The Great Falls Tectonic Zone: suture or intracontinental shear zone?

1998 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
D E Boerner ◽  
J A Craven ◽  
R D Kurtz ◽  
G M Ross ◽  
F W Jones
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zone ◽  
Foreland Basin ◽  
Oceanic Lithosphere ◽  
Plate Edge ◽  
Tectonic Zone ◽  
Magmatic Arc ◽  
Tectonically Active ◽  
Proterozoic Basement ◽  
Wyoming Province ◽  
Remote Sensing Methods

The Great Falls Tectonic Zone is generally considered to be the boundary between the Archean Hearne and Wyoming provinces. Although completely buried beneath the western Canadian sedimentary basin, the zone can be studied indirectly through variations in Phanerozoic sedimentation patterns, faulting, basement geochronology, and xenoliths, and with geophysical remote sensing methods. While tectonically active ca. 1.8 Ga and clearly truncating the potential field fabrics of Wyoming Province and Medicine Hat Block, the Great Falls Tectonic Zone lacks a colinear magmatic arc, suggesting that the Hearne-Wyoming juxtaposition did not involve subduction of oceanic lithosphere. Furthermore, electromagnetic studies fail to detect a response that can be interpreted as a plate-edge foreland basin, typical of exposed Proterozoic suture zones. The only conductivity anomaly associated with the zone is weak and appears at depths exceeding 20 km, well below the top of the Proterozoic basement. Taken together, these observations suggest the Great Falls Tectonic Zone may be better interpreted as a reactivated Archean(?) intracontinental shear zone rather than a Proterozoic age suture between Archean provinces.

scholarly journals Timing and provenance of Paleoproterozoic supracrustal rocks in the central Thelon tectonic zone, Canada: implications for the tectonic evolution of western Laurentia from ca. 2.1 to 1.9 Ga

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
W.J. Davis ◽  
M. Sanborn-Barrie ◽  
R.G. Berman ◽  
S. Pehrsson
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Foreland Basin ◽  
Tectonic Zone ◽  
Zircon Age ◽  
Slave Craton ◽  
Magmatic Arc ◽  
Tectonic Model ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
Clastic Rocks ◽  
Slave Province

Depositional ages and provenance of metasedimentary rocks provide constraints on the architecture of the interface between the Slave and Rae cratons and processes related to the Thelon Orogen. Clastic rocks analysed from the central Thelon tectonic zone are Paleoproterozoic in age and not remnants of the Archean Yellowknife Supergroup (Slave Province), as originally considered. Two assemblages are recognized. An older clastic assemblage deposited after 2.09 Ga contains detrital zircon age modes of 2.3 and 2.17 Ga, with subordinate Neoarchean and Paleoarchean detritus. Its deposition is interpreted to predate Thelon magmatic activity given that (1) it lacks ca. 2.01–1.97 Ga detritus of Thelon magmatic origin, and (2) correlative clastic rocks occur as inclusions in Thelon plutons and contain ca. 2.0 Ga metamorphic monazite. This assemblage is correlative with both the Mary Frances and Rutledge River groups, establishing a >800 km long basin at ca. 2.1 Ga that received detritus from the western Rae and (or) Buffalo Head terrane(s). Separation from the Slave craton at this time is consistent with the absence of any Slave-affinity detritus. A younger assemblage deposited after 1.95 Ga and prior to 1.91 Ga contains mainly 2.02–1.95 Ga detrital zircon, age modes comparable with adjacent Thelon convergent-margin plutonic rocks. The younger assemblage records deposition of the uplifted and eroded Thelon magmatic arc in an intermontane or foreland basin setting during the later stages of post-collisional convergence. These U–Pb zircon data support a tectonic model for western Laurentia that reconciles differences between the Thelon and Taltson magmatic zones involving ca. 2.1 Ga rifting, ca. 2.01–1.97 Ga convergence, followed by <1.95 Ga thrust-driven exhumation.

