paleomagnetism of the silurian volcanism at almaden southern spain the silurian volcanism of the almaden mining district southern spain has been the object of a very detailed paleomagnetic study the 175 cores 25 sites sampled all along the eastern termination of the almaden syncline were subjected to magnetic susceptibility measurements thermomagnetic cycles progressive alternating field and thermal demagnetizations as well as microscopic observations the magnetic mineralogy of these volcanics flows is dominated by magnetite in at least two very distinct forms including small cubic distributed grains and large elongated crystals the observed anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility varies according to the relative abundance of the two magnetite phases showing a complete inversion of the susceptibility tensors this anisotropy has been related to the emplacement of the flows on a gentle slope dipping 10 toward the southwest implying that their volcanic source was located to the northeast the paleomagnetic analysis has revealed two characteristic components of magnetization the first direction d 109 i 11 95 9 pole position at 11 s 69 e dp 5 dm 9 yields a negative fold test and is interpreted as a late paleozoic partial overprint its declination is 46 away of the expected late paleozoic field direction which confirms that rotations are still occurring after the main folding phases of the variscan orogeny the second direction d 62 i 36 95 14 pole position at 8 n 118 e dp 9 dm 13 is prefolding as evident from the significant clustering when applying appropriate tectonic corrections and we interprete it as the original magnetization of silurian age the compilation of all paleozoic paleomagnetic results from spain reveals that the iberian meseta has been moving along with gondwana at high drift rates throughout ordovician and silurian times

palaeomagnetism of devonian ring complexes from the bayuda desert sudan new constraints on the apparent polar wander path for gondwanaland summary the approach of gondwana and or microplates derived from its northern margins towards laurentia and the closure of the intervening palaeo tethys is a controlling factor in the geodynamic evolution of the atlantic bordering continents during the early and mid palaeozoic however the currently available palaeomagnetic data for gondwana especially for the geodynamically critical silurian to devonian interval are still rather sparse and are compatible with a number of palaeogeographic scenarios in order to address this issue 114 samples 18 sites have been collected from a series of high level acidic intrusive rocks rhyolitic lavas and tuffs of mid devonian age 377 5 ma rb sr along the southern escarpment of the gilif hills sudan 17 83 n 32 67 e detailed demagnetization experiments revealed the presence of three directionally distinct components of magnetization labelled a b and c the overall mean direction of component a dec 0 9 inc 29 8 95 4 6 k 91 1 n 12 sites is indistinguishable from either the direction of the present field or the geocentric axial dipole field in northern sudan mixed polarities suggest a recent or pleistocene age of this component component b also displays mixed polarities the site mean directions for this component average to 6 5 declination 40 2 inclination with 95 7 0 and k 48 1 based on 10 sites and yield a palaeomagnetic pole at 48 8 s 23 5 e dp 5 1 1 dm 8 4 maghaemite and haematite have been identified to be the predominant magnetic phases in samples which carry component a and or b both a and b are the probable results of low temperature oxidation of magnetite although the age of component b can not be directly determined it is inferred by correlation with published data to reflect a late carboniferous overprint component c identified in 11 sites 39 samples is characterized by a very steep downward magnetization dec 296 2 inc 79 3 95 10 8 k 18 7 n 11 sites which corresponds to a palaeomagnetic pole position in the southwestern corner of libya 25 9 n 11 6 e dp 19 6 dm 20 6 maximum blocking temperatures of component c generally below 580 c are indicative of magnetite as carrier of this remanence the results of thermal remanent magnetization experiments demonstrate that component c is a thermo remanent magnetization probably primary and suggest this component to be representative for the direction of the earth s magnetic field during emplacement of the gilif hills volcanic rocks in mid devonian times the position of the resulting palaeomagnetic pole lends new support to geodynamic scenarios advocating the existence of a wide approx 5000 km pre hercynian ocean during devonian times the simplest reconciliation of component b with the reference apparent polar wander path is achieved by assuming it to be of carboniferous age and by invoking a westward cusp in the carboniferous part of the apparent polar wander path taken at face value the age of this cusp coincides with large scale post orogenic right lateral strike slip movements in hercynian europe and north africa this interpretation does not require the apparent polar wander apw loop and very high rates of plate motion implied by some alternative models however if it is valid it will require reinterpretation of the remanence age of one west african intrusive suite and of some eastern australian palaeozoic rocks

variscan tectonics of central europe postaccretionary intraplate deformation of weak continental lithosphere the area occupied by the variscan belt of central europe forms part of gondwana derived microplates essentially avalonia and armorica that according to paleomagnetic data juxtaposed baltica and laurentia from the upper ordovician to the lower devonian the actual structure of this area is a puzzle of rather small fault bounded crustal blocks different in p t t histories which was created by later tectonic processes at around 360 to 320 ma according to a common view and by contrast to paleomagnetic data the structural record of fault bounded blocks is interpreted in terms of mid devonian to lower carboniferous amalgamation of narrow continental plates represented by the fault bounded blocks themselves however this is not supported in this article instead it will be shown that fault systems and fault bounded blocks were created by intraplate deformation of a weak domain of gondwana derived continental lithosphere significantly after its accretion deformation was partitioned into newly formed deep seated strike slip and kinematically connected reverse or normal detachment systems large translation magnitudes caused juxtaposition of crustal areas of variable thickness until they were emplaced along the fault systems the various categories of fault bounded complexes record different tectonic events category 1 metamorphic complexes represent deep seated parts of thickened crust some time before unroofing on the detachment systems between about 340 360 and 320 ma however the record of subduction and extreme crustal thickening during earlier stages of the collision history was erased to a high degree and is only preserved by mineral and structural relics strike slip and detachment systems propagated across and dismembered tectonic boundaries formed during these early events category 2 metamorphic complexes and the barrandian basin recording predominant pre late devonian metamorphic or stratigraphic events represent the brittle upper crustal parts during continuing metamorphism in the category 1 complexes weakly or unmetamorphosed lower paleozoic category 3 basins represent areas of thinned continental crust and record subsidence before and to some degree during activity of detachment systems the complex overall kinematic pattern of block bounding strike slip and detachment systems indicates compression and extension acting simultaneously this probably reflects the effects of continuing oblique plate convergence rotation and wsw extrusion of fault bounded blocks in addition to heating and extensional flow of previously thickened crustal areas

