Václav Kachlík

A plate-kinematic model for the assembly of the Bohemian Massif constrained by structural relationships around granitoid plutons

Abstract This paper summarizes the current knowledge on the nature, kinematics and timing of movement along major tectonic boundaries in the Bohemian Massif and demonstrates how the Variscan plutonism and deformation evolved in space and time. Four main episodes are recognized: (1) Late Devonian–early Carboniferous subduction and continental underthrusting of the Saxothuringian Unit beneath the Teplá–Barrandian Unit resulted in the orogen-perpendicular shortening and growth of an inboard magmatic arc during c. 354–346 Ma; (2) the subduction-driven shortening was replaced by collapse of the Teplá–Barrandian upper crust, exhumation of the high-grade (Moldanubian) core of the orogen at c. 346–337 Ma and by dextral strike-slip along orogen-perpendicular NW–SE shear zones; (3) following closure of a Rhenohercynian Ocean basin, the Brunia microplate was underthrust beneath the eastern flank of the Saxothuringian/Teplá–Barrandian/Moldanubian ‘assemblage’; this process commenced at c. 346 Ma in the NE and ceased at c. 335 Ma in the SW; and (4) late readjustments within the amalgamated Bohemian Massif included crustal exhumation and mainly S-type granite plutonism along the edge of the Brunia indentor at c. 330–327 Ma, and peripheral tectonothermal activity driven by strike-slip faulting and possibly mantle delamination around the consolidated Bohemian Massifs interior until late Carboniferous–earliest Permian times.

The Mariánské-Lázně Complex, NW Bohemian Massif: development and destruction of an early Palaeozoic seaway

Abstract The Mariánské-Lázně Complex is a Cambro-Ordovician terrane of oceanic affinity tectonically emplaced between the Saxothuringian Zone and Teplá-Barrandian Unit, NW Czech Republic. It forms a SE-dipping allochthonous body that comprises the largest contiguous exposure of metamorphosed basic and ultrabasic lithologies in the Bohemian Massif. Petrographic evidence indicates that a significant proportion of protoliths underwent eclogite facies metamorphism (570 to 720°C, 1.44 to 2.10 GPa), followed by an increase in temperature (up to around 800°C) and a subsequent widespread retrograde amphibolite facies event (550 to 680 °C, 0.75 to 1.20 GPa). New major and trace element geochemical analyses of metamorphosed basic and ultrabasic lithologies indicate that they exhibit geochemical characteristics attributable to a sea floor origin. The metabasites were generated at a spreading centre that interacted with deep-seated upwelling mantle asthenosphere. Separate, independently fractionating basic melt batches existed: these were derived from depleted and enriched asthenosphere and depleted sub-continental lithosphere sources. Geochemical correlation of the Mariánské-Lázně Complex with other early Palaeozoic metabasic provinces facilitates comparison of metabasic lithologies occurring in tectonically dislocated nappe pile thrust sheets, and allows delineation of important suture zones in the European Variscides.

Constraints on the origin of gabbroic rocks from the Moldanubian-Moravian units boundary (Bohemian Massif, Czech Republic and Austria)

Constraints on the origin of gabbroic rocks from the Moldanubian-Moravian units boundary (Bohemian Massif, Czech Republic and Austria) Gabbroic bodies from the Moldanubian Monotonous Group (Maříž) and the Moravian Vratěnín Unit (other sites), often showing retrogressive recrystallization at their margins in the amphibolite-facies grade, have norite, gabbronorite, gabbro and hornblendite compositions. Gabbros with preserved coronitic textures are limited to the Vratěnín Unit. The estimated equilibration temperatures derived from plagioclase-amphibole pairs and orthopyroxene Ca contents calculated for pressures 5-10 kbar overlap for coronitic (700-840 °C) and non-coronitic gabbroic rocks (680-850 °C). Although the Moldanubian (Maříž) gabbroic rocks are more Mg-rich compared to the Moravian gabbroids, they show crust-like La/Nb ratios of 2.1-6.6 characteristic of subduction-related magmatic rocks coupled with uniform low εNd values of + 0.6 to + 0.7. Apparent subduction-related features are probably caused by contamination by juvenile crust and/or by metamorphic fluid rich in incompatible elements during the Variscan metamorphism. Samples from Korolupy-Nonndorf and Mešovice have La/Nb ratios < 1.7 and show negative correlations between La/Nb and εNd. Such decoupling between La/Nb and εNd could be attributed to contamination of the subduction-related parent magma by crustal material with higher La/Nb and lower εNd values. Samples from Uherčice show ambiguous geochemical patterns inherited from contamination by very old recycled material. Gabbroic rocks from Maříž should represent an underplated, partly layered cumulate body of continental tholeiite composition, strongly influenced by crustal contamination. In contrast, gabbroic bodies from the Vratěnín Unit, having a close spatial relationship to the surrounding garnet amphibolites, were emplaced into a lithologically variable passive margin sequence probably during the Cadomian extension.