Thermochronology of central Ribeira Fold Belt, SE Brazil: Petrological and geochronological evidence for long-term high temperature maintenance during Western Gondwana amalgamation

The studied sector of the central Ribeira Fold Belt (SE Brazil) comprises metatexites, diatexites, charnockites and blastomylonites. This study integrates petrological and thermochronological data in order to constrain the thermotectonic and geodynamic evolution of this Neoproterozoic-Ordovician mobile belt during Western Gondwana amalgamation. New data indicate that after an earlier collision stage at similar to 610 Ma (zircon, U-Pb age), peak metamorphism and lower crust partial melting, coeval with the main regional high grade D(1) thrust deformation, occurred at 572-562 Ma (zircon, U-Pb ages). The overall average cooling rate was low (<5 degrees C/Ma) from 750 to 250 degrees C (at similar to 455 Ma; biotite-WR Rb-Sr age), but disparate cooling paths indicate differential uplift between distinct lithotypes: (a) metatexites and blastomylonites show a overall stable 3-5 degrees C/Ma cooling rate; (b) charnockites and associated rocks remained at T>650 degrees C during sub-horizontal D(2) shearing until similar to 510-470 Ma (garnet-WR Sm-Nd ages) (1-2 degrees C/Ma), being then rapidly exhumed/cooled (8-30 degrees C/Ma) during post-orogenic D(3) deformation with late granite emplacement at similar to 490 Ma (zircon, U-Pb age). Cooling rates based on garnet-biotite Fe-Mg diffusion are broadly consistent with the geochronological cooling rates: (a) metatexites were cooled faster at high temperatures (6 degrees C/Ma) and slowly at low temperatures (0.1 degrees C/Ma), decreasing cooling rates with time; (b) charnockites show low cooling rates (2 degrees C/Ma) near metamorphic peak conditions and high cooling rates (120 degrees C/Ma) at lower temperatures, increasing cooling rates during retrogression. The charnockite thermal evolution and the extensive production of granitoid melts in the area imply that high geothermal gradients were sustained fora long period of time (50-90 Ma). This thermal anomaly most likely reflects upwelling of asthenospheric mantle and magma underplating coupled with long-term generation of high HPE (heat producing elements) granitoids. These factors must have sustained elevated crustal geotherms for similar to 100 Ma, promoting widespread charnockite generation at middle to lower crustal levels. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Thermochronology of the South American platform in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, through apatite fission tracks

The fission-track method (FTM) in apatite was applied to 45 samples collected in the Serra da Mantiqueira (Mantiqueira mountain range), the Serra do Mar (Mar mountain range), regions next to these mountain ranges and the coastal region between Ubatuba and Santos in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, to study the thermochronology of the South American Platform in southeast Brazil and its influence on Santos and Campos basins. The data presented in this work complement the previously presented data on the same region (Tello Saenz et al., 2003. J. S. Am. Earth Sci. 15, 765-774) with 31 new samples analyzed. The weighted mean of the corrected ages from high Mantiqueira (around 1000 m), (121 +/- 6) Ma, coincides with the South Atlantic opening. The fact that its thermal history starts at a relatively low temperature (similar to 80 degrees C) suggests that the age of similar to 120 Ma would be the formation age of Serra da Mantiqueira due to a rapid pulse, in which tracks had no time to be retained at the closure temperature, that is similar to 120 degrees C. The Serra do Mar presents a more complicated thermal history, with several reactivations indicated by the changes in the slope of its cooling curve. The thermal histories obtained in the regions next to these mountain ranges are compatible with the results mentioned above. The Santos Basin has unconformities that agree with changes in the slope thermal histories of the studied region. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Group analysis method for fission track thermochronology

