Jarosław Majka

The Grenville-Sveconorwegian orogen in the high Arctic

Throughout the high Arctic, from northern Canada (Pearya) to eastern Greenland, Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya, Taimyr and Severnaya Zemlya and, at lower Arctic latitudes, in the Urals and the Scandinavian Caledonides, there is evidence of the Grenville–Sveconorwegian Orogen. The latest orogenic phase ( c . 950 Ma) is well exposed in the Arctic, but only minor Mesoproterozoic fragments of this orogen occur on land. However, detrital zircons in Neoproterozoic and Palaeozoic successions provide unambiguous Mesoproterozoic to earliest Neoproterozoic ( c . 950 Ma) signatures. This evidence strongly suggests that the Grenville–Sveconorwegian Orogen continues northwards from type areas in southeastern Canada and southwestern Scandinavia, via the North Atlantic margins to the high Arctic continental shelves. The widespread distribution of late Mesoproterozoic detrital zircons far to the north of the Grenville–Sveconorwegian type areas is usually explained in terms of long-distance transport (thousands of kilometres) of either sediments by river systems from source to sink, or of slices of lithosphere (terranes) moved on major transcurrent faults. Both of these interpretations involve much greater complexity than the hypothesis favoured here, the former involving recycling of the zircons from the strata of initial deposition into those of their final residence and the latter requiring a diversity of microcontinents. Neither explains either the fragmentary evidence for the presence of Grenville–Sveconorwegian terranes in the high Arctic, or the composition of the basement of the continental shelves. The presence of the Grenville–Sveconorwegian Orogen in the Arctic, mainly within the hinterland and margins of the Caledonides and Timanides, has profound implications not only for the reconstructions of the Rodinia supercontinent in early Neoproterozoic time, but also the origin of these Neoproterozoic and Palaeozoic mountain belts.

Subduction along and within the Baltoscandian margin during closing of the Iapetus Ocean and Baltica-Laurentia collision

The recent discovery of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) mineral parageneses in the far-transported (greater than 400 km) Seve Nappe Complex of the Swedish Caledonides sheds new light on the subduction system that dominated the contracting Baltoscandian margin of continental Baltica during the Ordovician and culminated in collision with Laurentia in the Silurian to Early Devonian. High-grade metamorphism of this Neoproterozoic to Cambrian rifted, extended, dike-intruded outer-margin assemblage started in the Early Ordovician and may have continued, perhaps episodically, until collision of the continents at the end of this period. The recent discovery of UHP kyanite eclogite in northern Jamtland (west-central Sweden) yields evidence of metamorphism at depths of 100 km. Although UHP rocks are only locally preserved from retrogression during the long-distance transport onto the Baltoscandian platform, these high-pressure parageneses indicate that deep subduction played an important role in the tectonothermal history of the complex. Based on existing isotopic age data, this UHP metamorphism occurred in the Late Ordovician, shortly before, or during, the initial collision between the continents (Scandian orogeny). In some central parts of the complex, migmatization and hot extrusion occurred in the Early Silurian, giving way to thrust emplacement across the Baltoscandian foreland basin and platform that continued into the Early Devonian. Identification of HP/UHP metamorphism at different levels within the Scandian allochthons, definition of their pressure-temperature-time paths, and recognition of their vast transport distances are essential for an understanding of the deeper structural levels of the orogen in the hinterland (e.g., the Western Gneiss Region), where the attenuated units were reworked together during the Early Devonian.

Late Neoproterozoic amphibolite-facies metamorphism of a pre-Caledonian basement block in southwest Wedel Jarlsberg Land, Spitsbergen: new evidence from U-Th-Pb dating of monazite

