the tertiary structural and thermal evolution of the central alps compressional and extensional structures in an orogenic belt the western alpine arc has been created during the cretaceous and the tertiary orogenies the interference patterns of the tertiary structures suggest their formation during continental collision of the european and the adriatic plates with an accompanying anticlockwise rotation of the adriatic indenter extensional structures are mainly related to ductile deformation by simple shear these structures developed at a deep tectonic level in granitic crustal rocks at depths in excess of 10 km in the early palaeogene period of the tertiary orogeny the main tertiary nappe emplacement resulted from a nw thrusting of the austroalpine penninic and helvetic nappes heating of the deep zone of the upper cretaceous and tertiary nappe stack by geothermal heat flow is responsible for the tertiary regional metamorphism reaching amphibolite facies conditions in the lepontine gneiss dome geothermal gradient 25 c km the tertiary thrusting occurred mainly during prograde metamorphic conditions with creation of a penetrative nw se oriented stretching lineation xi finite extension parallel to the direction of simple shear earliest cooling after the culmination of the tertiary metamorphism some 38 ma ago is recorded by the cooling curves of the monte rosa and mischabel nappes to the west and the suretta nappe to the east of the lepontine gneiss dome the onset of dextral transpression with a strong extension parallel to the mountain belt and the oldest s vergent backfolding took place some 35 to 30 ma ago during retrograde amphibolite facies conditions and before the intrusion of the oligocene dikes north of the periadriatic line the main updoming of the lepontine gneiss dome started some 32 30 ma ago with the intrusion of the bergell tonalites and granodiorites concomitant with s vergent backfolding and backthrusting and dextral strike slip movements along the tonale and canavese lines argand s insubric phase subsequently the center of main updoming migrated slowly to the west reaching the simplon region some 20 ma ago this was contemporaneous with the westward migration of the adriatic indenter between 20 ma and the present the western aar massif toce culmination was the center of strong uplift the youngest s vergent backfolds the glishorn anticline and the berisal syncline fold the 12 ma rb sr biotite isochron and are cut by the 11 ma old rhone simplon line the discrete rhone simplon line represents a late retrograde manifestation in the preexisting ductile simplon shear zone this fault zone is still active today the oligocene neogene dextral transpression and extension in the simplon area were concurrent with thrusting to the northwest of the helvetic nappes the prealpes 35 15 ma and with the jura thin skinned thrust 11 3 ma it was also contemporaneous with thrusting to the south of the bergamasc 35 5 ma and milan thrusts 16 5 ma the oligocene neogene dextral transpression in the central alps is of the same age as the thrusting to the west and southwest in the external french part and to the east in the internal italian part of the alpine arc of the western alps

proterozoic contraction extension tectonics of the southern sao francisco region minas gerais brazil the southern sao francisco region comprises the southern portion of the sao francisco craton which is underlain by archean basement and its fringing proterozoic orogenic belts included in this region are three geologic provinces the quadrilatero ferrifero qf the sao francisco basin and the cordilheira do espinhaco we synthesize preliminary results of ongoing structural analysis reconnaissance field studies and published reports to provide a concise review of the geology of the region and to propose a working tectonic model for its proterozoic evolution interpretation of superimposed folds faults and foliations leads to the conclusion that the southern sao francisco region records the effects of four principal tectonic events that occurred subsequent to deposition of the lower proterozoic minas supergroup the first event resulted in formation of a northwest verging fold thrust belt the second event led to development of high angle reverse faults open folds and basement uplift the third event is manifested in the qf by the formation of normal faults and by the intrusion of mafic dikes these extensional structures may be associated with formation of the sedimentary basins east and south of the sao francisco craton the final event resulted in formation of a west verging fold thrust belt that affected the qf the cordilheira espinhaco and the sao francisco basin the events that we describe can be tentatively associated with regionally recognized orogenic periods trans amazonian uruacuano brasiliano

late variscan tectonic evolution by thinning of earlier thickened crust an 40ar39ar study of the montagne noire southern massif central france abstract 40ar 39ar age determinations on samples selected on deformational criteria form the basis of a proposal of a new detailed tectonometamorphic history of the montagne noire the southern part of the massif central france this range is classically divided into a cover and an axial gneissic and migmatitic core which was metamorphosed under high t medium p conditions the basement is structurally overlain by epimetamorphic paleozoic sediments in the north in the south equivalent rocks form a well known pile of recumbent nappes the variscan history of this area comprises early shortening and thickening of the continental crust the climax of this event took place around 320 ma ago as is shown by previous rb sr data and by 40ar 39ar measurements new developments in structural analyses have led to a better understanding of the late evolution of the area in terms of diapiric uplift of the core south southwestwards verging recumbent nappes have been emplaced and were weakly metamorphosed in their lower parts this movement was accompanied and followed by dextral extensional wrenching of the paleozoic cover along the northern and southern margins of the axial zone attendantly ductile shear zones were formed in order to decipher the complex history three structural levels have been dated with the 40ar 39ar method these levels are 1 the migmatitic and gneissic series in the axial core where micas yield ages of c 315 ma 2 mylonites from the northern and southern shear zones where biotites and muscovites yield ages of c 310 ma 3 muscovites and biotites from the epimetamorphic nappe structures yielding ages of c 297 ma the later ages may represent a younger thermal pulse these data are compared and discussed in the light of previous radiometric studies of the area and precise biostratigraphic constraints a detailed geodynamic evolution of the studied segment is proposed

