scholarly journals Structural, petrological, and tectonic constraints on the Loch Borralan and Loch Ailsh alkaline intrusions, Moine thrust zone, northwestern Scotland

Geosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Fox ◽  
Michael P. Searle
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Alkali Feldspar ◽  
Passive Margin ◽  
Ductile Deformation ◽  
Large White ◽  
Ductile Shearing ◽  
Geological Evolution ◽  
Thrust Zone ◽  
Moine Thrust Zone ◽  
Laurentian Margin

During the Caledonian orogeny, the Moine thrust zone in northwestern Scotland (UK) emplaced Neoproterozoic Moine Supergroup rocks, metamorphosed during the Ordovician (Grampian) and Silurian (Scandian) orogenic periods, westward over the Laurentian passive margin in the northern highlands of Scotland. The Laurentian margin comprises Archean–Paleoproterozoic granulite and amphibolite facies basement (Scourian and Laxfordian complexes, Lewisian gneiss), Proterozoic sedimentary rocks (Stoer and Torridon Groups), and Cambrian–Ordovician passive-margin sediments. Four major thrusts, the Moine, Ben More, Glencoul, and Sole thrusts, are well exposed in the Assynt window. Two highly alkaline syenite intrusions crop out within the Moine thrust zone in the southern Assynt window. The Loch Ailsh and Loch Borralan intrusions range from ultramafic melanite-biotite pyroxenite and pseudoleucite-bearing biotite nepheline syenite (borolanite) to alkali-feldspar–bearing and quartz-bearing syenites. Within the thrust zone, syenites intrude up to the Ordovician Durness Group limestones and dolomites, forming a high-temperature contact metamorphic aureole with diopside-forsterite-phlogopite-brucite marbles exposed at Ledbeg quarry. Controversy remains as to whether the Loch Ailsh and Loch Borralan syenites were intruded prior to thrusting or intruded syn- or post-thrusting. Borolanites contain large white leucite crystals pseudomorphed by alkali feldspar, muscovite, and nepheline (pseudoleucite) that have been flattened and elongated during ductile shearing. The minerals pseudomorphing leucites show signs of ductile deformation indicating that high-temperature (~500 °C) deformation acted upon pseudomorphed leucite crystals that had previously undergone subsolidus breakdown. New detailed field mapping and structural and petrological observations are used to constrain the geological evolution of both the Loch Ailsh and the Loch Borralan intrusions and the chronology of the Moine thrust zone. The data supports the interpretation that both syenite bodies were intruded immediately prior to thrusting along the Moine, Ben More, and Borralan thrusts.

A U–Pb geochronological review of the Proterozoic history of the eastern Grenville Province

2002 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 795-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles F Gower ◽  
Thomas E Krogh
Keyword(s):  
Continental Margin ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Passive Margin ◽  
Grenville Province ◽  
Mafic Magmatism ◽  
Magmatic Arc ◽  
The North ◽  
Geological Evolution ◽  
Thrust Zone ◽  
Laurentian Margin

The geological evolution of the eastern Grenville Province can be subdivided into three stages. During the first stage, namely pre-Labradorian (> 1710 Ma) and Labradorian (1710–1600 Ma) events, a continental-marginal basin was created and subsequently destroyed during accretion of a magmatic arc formed over a south-dipping subduction zone. Subduction was short-lived and arrested, leading to a passive continental margin. The second stage addresses events between 1600 and 1230 Ma. The passive margin lasted until 1520 Ma, following which a continental-margin arc was constructed during Pinwarian (1520–1460 Ma) orogenesis. Elsonian (1460–1230 Ma) distal-inboard, mafic and anorthositic magmatism, decreasing in age northward, is explained by funnelled flat subduction, possibly associated with an overridden spreading centre. As the leading edge of the lower plate advanced, it was forced beneath the Paleoproterozoic Torngat orogen root between the Archean Superior and North Atlantic cratons, achieving its limit of penetration by 1290 Ma. Static north-northeast-trending rifting then ensued, with mafic magmatism flanked by felsic products to the north and south. Far-field orogenic effects heralded the third stage, lasting from 1230 to 955 Ma. Until 1180 Ma, the eastern Grenville Province was under the distal, mild influence of Elzevirian orogenesis. From 1180 to 1120 Ma, mafic and anorthositic magmatism occurred, attributed to back-arc tectonism inboard of a post-Elzevirian Laurentian margin. Quiescence then prevailed until Grenvillian (1080–980 Ma) continent–continent collision. Grenvillian orogenesis peaked in different places at different times as thrusting released stress, thereby precipitating its shift elsewhere (pressure-point orogenesis). High-grade metamorphism, thrusting and minor magmatism characterized the Exterior Thrust Zone, in contrast to voluminous magmatism in the Interior Magmatic Belt. Following final deformation, early posttectonic anorthositic–alkalic–mafic magmatism (985–975 Ma) and late posttectonic monzonitic–syenite–granite magmatism (975–955 Ma) brought the active geological evolution of this region to a close.

