Aurélien Rabillard

Interactions between plutonism and detachments during Metamorphic Core Complex formation, Serifos Island (Cyclades, Greece)

In order to better understand the interactions between plutonic activity and strain localization during metamorphic core complexes formation the Miocene granodioritic pluton of Serifos (Cyclades, Greece) is studied. This pluton (11.6-9.5 Ma) intruded the Cycladic Blueschists during thinning of the Aegean domain along a system of low-angle normal faults belonging to the south-dipping West Cycladic Detachment System (WCDS). Based on structural fieldwork, together with microstructural observations and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS), we recognize a continuum of deformation from magmatic to brittle conditions within the magmatic body. This succession of deformation events is kinematically compatible with the development of the WCDS. The architecture of the pluton shows a marked asymmetry resulting from its interaction with the detachments. We propose a tectonic scenario for the emplacement of Serifos pluton and its subsequent cooling during the Aegean extension. (1) A first stage corresponds to the metamorphic core complex initiation and associated southwestward shearing along the Meghalo Livadhi detachment. (2) In a second stage the Serifos pluton has intruded the dome at shallow crustal level, piercing through the ductile/brittle Meghalo Livadhi detachment. Southwest-directed extensional deformation was contemporaneously transferred upward in the crust along the more localized Kavos Kiklopas detachment. (3) A third stage was marked by syn-magmatic extensional deformation and strain localization at the contact between the pluton and the host rocks resulting in narrow shear zones nucleation which (4) continued to develop after the pluton solidification.

Synextensional Granitoids and Detachment Systems Within Cycladic Metamorphic Core Complexes (Aegean Sea, Greece): Toward a Regional Tectonomagmatic Model

Within deforming continental regions where metamorphic core complexes (MCCs) and synextensional granitoids are closely associated, deciphering the link between detachment faulting and magmatism often remains complex as (1) the rheological weakness of magma may stimulate mechanisms of strain localization, and conversely, (2) tectonic processes may open/close drains where magmas can intrude. Here we tackle this issue by focusing on the Cyclades with the comparison of five granitoid-cored MCCs (Tinos, Mykonos, Ikaria, Naxos, and Serifos) and their flanking detachment systems. In this region, granitoids were emplaced into the middle/upper crust over a relatively short time period (15–9 Ma), while metamorphic domes were largely exhumed after more than 10 Myr of extension. None of those intrusions thereby proves to be a real candidate for the genesis of MCCs but would rather be a consequence of a warmer regime during lithospheric thinning. However, all collected structural and kinematic data converge toward a regional scheme in which magmatic activity played a more pivotal role than previously postulated. Indeed, late evolution stages of MCCs were dynamically impacted by intrusions along which local and transient heterogeneities of the mechanical strength occurred, interfering with the sequential development of detachments. During their tectonically controlled emplacement, magmatic products intruded already formed detachments at depth, locally inhibiting their activity, associated with a contemporaneous upward migration of extensional deformation that tended to localize through time within intrusion roofs along rheological discontinuities. The newly formed detachments are expressed within granitoids through a continuum of deformation from comagmatic to ductile conditions, followed by cataclasis along detachments.

STRAIN LOCALIZATION WITHIN A SYN-TECTONIC INTRUSION IN A BACK-ARC EXTENSIONAL CONTEXT: the Naxos monzogranite (Greece): STRAIN LOCALIZATION IN THE NAXOS PLUTON

Although fundamental to the understanding of crustal dynamics in extensional setting, the relationships between the emplacement of granitic intrusions and activity of detachments still remain very elusive. Through a multi-scale approach, we here document a continuous deformation history between the monzogranitic intrusion of Naxos and the Naxos-Paros Detachment System (Cyclades, Greece). Field observations first show an early magmatic deformation followed by solid-state, ductile and then brittle deformation when approaching the detachment zone, as evidenced by the overprinting of mylonites by cataclastes and pseudotachylites. From these observations, we define six strain facies that characterize a positive strain gradient from core to rim of the Naxos monzogranite. Based on field pictures, X-ray tomography and Electron BackScatter Diffraction (EBSD) analyses along the strain gradient, we then quantify the intensity of mineralogical fabrics in 2D and 3D and better characterize the deformation mechanisms. Our measured shape variations of the strain ellipsoid corroborate the large-scale strain gradient, showing a good correlation between qualitative and quantitative studies. In addition, EBSD data indicate that dislocation creep was predominant during cooling from more than 500°C to temperature conditions of the ductile-to-brittle transition. However, 1) a weakening of quartz lattice preferred orientation with increasing strain and 2) evidence of numerous four-grain junctions in high-strain shear bands also indicate that grain boundary sliding significantly contributed to the deformation. Although the source of grain boundary sliding remains to be constrained, it provides a consistent approach to account for strain localization in Naxos.