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

strain patterns in archaean dome and basin structures the dharwar craton karnataka south india abstract models simulating the role of gravity in the earth s crust are the main source of criteria used for the field identification of diapirs after a short review of the distribution of finite strain in experimental diapir models we describe an example where differential erosion of a tilted craton has provided 3d geometrical information on patterns in a diapiric system at various depths from greenschist to granulitic facies conditions within the archaean continental crust of the dharwar craton south india diapirs and anti diapirs sagducted greenstones are observed at different levels structures and strain are consistent with all the field identification criteria inferred from experimental simulation but some peculiar structural features are also observed which are not predicted by the models these features such as strain trajectory triple junctions result from i the progressive deformation of diapiric domes or sagducted basins ii interferences between diapiric structures body forces and iii the superimposition of diapiric strain fields on regional horizontal shortening boundary forces

maximum and minimum water contents of granitic melts implications for chemical and physical properties of ascending magmas new results obtained by the investigation of liquidus and solidus phase relations in the system qz ab or and by the determination of h2o solubility in haplogranitic melts are used to discuss the evolution of granitic quartzo feldspathic magmas during their ascent in the crust particular attention is given to the role of h2o and its effect on physical properties of ascending magmas the evolution of melt fraction h2o content of the melt and viscosity of melt and magma during ascent are discussed for several examples adiabatic ascent ascent with cooling ascent with crystal fractionation it is shown that decompression melting processes may be very important significant increase of the melt proportion especially at low pressure in magmas ascending along adiabats or with slow cooling rates the comparison of the discussed examples shows that melts formed at low t are significantly less viscous than at high t although the degree of melting may remain very low in the case of dehydration melting at low temperature the low viscosity of the generated melts may enhance the extraction of these melts from the source area to produce leucogranites

granitic magma transport by fracture propagation granitic magmas commonly ascend tens of kilometres from their source terranes to upper crustal emplacement levels or to the earth s surface apart from its obvious bearing on the interpretation of the geology and geochemistry of felsic igneous rocks the magma ascent mechanism critically affects any modelling of the metamorphic evolution of the upper lithosphere as well as its rheology we propose that in general granitic magmas ascend via propagating fractures as dykes in extremely short time periods long distance diapiric transport of granitoid magmas through crustal sections is not viable on thermal or mechanical grounds and there is an apparent total absence of field evidence for diapiric rise of such magmas even in supposed type localities neither the shapes nor internal or external characteristics of granitic plutons necessarily reveal anything about the transport of their precursor magmas these are purely arrival phenomena dictated by local structure kinematics and stress states based on existing numerical treatments of the problem we show that granitic magmas are apparently sufficiently inviscid to travel through fractures to high crustal levels without suffering thermal death by freezing for example a 2000 km3 granitic batholith can be inflated by a 1 km 3m 20 km deep dyke system in less than 900 years the model proposed has numerous far reaching petrological and rheological consequences some of which are outlined

isograds and mineral assemblages in the eastern axial zone montagne noire france implications for temperature gradients and p t history detailed petrography across a metapelitic sequence in the eastern axial zone of the montagne noire france is the basis for a sequence of isograds marking the first appearance of biotite cordierite staurolite andalusite and sillimanite the juxtaposition of low grade biotite free rocks against medium grade rocks at the gently dipping biotite cordierite isograd is attributed to tectonic telescoping of the metamorphic sequence study of mineral assemblages with respect to an afm reaction sequence indicates the staurolite isograd is related to changes in rock composition and complex assemblages in the sillimanite zone may be the result of unstable persistence of minerals formed when metamorphic grade was lower these assemblages are interpreted to contain a record of part of the p t history during which pressure decreased as temperature increased p t profiles show that temperature gradients of 200 300 c km suggested by previous workers are not required to explain the isograd pattern gradients of 37

application of clustering algorithms to trmm precipitation over the tropical and south pacific ocean abstractunderstanding multiscale rainfall variability in the south pacific convergence zone spcz a southeastward oriented band of precipitating deep convection in the south pacific is critical

origin of a large scale fold nappe in the montagne noire variscan belt france abstract detailed structural analysis of a large recumbent fold in low grade palaeozoic sediments of the montagne noire and the previously established tectonometamorphic history of its crystalline substratum indicate a two stage development history first relatively homogeneous crustal thickening produced folds with steep axial planes associated with a regional cleavage s1 subsequently these structures became rotated and amplified in a subhorizontal flow with pure shear and simple shear components related to low angle thrusting the development of an associated horizontal crenulation cleavage s2 with a component of vertical shortening of s1 plus evidence for a synchronous decompression of autochthonous units allows this flow regime to be placed in the context of a thrust wedge undergoing gravitational spreading above a continuously contracting footwall decoupling of an extending thrust wedge from a contracting footwall by a basal thrust with low shear resistance explains bulk shortening uplift and exhumation of mid to lower crustal autochthonous basement during thrusting and recumbent folding at higher levels structural relationships in the southern montagne noire demonstrate that traditional tectonic units recognized in this area the so called nappes are in fact unrelated to the recumbent folding as inferred previously these nappes postdate not only the recumbent folding but also a later phase of refolding d3 associated with the formation of a gneiss dome the traditional nappe division can be simplified to a hanging wall and footwall domain of a major decollement that formed during a second syn collisional collapse d4 associated with the formation of intermontane stephanian basins the late timing of the nappes and simplified tectonic structure of the southern montagne noire imply a thinner d2 recumbent fold structure with only one major anticline syncline pair and is in better agreement with the low metamorphic grade of the area

