Jacobo Abati

Variscan accretionary complex of northwest Iberia:Terrane correlation and succession of tectonothermal events

The allochthonous terranes of northwest Iberia can be correlated with specific paleogeographic realms of the continental masses and intervening oceans involved in the Variscan collision. Assuming that the existing ophiolites represent the suture formed by the closure of the Rheic ocean, the units in the footwall to the suture correspond to the outer edge of the Gondwana continental margin, and the units in the hanging wall are interpreted as fragments of the conjugate margin, represented by the Meguma terrane. This correlation establishes a precise link between circum-Atlantic terranes, and makes it possible to draw a relatively simple scenario of the successive tectonothermal events recorded. Following the amalgamation of Avalon to Laurentia, the remaining outboard terranes underwent a progressive accretion to this continent that ended with the collision between Laurentia and Gondwana.

Variscan exhumation of a subducted Paleozoic continental margin: The basal units of the Ordenes Complex, Galicia, NW Spain

A structural and metamorphic study was carried out in the basal units of the Ordenes Complex in Spain, thought to represent a subducted part of the Paleozoic margin of Gondwana. According to their metamorphic evolution, this part of the margin was subducted at the onset of the Variscan Orogeny, becoming part of an accretionary complex developed below a colliding element built previously. Variations in the PT conditions of the first high-pressure metamorphic event along the units indicate a polarity of the subduction to the west. Subsequent underthrusting of more continental material blocked the subduction and triggered the ascent and exhumation of the basal units, whereas the convergence continued. Recumbent folds and thrusts developed along with successive normal detachments. Compressional and extensional structures were synchronous or alternated in time and together induced the thinning and tapering of the orogenic wedge and its lateral spreading. The unroofing took place locally under an inverted temperature gradient caused by a detachment which carried a part of the hot mantle wedge above the subduction zone over the subducted units.

Early Ordovician orogenic event in Galicia (NW Spain): evidence from U–Pb ages in the uppermost unit of the Ordenes Complex

New U–Pb data (zircon, monazite and rutile) obtained from rocks of the uppermost allochthon in the Variscan belt of NW Spain indicate that the hangingwall to the suture includes an allochthonous unit with a pre-Variscan tectonothermal evolution. This evolution is characterised by an Early Ordovician (498–500 Ma) bimodal magmatism followed almost immediately (493–498 Ma) by a Barrovian style metamorphism up to the granulite facies. The metamorphism subsequent to the igneous intrusions requires convergence and crustal thickening in order to generate the Barrovian facies pattern shown by the lithologies of the uppermost allochthon. The almost coeval magmatism and metamorphism, and the chemistry of the metabasites suggest an accretionary complex, probably related to a volcanic arc, as the most probable setting for the origin of the uppermost unit. The implications of the existence of Early Ordovician convergent plate boundaries are discussed in the context of Gondwana–Laurentia–Avalon interactions.

Magmatism and early-Variscan continental subduction in the northern Gondwana margin recorded in zircons from the basal units of Galicia, NW Spain

In situ uranium-lead dating (LA-SF-ICPMS and SIMS) and Lu-Hf isotope analyses (LA-MC-ICP-MS) of zircon from eclogite facies rocks from the basal units of the Variscan Belt in Galicia constrain their magmatic and metamorphic evolution and give some clues about the nature and origin of the involved basement. The samples studied are two felsic gneisses, two eclogites, and one eclogitic gneiss of intermediate composition (metatonalite). Oscillatory-zoned zircon cores from the felsic samples gave a main clustering of U-Pb ages at 493 ± 2 and 494 ± 2 Ma, and some older ages that represent inherited cores. Zircon grains from the intermediate and one of the mafi c rocks show no inherited cores and yielded ages of 494 ± 3 and 498 ± 6 Ma, respectively, interpreted as time of protolith crystallization. Variably developed homogeneous zircon rims in one felsic gneiss yielded an age of 372 ± 3 Ma, and very tiny zircons of one eclogite gave 350 ± 2 Ma, both of which we interpret as metamorphic ages. The new age data demonstrate that the calc-alkaline magmatic suite described in the basal unit is ca. 20 Ma older than the alkaline to peralkaline plutonic suite of the same unit (dated at 472 ± 2 Ma; Rodriguez et al., 2007), and thus probably represents a distinct geologic event. Overgrowth rims are interpreted as metamorphic on the basis of their Lu/Hf and Th/U ratios. The 372 ± 3 age is considered as dating the high-pressure (high-P) metamorphism, and is essentially in agreement with previous Ar-Ar and Rb-Sr data. This high-P metamorphism marks the initial early-Variscan subduction of the Gondwana margin. The inherited zircon ages and Hf isotopic composition of zircons point to a considerable input of crustal material with West African Craton provenance to the felsic magma.