A methodology to obtain ages and thermal histories of sets of apatite samples from localities with geologically compatible characteristics is described. A methodology exploring the fact that samples with similar geological characteristics should present the same thermal history is proposed. This approach can contribute for the obtainment of more conclusive results by analysing fewer samples than it is necessary when the samples are individually analysed. In order to determine the ages, we use the absolute neutron dosimetry through thin films of natural uranium along with lambda(f) = 8.46 x 10(-17) a(-1). As an example of application of the proposed methodology, we analyse samples collected in a Brazilian region, Sao Francisco Craton, which experienced low tectonic activity. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The use of apatite fission track thermochronology to constrain fault movements and sedimentary basin evolution in northeastern Brazil

An apatite fission track study of crystalline rocks underlying sedimentary basins in northeastern Brazil indicate that crustal blocks that occur on opposite sides of a geological fault experienced different thermal histories. Samples collected on the West block yielded corrected fission-track ages from 140 to 375 Ma, whereas samples collected on the East block yielded ages between 90 and 125 Ma. The thermal models suggest that each block experienced two cooling events separated by a heating event at different times. We concluded that the West block moved downward relative to the East block ca. 140 Ma ago, when sediments eroded from the East side were deposited on the West side. This process represents the early stage of sedimentary basin formation and the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean in the region. Downward and upward movements related to heating and cooling events of these crustal blocks at different periods until recent times are proposed. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Further investigation of the initial fission-track length and geometry factor in apatite fission-track thermochronology

The external detector method (EDM) is a widely used technique in fission track thermochronology (FTT) in which two different minerals are concomitantly employed: spontaneous tracks are observed in apatite and induced ones in the muscovite external detector. They show intrinsic differences in detection and etching properties that should be taken into account. In this work, new geometry factor values, g, in apatite, were obtained by directly measuring the ρed/ρis ratios and independently determined [GQR]ed/is values through the measurement of projected lengths. Five mounts, two of which were large area prismatic sections and three samples composed of random-orientation pieces have been used to determine the g-values. A side effect of applying EDM is that the value of the initial confined induced fission track, L0, is not measured in routine analyses. The L 0-value is an important parameter to quantify with good confidence the degree of annealing of the spontaneous fission tracks in unknown-age samples, and is essential for accurate thermal history modeling. The impact of using arbitrary L0-values on the inference of sample thermal history is investigated and discussed. The measurement of the L0-value for each sample to be dated using an extra irradiated apatite mount is proposed. This extra mount can be also used for determining the g value as an extension of the ρed/ρis ratio method. Eight apatite samples from crystalline basement, with grains at random orientation, were used to determine the g-values. The results found are statistically in agreement with the values found for apatite samples (from Durango, Mexico) measured in prismatic section and also measured at random orientation. There was no observable variation in efficiency regarding crystal orientation, showing that it is relatively safe using non-prismatic grains, especially in samples with paucity of grains, as it is the case of most basin samples. Implications for the ζ-calibration and for the calibration of the direct (spectrometer-based) fission-track dating are also discussed.

An insight into the breakup of Gondwana: Identifying events through low-temperature thermochronology from the basement rocks of Madagascar

Fission track analysis was applied to the Precambrian suites of Madagascar in order to identify the lower-temperature cooling histories and their relationships to the Phanerozoic events that affected the island. Apatite ages range from 431 to 68 Ma, and zircon ages range from 452 to 238 Ma. Thermochronologically, the island can be divided into a southern, central, and northern region each with a subdivision on an east-west basis. The southern region is sharply separated from the central region by strongly contrasting apparent apatite ages over the northwest-southeast striking Ranotsara Shear Zone (RSZ). The change in apparent ages over the RSZ is indicative of later reactivation along younger brittle faults. The central region has the oldest ages of the island and has a diffuse contact to the third region northward. Along the entire western margin of the Precambrian basement initial Paleozoic exhumation was followed by heating (burial by sediments) during Jurassic and Cretaceous times. A decrease in ages along the eastern margin from 119 to 68 Ma coincides with the predicted positions of the Marion hot spot after effects of erosion are considered. On the other hand, these ages may represent progressive opening of the margin in a southward direction together with associated denudation of the rift shoulder. The eastern part of the central region has remained very stable since at least Devonian times, undergoing only long-term very slow exhumation at rates of 1–5 m/Myr.