scholarly journals High-temperature metamorphism during extreme thinning of the continental crust: a reappraisal of the north Pyrenean paleo-passive margin

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 797-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Clerc ◽  
A. Lahfid ◽  
P. Monié ◽  
Y. Lagabrielle ◽  
C. Chopin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Continental Crust ◽  
Thermal Gradient ◽  
Carbonaceous Material ◽  
Thermal Anomaly ◽  
Passive Margin ◽  
Ductile Deformation ◽  
The North ◽  
Crustal Thinning ◽  
Mountain Belts

Abstract. An increasing number of field examples in mountain belts show that the formation of passive margins during extreme continent thinning may occur under conditions of high to very high thermal gradient beneath a thin cover of syn-rift sediments. Orogenic belts resulting from the tectonic inversion of distal margins and regions of exhumed continental mantle may exhibit high-temperature, low-pressure (HT-LP) metamorphism and coeval syn-extensional, ductile deformation. Recent studies have shown that the northern flank of the Pyrenean belt, especially the North Pyrenean Zone, is one of the best examples of such inverted hot, passive margin. In this study, we provide a map of HT-LP metamorphism based on a dataset of more than one hundred peak-temperature estimates obtained using Raman spectroscopy of the carbonaceous material (RSCM). This dataset is completed by previous PT estimates based on mineral assemblages, and new Ar–Ar (amphibole, micas) and U–Pb (titanite) ages from metamorphic and magmatic rocks of the North Pyrenean Zone. The implications on the geological evolution of the Cretaceous Pyrenean paleomargins are discussed. Ages range mainly from 110 to 90 Ma and no westward or eastward propagation of the metamorphism and magmatism can be clearly identified. In contrast, the new data reveal a progressive propagation of the thermal anomaly from the base to the surface of the continental crust. Focusing on the key-localities of the Mauléon Basin, Arguenos-Moncaup, Lherz, Boucheville and the Bas-Agly, we analyse the thermal conditions prevailing during the Cretaceous crustal thinning. The results are synthetized into a series of three regional thematic maps, and into two detailed maps of the Arguenos-Moncaup and Lherz areas. The results indicate a first-order control of the thermal gradient by the intensity of crustal thinning. The highest grades of metamorphism are intimately associated with the areas where subcontinental mantle rocks have been unroofed or exhumed.

scholarly journals High-temperature metamorphism during extreme thinning of the continental crust: a reappraisal of the North Pyrenean passive paleomargin

Solid Earth ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 643-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Clerc ◽  
A. Lahfid ◽  
P. Monié ◽  
Y. Lagabrielle ◽  
C. Chopin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Continental Crust ◽  
Thermal Gradient ◽  
Thermal Anomaly ◽  
Passive Margin ◽  
Ductile Deformation ◽  
Data Set ◽  
The North ◽  
Crustal Thinning ◽  
Mountain Belts

Abstract. An increasing number of field examples in mountain belts show that the formation of passive margins during extreme continent thinning may occur under conditions of high to very high thermal gradient beneath a thin cover of syn-rift sediments. Orogenic belts resulting from the tectonic inversion of distal margins and regions of exhumed continental mantle may exhibit high-temperature, low-pressure (HT-LP) metamorphism and coeval syn-extensional, ductile deformation. Recent studies have shown that the northern flank of the Pyrenean belt, especially the North Pyrenean Zone, is one of the best examples of such inverted hot, passive margin. In this study, we provide a map of HT-LP metamorphism based on a data set of more than 100 peak-temperature estimates obtained using Raman spectroscopy of the carbonaceous material (RSCM). This data set is completed by previous PT (pressure and temperature) estimates based on mineral assemblages, and new 40Ar–39Ar (amphibole, micas) and U–Pb (titanite) ages from metamorphic and magmatic rocks of the North Pyrenean Zone. The implications on the geological evolution of the Cretaceous Pyrenean paleomargins are discussed. Ages range mainly from 110 to 90 Ma, and no westward or eastward propagation of the metamorphism and magmatism can be clearly identified. In contrast, the new data reveal a progressive propagation of the thermal anomaly from the base to the surface of the continental crust. Focusing on the key localities of the Mauléon basin, Arguenos–Moncaup, Lherz, Boucheville and the Bas-Agly, we analyze the thermal conditions prevailing during the Cretaceous crustal thinning. The results are synthetized into a series of three regional thematic maps and into two detailed maps of the Arguenos–Moncaup and Lherz areas. The results indicate a first-order control of the thermal gradient by the intensity of crustal thinning. The highest grades of metamorphism are intimately associated with the areas where subcontinental mantle rocks have been unroofed or exhumed.

