This study focuses on the status of the Makrotantalon Unit (Andros, Greece) within the framework of the Cycladic nappe stack. We document unambiguous evidence that this unit has experienced blueschist-facies metamorphism and identify previously unknown lawsonite ± pumpellyite assemblages in glaucophane-free metasediments. The position of the presumed tectonic contact at the base of this unit is vague, but roughly outlined by serpentinites. Only a single outcrop displays a weak angular unconformity with cohesive cataclasites in the footwall. Rb-Sr geochronology was carried out on 11 samples representing various rock types collected within or close to inferred or visible fault zones. Owing to a lack of initial isotopic equilibration and/or subsequent disturbance of the Rb-Sr isotope systematics, isochron relationships are poorly developed or non-existing. In NW Andros, direct dating of distinct displacement events has not been possible, but a lower age limit of ß 40 Ma for final thrusting is constrained by the new data. Sporadically preserved Cretaceous ages either indicate regional differences in the P-T-d history or a different duration of metamorphic overprinting, which failed to completely eliminate inherited ages. The detachment on the NE coast records a later stage of the structural evolution and accommodates extension-related deformation. Apparent ages of ß 29-25 Ma for samples from this location are interpreted to constrain the time of a significant deformation increment. On a regional scale, the Makrotantalon Unit can be correlated with the South Evia Blueschist Belt, but assignment to a specific subunit is as yet unconfirmed.
Figure DR1. The outcrops of the Precambrian strata in South China and locations of the Jiangjunshan and Eshan sections. Modified from (Wang and Li, 2003). Cryogenian successions in the Yangtze block are highly variable in both stratigraphic thickness and completeness (Zhang et al., 2011). In the depocenter of the rift basin (e.g., the Sanjiang section bordering western Hunan, eastern Guizhou, and
Non-cumulate eucrites represent basaltic crust that experienced a complex thermal history involving multistage metamorphism and metasomatism, probably on asteroid Vesta. To better constrain the thermal history of these rocks and their parent body, we have integrated high-precision U-Pb age and trace element data for zircon grains with sizes up to 80 μm in the eucrite Agoult. All analyzed zircon grains yielded concordant U-Pb dates that correspond to the precise 207 Pb/ 206 Pb age of 4554.5 ± 2.0 Ma.The Ti contents in these zircon grains indicate their crystallization at subsolidus temperatures of ca. 900 • C, which are similar to the inferred conditions of pyroxene exsolution in most basaltic eucrites that occurred during protracted thermal metamorphism. The zircon crystallization temperatures, together with the presence of baddeleyite needles and variable Zr concentration in Agoult ilmenite grains, indicate metamorphic origin of the Agoult zircon through Zr release from ilmenite followed by reaction with silica. We therefore consider the zircon 207 Pb/ 206 Pb age as the timing of the widespread thermal metamorphism in Vesta's crust. The metamorphic age is coincident with the oldest Mn-Cr date for cumulate eucrites, supporting the view that the thermal metamorphism is a result of burial of basaltic crust and subsequent heating from the hot interior rather than collision of asteroids. The zircon rare earth element patterns with restricted Ce positive anomalies suggest that the metamorphism occurred at an oxygen fugacity below the iron-wüstite buffer, implying the absence of oxidizing agents such as aqueous fluid within the crust at that time.
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