The Palu Metamorphic Complex, NW Sulawesi, Indonesia: Origin and evolution of a young metamorphic terrane with links to Gondwana and Sundaland

The Palu Metamorphic Complex (PMC) is exposed in a late Cenozoic orogenic belt in NW Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is a composite terrane comprising a gneiss unit of Gondwana origin, a schist unit composed of meta-sediments deposited along the SE Sundaland margin in the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary, and one or more slivers of amphibolite with oceanic crust characteristics. The gneiss unit forms part of the West Sulawesi block underlying the northern and central sections of the Western Sulawesi Province. The presence of Late Triassic granitoids and recycled Proterozoic zircons in this unit combined with its isotopic signature suggests that the West Sulawesi block has its origin in the New Guinea margin from which it rifted in the late Mesozoic. It docked with Sundaland sometime during the Late Cretaceous. U–Th–Pb dating results for monazite suggest that another continental fragment may have collided with the Sundaland margin in the earliest Miocene. High-pressure (HP) and ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) rocks (granulite, peridotite, eclogite) are found as tectonic slices within the PMC, mostly along the Palu–Koro Fault Zone, a major strike-slip fault that cuts the complex. Mineralogical and textural features suggest that some of these rocks resided at depths of 60–120 km during a part of their histories. Thermochronological data (U–Th–Pb zircon and 40Ar/39Ar) from the metamorphic rocks indicate a latest Miocene to mid-Pliocene metamorphic event, which was accompanied by widespread granitoid magmatism and took place in an extensional tectonic setting. It caused recrystallization of, and new overgrowths on, pre-existing zircon crystals, and produced andalusite–cordierite–sillimanite–staurolite assemblages in pelitic protoliths, indicating HT–LP (Buchan-type) metamorphism. The PMC was exhumed as a core complex at moderate rates (c. 0.7–1.0 mm/yr) accompanied by rapid cooling in the Plio-Pleistocene. Some of the UHP rocks were transported to the surface at significantly higher rates (⩾16 mm/yr). The results of our study do not support recent plate tectonic reconstructions that propose a NW Australia margin origin for the West Sulawesi block (e.g. Hall et al., 2009).

Termocronologia (U-Th)He e reativação da margem continental do sudeste do Brasil: seção Serra da Mantiqueira - Gráben da Guanabara

