an average thickness of about 3 km ductile structures observed around mesozonal granites indicate that space is created by a combination of lateral and vertical displacements of wall rocks whereas contact relationships of epizonal plutons imply that only vertical displacements are involved during emplacement in both settings magma arrives at the emplacement site via one or more vertical feeder zones and flows laterally with the exception of very high level epizonal plutons structural studies suggest that space for many tabular intrusions must be provided mainly by floor depression lopolith emplacement rather than roof lifting laccolith emplacement an emplacement model for this type of tabular granite is proposed which involves progressive depression of the floor of an initially horizontal chamber as it is filled by one or more vertical conduits a crustal scale balance in the rates of melt extraction magma ascent and pluton filling is required by the model and transfer of material from the source to the pluton is accommodated by broadly distributed deformation of low strain magnitude the process is evaluated with end member cantilever and piston sinking mechanisms the models predict that large 10 100 km wide tabular plutons 3 km thick can be emplaced quickly 100 a to 1 ma with floor depression and related wall rock strain rates similar those expected during tectonic deformation 10 10 to 10 15 s 1 bulk strains in the intervening crustal column rarely exceed a strain ratio of 1 5 which is likely to remain undetected in the geological record unless the required deformation is accommodated on discrete structures such as normal faults or shear zones at the base of the pluton

the great tonalite sill emplacement into a contractional shear zone and implications for late cretaceous to early eocene tectonics in southeastern alaska and british columbia the late cretaceous to early tertiary great tonalite sill of southeast alaska and british columbia is a very long 1 000 km and thin 25 km orogen parallel composite batholith which lies between the insular superter rane including the alexander and wrangellia terranes and the intermontane superterrane including the stikine and cache creek terranes the batholith is delineated by many steep sheet like plutons which are dominated by northwest southeast striking concordant fabrics with steep lineations that formed during deformation in a country rock shear zone prior to the complete crystallization of the magmas deformation in this shear zone is dominated by northeast southwest directed contraction orthogonal to the orogenic strike associated with a component of northeast over southwest high angle shear the steep multiple dike like nature of the body and its emplacement during orogenic contraction imply that ascent and emplacement have been achieved by dike wedging mechanisms along the deep reaching shear zone the remarkable narrowness of the great tonalite sill is probably the result of melting at the base of a very localized zone of thickened crust produced by the associated narrow contractional shear zone extending along the orogen length such a shear zone of late cretaceous to early tertiary age lying along 800 km of the possible boundary between the insular and intermontane superterranes implies that it may represent the actual boundary between them if this hypothesis is correct it implies that the large scale tectonic regime during emplacement of the great tonalite sill was predominantly orthogonal and not obliquely dextral as has been indicated from paleomagnetic data

implications of rapid dike fed pluton growth for host rock strain rates and emplacement mechanisms dikes must maintain a critical width and flow velocity in order to propagate several kilometers from source to sink without freezing consequently they must support a high volumetric magma flow rate this in turn implies that plutons fed by dikes must fill rapidly in an effort to predict host rock strain rates required by dike fed growth we employ a three dimensional geometric model consisting of concentric shells to track instantaneous strain rates in a homogeneously deforming aureole around spheroidal plutons with a range of aspect ratios using published values for magma and host rock parameters appropriate for mid crustal levels we calculate for example a minimum instantaneous strain rate of approximately 10 210 s 21 in the deformation aureole of a 1 km radius spherical pluton aureole strain rates which range upward to greater than 10 24 s 21 are primarily a function of position in the aureole pluton size and filling rate pluton shape plays only a secondary role although preservation of evidence for high strain rates may be rare and although multiple mechanisms probably operate simultaneously we expect that deformation this rapid in the middle crust would be accommodated primarily by brittle mechanisms q 2003 elsevier ltd all rights reserved

tectonic history of the barberton greenstone belt south africa 490 million years of archean crustal evolution rocks of the 3570 3080 ma barberton greenstone belt record a geological history of at least 490 million years m y and were affected by regional thermal perturbations for over 1500 m y small tectonic wedges of 3570 3511 ma schistose tonalite are the oldest rocks yet recognized but little is known about their tectonothermal history the earliest well recognized tectonothermal events 3490 3450 ma represent mid ocean ridge like processes these were followed by two periods of arc related and trench related processes separated by 160 m y the first 3445 3416 ma recording an intraoceanic suprasubduction like environment and the second 3260 3225 ma intra arc and interarc like processes culminating in arc amalgamation accretion like convergent processes dominated between 3230 ma and 3080 ma overlapping with the assembly of the kaapvaal craton at 3080 ma the barberton greenstone belt experienced a sudden shift from dominantly convergent to dominantly transtensional tectonism and was mineralized with mesothermal gold along a regional shear system soon afterward transtension became distributed across the entire kaapvaal craton heralding the onset of formation of the witwatersrand basin by 3070 ma