eclogite facies rocks of the monotonous unit clue to variscan suture in the moldanubian zone bohemian massif abstract the formation and exhumation of variscan high to ultrahigh pressure metamorphic rocks from the moldanubian zone in the bohemian massif are the subject of controversy regarding their unclear relationship to possible subduction zones in this paper we present the results of a petrological study of eclogites that occur together with serpentinites within amphibolite facies gneisses in the moldanubian zone east of the tepla barrandian block more than 100 bodies of retrogressed eclogite and serpentinite follow an approximately 250 km long sw ne trending zone in the central part of the bohemian massif together with surrounding gneisses the eclogites share a medium to low pressure amphibolite facies metamorphism p t conditions estimated for the eclogite facies stage indicate a relatively low temperature geothermal gradient similar to those observed in the saxothuringian zone which occurs north and northwest of the tepla barrandian block the presence and distribution of eclogites and comparison of their p t and age data with hp uhpm rocks in other units in the bohemian massif allow us to constrain the variscan suture which straddles the se of the tepla barrandian block the existence of this suture in relation to available geotectonic models and its possible continuation through other allochthonous units along the european variscan belt are discussed

palaeogeographic significance of mid silurian palaeomagnetic results from southern britain major revision of the apparent polar wander path for eastern avalonia summary wenlock c 430 ma lavas from the east mendips inlier southern briain are characterized by either single component magnetizations type 1 or a more complex system of three magnetization components type 2 during stepwise thermal demagnetization the type of demagnetization behaviour is related to changes in magnetic petrology within the lava pile the lower and intermediate unblocking temperature components of type 2 represent magnetic overprints of tertiary recent and hercynian mid carboniferous origin respectively the primary nature of the high unblocking temperature magnetization component types 1 and 2 dec 095 c inc 24 ag5 8 8 is demonstrated by positive agglomerate tests conversely an overlying upper old red sandstone sequence did not provide primary magnetizations the magnetic signature is governed by syn tectonic hercynian remagnetizations the primary silurian data demonstrate that the east mendips inlier experienced considerable clockwise rotation probably of the order of 80 prior to partial remagnetization during hercynian deformation and folding the silurian palaeopole vgp 13 n 271 e dp dm 5 9 cannot therefore be used for apparent polar wander path construction nevertheless the palaeolatitude estimate 13 f 5s suggests that southern britain eastern avalonia was at comparable mid silurian latitudes to baltica and northern britain 10 20 s both the iapetus ocean and tornquist sea therefore which separated southern britain from laurentia and baltica respectively in ordovician times were closed by wenlock time as ordovician and silurian palaeomagnetic data from baltica and eastern avalonia now record a comparable northwards translation from high southerly to near equatorial latitudes during this time we postulate pre wenlock collision of these blocks to form balonia baltica eastern avalonia a new apparent polar wander path for eastern avalonia constructed on the basis of this palaeogeographic model is presented

extending a thickened crustal bulge toward a new geodynamic evolution model of the paleozoic nw bohemian massif german continental deep drilling site se germany abstract fault bounded tectonic metamorphic complexes assembling the nw bohemian massif around the german continental deep drilling ktb site are seen to be extremely heterogeneous in tectonic and metamorphic histories in current models the different complexes were supposed to reflect a puzzle of small pre devonian microplates and the related collision events supposedly lasted until the carboniferous opposed to these models it will be shown that all the boundaries among the complexes were formed by detachment late in a prolonged overall geodynamic history of a thickened crustal bulge during extensional tectonics and associated thermal events that outlasted the onset of collision in the silurian lower devonian by about 70 80 ma micro structures petrological and geochronological data of individual complexes predominantly preserve the late stages rather than the unbroken record of their tectonometamorphic histories such partial histories strongly different among individual complexes depict diverse snapshots taken at different places in the evolving thickened crustal bulge and at different instants in its overall evolution and do not define different precollisional microplates predominantly p t and deformation episodes after terrane juxtaposition are preserved this article presents an integrated view of the structural geology microscopic fabrics p t data and geochronology of such diverse metamorphic complexes this integrated view provides a new understanding of 1 the tectonic evolution during upper silurian devonian collision of the gondwana derived central european lithosphere with laurussia 2 the postaccretionary events that lasted through the upper carboniferous and 3 the earlier lower ordovician metamorphic and magmatic history which is only locally recorded metamorphic complexes occupying the structurally highest position upper tectonic complexes record devonian and earlier tectonometamorphic and magmatic events after the mid devonian such complexes did not experience any metamorphism the recorded devonian events consist of subduction and exhumation of hp rocks and their exhumation involved thrusting and extensional tectonics upper tectonic complexes comprise fragments of both the plate that was subducted in this period and the overriding plate in the footwall carboniferous extension has brought upper tectonic complexes against metamorphic complexes that essentially record lower and upper carboniferous tectonometamorphic and magmatic events lower tectonic complexes in the lower tectonic complexes such events are 1 consecutive extensional stages that created at least three sets of ductile normal detachment systems intersecting each other and various associated thermal pulses as well as 2 predetachment events that are only recorded as petrologic and structural relics transposed during extension inferred as predetachment events are crustal subduction as well as stacking that outlasted thrusting and exhumation of the upper tectonic complexes in the deeper portion of the thickened crustal bulge represented by the lower tectonic complexes spatial variations of p t t d histories during decompression occurred as a result of continued differential exhumation on the three sets of detachment systems and also from various thermal pulses that have affected different parts of this section during progressive shearing and exhumation to various degrees whereas the lower tectonic complexes of the erzgebirge gneiss dome preserve the record of a lower carboniferous history of hp metamorphism and crustal thickening followed by extension in those of the oberpfalz region ktb site a major upper carboniferous thermal pulse mostly erased the pre upper carboniferous strain fabrics and metamorphic record in the oberpfalz region ongoing extension emplaced mid crustal rocks that pervasively equilibrated in the upper carboniferous at high temperatures and low pressures low p t ratio against rocks not exposed to high temperatures at that time in summary a prolonged postaccretionary history concealed large scale structural relationships linked to crustal subduction and thickening associated with former juxtaposition of gondwana lithosphere to laurussia polyphase crustal extension and strike slip created the variety of different metamorphic tectonic complexes observed in the nw bohemian massif