A evolução da margem continental do sudeste do Brasil tem sido discutida por diversos autores desde meados do século passado até os dias atuais, especialmente no contexto da origem e evolução dos escarpamentos e das bacias tafrogênicas. Buscou-se contribuir com novos dados sobre a evolução da área a partir da aplicação da termocronologia de baixa temperatura (U-Th)/He em apatita, que oferece uma sensibilidade significativa para registrar movimentações tectônicas na crosta superior. Foi possível obter idades em 107 cristais de apatita de 18 amostras do embasamento coletadas no perfil com orientação NW-SE, numa seção entre a Serra da Mantiqueira e o Gráben da Guanabara. As idades corrigidas variam entre 250,1 8,7 Ma e 43,5 1,9 Ma (2 σ) e as não corrigidas entre 174,13 3,03 Ma e 27,07 0,60 Ma (1 σ). O Neocretáceo, o Eocretáceo e o Paleoceno são os principais registros no conjunto de dados, em ordem de importância. No Neocretáceo, o intervalo entre 83,6 e 72,1 Ma (Campaniano) representa o maior destaque nos registros termocronológicos, embora os outros registros (Maastrichtiano e Santoniano) também estejam presentes e sejam importantes. As idades do Neocretáceo destacam a importância dos eventos tectonomagmáticos e soerguimento regional na história térmica dessa área, inclusive com idades (~86 Ma) atribuídas ao contexto de soerguimento da Serra do Mar. As idades do Eocretáceo indicam o registro de eventos térmicos mais antigos, vinculados à evolução pré-rifte. Já os dados do Paleoceno estariam associados ao evento de reativação responsável pela implantação do sistema de riftes continentais (~65 Ma) e as idades do Eoceno, restritas à borda de falha da bacia de Resende (49,7 Ma e 43,5 Ma), à reativação do sistema de riftes nessa área. A dispersão de idades foi interpretada como efeito dos danos de radiação já que muitos grãos apresentam correlação entre idade e concentração de urânio (eU). Os padrões de tempo-temperatura (t-T), definidos a partir dos modelos HeFTy calibrados para o modelo de difusão que considera os efeitos de danos de radiação nos cristais, registraram eventos de resfriamento rápido, os quais mostram correlação direta com episódios de reativação e soerguimento na margem continental e com registros nas bacias continentais e marginais. O padrão de aumento das idades com a elevação, assim como da costa em direção ao interior é observado, mas mostra-se alterado pela ocorrência de idades mais jovens associadas à complexa evolução dessa margem continental com desnivelamentos de blocos vinculados à tectônica pós-rift, numa situação que ressalta a influência dos episódios de reativação. As estimativas de denudação total variam entre 1,2 e 2,8 km. As taxas de erosão variam entre 15,2 e 35,3 m/Ma. A evolução da área indica não apenas a influência de um evento específico mas, possivelmente, uma combinação de episódios que se alternaram e/ou atuaram em conjunto em determinados períodos. Os eventos de reativação mais antigos, combinados com os mais recentes, exibem os seus remanescentes na paisagem (serras da Mantiqueira e do Mar e os grábens e bacias sedimentares) e assumem papel fundamental na evolução da área. Os registros de tais episódios podem ser observados nas histórias térmicas das rochas e nos depósitos correlativos nas bacias sedimentares marginais e intracontinentais.