igneous emplacement in a transpressive shear zone ox mountains igneous complex the central and southwestern ox mountains inlier in western ireland comprises amphibolite facies metasediments and metavolcanic rocks which have been deformed by a major sinistral shear zone granitoid emplacement occurred in two distinct styles in the ox mountains shear zone the older pluton the ox mountains granodiorite was emplaced syn kinematically with respect to the main sinistral transpressional events in its wall rocks it was emplaced as a series of compositionally distinct sheets in the central part of the shear zone system thus suggesting the formation of transient dilational sites occurred in response to the transpressive deformation the younger lough talt and easky lough adamellites were emplaced as individual intrusions in dilational cavities produced by reactivated movements on a discrete zone within the ox mountains inlier the different intrusive styles are considered to be a product of the tectonic regimes operating during emplacement intrusion into transient dilational cavities may be one method by which granitoid magmas are emplaced into fault zones undergoing active contractional deformation

a review of criteria for the identification of magmatic and tectonic foliations in granitoids abstract foliations in granitoids can form by magmatic flow submagmatic flow high temperature solid state deformation and moderate to low temperature solid state deformation a review of previous work suggests that no single criterion can consistently distinguish foliations in granitoids formed by flow during ascent diapiric emplacement and expansion emplacement during regional deformation or regional deformation post dating emplacement however a magmatic origin is favoured for foliations defined by the alignment of igneous commonly euhedral minerals particularly where the foliation is parallel to internal or external pluton contacts foliations formed during expansion or ballooning of diapirs may be strictly magmatic in origin although some studies suggest that solid state deformation also may occur if so we would hope to find evidence of deformation of crystal melt systems and that the solid state deformation occurred at high temperatures the inference of syntectonic foliations is most convincing where magmatic and high temperature solid state foliations are subparallel these foliations are continuous with regionally developed foliations in the wall rocks synkinematic porphyroblasts are present in the wallrocks and igneous minerals have the same age as metamorphic minerals associated with the regional cleavage a strictly tectonic origin for foliations in granitoids is favoured when the foliation is defined by metamorphic minerals no alignment of igneous minerals occurs the foliation is locally at high angles to pluton wallrock contacts and the foliation is continuous with a regionally developed cleavage

melt bearing shear zones analogue experiments and comparison with examples from southern madagascar abstract analogue model experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of irregularly distributed weak sites in localising strain as an aid to understanding shear zone development in partially molten rocks the very weak inclusions consisted of vaseline in a homogeneous matrix of paraffin wax which has a power law viscous rheology boundary conditions were those of pure shear at constant natural strain rate and confining stress 3 the inclusions were initially perfect cylinders with axes parallel to the intermediate bulk strain axis y conjugate shear zones nucleate on the inclusions and link up to form an anastomosing pattern of high strain zones of concentrated shear surrounding much more weakly deformed pods of near coaxial strain the zones initiate at angles near 45 to the bulk shortening axis z but stretch and rotate towards the x axis with increasing bulk strain all inclusions nucleate shear zones so that with increasing development of the anastomosing pattern weak material occurs only within the high strain zones the restriction of migmatite leucosomes to shear zones in natural examples could also reflect a corresponding control of melt on the sites of shear zone nucleation rather than implying accumulation from the surrounding wall rock the model geometry is very similar to that observed in small scale shear zones in migmatites of southern madagascar elongate zones rich in weak inclusions originally either perpendicular or at 45 to the z axis were also modelled for direct comparison with the regional scale geometry of the pan african high grade shear zones on madagascar

thermal requirements for extensional emplacement of granitoids numerical models of magma emplacement during crustal extension show that shallow 10 km rhyolitic to andesitic magma chambers can form and be maintained at typical rates of extension of continental crust chambers at depths of 8 km form within 90 ka after emplacement of a total width of 4 km of magma at half extension rates of 2 cm yr once even a small 1 km wide shallow chamber has formed by any process it can be maintained by extension at a half rate of 1 cm yr high temperatures are maintained at a half rate of 0 5 cm yr continental rifts and dilational jogs along strike slip faults in arcs provide areas where extension rates are most appropriate large granitoids and batholiths can form by this process over millions of years actual chambers at any one time may be considerably smaller than preserved granitoids

