Dating extensional deformation to unravel exhumation patterns in the Internal Dinarides

Ar/Ar-in-situ geochronology by laser ablation NGMS (noble gas mass spectrometry) provides a powerful tool to determine inter- and intra-granular age variations of potassium-bearing minerals while maintaining the structural integrity of a sample. This makes it an excellent method in targeting the understanding of the post-collisional evolution of an orogen by dating different mica generations. In order to investigate the timing of exhumation related to extensional deformation in the Internal Dinarides, we sampled paragneisses from the upper greenschist- to amphibolite-grade mylonitic detachment zones of two metamorphic core complexes (MCC&#8217;s). The MCC&#8217;s are located at the distal Adriatic passive margin (Cer MCC, central western Serbia) and within the Late Cretaceous suturing accretionary wedge complex (Motajica MCC, northern Bosnia and Herzegovina) that separates Adria-derived units from blocks of European affinity.Mica grains were assigned to either pre-kinematic or syn-kinematic growth, according to their structural context, texture and grainsize. Pre-kinematic growth is characterized by large, deformed minerals of up to 3.5 mm in size, while rather fine-grained, recrystallized mineral aggregates that usually formed in the strain shadow of larger clasts represent syn-kinematic growth.The ages of pre-kinematic white mica from paragneisses of the Motajica detachment range from approx. 80 to 25 Ma. They partly show a large intra-granular age spread characterized by significantly older core ages becoming progressively younger towards the rim. This pattern likely suggests diffusive loss of radiogenic Ar. Ages between 80-55 Ma in the central parts of the grains, associated with a top-W transport direction, are interpreted as the time interval of mineral growth and subsequent deformation in an accretionary wedge during E-ward subduction of the Adriatic passive margin underneath European units.Syn-kinematic white mica from Motajica yielded ages between 22 and 16 Ma, which are interpreted as the time of peak activity of extension. This also corresponds with the time of crustal extension in the Pannonian Basin to the north. At Cer MCC, located roughly 150 km ENE of Motajica MCC and structurally below the accretionary wedge complex, ages of deformed white mica indicate exhumation between 19 and 15 Ma with a top-N directed transport. &#160;Our results suggest that the opening of the Pannonian Basin in response to slab-retreat underneath the Carpathian orogen resulted in the extensional reactivation of suturing thrusts that separated Adriatic from European units, leading to exhumation of parts of the accretionary wedge (Motajica MCC). This event was followed by the progressive exhumation of the passive Adriatic margin (Cer MCC) that occupied a structural position below the suturing accretionary wedge.

Download Full-text

The Cer massif in the internal Dinarides: Exhumation triggered as a far-field effect of the Carpathian slab roll-back

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-10125 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Georg Löwe ◽

Susanne Schneider ◽

Blanka Sperner ◽

Philipp Balling ◽

Jörg Pfänder ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Shear Zone ◽

Late Cretaceous ◽

Pannonian Basin ◽

Structural Data ◽

Shear Zones ◽

White Mica ◽

Step Heating ◽

Type Granite ◽

Single Grain ◽

Internal Dinarides

Extension across the southern Pannonian Basin and the internal Dinarides is characterized by the occurrence of a chain of Oligo-Miocene metamorphic core complexes (MCCs) exhumed along mylonitic low-angle extensional shear zones which in part represent former suturing thrusts. Cer MCC at the transition between the internal Dinarides and the Pannonian Basin occupies a structural position within the distal-most Adriatic thrust sheet and originates from two different tectonic processes: Late Cretaceous-Paleogene nappe-stacking during continent-continent collision between Adria and fragments of European lithosphere with Adria residing in a lower plate position, followed by Miocene exhumation. Structural data and a balanced cross section through the Cer massif show that the exhuming shear zone links to a breakaway fault, which reactivated the early Late Cretaceous most internal nappe contact between the two distal-most Adriatic thrust sheets. At Cer MCC, Paleozoic greenschist- to amphibolite-grade lithologies surround a polyphase intrusion composed of I- and S-type granites. These lithologies were exhumed along the shear zone by top-N transport. Thermobarometric analyses indicate an intrusion depth of 7-8 km of the Oligocene I-type granite; cooling below ~500&#176;C occurred at 25.4&#177;0.6 Ma (1&#963;) yielded by 40Ar/39Ar dating of hornblende. Biotite and white mica from this intrusion as well as from the mylonitic shear zone yield 40Ar/39Ar ages of 17-18 Ma independent of the used techniques (in-situ laser ablation, single-grain total fusion, single-grain step heating, and multi-grain step heating). White mica from the S-type granite yield an 40Ar/39Ar age of 16.7&#177;0.1 Ma (1&#963;). Associated dikes intruding the shear zone were also affected by N-S extension, indicating that deformation was still ongoing at that time. Our data suggests that exhumation of the MCC was related to the opening of the Pannonian back-arc basin in response to the Carpathian slab-rollback and triggered extensional reactivation of thrusts in the internal Dinarides.