power law distributions of discharge mass and energy in river basins river networks constitute dissipative systems with many spatial degrees of freedom previous work by mandelbrot 1983 and bak et al 1987 1988 1990 suggests that such systems will follow power law distributions in their mass and energy characteristics it is shown that this is the case for river networks where the exponent in the distribution p x x x is approximately equal to 0 45 and 0 90 for discharge and energy respectively in the case of several networks analyzed in north america when these variables are calculated for each individual link throughout the drainage network an explanation of the values of is offered based on the fractal structure of rivers and on principles of energy expenditure in river basins

mantle underplating granite tectonics and metamorphic p t t paths arrival of mantle derived magma at the base of the continental crust leads to melting major crustal reworking and overturn these processes can form both counterclockwise and high t clockwise pressure temperature time p t t paths in the same tectonic episode regions with low p high t counterclockwise p t t paths form where the upper crust moves down to compensate for the upward ascent of granite high t shear zones separate these regions from ascending granite plutons and their migmatitic envelopes where mediumto high pressure rocks record rapid uplift along a clockwise p t t path the increase in pressure in counterclockwise p t t paths does not require tectonic thickening of the crust but results from ensialic mantle heat initiated overturn of the continental crust nor does the attenuation of deep crustal rocks denote extension instead it results from lateral migration of low density melts in the source region of the ascending granites as the crustal overturn is gravity driven to create isostatic equilibrium the high t metamorphic paths end in isobaric cooling the mantle derived magma may have its source in a mantle plume impinging beneath continental crust or in a back arc setting may result from slab pull back and replacement by hot asthenosphere

sinking of the dharwar basin south india implications for archaean tectonics abstract archaean tectonic regimes can be constrained by structural analysis of greenstone belts and adjacent granite gneiss masses the late archaean bababudan greenstone belt dharwar craton south india contains a low grade volcanosedimentary basin sequence the dharwar supergroup which unconformably overlies a previously eroded basement made up mainly of granite and gneiss fabric trajectories kinematic indicators and superimposed deformation patterns show that greenstones have undergone a radial converging downward flow with respect to underlying basement rocks as well as strike slip shearing this is attributed to the progressive sagduction gravity sinking of the greenstone belt into its basement along a decollement horizon and to late transcurrent shearing we propose a deformation model for the bababudan belt that may explain common features of many greenstone belts such as decollements and superimposed upright fold patterns which are attributed to the progressive sinking of the supracrustals into their basement the results of our study and other field investigations in the crust of the dharwar craton as well as structural evidence from other cratons zimbabwe and pilbara raise the possibility that a unique continental tectonic regime existed during the archaean controlled by the emplacement of dense volcanic traps mantle underplating and thermal blanketing of the continental crust this tectonic regime differs from that observed within the modern lithosphere as it is characterized by the pervasive development of gravity i e rayleigh taylor instabilities between the volcanic traps and the rest of the continental crust it allowed heat and material transfer through the crust and has to be seen as an efficient recycling mechanism for the young continental crust during periods of mantle underplating the diapiric phenomenon is independent of the boundary forces acting at the limits of the protocontinents and is associated in time and space with large scale accretion events of the continental crust perhaps in hot spot environments

crustal thickening and deformation sequence in the footwall to the suture of the variscan belt of northwest spain abstract the sequence of formation and propagation of structures as well as the evolution of crustal thickening in the variscan belt of northwest spain are proposed in this paper the foreland of this mountain belt shows thin skinned tectonics a polyphase deformation with associated regional metamorphism is recognized in the hinterland zones two important culminations the narcea and lugo antiforms are present in an e w cross section through the footwall to the suture of this orogen such culminations are derived from the stacking of several thrust systems generated during two successive periods the sequence of thrust emplacement helps to clarify the formation of different types of structures at the same time in different places in the orogen

on the origin of early proterozoic gneiss domes and metamorphic nodes northern michigan biotite 40 r 39 r cooling ages from medium pressure 500 600 mpa rocks in the watersmeet district northern michigan suggest significant cooling uplift and concomitant deformation during gneiss dome formation at 1755 ma well after the close of the 1870 1830 ma penokean orogeny however an 1822 ma hornblende plateau date indicates that the isograds surrounding the dome are penokean in age we attribute gneiss dome formation and doming of penokean aged isograds to an episode of orogenic collapse superimposed on an earlier history of crustal shortening this contrasts with the compressional origin for gneiss domes preserved in the low pressure 200 300 mpa republic district the different origins may reflect the fact that collapse was localized along the overthickened region of the orogenic belt in contrast to the watersmeet area hornblende and biotite 40ar 39ar ages obtained from the republic area are 1720 1680 ma given the relatively shallow depth of this region it is unlikely that temperatures re