the armorica microplate fact or fiction critical review of the concept and contradictory palaeobiogeographical data abstract the problem of an armorica microplate detached from gondwana and having had during part of the palaeozoic an independent latitudinal evolution is reconsidered in terms of a critical review of the palaeomagnetic data that were the very roots of this concept and through an alternative approach based on palaeoclimatic and palaeobiogeographical data palaeomagnetic data for the silurian and the devonian of the south european regions supposedly constituting the armorica microplate remain rare and ambiguous those from gondwana are more numerous but contradictory enough to give rise to diverging models regarding the latitudinal evolution of this continent consequently the reality of an armorica microplate cannot be considered as established on the contrary lithological indicators of palaeoclimate and palaeobiogeographical data are in total harmony and indicate that in actual fact the southern european regions remained permanently closely connected with gondwana of which they composed the northern margin although repeatedly maintained for more than 20 years the concept of an armorica microplate can thus be considered a fiction this conclusion should lead to the dismissal of geodynamical models proposed for the variscan belt to which this concept was integrated and are contradicted by inescapable palaeobiogeographical constraints

terrane wrecks coupled oroclines and paleomagnetic inclination anomalies abstract three major orogenic belts that are host to coupled oroclines terrane wrecks are likewise characterized by or directly associated with paleomagnetic inclination anomalies 1 the north american cordillera 2 the western european variscan belt and 3 the eastern european alpine system implied paleolatitudinal discrepancies in each orogen are of similar magnitude to the translation required by orogen parallel shortening during oroclinal formation the alaskan coupled oroclines accommodated 3000 km of orogen parallel shortening in the north american cordillera where primary remanent paleomagnetic inclinations in late cretaceous rocks require the bulk of the belt to have been translated 2000 to 3000 km northward relative to cratonic north america the iberian coupled oroclines accommodated 1100 km of orogen parallel shortening in the western european variscan belt within which mid paleozoic paleomagnetic inclinations are shallow with respect to stable gondwana the implied existence of a 3500 km wide paleotethys ocean between the variscan autochthon and the north gondwana margin is seemingly at odds with paleontological constraints the carpathian balkan oroclines accommodated 1000 km of orogen parallel shortening in the eastern alpine system directly north northeast of an eastern mediterranean region where primary remanent inclinations in late oligocene to miocene rocks require northward translation between 500 and 1000 km palinspastic restoration of the alaskan and carpathian balkan oroclines fully accounts for the translations recorded by the cordilleran and eastern mediterranean inclination anomalies respectively restoration of the iberian coupled oroclines confirms the existence of paleotethys but only accounts for one third of the paleolatitudinal discrepancy recorded by the variscan inclination anomaly fully resolving the variscan inclination anomaly requires 1 a paleomagnetic data set of greater temporal and spatial extent 2 refinement of the geometric and geological continuity of the variscan belt across western europe

a devonian palaeomagnetic pole for armorica summary the palaeomagnetic study of siluro devonian redbeds of the san pedro formation at cabrillanes asturias spain reveals a high temperature and pre tectonic magnetization determined by intersection of great circles as well as conventional averaging fisher this magnetization is carried by the haematitic pigment and is therefore of chemical and postdepositional origin the formation mean direction d 113 i 34 ag5 10 is interpreted as representing a record of a devonian palaeofield the corresponding pole after correction for the opening of the bay of biscay and the tectonic closure of the ibero armorican arc is in good agreement with contemporaneous european poles confirming that the arinorica plate had already joined the laurentia baltica assembly at that time

early cambrian teichichnus dominated ichnofabrics and palaeoenvironmental analysis of the caerfai group southwest wales uk abstract the early cambrian caerfai group of pembrokeshire in southwest wales yields an intensely bioturbated teichichnus dominated ichnofabric and provides evidence for the early evolution of infaunal organisms three units of the caerfai group comprise the focus of this study in sections exposed at caerfai bay in the st non s sandstone few primary sedimentary structures are observed bedding being predominantly massive with subordinate parallel and current ripple cross lamination the topmost st non s sandstone contains common soft sediment deformation phenomena and collectively deposition is believed to have taken place in the proximal subaqueous reaches of a steep fronted delta system teichichnus is the dominant trace with subordinate planolites palaeophycus and possible rhizocorallium the overlying caerfai bay shales were deposited from mass flows with evidence of downslope creep suggesting deposition on a steep delta front sandstone debrites are common as are tuffaceous beds with evidence of reworking by bottom currents sandstone and tuff event beds contain common skolithos and arenicolites with less frequent planolites interbedded mudstones contain infrequent teichichnus the caerfai bay shales coarsen and thicken upwards into the caerbwdy sandstone debrite sandstone beds dominate and bed thickening upsection indicates progradation of the delta system the dominant trace fossil within the unit is teichichnus which is constrained to the top few centimetres of individual sandstone beds less common are planolites and palaeophycus the size and abundance of teichichnus in the caerfai group are similar to or exceed those in contemporaneous sections in avalonia and baltica local environmental factors were probably the primary control on trace fossil distribution substrate and salinity are proposed as the main influences on ichnodiversity and size in the caerfai group teichichnus is most abundant in the st non s sandstone where the proximal reaches of the delta experienced reduced salinity and possibly higher oxygen levels burrow diameter progressively decreases upsection and bioturbation becomes less pervasive in subsequent units of the caerfai group this indicates that by the cambrian stage 2 significant advances into reduced salinity environments had occurred along with the dispersal of the teichichnus producer throughout the avalonia baltica seaway correlation within avalonia indicates that a transgression in the cambrian stage 2 initiated the deposition of the caerfai group marking the onset of the welsh basin

