Fabrics of pre- and syntectonic granite plutons and chronology of shear zones in the Eastern Borborema Province, NE Brazil

We used the fabrics of two granite plutons and U/Pb (SHRIMP) zircon ages to constrain the tectonic evolution of the E-trending Patos shear zone (Borborema Province, NE Brazil). The pre-tectonic Teixeira batholith consists of an amphibole leucogranite locally with aegirine-augite. Zircons from a syenogranite yielded crystallization ages of 591 +/- 5 Ma. The batholith fabrics were determined by anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and mineral shape preferred orientation. The fabrics support pre-transcurrent batholith emplacement, as evidenced by: (i) magmatic/magnetic fabrics in low susceptibility (<0.35 mSI) leucogranites highly discordant to the regional host rock structure, and (ii) concordant magnetic fabrics restricted to high susceptibility (>1 mSI) corridors connected to shear zones branching off from Patos. One of these satellite shear zones controlled the syntectonic emplacement of the Serra Redonda pluton, which yields a crystallization age of 576 +/- 3 Ma. This late shearing event marks the peak regional deformation that, south of Patos, was coupled to crustal shortening nearly perpendicular to the shear belt. The chronology of the deformational events indicates that the major shear zones of the eastern Borborema are late structures active after the crustal blocks amalgamated. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dating coeval mafic magmatism and ultrahigh temperature metamorphism in the Anapolis-Itaucu Complex, Central Brazil

Dating granulites has always been of great interest because they represent one of the most extreme settings of an orogen. Owing to the resilience of zircon, even in such severe environments, the link between P-T conditions and geological time is possible. However, a challenge to geochronologists is to define whether the growth of new zircon is related to pre- or post-P-T peak conditions and which processes might affect the (re) crystallization. In this context, the Anapolis-Itaucu Complex, a high-grade complex in central Brazil with ultrahigh temperature (UHT) granulites, may provide valuable information within this topic. The Anapolis-Itaucu Complex (AIC) includes ortho- and paragranulites, locally presenting UHT mineral assemblages, with igneous zircon ages varying between 760 and 650 Ma and metamorphic overgrowths dated at around 650-640 Ma. Also common in the Anapolis-Itaucu Complex are layered mafic-ultramafic complexes metamorphosed under high-grade conditions. This article presents the first geological and geochronological constraints of three of these layered complexes within the AIC, the Damolandia, Taquaral and Goianira-Trindade complexes. U-Pb (LA-MC-ICPMS, SHRIMP and ID-TIMS) zircon analyses reveal a spread of concordant ages spanning within an age interval of similar to 80 Ma with an ""upper"" intercept age of similar to 670 Ma. Under cathodoluminescence imaging, these crystals show partially preserved primary sector zoning, as well as internal textures typical of alteration during high-grade metamorphism, such as inward-moving boundaries. Zircon grains reveal homogeneous initial (176)Hf/(177)Hf values in distinct crystal-scale domains in all samples. Moreover. Hf isotopic ratios show correlation neither with U-Pb ages nor with Th/U ratios, suggesting that zircon grains crystallized during a single growth event. It is suggested, therefore, that the observed spread of concordant U-Pb ages may be related to a memory effect due to coupled dissolution-reprecipitation process during high grade metamorphism. Therefore, understanding the emplacement and metamorphism of this voluminous mafic magmatism is crucial as it may represent an additional heat source for the development of the ultrahigh temperature paragenesis recorded in the paragranulites. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The basement of the Punta del Este Terrane (Uruguay): an African Mesoproterozoic fragment at the eastern border of the South American Rio de La Plata craton