The Peninsular Ranges Batholith: an insight into the evolution of the Cordilleran batholiths of southwestern North America

1988 ◽  
Vol 79 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 105-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. T. Silver ◽  
B. W. Chappell
Keyword(s):  
Baja California ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Oceanic Lithosphere ◽  
Radiometric Dating ◽  
Island Arcs ◽  
Magmatic Arc ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
Basaltic Composition ◽  
Peninsular Ranges ◽  
General Aspects

ABSTRACTThe Peninsular Ranges Batholith of southern and Baja California is the largest segment of a Cretaceous magmatic arc that was once continuous from northern California to southern Baja California. In this batholith, the emplacement of igneous rocks took place during a single sequence of magmatic activity, unlike many of the other components of the Cordilleran batholiths which formed during successive separate magmatic episodes. Detailed radiometric dating has shown that it is a composite of two batholiths. A western batholith, which was more heterogeneous in composition, formed as a static magmatic arc between 140 and 105 Ma and was intrusive in part into related volcanic rocks. The eastern batholith formed as a laterally transgressing arc which moved away from those older rocks between 105 and 80 Ma, intruding metasedimentary rocks. Rocks of the batholith range from undersaturated gabbros through to felsic granites, but tonalite is the most abundant rock throughout. Perhaps better than elsewhere in the Cordillera, the batholith shows beautifully developed asymmetries in chemical and isotopic properties. The main gradients in chemical composition from W to E are found among the trace elements, with Ba, Sr, Nb and the light rare earth elements increasing by more than a factor of two, and P, Rb, Pb, Th, Zn and Ga showing smaller increases. Mg and the transition metals decrease strongly towards the E, with Sc, V and Cu falling to less than half of their value in the most westerly rocks. Oxygen becomes very systematically more enriched in18O from W to E and the Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic systems change progressively from mantle values in the W to a more evolved character on the eastern side of the batholith. In detail the petrogenesis of the Peninsular Ranges Batholith is not completely understood, but many general aspects of the origin are clear. The exposed rocks, particularly in the western batholith, closely resemble those of present day island arcs, although the most typical and average tonalitic composition is distinctly more felsic than the mean quartz diorite or mafic andesite composition of arcs. Chemical and isotopic properties of the western part of the batholith indicate that it formed as the root of a primitive island arc on oceanic lithosphere at a convergent plate margin. Further E, the plutonic rocks appear to have been derived by partial melting from deeper sources of broadly basaltic composition at subcrustal levels. The compositional systematics of the batholith do not reflect a simple mixing of various end-members but are a reflection of the differing character of the source regions laterally and vertically away from the pre-Cretaceous continental margin.

scholarly journals Tectonic influence on axial-transverse sediment routing in the Denver Basin

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn R. Sharman ◽  
Daniel F. Stockli ◽  
Peter Flaig ◽  
Robert G. Raynolds ◽  
Marieke Dechesne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Foreland Basin ◽  
The Other ◽  
Front Range ◽  
Denver Basin ◽  
Dispersal Patterns ◽  
Magmatic Arc ◽  
Sedimentary Sequences ◽  
Basin Fill