scholarly journals Statherian (ca. 1714–1680 Ma) Extension-Related Magmatism and Deformation in the Southwestern Korean Peninsula and Its Geological Significance: Constraints from the Petrological, Structural, Geochemical and Geochronological Studies of Newly Identified Granitoids

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 557
Author(s):  
Byung-Choon Lee ◽  
Weon-Seo Kee ◽  
Uk-Hwan Byun ◽  
Sung-Won Kim
Keyword(s):  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Alkali Feldspar ◽  
Ductile Deformation ◽  
Southwestern Part ◽  
The North ◽  
Deformation Event ◽  
Geochemical Analyses ◽  
A Minor ◽  
T Values

In this study, petrological, structural, geochemical, and geochronological analyses of the Statherian alkali feldspar granite and porphyritic alkali feldspar granite in the southwestern part of the Korean Peninsula were conducted to examine petrogenesis of the granitoids and their tectonic setting. Zircon U-Pb dating revealed that the two granites formed around 1.71 Ga and 1.70–1.68 Ga, respectively. The results of the geochemical analyses showed that both of the granites have a high content of K2O, Nb, Ta, and Y, as well as high FeOt/MgO and Ga/Al ratios. Both granites have alkali-calcic characteristics with a ferroan composition, indicating an A-type affinity. Zircon Lu-Hf isotopic compositions yielded negative εHf(t) values (−3.5 to −10.6), indicating a derivation from ancient crustal materials. Both granite types underwent ductile deformation and exhibited a dextral sense of shear with a minor extension component. Based on field relationships and zircon U-Pb dating, it was considered that the deformation event postdated the emplacement of the alkali feldspar granite and terminated soon after the emplacement of the porphyritic alkali feldspar granite in an extensional setting. These data indicated that there were extension-related magmatic activities accompanying ductile deformation in the southwestern part of the Korean Peninsula during 1.71–1.68 Ga. The Statherian extension-related events are well correlated with those in the midwestern part of the Korean and eastern parts of the North China Craton.

Terranes

1992 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Bluck ◽  
W. Gibbons ◽  
J. K. Ingham
Keyword(s):  
Hanging Wall ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Upper Proterozoic ◽  
Lower Proterozoic ◽  
Central Highland ◽  
Thrust Zone ◽  
Lower Palaeozoic ◽  
Moine Thrust Zone ◽  
Shallow Marine Sediments ◽  
Northern Highlands

AbstractThe Precambrian and Lower Palaeozoic foundations of the British Isles may be viewed as a series of suspect terranes whose exposed boundaries are prominent fault systems of various kinds, each with an unproven amount of displacement. There are indications that they accreted to their present configuration between late Precambrian and Carboniferous times. From north to south they are as follows.In northwest Scotland the Hebridean terrane (Laurentian craton in the foreland of the Caledonian Orogen) comprises an Archaean and Lower Proterozoic gneissose basement (Lewisian) overlain by an undeformed cover of Upper Proterozoic red beds and Cambrian to early mid Ordovician shallow marine sediments. The terrane is cut by the Outer Isles Thrust, a rejuvenated Proterozoic structure, and is bounded to the southeast by the Moine Thrust zone, within the hanging wall of which lies a Proterozoic metamorphic complex (Moine Supergroup) which constitutes the Northern Highlands terrane. The Moine Thrust zone represents an essentially orthogonal closure of perhaps 100 km which took place during Ordovician-Silurian times (Elliott & Johnson 1980). The Northern Highlands terrane records both Precambrian and late Ordovician to Silurian tectonometamorphic events (Dewey & Pankhurst 1970) and linkage with the Hebridean terrane is provided by slices of reworked Lewisian basement within the Moine Supergroup (Watson 1983).To the southwest of the Great Glen-Walls Boundary Fault system lies the Central Highlands (Grampian) terrane, an area dominated by the late Proterozoic Dalradian Supergroup which is underlain by a gneissic complex (Central Highland Granulites) that has been variously interpreted as either older

