Detrital zircon ages of Neoproterozoic sequences of the Moroccan Anti-Atlas belt

North-Gondwana assembly, break-up and paleogeography: U–Pb isotope evidence from detrital and igneous zircons of Ediacaran and Cambrian rocks of SW Iberia

“…The defined age clusters set suggest provenance from sources near or at the North-Gondwana margin, comprising three main zircon-forming events related to a long-lived Neoproterozoic magmatism: 1) c. 850-700 Ma (PanAfrican suture); 2) c. 700-635 Ma (early Cadomian arc); and 3) c. 635-545 Ma (late Cadomian arc) (Pereira et al, 2012). The U-Pb ages obtained in the Estremoz Anticline agree with recently published data deriving from other regions of the Ossa-Morena Zone Pereira et al, 2008Pereira et al, , 2010aPereira et al, , 2010bPereira et al, , 2011 but, also surprisingly with the SW Central-Iberian Zone (Pereira et al, 2012) in SW Iberia, and overlap the time intervals assigned to Avalonia (c. 730-570 Ma;Murphy et al, 2008;Nance et al, 2008 and references therein), Cadomia (c. 850-550 Ma;755-745 Ma and c. 625-570 Ma;Fernández-Suárez et al, 2002;Nagy et al, 2002;Samson et al, 2003;and Nance et al, 2008 and references therein), Bohemia (c. 790-560 Ma;Linnemann et al, 2007Linnemann et al, , 2008 and AntiAtlas (c. 755-700 Ma and c. 640-560 Ma;D'Lemos et al, 2006;Ennih and Liégeois, 2008;Abati et al, 2010) zircon-forming events recorded in the West African Craton (Fig. 9).…”

SHRIMP U–Pb geochronological constraints on the timing of the intra-Alcudian (Cadomian) angular unconformity in the Central Iberian Zone (Iberian Massif, Spain)

“…8c). According to Fernández-Suárez et al (2000), Murphy et al (2008) and Abati et al (2010), the presence of Mesoproterozoic zircon was a distinctive feature of sediments derived from the Amazonian Craton due to the absence of those zircons in the West African Craton. However, new U-Pb dating of Pan-African igneous rocks from Algeria and west Egypt in the Saharan Metacraton has shown a small proportion of Mesoproterozoic inherited zircons with ages (Henry et al 2009;Bea et al 2010;Fezaa et al 2010).…”

Potential sources of Ediacaran strata of Iberia: a review

“…The Archean ages found in the Ediacaran strata of Iberia fall in the range of two main zircon-forming events in the West African craton: (1) Leonian (c. 3.5-3 Ga; Palaeoarchean -Thieblemont et al, 2004) and (2) Liberian (c. 2.9-2.7 Ga; Meso-Neoarchean - Key et al, 2008;Koulamelan, Delor, & Peucat, 1997;Potrel et al, 1996). Neoarchean sources also occur in the Saharan Metacraton (c. 2.5-2.5 Ga; Abdelsalam et al, 2002) and in the Anti-Atlas (c. 2.6 Ga; Abati et al, 2010).…”

“…The Trans-Saharan belt that includes the Tuareg shield separates the Anti-Atlas (west) of the Saharan Metacraton (east). The Anti-Atlas located has a stratigraphy characterised by a Palaeoproterozoic basement (c. 2.2-2 Ga; Reguibat shield; Thomas et al, 2002) from the northern margin of the West African craton in which Neoproterozoic rocks were deposited (Abati, Aghzer, Gerdes, & Ennih, 2010;Thomas et al, 2004). The Saharan Metacraton includes Archean and Palaeoproterozoic old crust and juvenile Neoproterozoic crust remobilized during the late Neoproterozoic (Abdelsalam, Liegeois, & Stern, 2002;Caby, 2003) and Cambrian-Ordovician time (Avigad, Gerdes, Morag, & Bechstädt, 2012;Meinhold, Morton, & Avigad, 2012).…”