paleomagnetics of ringerike old red sandstone and related rocks southern norway implications for pre carboniferous separation of baltica and british terranes abstract paleomagnetic study of two stratigraphic sections of the upper silurian lower devonian ringerike sandstone oslo area norway indicate a straightforward multicomponent nrm for these rocks a lower temperature magnetization component gives a southwest and up reversed polarity in situ direction yields a negative fold test i e post folding at the 99 confidence level and is nearly identical to directions obtained from overlying permo carboniferous lavas a high temperature magnetization component exhibits both normal and reversed polarity directions passes a fold test at the 95 confidence level and is supported by a baked contact test which indicates a pre intrusion age of magnetization this characteristic high temperature component was successfully isolated in 79 samples from 19 sites within the ringerike succession results indicate a tilt corrected characteristic magnetic direction of declination 26 inclination 16 which is consistent with earlier work this direction corresponds to a time integrated paleopole position of 19 n latitude 164 longitude d p 4 8 d m 9 3 when compared to previous results from rocks of similar age from the british isles an approximately 20 latitudinal displacement between britain and baltica during late silurian early devonian time is suggested

paleomagnetic constraints on the assembly of the old red continent abstract a model is proposed on the basis of paleomagnetic and geological arguments for the assembly of the old red continent which in the devonian comprised north america the baltic shield and russian platform as well as a third element called armorica the latter is thought to have included most of hercynian europe and southern england and wales as well as possibly the avalonian terranes of northeastern north america and perhaps some parts of the atlas ranges and moroccan meseta the model envisions a late ordovician taconic collision of north america and armorica which are joined in the late silurian by the baltic shield and russian platform not until the late early carboniferous did gondwana join the old red continent in a collision responsible for a large internal megashear parallel to the caledonian orogenic belt as well as the hercynian alleghenian orogeny subduction of the large siluro devonian ocean between gondwana and the old red continent is held responsible for the mid devonian acadian orogeny

skeletal carbonate productivity and phosphogenesis at the lower middle cambrian transition of scania southern sweden the lower middle cambrian transitional interval of scania is largely represented by condensed limestone beds lithostratigraphically grouped in the gislov formation 1 5 7 m thick and the forsemolla and exsulans limestone beds lower part of the alum shale formation up to 4 in thick the strata display a combination of skeletal carbonate productivity episodic nucleation of phosphate hardground nodules and polyphase reworking recorded on a platform bordering the nw corner of baltica the shell accumulations can be subdivided into three deepening upward parasequences separated by distinct erosive unconformities the parasequences correspond biostratigraphically to the holmia kjerulfi ornamentaspis linnarssoni and ptlychagnostus gibbus zones the latter two generally being separated by a stratigraphic gap that includes the middle cambrian acadoparadoxides oelandicus superzone except for the exsulans limestone the carbonates reflect development of a prolific epibenthic biota dominated by filter feeding nonreefal chancelloriid echinoderm sponge meadows rich in trilobites and brachiopods and which were subjected to high energy conditions the absence of microbial mats or veneers encrusting the erosive surfaces of these event concentration low relief shoal complexes may be related to long hiatal episodes resulting in microboring proliferation high levels of nutrient supply resulted in high primary productivity eutrophic conditions glauconite precipitation phosphogenesis in some case microbially mediated and rnicroendolithic infestation an early diagenetic mildly reducing environment is suggested by the presence of authigenic subsequently reworked pyrite which contrasts with the syndepositional normal oxygenated conditions reflected by macroburrowing and the abundance of benthic fossils

upper ordovician palaeogeography of the bohemian massif implications for armorica summary the palaeogeographic position of armorica in the upper ordovician is still rather unclear due mainly to the lack of reliable palaeomagnetic data to help resolve this a palaeomagnetic study of caradocian and ashgillian sediments and volcanics of the barrandian basin in the central bohemian massif czech republic has been carried out a total of 29 sites were sampled including four from a diabase sill intruded into hirnantian age sediments thus providing a baked contact test three components of magnetization labelled a b and c have been resolved in addition to a low temperature component which corresponds to the present day direction of the local geomagnetic field d i 360 67 component a southerly and shallow before bedding correction is only sporadically present and corresponds to a remagnetization event of permo carboniferous age which is well known throughout hercynian europe component b present as stable endpoints in the sill and as a secondary component in the host rock sandstones yields an overall mean direction of 360 39 95 9 3 k 52 3 in situ and 355 21 95 9 3 k 52 3 after bedding correction component c identified as stable endpoints in sedimentary and volcanic rocks passes both a fold test and a baked contact test and is interpreted as being the primary direction of magnetization the overall mean direction for c is 183 59 95 9 5 k 30 3 nine sites after bedding correction which corresponds to a palaeopole position of 80 s 360 e this translates into palaeolatitudes of 40 s for the area studied in latest ordovician times but indicates large amounts of rotation up to 170 of the bohemian massif before final consolidation of hercynian europe although such large amounts of rotation are difficult to accommodate they are consistent with palaeomagnetic results obtained from lower ordovician and upper silurian rocks elsewhere in the barrandian basin if the bohemian massif is interpreted as being an integral part of the armorican microplate then these results indicate that prior to caradoc times armorica rifted away from the northern margin of gondwana and that by ashgillian times it was located at intermediate palaeolatitudes

palaeomagnetism of the ordovician moulin de chateaupanne formation vendee western france summary a palaeomagnetic study of the moulin de chateaupanne formation reveals two characteristic components of magnetization the first one isolated by thermal treatment at intermediate temperatures is strongly resistant to chemical leaching its direction d 217 i 25 ag5 5 5 and the corresponding pole position lat 21 s long 320 e are typical of the hercynian overprints in the armorican massif the second component carried by fine grained haematite presents a steep downward direction d 228 i 81 ag5 6 pole position lat 34 n long 343 e already recognized in other ordovician rock units from the same area it is resistant to high temperature demagnetization treatment and is believed to be of chemical origin as assessed by a conglomerate test a mutual consistency test with the nearby thouars massif suggests that the tilt of the formation has a sedimentary origin and that the thouars massif has not suffered significant tilt during the hercynian orogenic events

statistical significance of the fold test in palaeomagnetism summary the significance of the change in direction dispersion on applying the fold test in palaeomagnetism is used as the criterion for deciding whether or not the fold test has statistical significance a set of tables is compiled which can be used for quick application of the test