ABSTRACT Detrital zircon U-Pb and (U-Th)/He ages from latest Cretaceous–Eocene strata of the Denver Basin provide novel insights into evolving sediment sourcing, recycling, and dispersal patterns during deposition in an intracontinental foreland basin. In total, 2464 U-Pb and 78 (U-Th)/He analyses of detrital zircons from 21 sandstone samples are presented from outcrop and drill core in the proximal and distal portions of the Denver Basin. Upper Cretaceous samples that predate uplift of the southern Front Range during the Laramide orogeny (Pierre Shale, Fox Hills Sandstone, and Laramie Formation) contain prominent Late Cretaceous (84–77 Ma), Jurassic (169–163 Ma), and Proterozoic (1.69–1.68 Ga) U-Pb ages, along with less abundant Paleozoic through Archean zircon grain ages. These grain ages are consistent with sources in the western U.S. Cordillera, including the Mesozoic Cordilleran magmatic arc and Yavapai-Mazatzal basement, with lesser contributions of Grenville and Appalachian zircon recycled from older sedimentary sequences. Mesozoic zircon (U-Th)/He ages confirm Cordilleran sources and/or recycling from the Sevier orogenic hinterland. Five of the 11 samples from syn-Laramide basin fill (latest Cretaceous–Paleocene D1 Sequence) and all five samples from the overlying Eocene D2 Sequence are dominated by 1.1–1.05 Ga zircon ages that are interpreted to reflect local derivation from the ca. 1.1 Ga Pikes Peak batholith. Corresponding late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic zircon (U-Th)/He ages are consistent with local sourcing from the southern Front Range that underwent limited Mesozoic–Cenozoic unroofing. The other six samples from the D1 Sequence yielded detrital zircon U-Pb ages similar to pre-Laramide units, with major U-Pb age peaks at ca. 1.7 and 1.4 Ga but lacking the 1.1 Ga age peak found in the other syn-Laramide samples. One of these samples yielded abundant Mesozoic and Paleozoic (U-Th)/He ages, including prominent Early and Late Cretaceous peaks. We propose that fill of the Denver Basin represents the interplay between locally derived sediment delivered by transverse drainages that emanated from the southern Front Range and a previously unrecognized, possibly extraregional, axial-fluvial system. Transverse alluvial-fluvial fans, preserved in proximal basin fill, record progressive unroofing of southern Front Range basement during D1 and D2 Sequence deposition. Deposits of the upper and lower D1 Sequence across the basin were derived from these fans that emanated from the southern Front Range. However, the finer-grained, middle portion of the D1 Sequence that spans the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary was deposited by both transverse (proximal basin fill) and axial (distal basin fill) fluvial systems that exhibit contrasting provenance signatures. Although both tectonic and climatic controls likely influenced the stratigraphic development of the Denver Basin, the migration of locally derived fans toward and then away from the thrust front suggests that uplift of the southern Front Range may have peaked at approximately the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary.

scholarly journals The Medicine Hat Block and the Early Paleoproterozoic Assembly of Western Laurentia

Geosciences ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 271
Author(s):  
Jennifer N. Gifford ◽  
Shawn J. Malone ◽  
Paul A. Mueller
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Basin ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Drill Core ◽  
Tectonic Zone ◽  
Aggregation Model ◽  
Wyoming Craton ◽  
Crystalline Crust ◽  
Wyoming Province ◽  
Crustal Xenoliths ◽  
Complex Block

The accretion of the Wyoming, Hearne, and Superior Provinces to form the Archean core of western Laurentia occurred rapidly in the Paleoproterozoic. Missing from Hoffman’s (1988) original rapid aggregation model was the Medicine Hat block (MHB). The MHB is a structurally distinct, complex block of Precambrian crystalline crust located between the Archean Wyoming Craton and the Archean Hearne Province and overlain by an extensive Phanerozoic cover. It is distinguished on the basis of geophysical evidence and limited geochemical data from crustal xenoliths and drill core. New U-Pb ages and Lu-Hf data from zircons reveal protolith crystallization ages from 2.50 to 3.28 Ga, magmatism/metamorphism at 1.76 to 1.81 Ga, and εHfT values from −23.3 to 8.5 in the Archean and Proterozoic rocks of the MHB. These data suggest that the MHB played a pivotal role in the complex assembly of western Laurentia in the Paleoproterozoic as a conjugate or extension to the Montana Metasedimentary Terrane (MMT) of the northwestern Wyoming Province. This MMT–MHB connection likely existed in the Mesoarchean, but it was broken sometime during the earliest Paleoproterozoic with the formation and closure of a small ocean basin. Closure of the ocean led to formation of the Little Belt arc along the southern margin of the MHB beginning at approximately 1.9 Ga. The MHB and MMT re-joined at this time as they amalgamated into the supercontinent Laurentia during the Great Falls orogeny (1.7–1.9 Ga), which formed the Great Falls tectonic zone (GFTZ). The GFTZ developed in the same timeframe as the better-known Trans-Hudson orogen to the east that marks the merger of the Wyoming, Hearne, and Superior Provinces, which along with the MHB, formed the Archean core of western Laurentia.