东喜马拉雅构造结新生代碰撞变形与岩石圈演化

The Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis (EHS) is one of the strongest deformation area along the Himalayan belt resulted from the collision between Indian plate and the Eurasian Plate since the 50～60Ma, and has sensitivity tracked and preserved the whole collisional processes. It should depend on the detail geological investigations to establish the deformational accommodate mode, and the uplift history, to elucidate the deep structure and the crust-mantle interaction of the Tibet Plateau of the EHS. The deep-seated (Main Mantle Thrusts) structures were exhumed in the EHS. The MMT juxtapose the Gangdese metamorphic basement and some relic of Gangdese mantle on the high Himalayan crystalline series. The Namjagbawa group which is 1200～1500Ma dated by U/Pb age of zircon and the Namla group which is 550Ma dated by U/Pb age of zircon is belong to High Himalayan crystalline series and Gangdese basement respectively. There is some ophiolitic relic along the MMT, such as metamorphic ocean mantle peridotite and metamorphic tholeiite of the upper part of ocean-crust. The metamorphic ocean mantle peridotites (spinel-orthopyroxene peridotite) show U type REE patterns. The ~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr ratios were, 0.709314～0.720788, and the ~(143)Nd/~(144)Nd ratios were 0.512073～0.512395, plotting in the forth quadrant on the ~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr-~(143)Nd/~(144)Nd isotope diagram. Some metamorphic basalt (garnet amphibolite) enclosures have been found in the HP garnet-kynite granulite. The garnet amphibolites can be divided two groups, the first group is deplete of LREE, and the second group is flat or rich LREE, and their ~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr, ~(143)Nd/~(144)Nd ratios were 0.70563～0.705381 and 0.512468～0.51263 respectively. Trace element and isotopic characteristics of the garnet amphibolites display that they formed in the E-MORB environment. Some phlogolite amphibole harzburgites, which exhibit extensive replacement by Phl, Amp, Tc and Dol etc, were exhumed along the MMT. The Phl-Amp harzburgites are rich in LREE and LILE, such as Rb, K etc, and depletes Eu (Eu~* = 0.36 ～ 0.68) and HFSE, such as Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf, P, Ti etc. The trace element indicate that the Phl-Amp harzburgites have island arc signature. Their ~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr are varied from 0.708912 to 0.879839, ~(143)Nd/~(144)Nd from 0.511993 to 0.512164, ε Nd from- 9.2 to - 12.6. Rb/Sr isochrone age of the phlogolite amphibole harzburgite shows the metasomatism took place at 41Ma, and the Amp ~(40)Ar/~(39)Ar cooling age indcate the Phl-Amp harzburgite raising at 16Ma. There is an intense crust shortening resulted from the thrust faults and folds in the Cayu block which is shortened more 120km than that of the Lasha block in 35～90Ma. With the NE corner of the India plate squash into the Gangdese arc, the sinistral Pai shear fault and the dextral Aniqiao shear fault on the both sides of the Great bent of Yalun Zangbu river come into active in 21～26Ma. On the other hand, the right-lateral Gongrigabu strike-slip faults come into activity at the same period, a lower age bound for the Gongrigabu strike-slip fault is estimated to be 23～24Ma from zircon of ion-probe U/Pb thermochronology. The Gongrigabu strike-slip faults connect with the Lhari strike-slip fault in the northwestern direction and with the Saganing strike-slip at the southeastern direction. Another important structure in the EHS is the Gangdese detachment fault system (GDS) which occurs between the sedimental cover and the metamorphic basement. The lower age of the GDS is to be 16Ma from the preliminary 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology of white mica. The GDS is thought to be related to the reverse of the subducted Indian crust and the fast uplift of the EHS. Structural and thermochronology investigation of the EHS suggest that the eastern Tibet and the western Yunnan rotated clockwise around the EHS in the period of 35～60Ma. Later, the large-scale strike-slip faults (RRD, Gaoligong and Saganing fault) prolongate into the EHS, and connect with the Guyu fault and Gongrigabu fault, which suggest that the Indianchia block escape along these faults. Two kind of magmatic rocks in the EHS have been investigated, one is the mantle-derived amphibole gabbro, dioposide diorite and amphibole diorite, another is crust origin biotit-garnet adamellite, biotit-garnet granodiorite and garnet-amphibole-biotite granite. The amphibole gabbro dioposite diorite and amphibole diorite are rich in LREE, and LILE, such as Ba, Rb, Th, K, Sr etc, depleted in HFSE, such as Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf, Ti etc. The ratio of ~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr are from 0.7044 to 0.7048, ~(143)Nd/~(144)Nd are from 0.5126 to 0.5127. The age of the mantle origin magamatic rocks, which result from the partial melt of the raising and decompression anthenosphere, is 8Ma by ~(40)Ar/~(39)Ar dating of amphibole from the diorite. The later crust origin biotite-garnet adamellite, biotite-garnet granodiorite and garnet-amphibole-biotite granite are characterized by aboudance in LREE, and strong depletion of Eu. The ratios of ~(87)Sr-~(86)Sr are from 0.795035 to 0.812028, ~(143)Nd/~(144)Nd from 0.51187 to 0.511901. The ~(40)Ar/~(39)Ar plateau age of the amphibole from the garnet-amphibole-biotite granite is 17.5±0.3Ma, and the isochrone age is 16.8±0.6Ma. Their geochemical characteristics show that the crust-derived magmatic rocks formed from partial melting of the lower curst in the post-collisional environment. A group of high-pressure kaynite-garnet granulites and enclave of high-pressure garnet-clinopyroxene grnulites and calc-silicate grnulites are outcroped along the MMT. The peak metamorphic condition of the high-pressure granulites yields T=800～960 ℃, P=1.4～1.8Gpa, corresponding the condition of 60km depth. The retrograde assemblages of the high-pressure grnulites occur at the condition of T=772.3～803.3 ℃, P=0.63～0.64Gpa. The age of the peak metamorphic assemblages are 45 ～ 69Ma indicated by the zircon U/Pb ion-plobe thermochronology, and the retrograde assemblage ages are 13～26Ma by U/Pb, ~(40)Ar/~(39)Ar thermochronology. The ITD paths of the high-pressure granulites show that they were generated during the tectonic thickening and more rapid tectonic exhumation caused by the subducting of the Indian plate and subsequent break-off of the subducted slab. A great deal of apatite, zircon and sphene fission-track ages, isotopic thermochronology of the rocks in the EHS show that its rapid raising processes of the EHS can be divided into three main periods. There are 35～60Ma, 13～25Ma, 0～3Ma. 3Ma is a turn in the course of raising in the EHS which is characterized by abruptly acceleration of uplifting. The uplift ratios are lower than 1mm .a~(-1) before 3Ma, and higher than 1mm .a~(-1) with a maximum ratio of 30mm .a~(-1) since 3Ma. The bottom (knick point) of the partial anneal belt is 3.8km above sea level in the EHS, and correspond to age of 3Ma determined by fission-track age of apatite. The average uplift ratio is about 1.4 mm .a~(-1) below the knick point. The EHS has raised 4.3km from the surface of 2.36km above sea level since 3Ma estimated by the fossil partial anneal belt of the EHS. We propose a two-stage subduction model (B+A model) basing on Structural, thermochronological, magmatical, metamorphic and geophysical investigations of the EHS. The first stage is the subduction of the Indian continental margin following after the subduction of the Tethys Ocean crust and subsequent collision with the Gangdese arc, and the second stage is the Indian crust injecting into the lower crust and upper mantle of the Tibet plateau. Slab break-off seems to be occurred between these two stages.