accretionary history and crustal evolution of the variscan belt in western europe abstract the variscan belt of western europe is part of a large intra paleozoic belt extending on both sides of the atlantic from the ouachitas in the us and the mauritanides in west africa to the bohemian massif in czechoslovakia and poland the belt was constructed between 500 and 250 ma as a result of convergence and collision between two main continents laurentia baltica and africa after the closure of various oceanic basins iapetus rheic and galicia massif central now recorded as discrete in part cryptic sutures which form the roots of large crystalline nappes in which are found dismembered remnants of oceanic crust and mantle the accretionary history of the variscan belt in western europe is related to the progressive closure of probably two oceanic basins the rheic in the north and another the galicia massif central in the south by respectively southward and northward intraoceanic subduction followed by obduction and intracontinental lithospheric subduction the result is a broad 700 800 km fan like divergent belt which must be considered as a classical obduction collision orogen with a long intracontinental history of about 100 150 ma its arcuate shape is probably due to the northwestward impingement of a promontory of the african continent into laurentia baltica

opposite vergence of nappes and crustal extension in the french italian western alps in the internal pennine zone of the french italian western alps dora maira monviso rocciavre massifs and queyras region the structural trends define an apparent dome geometry that is truncated to the east by the po basin this geometry is classically interpreted as a backthrusting system the kinematic history of the area has been investigated using structural metamorphic and geochronologic data on the basis of which two main deformation episodes have been distinguished that occurred under differing metamorphic conditions 1 the first deformation occurred under greenschist facies metamorphism it caused a regional scale foliation and an ew trending lineation that lie parallel to ductile deformation zones and thrust contacts sense of shear indicators associated with the lineation indicate contradictory top to the east and top to the west senses of shear from these it is deduced that coeval east and west vergent thrust faulting accommodated major displacements between nappes phengite ar ar data yield late eocene early oligocene ages for the greenschist facies metamorphism 2 the second deformation caused the widespread development of high angle shear bands and normal faults on opposite sides of the dora maira massif resulting in the apparent dome geometry of the massif a steep 50 80 network of west dipping normal faults is particularly well developed on the west side of the dora maira massif differences of 2 3 kbar and 100 150 c between juxtaposed monviso rocciavre and queyras nappes implies 8 km of vertical displacement along the monviso upper tectonic contact these normal faults formed in a more brittle regime only a post early oligocene age can be estimated from microstructural studies for these final movements these deformations postdate hp lt metamorphism and resulted in the juxtaposition of nappes of distinctly different origin age grade and p t t history a kinematic model is presented in which opposite vergence of nappes followed by large scale crustal extension occurred in response to uplift during the convergence between the european and south alpine plates this model may account for rapid uplift rapid unroofing and cooling of high pressure low temperature rocks thereby explaining the absence of amphibolite facies metamorphism overprint in this part of the alps that may have led to the preservation of coesite bearing rocks in the southern part of the dora maira massif

characteristics and mode of emplacement of gneiss domes and plutonic domes in central eastern pyrenees abstract gneiss domes and plutonic granitoid domes make up almost 50 of the pre hercynian terrains in the central and eastern pyrenees from a structural study of the shape and internal structure of the domes and of their relationships with the enclosing rocks it can be shown that both types of domes were emplaced diapirically during the major regional deformation phase and the peak of regional metamorphism the study also shows that the internal structure the overall shape and general behaviour relative to the host rocks are similar for plutonic domes and for gneiss domes this appears to be in good agreement with h ramberg s 1967 gravity deformation and the earth s crust academic press london 1970 model studies in relation to intrusion of plutonic bodies in mechanisms of igneous intrusion edited by newall g rast n geol j spec issue 2 261 286 model studies showing that dome or mushroom like structures similar to those observed develop when there is a small viscosity ratio between the rising body and its enclosing medium this implies a high crystal content for the granitoid magma this crystal content has been estimated by i calculating the viscosity and density in natural conditions from petrological data for the magma considered as a suspension using the model and program of j p carron et al 1978 bull soc geol fr 20 739 744 ii using the recent results of experimental deformation of partially melted granites of i van der molen m s paterson 1979 contr miner petrol 70 299 318 and ii comparing the preceding results with the data obtained by deformation experiments on rocks similar to those enclosing the domes the minimum crystal content for the development of a dome like structure has been thus estimated to about 70 i e a value very close to that estimated by van der molen paterson 1979 to be the critical value separating the granular framework flow from suspension like behaviour the effect of small variations in the viscosity of the rising body are then simulated by centrifuge experiments these small variations appear to exert a strong control on the shape and rate of rise of the domes they are thought to be sufficient to account for the variations in shape and structure and the level of emplacement of the different types of gneissic and plutonic domes finally more complex experiments with models built in order to simulate as closely as possible the natural structural evolution of the region as deduced from petrological and structural data are reported their implications for the regional interpretation of the relationships between gneissic and plutonic domes is then discussed

mid crustal magmatic sheets in the cascades mountains washington implications for magma ascent abstract diking diapirism ascent along faults and ascent during heterogeneous ductile flow have all been championed as the most important means of magma ascent in the crust we suggest that these mechanisms are end members in a complex spectrum of ascent processes in an attempt to evaluate which combination of ascent processes formed sheet like bodies in the mid crustal 20 25 km entiat pluton washington we examined the tip regions of these sheets the sheets have length width ratios ranging from 6 to 75 with increasing ratios strongly correlated to decreasing sheet tip radii from 850 to 100 m and decreasing ratios of tip diameter sheet width from 0 66 to 0 33 thus these bodies have geometries falling between those of dikes and those associated with elliptical diapirs the sheets are not associated with faults or fracture zones extending from their tips instead sheet walls are oriented parallel to the axial planes of upright syn emplacement folds in sheets with high length width ratios magmatic foliations in sheets are folded or parallel to axial planes of host rock folds with decreasing length width ratios margin parallel foliations in both sheet and host rock are increasingly common our studies indicate that the sheets are emplaced at high angles to 1 not 3 as proposed in elastic dike models and are always associated with complex viscoelastic flow of host rock these observations rule out elastic dike and fault models and instead favor diapiric rise of magma sheets during viscoelastic behavior of host rock