Dating lacustrine carbonate strata with detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology

Geology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily S. Finzel ◽  
Justin A. Rosenblume
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Relative Proportion ◽  
Foreland Basin ◽  
Depositional Environments ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Sediment Flux ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Southwestern Montana ◽  
Tectonically Active ◽  
Lacustrine Carbonate

Carbonate lacustrine strata in nonmarine systems hold great potential for refining depositional ages through U-Pb dating of detrital zircons. The low clastic sediment flux in carbonate depositional environments may increase the relative proportion of zircons deposited by volcanic air fall, potentially increasing the chances of observing detrital ages near the true depositional age. We present U-Pb geochronology of detrital zircons from lacustrine carbonate strata that provides proof of concept for the effectiveness of both acid-digestion recovery and resolving depositional ages of nonmarine strata. Samples were collected from Early Cretaceous foreland basin fluvial sandstone and lacustrine carbonate in southwestern Montana (USA). Late Aptian–early Albian (ca. 115–110 Ma) maximum depositional ages young upsection and agree with biostratigraphic ages. Lacustrine carbonate is an important component in many types of tectonic basins, and application of detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology holds considerable potential for dating critical chemical and climatic events recorded in their stratigraphy. It could also reveal new information for the persistent question about whether the stratigraphic record is dominated by longer periods of background fine-grained sedimentation versus short-duration coarse-grained events. In tectonically active basins, lacustrine carbonates may be valuable for dating the beginning of tectonic subsidence, especially during periods of finer-grained deposition dominated by mudrocks and carbonates.

Ductile-brittle shear zone in a listwaenite body, within the Frontal Range Fault of the Oman Mountains (Sultanate of Oman)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Scharf ◽  
Frank Mattern ◽  
Paul Mattern
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zone ◽  
Oceanic Lithosphere ◽  
Late Eocene ◽  
Age Dating ◽  
Deformation Pattern ◽  
Sultanate Of Oman ◽  
Brittle Deformation ◽  
Northern Margin ◽  
Oman Mountains ◽  
Semail Ophiolite