Conflicting structural and geochronological data from the Ibituruna quartz-syenite (SE Brazil): Effect of protracted ""hot"" orogeny and slow cooling rate?

The Ibituruna quartz-syenite was emplaced as a sill in the Ribeira-Aracuai Neoproterozoic belt (Southeastern Brazil) during the last stages of the Gondwana supercontinent amalgamation. We have measured the Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility (AMS) in samples from the Ibituruna sill to unravel its magnetic fabric that is regarded as a proxy for its magmatic fabric. A large magnetic anisotropy, dominantly due to magnetite, and a consistent magnetic fabric have been determined over the entire Ibituruna massif. The magmatic foliation and lineation are strikingly parallel to the solid-state mylonitic foliation and lineation measured in the country-rock. Altogether, these observations suggest that the Ibituruna sill was emplaced during the high temperature (similar to 750 degrees C) regional deformation and was deformed before full solidification coherently with its country-rock. Unexpectedly, geochronological data suggest a rather different conclusion. LA-ICP-MS and SHRIMP ages of zircons from the Ibituruna quartz-syenite are in the range 530-535 Ma and LA-ICP-MS ages of zircons and monazites from synkinematic leucocratic veins in the country-rocks suggest a crystallization at similar to 570-580 Ma, i.e., an HT deformation >35My older than the emplacement of the Ibituruna quartz-syenite. Conclusions from the structural and the geochronological studies are therefore conflicting. A possible explanation arises from (40)Ar-(39)Ar thermochronology. We have dated amphiboles from the quartz-syenite, and amphiboles and biotites from the country-rock. Together with the ages of monazites and zircons in the country-rock, (40)Ar-(39)Ar mineral ages suggest a very low cooling rate: <3 degrees C/My between 570 and similar to 500 Ma and similar to 5 degrees C/My between 500 and 460 Ma. Assuming a protracted regional deformation consistent over tens of My, under such stable thermal conditions the fabric and microstructure of deformed rocks may remain almost unchanged even if they underwent and recorded strain pulses separated by long periods of time. This may be a characteristic of slow cooling ""hot orogens"" that rocks deformed at significantly different periods during the orogeny, but under roughly unchanged temperature conditions, may display almost indiscernible microstructure and fabric. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.