variscan crustal thickening extension and late overstacking during the namurian westphalian in the western montagne noire france abstract study of the structural relationships between major lithotectonic units that is the axial zone x schists and southern thrust sheets on the southwestern slopes of the montagne noire in southern france has cast new light on the main processes and timing for this segment of the variscan mountain belt the contact between x schists and the gneissic axial zone is a major shear zone early movements to the southwest along this contact appear to have been contemporary with the emplacement of nappes on the south slope subsequent anatexis of the axial zone was synchronous with regional dextral strike slip shearing and granitization at the end of anatexis sealed the transcurrent structures extension commenced during the final stage of granite crystallization finally crustal shortening with north northeast vergence completed the deformation and controlled the emplacement of gold mineralization we propose a new model for the geodynamic evolution of the montagne noire during namurian westphalian times crustal thickening took place around 330 325 ma and was followed by uplift anatexis and dextral transcurrent shearing between 325 and 319 ma the subsequent unroofing of the thickened domain continued between 319 and 315 ma during a stage of doming and extensional detachment this crustal thinning was succeeded in the westphalian early stephanian 315 300 ma by compressive tectonism during which the lithological stacking of the southern thrust sheets was achieved

on uplift and exhumation during convergence a simple kinematic model is used to illustrate the vertical motions of rocks during convergent deformation and erosion at the surface it is shown that rocks may move upward or downward in the crust depending on the relative rates of erosion and thickening and depending on their initial depth in the crust exhumation during thickening can only occur if rapid denudation accompanies the thickening process during homogeneous thickening with erosion that is elevation dependent the initial depth from which rocks can be exhumed is only determined by the density distribution in the column and is independent of erosion or thickening rates the maximum initial depth from which rocks can be exhumed is of the order of 30 km or less there is therefore no conflict in the observation of synchronous exhumation and convergent deformation if the peak pressure of rocks is equivalent to no more than 30 km of burial it is also shown that uplift defined as vertical motion of the surface with respect to a reference level for example the geoid and exhumation defined as vertical motion of rocks with respect to the surface may follow different patterns in time and that the difference between the two evolutions may be a useful indicator of the exhumation process the model serves to emphasize the important differences between uplift and exhumation which are often not distinguished in the literature

collapse of a hercynian tibetan plateau into a late palaeozoic european basin and range province the large width the importance of crustal shortening and the likelihood of thick crust in the late palaeozoic hercynian or variscan belt of southern europe suggest a tectonic evolution analogous to the evolution of the tibetan plateau and its neighbouring himalaya1 and of the altiplano and other high plateaux of the andes here we extend dewey and burke s analogy1 of the hercynian chain with tibet to include the subsequent stage of pervasive normal faulting and crustal extension and thinning which characterize the active tectonics of tibet parts of the high andes and the basin and range province of western north america it appears that normal faulting and rifting also characterize the late palaeozoic tectonic activity of the hercynian chain

fluids p t paths and the fates of anatectic melts in the earth s crust this paper presents a model for the longevity and physical behaviour of anatectic melts in the earth s crust it is assumed that a thermal anomaly has caused partial fusion of biotite plagioclase quartz rocks to produce a granitic melt and restitic solids the focus is on the potential chemical and physical outcomes as a function of the various p t fluid conditions rocks undergoing fluid present melting will sustain an increase in bulk density and will become more gravitationally stable diapiric up welling of such material should not occur in fluid absent melting the bulk density will decrease and foster gravitational instability stresses in the surrounding rocks could however lead to fracture and rapid evacuation of the melt with excess fluid and without melt segregation isobaric cooling will cause immediate freezing if t rises above the biotite quartz melting reaction freezing will still occur at the original reaction t diapiric up welling should not occur biotite bearing diatexites might be formed by large degrees of fusion but magma ascent is unlikely in isothermal decompression immediate freezing will ensue and the migmatite should contain orthopyroxene rather than biotite with excess fluid and melt segregation cooling will induce freezing at the fluid saturated granite solidus magma ascent could however occur even for xflh2o 1 in isothermal decompression melt will persist to the granite solidus for the imposed xflh2o limited magma ascent could occur all granites should contain primary igneous biotite for fluid deficient rocks without melt segregation freezing will occur at the t of the original melting if the reaction is overstepped solidification will occur at the original xflh2o magma formation is unlikely migmatites should contain either pyroxene retrogressed to biotite or biotite alone on decompression immediate freezing is likely if t remains at the biotite quartz reaction for higher t melt will survive decompression and freeze at the fluid saturated solidus for some increased xflh2o magma ascent is possible and the melt will freeze very close to the wet granite solidus in fluid deficient rocks with melt segregation cooling and crystallization will cause fluid saturation in situ segregated melt will freeze at the original xflh2o melt ascent will however cause exsolution of a co2 rich fluid with fluid escape melt will freeze close to the wet granite solidus an increase in melt proportion may accompany magma ascent or source up welling any low p granite intrusion should be charnockitic for fluid absent rocks without melt segregation freezing will occur on cooling to the t of the original reaction only transitory migmatites could be formed but melt will survive decompression almost to the h2o saturated granite solidus the rocks will reveal former melt presence only in the existence of veins of coarse retrograde biotite with isothermal decompression further melting may occur forming an orthopyroxene bearing granulite facies migmatite in fluid absent situations with melt segregation magma could be efficiently transported to higher crustal levels if the melt proportion were insufficient for magma formation granulite facies migmatites would result ascending melt would progressively dissolve any entrained restite the granites produced should be charnockitic to aid in interpretation of the modelling results we suggest that it may be slightly more common for the highest grade metamorphic terranes to exhibit isobaric cooling paths that fluid present anatexis is normally limited to the shallower parts of the crust and that fluid absent reactions are more likely at greater depths we conclude that the best models for natural fluid present anatexis are those dealing with essentially pure h2o fluid and that fluid deficient conditions will dominate over fluid excess we also believe that it is common for melts to be physically segregated on scales larger than the diffusion paths of many elements