&lt;p&gt;Listwaenite (fully serpentinized and carbonatized/silicified ultramafic rock) is common within the Oman Mountains near Fanja. The Oman Mountains formed during the late Cretaceous obduction of the Semail Ophiolite. Eventually, major exhumation and associated extensional shearing formed the Saih Hatat Dome during the latest Cretaceous to Paleocene. This dome displays rocks of the Arabian platform, framed by the Hawasina Allochthonous and the Semail Ophiolite. Postobductional rapid exhumation/cooling of the Saih Hatat Dome is reflected by a major extensional shear zone at the northern margin of the dome (Frontal Range Fault, FRF; Mattern and Scharf, 2018). Shearing along the FRF with a throw of few to several kilometers, occurred within two intervals. The major first event occurred during the latest Cretaceous to Paleocene while the minor second event lasted probably from the late Eocene to Oligocene (Mattern et al., 2019). Along and within the FRF, major tabular listwaenite bodies occur displaying a lateral extend from few meters to hundreds of meters and a thickness of up to a few to tens of meters. According to Scharf et al. (2020), the listwaenite dates as latest Cretaceous to Paleocene.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Most of the numerous SiO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;-rich listwaenite bodies near Fanja preserve a brittle deformation pattern, indicating that the temperature during and after formation was less than 250&amp;#176;C. As an exception, we found one unusually well-developed, intensely foliated and wide strike-slip ductile-brittle shear zone at the surface, exhibiting a width of 5m and a length of a few tens of meters within a large listwaenite body near the community of Sunub. The foliation of the shear zone dips to the SW with about 50-80&amp;#176;. The shear zone intersects at a high angle with the FRF (strike SW-NE) and the listwaenite unit it contains. The shear movement is unrelated to that of the FRF. Approximately 6km WNW of the sheared listwaenite, a mafic dike of Lutetian age (42.7&amp;#177;0.5Ma; Mattern et al., 2019) intruded Cenozoic limestone. Intrusion is associated with the second shearing interval of the FRF. Because listwaenite bodies usually display brittle deformation, we tentatively conclude that the ductile-brittle shear zone formed during the late Eocene because of mafic intrusions. We assume that another mafic body is located near the shear zone and provided the heat for the ductile-brittle deformation conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;References:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mattern, F., Scharf, A., 2018. Postobductional extension along and within the Frontal Range of the Eastern Oman Mountains. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 154, 369-385, doi: 10.1016/j.jseaes.2017.12.031.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mattern, F., Sudo, M., Callegari, I., Pracejus, B., Bauer, W., Scharf, A., 2019. Late Lutetian &lt;sup&gt;40&lt;/sup&gt;Ar/&lt;sup&gt;39&lt;/sup&gt;Ar Age Dating of a Mafic Intrusion into the Jafnayn Formation and its Tectonic Implications (Muscat, Oman). AAPG Event, 2&lt;sup&gt;nd&lt;/sup&gt; Edition, Structural styles of the Middle East, 9&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt;-11&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; December 2019, Muscat, Oman.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Scharf, A., Mattern, F., Bolhar, R., Bailey, C.M., Ring, U., 2020. U-Pb dating of postobductional carbonate veins in listwaenite of the Oman Mountains near Fanja. International Conference on Ophiolites and the Oceanic Lithosphere: Results of the Oman Drilling Project and Related Research, 12-14&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; January, 2020, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.&lt;/p&gt;

The Cora Lake shear zone, Athabasca granulite terrane, an intraplate response to far-field orogenic processes during the amalgamation of Laurentia

2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (9) ◽  
pp. 877-901 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.P. Regan ◽  
M.L. Williams ◽  
S. Leslie ◽  
K.H. Mahan ◽  
M.J. Jercinovic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zone ◽  
Granulite Facies ◽  
Dyke Swarm ◽  
Tectonic Zone ◽  
Metamorphic Peak ◽  
Fine Grain ◽  
Planar Shear ◽  
Mafic Dyke Swarm ◽  
Dextral Shear ◽  
Regional Stresses

The Cora Lake shear zone (CLsz) is a 4–6 km wide localized high-strain zone that bisects the polydeformed Athabasca granulite terrane, northern Saskatchewan. It also coincides with the geophysical trace of the Snowbird tectonic zone. The CLsz represents a major lithotectonic and thermobarometric discontinuity within the exposure of >20 000 km2 of high-pressure granulites. Most rocks have a strong mineral lineation plunging moderately to the southwest. The Northwestern subdomain (hangingwall) is characterized by ca. 2.6 Ga plutonic rocks that contain an early, subhorizontal gneissic layering (ca. 2.57 Ga) that was overprinted by large amplitude folds and a partitioned, but pervasive, axial planar, dextral, shear fabric at ca. 1.9 Ga. Thermobarometry suggests metamorphic conditions of ∼0.9 GPa and ∼750 °C during both of the phases of tectonism. The footwall is predominantly underlain by the ca. 3.3–3.0 Ga Chipman tonalite, layers of intercalated mafic and felsic granulite, and the widespread 1.9 Ga Chipman mafic dyke swarm. Early subhorizontal layering in the footwall was also folded at ca. 1.9 Ga and transposed into a steeply dipping, northeast-striking axial planar shear fabric that corresponds with the metamorphic peak (1.1–1.2 GPa and 800–900 °C). These distinct domains were juxtaposed across the CLsz, which contains a gneissic foliation striking 231° and dipping moderately to steeply to the northwest. Abundant sinistral–normal kinematic indicators are consistent with the distinctly lower pressures to the northwest. The shear zone is characterized by very fine grain sizes, despite its high-temperature assemblages including clinopyroxene and garnet. Thermobarometry from the CLsz displays progressive decompression of reworked footwall rocks with increasing mylonitization. In situ monazite geochronology indicates shearing at 1.89–1.87 Ga shortly after the granulite facies metamorphic peak. The anomalous sinistral kinematics of the CLsz, bracketed in time between periods of dextral shearing, can be explained by changing regional stresses during alternating convergent tectonics to the west and to the southeast of the Athabasca granulite terrane.