palaeomagnetic constraints upon the palaeogeographic position of the baltic shield in the ordovician the palaeomagnetic analysis of the ordovician limestones in southern scandinavia 75 sites has given the following results 1 in the southern part of the oslo region all ordovician sediments were remagnetized during the lower permian by a thermo chemical mechanism triggered by the emplacement of the permian volcanic and intrusive suite 2 in the northern part of the oslo region the upper caradoc mjosa limestone carries a high temperature component decl 53 incl 40 95 25 4 sites with corresponding palaeopole at 4 s 143 e 3 in southern sweden all lower ordovician orthoceras limestones sampled in dalarna narke scania vaster gotland oland and oster gotland display the same well defined southeast steep high temperature components leading to a palaeopole at 30 n 55 e a95 9 in areas with late palaeozoic volcanic activity scania vaster gotland this high temperature component is partially overprinted by a remagnetization associated with dolerite emplacement according to these results baltica was situated in temperate southern latitudes 50 s in the early ordovician and has drifted northwards at a latitudinal drift rate of 4 to 7 cm year to reach tropical latitudes 20 s by the late ordovician to late silurian this interpretation is in agreement with previous models based on the occurrence of ordovician reef structures and sheds new light on the early palaeozoic position of baltica relative to other continental blocks

new palaeomagnetic constraints on the position of central bohemia during early ordovician times summary apparently conflicting data within the palaeomagnetic database suggest that bohemia was at much shallower palaeolatitudes than the armorican and iberian massifs in ordovician times in order to resolve this controversy a palaeomagnetic study of arenig and llanvirn volcanic and sedimentary rocks from the barrandfan basin central bohemia has been carried out this basin comprises a sequence of unmetamorphosed lower palaeozoic rocks the main folding of which occurred in late devonian to early carboniferous times the samples collected l sites 153 samples were subjected to stepwise thermal and alternating field treatment eleven sites yielded reliable magnetic directions with analysis of the results using standard principal component and great circle analyses up to three directions of magnetiza tion can be identified in these rocks the first termed a is generally removed below 200 c although in some cases it persists up to 450 oc in the volcanic rocks it is approximately parallel to the present day earth s magnetic field in the study area dec inc 360 67 and is thus thought to be of recent origin the second direction identified termed b is isolated at intermediate blocking temperatures 150 350 c and yields an overall in situ mean direction of 195 8 k 22 3 a 95 13 1 seven sites these directions fail the fold test of mcfadden 1990 and correspond to a palaeopole position of 34 s 356 e this coincides with the late carboniferous sector of the european apparent polar wander path and thus the b direction is interpreted as being a secondary overprint of this age the highest blocking temperature direction termed c is identified at temperatures between 350 and 450 600 c it passes the fold test resulting in an overall mean direction of 312 83 k 21 9 a 95 14 6 six sites after bedding correction this direction is interpreted as being representative of the early ordovician palaeomagnetic field direction in the bohemian massif and yields a palaeopole position of 58 n 355 e this translates into palaeolatitudes of 76 s for bohemia thus demonstrating that the bohemian massif was at similar peri polar latitudes to the rest of armorica during early mid ordovician times and formed part of the northern margin of gondwana

palaeomagnetism of the ibero armorican arc and the hercynian orogeny in western europe van der voo1 has pointed out that further advances in the understanding of the hercynian orogeny require palaeomagnetic data from well studied orogenic areas we report here palaeomagnetic results of palaeozoic rocks taken in brittany portugal and spain in the ibero armorican arc iaa a large geological feature considered to be a key area for the hercynian orogeny in western europe they show evidence that the iaa formed in two stages extending results obtained in spain by ries et al 2 giving precise constraints for the former shape of the arc we can use pre hercynian palaeomagnetic directions found in spain and portugal to follow its evolution during palaeozoic times this megastructure linking brittany to iberia squeezed between gondwana and the northern continents during the carboniferous did break away from the former block during ordovician times

tectonic and paleogeographic interpretation of the paleomagnetism of variscan and pre variscan formations of the bohemian massif with special reference to the barrandian terrane abstract paleomagnetic data from variscan and pre variscan formations of the bohemian massif bm have been interpreted tectonically and paleogeographically evaluated with respect to the european paleomagnetic results the interpretation of data from the bm was preceded by the evaluation of the effect of the trans european suture zone tesz on the dispersion of the european paleomagnetic pole positions during the variscan orogeny stability of the european lithospheric plate is well documented by paleomagnetic results for the early permian to the quaternary rocks of the regions between the ural mountains and great britain north of the alpine tectonic belt for the late carboniferous and earlier times the stable plate is defined in the regions ne of the tesz in the east european craton only late carboniferous and older rocks from the regions sw of the tesz largely occupied by the west european variscides show tectonic deformations controlled by prominent horizontal rotations these rotations can be studied on a theoretical model simulating the distribution of pole positions controlled by rotation of rock formations about a vertical axis in the bm horizontal paleotectonic rotations are well documented for variscan and pre variscan rocks they reach several tens of degrees up to 180 in extreme cases of mostly clockwise sense the study of the tectonics and paleogeography of cambrian to devonian formations of the barrandian area which is considered a peri gondwana terrane with affinities to armorica may serve as a case history of the study of a terrane incorporated into a stable lithospheric plate here the barrandian terrane became a part of the european plate as a component of the emerging pangea supercontinent in the final phase of the variscan orogeny high almost peri polar paleolatitudes for the cambrian rocks of the barrandian area are within the limits of data scatter in agreement with the presumed position of gondwana and armorica rocks of ordovician age did not produce consistent results they will require further paleomagnetic and paleoclimatologic studies in relation to the data for the late cambrian and early silurian rocks of the barrandian area the analysis of data presented here shows that paleomagnetic declinations of variscan and pre variscan formations reflect paleotectonic rotations following the formation of the respective rocks including rotations induced by the variscan orogeny and rotation of the european plate to which the rocks became incorporated therefore paleomagnetic declination of none of the pre variscan formations can be identified with paleotectonic rotation either of the barrandian terrane or even of the whole bm magnitudes of horizontal paleotectonic rotations in the bm affected by variscan tectonism are notably similar to those in the western carpathians affected by alpine deformation senses of rotation are however different with clockwise rotation prevailing in the bm and counterclockwise rotations prevailing in the western carpathians recognition of the effect of horizontal rotations of rock formations if located in tectonically mobile belts and incorporated into a stable plate during their later history should be respected while deriving the apparent polar wandering path apwp

