Indo‐Antarctic derived detritus on the northern margin of Gondwana: evidence for continental‐scale sediment transport

Abstract

Provenance studies from Cambro‐Ordovician sediments of the North Gondwana passive margin typically ascribe a North African source, a conclusion that cannot be reconciled with all observations. We present new U‐Pb ages from detrital rutile and zircon from Late Ordovician sediments from Saxo‐Thuringia, Germany. Detrital zircons yield age populations of 500–800 Ma, 900–1050 Ma and 1800–2600 Ma. The detrital rutile age spectra are unimodal with ages between 500 and 650 Ma and likely represent, together with the 500–800 Ma and 1800–2600 Ma zircon populations, detritus sourced predominantly from North Africa. In contrast, the c. 950 Ma zircons, which are persistently found in Cambro‐Ordovician sediments of North Gondwana, have no obvious African source. We propose that these zircons are sourced from the Rayner Complex–Eastern Ghats regions of Antarctica and India. An Indo‐Antarctic source indicates either continental‐scale sedimentary transport from central Gondwana to its peripheries or multiple cycles of sediment reworking and redeposition.

Provenance of quartz-rich metamorphic tectonite pebbles from the “Black Flysch” (W Pyrenees, N Spain): An EBSD and detrital zircon LA–ICP-MS study

“…Ordovician orthogneisses are emplaced in Cambrian or older metamorphosed successions that might be regarded as sources of quartz-tectonite Black Flysch pebbles. The zircon provenance and signature of these rocks (Castiñeiras et al, 2008;Martínez et al, 2011) highlights a Gondwanan affinity and can be linked to North African cratons and orogenic belts through paleogeographic models of variable complexity (Avigad et al, 2012;Bea et al, 2010;Linnemann et al, 2011;Morag et al, 2011;Nance et al, 2008;Rösel et al, 2014;Shaw et al, 2014).…”

“…Stenian-Tonian zircons are usually detrital grains supposed to have traveled from distant sources (Avigad et al, 2012;Kydonakis et al, 2014;Linnemann et al, 2011;Meinhold et al, 2011;Morag et al, 2011;Rösel et al, 2014), where zircons of similar ages are found in their original igneous host rocks. Notwithstanding, its finding has been pivotal to several paleogeographic and paleotectonic reconstructions (e.g.…”

“…Some source areas are currently outcropping, whereas others are buried in the subsurface, located unexpectedly far (e.g. : Mapes et al, 2004;Rösel et al, 2014), or missing.…”

Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry U-Pb Dating of Detrital and Magmatic Zircons of Glacial Diamictites and Pebbles in Late Ordovician Sediments of the Taurides and Southeast Anatolian Autochthon Belt, Turkey: Indications for Their Arabian-Nubian Provenance

“…The products of the short-lived but intense Late Ordovician glacial event in Gondwana are best exposed in north-central Africa (Morocco [Destombes et al 1985;; Le Heron and Craig 2008], Algeria and Nigeria [Beuf et al 1971;Biju-Duval et al 1981;Linnemann et al 2011;, Libya [Massa 1988;Ghienne et al 2003;Le Heron and Craig 2008;Le Heron et al 2010], Niger [Denis et al 2006]), western Africa (Mauritania [Deynoux et al 1985;Willefert 1988; Ghienne and Deynoux 1998], Sierra Leone [Tucker and Reid 1973]), South Africa (Lesotho, Swaziland [Hiller 1992]), Arabia (Oman [Martin et al 2008], Jordan [Abed et al 1993;Turner et al 2005], Saudi Arabia [Vaslet 1990;McGillivray and Husseini 1992;Paris et al 2000;Clark-Lowes 2005], Iran [Ghavidel-syooki et al 2011]), South America (Brazil, Argentina [Caputo 1988;Martinez 1998;Astini 2003]), and Europe (Spain [Fortuin 1984;Gutiérrez-Marco et al 2010], Germany [Rösel et al 2014], France [Robardet and Dore 1988], Czech Republic [Śtorch 2006], Italy ], Turkey [Monod et al 2003;Ghienne et al 2010]; fig. 1).…”

LA-ICP-MS U–Pb dating of detrital rutile and zircon from the Reynolds Range: A window into the Palaeoproterozoic tectonosedimentary evolution of the North Australian Craton

“…U-Pb age dating of detrital rutile is a new approach in provenance studies and has, until now, only been applied in Phanerozoic sediments (e.g. Okay et al, 2011;Meinhold et al, 2011;Bracciali et al, 2013;Rösel et al, 2014). This contribution is the first to describe a U-Pb age study of detrital rutile in Palaeoproterozoic sediments and highlights its potential for other weakly metamorphosed Palaeoproterozoic sedimentary sequences.…”