scholarly journals Megabeds in Istrian Flysch as markers of synsedimentary tectonics within the Dinaric foredeep (Croatia)

2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Krešimir Petrinjak ◽  
◽  
Marko Budić ◽  
Stanislav Bergant ◽  
Tvrtko Korbar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foreland Basin ◽  
Division I ◽  
Synsedimentary Tectonics ◽  
Sedimentary Evolution ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Tectonically Active ◽  
Division Ii ◽  
Fault Scarps ◽  
Steep Slopes ◽  
Different Parts

Istrian Flysch was deposited during the Eocene in the Dinaric foredeep and is composed of hemipelagic marls and various gravity flow deposits. The latter are predominantly 5-40 cm thick turbidites, developed mostly as laminated and cross-rippled sandstone beds (Tb-e, Tc-e and Td-e Bouma sequences). In addition to the turbidites, there are deposits characterized by a significant thickness, occasionally more than 10 m, described as complex (bipartite) megabeds. The megabeds are composed of debrites in the lower part (Division I), and high-density turbidites in the upper part (Division II). The distinct clast composition of each megabed indicates that the lithoclasts were derived from tectonically active slopes and fault scarps along which collapses of the different parts of the Cretaceous to Palaeogene neritic carbonate succession, (that underlie the Flysch), occurred. The Division II deposits are well cemented, normally graded calcirudite/calcarenites composed mostly of orthophragminids, nummulitids, and red algae, originating from outer ramp environments. Redeposited marl, observed in the matrix of the debrites and as intraclasts in some megabeds, implies that the collapses along the synsedimentary fault scarps and steep slopes also occurred within the foredeep itself, during the rapid tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Dinaric foreland basin.

scholarly journals ORÓGENO ARAÇUAÍ: SÍNTESE DO CONHECIMENTO 30 ANOS APÓS ALMEIDA 1977

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antônio Carlos Pedrosa-Soares ◽  
Carlos Maurício Noce ◽  
Fernando Flecha de Alkmim ◽  
Luiz Carlos da Silva ◽  
Marly Babinski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oceanic Crust ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Oceanic Lithosphere ◽  
Continental Rift ◽  
Passive Margin ◽  
Iron Formation ◽  
Calc Alkaline ◽  
Magmatic Arc ◽  
Araçuaí Orogen