ultrapotassic dykes in the moldanubian zone and their significance for understanding of the post collisional mantle dynamics during variscan orogeny in the bohemian massif abstract we report mineral textures geochemistry and age relations of two ultrapotassic dykes from a dyke swarm in the western part of the moldanubian zone at contact to the tepla barrandian block the dykes have orientation almost perpendicular to the nne ssw trending central bohemian plutonic complex and cross cut metamorphic foliation in basement gneisses and migmatites based on mineral compositions and geochemistry the dykes show close relations to mg k syenite plutons in the moldanubian zone the two dykes are vaugnerite and syenite in compositions and contain talc pseudomorphs after olivine within a fine grained matrix that consists of k feldspar phlogopite with small amounts of clinopyroxene and accessory quartz apatite titanite and sulphides of fe cu ni the syenite porphyry dyke cross cuts the vaugnerite it contains quartz phenocrysts and comparing to vaugnerite has lower modal content of talc pseudomorphs the vaugnerite and syenite porphyry have high k 2 o 6 to 7 wt and mg number 0 66 0 74 but low cao and na 2 o contents the vaugnerite is markedly rich in p 2 o 5 2 wt and comparing to syenite porphyry has higher amount of mantle incompatible elements e g rb cs ba pb th u v and cr id tims analyses on titanite in vaugnerite and on zircon in syenite porphyry yielded 338 59 0 68 and 337 87 0 21 ma respectively mineral and bulk rock chemistry of the dykes indicates that the source magma was formed by a low degree of partial melting of a highly anomalous domain in the upper mantle which subsequently fractionated and was contaminated with crustal material during its ascent formation of ultrapotassic magma is explained by transcurrent shear zones in the mantle lithosphere that occurred due to block rotation and post collisional mantle dynamics initiated by slab break off and asthenosphere upwelling into the moldanubian accretionary complex during the variscan orogeny

palaeomagnetic and rock magnetic study of devonian olistoliths set in early carboniferous flysch west sudetes poland summary the upper devonian greywacke mudstone and limestone olistoliths from the zdanow bardo mlynow zbm allochthonous complex of the gory bardzkie gb west sudetes have been sampled for palaeomagnetic investigations 46 hand samples and 30 drill cores from seven sites the random distribution of the olistolithic blocks within early carboniferous flysch provides an opportunity for the megaconglomerate test microscopic and rock magnetic studies showed that pyrrhotite and magnetite are the carriers of magnetic remanence thermal and af demagnetization revealed four components of characteristic remanence the c component found in one site only yields an in situ pole position of 19 s 340 e close to early carboniferous data for baltica the p component also found in one site yields an in situ pole position of 42 s 339 e which coincides with late permian poles for baltica the r component of moderate inclinations and northwesterly and northeasterly declinations found in all but one site is probably partial remagnetization of a devonian component during carboniferous and permian times the d component found in all sites shows significant dispersion of declination of site mean directions in geographical and stratigraphic coordinates but inclinations after tilt correction are consistent with inclinations expected for the middle late devonian calculated for the sudetes from the palaeopoles for baltica significant dispersion of declination is expected for primary magnetization of olistoliths distributed at random within flysch the fold test for inclination only applied to the site mean directions of the d component for the zbm complex is positive the d component is therefore interpreted as representative of the middle late devonian local field inclination the calculated palaeolatitudes 15 s 7 s indicate that the west sudetes were positioned in that time at the same latitude as the southwestern margin of baltica

reappraisal of the relationship between the northern nevada rift and miocene extension in the northern basin and range province the northern nevada rift is a prominent mafic dike swarm and magnetic anomaly in north central nevada inferred to record the middle miocene 16 5 15 0 ma extension direction in the northern basin and range province in the western united states from the 245 250 rift direction basin and range extension is inferred to have shifted 45 clockwise to a modern direction of 290 300 during the late miocene the region surrounding the northern nevada rift was actively extending while the rift formed and these domains are all characterized by extension oriented 280 300 this direction is distinctly different from the rift direction and nearly identical to the modern basin and range direction although the rate structural style and distribution of basin and range extension appear to have undergone a significant change in the late miocene ca 10 ma the overall spreading direction does not middle miocene extension was directed perpendicular to the axis of the thickest crust formed during mesozoic shortening and this orientation may reflect gravitational collapse of this thick crust orientation of northern nevada rift dikes may reflect a short lived regional stress field related to the onset of yellowstone hotspot volcanism

shrimp dating of zircons from high grade metasediments of the schwarzwald sw germany and implications for the evolution of the moldanubian basement four metasedimentary zircon populations from different tectonometamorphic units of the central and the northern schwarzwald variscan belt sw germany were investigated using sem cathodoluminescence and shrimp dating despite partially strong modifications of primary internal morphologies during variscan metamorphism at amphibolite 750 c 0 4 0 6 gpa and granulite facies conditions 950 1 000 c 1 4 1 8 gpa many grains show well preserved protolith ages the detritus indicates a northern gondwana origin and different palaeozoic episodes of sediment deposition and consolidation two of the studied sediments were deposited in cambrian early ordovician times and consolidated in positions close to northern gondwana late ordovician and rare devonian detritus from sediments of two other tectonometamorphic units indicates much later sedimentation close to the leading edge of gondwana or a terrane assemblage during northern drift towards laurussia subsolidus growth of new zircon due to variscan granulite facies metamorphism of one of the tectonometamorphic units is precisely dated at 335 2 ma