Download Full-text

Geochemistry, petrology and tectonomagmatic significance of basaltic rocks from the ophiolite mélange at the NW External-Internal Dinarides junction (Croatia)

Geologica Carpathica ◽

10.2478/v10096-010-0016-1 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 61 (4) ◽

pp. 273-292 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Damir Slovenec ◽

Boško Lugović ◽

Irena Vlahović

Keyword(s):

Mantle Source ◽

Spreading Ridge ◽

Accretionary Wedge ◽

Carbonate Sediments ◽

Basaltic Rocks ◽

Depleted Mantle ◽

Unit Form ◽

Ophiolite Mélange ◽

Internal Dinarides ◽

Ophiolite Melange

Geochemistry, petrology and tectonomagmatic significance of basaltic rocks from the ophiolite mélange at the NW External-Internal Dinarides junction (Croatia)At the NW inflexion of the Sava-Vardar Suture Zone ophiolite mélanges, known as the Kalnik Unit, form the surface of the slopes of several Pannonian inselbergs in the SW Zagorje-Mid-Transdanubian Zone. The Mt Samoborska Gora ophiolite mélange, thought to be a part of the Kalnik Unit, forms a separate sector obducted directly onto Dinaric Triassic carbonate sediments. Basaltic rocks, the only magmatic rocks incorporated in the mélange, include Middle-Triassic (Illyrian-Fassanian) alkali within-plate basalts and Middle Jurassic (uppermost Bathonian-Lower Callovian) tholeiitic basalts. The latter sporadically constitute composite olistoliths, and are geochemically divided into N-MORB-like (high-Ti basalts) and transitional MORB/IAT (medium-Ti basalts). These geochemically different rocks suggest crystallization at various tectonomagmatic settings, which is also indicated by the rock paragenesis and host clinopyroxene compositions. Alkali basalts reflect melts derived from an OIB-type enriched mantle source [Ti/V= 62.2-82.4; (La/Lu)cn= 6.4-12.8] with Nd-Sr isotope signatures close resembling the Bulk Earth [εNd(T=235 Ma)= + 1.6 to + 2.5]. They are recognized as preophiolite continental rift basin volcanic rocks that closely predate the opening of the Repno oceanic domain (ROD) of the Meliata-Maliac ocean system. The high-Ti and medium-Ti basalts from composite blocks derived from a similar depleted mantle source (εNd(T=165 Ma) = + 6.01 vs. + 6.35) succesively metasomatized by expulsion of fluids from a subducting slab leading to a more pronounced subduction signature in the latter [Ti/V=31.6-44.8 and (Nb/La)n=0.67-0.90 vs. Ti/V=21.5-33.9 and (Nb/La)n=0.32-0.49]. These composite blocks indicate crust formation in an extensional basin spreading over the still active subducting ridge. The majority of high-Ti basalts may represent the fragments of older crust formed at a spreading ridge and incorporated in the mélange of the accretionary wedge formed in the proto-arc-fore-arc region. The Mt Samoborska Gora ophiolite mélange represents the trailing edge of the Kalnik Unit as a discrete sector that records the shortest stage of tectonomagmatic evolution related to intraoceanic subduction in the ROD.