construction of mid crustal sheeted plutons examples from the north cascades washington large parts of many orogenic belts consist of highly elongate plutons constructed by the injection of multiple sheets of magma we describe in detail two such intrusions the deep 20 25 km mid crustal cardinal peak and entiat plutons and emphasize the dynamic nature of these magma chambers these ca 72 73 ma plutons consist of heterogeneous mafic complexes in their margins and tips that give way inward to thicker but still abundant sheets of tonalite intrusive and petrologic relationships provide evidence for injection of early mafic mantle and crustal melts development of heated pathways utilized by larger batches of more felsic magma and potentially a filtering mechanism in which conduits represented by the plutons fed larger more homogenized magma bodies at shallower crustal levels well developed gently to moderately dipping magmatic and subsolidus foliations in these plutons are commonly discordant to sheet contacts internal layering and pluton contacts but are continuous with host rock foliation they define small to map scale magmatic folds which have orientations and geometries similar to those of regional host rock folds these magmatic structures thus primarily record regional contractional tectonism during chamber construction host rocks also record complex processes during chamber evolution with narrow structural aureoles displaying remarkable lateral variability deflection of gently to moderately dipping host rock markers toward parallelism with steep pluton contacts indicates vertical and largely downward ductile material transfer along sheet margins during emplacement several sharply discordant segments of pluton contacts imply late stoping regional ductile flow and folding also played a role but regional faulting did not further evidence for chamber construction is provided by host rock rafts which are abundant along sheet contacts in the cardinal peak pluton and particularly between marginal sheets of the entiat pluton but are sparse elsewhere in the latter pluton we interpret these relationships to indicate a temporal sequence in which magmatic sheets initially intruded host rock then wedged aside this rock and coalesced preserving pieces of the host along margins and eventually formed large relatively inclusion free chambers as host rock was detached and transported vertically downward through the chamber

pluton emplacement along an active ductile thrust zone piute mountains southeastern california interaction between deformational and solidification processes plutons that are emplaced synchronously with regional deformation offer the opportunity to understand the partitioning of deformation and metamorphism in time and space during orogeny the 85 ma east piute pluton of the eastern mojave desert is an unusually clear example of a syntectonic pluton it was emplaced during thrusting in the southern cordillera combined petrologic and structutal studies lead to empirical models for the dynamic interaction of magmatic and deformational processes during granitoid emplacement and final crystallization trace and major element and isotopic data suggest that closed system differentiation of a single magma batch was responsible for compositional variation granodiorite to leucocratic granite correlation between degree of chemical evolution of compositional units and intrusive sequence suggests that discrete melt segregation events punctuated fractional crystallization modeling of trace element data suggests segregation of monzogranite melts after 50 70 crystallization of the magma and segregation of leucocratic granite after about 80 crystallization deformation promoted segregation of melt fractions at discrete times during crystallization during final ascent and after the magma had crystallized sufficiently 50 70 to attain shear strength monzogranite liquid was incompletely segregated along the active thrust zone at the southern margin of the pluton at essentially the present crustal level and after about 80 crystallization the remaining leucocratic granite melts were more effectively segregated and migrated into thrust related extensional openings including tension gashes undeformed pegmatite and aplite dike arrays indicate that final crystallization coincided with final increments of shear zone movement solid state deformational fabrics and brittle synthetic thrusts that offset the pluton margin record sharp temperature decline during and after crystallization because plutons crystallize rapidly they can be used to estimate strain rates during orogeny thermal modeling suggests that the transition from rheological liquid to solid in the east piute pluton occurred during an interval of about 10 4 yr as final increments of ductile deformation coincided with final crystallization of evolved compositional units total strain recorded by fabric in the pluton apparently accumulated during this interval shear strains estimated from the s c fabric in the granodiorite unit and rotation of pegmatite filled vein arrays are on the order of 1 thus strain rates in the shear zone were on the order of 10 12 sec during crystallization of the pluton this corresponds to displacements of tens of centimeters per year these high strain rates suggest punctuated melt enhanced movement episodes during contractional orogeny