Abstract – Southwest Spitsbergen, Wedel Jarlsberg Land, consists of two Proterozoic crustalblocks with differing metamorphic histories. Both blocks experienced Caledonian greenschist-faciesmetamorphism, but only the southern block records an earlier pervasive M1 amphibolite-faciesmetamorphism and strong deformational fabri c. In situ EMPA total-Pb monazite geochronologyfrom both matrix and porphyroblast inclusion results indicate that the older M1 metamorphismoccurred at 643 ±9 Ma, consistent with published cooling ages of c . 620 Ma (hornblende) and580 Ma (mica) obtained from these same rocks. This region thus contains a lithostratigraphic profileand metamorphic history which are unique within the Svalbard Archipelago. Documentation of apervasive late Neoproterozoic Barrovian metamorphism is difficult to reconcile with a quiescent non-tectonic regime typically inferred for this region, based on the occurrence of rift-drift sequences onthe Baltic and Laurentian passive margins. Instead, our new metamorphic age implies an exotic originof the pre-Devonian basement exposed in SW Spitsbergen and supports models of terrane assemblypostulated for the Svalbard Archipelago.Keywords: Svalbard, Caledonides, terranes, geochronology, tectonics.

The Baltoscandian margin detrital zircon signatures of the central Scandes

Abstract In central parts of the Scandinavian Caledonides, detrital zircon signatures provide evidence of the change in character of the Baltoscandian crystalline basement, from the characteristic Late Palaeoproterozoic granites of the Transscandinavian Igneous Belt (TIB, c. 1650–1850 Ma) in the foreland Autochthon to the typical, mainly Mesoproterozoic-age profile (c. 950–1700 Ma) of the Sveconorwegian Orogen of southwestern Scandinavia in the hinterland. Late Ediacaran to Early Cambrian shallow-marine Vemdal quartzites of the Jämtlandian Nappes (Lower Allochthon) provide strong bimodal signatures with TIB (1700–1800 Ma) and Sveconorwegian, sensu stricto (900–1150 Ma) ages dominant. Mid-Ordovician turbidites (Norråker Formation) of the Lower Allochthon in Sweden, sourced from the west, have unimodal signatures dominated by Sveconorwegian ages with peaks at 1000–1100 Ma, but with subordinate components of older Mesoproterozoic zircons (1200–1650 Ma). Latest Ordovician shallow-marine quartzites also yield bimodal signatures, but are more dispersed than in the Vemdal quartzites. In the greenschist facies lower parts of the Middle Allochthon, the Fuda (Offerdal Nappe) and Särv Nappe signatures are either unimodal or bimodal (950–1100 and/or 1700–1850 Ma), with variable dominance of the younger or older group, and subordinate other Mesoproterozoic components. In the overlying, amphibolite to eclogite facies lower part of the Seve Nappe Complex, where the metasediments are dominated by feldspathic quartzites, calcsilicate-rich psammites and marbles, most units have bimodal signatures similar to the Särv Nappes, but more dispersed; one has a unimodal signature very similar to the Ordovician turbidites of the Jämtlandian Nappes. In the overlying Upper Allochthon, Lower Köli (Baltica-proximal, Virisen Terrane), Late Ordovician quartzites provide unimodal signatures dominated by Sveconorwegian ages (sensu stricto). Further north in the Scandes, previously published zircon signatures in quartzites of the Lower Allochthon are similar to the Vemdal quartzites in Jämtland. Data from the Kalak Nappes at 70°N are in no way exotic to the Sveconorwegian Baltoscandian margin. They do show a Timanian influence (ages of c. 560–610 Ma), as would be expected from the palinspastic reconstructions of the nappes. Thus the detrital zircon signatures reported here and published elsewhere provide supporting evidence for a continuation northwards of the Sveconorwegian Orogen in the Neoproterozoic, from type areas in the south, along the Baltoscandian margin of Baltica into the high Arctic. Supplementary material: LA-ICP-MS U–Pb analyses are available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18699.

