Abstract This paper presents U-Pb ages for an extended period of geological evolution between about 1860 and 1740 Ma in the northern part of the Fennoscandian Shield. It involved magmatism, ductile deformation and metamorphism along the border between Sweden and Finland. The study area separates into a western and an eastern domain roughly along a north-south trending structural boundary defined by the western margin of the Pajala shear zone. Approximately 1860-1850 Ma zircon ages from two granitoid rocks record contrasting post-emplacement deformation histories on either side of this boundary. While metamorphic monazite records c. 1850 Ma events in rocks of the western domain, metamorphic monazite and titanite as well as zircon overgrowths in the eastern domain verify deformation and high-grade metamorphism in the 1820-1780 Ma interval. This post-1820 Ma phase is most probably related to shear zones and to nearby intrusions. A titanite age at c. 1740 Ma in the eastern domain is suggested to exemplify a tectonic phase, which elsewhere in northern Fennoscandia is marked by fracturing, generation of pegmatites, and hydrothermal activity.
Abstract The Tjårrojåkka area is located about 50 km WSW of Kiruna, northern Sweden, and hosts one of the best examples of spatially and possibly genetically related Fe-oxide and Cu-Au occurrences in the area. The bedrock is dominated by intermediate and basic extrusive and intrusive rocks. An andesite constrains the ages of these rocks with a U-Pb LA-ICPMS age of 1878±7 Ma. They are cut by dolerites, which acted as feeder dykes for the overlying basalts. Based on geochemistry and the obtained age the andesites and basaltic andesites can be correlated with the 1.9 Ga intermediate volcanic rocks of the Svecofennian Porphyrite Group in northern Sweden. They formed during subduction-related magmatism in a volcanic arc environment on the Archaean continental margin above the Kiruna Greenstone Group. Chemically the basalts and associated dolerites have the same signature, but cannot directly be related to any known basaltic unit in northern Sweden. The basalts show only minor contamination of continental crust and may represent a local extensional event in a subaquatic back arc setting with extrusion of mantle derived magma. The intrusive rocks range from gabbro to quartz-monzodiorite in composition. The area is metamorphosed at epidote-amphibolite facies and has been affected by scapolite, K-feldspar, epidote, and albite alteration that is more intense in the vicinity of deformation zones and mineral deposits. Three events of deformation have been distinguished in the area. D1 brittle-ductile deformation created NE-SW-striking steep foliation corresponding with the strike of the Tjårrojåkka-Fe and Cu deposits and was followed by the development of an E-W deformation zone (D2). A compressional event (D3), possible involving thrusting from the SW, produced folds in the central part of the area and a NNW-SSE striking deformation zone in NE.
The Central Lapland Greenstone belt comprises rift-related metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks representing one of the largest supracrustal belts in the Baltic Shield. The Sodankylä area in the central part of the belt represents a complex thrust duplex within a nappe overlying Belomorian Archaean basement and autocthonous Luirojoki calc-silicate rocks. Here, an early D 1 schistosity is axial planar to at least three coaxial generations of southward-verging, subhorizontal, E–W-plunging D 1 folds associated with major southwards thrusting. D 2 is represented by broad, map-scale, upright, NE-trending folds in the south and crenulations in the north. Staurolite-grade metamorphism represented by post-tectonic andalusite + staurolite + kyanite assemblages occurred after D 2 folding. Later D 3 deformation was limited to local NW-trending folds and sinistral faults. The internal nappe-like structure of the Central Lapland Greenstone belt suggests that it represents the foreland of a large collisional complex cored by the Lapland Granulite belt.
Age of the Tokkalehto metagabbro and its significance to the lithostratigraphy of the early Proterozoic Kuusamo supracrustal belt, northern Finland.Bulletin of the Geological Society of Finland 73
The Musgrave Province lies at the convergence of major structural trends formed during the Proterozoic amalgamation of the North, West and South Australian Cratons prior to c. 1290 Ma. The Musgrave Orogeny, one of three Mesoproterozoic orogenies to affect the province, produced the granites of the Pitjantjatjara Supersuite, which dominate the outcrop. This orogeny was an intracontinental and dominantly extensional event in which ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) conditions persisted from c. 1220 to c. 1120 Ma. The onset of UHT conditions is heralded by a change from low-Yb granites to voluminous Yb-enriched granites, reflecting a rapid decrease in crustal thickness. The Pitjantjatjara granites are ferroan, calc-alkalic to alkali-calcic rocks and include charnockites with an orthopyroxene-bearing primary mineralogy. They were emplaced at temperatures ≥1000°C from c. 1220 to c. 1150 Ma. Their geochemical and Nd and Hf isotopic homogeneity over a scale of >15 000 km2 reflects a similarly homogeneous source. This source included an old enriched felsic crustal component. However, the bulk source was mafic to intermediate in composition. The long-lived UHT regime, and thermal limits on the amount of crust sustainable below the level of intrusion, indicates a significant (>50%) mantle-derived source component. However, a positive correlation between Mg-number and F suggests that many Pitjantjatjara granites formed through the breakdown of F-rich biotite in a crustal granulite. We suggest that under- and intraplated mafic magmas assimilated the limited available felsic crust into lower crustal MASH (melting, assimilation, storage, homogenization) domains. These partially cooled but were remobilized during subsequent under- and intra-plating events to produce the Pitjantjatjara granites. The duration of UHT conditions is inconsistent with a mantle plume. It reflects an intracontinental lithospheric architecture where the Musgrave Province was rigidly fixed at the nexus of three thick cratonic masses. This ensured that any asthenospheric upwelling was focused beneath the province, providing a constant supply of both heat and mantle-derived magma.