The Araçuaí Fold Belt was defined as the southeastern limit of the São Francisco Craton in the classicalpaper published by Fernando Flávio Marques de Almeida in 1977. This keystone of the Brazilian geologicliterature catalyzed important discoveries, such as of Neoproterozoic ophiolites and a calc-alkaline magmaticarc, related to the Araçuaí Belt and paleotectonic correlations with its counterpart located in Africa (the WestCongo Belt), that provided solid basis to define the Araçuaí-West-Congo Orogen by the end of the 1990thdecade. After the opening of the Atlantic Ocean in Cretaceous times, two thirds of the Araçuaí-West-CongoOrogen remained in the Brazil side, including records of the continental rift and passive margin phases ofthe precursor basin, all ophiolite slivers and the whole orogenic magmatism formed from the pre-collisionalto post-collisional stages. Thus, the name Araçuaí Orogen has been applied to the Neoproterozoic-Cambrianorogenic region that extends from the southeastern edge of the São Francisco Craton to the Atlantic coastlineand is roughly limited between the 15º and 21º S parallels. After 30 years of systematic geological mappingtogether with geochemical and geochronological studies published by many authors, all evolutionary stagesof the Araçuaí Orogen can be reasonably interpreted. Despite the regional metamorfism and deformation, thefollowing descriptions generally refer to protoliths. All mentioned ages were obtained by U-Pb method onzircon. The Macaúbas Group records rift, passive margin and oceanic environments of the precursor basinof the Araçuaí Orogen. From the base to the top and from proximal to distal units, this group comprises thepre-glacial Duas Barras and Rio Peixe Bravo formations, and the glaciogenic Serra do Catuni, Nova Auroraand Lower Chapada Acauã formations, related to continental rift and transitional stages, and the diamictitefreeUpper Chapada Acauã and Ribeirão da Folha formations, representing passive margin and oceanicenvironments. Dates of detrital zircon grains from Duas Barras sandstones and Serra do Catuni diamictitessuggest a maximum sedimentation age around 900 Ma for the lower Macaúbas Group, in agreement withages yielded by the Pedro Lessa mafic dikes (906 ± 2 Ma) and anorogenic granites of Salto da Divisa (875 ±9 Ma). The thick diamictite-bearing marine successions with sand-rich turbidites, diamictitic iron formation,mafic volcanic rocks and pelites (Nova Aurora and Lower Chapada Acauã formations) were depositedfrom the rift to transitional stages. The Upper Chapada Acauã Formation consists of a sand-pelite shelfsuccession, deposited after ca. 864 Ma ago in the proximal passive margin. The Ribeirão da Folha Formationmainly consists of sand-pelite turbidites, pelagic pelites, sulfide-bearing cherts and banded iron formations,representing distal passive margin to oceanic sedimentation. Gabbro and dolerite with plagiogranite veinsdated at ca. 660 Ma, and ultramafic rocks form tectonic slices of oceanic lithosphere thrust onto packagesof the Ribeirão da Folha Formation. The pre-collisional, calc-alkaline, continental magmatic arc (G1 Suite,630-585 Ma) consists of tonalites and granodiorites, with minor diorite and gabbro. A volcano-sedimentarysuccession of this magmatic arc includes pyroclastic and volcaniclastic rocks of dacitic composition datedat ca. 585 Ma, ascribed to the Palmital do Sul and Tumiritinga formations (Rio Doce Group), depositedfrom intra-arc to fore-arc settings. Detrital zircon geochronology suggests that the São Tomé wackes (RioDoce Group) represent intra-arc to back-arc sedimentation after ca. 594 Ma ago. The Salinas Formation, aconglomerate-wacke-pelite association located to northwest of the magmatic arc, represents synorogenicsedimentation younger than ca. 588 Ma. A huge zone of syn-collisional S-type granites (G2 Suite, 582-560Ma) occurs to the east and north of the pre-collisional magmatic arc, northward of latitude 20º S. Partialmelting of G2 granites originated peraluminous leucogranites (G3 Suite) from the late- to post-collisionalstages. A set of late structures, and the post-collisional intrusions of the S-type G4 Suite (535-500 Ma) andI-type G5 Suite (520-490 Ma) are related to the gravitational collapse of the orogen. The location of themagmatic arc, roughly parallel to the zone with ophiolite slivers, from the 17º30’ S latitude southwardssuggests that oceanic crust only developed along the southern segment of the precursor basin of the Araçuaí-West-Congo Orogen. This basin was carved, like a large gulf partially floored by oceanic crust, into the SãoFrancisco-Congo Paleocontinent, but paleogeographic reconstructions show that the Bahia-Gabon cratonicbridge (located to the north of the Araçuaí Orogen) subsisted since at least 1 Ga until the Atlantic opening.This uncommon geotectonic scenario inspired the concept of confined orogen, quoted as a new type ofcollisional orogen in the international literature, and the appealing nutcracker tectonic model to explain theAraçuaí-West-Congo Orogen evolution. 

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