A strike-slip terrane boundary in Wedel Jarlsberg Land, Svalbard, and its bearing on correlations of SW Spitsbergen with the Pearya terrane and Timanide belt

Abstract: Southwest Spitsbergen, Wedel Jarlsberg Land, consists of two Proterozoic terranes with differing structural and metamorphic histories. The northern terrane experienced two Early Palaeozoic deformation events both accompanied by greenschist-facies metamorphism of similar grade. The southern terrane records a Neoproterozoic pervasive amphibolite-facies metamorphism and strong deformational fabric only locally retrogressed during a Caledonian greenschist-grade event. These terranes are separated by an important sinistral ductile shear zone defined as the Vimsodden–Kosibapasset zone, which comprises wrench- and contraction-dominated domains characteristic of strain partitioning in transpression zones; in this case apparently controlled by contrasting rheologies of the juxtaposed crustal domains. The northern terrane of Wedel Jarlsberg Land shares affinities with Pearya in northern Ellesmere Island of Arctic Canada whereas the southern one resembles the Timanide belt of NE Europe. A quantitative approach facilitated by a numerical plate model demonstrates that correlation with Pearya is feasible if sinistral displacement of c. 600 km occurred during the Caledonian orogeny. The correlation with the Timanides is valid if the southern terrane represents an outlier of the Timanide belt separated from Baltica by the opening of the Iapetus Ocean.

Microdiamond discovered in the Seve Nappe (Scandinavian Caledonides) and its exhumation by the “vacuum-cleaner” mechanism

When a continent collides with an island arc or other continent, continental crust of the subducted continent may be buried to depths exceeding 100 km, and exposed to pressures that can cause formation of coesite and diamond. This process leads to substantial density increase in SiO2-rich rocks and, in turn, to a reduction of the buoyancy of the subducted material, which should inhibit exhumation. Nevertheless, coesite- and diamond-bearing continental crustal rocks are known from several occurrences worldwide. We report on the discovery of microdiamond in kyanite-garnet gneiss from allochthonous metasediments of the Seve Nappe Complex in the Scandinavian Caledonides. Our discovery calls for general reconsideration of existing exhumation models of deeply subducted continental crust. We propose that the diamond-bearing rocks were subducted in an arc-continent collision setting, and their exhumation was facilitated by local pressure reduction resulting from extraction of the forearc lithospheric block.

Fluorapatite-monazite-allanite relations in the Grängesberg apatite-iron oxide ore district, Bergslagen, Sweden

Abstract Fluorapatite-monazite-xenotime-allanite mineralogy, petrology, and textures are described for a suite of Kiruna-type apatite-iron oxide ore bodies from the Grängesberg Mining District in the Bergslagen ore province, south central Sweden. Fluorapatite occurs in three main lithological assemblages. These include: (1) the apatite-iron oxide ore bodies, (2) breccias associated with the ore bodies, which contain fragmented fluorapatite crystals, and (3) the variably altered host rocks, which contain sporadic, isolated fluorapatite grains or aggregates that are occasionally associated with magnetite in the silicate mineral matrix. Fluorapatite associated with the ore bodies is often zoned, with the outer rim enriched in Y+REE compared to the inner core. It contains sparse monazite inclusions. In the breccia, fluorapatite is rich in monazite-(Ce) ± xenotime-(Y) inclusions, especially in its cores, along with reworked, larger monazite grains along fluorapatite and other mineral grain rims. In the host rocks, a small subset of the fluorapatite grains contain monazite ± xenotime inclusions, while the large majority are devoid of inclusions. Overall, these monazites are relatively poor in Th and U. Allanite-(Ce) is found as inclusions and crack fillings in the fluorapatite from all three assemblage types as well as in the form of independent grains in the surrounding silicate mineral matrix in the host rocks. The apatite-iron oxide ore bodies are proposed to have an igneous, sub-volcanic origin, potentially accompanied by explosive eruptions, which were responsible for the accompanying fluorapatite-rich breccias. Metasomatic alteration of the ore bodies probably began during the later stages of crystallization from residual, magmatically derived HCl- and H2SO4-bearing fluids present along grain boundaries. This was most likely followed by fluid exchange between the ore and its host rocks, both immediately after emplacement of the apatite-iron oxide body, and during subsequent phases of regional metamorphism and deformation.