Download Full-text

Seismic stratigraphy based chronostratigraphy (SSBC) of the Serbian Banat region of the Pannonian Basin

Open Geosciences ◽

10.2478/v10085-010-0027-2 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

John Pigott ◽

Dejan Radivojevic

Keyword(s):

Pannonian Basin ◽

Local Stress ◽

Seismic Stratigraphy ◽

Seismic Facies ◽

Time Interval ◽

Stratigraphic Sequence ◽

Sediment Dispersal ◽

Structural Problems ◽

Tectonic Events ◽

Lithostratigraphic Units

AbstractSeismic stratigraphy based chronostratigraphic (SSBC) analysis of the Serbian Banat region allows the delineation of the spatial and stratigraphic relationships of the generally regressive and shallowing upward Neogene depositional fill of a tectonically unstable central portion of the Pannonian Basin. When geometrically restored in time and space, the sediment dispersal directions, sediment source directions, types of sedimentation breaks and the tectonic events influencing basin evolution can be delineated. For such an analysis the time-transgressive lithostratigraphic units used in the neighbouring Hungarian part of the Pannonian Basin are conveniently introduced based upon their characteristic seismic facies and constrained borehole log records as mappable seismic stratigraphic sequence units, termed “seismic operational sequences”. The respective Neogene stage and operational sequence equivalents (Hungarian lithostratigraphic units or formations) are the Middle Miocene (Badenian, Sarmatian), Upper Miocene-Lower Pliocene (Pannonian-Endrod and Szolnok Formations; Pontian- Algyo and Ujfalu Formations and Lower Pliocene- Zagyva Formation) and Upper Pliocene-Quaternary (Nagyalfold Formation).SSBC analysis greatly assists in the geological constraint or “geovalidation” of interpreted seismic stratigraphic relationships and provides potentially critical insight into stratigraphic and structural problems of non-unique interpretations. In the specific case, using such an approach on previously unpublished regional seismic lines, SSBC analysis reveals that the Banat region has undergone structural inversion. This may be related to changes in local stress directions along strike slip faults, which initiated in earliest Late Miocene (Endrod Formation), culminating in the reverse tilting and incipient shortening of the western graben. Therefore during the time interval that the Badenian through Endrod sediments were deposited in the graben, autocyclic progradation initiated from the Kikinda Szeged High in the East followed by Szolnok, Algyo, Ujfalu and younger units prograding from the West as the central high uplifted relative to the graben. Such tectonic inversion has substantial hydrocarbon potential implications for exploration in the region.

Download Full-text

A two-dimensional model of the methane cycle in a sedimentary accretionary wedge

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-9-3323-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 3323-3336 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

D. E. Archer ◽

B. A. Buffett

Keyword(s):

Heat Flux ◽

Passive Margin ◽

Model Description ◽

Accretionary Wedge ◽

Two Dimensional ◽

Dimensional Model ◽

Methane Cycle ◽

Active Margin ◽

Two Dimensional Model ◽

The Impact

Abstract. A two-dimensional model of sediment column geophysics and geochemistry has been adapted to the problem of an accretionary wedge formation, patterned after the margin of the Juan de Fuca plate as it subducts under the North American plate. Much of the model description is given in a companion paper about the application of the model to an idealized passive margin setting; here we build on that formulation to simulate the impact of the sediment deformation, as it approaches the subduction zone, on the methane cycle. The active margin configuration of the model shares sensitivities with the passive margin configuration, in that sensitivities to organic carbon deposition and respiration kinetics, and to vertical bubble transport and redissolution in the sediment, are stronger than the sensitivity to ocean temperature. The active margin simulation shows a complex sensitivity of hydrate inventory to plate subduction velocity, with results depending strongly on the geothermal heat flux. In low heat-flux conditions, the model produces a larger inventory of hydrate per meter of coastline in the passive margin than active margin configurations. However, the local hydrate concentrations, as pore volume saturation, are higher in the active setting than in the passive, as generally observed in the field.