Correlation of the nappe stack in the Ibero-Armorican arc across the Bay of Biscay: a joint French–Spanish project

Abstract A correlation between allochthonous units exposed in the NW Iberian Massif and the southern Armorican Massif is carried out based on lithological associations, structural position, age and geochemistry of protoliths and tectonometamorphic evolution. The units on both sides of the Bay of Biscay are grouped into Upper, Middle and Lower allochthons, whereas an underlying allochthonous thrust sheet identified in both massifs is referred to as the Parautochthon. The Lower Allochthon represents a fragment of the outermost edge of Gondwana that underwent continental subduction shortly after the closure of a Palaeozoic ocean which, in turn, is represented by the Middle Allochthon. The latter consists of supra-subduction ophiolites and metasedimentary sequences alternating with basic, mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB)-type volcanics, with inheritances suggesting the proximity of a continental domain. Seafloor spreading began at the Cambro-Ordovician boundary and oceanic crust was still formed during the Late Devonian, covering the lifetime of the Rheic Ocean, which is possibly represented by the Middle Allochthon. The opening of the oceanic domain was related to pulling apart the peri-Gondwanan continental magmatic arc, which is represented by the Upper Allochthon.

Thrust and detachment systems in the Ordenes Complex (northwestern Spain): Implications for the Variscan-Appalachian geodynamics

The allochthonous complexes of northwestern Iberia consist of a pile of units of Gondwanan and peri-Gondwanan provenance, and include oceanic lithosphere. The units are classiµed into upper, intermediate (ophiolitic), and basal. We present a detailed geological map and sections across the Ordenes Complex, together with a brief description of its units and a discussion of its structures. In the upper units, two complete cycles of burial and exhumation have been identiµed. The µrst cycle, of Early Ordovician age, records a convergent plate margin, possibly in a peri-Gondwanan domain. The second is Variscan, and the structural evolution of the three groups of allochthonous units re×ects progressive accretion to an active orogenic wedge. Continuous understacking of continental and oceanic fragments toward the west began with the upper units and ended with the basal units. The latter represent the outermost margin of Gondwana, and their subduction marked the closure of the intervening ocean, and the change from subduction to a collisional regime. Terrane accretion took place in the Devonian and, during the Late Devonian and the Carboniferous, the deformation progressed inboard of the Gondwana margin. Variscan emplacement of the allochthonous units occurred in two successive thrusting episodes. The µrst placed the basal units over the sedimentary cover of the Gondwana margin in what seems to follow a normal sequence of thrusting. The second carried the upper and ophiolitic units on top of the previous nappe pile and has an out-of-sequence character. A possible correlation of the Early Ordovician convergence, early Variscan accretion, subsequent oceanic closure, continent-continent collision, and renewed thrust activity during the late Carboniferous in northwestern Iberia is established with the Taconian, Acadian, and Alleghanian orogenies in the Appalachians.

P-T evolution of eclogites from the Agualada Unit (Ordenes Complex, northwest Iberian Massif, Spain): Implications for crustal subduction

Abstract Eclogite lenses in the Agualada Unit (western Ordenes Complex, Spain) contain the peak mineral assemblage garnet (prograde rim: Alm = 48 mol%, Prp = 30 mol%), omphacite (Jd max = 36 mol%), quartz, rutile and rare zoisite, which equilibrated at T = 700 °C and P > 12–14 kbar. Garnet shows discontinuous growth zoning, with a pyrope-poor intermediate zone (Alm = 51 mol%, Prp = 10 mol%) between a core zone where pyrope is slightly higher (Alm = 46 mol%, Prp = 16 mol%) and areas just inward from the rims where the maximum pyrope contents (Alm = 48 mol%, Prp = 30 mol%) are recorded. In atoll interiors, garnet contains inclusions of a first generation of omphacite (Jd max = 40 mol%). This omphacite is replaced in the matrix by a second generation (Jd max = 36 mol%) with higher Fe/Fe + Mg ratio. The compositions of garnet and omphacite suggest a complex syneclogitic tectonothermal evolution for the Agualada Unit, characterized by: (1) eclogite-facies metamorphism ( T = 585 °C, P > 12–13 kbar), followed by (2) cooling during a slight decompression ( T = 500 °C, P > 11–12 kbar), and (3) a final increase in P and T to form the garnet rim-matrix omphacite mineral assemblage. The Agualada Unit is part of a subduction complex which affected the Gondwana margin at the beginning of the Variscan cycle. The P-T evolution of the Agualada eclogites is closely related to the structural evolution of the accretionary complex and the whole orogenic wedge. The cooling event recorded by the Agualada eclogites may have resulted from the accretion of a new colder crustal slice under the unit, whereas the final progradation reflects the emplacement of the Agualada Unit directly under the mantle wedge. This evolution fits well with previously presented the retical models, both for the tectonothermal evolution of accretionary complexes and for the dynamic evolution of orogenic wedges. P-T paths such as the one for the Agualada Unit eclogites, probably reflect a prolonged structural evolution. Although evidently rarely preserved, such paths are probably the rule rather than the exception during plate convergence.