pervasive melt migration from migmatites to leucogranite in the shuswap metamorphic core complex canada control of regional deformation abstract the shuswap metamorphic core complex exhumed in the hinterland of the canadian cordillera displays a 15 km structural section from migmatites to leucogranite it comprises a lower unit dominated by anatectic migmatites exposed in the core of domes at higher structural level the transition from a middle amphibolite facies unit to an upper crustal unit is marked by a low angle detachment associated with the emplacement of laccoliths of leucogranite the amphibolite facies middle unit is permeated by a network of granitic veins feeding the laccoliths and structurally connected to the migmatites of the lower unit this paper describes the geometric textural and structural characteristics and the distribution of the granitic fraction at the outcrop scale in the amphibolite facies unit separating the migmatites from the leucogranite this analysis constrains the mechanisms of melt migration within a plurikilometer scale section across high grade rocks of the middle crust in fertile lithologies metapelites felsic amphibolites the granitic fraction in part generated in situ forms a diffuse network of concordant veins feeding discordant veins and structural sites such as the foliation shear zones and boudin necks discordant granitic veins are oriented perpendicular and to a lesser extent parallel to the mineral and stretching lineation in refractory lithologies the granitic fraction is dominantly intrusive and displays sharp contacts with the host rock however distribution of the granitic fraction shows the same characteristics as for fertile lithologies the melt fraction migrated through a network of fractures taking advantage of mechanical weaknesses such as the foliation plane or forming dikes oriented dominantly perpendicular to the regional stretching and mineral lineations these geometric and textural characteristics suggest that granite migration in these rocks is achieved dominantly by viscous flow of the melt solid through the solid matrix driven by its buoyancy and controlled by mechanical anisotropy of the rock and local dilation created by heterogeneous deformation the relationship between the regional fabric and the distribution of the granitic fraction indicates that regional deformation incremental and finite played a major role in providing pathways for melt migration the formation of laccoliths of leucogranite at higher structural levels suggests that upward melt migration led to accumulation of granitic magmas these observations are consistent with a model of pervasive melt migration through a network of interconnected concordant and discordant granitic veins feeding laccolithic plutons extracted from the dominantly solid matrix during vertical thinning and compaction at a regional scale the presence of both transposed and intact granitic networks indicate an overlap between deformation and granite migration as a continuum or in pulses the methodology and terminology proposed in this paper provide some insights on the behavior of the granitic fraction in the middle crust this approach should be applicable to other high grade terrains exhumed in the cores of orogenic belts

paleomagnetic evidence for rotation during stephano permian extension in southern massif central france we present results of a preliminary paleomagnetic study devised as a test of a tectonic model proposed by van den driessche and brun 1 to interpret the main structural features of the montagne noire south massif central france this model suggests that crustal extension during stephanian to permian times is responsible for a major fiat lying detachment the inferred geometrical relationships between fault azimuth and extension direction is befieved to induce a counter clockwise rotation of the paleozoic cover during its northward motion in order to test this model we have sampled autunian lower permian grey and red sandstone beds within two basins opened during the extension the lod ve and the st affrique basins the paleomagnetic study of six sites three in each basin using thermal demagnetization procedures reveals the presence of 3 magnetization components a first one a which is unblocked below 400 o c is interpreted as a recent overprint due to weathering of the sandstones the b component is unblocked between 400 o and 575 o c this b component is assumed to be primary although the gentle dip of the beds does not allow a fold test it fits the lower permian field direction in the lod ve basin in situ d m 194 i m 6 o k 50 tilt corrected d m 194 i m 10 o k 53 in contrast it shows a systematic difference in declination in the st affrique basin in situ d m 173 i m 2 5 o k 101 tilt corrected d m 172 lm 6 o k 37 this is interpreted as a post autunian counter clockwise rotation of at least 20 o of the st affrique basin thus supporting one of the main implications of the tectonic model finally red sediments from two sites of the lod ve basin yield a third component c with unblocking temperatures up to 670 c and carried by hematite its direction is also consistent with the permian field direction showing that hematite crystallisation occurred early in the diagenesis history of the sediments