Download Full-text

Petrotectonic implications of metabasites of the Eastern Andean Metamorphic Complex at Lago O´Higgins-San Martin, southern Patagonia

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-3543 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Diego Rojo ◽

Mauricio Calderón ◽

Matias Ghiglione ◽

Rodrigo Javier Suárez ◽

Paulo Quezada ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Subduction Zone ◽

Crustal Contamination ◽

Oceanic Lithosphere ◽

Passive Margin ◽

Low Grade ◽

Accretionary Wedge ◽

Metamorphic Complex ◽

Marginal Basin ◽

Southern Patagonia ◽

San Martín

The Eastern Andean Metamorphic Complex (EAMC) in southwestern Patagonia (4&#176;-52&#176;S) is a 450 km long belt mainly composed by low-grade metasedimentary rocks of Upper Devonian-lower Carboniferous, and Permian-lower Triassic ages. Previous works have suggested a passive margin environment for the deposition of the protolith. &#160;The EAMC comprise scarce interleaved tectonic slices of marbles, metabasites, and exceptional serpentinite bodies. At Lago O&#180;Higgins-San Martin (48&#176;30&#8217;S-49&#176;00&#8217;S) the metasedimentary sucessions are tectonically juxtaposed with lenses of pillowed metabasalts and greenschists having OIB, N-MORB, BABB and IAT geochemical affinities. The Nd-isotopic composition of metabasalts is characterized by &#949;Nd(t=350 Ma) of +6 and +7. The metabasalts show no signal of crustal contamination, instead, the mantle source was probably modified by subduction components. New and already published provenance data based on mineralogy, geochemistry and zircon geochronology indicate that the quartz-rich protolith of metasandstones were deposited during late Devonian-early Carboniferous times (youngest single zircon ages around of latest Devonian-earliest Carboniferous times) sourced from igneous and/or sedimentary rocks located in the interior of Gondwana, as the Deseado Massif, for instance. Noticeable, the detrital age patterns of all samples reveal a prominent population of late Neoproterozoic zircons, probably directly derived from igneous and/or metaigneous rocks of the Brasiliano/Pan-African orogen or from reworked material from variably metamorphosed sedimentary units that crops out at the same latitudes in the extra-Andean region of Patagonia. We propose that the protolith of metabasites formed part of the upper part of an oceanic-like lithosphere generated in a marginal basin above a supra-subduction zone, where plume-related oceanic island volcanoes were generated. The closure of the marginal basin, probably in mid-Carboniferous times, or soon after. The oceanic lithosphere was likely underthrusted within an east-to-northeast-dipping subduction zone, where ophiolitic rocks and metasedimentary sequences were tectonically interleaved at the base of an accretionary wedge.

Download Full-text

Chapter 36: Carlin-Type Gold Deposits in Nevada: Geologic Characteristics, Critical Processes, and Exploration

10.5382/sp.23.36 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 775-795

Author(s):

John L. Muntean

Keyword(s):