silurian paleogeography of armorica new paleomagnetic data from central bohemia due to the lack of reliable paleomagnetic data from armorica for mid ordovician to late devonian times the drift history for this tectonic element is poorly understood in order to help rectify this problem a paleomagnetic study of upper silurian volcanic intrusive and sedimentary rocks from the barrandian basin of the central bohemian massif czech republic has been carried out this basin comprises a sequence of unmetamorphosed lower paleozoic rocks the folding of which has an uppermost age limit of early carboniferous stepwise thermal demagnetization of the samples collected 182 samples from 21 sites and principal component analysis of both great circle and stable endpoint data reveal a total of three directions of magnetization the first labelled a is in the direction of the present day local earth s magnetic field d i 360 67 and is thus interpreted as being of recent origin the other two directions termed b and c comprise the intermediate and high blocking temperature directions respectively the overall in situ mean direction obtained for b identified between 150 and 320 c is 195 8 d i k 18 5 95 13 2 eight sites it fails the fold test and yields an in situ paleo south pole position of 42 s 354 e this coincides with the late carboniferous segment of the apparent polar wander apw path for stable europe and is considered to be a secondary overprint of this age the third magnetization termed c is identified between 320 and 600 c gives an overall mean direction of 208 40 k 96 8 95 5 7 eight sites after bedding correction it passes fold and reversal tests on both local and regional levels and is interpreted as representative of the late silurian paleofield direction in the bohemian massif it yields a paleo pole position of 55 s 325 e assuming a normal polarity the inclination value obtained translates into paleolatitudes of 23 s for this part of armorica and implies a position adjacent to the southern margin of baltica this therefore indicates closure of the intervening ocean by late silurian times however adopting this polarity also implies large scale up to 140 anticlockwise rotations of the bohemian massif prior to deformation in the early carboniferous

a new lower cambrian eodiscoid trilobite fauna from swedish lapland and its implications for intercontinental correlation a lower cambrian eodiscoid trilobite fauna and an associated holmiid trilobite holmia sp are described from a bioclastic limestone at the top of the tornetrask formation in the luobakti section south of lake tornetrask northern sweden other associated polymerid trilobites include orodes lapponica and strenuaeva inflata the precise age of the trilobite fauna cannot be determined but its generic composition and stratigraphical position at the top of the lower cambrian suggest that it was recovered from the ornamentaspis linnarssoni assemblage zone two species of eodiscoids are present neocobboldia aff dentata and chelediscus acifer the latter species is known previously from england and southeastern newfoundland and provides a novel link between upper lower cambrian successions in baltica and avalonia

failed silurian continental rifting at the nw margin of gondwana evidence from basaltic volcanism of the prague basin tepla barrandian unit bohemian massif the silurian volcanic rocks of the prague basin represent within plate transitional alkali to tholeiitic basalts which erupted in a continental rift setting through the thick cadomian crust of the tepla barrandian unit bohemian massif despite the variable often intense alteration resulting in post magmatic replacement of the basalt mass due to carbonatization the geochemical signatures of silurian basalts are still sufficiently preserved to constrain primary magmatic processes and geotectonic setting the studied interval of silurian volcanic activity ranges from wenlock homerian 431 ma to late ludlow gorstian 425 ma with a distinct peak at the wenlock ludlow boundary 428 ma trace element characteristics unambiguously indicate partial melting of a garnet peridotite mantle source wenlock basalts are similar to alkaline oib with depleted radiogenic nd signature compared to ludlow basalts which are rather tholeiitic emorb like with enriched radiogenic nd signature the correlation of petrogenetically significant trace element ratios with nd isotopic compositions points to a mixing of partial melts of an isotopically heterogeneous possibly two component mantle source during the wenlock ludlow melting lava eruptions were accompanied by intrusions of doleritic basalt and meimechite sills the latter represent olivine rich cumulates of basaltic magmas of probably predominantly ludlow age meimechites with dolerites and to a lesser extent some lavas were subject to alteration due to wall rock fluid interaction the trigger for the wenlock to ludlow 431 425 ma extension and related volcanism in the prague basin is related to far field forces namely slab pull regime due to progressive closure of the iapetus ocean the main stage of the baltica laurentia collision then caused the prague basin rift failure at ca 425 ma that has never reached an oceanic stage

paleomagnetism of siluro devonian sequences ne spain the paleogeography of northeastern spain is addressed in a detailed paleomagnetic study of siluro devonian boundary sediments from the catalan coastal ranges ccr at santa creu d olorda barcelona and the eastern pyrenees at baen the sequences studied are all well dated biostratigraphically and have undergone only very minor deformation mainly during the late carboniferous and extremely low grades of metamorphism anchizone or less after stepwise thermal demagnetisation of samples and principal component analysis of the data up to two paleomagnetic directions can be clearly identified after removal of a present day magnetic overprint the first component labeled b is identified only in samples from the ccr with intermediate unblocking temperature spectra 300 400 c an overall mean direction of 187 03 semi angle of cone of 95 confidence 95 9 0 and precision parameter k 43 1 in situ and 195 03 95 24 4 and k 7 1 51 samples at seven sites after bedding correction is obtained for b the exact age of this secondary component is uncertain but when compared to published paleomagnetic data a late carboniferous to early triassic age could be inferred a stable endpoint direction labeled c can be identified between 400 and 600 c in samples from both regions for the ccr it is southwesterly directed with intermediate inclination values in situ and yields a mean direction of 208 48 95 12 8 and k 28 4 six sites after bedding correction it passes the fold test is considered to be primary in origin and is thus indicative of the siluro devonian paleofield direction in the ccr in the pyrenean samples the c direction is northwesterly directed in situ with a mean direction of 240 51 95 6 5 and k 86 5 seven sites after bedding correction although there is a clear improvement in grouping of these site mean directions this is not significant at the 95 level of confidence combining the site mean directions obtained for component c from both regions yields an overall mean direction of 224 51 95 8 5 and k 24 6 13 sites after bedding correction the improvement in grouping is significant at the 99 level of confidence at 90 unfolding reinforcing the interpretation that this is a primary magnetisation adopting the reversed polarity option the inclination value obtained translates into paleolatitudes of 30 s placing ne spain in the same latitudinal belt as the armorican massif and the barrandian terrane of the bohemian massif i e the armorican terrane assemblage in latest silurian earliest devonian times