core complex model proposed for gneiss dome development during collapse of the paleoproterozoic penokean orogen minnesota gneiss domes preserved throughout the paleoproterozoic 1870 1820 ma penokean orogenic belt are commonly viewed as collisional features however 1700 ma mica 40ar 39ar ages from archean rocks of the mcgrath gneiss dome minnesota are in marked contrast with 1750 1760 ma mica ages obtained everywhere outside the dome suggesting the dome may have formed well after compression had ceased we hypothesize that the bimodal age pattern is a result of crustal excision between archean basement and paleoproterozoic cover during extensional collapse of the overthickened orogen removal of structural section and progressive unroofing may have led to the development of a domed basement cover shear zone in this respect the mcgrath gneiss dome would represent one of the oldest analogues of a metamorphic core complex postorogenic collapse of the penokean orogen was apparently long lived with significant pulses occurring at 1755 ma and at 1700 ma the sudden and widespread crustal fusion at 1770 1760 ma that preceded the proposed collapse suggests that rapid subcrustal lithospheric thinning may have triggered collapse as has been proposed recently for several phanerozoic collapsed orogens

a dynamic model of the structural evolution of the hercynian pyrenees abstract the structural history of the hercynian pyrenees is considered with respect to the relationships between the metamorphism and the successive deformations the characteristics and mode of emplacement of the gneissic and anatectic cores of the metamorphic domes the migmatization and the intrusions of plutonic and basic and ultrabasic rocks the metamorphism can be shown to have progressed upwards with time attaining the presently exposed levels just before during and a short time after the major penetrative regional deformation the intrusion of major plutonic anatectic and gneissic massifs which has determined the metamorphic domes in country rocks was roughly synchronous with the progression of the metamorphism but seems to have continued later in the uppermost levels the basic and ultrabasic rocks uplifted by the intrusion of the anatectic cores of the metamorphic domes have been deformed and foliated by the major regional penetrative deformation thus showing that their intrusion predated this deformation in the lowermost levels these results together with the presently available sedimentological data lead us to propose a dynamic model of the tectonic evolution of the hercynian pyrenees the first step was a crustal extension and thinning attaining its maximum during frasnian time marked in the upper levels by a horst and graben controlled sedimentation and in the lower crust by intrusions of basic magmas and the onset of the very low pressure metamorphism and anatexis characteristic of the hercynian pyrenees the second step was a crustal shortening marked by large scale crustal thrusting followed by widespread regional penetrative deformation the flysch troughs formed in front of the progressing and emerging thrusts in lower levels the thrusts are believed to have controlled the progressive ascent of the plutonic and anatectic magmas which continued their uplift and emplacement during major penetrative regional deformation in the actual mesozone and probably after it in the uppermost levels

the eclogite facies rocks of the montagne noire france eclogite facies rocks are very rare in the montagne noire the local typical metamorphism being a low pressure type with extensive development of migmatites the cabardes and le jounie eclogites garnet omphacite quartz rutile 700 800 c 9 2 kbar derive from tholeiitic basalts interbedded in paragneisses very close to the orthogneissic basement both are strongly retromorphosed and re equilibrated in the conditions of the amphibolite facies metamorphism of the surrounding gneisses the eclogite facies garnet ultramafite of the airette pod derives from a ferromagnesian calc alkalic cumulate its reactional mineral associations show a complex polyphase evolution a primary spinel websterite cpx opx pleonaste chromite is reset in the eclogite facies where garnet develops as coronas on the spinel a further retromorphic evolution leads to a paragenesis hornblende tremolite picotite olivine fo70 phlogopite and finally to the paragenesis chlorite amphibole those rocks may be interpreted either as tectonically emplaced slabs or as the only remnants of a medium to high pressure regional metamorphism but it must be pointed out that all these rocks occur only in the southern part of the axial zone of the montagne noire i e in the root zone of the large penninic nappes which characterize this part of the hercynian belt

neogene kinematics of the central and western alps evidence from fission track dating zircon and apatite fission track analysis has established the continuation of a zone of rapid change in mineral ages extending from the simplon fault zone in the simplon alps through the rhone valley and along the southeastern side of the mont blanc and belledonne massifs apatite fission track ages to the northwest of this zone generally range from 1 4 to 6 ma whereas those to the southeast range from 6 to 13 ma corresponding values for zircon are 11 13 and 16 26 ma respectively the zone corresponds to the position of the frontal pennine thrust in the mont blanc belledonne region this structure a prominent feature on recent deep seismic profiles may have been reactivated in the neogene with an important normal fault component this is suggested by apatite and zircon fission track ages in the footwall that are younger than those in the hanging wall and by the observed elimination of the lower pennine or simplon nappes along this fault zone in the rhone valley mont blanc belledonne region resulting in the juxtaposition of north penninic and helvetic ultra helvetic nappes at the current erosion level the distribution of fission track ages reflects this movement and the related neogene exhumation of the mont blanc and belledonne external massifs which has continued until less than 1 4 m y ago i e it is almost certainly still active and has tilted the overlying nappe sequence

dome emplacement and formation of kilometre scale synclines in a granite greenstone terrain quadrilatero ferrifero southeastern brazil the quadrilatero ferrifero is a portion of the brazilian precambrian shield containing a granite greenstone terrain characterized by granite gneiss domes encircled by kilometre scale synclines integration of porphyroblast matrix microtextures c axis fabrics analysis and strain analysis with outcrop scale structural relationships indicates that the main phase of domes and synclines evolution occurred during the westerly directed 0 8 0 6 ga pan african brasiliano regional shortening this tectonic event has produced the single pervasive foliation observed in the folded supracrustal sequences of the quadrilatero ferrifero dip slip ductile shear zones developed at the dome supracrustal interface are synchronous with dome evolution during the pan african brasiliano deformation as indicated by contemporaneous growth of aureole porphyroblasts in the shear planes these shear zones facilitated steeply directed downward flow of country rock material around the granite gneiss domes the marked density contrast between granite gneiss material and the iron rich supracrustals provided a gravitationally favourable environment for downward wallrock flow variations in shear zone kinematics away from the domes combined with kilometer scale viscous drag contributed to produce kilometre scale synclines in the supracrustal rocks constrained between upward moving domes