Late Eocene ◽

Gold Deposits ◽

Ore Deposits ◽

Passive Margin ◽

Future Research ◽

Time Interval ◽

High Angle ◽

Rock Interaction ◽

Critical Components ◽

Carlin Type Gold Deposits

Abstract Carlin-type gold deposits in Nevada account for ~5% of worldwide annual gold production, typically about ~135 metric tons (t) (~4.5 Moz) per year. They are hydrothermal epigenetic replacement bodies hosted predominantly in carbonate-bearing sedimentary rocks. They are known for their “invisible” gold that occurs in the crystal structure of pyrite. Over 95% of the production from these deposits is from four clusters of deposits, which include the Carlin trend and the Cortez, Getchell, and Jerritt Canyon camps. Despite differences in the local geologic settings, the characteristics of the deposits are very similar in the four clusters. Shared characteristics include: (1) alteration characterized by carbonate dissolution, silicate argillization, and silicification; (2) ore formation characterized by auriferous arsensian pyrite, typically as rims on preore pyrite, followed by late open-space deposition of orpiment, realgar, stibnite, and other minerals; (3) Ag/Au ratios of <1 in ore; (4) an As-Hg-Sb-Tl geochemical signature; (5) low temperatures (~160°–240°C) and salinities of ore fluids (~1–6 wt % NaCl equiv) and fairly shallow depths of formation (<~2–3 km); and (6) lack of mineral and elemental zoning around ore. The four clusters share regional geologic controls related to formation as follows: (1) along the rifted margin of a craton, (2) within the slope facies of a passive margin sequence dominated by carbonates, (3) in the lower plate of a regional thrust fault, and (4) during a narrow time interval in the late Eocene (~42–34 Ma). The geometries and ore controls of the deposits in the four clusters are also very similar. At the deposit scale, ore and hydrothermal alteration are commonly associated with high-angle faults and preore low-angle contractional structures, including thrust faults and folds. The high-angle faults acted as fluid pathways for upwelling ore fluids, which were then diverted into lower angle favorable strata and contractional structures, where fluid-rock interaction led to replacement of carbonate and formation of ore. Rheologic contrasts between lithologies were also critical in diverting fluids into wall rocks. Common rheologic contrasts include contacts between thin- and thick-bedded lithologic units and the margins of contact metamorphic aureoles associated with Mesozoic intrusions. The similarities suggest common processes. Four critical processes are apparent: (1) development of source(s) for gold and other critical components of the ore fluids, (2) formation of fluid pathways, (3) water-rock interaction and gold deposition, and (4) a tectonic trigger, which was renewal of magmatism and a change from contraction to extension in the late Eocene. Consensus exists on these processes, except for the source of gold and other components of the ore fluid, with most models calling upon either a magmatic-hydrothermal source or a crustal source, where metals were scavenged by either meteoric or metamorphic fluids. Future research should focus on Carlin-style deposits in Nevada that exhibit epithermal characteristics and deposits that appear to have a clear genetic association with magmatic-hydrothermal systems associated with upper crustal intrusions. Rather than discrete types of ore deposits, there may be continua between Carlin-type gold deposits, epithermal deposits, and distal disseminated deposits, with the four large camps representing an end member.

Download Full-text

Inheritance processes of active extensional deformation in ocean-continent subduction zones: the example of the northern Andes compressional margin in Ecuador

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-11758 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Cédric Bulois ◽

François Michaud ◽

Marianne Saillard ◽

Nicolas Espurt ◽

Marc Regnier ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Subduction Zones ◽

Normal Faults ◽

Deformation Pattern ◽

Accretionary Wedge ◽

Nazca Plate ◽

Extensional Deformation ◽

Northern Andes ◽

Marine Terraces ◽

Gulf Of Guayaquil ◽

Santa Elena

Over the last 23 Myr, the roughly east-directed subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath South America led to the formation of several mountain ranges associated with the overall northern Andes evolution. Along the active southwestern Ecuadorian margin, the compressional setting involves the Cretaceous-Miocene Chong&#243;n-Colonche / Santa Elena terranes, overlain by recent sedimentary basins. This geological setting, generally interpreted as an onshore-offshore forearc system, evolves in close relation with the active tectonic escape of the North Andean Sliver and the opening of the Gulf of Guayaquil. This region is characterised by a widespread extensional deformation in the upper plate that overprints moderate subduction and crustal earthquakes.To better document such extensional processes, we specifically explore the offshore shelf and the littoral area of the Santa Elena Peninsula using academic and industrial 2D seismic profiles calibrated with local wells and field observations. We document a trench-parallel fault network, composed of >20km-long normal faults that take place on top of the former Chong&#243;n-Colonche accretionary wedge. These faults are linearly-steep along the trench, and are listric toward the continent where they clearly control fault-block rotation. They separate flexural basins developing on the platform ahead the Chong&#243;n-Colonche Cordillera, and are associated with immerged terraces most likely formed during the Last Glacial Maximum. They also may link to further onshore marine terraces developing since the Pleistocene across the coastline.These observations suggest a peculiar dismantlement of the margin, mainly affected by tectonic erosion involving reactivation of former compressional features. Normal faults are specifically interpreted as a regional syn-orogenic collapse of the Chong&#243;n-Colonche Cordillera, which may result from transecting subducting ridges, fracture zones and seamounts controlling, at least partially, the geometry and the nature of the deformation along the southwestern Ecuadorian margin. This deformation pattern is likely linked to a weak interseismic coupling along the subduction interface to which the active opening of the Gulf of Guayaquil overlaps. This project is funded by the project ANR MARACAS ANR-18-CE31-0022 (MARine terraces along the northern Andean Coast as a proxy for seismic hazard ASsessment).

Download Full-text