Structural deformation-metamorphism and exhumation processes of Yuanmou metamorphic complex, Yunnan, China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuemei Cheng ◽  
Shuyun Cao
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Electron Backscatter Diffraction ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Detachment Fault ◽  
Ductile Deformation ◽  
Structural Deformation ◽  
Subsequent Stage ◽  
Metamorphic Complex ◽  
South Central

<p>Within orogenic zone and continental extensional area, it often developed metamorphic complex or metamorphic gneiss dome that widely exposed continental mid-lower crustal rocks, which is an ideal place to study exhumation processes of deep-seated metamorphic complex and rheology. The Yuanmou metamorphic complex is located in the south-central part of the "Kangdian Axis" in the western margin of Qiangtang Block and Yangtze Block, which is a part of the anticline of the Sichuan-Yunnan platform. Many research works mainly focus on the discussion of intrusion ages, aeromagnetic anomalies, and polymetallic deposits. However, the exhumation process and mechanism of the Yuanmou metamorphic complex are rarely discussed and still unclear. This study, based on detailed field geological observations, optical microscopy (OM), cathodoluminescence (CL), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and electron probe (EMPA) were performed to illustrate the geological structure features, deformation-metamorphic evolution process and its tectonic significance of Yuanmou metamorphic complex during the exhumation process. All these analysis results indicate that the Yuanmou metamorphic complex generally exhibits a dome structure with deep metamorphic rocks and deformed rocks of varying degrees widely developed. Mylonitic gneiss and granitic intrusions are located in the footwall of the Yuanmou, which have suffered high-temperature shearing. The mylonitic fabrics and mineral stretching lineations in the deformed rock are strongly developed, forming typical S-L or L-shaped structural features. The high-temperature ductile deformation-metamorphism environment is high amphibolite facies, that is, the temperature range is between 620 ~ 690 ℃ and the pressure is between 0.8 ~ 0.95 Gpa. In the deformed rocks closed to the detachment fault, some of the mylonite fabric features are retained, but most of them have experienced a strongly overprinted retrogression metamorphism and deformation. At the top of the detachment fault zone, it is mainly composed of cataclasites and fault gouge. The comprehensive macro- and microstructural characteristics, geometry, kinematics, and mineral (amphibole, quartz and calcite) EBSD textures indicate that the Yuanmou metamorphic complex has undergone a progressive exhumation process during regional extension, obvious high-temperature plastic deformation-metamorphism in the early stage, and superimposed of low-temperature plastic-brittle and brittle deformation in the subsequent stage, which is also accompanied by strong fluid activities during the exhumation process.</p>

Cataclastic deformation of quartzite in the moine thrust zone

1986 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 669-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.G Blenkinsop ◽  
E.H Rutter
Keyword(s):  
Thrust Zone ◽  
Moine Thrust Zone

scholarly journals Fault Rocks of the Moine Thrust Zone: A Guide to Their Nomenclature

1982 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 211-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. White
Keyword(s):  
Shear Strain ◽  
Country Rock ◽  
Fault Zones ◽  
Fault Rocks ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Fine Grain ◽  
Simple Set ◽  
Thrust Zone ◽  
Moine Thrust Zone

The aim of this article is to extract from the existing literature a consistent nomenclature that can be used in the description of coherent fault rocks. The nomenclature is dealt with in this paper. Typical microstructures illustrating each is presented in a later paper (White et al ., 1982). It will be shown that a simple set of nomenclature can be extracted from the literature, so long as genetic connotations are kept to a minimum. The sequence, with increasing shear strain is country rock–protomylonite–blastomylonite–mylonite–ultramylonite if the rock has a well developed foliation; country rock–protocataclasite–cataclasite–ultracataclasite if it is without a foliation.It is emphasized that a mylonite is basically a fine-grained schist that has formed within fault zones. It is the association with faulting that distinguishes a mylonite from a fine grain schist.

Age of the Loch Borrolan complex, Assynt, and late movements along the Moine Thrust Zone

1979 ◽  
Vol 136 (4) ◽  
pp. 489-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. van Breemen ◽  
M. Aftalion ◽  
M. R. W. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Thrust Zone ◽  
Moine Thrust Zone
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