The Punta del Este Terrane (eastern Uruguay) lies in a complex Neoproterozoic (Brasiliano/Pan-African) orogenic zone considered to contain a suture between South American terranes to the west of Major Gercino-Sierra Ballena Suture Zone and eastern African affinities terranes. Zircon cores from Punta del Este Terrane basement orthogneisses have U-Pb ages of ca. 1,000 Ma, which indicate an lineage with the Namaqua Belt in Southwestern Africa. U-Pb zircon ages also provide the following information on the Punta del Este terrane: the orthogneisses containing the ca. 1,000 Ma inheritance formed at ca. 750 Ma; in contrast to the related terranes now in Africa, reworking of the Punta del Este Terrane during Brasiliano/Pan-African orogenesis was very intense, reaching granulite facies at ca. 640 Ma. The termination of the Brasiliano/Pan-African orogeny is marked by formation of acid volcanic and volcanoclastic rocks at ca. 570 Ma (Sierra de Aguirre Formation), formation of late sedimentary basins (San Carlos Formation) and then intrusion at ca. 535 Ma of post-tectonic granitoids (Santa Teresa and Jos, Ignacio batholiths). The Punta del Este Terrane and unrelated western terranes represented by the Dom Feliciano Belt and the Rio de La Plata Craton were in their present positions by ca. 535 Ma.

THE RIO APA CRATON IN MATO GROSSO DO SUL (BRAZIL) AND NORTHERN PARAGUAY: GEOCHRONOLOGICAL EVOLUTION, CORRELATIONS AND TECTONIC IMPLICATIONS FOR RODINIA AND GONDWANA

The Rio Apa cratonic fragment crops out in Mato Grosso do Sul State of Brazil and in northeastern Paraguay. It comprises Paleo-Mesoproterozoic medium grade metamorphic rocks, intruded by granitic rocks, and is covered by the Neoproterozoic deposits of the Corumbi and Itapocurni Groups. Eastward it is bound by the southern portion of the Paraguay belt. In this work, more than 100 isotopic determinations, including U-Pb SHRIMP zircon ages, Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd whole-rock determinations, as well as K-Ar and Ar-Ar mineral ages, were reassessed in order to obtain a complete picture of its regional geological history. The tectonic evolution of the Rio Apa Craton starts with the formation of a series of magmatic arc complexes. The oldest U-Pb SHRIMP zircon age comes from a banded gneiss collected in the northern part of the region, with an age of 1950 +/- 23 Ma. The large granitic intrusion of the Alumiador Batholith yielded a U-Pb zircon age of 1839 +/- 33 Ma, and from the southeastern part of the area two orthogneisses gave zircon U-Pb ages of 1774 +/- 26 Ma and 1721 +/- 25 Ma. These may be coeval with the Alto Terere metamorphic rocks of the northeastern corner, intruded in their turn by the Baia das Garcas granitic rocks, one of them yielding a zircon U-Pb age of 1754 +/- 49 Ma. The original magmatic protoliths of these rocks involved some crustal component, as indicated by the Sm-Nd TDm model ages, between 1.9 and 2.5 Ga. Regional Sr isotopic homogenization, associated with tectonic deformation and medium-grade metamorphism occurred at approximately 1670 Ma, as suggested by Rb-Sr whole rock reference isochrons. Finally, at 1300 Ma ago, the Ar work indicates that the Rio Apa Craton was affected by widespread regional heating, when the temperature probably exceeded 350 degrees C. Geographic distribution, age and isotopic signature of the fithotectonic units suggest the existence of a major suture separating two different tectonic domains, juxtaposed at about 1670 Ma. From that time on, the unified Rio Apa continental block behaved as one coherent and stable tectonic unit. It correlates well with the SW corner of the Amazonian Craton, where the medium-grade rocks of the Juruena-Rio Negro tectonic province, with ages between 1600 and 1780 Ma, were reworked at about 1300 Ma. Looking at the largest scale, the Rio Apa Craton is probably attached to the larger Amazonian Craton, and the actual configuration of southwestern South America is possibly due to a complex arrangement of allochthonous blocks such as the Arequipa, Antofalla and Pampia, with different sizes, that may have originated as disrupted parts of either Laurentia or Amazonia, and were trapped during later collisions of these continental masses.