structures indicative of helicoidal flow in a migmatitic diapir bacao complex southeastern brazil abstract the migmatitic bacao complex southeastern brazil shows foliation and lineation patterns that depict an internal flow structure with helicoidal geometry microstructures show that a rheological transition exists from a predominantly magmatic flow represented by isotropic undeformed granitic textures to solid state flow mylonites towards the diapir margins nebulites and contorted migmatites occur in the diapir core whereas the peripheral domains show different kinds of banded migmatites gneisses and high temperature mylonites along the margins low temperature mica rich mylonites and phyllonites occur two major flow domains were recognized the central cell and the peripheral cell each cell is characterized by one or more systems of concentric foliations subcells the mineral lineation produced by the morphological alignment of biotite flakes on the foliation planes defines helicoidal geometries in all subcells this lineation was interpreted as being parallel to the local flow vector the foliation and lineation patterns suggest that the principal ascent trunk occurred along a medium plunge spiral in the central cell a dip flow regime the constant injection of molten material in the central cell pushed the material previously emplaced into the peripheral cell where flow upwards continued through a shallower plunge spiral a strike flow regime

dome and keel provinces formed during paleoproterozoic orogenic collapse core complexes diapirs or neither examples from the quadrilatero ferrifero and the penokean orogen paleoproterozoic dome and keel provinces in which troughs of deformed and metamorphosed paleoproterozoic supracrustal rocks surround domes of archean basement continue to puzzle geologists in current literature some authors refer to the domes as diapirs implying basement flowed vertically upward and others consider them to be cordilleran type metamorphic core complexes implying that the contact between basement and cover is an upwarped detachment geochronological studies suggest that dome emplacement occurred during extensional collapse of contractional orogens seemingly supporting the core complex analogy however structural analyses in the quadrilatero ferrifero brazil and the penokean orogen michigan demonstrate that the domes resemble diapirs in shape and in terms of surface kinematics the domes differ from diapirs however in that they did not flow penetratively within but were emplaced by movement along steeply dipping shear zones we suggest that contrasts between dome and keel and core complex provinces reflect contrasts between paleoproterozoic and phanerozoic crustal structure specifically during the paleoproterozoic when crust was warmer and supracrustal assemblages denser core complex like detachment faulting and associated plutonism resulted in juxtaposition of hot basement beneath a denser tectonically thickened supracrustal layer the resulting viscosity contrast and density inversion triggered vertical rise of diapir shaped basement domes by slip on steep shear zones

thrust related diapiric and extensional doming in a frontal orogenic wedge example of the montagne noire southern french hercynian belt abstract the montagne noire which is situated at the toe of the orogenic wedge of the french massif central south european variscides appears to be a well suited area for studying the origin and evolution of middle to upper crustal domes adjacent to foreland basins the data reported in the present paper show that the montagne noire dome is a particular type of basement involved frontal culmination in an orogenic wedge and foreland basin system this frontal culmination is characterized by a syn contractional ht decompression recorded by clockwise ptt paths and widespread strata overturning in thrust and fold structures which controlled the sedimentation in the adjacent foreland basin these unusual characteristics are interpreted to be a result of the succession of thrusting diapirism and extensional collapse antiformal stacking of syn metamorphic thrust sheets controlled the first stages of the foreland basin development diapirism was essentially responsible for the ht decompression and widespread strata overturning extensional doming was a result of late to post metamorphic collapse acting on the pre existing high amplitude dome diapirism and associated isothermal decompression metamorphism which constitute the essential difference between the montagne noire and ordinary frontal ridges in orogenic wedges were probably enhanced by a local partial melting of the upper to middle crust it is suggested that the occurrence of these phenomena in front of an orogenic wedge was related to local over thickening due to the superposition of an upper crustal antiformal stack on top of a lower crustal ramp anticline

deep seismic structure and thermo mechanical modelling of continental collision zones abstract a series of 2d thermo mechanical models are presented which quantify crustal thickening and the resulting temperature perturbations associated with thrusting in an attempt to constrain the existence of temperatures responsible for the generation of anatectic granites in a compressional environment deformation is assumed to occur in the crust by a simple thrusting mechanism the moho acting as a detachment surface as has been observed on deep seismic reflection data while the more ductile sub crustal lithosphere is assumed to behave elastically and deform in a pure shear manner investigated are the relative effects of the rate of crustal shortening the distribution of radioactive elements within the crust the reduced heat flow from the mantle isostasy and erosion our results show that previous oversimplified 1d models significantly overestimate the elevated temperatures in lower crustal regions caused by radiogenic heating and that this mechanism will only have a significant effect in regions of relatively thin lithosphere or where there are unusually high rates of radiogenic heating in the crust generation of synthetic p t t data for locations deep down in the lower crust enables us to quantify the temperatures produced following a period of compressional deformation providing insight into the time scales involved for the generation of crustal melt granites within an orogenic belt