Tectonometamorphic evolution of the Åreskutan Nappe–Caledonian history revealed by SIMS U–Pb zircon geochronology

Abstract Secondary ionization mass spectrometry (SIMS) U–Pb dating of zircons from the Åreskutan Nappe in the central part of the Seve Nappe Complex of western central Jämtland provides new constraints on the timing of granulite–amphibolite-facies metamorphism and tectonic stacking of the nappe during the Caledonian orogeny. Peak-temperature metamorphism in garnet migmatites is constrained to c. 442±4 Ma, very similar to the ages of leucogranites at 442±3 and 441±4 Ma. Within a migmatitic amphibolite, felsic segregations crystallized at 436±2 Ma. Pegmatites, cross-cutting the dominant Caledonian foliation in the Nappe, yield 428±4 and 430±3 Ma ages. The detrital zircon cores in the migmatites and leucogranites provide evidence of Late Palaeoproterozoic, Mesoproterozoic to Early Neoproterozoic source terranes for the metasedimentary rocks. The formation of the ductile and hot Seve migmatites, with their inverted metamorphism and thinning towards the hinterland, can be explained by an extrusion model in which the allochthon stayed ductile for a period of at least 10 million years during cooling from peak-temperature metamorphism early in the Silurian. In our model, Baltica–Laurentia collision occurred in the Late Ordovician–earliest Silurian, with emplacement of the nappes far on to the Baltoscandian platform during the Silurian and early Devonian, Scandian Orogeny lasting until c. 390 Ma.

Pressure–temperature estimates on the Tjeliken eclogite: new insights into the (ultra)-high-pressure evolution of the Seve Nappe Complex in the Scandinavian Caledonides

Abstract The metamorphic evolution of the Tjeliken eclogite, occurring within the Seve Nappe Complex of northern Jämtland (Swedish Caledonides), is presented here. The prograde part of the pressure and temperature (P–T) path is inferred from the mineral inclusions (pargasitic amphibole) in garnet and intracrystalline garnet exsolutions in omphacite. Peak metamorphic conditions of 25–26 kbar at 650–700 °C are constrained from geothermobarometry for the peak-pressure assemblage garnet+omphacite+phengite+quartz+rutile, using the garnet–clinopyroxene Fe–Mg exchange thermometer in combination with the net-transfer reaction (6 diopside+3 muscovite=3 celadonite +2 grossular+pyrope) geobarometer, the average P–T method of Thermocalc and pseudosection modelling. Quartz inclusions with well-developed radial cracks were identified within omphacite, which suggest that the studied rock could have been buried down to the coesite stability field. Post-peak P–T evolution is inferred from diopside–plagioclase symplectites and amphibole coronas around garnet. Previous studies in northern Jämtland suggest a substantial gap between the P–T conditions of the Lower and Middle Seve nappes: 14–16 kbar and 550–680 °C and 20–30 kbar and 700–800 °C, respectively. The Tjeliken eclogite has been considered previously to be a part of Lower Seve by most authors, but the new P–T data suggest that it may be an isolated klippe of Middle Seve.

Pressure–temperature evolution of a kyanite–garnet pelitic gneiss from Åreskutan: evidence of ultra-high-pressure metamorphism of the Seve Nappe Complex, west-central Jämtland, Swedish Caledonides

Abstract New evidence is presented for ultra-high-pressure metamorphism of kyanite–garnet pelitic gneiss in the Åreskutan Nappe of the Seve Nappe Complex, in the central part of the Scandinavian Caledonides. Modelled phase equilibria for a peak pressure assemblage garnet+phengite+kyanite+quartz (coesite) in the NCKFMMnASH system record pressure and temperature conditions of c. 26–32 kbar at 700–720 °C, possibly up to ultra-high-pressure conditions. Subsequent decompression, simultaneous with an increase of temperature to c. 800–820 °C, led to partial melting largely owing to the dehydration and breakdown of phengite. Based on existing isotope age data, we conclude that the Middle Seve Nappe in central Jämtland experienced deep subduction in the late(st) Ordovician, prior to decompression and partial melting of the pelitic protoliths during Early Silurian extrusion, giving way in the Mid to Late Silurian to thrusting on to the Baltoscandian platform. Nappe emplacement probably continued into and through the Early Devonian.