new early devonian paleomagnetic data from nw france paleogeography and implications for the armorican microplate hypothesis to constrain the early devonian paleogeography of the armorican massif and determine the tectonic relationships between the armorican and bohemian massifs the armorican microplate hypothesis a paleomagnetic study of lochkovian pragian sediments from the pointe de l armorique brittany nw france has been carried out after removal of a present day overprint a higher unblocking temperature component of magnetization is identified the b direction which yields an overall mean direction of 222 35 k 121 6 95 4 2 after bedding correction 11 sites no fold test is possible but the presence of a thin sill allowed sampling for a contact test the results of which are positive thus the b direction of magnetization is considered to be primary in origin and closely bracketed with the rock age the resulting paleopole 315 e 13 s corresponds to a paleolatitude of 19 s for the armorican massif placing it adjacent to the southern margin of baltica and avalonia this clearly demonstrates for the first time that this sector of the rheic ocean had closed by early devonian times and that the armorican massif was in its present day orientation with respect to baltica these results are significantly different to existing paleomagnetic data from bohemia which indicate large scale 140 rotation between the earliest and latest devonian and thus provide important information for the pre and syncollisional tectonic relationships of these massifs as it is unlikely that such large scale differential crustal rotations could have occurred in an intraplate setting it is proposed that the armorican and bohemian massifs did not form a single coherent microplate but belonged to a fairly loose mosaic of terranes prior to collision with avalonia thus the concept of an armorican microplate is no longer tenable and the term armorican terrane assemblage ata is proposed in reference to the gondwana derived paleozoic terranes now situated within the european variscan fold belt south of the rhenohercynian zone avalonia

palaeozoic palaeomagnetic studies in the welsh basin recent advances in the last two years new palaeomagnetic data fro m wale s have resulted i n radical revision of the ordovician palaeogeography of eastern avalonia part of the southern margin of the iapetus ocean combined with palaeozoic palaeomagnetic data from laurentia and gondwana these data suggest that eastern avalonia was a peri gondwanide high latitude continental fragment during at least part of ordovician time with a palaeolatitude of about 62 s and 51 s in arenig and llanvirn time respectively this implies a latitudinal width of the early ordovician iapetus ocean between eastern avalonia and laurentia of at least 30 geological evidence for the proximity of eastern avalonia and laurentia suggests that the intervening iapetus ocean closed during silurian time from late llandovery to early ludlow recent palaeolatitude data from the iapetus bordering continents are consistent wit h closure b y middle to late silurian time new pre acadian early devonian palaeomagnetic data from the old red sandstone places the welsh basin at about 17 s consistent with a palaeogeography in which laurentia baltica avalonia armorica and possibly gondwana wer e part o f a singl e supercontinent pervasiv e lat e carboniferous early permia n remagnetization affect s the welsh basin the remagnetization i s probably associated with fluids emanating from th e variscan thrust front w e do not observe remagnetization associate d with acadian orogen y and the remagnetizations which have been studied in more detail in north america appear to be a unique feature of the variscan hercynian alleghenian orogeny

paleozoic paleogeography of north america gondwana and intervening displaced terranes comparisons of paleomagnetism with paleoclimatology and biogeographical patterns new paleomagnetic data have become available in the past 5 yr that require modifications in previously published paleogeographic reconstructions for the silurian and devonian in this paper the new paleopoles are compared to published paleogeographic models based on paleoclimatologic and biogeographic data the data from the three fields of paleomagnetism paleoclimatology and biogeography are generally in excellent agreement and an internally consistent paleogeographic evolutionary picture of the interactions between north america gondwana and intervening displaced terranes is emerging during the interval of the ordovician silurian and devonian north america stayed in equatorial paleoposition while rotating counter clockwise the northwest african part of gondwana was in high southerly latitudes during the late ordovician and was fringed by peri gondwanide terranes such as southern europe armorica and avalonian basement blocks now found in eastern newfoundland nova scotia the boston basin the appalachian piedmont and northern florida subsequently gondwana and the peri gondwanide terranes displayed rapid drift with respect to the pole this drift translates into the following pattern of movement for northwest africa during the latest ordovician early silurian this area moved rapidly northward from polar to subtropical latitudes followed by equally rapid southward motion from subtropical to intermediate about 50 s paleolatitudes during the late silurian middle devonian it is likely that significant east to west motion accompanied the latter shift in paleolatitudes with the caledonian acadian orogeny the result of silurian to early devonian convergence and collision between gondwana and north america this collision sandwiched several of the intervening displaced terranes between gondwana and north america subsequent to this collision gondwana was separated in the late devonian by a medium width ocean from north america and the avalonian and southern european blocks which were left behind adjacent to north america this new ocean closed during the carboniferous and the resulting convergence and collision were the cause of the hercynian alleghanian orogenic belt problems remaining for future research besides the further gathering of reliable paleopoles involve the uncertain pre devonian position of the southern british isles in this scenario and the very rapid velocity with respect to the pole that results from the rapid late ordovician silurian apparent polar wander for gondwana

the northern nevada rift regional tectono magmatic relations and middle miocene stress direction as defined by the most recent aeromagnetic surveys the north northwest trending northern nevada rift zone extends for at least 500 km from southern nevada to the oregon nevada border at several places along the rift the magnetic anomaly is clearly related to north northwest trending dikes and flows that based on new radiometric dating erupted between 17 and 14 ma and probably during an even shorter time interval the tectonic significance of the rift is dramatized by its length its coincidence in time and space at its northern terminus with the oldest silicic caldera complex along the yellowstone hot spot trend and its parallelism with the subduction zone along the north american coast prior to the establishment of the san andreas fault the northern nevada rift is also equivalent in age trend and composition to feeder dikes that fed the main eruptive pulse 95 volumetrically off the columbia river flood basalts in northern oregon 15 5 16 5 ma because of these similarities both regions are considered to be part of an enormous lithospheric rift that propagated rapidly south southeast and north northwest respectively from a central mantle plume the site of the initial breaching of the north america plate by this plume is probably the mcdermitt volcanic center at the north end off the rift near the oregon nevada border the present north northwest trend of the rift and its internal elements such as dikes and lava filled grabens record the orientation of the arc normal extensional stress in this back arc region at the time of emplacement paleomagnetic evidence presented by others and interpreted to indicate block rotations at three sample localities is not consistent with either a rotation of dikes within the rift or with a regional rotation of the entire rift the present north northwest trend of the rift reflects the state of stress in the basin and range during middle miocene time and is consistent with stress indicators of similar age throughout the basin and range and rio grande rift provinces