miocene vertebrate and invertebrate burrows defining compound paleosols in the pawnee creek formation colorado u s a abstract ichnofossils from two compound paleosols in the middle miocene pawnee creek formation pcf of northeastern colorado u s a indicate a diverse soil ecosystem that included plants invertebrates and vertebrates the 2 4 m thick paleosols are characterized by blocky textures shallow depth calcareous horizons overlying silty bioturbated horizons calcareous nodules dense mats of fine ichnofossils attributed to ground beetles ants reptiles and mammals represent a complex variety of behaviors including temporary to permanent dwelling nesting and food storing rhizoliths and burrows used to interpret media consistency organic content soil moisture and water table level are tiered from shallow intermediate to deep levels within paleosols with respect to physical and biological factors separate bioturbated intervals permits the recognition of two different paleosols that otherwise might not have been recognized such well developed paleosols with high densities of terrestrial burrows have substantial sequence stratigraphic significance since they define surfaces of low sedimentation base level and accommodation the pcf ichnofossil assemblages represent at least three distinct ichnocoenoses the kladosystemites ichnocoenosis with kladosystemites polychoredrites parowanichnus and 1 10 mm diameter rhizoliths is present in the upper profile of well drained consolidated and nutrient rich paleosols with dense concentrations of small to large plants at the surface the beaconites ichnocoenosis with beaconites katarrhedrites and 5 10 mm rhizoliths is present in the lower profile of moderately organic paleosols above the influence of the water table but subject to seasonally variable saturated and unsaturated conditions due to precipitation the daimonelix ichnocoenosis with daimonelix beaconites small to large katarrhedrites and 5 10 mm diameter rhizoliths is present in the lower profile of very organic rich paleosols generally above the influence of the water table but subject to seasonally variable saturated and unsaturated conditions integration of data from body fossils ichnofossils paleosols and sedimentary environments provides new insight into neogene ecosystems paleosol properties combined with the ichnofossil distribution abundance and diversity indicates that miocene pcf paleosols formed under a seasonal climate subject to wide variation in temperature and precipitation the diverse assemblage of burrow morphologies records adaptation of the local fauna to these environmental conditions the response of soil ecosystems to short and long term changes in climate is therefore vital to any study of the effects of climate change in the geologic record

initiation and propagation of shear zones in a heterogeneous continental lithosphere continental plates represent rheologically heterogeneous media in which complex finite strain fields may develop due to interaction of plate tectonic processes with intraplate heterogeneities such a deformation pattern is displayed by the borborema shear zone system in northeastern brazil it involves continental scale curvilinear e w trending right lateral transcurrent shear zones that branch off from a major ne trending right lateral strike slip deformation zone formed at the northern termination of the sao francisco craton and that finally terminate in transpressive metasedimentary belts we suggest that this strain field results from the compressional deformation of a highly heterogeneous continental lithosphere composed of a stiff domain craton and rheologically weaker domains basins the effect of a low viscosity domain on the deformation of a continental plate and in particular the perturbation induced by this domain on the development of a shear zone formed at the termination of a stiff block were investigated using numerical modeling the low strength domain induces an enhanced strain localization and the geometry of the shear zone is significantly modified it is either split forming a branched shear zone system in which one branch maintains its original orientation while the other rotates toward the low viscosity domain or completely rotated toward the weak block the perturbation of the finite strain field depends on the ability of the weak domain to accommodate deformation which is controlled by its initial viscosity contrast relative to the surrounding lithosphere its orientation relative to the convergence direction and its distance from the shear zone initiated at the termination of the stiff block the interaction between imposed boundary conditions tectonic forces and plate geometry and the internal structure of the plate may give rise to highly heterogeneous strain fields as exhibited by the borborema shear zone system in which intraplate rheological heterogeneities induce the development of branched or sinuous shear zones a heterogeneous continental plate subjected to a normal convergence may therefore display significant lateral variations in strain intensity with shear zones bordering nearly undeformed blocks and in deformation regimes and vertical strains that would result in contrasting metamorphic and uplift histories

rethinking the emplacement and evolution of zoned plutons geochronologic evidence for incremental assembly of the tuolumne intrusive suite california new u pb geochronologic data indicate that the tuolumne intrusive suite california was assembled over a period of at least 10 m y between 95 and 85 ma and that the half dome granodiorite intruded over a period approaching 4 m y simple thermal considerations preclude the possibility that a magma chamber the size of the half dome pluton could have existed as a liquid at shallow crustal depths for that long rather field evidence for sheeting along the margins of the suite the range of ages and the regular decrease of ages toward the center of the suite and within individual plutons suggest incremental assembly geochronologic evidence for incremental assembly is consistent with the failure of geophysical methods to detect large magma chambers with more than 20 melt even in active volcanic areas because it is unlikely that the individual plutons composing the tuolumne ever coexisted as liquid rich magmas the chemical evolution of the suite cannot be the result of simple fractionation and or mixing between exposed units but instead must reflect processes occurring during magma generation