40Ar/39Ar laserprobe dating of mylonitic fabrics in a polyorogenic terrane of NW Iberia

The tectonothermal evolution of a polyorogenic terrane in the Variscan belt of NW Spain has been constrained by 40Ar/39Ar laserprobe incremental heating experiments on mylonitic fabrics developed in major structures. Transitional levels between HP–HT and IP upper units in the Órdenes Complex where metamorphic and structural records demonstrate two cycles of burial and exhumation were selected for dating. Two groups of ages have been defined: (1) Silurian–Early Devonian, obtained from mylonites of the Fornás extensional detachment, here considered as the minimum age for the start of tectonic exhumation of the HP–HT units and an upper age-limit for the HP–HT event itself; (2) Early to Mid-Devonian, from structures related to the Variscan convergence in the area, which include top-to-the-east thrusts and extensional detachments. A single, younger Carboniferous age obtained from the uppermost allochthonous sequences possibly reflects the final stages of emplacement of the allochthonous complexes. Our data indicate a polyorogenic character for a part of the Iberian allochthonous complexes, including Variscan (sensu stricto) and Early Variscan convergence, as well as an older, Early Palaeozoic cycle.

Tectonic setting of the Monte Castelo gabbro (Ordenes Complex, northwestern Iberian Massif): Evidence for an arc-related terrane in the hanging wall to the Variscan suture

The Ordenes Complex is the largest of the allochthonous assemblages containing the Variscan suture in the northwestern Iberian Massif. Its uppermost tectonostrati-graphic unit overlies the ophiolitic units, and consists of a thick metasedimentary sequence, the Ordenes Series, intruded by orthogneisses and gabbros. In the lower part of the Ordenes Series, the large Monte Castelo gabbro (∼150 km 2 ) is surrounded by high-grade migmatitic paragneisses. Several shear zones cutting across the gabbro massif depict intermediate-pressure granulite facies, indicating a metamorphic evolution common with the surrounding paragneisses. Recent U-Pb geochronological data prove that the main tectonothermal evolution of the Ordenes Series took place in Late Cambrian-Early Ordovician time. These data suggest that the intrusion of the Monte Castelo gabbro (499 ± 2 Ma; U-Pb in zircons) was immediately followed by a Barrov-ian metamorphic episode that reached the granulite facies (493-498 Ma; U-Pb in monazites). A later Variscan overprint is indicated by U-Pb rutile ages of 380-390 Ma. Considering the geochronological evidence for almost coeval magmatism and metamorphism during the Early Ordovician, together with the geochemical characteristics of the Monte Castelo gabbro, an accretionary complex related to a Late Cambrian-Early Ordovician island arc appears as the more probable setting for the uppermost allochthonous terrane in the northwest of the Iberian Massif. This implies the presence of a convergent plate boundary in the oceanic realm between Laurentia and Gondwana, or close to it, during the early Paleozoic. The island arc later became involved in the Variscan convergence and accretion.

U-Pb detrital zircon analysis of the lower allochthon of NW Iberia: age constraints, provenance and links with the Variscan mobile belt and Gondwanan cratons

Detrital U–Pb laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry zircon ages from six siliciclastic samples from the lower allochthon of NW Iberia are analysed to constrain their maximum sedimentation age and provenance, and to evaluate the connections to the adjacent tectonostratigraphic domains. Deposited in the external sections of the Gondwana platform, their maximum depositional age is latest Neoproterozoic (c. 560 Ma). Comparison of the age populations of the lower allochthon with those of the rest of the allochthonous and autochthonous units of NW Iberia suggests that the terranes located in the footwall of the Variscan suture should not be considered as exotic elements, but as contiguous pieces of the same continental margin transported onto the adjacent Gondwana mainland in Variscan times. The data are in agreement with the regional trend defined by the drop in Early Neoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic zircon content upward in the tectonic pile, which had been previously proposed as a marker of proximity to the eastern part of the West African Craton. Based on the age spectra, the palaeoposition for the time of sedimentation is placed in northern Africa, between the West African and Saharan cratons. Particular attention is paid to the occurrence of an Early Neoproterozoic input, probably derived from the Pan-African Hoggar suture. Supplementary materials: Isotope ratios and ages for the selected analyses are available at www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18548.